"Teacher, speaking of creating opportunity," asked Whoopi Goldberg, "what do you make of the fact that Republican Senator Lugar told Al Franken: 'The government can't create jobs'?" "I'd like to make a noose of that fact and hang The Republican Party. They ought to just put up a sign at their headquarters that reads: 'WE'RE USELESS AND WE HAVE NO IMAGINATION.' For starters, the government could hire every electrician to install light and motion sensors on the light switches in every building. And besides merely telling Americans that we need to conserve, they could also make low-interest long-term loans available so communities can weatherize their homes, schools and businesses. And they can't use the excuse that no one has ever thought of this idea since Harry Reid has already thrown it out there. It's as though their playbook is to do the opposite of the Democrats and common sense, i.e., 'Dark Days for Energy Efficiency' and 'Senate Republicans Screw Troops Yet Again .'" "Not only are they useless," Whoopi noted, "but they're also clueless; as was first proven when Reagan took office and removed the solar panels Carter had put in; then again when Senator Dole ran a commercial denouncing Democrats for pushing midnight basketball; and again when a Republican Congresswoman said on the house floor that 'The American people know how to spend their money more wisely than the government.' By that logic it would mean that beef is a wiser purchase than tofu, cows' milk a wiser purchase than soy milk, and that more than half the stuff in Wal-Mart is not useless junk." "Indeed, Whoopi," said Lynn Samuels, "but, considering that the current incarnation of Uncle Sam believes that applying a 'waste not, want not' strategy to the economy would hinder prosperity, you have to admit that she's right to accuse the government of being unwise with its spending; i.e., WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MONEY FOR THE LEVEES!!!!??? ...So I guess it shouldn't surprise anyone that despite Katrina's wrath they have still made it explicitly clear that their avarice knows no bounds, and, thus, won't be satisfied until they repeal the estate tax on the top 2%, which amounts to $1 trillion in tax revenue. And to add insult to injury, on November 18, 2005, the Republican-controlled Congress helped itself to a $3,100 pay raise and then postponed work on bills to curb spending on social programs and cut taxes in favor of a two-week vacation. Then, on June 23, 2006, they voted down the increase in the minimum wage!! No wonder Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson were able to fill a whole book on their completely parasitic style of legislating in Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of Democracy to complement John Dean's Conservatives Without Conscience." "Not only that, teacher, but Bush and his crazy neo-Cons still insist that the super rich get huge tax cuts despite the $200 billion it's going to take to rebuild the devastation. So I guess we're all going to have to set ourselves on fire to prevent that, otherwise it's only a matter of time before China calls in its loan." "Teacher," asked Jim Hightower, "why does President Flip-Flop act like he deserves a medal whenever he stands on principle even if it's in the face of serious opposition, but then frowns upon others who do the same thing in opposition to him as if it's not their civic duty to voice their dissent? Like, with Dixie Chicks. If Bush had half a clue about setting an example to the world about the beauty of democracy, not only would he have told the people to back off of them, his retort would have been: 'I'm proud of my fellow Texans who have the character to honor America's most important principle.' Or like, with Terri Schiavo. If they genuinely believe that the federal government is morally obligated to usurp everyone else, then, fine. But how do they dare argue to the rest of us that we're immoral for thinking that sometimes it's necessary to decide if people get to continue living? What the hell do they think they were doing when deciding to explode bombs around civilians or when they execute those who might very well be innocent?" "It would certainly be interesting to hear how he'd answer that himself. And he certainly deserves a special Presidential Academy Award for being able to keep a straight face when he said of Terri that 'It's always wise to err on the side of life.'" "Teacher, according to a caller to Michael Reagan's radio show, 'The war is going magnificently.' So isn't it possible that Wes, Chuck Hagel, Joe Klein, Anthony Shadid, Larry Diamond, Bill Krystol, Francis Fukuyama, William Buckley, Shep Smith, Newt Gingrich, Bruce Bartlett, Jack Straw, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Michael Scheuer, Christopher Shays, Jack Murtha, Col. Mike Turner , Marine Captain Christopher H. Sheppherd, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Charles Pollard, Marine Maj. William McCollough, the Stop the War Coalition and Generals Colin Powell, Anthony Zinni, John Batiste, Paul Eaton, Gregory Newbold, John Riggs, Charles Swannack, Jr., William Odom and Paul Van Riper don't know what they're talking about?"
The Switch, a parable to undo all of Bush's support...without creating a leadership vacuum | 0 comments ( topical, 0 hidden)
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Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series
on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)
Franklin Graham to Obama: Are You A Muslim? (And How Obama Courted Hagee Publisher Strang)
On June 10, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama convened a meeting in a law office in downtown Chicago with a wide array...... By Max Blumenthal (0 comments)
Short Takes
Street Prophets: Pastordan is skeptical of efforts to squeeze progressive Christians "into the square holes of Dobsonite Evangelicaldom." He also flags the perrenial problem...... By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
David Barton: Bobby Jindal is "One of the Really Cool Guys"
Quite a few articles were written last week about speculative McCain VP pick, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, many focusing on Jindal's signing into law...... By Chris Rodda (0 comments)
Religious Right Leaders Back McCain -- New Set of Problem Pastors?
Ohio Religious Right leader Phil Burress recently said of McCain, "We don't like him, and he doesn't like us." But Burress has gotten himself...... By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
Walid Shoebat: The Simon Altaf Connection
Following on from my examination of Walid Shoebat's snake-oil Biblical scholarship a couple of days ago, I decided to check out his former collaborator,...... By Richard Bartholomew (0 comments)
Pulpit Politicking: Why It's Not A Free-Speech Issue
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has recently received calls from a couple of Minnesota pastors who are convinced they have a...... By Rob Boston (9 comments)
CUFI Speaker: "666" is "In the Name of Allah"
When Joe Lieberman gives credibility to the upcoming Christians United for Israel with his attendance, he won't just be lending his reputation to conspiracy-monger...... By Richard Bartholomew (2 comments)
Peter Marshall, Christian Nationalist
Previously I discussed the Reverend Peter Marshall's work here. Rev. Marshall is a fairly big figure in "Christian America" circles. From what I know...... By Jonathan Rowe (2 comments)
Short Takes
Time: Amy Sullivan thinks Dobson's attack on Obama may be backfiring. Americans United for Separation of Church & State to Louisiana: "We are watching."...... By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Charismatic Dominionists Endorse Bentley
A few days ago I wrote a piece on Todd Bentley's faith-healing revival in Florida, noting support for Bentley from Steven Strang, the influential...... By Richard Bartholomew (0 comments)
Financial Fiddling at Fidelis?
The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-one A little more than a year ago Fidelis, an umbrella advocacy group consisting of various not-for-profit entities, sought to...... By Frank Cocozzelli (4 comments)
RAMBO Returns: Some Notes on Tradition, Family and Property
Tradition, Family and Property's attack on same-sex marriage in California has brought the traditionalist Catholic organisation back into the spotlight. Bill Berkowitz has an...... By Richard Bartholomew (0 comments)
On the Failings of Evangelicalism
Christine Wicker's new book, The Fall of the Evangelical Nation, tells two stories very well. First, it explains how Americans have been duped into...... By Mainstream Baptist (0 comments)
All in the Family -- A Review of Jeff Sharlet's New Book
Jeff Sharlet's book The Family has been getting some high profile media attention, most recently with an interview on The Diane Rehm show, on...... By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
The Discovery Institute, the LA Family Forum, and the "LA Science Education Act" UPDATED
Louisiana has become the latest target of the Discovery Institute, the Seattle think tank whose "Wedge Strategy" for getting intelligent design (ID) creationism into...... By Barbara Forrest (1 comment)
Hope Never Dies for Extremists
The extreme political Religious Right hasn't given up hope of getting something out of this election. Their latest ploy involves petitioning the parties for a "True Christian" in the vice-presidential slot. The Christian Anti-Defamation...... By John McKay (0 comments)
Catholic religious right wing: Legion of Christ
Frank L. Cocozzelli's weekly series of posts on "The Catholic Right" (listed here) includes quite a few posts about Opus Dei. There's another, similarly ultra-orthodox Catholic religious order he might want to examine in...... By Diane Vera (3 comments)
Prosyletization in Iraq: A threat to national security
As amazing as it sounds, dominionists may in fact be fomenting terrorism--not just the domestic terrorism like bombings of women's clinics we normally associate, but the very "Islamist terror bombings" that the GOP loves...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
Proselytization in Iraq: A minor history
The recent incident where a Marine was recently found distributing "Bible coins" promoted by a fundamentalist "Bible church" is, sad to say, far from the first incident of overt prosyletisation in Iraq. The truth...... By dogemperor (1 comment)
Source of "Bible coins" distributed by USMC in Iraq discovered
In what is--sadly--yet another case of the extent of which blatant prosyletisation is tolerated in the modern US military, a recent incident where members of the US Marine Corps were handing out coins to...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
What Does the Religious Right Fear the Most?
A poll that one of the giants on the right, Coral Ridge Ministries, sent to their members gives a revealing insight into their world view. ...... By John McKay (3 comments)
UK Abortion Limit Stays at 24 Weeks Despite Washington Think Tank's Tactics
IN GOD'S NAME is a revealing documentary about how the Alliance Defense Fund is using its tactics to try to restrict abortion in Europe as well as in America. Watch this trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeTfW8-dCNE ...... By TMurray (2 comments)
'Christians United For Israel' Joyfully Sing of Israel's Invasion and Destruction
An open letter, from Ray McGovern, a 27-year intelligence analyst with the CIA, to Admiral William J. Fallon, warns of an impending US attack on Iran. If such an event occurred, the resulting war...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
The Petrification of John McCain
We are very pleased to welcome Frederick Lane as a guest front pager. He is the author of several books,most recently, The Court and the Cross: The Religious Right's Crusade to Reshape the Supreme...... By Frederick_Lane (3 comments)
More Biblical Precedent for Allowing Abortion
This is a follow up to my most recent diary entry. ...... By TMurray (1 comment)
John Hagee Says God Made AIDS and Bird Flu But Lord will Protect Him Personally
John Hagee claims 1) that he knows with absolute certainty the will of God (as he told a BBC interviewer in 2003), is 2) sure that he, John Hagee, has a place in heaven...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Biblical support for abortion, who knew?
It turns out that our present legal understanding of when a life is entitled to legal protection is consistent with the Old Testament Biblical understanding of when a fetus becomes a 'life' warranting legal...... By TMurray (2 comments)
2001 John Hagee Film Shows Gangsterish Rabbi, Foppish Catholic Priest In League With anti-Christ
The following somewhat satirical video is built around a brief excerpt from Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee's 2001 55-minute film "Vanished", which followed the prophetic, premillennial plot line of Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkin's...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
PBS "Carrier": A Mixed Blessing
Watching the PBS miniseries "Carrier" was a revelation, but not always a pleasant one... ...... By bughouse square (0 comments)
Will We Ever Learn?
Ever looked at something or did something which at the time seemed good and beneficial only to learn that it was not what you thought? If we could all have the opportunity to live...... By truthngrace (0 comments)
McCain-Endorser's Church Casts Out "Demon of Anal Fissures", Teaches Vomiting Evil Spirits
[NOTE: for a related story, see Mai Tai Dogs: Pics Show Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant] I have to admit, on one level it sounds more entertaining than a church full...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Bush 41 salutes Sun Myung Moon's effort to subdue the planet.
Sun Myung Moon's end time political front, the Universal Peace Federation had a summit from April 28 to May 2 in Washington DC. The participants took a tour of the Moon owned Washington Times...... By Lou (2 comments)
Advancing The Kingdom
Over the past four years, I've researched the darkest regions of the Christian right for the non-fiction film Silhouette City. The film tracks the movement of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the margins of American...... By MichaelWWilson (2 comments)
Newspaper Profiles Army of God Spokeman
We have written a great deal about the anti-abortion terror organization, Army of God. One recent post prompted God Tube to take down videos posted by the proprietor of the Army of God web...... By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Judicial Council Chief James Holsinger and $20 million of UMC Money
Dr. James Holsinger, a leader in the IRD-linked Methodist renewal movement has, until now, been best known for his crack-pot anti-gay views. - FC Dr. James Holsinger, the Bush nominee for Surgeon General and...... By AJWEAVER (0 comments)
No Constitution Party home for Keyes
Well, that didn't take long. All the speculation about Alan Keyes finding a home with the rabidly right-wing Constitution Party has quickly come to naught as the CP convention picks radio talk show host,...... By tacitus (0 comments)
Florida Christian License Plate
Well, Florida is at it again. They're considering a "Christian" license plate. It's supposed to have a cross and a stained glass window on it with the words "I Believe!" More below the break!...... By ArchaeoBob (3 comments)
The Alleged 'Atheist Delusion'
John Gray's ample Saturday Review column in the March 15th edition of London's Guardian newpaper diagnosed the current climate surrounding religion as one of `moral panic'. This is true only of the irrational fear...... By TMurray (0 comments)
A Real GI Bill of Rights
As much as I admire Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel for their efforts to reform the military, I respectfully submit that their proposed bill doesn't go far enough... ...... By bughouse square (2 comments)
Mikey's War
There comes a time when ordinary citizens need to step up and openly challenge the perverse Christianization of our national instutions, particularly the military. What follows is an introduction to someone who is doing...... By bughouse square (1 comment)
For McCain, Silence on Religion is Golden
Just one day before lambasting Barack Obama over his recent comments about religion, John McCain was a no-show at Sunday's CNN Compassion Forum on faith. That's because when it comes to discussing his own...... By Jon Perr (0 comments)
Christian Right Flees Randall Balmer's Challenge On Torture
At the Daily Kos website, I have written what so far is a four part series [1, 2, 3, 4] on the Bush Administration and torture. My series covers the structure of the National...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Just *what* is "The Family" so desperate to hide?
Over the past few days, I've done some writing expressing concern regarding some revelations that Jeff Sharlet will be discussing extensively in his new book "The Family"--including information regarding apparently widespread and systemic use...... By dogemperor (7 comments)
The *other* members of Hillary's "Family" cell
On Friday, news reports started coming out to the effect that Hillary Clinton may be a member of a cell-church group run by the secretive "Family" nee "Fellowship" org; as the import of this...... By dogemperor (1 comment)
Hagee donating 6 Million dollars to Irael
Today it was reported in the local paper that John Hagee has donated 6 million dollars to Israel. http://www.theledger.com/article/20080406/API/804062669 It appears to be a big publicity stunt. The article says that "Hagee... brought hundreds...... By ArchaeoBob (0 comments) More Diaries... |
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