Today though I wanted to come out and express my overwhelming surprise and joy that Prop 8 has been struck down.  Read more about it over at the Bilerico Project.  I also wanted to point out that while I am very happy about this development it still pisses me off that in 2010 we have to hope for court rulings to ensure American citizens get equal rights.  What the fuck.  Anyhow, great news and I highly recommend reading Judge Walker’s Opinion.

Novak Attacks Gov. Sibelius For Supporting Womens Rights

The other day douchebag of liberty Robert Novak wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post praising Kansas Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius for her strong support for women’s rights and reproductive freedom. I wanted to thank Robert Novak as I don’t think that the nation is aware of the many progressive values and accomplishments of our wonderful Governor. Being from Kansas, Sibelius has been branded a moderate Democrat and I think this article was exactly what she needed to help bolster her progressive image. Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks so either.

The Rest of The News

• John McCain thinks that the reason American’s are dispirited is because we haven’t passed a trade agreement with Colombia. Yup, that nails it perfectly. It’s not endless pointless war, 4$ gas, an economy in the toilet, and his view of 4 more of the same … it’s that Colombia thing that has us all down. Dumbass.
• Former Republican Bob Barr secures Libertarian Party nomination. There is talk that this could cause problems with McSame but really I’m just happy that the crazy Libertarians have a party. Makes it easier to tell who they are and avoid them.
• John McCain continues to lie and distort about the Webb G.I. Bill that would greatly improve education benefits for our soldiers.
• The Republicans like to tout our all-volunteer army, especially when avoiding responsibility for their deaths and disabilities. Only we don’t actually have an all-volunteer army as thousands of troops have been forced to remain in active duty after their contracts expire. Well, now Democrats are trying to make sure these troops are fairly compensated. lets see how fast the Republicans prove that “Supporting the Troops” is just a bumper sticker.
• A Ford dealership, Keiffe & Sons Ford, in Mojave CA is running an ad that clearly discriminates against non-Christians.
  

  But did you know that 86% of Americans say they believe in God? Since we all know that 86 out of every 100 of us are Christians, who believe in God, we at Keiffe & Sons Ford wonder why we don’t tell the other 14% to sit down and shut up. I guess maybe I just offended 14% of the people who are listening to this message. Well, if that is the case then I say that’s tough, this is America folks, it’s called free speech. None of us at Keiffe & Sons Ford are afraid to speak out. Keiffe & Sons Ford on Sierra Highway in Mojave and Rosamond, if we don’t see you today, by the grace of God, we’ll be here tomorrow.

  Ford has been less than concerned about this as well. Well, I this makes my next car purchase that much easier.

• Lieberman apparently compared Pastor Hagee to Moses? I don’t really understand either but I have long ago given up on understanding conservatives and soulless leaches like Lieberman and McCain. Curious though, does that mean that to guys like Lieberman when McCain denounced Hagee’s endorsement (after first seeking it) it’s akin to denouncing Moses? Interesting.

Video Photo Montage of the Day

Michelle Malkin, who is famous for having a fat ass and a … sorry, thats someone else … has surpassed her previous record for stupidity by making the insane connection between celebrities wearing scarves and supporting terrorists. So as a public service I feel the need to expose the other hidden terrorists lovers hiding in Hollywood.

Thats after just 5 minutes on Google. I shudder to think how many terrorists loving scarf wearers are lurking out there. I’m going to have to subscribe to Malkins RSS Feed so that she can keep me safe.

Photo Credits

• California Style
• The Glamourous Life
• Celebrity Beauty Buzz
• Will Askew
• Bauer Griffon Online
• Glamour.com

Obama Rally draws 70,000+ in Portland

[youtube width="250" height="197"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ4XsemlDP4[/youtube]

Alright, I know that there are more important things going on in the world than just another campaign rally. It feels like the primary has been going on for years and the last thing people want to read about is some random rally in Portland. Just kidding! 70,000 PEOPLE! Seriously have we ever had such an amazing and exciting time to be a Democrat. Wow. (h/t Crooks and Liars)

McCain has a Serious Lobbyist Issue

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

After running on his “record” as being “anti-lobbyist” and promising to “clean up” Washington John McCain is developing a real lobbyist problem. A problem in that his campaign is run, staffed, and financed almost entirely by lobbyists. Worse than that several high ranking lobbyists in his campaign have been linked to horrible causes. For more read this from The Carpetbagger Report.

All the News you Need to Know

• The Legislatures in Tennessee are trying to push through a bill to teach the glories of the Bible in public schools. I think that learning about the history of all religions is a good idea, focusing entirely on “the greatest and most popular book in history” in order to teach students “our culture and our highest and best values” isn’t.
• I hadn’t heard this bit of craziness but apparently there is this thing going around about the world ending in 2012 because thats when the Mayan calender ends. Spoiler alert! The world isn’t going to end and here is a good explanation why.
• Four of the Philadelphia police officers were fired after the videotaped beating of three suspects. Several others were demoted and/or suspended. Only four?
• I don’t watch Fox News so I hadn’t heard this but apparently there is a silly smear campaign that Barack Obama is the most liberal Democratic Senator. Sadly this isn’t true.
• Emergency contraception has been approved for over the counter sale in Canada. While here in America the religious right is trying to ban all birth control. * Sigh *
• The Alliance Defense Fund is looking for pastors to knowingly break the law that prevents churches from engaging directly in partisan politics. The goal being to sue to have the rules removed so that they can make the transition into a full blown theocracy easier.

Video of the Day

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPWFupNHhs[/youtube]

h/t Eschaton

Have a wonderful day
William ~ WWJV4.com

“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

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

I didn’t really expect the Republicans to allow their policies to be held accountable for being a complete failure. That would have been totally out of character for a party that seems to think accountability and responsibility only apply to other people. So even though it failed to produce any effective chances it is nice to see that the failure of abstinence-only education to educate and protect children is finally being addressed.

As a sign that this is happening the Daily Show ran a segment on this last night. Hopefully this marks a turning of public opinion away from failure and religious dogma. Enjoy the clip below.

My favorite part is when Rep John Duncan (R-Tenn) says “Seems rather elitist to me for people who maybe have degrees in this field to feel that they, because they have studied it, somehow know better than the parents”. Riiiiiiight, because being smart and knowing things is elitist. No wonder conservatives are hardly ever accused of being elitists. Mystery solved. I do feel the need to point out that intellectual bullying is one of the warning signs of fascism, way to maintain that perfect score.

William ~ WWJV4.com

However while Rob Sherman may have accepted her apology Rep. Davis still has a lot of making up to do. Personally I think its probably too little too late but I don’t live in Chicago. Ultimately it will be up to those she represents to decide if she is the type of Democrat they want in office. At least she isn’t using her bigotry as an opportunity to raise money though.

Rep. Davis still needs to apologize to the great number of people who she offended. Saying that “This is the land of Lincoln where people believe in God” is an attack on everyone who does not adhere to Christianity(1). If Rep. Davis cannot bring herself to do this, or does not feel that it is necessary, then I am certain the people of Chicago can find a better Democrat to represent them.

William
WWJV4.com

1: There is a lot of historical evidence that Lincoln, who never joined a church or defended himself against accusations of being a deist or atheist, wasn’t a Christian. Most likely Lincoln believed in Deism, the belief in a creator that is not personally involved in peoples daily lives. Not really important as I don’t expect Rep. Davis to know this but it’s important to bring up as the fundamentalists keep trying to push the myth that America was founded as a Christian nation.

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=T35_vQms4Ck[/youtube]

Download the video here

Here is a short transcript of the conversation, you can read the rest here. They also have audio. From listening to the audio I can say that Rob Sherman stayed calm and polite through the conversation.

Davis: It’s dangerous to the progression of this state. And it’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists! Now you will go to court to fight kids to have the opportunity to be quiet for a minute. But damn if you’ll go to [court] to fight for them to keep guns out of their hands. I am fed up! Get out of that seat!

Sherman: Thank you for sharing your perspective with me, and I’m sure that if this matter does go to court—

Davis: You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon.

What makes this more disappointing than the bigoted words of Sally Kern is that Rep. Davis is a Democrat with a strong voting record on reproductive and civil rights and the environment (see voting record here). I have come to accept this kind of religious intolerance from Republicans. I guess these things just go to show show just how deeply the religious right has embedded their intolerance into our society.

If you would like to let Rep. Davis know how you feel about her words here is her contact information. As always please be polite. I would expect an apology will be made shortly. For more reading check out Eric Zorn and PZ Meyers posts on this.

In part 1 of this series I provided two videos of Reverend Wright that put his words in context. I strongly believe that while some may not agree with his points, his sermons are no more racist or anti-American than anyone else’s. To illustrate that I also provided four clips of conservative religious leaders making statements that are far more hateful and intolerant than any to be found by Reverend Wright.

The fact that the statements made by Reverend Wright have generated many times the amount of negative media coverage as those by his conservative counterparts is unquestionable. The only question then is why there is such a disparity between how the two are not only handled by the media, but viewed by the average American. In part two of this series I will explore how this hypocrisy is a direct result of conservative Christian culture. I apologize in advance for how long this is.

Media Bias Against Progressive Religion

The right wing propaganda machine is exceptionally good at misinforming its base, who are in turn exceptionally good at being misinformed. One of the biggest and most successful propaganda campaigns has been painting of our mainstream media as having a heavy liberal bias. While many objective studies have debunked this claim the right wing continues its propaganda, knowing full well that their followers will only accept the truth that they already believe (see below) regardless of any amount of information to the contrary. In this manner the right wing not only control the media through the corporations that own them, but also condition their followers to dismiss any harmful information as liberal lies.

As a result of the media’s perception of being to the left of center everything they cover is viewed through a distorted lens (like in a circus fun house) that shifts everything to the ideological left. In this manner the mainstream media is able to present radical fundamentalist Christians as if they represented mainstream American ideals even though they are in actuality far to the right of most Christians. The disparity in the amount of coverage conservative religious leaders receive over their progressive counterparts and the illusion of everything shifting to the left has serious consequences for the religious and moral discussion in America. This fun house mirror effect causes progressive ideals to appear far more radical than they really are which explains how even when viewed in context many conservatives will still think that Reverend Wright is racist and intolerant. Even worse though it has led directly to my next point.

Fundamentalism Has Hijacked Religion and Morality

Anyone who is not a conservative Christian and has spent more than a few minutes speaking with one will understand this point. Fundamentalists all share the belief that they own a monopoly on morality and that it is in fact impossible to be a good person if you are not a part of their belief system. The belief structure of conservative Christianity is that the only possible truth is that which comes from within their established belief structure forming a self referencing and self validating world view. Essentially it boils the burden of proof on anything down to whether or not their leaders say its true.

Conservative fundamentalists view themselves as a group of flawed individuals following a perfect belief. As flawed individuals they believe that the organizations and groups that they belong to carry the same moral perfection that they attribute to their religious beliefs. Naturally these groups include their clubs, partisan political attack groups, and churches but oddly they also extend to the country as an entity. This is due to the delirious belief that America is a Christian nation and that our laws, policies, and foreign military excursions are directly guided by the hand of God. As God is running the show so to speak, at least when there is a Republican in the White House, our nations actions are due the same scrutiny as their holy Bible, none.

How It All Ties Together

This is where Reverend Wright got himself into trouble. As the sole authority on what is right and wrong fundamentalist Christians do no take it kindly when others call on them to be responsible for actions that they do not feel are wrong. Yet Reverend Wright did just that. He attributed the attack on 9/11 to our foreign policy mistakes and imperialism. He called on America to accept responsibility for its past racist actions against not only the Black community but also Native Americans and other minorities. He called on America to accept the results of its history and to make the changes necessary to right those wrongs.

When fundamentalists are confronted with something that they do not agree with they only have one possible reaction, attack it. Alternatives like open mindedness, acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, or any of the other traits they like to portray themselves as having don’t actually appear to exist for those outside the group. While this makes them horrible dinner guests, it makes them excellent attack dogs. So thats what they did with Reverend Wright. If your still wondering why these attacks are all based on misinformation, racism, and fear tactics your not paying attention. They have no relationship with truth or facts to draw upon even if they wanted to.

Anyhow, this is a short summery of how the fundamentalist Christian culture has contributed to the ridiculous Reverend Wright “controversy”. I really could go on and on with examples and references but I don’t think its necessary. Those who would be swayed but such things are most likely already convinced, and for the rest it would be wasted effort. I am not supposed to work on the weekends as my wife says I work too much but I will try to get the final part out anyhow. I promise it will be shorter.

Comments are welcome but as before no race-baiting comments or allegations against Reverend Wright or anyone else. If you would like to refute my point please do so, just remember that in a debate both sides carry an equal burden of proof.

Read the Rest of the Series

Preachers Say the Darndest Things Part 1