Anyone who thinks they have all the Answers before they've even heard the Question - is Dangerously Deluded! Real Truth Requires Vigilance, Perseverance and Courage, regardless of Party and who wields Power. Left, Right, Center, Corporations, Government, Unions, Criminals or the Indifferent.
The Daily Show correspondents Wyatt Cenac and John Oliver debated last night whether Fox News' Fox and Friends was being evil or stupid when they didn't reveal the connection between Fox News and the funder of the Cordoba House Islamic center near Ground Zero. Or, as Jon Stewart put it, "the terror funder is Rupert Murdoch's News Corp funder. Nooooooo!"
Oliver defended Fox News as stupid: "Things are hectic on the morning show. Plus Gretchen [Carlson] wasn't there and she's the only one who knows how to use Google."
Cenac argued that they were evil, since they avoided showing pictures of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal because "he already looks like he's about to feed Timothy Dalton to his white tiger."
Oliver said he has to believe they are stupid, "because if they're not as stupid as I believe them to be, they are really f*cking evil."
Cenac replied: "And if they're not as evil as I think they are, they are stupid. We're talking potatoes with mouths."
Wherein Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm systematically destroys the fear-mongering of Tea Party Shill Dick Armey.
Granholm on the issue of the Park 51 Community Center:
Gregory: Governor, a lot people thought this was a hedge, and attempt to walk back (The President's) previous support.
Granholm: Well I think that any time someone stands up for the Constitution, which is exactly what he did, I don't think there's any disagreement. I don' think anyone would disagree with that (Ed: Yes, they would!) The question is whether it's a good decision on their part, right? What's the imam saying. So the question is what is the nature of this particular imam and sect? It's a Sufi Sect, apparently, and that sect is supposed to be one of the most peaceful -- that sect has been under attack by al Qeada.
Michigan has one of the largest Arab-America populations outside of the Middle-East, so I called one of our imams and asked about (Rauf). He said "(This imam) is one of the most bridge building - in the country." We ought to be holding imams like this close - not attacking them with a broad brush, they're being attacked by al Qaeda too.
(I still think the entire idea of the community center might go down better if they were to highlight the 9/11 Memorial Planned for the Building and point out and highlight at that this space is available for Non-Muslims to pray or worship as they see fit within the facility. They should IMO even include altars for Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Sihk and Hindu worship as well as Islamic in this space, since persons of all these faiths were lost in the 9/11 attack. How can this Community Center be an "affront" to 9/11 when it has an Inter-Faith Memorial to 9/11 in it? Moving it is completely nonsensical, it belongs right where it is - where the fences can be mended and bridges re-built.)
Anywho...
The fact is that al Qeada hunts down members of the Sufi and target's them for murder. And now they have to listen to bigoted nutbagger's like Armey, Gingrich and this total fruit-loop Bryan Fischer from the so-called "American Family Association" attacking them too?
As hilariously noted by Stephen Colbert.
Fischer: Permits should not be granted to build even one more mosque in the United States of America, let alone the monstrosity planned for Ground Zero. This is for one simple reason: each Islamic mosque is dedicated to the overthrow of the American government.
Each one is a potential jihadist recruitment and training center, and determined to implement the “Grand Jihad” of which Andy McCarthy has written.
Because of this subversive ideology, Muslims cannot claim religious freedom protections under the First Amendment. They are currently using First Amendment freedoms to make plans to destroy the First Amendment altogether. There is no such thing as freedom of religion in Islam, and it is sheer and utter folly for Americans to delude themselves into thinking otherwise.
If a mosque was willing to publicly renounce the Koran and its 109 verses that call for the death of infidels, renounce Allah and his messenger Mohammed, publicly condemn Osama bin Laden, Hamas, and Abdelbaset al Megrahi (the Lockerbie bomber), maybe then they could be allowed to build their buildings. But then they wouldn’t be Muslims at that point, now would they?
So the enemy (Sufi) of your enemy (al Qeada) isn't your friend? The idiocy and bigotry of this minds the boggle.
Despite what Rick Lazio says with his biased and distorted recounting of imam Rauf's ability to "bridge build" (which were heavily relied upon by the Bush State Dept) during the Round table their clearly are people calling for a halt to ALL Mosques in the U.S.
Granholm also destroys Armey's entire Tea Party anti-government dogma - pointing out that Government investments and partnerships in Michigan have saved thousands of jobs at GM and begin to create 60,000 Green Collar jobs in battery manufacturing plants (during which Armey laughs at here - LAUGHS at people getting JOBS! Can you say 'WhattafrackinDick Armey?")
Granholm: Just quickly, this argument - and it's a 20th Century argument, not 21st Century - When we are competing in a global economy, the government has to partner with private sector to create jobs. If you just slash spending you slash investments in the things that are going to move our economy forward. Last year the vice President came to Michigan and said we were going to get all of these battery grants - we have 16 companies in Michigan now just in the past year because we partnered with the private sector creating 62,0000 jobs.
On some of the other things that Armey discusses, the Paul Ryan Budget Plan is a fiasco that would cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut taxes for the rich and Raise them for Everyone Else according to the CBO.
He also talks about this Christian Scientist straw-man situation where someone who wants to collect Social Security doesn't want to also have to pay for (and get) Medicare on religious grounds - but the thing is Medicare is PART of Social Security. They are linked, that's how Medicare was created as an extension of Social Security, if he's wants one he has to have the other.
Armey previous brought up this subject on The Daily Show (during section 3 of the extended interview) where Jon Stewart also managed to Take Him Apart.
Stewart: You just want us to elect Republicans - and they're going to leave office with bigger spending and a bigger deficit because they always do!!.
Wherein Jon Stewarts shows that clearly Fox News - through the transitory property of associated guilt - is a Terrorist Command Center.
Interesting to note that when Michael Moore came after the NRA and Charlton Heston for their staging a rally not long after the tragic events at Columbine, people like John McCain called him a "Disengenous Filmaker". The right found minor technical issues with his claim of insensitivity by the NRA supporters to show Moore to be a "propogandist", such as the fact that the NRA actually did cancel some of their previously planned events in the area.
Fact: At Denver, the NRA cancelled all events (normally several days of committee meetings, sporting events, dinners, and rallies) save the annual members' voting meeting -- that could not be cancelled because the state law governing nonprofits required that it be held. [No way to change location, since under NY law you have to give 10 days' advance notice of that to the members, there were upwards of 4,000,000 members -- and Columbine happened 11 days before the scheduled meeting.] As a newspaper reported:
In a letter to NRA members Wednesday, President Charlton Heston and the group's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, said all seminars, workshops, luncheons, exhibits by gun makers and other vendors, and festivities are canceled.
All that's left is a members' reception with Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., and the annual meeting, set for 10 a.m. May 1 in the Colorado Convention Center.
Under its bylaws and New York state law, the NRA must hold an annual meeting.
The NRA convention April 30-May 2 was expected to draw 22,000 members and give the city a $17.9 million economic boost.
"But the tragedy in Littleton last Tuesday calls upon us to take steps, along with dozens of other planned public events, to modify our schedule to show our profound sympathy and respect for the families and communities in the Denver area in their time of great loss," Heston and LaPierre wrote.
Moore's fabrication here cannot be described by any polite term. It is a lie, a fraud, and a few other things.
Despite Heston's speech of defiance, the NRA did take a few steps back in what they were doing and only continued the primary event because the Law required them to - at least that's how Moore's critics put it at the time.
But now with the Park 51 Community Center they think people feelings should count more than anything else, never mind the law, or the Constitution.
This we have while Howard Dean is attempting to split the baby.
Call me silly but the baby doesn't usually survive this procedure. 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion (not to mention Private Property Rights) can not be overridden by someone's hurt feelings.
Dean's argument here is that at least some people opposing the Mosque aren't doing it for bigoted reasons, but here's my question to that point - if you've gone from opposing al Qeada to opposing where Muslim's can and can't worship - then you've certainly crossed the concerned citizen/bigot barrier.
Who is this person who isn't a bigot, but can conflate the actions of 19 men with the religion of over a Billion people (who weren't there, and didn't support what they did?)?
I can understand Harry Reid's argument, because it's simply based in cowardice and a desire to side-step the issue by shoving it out-of-sight/out-of-mind. That's just head-in-the-sand political expediency.
Dean is a little more earnest, instead of running from the problem he wants to confront it with dialogue, he wants a discussion between the Center and the mythical unicorn-like Non-Bigots who are too sensitive to think Muslim's can worship 2 blocks from Ground Zero, however they can worship inside the Pentagon and FOUR BLOCKS from Ground Zero.
Yeah, ok.
Here's another recent parallel to this impasse, the makers of the movie Jesus Camp, have a new film coming out about a corner "12th and Delaware" in Florida where a Abortion Clinic sits directly across the street from an "Crisis Pregnancy Center" where they virulently propagandize pregnant women against Abortion.
Is Anybody asking this Crisis Center to move and stop deliberately defrauding and propagandizing pregnant women? Not so much.
Maybe we she take a book from Dr Laura's page and tell all these hyper-sensitive people that they just need to "grow a sense of humor"?
Ok, well maybe not.
Anyhoo, I do have a suggestion for a potential "Compromise".
Wanna hear it?
Alright, instead of moving the Community Center a single inch - they should take some of the top floor prayer space and offer it up for use as a Chapel and a Synagogue. If you're goal is to help foster greater "Inner Faith" cooperation, actually having an inter-faith house of worship - with it's own gym and spa - would go a long way toward doing exactly that. People of faith within the community, and even those of no particular faith at all could come together - co-mingle - and express themselves, and express their faith while enjoying a game of hoops or other activity. Even Newt Gingrich has supported this idea (if you can ignore all the other bullshit he says about Imam Rauf, the rationale for al Qaeda and the purpose for making the Community Center) at about 4:25.
Many people are reacting to the idea of the Center out of fear, but if they also feel that they share in it's existence, that they're welcome and invited in - (where they can "keep an eye on what's happening" if they feel like) - then it won't be nearly as frightening, and might actually be able to better accomplish what it is they have originally set out to do.
I don't think will work mind you, but I think if there were talks (which I don't support) then there is something that could be put on the table to negotiate over. If this line in the sand, which already been drawn by one of the biggest critics of the Center, isn't enough - then too bad.
If the neo-bigots and the cowards don't want to go for this idea (even when it comes from when of their own) I say tell 'em to take a hike - they already have approval for the Center, the support of the City Council and Support of the Mayor.
They actually don't need anyone elses approval at this point.
I do take Dean's point that trying to do a positive thing, becomes far more difficult when it begins which such vitriol (Y'know like the Civil Rights Movement, Equal Rights Movement did - and Gay Rights Movements continues too) and in the end they want to be part of the local community, not an irritant inside it.
Offering this compromise (even if it gets slapped down - which I think it will) would make swallowing the dictates of the law and Constitution a little bit easier, at least for some.
Jon Stewart vs Dick Armey Round 3: Which is how long it took him to finally NAIL this fatuous Gas Bag by pointing out that all the Tea Party wants is to elect more Republicans, who will then go on to blow-up the deficit and increasing spending because that's what they ALWAYS DO! - after they've gotten into power by claiming the exact opposite.
CALLER: I'm having an issue with my husband where I'm starting to grow very resentful of him. I'm black, and he's white. We've been around some of his friends and family members who start making racist comments as if I'm not there or if I'm not black. And my husband ignores those comments, and it hurts my feelings. And he acts like --
SCHLESSINGER: Well, can you give me an example of a racist comment? 'Cause sometimes people are hypersensitive. So tell me what's -- give me two good examples of racist comments.
CALLER: OK. Last night -- good example -- we had a neighbor come over, and this neighbor -- when every time he comes over, it's always a black comment. It's, "Oh, well, how do you black people like doing this?" And, "Do black people really like doing that?" And for a long time, I would ignore it. But last night, I got to the point where it --
SCHLESSINGER: I don't think that's racist.
CALLER: Well, the stereotype --
SCHLESSINGER: I don't think that's racist. No, I think that --
CALLER: [unintelligible]
SCHLESSINGER: No, no, no. I think that's -- well, listen, without giving much thought, a lot of blacks voted for Obama simply 'cause he was half-black. Didn't matter what he was gonna do in office, it was a black thing. You gotta know that. That's not a surprise. Not everything that somebody says -- w had friends over the other day; we got about 35 people here -- the guys who were gonna start playing basketball. I was going to go out and play basketball. My bodyguard and my dear friend is a black man. And I said, "White men can't jump; I want you on my team." That was racist? That was funny.
CALLER: How about the N-word? So, the N-word's been thrown around --
SCHLESSINGER: Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is nigger, nigger, nigger.
CALLER: That isn't --
SCHLESSINGER: I don't get it. If anybody without enough melanin says it, it's a horrible thing; but when black people say it, it's affectionate. It's very confusing. Don't hang up, I want to talk to you some more. Don't go away.
I'm Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I'll be right back.
After the break...
SCHLESSINGER: I'm Dr. Laura Schlessinger, talking to Jade. What did you think about during the break, by the way?
CALLER: I was a little caught back by the N-word that you spewed out, I have to be honest with you. But my point is, race relations --
SCHLESSINGER: Oh, then I guess you don't watch HBO or listen to any black comedians.
CALLER: But that doesn't make it right. I mean, race is a [unintelligible] --
SCHLESSINGER: My dear, my dear --
CALLER: -- since Obama's been in office --
SCHLESSINGER: -- the point I'm trying to make --
CALLER: -- racism has come to another level that's unacceptable.
SCHLESSINGER: Yeah. We've got a black man as president, and we have more complaining about racism than ever. I mean, I think that's hilarious.
CALLER: But I think, honestly, because there's more white people afraid of a black man taking over the nation.
SCHLESSINGER: They're afraid.
CALLER: If you want to be honest about it [unintelligible]
SCHLESSINGER: Dear, they voted him in. Only 12 percent of the population's black. Whites voted him in.
CALLER: It was the younger generation that did it. It wasn't the older white people who did it.
SCHLESSINGER: Oh, OK.
CALLER: It was the younger generation --
SCHLESSINGER: All right. All right.
CALLER: -- that did it.
SCHLESSINGER: Chip on your shoulder. I can't do much about that.
CALLER: It's not like that.
SCHLESSINGER: Yeah. I think you have too much sensitivity --
CALLER: So it's OK to say "nigger"?
SCHLESSINGER: -- and not enough sense of humor.
CALLER: It's OK to say that word?
SCHLESSINGER: It depends how it's said.
CALLER: Is it OK to say that word? Is it ever OK to say that word?
SCHLESSINGER: It's -- it depends how it's said. Black guys talking to each other seem to think it's OK.
CALLER: But you're not black. They're not black. My husband is white.
SCHLESSINGER: Oh, I see. So, a word is restricted to race. Got it. Can't do much about that.
CALLER: I can't believe someone like you is on the radio spewing out the "nigger" word, and I hope everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: I didn't spew out the "nigger" word.
CALLER: You said, "Nigger, nigger, nigger."
SCHLESSINGER: Right, I said that's what you hear.
CALLER: Everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: Yes, they did.
CALLER: I hope everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: They did, and I'll say it again --
CALLER: So what makes it OK for you to say the word?
SCHLESSINGER:-- nigger, nigger, nigger is what you hear on HB --
CALLER: So what makes it --
SCHLESSINGER: Why don't you let me finish a sentence?
CALLER: OK.
SCHLESSINGER: Don't take things out of context. Don't double N -- NAACP me. Tape the --
CALLER: I know what the NAACP --
SCHLESSINGER: Leave them in context.
CALLER: I know what the N-word means and I know it came from a white person. And I know the white person made it bad.
SCHLESSINGER: All right. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Can't have this argument. You know what? If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry out of your race. If you're going to marry out of your race, people are going to say, "OK, what do blacks think? What do whites think? What do Jews think? What do Catholics think?" Of course there isn't a one-think per se. But in general there's "think."
And what I just heard from Jade is a lot of what I hear from black-think -- and it's really distressting [sic] and disturbing. And to put it in its context, she said the N-word, and I said, on HBO, listening to black comics, you hear "nigger, nigger, nigger." I didn't call anybody a nigger. Nice try, Jade. Actually, sucky try.
Need a sense of humor, sense of humor -- and answer the question. When somebody says, "What do blacks think?" say, "This is what I think. This is what I read that if you take a poll the majority of blacks think this." Answer the question and discuss the issue. It's like we can't discuss anything without saying there's -isms?
We have to be able to discuss these things. We're people -- goodness gracious me. Ah -- hypersensitivity, OK, which is being bred by black activists. I really thought that once we had a black president, the attempt to demonize whites hating blacks would stop, but it seems to have grown, and I don't get it. Yes, I do. It's all about power. I do get it. It's all about power and that's sad because what should be in power is not power or righteousness to do good -- that should be the greatest power.
Frankly I don't care that Dr. Laura said "Nigger Nigger Nigger" because I do think it's about context, and it's about what you actually Mean when you say the word. First thing, Black people don't call each other "Nigger" unless it's in anger - what they say is "Nigga" which is usually intended to be an ironic term of endearment. It's literally taking a frown - a negative - and turning it upside down.
"Yeah, that's My Nigga - that's my Homie - that's my FRIEND - my Compadre!"
The negativity isn't in the word, it's in the intent and the meaning. Non-blacks have a difficult time with this because it seems like a double-standard, but it's not - when they use it, there's no Irony to it. Even when they don't use it negatively, it doesn't work.
Now, not everyone agrees on this dynamic redefinition/reuse and some argue that this particular word has been so imbued with venom over the course of hundreds of years that you simply can't apply a little rinse and Shout it Out. They feel that anytime someone - ANYONE - uses it, it still carries that history negativity and even when black people attempt to use it in ironic reconstruction, it's really just betraying a level of self-loathing.
The problem with this view conversely is that outlawing a word, doesn't change how people feel or how they think one bit. It's just as easy to simply substitute another word for your meaning like say "Mud Duck", "Spear-Chucker", "JIggaboo", "Chip Shouldered", "Hyper-Sensitive", "Entitled" or "Socialist".
Be that as it may, what matter more in Dr. Laura rant is the meaning of everything else she said.
"Don't NAACP ME?"
That's the same kind of view that we heard from Andrew Breitbart as he was misconstruing the statements of Shirley Sherrod.
That fact is that Jade was accurately noting that she was being demeaned and racialized by her husbands friends and that he was too afraid to stand up to them for her. That was the issue, but right for the top Laura started out arguing with her about whether what she'd experienced was racism or not.
Since discrimination was outlawed in 1964, being openly racist has had the potential to put your sorry ass in court, or jail. Saying to someone who is actually being discriminated against and intimidated that they're being "too sensitive" is about the same as saying to someone who points at the guy climbing out of their apartment window with their flat-screen TV that they're being "Too Uptight" about it and trapped in "Victim-Think".
That kind of argument, that kind of denial of racial bias that is right in your face is exactly the kind of thing that black people now face now with the entitled hyper-insensitivity coming from (Mostly Conservative) Whites. It's denial of the problem and at the same time, tacit endorsement of the victimizing behavior.
If Laura truly wanted to help the woman, she could have told her she needed to have a serious talk with her husband about how those kinds of comments concerned her, how they made her feel and how his lack of reaction was undermining her confidence in him - but Noooo....
Afterward Dr. Laura Attacks Media Matters as a Special Interest group for daring to Quote Her Comments accurately.
Here Laura claims that her caller was the Racist when she said White People are afraid that Black's were trying to "Take Over the Country"!!
Oh, really - then what's all this "I want my Country Back" stuff? What's all this talk about how Barack Obama is a "Racist" because he thought the Cambridge Cops "Acted Stupidly" when they arrested someone who hadn't committed a crime and then Lied on their Police Report About it? What's all this talk about Sonia Sotomayor being a Racist on the Firefighter Test Case, when she was following Judicial precedent to uphold the lower court ruling as it was? What's all this stuff about the NAACP Being nothing but a bunch of people who make money off of Race!? What the FRACK is that shit then?
And now Laura is proclaiming that her first Amendment Rights have been attacked - because people have dared to document what she said, and comment on how fracking rude it was. I find it funny how these super "Free Marketeers" get so whigged out when the people use the power of the Market against them by going after their sponsors and affiliates. Oh, that's threatening my "First Amendment" - no, it's not dimwit. The First Amendment only stops the GOvernment from censoring or unreasonably restricting you - not consumers, not clients, not affiliates and not listeners.
All of this of course has brought out the White Queen on insensitive asinine public statements to her rescue.
Dr.Laura:don't retreat...reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American,not fair")
@SarahPalinUSA Dr.Laura=even more powerful & effective w/out the shackles, so watch out Constitutional obstructionists. And b thankful 4 her voice,America!
Yeah, Sarah certainly isn't interested in getting anyone with "Black-think" on her side. Time and time again we see these chickenshit bullies viciously attack someone, then slink away when they get pulled off the bloody hulk they just created and scream that THEY were the true victim, that their rights were violated
That's simply a load of horse-shit. This is EXACTLY how modern day racism functions. The Klan is largely gone, the Skinheads are now a joke (although I wouldn't laugh in their face about it, I've seen more than my share of skinhead brawls up close and personal when I work as the soundman at a downtown Sacramento Nightclub) - but THIS, this is exactly how any complaints or concerns of racial bias and intimidation are reacted to - with scorn, contempt, ridicule and ultimately self-aggrandizement.
if they happen to be Hateful Christian Extremists, that is.
Washington (CNN) -- Missouri's tight restrictions on protests and picketing outside military funerals were tossed out by a federal judge Monday, over free speech concerns.
A small Kansas church had brought suit over its claimed right to loudly march outside the burials and memorial services of those killed in overseas conflicts. The state legislature had passed a law to keep members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church from demonstrating within 300 feet of such private services.
But that doesn't mean that other "Extremists" are going to take this lying down...
While both Democratic leaders (Harry Reid) and Republicans (Pat Buchannan vs Newt Gingrich's Hate Speech) are turning themselves into pretzels of the Mosque that's not a Mosque, in the area that's not Ground Zero - we've been having a set of Bigoted Christian Supremacists running around the country and protesting at the funerals of our troops in order to express their opinion of God's "Diapproval" of Teh Ghey.
It's literally like Leviticus vs John.
Religious Literalists from Westboro want to take the "Abomination of a man lying with a man" to it's ultimate conclusion - but I have this question for them, what about the "abomination" of children talking back to their elders?
Do they deserve to be put to death?
What about the Bible's support for Slavery? What about the prohibition from planting different crops in the same field or wearing cloth of two different types?
What about the fact that Moses under Levitican law allowed people to become divorced, but Jesus overrode him in Matthew 19:
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
Jesus argued that Marriage - under God - is for life and that anyone who tried to divorce and marry another, was committing adultery. So should they be put to death, harrassed, shamed? No. Not according to John 8:
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
The Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church do have a "Right" to protest for their version of the Bible, just as much as others have a right to argue that they've gotten it completely wrong, that Jesus repeatedly overrode and updated Moses Levitican laws. They're like Constitutional Originalists who refuse to acknowledge the 13th Amendment or 14th Amendment.
– “We already have a 5th column that is already infiltrating into our colleges, into our universities, into our high schools, into our religious aspect, our cultural aspect, our financial, our political systems in this country. And that enemy represents something called Islam and Islam is a totalitarian theocratic political ideology, it is not a religion. It has not been a religion since 622 AD, and we need to have individuals that stand up and say that.”
To People who say that Islam isn't a Religion, would you say that to Muhammad Ali? Would you say it to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Islam has been a part of the fabric of America since it's founding, since the Treaty of Tripoli where President John Adams stated:
As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion - as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen, - and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arrising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
Just as our Current President did say....
Obama: This is America, and our commitment to Religious Freedom must be unshakable.
And didn't walk back when he later said this...
Obama: My intention was to simply let people know what I thought... In this country we treat everyone equally, . I was not commenting, and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decisions to put a mosque there, I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have that dates back to our founding. As difficult as some of these issues are, (we should) stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about.
In both cases, the President was absolutely correct. Just as the Judge who approved the Westboro protests was correct. In this country we have the Right of Religious Freedom and Expression, the Right to Public Assembly and the Right to Petition our Government.
We have that Right even if what we have to say, and that which we worship is essentially vile and despicable to others. Westboro has that Right, but so does the Park 51 Community Complex.
Fortunately though, we also have the right - to protest the protesters. To call out their Hate and replace it with knowledge, understanding, compassion and outreach just as Jesus replaced the isolationist and openly xenophobic views of Moses, with Love, Forgiveness and Repentance.
It is so interesting to me that so many so called "Christians" don't seem to know the very first thing about Christ - or their own Country.
– More than twice as likely as the general public (25% vs 11%) to believe that “the policies of the Obama administration favor blacks over whites.”
– Half as likely as the general public (16% to 31%) to believe that “white people have a better chance of getting ahead in today’s society.”
– Almost twice as likely as the general public (52% to 28%) to believe that “too much has been made of the problems facing black people” in recent years.
But it's not like any of that is Racist or anything....
Contrary to the Mark William's claim that that it's "Impossible for the Tea Party to be Racist"... it's seems that that is exactly what they are, and then some...
Williams: It's impossible for the Tea Party to be racist, because it's about the Constitution. It's about individual rights. What's racist about demanding for lower taxes, less intrusive government, no more bailouts and stop the rape of the private sector.
Except for the question of exactly whose going to pay those taxes, because apparently if you ask the Tea Partiers they think it's going to be the "White People" - and whose going to be "intruded on" by the government, they seem to think it's going to be private sector Corporations (run by white people) who have been refusing to give black people loans for the homes and businesses, or to provide them health care.
It's all about the Constitution, except for the the 1st Amendment protections for Freedom of the Press, and Freedom of Religion - and except for the 4th Amendment protection against Unreasonable Search and Seizure since these guys like Racial Profiling of Blacks and Muslims so much - and except for the 5th and 8th Amendment protections against "Self Incrimination" due to "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" when it comes to some Terrorist Scum we want to question - and except for the 14th Amendment guarantee of "Equal Protection for All Persons within the Jurisdiction of the State" when it comes to Marriage Equality, and especially children who are born here no matter what sins their parents may or may not have committed.
Once you peel back the union skin this is what you find....
As TP’s Matt Yglesias wrote in this weekend’s Washington Post, right-wing xenophobes are fueling a “summer of fear” that has its roots in the economic downturn. The strategy of linking racial resentment to fears of economic redistribution and government control under a black presidency — in right-wing storylines including Van Jones, Shirley Sherrod, New Black Panther Party, ACORN, the “Ground Zero Mosque“, and “anchor babies” — is finding a ready audience among the people who identify themselves as tea party supporters.
To this very day Glenn Beck repeatedly uses the clip of President Obama saying "The Police acted Stupidly" as an supposed example of HIS bias. But the facts are the Sgt Crowley Lied on his Police Report.
When I arrived at 17 Ware street I radioed ECC and asked that they have the caller meet me at the front door to this residence. SNIP . As I reached the door, a female voice called out to me. I turned and looked in the direction of the voice and observed a white female, later identified as Lucia Whalen. Whalen, who was standing on the sidewalk in front of the residence, held a wireless telephone in her hand and told me that it was she who called. She went on to tell me that the observed what appeared to be two black males with backpacks on the porch of 17 Ware street.
Lucia Whalen never told him any of that - Lucia Whalen never spoke with Officer Crowley. Calling what he did "Stupid" was frankly an upgrade when compared to the facts.
Shirley Sherrod did NOT unfairly discriminate against a White Farmer as a member of the USDA.
ACORN did not steal the 2008 Election, or attempt to help a Pimp and Prostitute setup of a under-age Sex Ring - they called the Police on them - TWICE.
In a broad study of adults in Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, and California conducted between February and March, the University of Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race, and Sexuality (WISER) asked a number of questions about “racial resentment” — such as whether blacks don’t try hard enough or have gotten more than they deserve. Conservatives are 23 percent more likely to be racially resentful, and Republicans 15 percent more likely than Democrats. However, the institute found that this racial sentiment isn’t simply a byproduct of white conservativism:
[E]ven as we account for conservatism and partisanship, support for the Tea Party remains a valid predictor of racial resentment.
It is untrue, as political commentator Dave Weigel argues, that racism in the Tea Party is merely reflective of its conservatism. The WISER study found that compared to other conservatives, Tea Party supporters are:
– 25 percent more likely to have racial resentment.
– 27 percent more likely to support racial profiling.
– 28 percent more likely to support indefinite detention without charges.
Tea Party supporters are also significantly more likely to hold racial stereotypes, with a majority believing blacks are not hard-working, intelligent, or trustworthy. Their fear of others transcends race, however — the WISER study found that a majority of tea party adherents distrust Latinos, Asians, and other whites as well.
See there, at least their equal opportunity paranoids. They fear and loath everyone different from themselves equally. This is why we're having these ridiculous battles over who can put a mosque where - despite our alleged 1st Amendment Right to Freedom of Religion. This is we're hearing so much suddenly about changing the 14th Amendment to prevent Anchor Babies, and why they losing their God Damned Minds over Judge Walker's calm rational Equal Protection Decision in the Prop 8 case.
They're Bigots, plain and simple.
And the Republican Party (and Fox News) is planning to continually play the "White FEAR CARD" - the Southern Strategy Redux in order to ride this wave of paranoia right back into control of Congress.
The sad thing is that it just might work too - if we let them get away with it.
Wherein David Boies cuts Tony Perkins of the Family Bigot Council into tiny tiny ribbons.
Following the typical Prop H8 Bigot Script Tony Perkins trots all the old saws - The Judge is openly Gay (So I guess you can't trust an Emotional Old Queen to make a decision fairly?) - he ignored all of the "social science" on the issue (none of which was produced by actual scientists) - he ignored the will of the people in 30 states (which has exactly what bearing on the law and Constitution?)
Boies sliced him into guilian fries in seconds:
Boies: All of that is Junk Science. It's easy to come on TV and Lie, but to sit in a witness chair and present your opinions, and have them challenged and be cross examined is a lonely place. It's a lonely place to Lie under oath.
If people like Perkins really believed their position they would have put their asses in a witness chair and taken the heat for it - but most of them didn't
This is what the crumbling of Perkin's Sexual Supremacy sounds like.
Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples.
OLSON: Well, would you like your right to free speech? Would you like Fox’s right to free press put up to a vote and say well, if five states approved it, let’s wait till the other 45 states do? These are fundamental constitutional rights. The Bill of Rights guarantees Fox News and you, Chris Wallace, the right to speak. It’s in the constitution. And the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the denial of our citizens of the equal rights to equal access to justice under the law, is a violation of our fundamental rights. Yes, it’s encouraging that many states are moving towards equality on the basis of sexual orientation, and I’m very, very pleased about that. ... We can’t wait for the voters to decide that that immeasurable harm, that is unconstitutional, must be eliminated
Yeah, I'd like to see how well the Rabid Million Moran Fox Nation could withstand the Vote of all those who regular watch every other News Channel combined, not to mention all the fans of Shark Week.
As some have noted the defendants in the case may lack standing to appeal to the Ninth Circuit and thus this decision would be limited to California and Prop 8, which almost makes me wish the Governor and Attorney General would join the suit if only to make Marriage Equality the National Standard.
The 14th Amendment was written - in part - to allow former slaves to marry under the law, how could it not apply to today's couples who've been cruelly and systematically denied the same right out of fear, ignorance, hatred and the outright LIES of people like Perkins?
