Some of you may have seen the "RedState Morning Briefing Summary" diaries that I've been doing. The stories in the RedState Morning Briefings are chosen by site editor Erick Erickson from among the "front page" postings of the previous day.
The RMBs are only published on weekdays. Even thought the conservatives are supposedly more hard-working than we are, I guess that doesn't include weekends.
In order to get my RedState fix, I've decided to add a weekend feature. This will summarize the contents of the RedState recommended diaries list. This, like the one on Daily Kos, is comprised of user-written commentary selected by recommenders.
Due to the tiny size of RedState, the recommended list often takes a long time to change. (Note: I see that it has changed from since I started this. Oh well.) It also doesn't take much in the way of recommendations to get on it. Typically, there are only about a dozen recommenders and a dozen comments on a RedState recommended diary.
If you think what's on the RedState Morning Briefing is low quality, then you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Woonsocket Tea Party group stops supplemental tax increase.
It’d be nice if we all had enough money to buy all the things that we wanted. We don’t. And until we do, that means that state and local governments need to start doing what the rest of us have to do: start living within their means. That includes not taking the attitude that just because it’d be nice to do something doesn’t mean that there’s an obligation to do it, or that people in opposition to doing something that they can’t really afford aren’t just being mean or cruel about it, or that there’s any obligation for the universe to conform to anyone’s individual will.
Blah blah blah. The Republicans lowered taxes and raised spending for eight years. We're spending trillions on a war we can't afford and didn't need to fight. Now these people are heroes for making sure their children's schools go bankrupt. What utter fucknuts.
Not Another Obama Rant
If you’ve read my prior articles, then you know I am not too fond of the activities of the Obama administration. I’ve gotten criticism from my friends on the left for only complaining when I disagree with Obama, yet never saying anything about the good Obama has done. So for this article, I’ve decided to not discuss the disagreements I have with the Obama administration — this article isn’t about that.
This isn’t about Obama promising during the campaign that he was not for "big government or small government but smart government" ...
The article goes on like that with it's one gag: "I'm not going to talk about [repeat debunked Obama smear here]." Another example is how the author claims that Obama promised to end earmarks; he didn't promise to end them, and the Republicans — many of same ones who whined about earmarks — inserted at least half of them. Still, according to this ignorant repeater of propaganda, Obama's the hypocrite.
Pirates and Power Games: Bringing the Devolved State of Somalia into Focus (Updated!)
Imagine you are walking down the street, and down a small alley, you see four dogs. It is obvious the dogs were once well-taken care of, but one by one, they were left to fend for themselves. They are skinny, dirty, and you can hear them whimpering. Feeling terrible for them, you decide to nip into the store adjacent to the alley and buy a few cans of dog food, figuring it’s the least you can do. The shopkeeper notices what you are doing, and asks if you plan on feeding the strays in the alley. He is concerned, because he has noticed that the dogs tend to get snappish when the restaurant that shares the alley begins cooking food for the dinner rush. You acknowledge his uneasiness, but take it in stride: after all, they’re hungry! It’s only natural that the smell of food gets them worked up!
What the hell is this about? Most of the post is a short story that purports to explain the Somalis by comparing them to stray dogs who live in an alley. Then along comes a Nice Human™ (I guess that's the U.S.) who tries to help and ends up paying a terrible price for this good deed. It's The White Man's Burden except even more offensive.
Time for a New Moral Majority
For lack of a better term, a new moral majority is sorely needed. People of faith need a re-awakening to the fact that the eternal truths they hold dear in private are applicable to all of reality, all seven days a week, both in private and in public. There must be no more fear and no more diminishing of faith as a guide in private and in public life . . . a new moral majority needs to grab the cultural bull by the horns before it goes completely rabid with the progressive virus.
Where to start? By defining shared principles.
I not only went to Church today, but I also attended a performance of Jesus Christ, Superstar (no kidding), so I could really spend some time tearing into this misrepresentation of Christianity. Unfortunately, I've got a lot of other garbage to summarize, so I'll do my best to keep this short.
Here's just a sample slice of this crap-loaf:
We are also told, by God, that we will be held responsible for the use, misuse, and neglect of our talents. Herein is the oft neglected responsibility component. A new moral majority should indeed hold up something like the beatitudes as a model, but equally so, a new moral majority should also embrace the parable of the talents in Matthew 25: 14 - 30. We should always be reminded that personal responsibility, to the best of an individual’s capacity, is an expectation of adulthood in these United States. In the parable of the talents, the servant with one talent buried it for fear of the master. For reasons of fear, he abdicated his responsibility.
Basically, the author (predictably) goes on to use this parable to attack the welfare state.
Now, you could just say, "So what, we have a secular government and we require secular reasons to formulate public policy," and you'd be correct. In fact, there are plenty of secular reasons why we don't want to live in a banana republic where the rich live in enclaves and everyone else lives in a slum where people are dying in the streets. Still, our spiritual beliefs can motivate us to support one policy or another according to how they inform our conscience.
The parable the author cites is about people who have received something extra and how they have a responsibility to apply those gifts. Welfare and other social programs are about people who are suffering because they have nothing, including access to the mainstream of society. Ironically, the very next part of Matthew speaks to that. From The Message translation:
[Jesus] will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to [feed, clothe, or care for] someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'
So, basically, if you want to drag Christianity into the arena, then building social safety nets and providing universal access to health care are not only a good idea, they are your holy mission. Most of these theocrat assholes don't even read the Bible and those who do, obviously don't understand it.
If you're unfamiliar with Matthew 25, it's worth reading if only to increase your cultural literacy. I recommend reading the easy-to-grok version in The Message translation.
If not, at least try to ponder the level of dementia required to make this claim (back to the article):
...outside of the religious context, marriage is just a grab-bag of legal goodies, not the bedrock of society.
If Grocery Shopping Were Just Like Health Care
This is another analogy that flares up into a flaming inferno of hot stupid almost immediately.
The problem: Americans are spending more and more of their hard-earned money on food. Millions of Americans are hungry due to a lack of food. Americans who lose their jobs may be unable to afford to buy food.
The current food distribution is unequal; some have plenty to eat, some have too little. Many grocery stores turn people away who cannot afford to buy food. This is a crisis. We cannot be competitive for the 21st century unless all Americans are secure in their food!
Um. Food stamps, anyone? This is just one of several programs designed to keep Americans from starving to death if they can't afford or obtain food. I guess the message here is that if we can take the same sarcastic lack of compassion shown here for starving people and apply it to sick people, the world will be a better place.
Remember, these are the people who talk endlessly about how we're a Christian country.
Liberal pagans sacrifice children to global warming idol [Earth Day update]
Gamecock’s Earth Day wish? Subdue it and have dominion over it, as in Genesis 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth", but I digress...
When Moses descended from Mount Sinai 5000 years ago with the Ten Commandments, the pagans of Canaan were sacrificing virgins to Baal. The Hebrews and Christians civilized the Western World including founding most of the great universities, where, within several centuries, those behind the Ivory Towers indulged in making themselves God.
The 21st Century liberal pagans may be worse than their ancient ancestors however, given their sex education zealotry likely sacrifices many children’s virginity before the tots are themselves sacrificed to Gaia:
There’s a new bogeyman lurking in the closet, and this one isn’t imaginary. Us. One out of three children aged 6 to 11 fears that Ma Earth won’t exist when they grow up, while more than half—56 percent—worry that the planet will be a blasted heath (or at least a very unpleasant place to live), according to a new survey.
When I was ages 6-11, 35% of my age group were convinced that we would die in a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Progressives offer hope; it's the conservatives who trade on fear. Note the messages of the 2008 election: "Hope" vs. "Don't vote for the secret Muslim who hates America."
I really thought this article was just going to be another misapplication of religion, but it really transcends that and enters into a realm of gibberish that almost defies belief.
Return of the Enumerated Powers Act
Representative John Shadegg (R-AZ) has re-introduced in the House HR 450, the Enumerated Powers Act, which would compel lawmakers to cite specific constitutional authority for all bills. This is not the first time he has introduced this bill. See here, here, and here for other discussion on it. It has no chance of passing through the Democrat dominated Congress, or even getting out of Democrat-controlled committees, but it needs to be cheered on.
I'd like to see where there's a specific Constitutional authority to ban abortion or gay marriage. I guess that's why they want a Marriage Amendment and a Human Life Amendment.
It would be awesome if the conservatives decided that all the legislation they wanted had to be in the form of Constitutional Amendments. They'd never get anything passed. Ever. What a beautiful world it would be.
A Tragedy That Needs To Be Politicized
Other times, the worst of consequences should and could have been prevented. Huntsville, Alabama teenagers Leigh Anna Jimmerson and Tad Mattle appear to have been stricken down by just such an act of unconscionable non-random malice. They were rear-ended by a drunken driver Friday night and killed. The drunken driver was obviously in our country illegally.
The last sentence makes it sound like we know that the driver was an illegal immigrant because he caused a drunk driving accident. I thought that was just an accident of bad writing, at first. Then, I read this:
So a man with no legal address of record, four separate aliases, a set of fake IDs and a long list of priors for flying blind has just killed two young people. If this man isn’t illegally in the United States, I’ll pay $50 to anyone who presents proof of his legal status. Show me a properly filled out I9 on the man, and I’ll personally apologize for ever stating that he was an illegal alien before the Huntsville Police publically confirm this obvious fact.
So yeah, that's what he meant: a guy with a Hispanic name and a rap sheet gets in a drunk driving accident and we can assume he is an illegal immigrant.
I guess I know what he means by "politicizing" this: "Someone douse the cross in lighter fluid, I'll go round up the boys."
Truly Disturbing Attack on Freedom of Religion
DETROIT — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom filed a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University Thursday after school officials dismissed a student from the school’s counseling [sic] program for not affirming homosexual behavior as morally acceptable. The school dismissed Julea Ward from the program because she would not agree prior to a counseling [sic] session to affirm a client’s homosexual behavior and would not retract her stance in subsequent disciplinary proceedings.
OK, quick story: When my wife was getting her Masters in Theology, she also lectured in Evolutionary Biology. At the start of her course, she would give this little speech:
This is a course on evolutionary biology. You will be expected to learn about the subject and apply your knowledge. If your religious beliefs compel you to reject the legitimacy of this material, you will fail the class. I have a bunch of drop forms here, drop now before you have to take an 'F'. If you are thinking about staying in the class and besting me with Biblical arguments, you should also know that I'm in Seminary and I assure you that I know the Bible better than you do. You will lose the arguments. You will fail the class. Drop now. You've been warned.
People have every right to believe what they want to, but they have no right to expect an entire field of study to accommodate them. The field of psychology has accepted, for decades now, that homosexuality is neither unnatural, harmful nor wrong. If that's a problem for this woman, she doesn't have to pursue a career in the field.
Moving on...
Going Against the Flow
Napolitano is an idiot; no question about that but to call for her resignation will change nothing. As one put it:
"I don’t know that the secretary understands the depth of the disruption that she’s caused," Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, told FOX News on Thursday, referring to the report on extremist threats. "I think the appropriate thing to do is for her to step down and let’s move on."
except there will be no moving on. Like everything else in Washington, D.C. once done, it is rarely undone. The report is dissminated and the investigations will go on whether it’s Napolitano in charge or a replacement.
Napalitano hasn't apologized and won't be fired because she's done nothing wrong. She didn't even do what they are accusing her of. This article also quotes the Queen of Wingnuts, Michelle Bachmann.
It's just a huge display of faux outrage marshalled against a completely fabricated offense.