Supporting the Separation of Church and State

Posts Tagged ‘Wacknuttery’

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 5-28-08

Wow, it feels good to be back. I took full advantage of the holiday weekend and totally unplugged from news. I really needed it and I have a clearer head now. It’s something I totally recommend everyone doing. Of course I missed some stuff but nothing that I can’t live without knowing. It is good to be back writing again though so here is the RSS Roundup for everything important that happened in the blogosphere yesterday.

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

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

I do not think it means what you think it means

One of the words that the Bush Administration likes to throw around when talking about their failing policies is the word PROGRESS. No matter the topic; whether it’s the Iraq War, the economy, jobs, gas prices, you name it and were making “progress” on it. Like any sane and intelligent American I have long wondered what crazy metric they were using to measure this success. Well I have had an epiphany on this and I wanted to share it with you all.

When I first started hearing this I was under the assumption that “progress” was just another insecure platitude to quiet the angry masses. You know, just another way to string out the Iraq war until it becomes the Democrats problem. Now I realize that the conservatives belief that we are making progress is sincere and honest and is exactly the reason why they are unfit for government.

As a liberal and as a fan of facts and reality I tend to define the word progress, in the context used by Republicans, as meaning “the act of moving forward toward a goal”. I naturally measure this progress by how far from the goal we are and by whether or not were getting closer to that goal. I think that this way of looking at the world is not only natural and logical, but its essential for any kind of real success.

As I’m sure you can relate to this definition of progress left me confused and angry whenever conservatives used it. It’s much like accepting the offer of an apple, which you assume to be a red tasty fruit, only to receive a punch in the nose. Now imagine that happening for 7 years. Eventually you figure out that what they call an “apple” isn’t an apple at all and the last thing you want is more of their “apples”.

Understanding the conservative view of progress had me baffled until I realized one thing. For liberals success is dependent on the quantifiable achievement of a set goal. Conservatives seem to accept that success is guaranteed and that all they have to do is wait for it. This assurance of success makes things like timetables, goals, strategy, planning all irrelevant. For America to be successful we simply need to wait.

So when you start with the faith that success is inevitable the definition of progress changes. As their is no goal other than to wait for success the liberal definition of progress makes no sense. The conservative definition of progress is nothing more than the “progress through time”. When conservatives say we are making progress they don’t mean that goals are being achieved or that a sound strategy is being successfully carried out. They simply mean that time is still passing and therefore we are that much closer to our inevitable glorious success.

[youtube width="250" height="197"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biX0qI1P7B4[/youtube]

With that in mind watch this short clip taken from Keith Olberman’s 5/1/2007 episode. You will see that if you think of the word progress as a rational acceptance that time has not stopped the words of George Bush make sense. See that piece in context here.

This method of government that the conservatives are offering has clearly not worked. I would be interested in hearing a single thing that the Bush Administration has actually made better. If we allow another conservative like John McCain to be elected we can expect 4 more years of Republican “progress”.

RSS Roundup 5-20-08

Wow, lots to get to today so I won’t waste your time. I did have this dream about a new design and layout for my blog so don’t be surprised if you see something new very soon. Summer would say that I should make the design and use it for one of the many projects I have waiting to be finished. Sounds rational but the dream was about this website. I don’t know how I’ll use it but I do know that it will be one of the first things I work on this week.

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

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

Monday Morning Funnies

WWJV4′s Weekly Cectic Comic
copyright © 2007-2008, Rudis Muiznieks

I hope everyone had a good Mothers Day weekend. It went really well at our house except pretty much everyone was sick at some point. There seems to be some little bug going around that lasts a couple days. At least I’m hoping thats all the longer it lasts because the weather is getting nicer and I want to stop being sick til next winter.

Well it’s Monday morning so here is some light news and humor to start your week out right.

The Republican’s started off Mother’s Day weekend by voting against Mothers Day. This isn’t really funny, its just sick. And you all thought that Republicans were the family values party. lol (final vote results here)

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=NzlHP8Mmy6o[/youtube]

This is really cool and not as geeky as it sounds initially. There is a new game Fold It that makes protein folding competitive and fun. As you work through the levels you are taught the basics just like any other problem solving game. The game requires no science knowledge as it relies on intuitive thinking and problem solving skills. What makes this really cool is that as you advance you have the potential to make actual scientific discoveries as you work on unsolved proteins. (h/t Richard Dawkins)

A group known as “The Resistance“, which is an incestuous crossbreed of conspiracy theorists and Christian fundamentalism, has launched a boycott of Starbucks over its new Logo which shows a topless mermaid. The Resistance also supports Ron Paul. I know thats obvious from the description of the group but I wanted to point that out anyhow.

God Tube Video Of the Week

Every week we will be featuring our favorite crazy video from God Tube. If you haven’t checked it out that place is a virtual gold mine of crazy. I just started watching video’s from there last week and it is simply AMAZING. If you have a favorite clip from God Tube let me know and if its funny and crazy enough I’ll post it so we can all point and laugh.

Music Video of the Week

This weeks music video was first posted at Loganotron so stop by and say thanks. You probably know this one so go ahead and sing along. Get your co-workers in on the fun too. This version is Corky and the Juice pigs who do a very good rendition of “I’m The Only Gay Eskimo”.

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

There you all go, have a great Monday and as always consider this an open thread. I would like to hear if anyone did anything great this weekend for your mothers, sisters, wives … etc.

Thanks
William ~ WWJV4.com