The Lady Speaks

Stoppin' By

2006-07-02T21:10:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to take a second to post something and keep this blog active. Last thing anyone needs is a site addy taken over by wingers and making people think I've crossed to the dark side. (It could happen...maybe...well.....it's conceivable. I guess it could only happen in a far-off distant planet where crazed BushBots have taken over all three branches of government, started a war with a non-aggressive country that was no threat, and left an entire city to drown...-oh. Uh...er....hmmm.....)

Anyway...

Be sure to come check out my new and improved blog at:

www.palady.wordpress.com

Thanks!

I've Moved!

2006-03-13T09:50:00.000-05:00

See the new set-up at

www.palady.wordpress.com

All the posts from this site have been imported, though I regret that none of the comments were. Seems Haloscan isn't transferable.

You know it's getting bad when...

2006-03-09T13:03:00.000-05:00

Even country music stars are mad as hell at King George.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, natives of Louisiana and Mississippi respectively, were "close to tears" when the questions turned to Katrina during a Nashville newsconference to promote their Soul2Soul tour.

From ABCnews:

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw -- two stars who usually stay out of politics -- blasted the Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort, with Hill calling the slow
progress in Louisiana and Mississippi "embarrassing" and "humiliating."

The country music artists -- who are natives of the storm ravaged states -- were at times close to tears, and clearly angry when the subject of Katrina came up during a news conference today.

(snip)

"When you have people dying because they're poor and black or poor and white, or because of whatever they are -- if that's a number on a political scale -- then that is the most wrong thing. That erases everything that's great about our country."

McGraw specifically criticized President Bush. "There's no reason why someone can't go down there who's supposed to be the leader of the free world … and say, 'I'm giving you a job to do and I'm not leaving here until it's done. And you're held accountable, and you're held accountable, and you're held accountable. ..."

(snip)

Hill, who grew up in Jackson, Miss., echoed those sentiments. So overwhelmed, she uncharacteristically unleashed an epithet, calling the situation, "Bull- - - -"

"It is a huge, huge problem and it's embarrassing," she said.

"I fear for our country if we can't handle our people [during] a natural disaster. And I can't stand to see it. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out point A to point B. . . . And they can't even skip from point A to point B.

You know, when Faith Hill starts calling "Bullshit" on the President, it's a sign of just how far he's sunk in public opinion since last summer. The 30-percenters are going to have a hard time with the cognitive dissonance this will cause.

Imagine their dilemma: "Faith and Tim say Bush is bad....but Bush is good...but...Tim and Faith say...." BLAM! (sound of heads exploding)

Hurricane Katrina Mississippi Louisiana Bush FEMA Country Music Tim McGraw Faith Hill

Mad King George

2006-03-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

I see this picture, and in my head I can hear certain lines from the Lion King's I Just Can't Wait to be King*, with King George singing Simba's lines:

I'm gonna be a mighty king
So enemies beware!
...
I'm brushing up on looking down
I'm working on my ROAR
...
Free to run around all day
Free to do it all my way!
...
Kings don't need advice
From little hornbills for a start
...
Oh, I just can't wait to be king!

*Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice

Bush The Lion King

Best Tea-Spewing Line This Morning

2006-03-09T09:34:00.000-05:00

Thanks Bob Geiger, for the mental image that made me spew hot tea through my nose and has made it necessary for me to change keyboards....again. (Note to self - no liquids while reading Bob or Jesus' General!)

At the massive fibathon held daily at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (also known as the White House press briefing) Press Secretary Scott McClellan danced like Patrick Swayze yesterday when asked about the new South Dakota ban on abortions.

Oh my! Just the thought of Scottie dirty-dancing his way around the White House Press Room......

Santorum 'hearts' lobbyists - again

2006-03-09T09:31:00.000-05:00

Sen. Rick Santorum - the soon-to-be-jobless Senator from my home state - has resumed his meetings with lobbyists. You know, the ones he promised in January to stop?

He's like a junkie who promises to go clean and even goes through rehab, but just can't keep away from the bad stuff.

The Washington Post says:

After saying in January that he would end his regular meetings with lobbyists, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), the third-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, has continued to meet with many of the same lobbyists at the same time and on the same day of the week.

Santorum, whose ties to Washington lobbyists have been criticized by his Democratic challenger, suspended his biweekly encounters on Jan. 30. His decision came as Democrats named him as their top target in November's Senate races, and after the guilty plea of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff to charges of conspiring to corrupt public officials.

But in the month since his announcement, Santorum has held two meetings attended by the same core group of lobbyists, and has used the sessions to appeal for campaign aid, according to participants. Both of those meetings were convened at the same time as the previous meetings -- 8:30 a.m. -- on the same day of the week -- Tuesday -- and they lasted for about as long as the earlier meetings -- one hour.

*sigh* Ricky, Ricky, Ricky....if you can't help yourself, I guess the voters of Pennsylvania will have to do an intervention and permanently separate you from the big money guys. Come November Ricky, you'll be saved from those big bad lobbyists, and you might have to come home and make your kids go to school in PA. Oh, the horror!

**Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file

Pennsylvania Politics Lobbyists

I'll believe it when I see a veto

2006-03-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

Headline on msnbc.com:

House Republicans defy Bush on ports deal

AP - In a congressional election-year repudiation of President Bush, a House panel dominated by Republicans voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a Dubai-owned firm from taking control of some U.S port operations. Democrats clamored for a vote in the Senate, too.

By 62-2, the House Appropriations Committee voted to bar DP World, run by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from holding leases or contracts at U.S. ports. The landslide vote was the strongest signal yet that more than three weeks of White House efforts to stunt congressional opposition to the deal have not been successful.

Are we really supposed to believe that - out of the goodness of their greedy little hearts, I suppose - the Republicans are worried about the security of this country?

These are the same people who just voted to increase the debt ceiling to a record $1.2 trillion and cut veteran's benefits. These are the same people who took lots of money from Jack Abramoff, yet claim they're working on "lobbying reform". (Heck, why not make bribery legal? Get the President to say he authorized it. No problem!)

Some of these folks are starting to sound like Democrats. Like this guy:

“One of the most vulnerable situations facing America is our ports of entry,” said Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee. “Whoever’s responsible for those ports of entry should be American.”

And this one:

“This is a national security issue,” said Rep. Jerry Lewis, the chairman of the House panel, adding that the legislation would “keep America’s ports in American hands.”

Apparently the House has responded to Bush's "Trust me." with a great big "F**k you!" If only we could entertain the hope that it was the first of many, but you know as well as I do, this is just a stunt to make the incumbents look just a little better come November.

Glenn Greenwald has a great post on this: Post-Mortem on the Intelligence Committe Vote

Government Republican Dubai United Arab Emirates Ports National Security

GO Vermont!!

2006-03-08T11:58:00.000-05:00

Five Vermont towns - Newfane, Brookfield, Dummerston, Marlboro and Putney - have passed resolutions calling for Rep. Bernie Sanders (Ind.), their sole representative in the House, to file articles of impeachment against the President, according to an Associated Press report.

In five Vermont communities, a centuries-old tradition of residents gathering in town halls to conduct local business became a vehicle to send a message to Washington: Impeach the president.

An impeachment article, approved by a paper ballot 121-29 in Newfane Tuesday, calls on Vermont’s lone member of the U.S. House, independent Rep. Bernie Sanders, to file articles of impeachment against President Bush, alleging he misled the nation into the Iraq war and engaged in illegal domestic spying.

“It absolutely affects us locally,” said Newfane select board member Dan DeWalt, who drafted the impeachment article. “It’s our sons and daughters, our mothers and fathers, who are dying” in the war in Iraq.

(snip)

Sanders issued a statement after the Newfane vote saying that although the Bush administration “has been a disaster for our country, and a number of actions that he has taken may very well not have been legal,” given the reality that the Republicans control the House and the Senate, “it would be impractical to talk about impeachment.”

Jim Barnett, chairman of the Vermont Republican Party, said Sanders should reject the resolution: “We should not be impeaching presidents just because we disagree with them.”

We shouldn't impeach them over blowjobs either, but that's been done - thanks to a Republican Congress. So why do they have a problem impeaching one who admitted he broke the law several times and intends to continue doing so. Tell me, Mr. Barnett, what's wrong with impeaching one who has ignored and/or gutted the Constitution?

*crickets chirping*

Oh. That only applies to Democratic Presidents. Hmmm. Glad we cleared that up.

This Is What Civil War Looks Like

2006-03-08T11:22:00.000-05:00

From the Associated Press:

Gunmen in camouflage uniforms stormed the offices of a private Iraqi security company and kidnapped as many as 50 employees, police said Wednesday, as U.S. and Iraqi patrols discovered 24 bodies in various parts of the capital.

(snip)

An American military patrol found 18 of the bodies — all males — in an abandoned minibus Tuesday night on a road between two notorious mostly Sunni west Baghdad neighborhoods.

The bodies were brought to Yarmouk Hospital and lined up on stretchers for identification. Most had bruising indicating they were strangled and two were shot, said Dr. Muhanad Jawad, who initially thought they had been hanged. Police believed at least two of the men were foreign Arabs.

Police found the bodies of six more men — four of them strangled and two shot — discarded in other parts of the city.

(snip)

One bomb hidden under a parked car detonated as police from the interior minister's protection force were driving through central Baghdad, killing two officers and injuring another, police said. Four bystanders were injured in the blast. The minister was not in the convoy at the time.

Another roadside bomb hit a police patrol in north Baghdad, killing two officers and injuring four others, police said.

A third one missed an American convoy on the northern outskirts of Baghdad and killed two Iraqi boys who were selling gasoline by the roadside, police said. He estimated their age at 10 or 11.

A car bomb targeting another U.S. convoy in north Baghdad injured five civilian bystanders, police said. There was no immediate word of American casualties.

An Iraqi patrol saw four gunmen pull a man from the trunk of a car and shoot him to death in west Baghdad, police reported. They said the patrol tried to intercede, but the gunmen fired at them and fled.

More gunmen pulled over a school bus carrying about 25 high school girls and shot the driver in front of his terrified passengers. The wounded driver was rushed to hospital, police said.

Tell me again....why did we invade Iraq?

Oh right, I remember! WMDs and mushroom clouds. No, that's not it. Umm, to get rid of Saddam? No, I forgot we aren't using that one anymore. Was it to bring democracy? Um, no...that didn't work quite so well. To bring peace and stability to Iraq and the Middle East? Fine job we're doing so far...

Hmmm...guess I ought to call Unka Karl and Gen. Pace to get the latest "It's not a civil war." talking points.

Sounds Familiar...

2006-03-08T08:36:00.000-05:00

This sounds a lot like what they were saying about Iraq three years ago. From MSNBC News Services:

Meanwhile, the United States and its European allies said Wednesday that Iran’s intransigence over its nuclear program has left the world no choice but to ask for the Security Council to take action against the Islamic regime.

(snip)

On Tuesday, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice both warned of dire consequences if Iran continued its nuclear fuel enrichment, while Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed that Iranian Revolutionary Guard elements had infiltrated Iraq to cause trouble.

At what point do you think Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld will start telling us that we have to act before the smoking gun is a mushroom cloud?

Iran, for its part, isn't backing down. In fact, they've issued a challenge:

Iran said on Wednesday the United States could feel “harm and pain” if the U.N. Security Council took up the issue of Tehran’s nuclear research.

“The United States may have the power to cause harm and pain but it is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if the United States wishes to choose that path, let the ball roll,” it said in a statement obtained by Reuters on the sidelines of a U.N. nuclear watchdog board meeting in Vienna.

(snip)

Tehran also said Wednesday it would have to review its oil export policy if world pressure mounted over its disputed atomic work.

Asked whether Iran would use an “oil weapon” as the world’s fourth largest crude oil exporter, Javad Vaeedi, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told Reuters: “We will not (do so now), but if the situation changes, we will have to review our oil policies.”

Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, had said on Sunday that Tehran was not keen to use oil as a weapon in its escalating row with the West “but if conditions change it could affect our decision.”

He did not specify what he meant by a change in conditions.

Iran is the fourth biggest oil exporter in the world and the second largest in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. There is broad international concern that isolating Iran could drive up already high oil prices.

Which makes me worry - suppose Iran does cut its oil production, leading to an incredible increase in gasoline prices for Americans (because, like the Prez said, we're addicted to oil). Will Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld consider that an act of war, thus necessitating an American invasion of Iraq?

One which, by the way, we couldn't hope to win - especially with so many of our troops currently mired in Iraq. BushCo would need a draft to create an army large enough - and that dog won't hunt.

Cave In

2006-03-07T20:56:00.000-05:00

Is anyone surprised that the Senate Intelligence Committee chose not to investigate the President's illegal wire-tapping. Anyone? Didn't think so.

We all knew how this was going to turn out, didn't we? Sure, Olympia Snowe and Chuck Hagel and other "moderate" Republicans "said" they didn't think it was legal, and they "said" they thought it should be investigated, but we all know that Republicans lie like the rest of us breathe - it just comes naturally. Wonder how much those "moderates" were paid to vote against an investigation?

This is the email I sent Sen. Specter who "represents" Pennsylvania, along with the soon-to-be-jobless Rick Santorum.

Senator,

I cannot even find the words to express my absolute fury regarding today's vote by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Once again, this Republican-dominated Congress has shown itself to be no more than a rubber-stamp for George W. Bush, much like the Politburo of Soviet Russia.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has said, more or less, that whatever the White House does is fine, no matter what. The Committee has just informed the citizens of the United States that we are in fact ruled by a monarch with unlimited powers, that Congress and the Supreme Court are little more than functionaries, and that nearly 230 years of democracy has - for all intents and purposes - ended.

I have now committed myself, with countless other Americans - liberal and moderate, Democrat and Republican - to making sure that you and every other Republican incumbent are removed from office. I also commit myself to removing every spineless, gutless Democrat who has allowed this rubber-stamping to continue without speaking up, and stated as much in an email to the DCCC Chairman, Rahm Emanuel.

I want my America back, Mr. Senator, and I'm willing to fight in the Second American Revolution - if that's what it takes - to restore the Constitution as the highest law of the land.

Sincerely yours,
[PA_Lady]

Texas - Breeding Ground for Idiots?

2006-03-07T09:04:00.000-05:00

George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Scott McClellan, Alberto Gonzalez, Harriet Miers...

There's a whole lot of Texans in the current mis-administration, but I'm starting to think there must something in the air down there that turns people - mostly Republicans - into idiots.

Check out this guy that Shakespeare's Sister found: Larry Kilgore. He's running for Governor of Texas. His website says:

My first priority as governor will be to submit to Biblical law given to us by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. My job, according to 1st Peter 2:14, will be to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

On a link marked "Issues" he lists the various Biblical punishments his administration will mete out: Death for crimes of adultery, murder (including abortion), rape, 'homosexual acts', deadly negligence, and bestiality. For offenses like graffiti, porn, and strip clubs, he advocates one to forty lashes.

Surprisingly, illegal immigrants would only be subject to a minimum of 5 lashes, $3000 fine, and deportation. (You'd think he'd want the death penalty for that too, as a way to cut down on illegal border crossings.)

He also calls for Texas secession, wants all Texas troops in Iraq returned to the state (to help with the secession), will eliminate funding for public schools, health and human services, and prisons.

His website also boasts a link to a test that tells you whether or not you'll get into heaven. And if you fail, tells you why you need God. There might even be a little page that tells you what to pray to Jesus to get yourself saved, but I couldn't be bothered to look. (Yeah, yeah...I'm going to hell for that too....)

*map from http://www.aaccessmaps.com/show/map/texas_all

Cindy Sheehan arrested after protest march

2006-03-07T07:35:00.000-05:00

Is THIS how the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq should be treated???

Apparently so, if that mother is protesting the war in Iraq and part of a group trying to get the US Mission to the United Nations to accept a petition 'with more than 60,000 signatures urging the “withdrawal of all troops and all foreign fighters from Iraq.”' (...)

Women Say No to War, which helped organize the march, claimed Sheehan was physically assaulted by security officers during the arrests. Photos show officers dragging Sheehan, with her shirt yanked up. Police said the four women were arrested for criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. Read the rest here.

Photo #1 by Keith Bedford - Reuters
Photo #2 by Mary Altaffer - AP

Now, We Fight Back!

2006-03-06T16:08:00.000-05:00

From the AP: Gov. Mike Rounds signed the most restrictive ban on abortions in the United States. The law makes it a felony for doctors to perform an abortion unless the life of the mother is in immediate jeopardy. There is absolutely no exception for victims of rape or incest. NONE.

This law is meant to be a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, and Planned Parenthood intends to fight the law in court.

There is only one abortion clinic in the entire state of South Dakota, located in Sioux Falls. Approximately 800 abortions are performed each year there, but Planned Parenthood says many women already cross state lines to reach other abortion clinics.

“This is proof-positive that Gov. Rounds cares more about politics than about the health and safety of women in South Dakota,” said Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood regional operations for Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, said in a statement Monday. “In every state, women, their families, and their doctors should be making private, personal health care decisions — not politicians.” (emphasis mine)

Rounds issued a written statement saying he expects the law will be tied up in court for years and will not take effect unless the U.S. Supreme Court upholds it.

“In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society. The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them,” Rounds said in the statement.

Gee, Governor, I bet the women of your state really appreciate knowing you don't give a shit about already living, breathing South Dakotans. What's the unemployment rate at Pine Ridge again? How many already-born children live in poverty in South Dakota?

What?? I can't hear you Governor....

Here's how YOU can contact Governor Rounds:

Send an email: sdgov@gov.state.sd.us
Phone the Governor's office: (605) 773-3212
Send a postcard: Office of the Governor, 500 E. Capitol Ave, Pierre SD 57501

Get the email addresses of SD's state senators here.
Get the email addresses of SD's state representatives here.

Help End The War On Women!

Boycott Sturgis. Boycott South Dakota.

These are the people protecting us?!

2006-03-06T09:43:00.000-05:00

From the Associated Press: The private security guards at the Department of Homeland Security are telling Congress that the Dept is barely able to protect its own headquarters.

The guards have taken their concerns to Congress, describing inadequate training, failed security tests and slow or confused reactions to bomb and biological threats.

For instance, when an envelope with suspicious powder was opened last fall at Homeland Security Department headquarters, guards said they watched in amazement as superiors carried it by the office of Secretary Michael Chertoff, took it outside and then shook it outside Chertoff's window without evacuating people nearby.

The scare, caused by white powder that proved to be harmless, "stands as one glaring example" of the agency's security problems, said Derrick Daniels, one of the first guards to respond to the incident.

The agency responsible for protecting the DHS is Wackenhut Service, Inc., which has previously been criticized for its handling of protection "at nuclear facilities and transporting nuclear weapons."

Homeland Security officials say they have little control over Wackenhut's training of guards but plan to improve that with a new contract. The company defends its performance, saying the suspicious powder incident was overblown because the mail had already been irradiated.

Two senators who fielded complaints from several Wackenhut employees are asking Homeland's internal watchdog, the inspector general, to investigate.

"If the allegations brought forward by the whistleblowers are correct, they represent both a security threat and a waste of taxpayer dollars," Democratic Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote. "It would be ironic, to say the least, if DHS were unable to secure its own headquarters." (emphasis mine)

Jenn's Sunday Sermon

2006-03-05T10:17:00.000-05:00

This is the inaugural post of what I hope will be a weekly series. My goal is to take on the so-called Christians who want everyone to worship THEIR god, while simultaneously ignoring all of their Lord and Savior's teachings.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have to point out that I am not a Christian. I've no idea what to call myself, but "Zen Humanist Agnostic Wiccan Buddhist" sorta/kinda works.

I was raised, and married in, the local Presbyterian Church. And I'm a three-time winner of the 'Memorization Award' in Sunday School for memorizing the most verses in a year. But over the years, my questions grew and the church was never able to satisfactorily answer them. I began a journey of discovery to what I call my "patchwork" faith - little bits from here and there, this and that, that speak to me.

I do not believe in the Christian God - except as being the same Divinity worshiped by all religions. I believe Christ to be a wise man and teacher, but not Divine. Thus ends the disclosure.

Today's Sunday Sermon is on: The Least of These

When you look at many of the televangelists - James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc - you often see them preaching against homosexuality, against abortion, against sex education, against- well, common sense. And all of them spend time begging for money to "continue their ministry" or to "fight the liberals" etc.. But are their followers aware of how much of that money goes directly to their televangelist's pockets? Do you really think God said, "Pat Robertson needs a mansion in Virginia Beach."?

Christ told his followers that the greatest Commandment was to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your body, and all your soul." He said the second greatest was to "Love your neighbor as yourself."

When Christ was asked, "Who is my neighbor?" he told the story of the Good Samaritan. Samarra was an enemy of Israel, but only the Samaritan stopped to aid the injured man. Christ meant everyone was your neighbor. Short Jesus: Love everyone, no exceptions! (ironic side note: Samarra is in modern-day Iraq.)

Later in his ministry, Christ gave us the most important lesson of all. "Whatsoever you have done for the least of these, you have done likewise for me." Christ gave us, more or less, the instruction manual for getting to heaven. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give aid to the poor, the sick, the widowed, the orphaned, the imprisoned.

You see many people claiming to be Christians, but few of these are working to aid the poor.

I find it sad that a President who claims to be a Christian, who claims to be led by the Lord - who actually claims to SPEAK with God - gives tax breaks to the wealthy while cutting funding for Medicaid and Medicare, WIC, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Food Stamps, Veterans Benefits. Starts a war in Iraq under false pretenses, but fails to ensure soldiers are provided with body armor, fails to ensure military vehicles are properly outfitted with uparmor, fails to provide immediate assistance in the aftermath of a Class 5 hurricane - leading to the deaths of over 1300 people. And the list goes on.

I know a great many people who are not Christians, who are not religious at all, but who follow this one command. Not because it came from Christ, but because it is the right thing to do. They believe that those with more should help those with nothing.

While chatting on the board of another blog, I commented that - if there is a Heaven - I believe God (by any name) will have only one question for those arriving at the Pearly Gates:

"What have you done for 'the least of these'?"

The answer to that question will determine who gets in.

Branding Republicans

2006-03-05T09:12:00.000-05:00

Blogger Our Karl Rove has a list of easy one-line tags to slap on the Republicans.

(...) But, as Republicans have learned through experience, it's easier to re-brand your foe than yourself in politics. And, what better time to start some baseline Republican re-branding just before the races heat up for the 2006 congressional elections? (...)
Republicans -- they spend our savings and tax your children
Republicans -- they'll bug your phone and track your web searches... feel safe now?
Republicans -- if they're so good at war, why are our troops dying every week?
Republicans -- bringing America down, one blunder at a time
Republicans -- they're sure they're right, even when they're dead wrong
Republicans -- my tax cut was nice, but it's all going to heat my home and fill up my car
Republicans -- sponsored in part by Abramoff, the corrupt lobbyist
Republicans -- absolute power corrupts absolutely
Republicans -- the party of self destruction in search of weapons of mass destruction (...)

Thomas Jefferson, in his own words

2006-03-04T23:50:00.000-05:00

Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law. -- letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. -- Notes on Virginia, 1782

Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear. -- Letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787

Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination. -- in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom

I concur with you strictly in your opinion of the comparative merits of atheism and demonism, and really see nothing but the latter in the being worshipped by many who think themselves Christians. --letter to Richard Price, Jan. 8, 1789

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State. --letter to Danbury Baptist Association, CT., Jan. 1, 1802

History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes. -- to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.

In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. -- letter to Horatio G. Spafford, March 17, 1814

What's in the water in Missouri?!

2006-03-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

If you think this is silly, you're not alone. And you're probably not living in Missouri.

Two branches of a public library in Savannah MO have moved the book "And Tango Makes Three" from its children's section to the non-fiction section. Why? Because the book is based on the true story of Roy and Silo - two male penguins who adopted an abandoned egg in the 1990s at the NYC Central Park Zoo.

It seems some parents in Savannah were concerned about the "undertones" of the book. Apparently two male penguins getting together to raise a baby penguin just screams, "HOMOSEXUAL!" At least in Missouri. Read more.

***

In other Missouri news, the state legislature wants to pass a non-binding resolution recognizing Christianity as the "majority" religion.

A Missouri House resolution stating that “voluntary prayer in public schools, religious displays on public property, and the recognition of a Christian God are not a coalition of church and state” has made it through the committee process and is scheduled for a floor vote as early as today (Thursday, March 2.)

(...)

The resolution, which is concurrent with the Senate, does not have an enacting clause, and therefore “is just a political statement about Christianity,” said Rep. John P. Burnett (D-Kansas City), a Rules Committee member who voted against passing the resolution to the full House.

The resolution states that:

“Whereas, our forefathers of this great nation of the United States recognized a Christian God and used the principles afforded to us by Him as the founding principles of our nation…

“Whereas, as elected officials we should protect the majority’s right to express their religious beliefs while showing respect for those who object…

“Now, therefore, be it resolved…that we stand with the majority of our constituents and exercise the common sense that voluntary prayer in public schools and religious displays on public property are not a coalition of church and state, but rather the justified recognition of the positive role that Christianity has played in this great nation of ours…”

Someone should send the legislators of Missouri a copy of all the writings of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and the other Founding Fathers - the majority of whom who were Deists, not Christians. They themselves made it very clear in their personal and public writings that the United States was not a country founded on Christianity.

On June 10, 1797, John Adams - signer of the Declaration of Independence and 2nd President - signed the Treaty of Tripoli. This treaty was unanimously approved by Congress - which made no objection to the following wording:

As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion — as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen — and as the said States have never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries. (emphasis mine)

Thomas Jefferson mentioned only a "Creator" in the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution avoids all mention of any religion. Jefferson wrote later than an attempt was made to add a reference to "Jesus Christ" in the Constitution, but that it was voted down.

Giving Christianity A Bad Name

2006-03-04T09:03:00.000-05:00

Do you think Marion "Pat" Robertson's God will give someone at the NRB a stroke? Marion "Pat" Robertson - founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network - was denied a seat on the National Religious Broadcasters' board of directors. There were 33 board seats, and 38 contenders, including our good friend Marion.

Marion's spokesperson is making nice, saying Marion was expected to step aside anyway. (Oh, really? Then why run for a seat???)

Read more here:

Saturday Miscellany

2006-03-04T07:50:00.000-05:00

CENTCOM=concern trolls?

Georgia10 at DailyKos tells us that the military has a "blog team" with one mission: Checking blogs and contacting bloggers to correct "misinformation". From the Defense Dept's website:

McNorton said the team contacts bloggers to inform the writers about any given topic that may have been posted on their site. This outreach effort enables the team to offer complete information to bloggers by inviting them to visit CENTCOM's Web site for news releases, data or imagery.

The team engages bloggers who are posting inaccurate or untrue information, as well as bloggers who are posting incomplete information. They extend a friendly invitation to all bloggers to visit the command's Web site.

(...)

Flowers is one of three people who read blogs and try to drive Internet readers to the CENTCOM Web site, where readers can learn more about operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

"We needed to do something to make people aware of the fact that we had this clearinghouse of photos and information," Flowers said. "We can get the whole story out there. We let them know we have a Web site."

Detainees' Names Released

Speaking of the US Military, the names of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay were released after a federal judge ordered the Pentagon to release the information. From the Associated Press report:

After four years of secrecy, the Pentagon handed over documents Friday that contain the names of detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The Bush administration had hidden the identities, home countries and other information about the men, who were accused of having links to the Taliban or al-Qaida. But a federal judge rejected administration arguments that releasing the identities would violate the detainees' privacy and could endanger them and their families.

(...)

In another document, a detainee identified as Abdul Hakim Bukhary denies he is a member of al-Qaida but acknowledges he traveled from his native Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces, and says he met Osama bin Laden about 15 years ago while fighting in Russia. He praises his captors for running a good prison.

"Prisoners here are in paradise," he says. "American people are very good. Really. They give us three meals. Fruit juice and everything!" Still, he says, he wants to return to his family.

Duke Cunningham goes to prison.

Can DeLay, Frist, and the multitude of scandal-ridden Republicans be far behind? From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a decorated fighter pilot in Vietnam who admitted taking $2.4 million in bribes from two defense contractors, was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in federal prison.

Asked to put the dimensions of Cunningham's corruption in perspective, Thomas Mann, an expert on Congress at the Brookings Institution, said "we haven't seen anything like" the magnitude and duration of Cunningham's crimes since the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s. (emphasis mine)

U.S. District Judge Larry Burns imposed the sentence after prosecutors argued for the maximum 10 years and defense attorneys suggested six years because Cunningham, 64, is suffering from various physical ailments, as well as depression. The San Diego County Republican resigned from Congress after pleading guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy to commit bribery in November.

(...)

The judge recommended the prison term be served in a federal facility near Bakersfield. Burns also ordered that Cunningham pay $1.8 million in back taxes and penalties, plus $1.85 million in restitution based on the bribes he received.

The San Diego Union Tribune tells us some Cunningham's stuff will be auctioned on March 23rd. The proceeds will be used to reimburse the agencies that investigated Cunningham. Some of the items up for bid:

MINT WATER, C/O UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, APPROX 6,000 BTLS TOTAL, 2 BTL SAMPLE @ EG&G LOS ANGELES, CANNOT BE EXPORTED TO CANADA, MEXICO OR IRAN, CANNOT BE SENT TO FOREIGN TRADE ZONES (EXPORT ONLY), 500 CTNS
BALLPOINT PENS, HOME DEPOT CENTER, APPROX 2,500 PCS TOTAL, SAMPLE ON DISPLAY, 7 CTNS
BRACELET, 14KY, BLOCK LINK, 6 5/8" LONG X 9.2MM WIDE, W/TWO ROWS OF BLOCK LINKS ON THE OUTSIDE, CENTERED BY ROUND DIAMONDS, ALTERNATING BETWEEN 2.2MM ROUND BRILLIANTS PRONG SET & 1.2MM ROUND SINGLE CUT ILLUSION SET DIAMONDS, 30 BRILLIANTS & 29 SINGLE CUT DIAMONDS, ATW 1.45CT, K-L/I1, 18.6 DWT, 1 EA
SCOTCH, GLENFIDDICH & BALVENIE, APPROX 156 BTLS TOTAL (EXPORT ONLY), 14 CTNS
2000 FERRARI 360 MODENA, MANUAL, CHARCOAL GREY, 8 CYL, ODOMETER READS 8,427, VIN:: ZFFYU51A6Y0119986 - JUST ADDED!

You can learn more about the items up for bid here, the Treasury Department's website.

Scandals Military Cunningham Blogs Guantanamo California Republican

Run - Don't Walk - Out of South Dakota

2006-03-03T19:26:00.000-05:00

Mark Morford at sfgate.com tells all the women (and teen girls) in South Dakota to hit the road. To get out while the gettin's good.

Attention all funky sexy single intelligent women of South Dakota (assuming there are any left):

It is time. Pack it up. Strip the bed, box up the cat, load the U-Haul, call your hip friends over in Minneapolis, move out West, or East, or anywhere with a mind-set not stuck like a bloody nail in the moral coffin of 1845. Let this be your clarion call. Get the hell out,
right now.

Here is why: Your state hates you. Your state, apparently run by pallid sexless demagogic men who think they know something of God and morality but know only ignominy and the smell of sulfur and death in their nightmares, thinks you are irresponsible dumb-ass meat, unable to handle your own decisions, your own body, your sex. Your state's leaders and your Republican governor, Mike Rounds, wish to treat you like meaningless, voiceless chattel. Get out now. You already know why.

(...)

Of course, with any luck, with any sort of divine feminine intervention, with any sort of national common sense, this sickening attack on female choice will quickly go the way of "intelligent design," of the Terry Schiavo zombies, of the WMD zealots. It will dissolve and implode like the nasty moral insult it so very is. We can only hope. And of course, vote, in November.

Until then, it would behoove the final dozen or so sexually attuned, lusciously feminine women in South Dakota -- not to mention every teenage girl within a 1,000-mile radius -- to pack their bags and book their tickets outta town before they lock the gates and start the fires. I hear Canada is lovely this time of year. What are you waiting for?

Abortion War On Women Birth Control Rapists' Rights Reproductive Rights Pro-choice South Dakota

Lies and the Lying Liars

2006-03-03T12:01:00.000-05:00

Two "must read" posts by Reddhead at firedoglake.

"All Hat, No Cattle" - about George Bush and the unravelling web of lies.

It's not enough that the President lies about the big things. He lies about the little ones, too. (...)

George Bush is a product, with all sorts of fun labeling on the box -- nifty claims of "made with whole grains" and "fortified with vitamins and minerals," but what we're really looking at is a sort of candidate who, when you get down to what is really there, is a whole lot of fluff and nonsense, lots of fillers and ultra-refined crap, with a really good marketing team behind him. He sounds good when the team has everything working like a well-oiled machine, but those moments when he's off-script, off-plan, being "real" as opposed to "scripted," you get a real sense of who he is -- and in a crisis, it's not a pretty picture.

It's this pattern of behavior with this President that concerns me, the real behavior, not the spin and the projection and the tap dance that his Wurlitzer pals try to sell like so many PR folks with a wind-up Energizer bunny in their pocket -- and it ought to concern all Americans.

Faced with a crisis or some question of his leadership, his integrity, pretty much any question at all, George Bush's first response is to freeze, then huddle with his staff and come up with a media response. It's all statement, no actual leadership, no actual work. The PR blitz becomes the entire focus of this Administration -- all campaign mode, all the time, with no real concern for doing the actual work -- for really digging into the nitty gritty and governing. (emphasis mine)

All hat, no cattle. (...)

In the other, Redd discusses Murray Waas' article in the National Journal, and gives us only two choices with regard to Bush's decision to invade Iraq. And - unsurprisingly -neither instills a lot of confidence in the man who has his finger on the big red button.

Here's my conclusion after reading Murray Waas' exceptional new piece in the National Journal today: (1) the President either knew that Saddam posed no immediate threat to the United States and repeatedly lied to the American public and leaders around the world (and allowed multiple members of his Administration to lie about it as well) or (2) he doesn't bother doing his job, and had no idea what information was contained in multiple sensitive national security briefs that he was given over a long period of time, and no one in the Administration bothered to clue him in on this.

You choose.

I've wracked my brain this afternoon to come up with another alternative -- but no matter how I twist it around in my brain, it comes back to "he knew and lied" or "he doesn't bother doing his job."

The War on Women Continues

2006-03-03T06:47:00.000-05:00

Mississippi has joined South Dakota in its War on Women, with state legislators passing a Rapists' Rights Bill. Gov. Haley Barbour says he will likely sign the bill even though it provides no exceptions for rape or incest. See the AP report here, and firedoglake's reaction here.

And in Utah - a redder-than-red state - molesting fathers have more rights than the daughters they impregnate. And fetuses have more rights than the women they inhabit.

From the Salt Lake City Tribune: Incest is no exception to a father's right to know what's going on in his daughter's life.
That was the message from Utah lawmakers who refused Monday to make an exception for incest victims in a proposed law that would require parental consent and notification before a girl's abortion.

Utah wants to change its law - from requiring a physician to notify both parents, to notifying one of a minor girl's parents 24 hours before she has an abortion. The law also allows for a girl - whose pregnancy is the result of incest - to go to court to avoid parental consent, but there is no exception to the notification. Doctors are still required to report it to one or the other parent - even if she is pregnant as a result of incest.

Sadly, some of the state representatives are so feeble-minded that they don't understand why this might be a problem. One even said it's the female's fault for having sex and thus she should have to suffer the consequences.

West Jordan Republican Sen.Chris Buttars scoffed at McCoy's suggestion that the legislation might force teens to other states for abortions or into their bathrooms to attempt the procedure on themselves.

"Abortion isn't about women's rights. The rights they had were when they made the decision to have sex," Buttars said. "This is the consequences. The consequence is they should have to talk to their parents." (emphasis mine)

Apparently, even rape and incest are her fault, and she must be punished through forced childbirth.

Digby says: I find this refreshing. These Republicans admit that women give up their rights when they have sex. Good to know. And they believe a child-molesting father's parental rights are more important than the daughter he impregnated. Also good to know.

Abortion War On Women Birth Control Rapists' Rights Reproductive Rights Pro-choice South Dakota Mississippi

STRIKE!

2006-03-02T17:39:00.000-05:00

MzNicky and the Tennessee Guerilla Women are leading the charge against the War on Women.

MzNicky says: May this latest US declaration of hostility be as successful as the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, and the War on Terror have been.

In that regard, I’d like to propose that we, the majority of humans who are now equated with poverty, drugs, and terror, just go ahead and get all Lysistrata on these warriors’ asses. You remember Aristophanes’ play, the third in his “War and Peace” trilogy? The one where the women of ancient Greece decide they’ve just about had it with 20 years of warmongering and issue a moratorium on the only other thing that always seems to get the manly man’s attention?

You know what to do, girls....er- what not to do!

Birth Control War On Women Abortion Reproductive Rights Lysistrata Choice