Supporting the Separation of Church and State

Posts Tagged ‘Fundamentalism’

Governor Brownback??

Frozen fetuses, oh my!

Brownback arguing against stem cell research

I have the somewhat unfortunate distinction of living in Kansas, the flat rectangular state right in the middle with views wayyyy to the right. This election season finds my state ready to elect a governor. As you might imagine, we are a very RED state; however, we have been governed by a Democrat since 2003. What this has done is to bring some much needed checks and balances against our Republican state congress. This time of some sort of moderation looks as if it will come to an end after the next election. Perhaps the most conservative, fundamental christian man in government today seems poised to take over the helm of Governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback.

Sam Brownback has had a long career in the US Congress which can be summed up in just a few basic beliefs:

  • Abortion is murder and shouldn’t be allowed in ANY circumstance
  • Brown people of any shade are scary and shouldn’t be allowed in ANY circumstance
  • Homosexuality is an abomination and shouldn’t be allowed in ANY circumstance
  • Poor people and the disabled are an annoyance and shouldn’t be allowed in ANY circumstance
  • Science disagrees that we walked with dinosaurs and shouldn’t be allowed in ANY circumstance

His race baiting, hate mongering, juvenile rants on any of the above subjects are enough to make me nauseous. While Kansas and its politicians are often the subject of mockery, with Brownback as our leader, it will get exponentially worse. There is a strong Democratic candidate running, Tom Holland, who is a state Senator; however, in a red state without a lot of name recognition he is fighting an uphill battle.

I think I may be state shopping soon.

RSS Roundup 6-2-08

k, so it’s not really Monday morning anymore but if the pot of coffee you drank this morning hasn’t gotten you going maybe this will. However since I took a long weekend to finish up a project (almost) I want to do a super special RSS Roundup / Monday Morning Funnies combo edition. Thats double the value for the same low price of free! Lucky you.

Sleater-Kinney Song Stuck in my head

[youtube width="250" height="197"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNpKjmNaJpQ[/youtube]

Could do worse. Sleater-Kinney is/was an amazing band that has been broken up now for the past two years. This weekend I was listening to some of their stuff and now this song is stuck in my head. Normally listening to it over and over again gets it out but that hasn’t worked. So I’m trying to spread the joy and maybe that will help.

Everything Else You Need Know, So Sit Down and Shut Up

Video of the Day

Robert F. Kennedy: 80% of Republicans Are Just Uninformed Democrats.
[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd6P8obJmjo[/youtube]

State GOP Chair Says McCain Like Jesus

Here at WWJV4 we try to focus on the infringement of radical religious interests into our government and politics. Very seldom however do we see such a blatant statement mixing the two as what we get from Georgia Republican Party chairwoman Sue Everhart. wow, just wow.

“John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross, He never denounced God, either.”

Sue Everhart was praising John McCain for refusing to denounce America under torture. JUST LIKE JESUS! Whats more insane is that she claims that she was not trying to make a comparison between McCain and Jesus. She was just, you know, saying that he was like Jesus. Clearly not a comparison.

Look, Sue Everhart is free to hold whatever delusions she wants about the Jesusness of John McCain. However making comparisons between the GOP’s candidate and Jesus is absurd and insulting. To be honest if John McCain is actually elected president we all better hope that he is even Jesusier than Sue thinks he is because he has no plan at all to fix any of the problems facing this nation.

Personally I will side with The Carpetbagger Report and others and say that John McCain has much more in common with underpants gnomes than with Jesus. His three step plan for fixing any problem seems very much like the underpants plan.

Step 1: Steal Underpants.

Step 2: …????…

Step 3: Profit!

Bow Before McCain Toast

McCain is like Jesus, what will they stoop to next to make the Republican base like the guy? Pretty soon were going to be hearing about people seeing his face on toast. I guess the Republican mantra of do whatever it takes to win doesn’t stop at blasphemy.

One final pondering on this. Is being likened to Jesus better or worse than being hailed as the second coming of Reagan?

William ~ WWJV4.com

Minister Caught in Internet Sex Sting

Joe Barron, a minister from a Dallas-area Baptist megachurch, has been caught up in an online sex sting after driving nearly 200 miles to have sex with what he thought was a 13 year old girl. This meeting follows two weeks of sexual conversations between Joe Barron and an undercover officer posing as a 13 year old. In his car officers discovered a webcam and condoms. Joe Barron has been charged with online solicitation of a minor, and is released from jail on bond.

Joe Barron is (was?) one of 40 Baptist ministers at one of the nations largest churches, Prestonwood Baptist Church.  One of Joe Barron’s responsibilities at the church was to provide ministry for married adults.  I would assume that many of the couples that Joe Barron has served over the years had young teenage daughters.  One can only imagine how this revelation is affecting them.

I honestly feel sorry for these couples and Joe Barron’s family. In times like this it would be very easy to gloat and point out how often Republicans and Right Wing conservatives get caught up in sex scandals.  I would like to step back from that briefly and say that I feel sorry for the only victims in this crime, the couples Joe ministered over the years and his friends and family.

More on this story as information comes available.

William ~ WWJV4.com

RSS Review 5-14-08

Sorry this one is getting out late but I am sick today. However I didn’t feel right not publishing anything so here I am. Don’t be mad at me if its shorter and crappier than normal. Thats just about how I feel today. Well, maybe not shorter. crappier though for sure. At least I’m not suffering alone (get feeling better Jessica). Hope your all have a great day and I will try to post more later.

Hillary Clinton Wins BIG in West Virginia

[youtube width="250" height="197"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=OXONMGz_jAg[/youtube]

Even though I have decided to support Obama I am still very happy to see that Clinton is not only competitive in blue collar states, but overwhelmingly preferred 67% to 26%. I know that it wont happen but showings like this make my dreams of a unity ticket seem almost possible sometimes.

Hagee Flip Flops on Religious Views

[youtube width="250" height="197"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uViQ0hVV57Q[/youtube]

Taking a line from the McCain campaign John Hagee has flip flopped on his outspoken attacks on the Catholic Church. Every time McCain flip flops on a position his supporters can chalk it up to pandering for votes (or Alzheimer’s). What is it called when religious leaders flip flop on their beliefs?

The Rest of The News

  • A bar owner in Marietta is selling racist Obama – Curious George T-Shirts. Just more proof that we have a lot of work to do still.
  • Republican Congressional candidate Mike Erickson is being accused by an Oregon woman of having paid for her abortion. If true this will mark the one millionth Republican hypocrite outed this year. I think he wins a toaster.
  • Conservatives are still trying to get amnesty for their big business telecom buddies. Over at DailyKOS mcjoan has listed the names and numbers for the conservative Democrats the Republicans are targeting. If they are yours give them a call.
  • Was Einstein an atheist? Personally I could care less what Einsteins religious beliefs are but some people are making a big deal about it.
  • In Ohio a father was jailed after his daughter failed to pass the math portion of her GED. As always there is more to the story, but it doesn’t get better. Read about it here at Newshoggers.
  • Charges have been dropped against the “20th hijacker” Mohammed al-Qahtani. During his interrogation Mohammed was subjected to what people in a civilized society would refer to as torture.

    In the log, U.S. interrogators describe how they ratcheted up techniques on their captive during 50 days starting in November 2002 to extract a confession – by using sleep deprivation, leaving him strapped to an intravenous drip without bathroom breaks and having him strip naked….A special Guantanamo investigator, Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Schmidt, subsequently told Congress that al-Qahtani was also forced to wear a woman’s bra, dance with a male guard, “perform dog tricks” and was smeared with fake menstrual blood to lower his self-esteem – techniques the general described as “degrading and abusive” but not inhumane.
    Cageprisoners.com

Daily Video

Todays video is John Stewarts interview with the unapologetic neocon Douglas Feith. If there is one think to admire about neocons like Feith, they never get caught up in the little things like reality or facts. Crooks and Liars has a good write up on the interview.

Part 1

Part 2

Thats all for this morning. I’m going to take some more medicine and go lie down for a while. I know that some of the news is actually from this morning but yesterday was a pretty slow news day. Besides I normally start these the night before and then just check for new stuff in the morning. Of course this is an open thread and I’ll make sure and moderate comments through the day.

William ~ WWJV4.com