I loves the Fafblog!
Fare thee well, Tom DeLay. After years of diligently and thanklessly serving his donors, his lobbyists, and himself, the former House majority leader is leaving the United States Congress. He has endured one of the cruelest smear campaigns in recent political memory, a bitter and protracted effort to paint him as a criminal simply because he broke the law. And who in his position could have done otherwise? Even a heart as pure as Tom DeLay's was bound to be seduced by the corruption of Washington, a magical land where the streets are paved with kickbacks, corruption flows like sweet wine, and lobbyists condense on the morning grass with the newfallen dew…
I don't always agree with Cathy Young, but her recent column on Tom DeLay and the non-existent "War on Christians" is also quite good.
I, for one, truly hope that Pat Robertson contracts some horrible, disfiguring disease within the next week so that I can blame it on God's wrath. My preference is for something truly outrageous, like sprouting horns or perhaps a particularly virulent strain of syphilis (but I would settle for uncontrollable bowel movements). Perhaps I should set up a poll, and people can vote for their "favorite" affliction. Necrotizing fasciitis, anyone?
Side note: Googling stupid pat robertson quotes results in 417,000 hits, including this page of The 10 Stupidest Things Pat Robertson Ever Said. I'm amazed that they could pare it down to only 10 (plus a few "bonus" quotes).
Still at work. Still screaming on the inside:
[FCC Chairman Kevin] Martin has hired lobbyist and activist Penny Nance as an advisor to the FCC.As [Mediaweek]'s Todd Shields writes, Nance is a long-time anti-pornography activist and has worked as a lobbyist for groups that "push for Christian precepts in public policy."
Until recently a board member of Concerned Women for America, which describes its mission, in part, as "helping… to bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy," Nance also worked as a lobbyist for a group called the Center for Reclaiming America. On its Web site, the Center claims that it "focuses on five key fronts of the modern-day culture war: (1) Religious Liberties, (2) the Sanctity of Life, (3) the Homosexual Agenda, (4) Pornography, and (5) Promoting Creationism."
The site also says that its aim is to "defend and implement the Biblical principles on which our country was founded."
Article [I.]
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Santorum's Director of Communications is gay, yet completely supports the Senator. As Jon Stewart would say, "Whaaa?"
Senator Santorum […] has been a staunch opponent of lesbian and gay rights and one of the Senate's strongest supporters of the Federal Marriage Amendment. The amendment would prohibit lesbian and gay couples from ever achieving marriage equality in the United States by requiring that all marriages be between one man and one woman."Isn't that the ultimate homeland security? To defend the sanctity of marriage?" asked Senator Santorum during last year's debate on the cloture motion to force a vote on the Amendment.
Via Poz (and others): excellent musical satire regarding the UK national ID card. Forthwith, we present The Very Model of a Modern Labor Minister.
The world today is filled with villains stealing one's identity
And terrorists intent on acts of violent extremity
Our citizens are prisoners, our criminals at liberty
Our nation at the mercy of felonious proclivity
Our very own Home Secretary will rebuild our society
A model of sagaciousness and picture of propriety
It's patent that protection of the future of humanity
Relies on Mr Clarke to put an end to this insanity![…]
Bernie Sanders introduces the Stamp Out Censorship Act:
"We don't need to have United States government commissars telling the American people what they can watch," says Sanders, who is concerned that already, even without new restrictive laws in force, spooked broadcasters are erring on the side of caution. In other words, censoring themselves.He points to the 66 ABC affiliates that opted not to air the patriotic war film "Saving Private Ryan" last November because of fears that the FCC might rule certain swear words in the film to be indecent (it didn't). And last spring, some PBS stations removed the image of a nude lithograph from "Antiques Roadshow."
Not too much further down this slippery slope, Sanders warns, "you might find some people here in Congress and some right-wing fundamentalists arguing that, in the midst of the war on terrorism, attacks against the president of the United States border on indecency."
Robert Kuttner on religious extremism and the separation of church and state:
[…] America, which separated church and state precisely to protect the private right to worship, has long had its share of religious absolutists who have wanted to harness the power of the state to their own view of revealed truth. But never before in our history has the government deliberately and cynically intervened on the side of the zealots. […]I never thought I'd live to see a time when the Enlightenment -- the Enlightenment! -- was politically controversial. Democracy, like science, depends on debate, tolerance, and evidence. And in a democracy, nothing is scarier than a political force convinced it is getting irrefutable truth directly from God. […]
The ever-lovin' Fafblog interviews the Constitution:
FAFBLOG: We have fallen so far from the intentions of the Founders. But what about a hot topic like abortion? Is it covered by our right to privacy.
CONSTITUTION: A right to privacy? My goodness gracious, Fafnir! The Founding Fathers didn't want Americans to have a right to privacy! Privacy was what the British were trying to force down the throats of good patriots!
FAFBLOG: I can't believe I had it wrong all this time! What about all that stuff about search an seizure an troops in your house?
CONSTITUTION: More judicial tyranny! Police searches don't require probable cause, Fafnir - they require the officers present to call "dibs." And not only does the Third Amendment require you to quarter troops in your home, it requires you to serve them punch and cookies. Do you have punch and cookies for your troops, Fafnir?
FAFBLOG: No I don't! Oh no - I am unconstitutional!
Startling new underground group spreads lack of panic!
"We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with. Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity notes for the record that he does not have a moral code but is nevertheless a good person, and Unexalted Leader Garrote of Forgiveness stipulates that Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity is a good person, and this is to be reflected in the minutes."
Bonus: the Unitarian Jihad Name Generator. My current fave is Sister Rail Gun of Compassion (although I also like Brother Spikey Mace of Love and Mercy).
My think BLUE bands arrived in the mail this week (a shout-out to Poz for bringing them to my attention). I wore my first one for less than 24 hours before giving it away to a friend who liked it. (And I forgot to grab another one out of the box to wear today!)