If You Have To Talk To A Republican...

I mean if it's absolutely, positively, unavoidable, like if you're related to them or something, ask them the following questions:

What would Lincoln think about voter suppression? Or political campaigns based entirely on hatred and fear?

What would Teddy Roosevelt think about "corporate personhood" and "corporate religious beliefs"? Or "too big to fail"?

What would Eisenhower think about starting a war based on lies? And then cutting taxes in war time?

What would Nixon think about getting rid of the EPA? Or basing your economic policies on the writings of a quack philosopher/novelist?

What would any of them think about putting the Second Amendment above and before all the others?

Ask them these questions and then brace yourself for an avalanche of dissembling bullshit...

God's Chosen People, or: 100-1

It is a simple, easily understood ratio: For every Israeli killed, at least 100 Palestinians must die. Think back to World War II...remind you of anyone?

Now, the Palestinians breed faster that the Israeli's, so we better make that ratio 1000-1. And continue to provoke whenever and wherever we can.

Until there aren't any Palestinians left.

Then all of ancient Judea will be ours!

Which has been the plan all along. Forget that nonsense about separate states. From the first Zionists in the late 1800's to the partition of 1948 and onward until today it has been a case of how soon can we get rid of these people? They are on our land. Doesn't matter how long they've lived here. It is ours! God gave it to us! What, would you argue with God?

Obviously, to the folks running Israel, the only good Palestinian is a dead Palestinian.

Couching it in any other way and pretending otherwise does us all a disservice.

My Religion

Since we're apparently headed into the "my religion says I don't have to obey your laws" era of American History 101, I might as well lay out what my religion says:

My religion says your religion is based on an invisible, unprovable, sky God who is deaf and blind. When you pray to Him you are essentially just talking to yourself, for all the good it will do you.

My religion says His son is a mostly fictional amalgam of whatever the earliest "christians" thought they needed to convince the ignorant masses to enlist in their cause.

My religion says any religion should be a deeply personal matter, and it is oafish to force your religious beliefs on others.

My religion says you shouldn't meddle in the personal lives--with particular emphasis on reproductive issues--of other people, especially women.

My religion says that people who, prima facie, hate other people because of the color of their skin or their sexual preferences have voided their membership in humanity and should be ignored until they see the error of their ways.

My religion says politicians who start unnecessary wars should be hung from trees in public display until their rotting carcasses are picked clean by birds. Ditto for the pundits, intellectuals, clergy, radio/tv hosts, etc. who act as cheerleaders for said wars. Obviously we're going to need to plant more trees.

My religion says corporations are not people, money is not speech, and hatred is not a family value.

My religion says that organizations that don't pay taxes get to have no say in public policy.

My religion says if you elect idiots to govern you, you will be governed by idiots.

My religion says everyone is entitled to their own beliefs--however loopy--but not their own facts. This is 2014, not 1014. We should not have to go through the Dark Ages and Enlightenment more than once in an eternity.

My religion says cookies good, Nazis bad.

So it is written, so it shall be. Amen.

John Huppenthal Is Just One Of Many

I suppose I should be all in an uproar over John Huppenthal's no longer secret life as a blogger.

His posts are indeed ignorant, offensive, racist--you know, the whole right wing Tea Party Republican grab bag. You can just about taste the hatred behind his every word.

The fact that he is my state's Superintendent of Public Instruction only adds to the joke--and to his awfulness.

But guess what? A lot of people will still vote for him. Because he speaks for them, doncha know? They are stupid, bigoted, reactionary, antediluvian racists and he's their guy.

I should be pissed off about this, but...

The other day Ben Jr. and I went to a fund raiser for Fred DuVal, the Democratic candidate for Governor. He's a nice man, a good man, an intelligent man. Not exactly charismatic, but you can't have everything. I hope he wins. But even if he does, he'll still have to deal with a legislature that is controlled by sadistic, nihilistic, hillbillies. And that means nothing much changes.

Hey, this is Arizona:

Land of Governor Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Attorney General Tom Horne. Trent Franks and Rick Renzi and Ben Quayle. John McCain and Jon Kyl and Jeff Flake. Paul Gosar and Matt Salmon and David Schweikert. Oh my God, the list is never ending! One empty suit replaces another empty suit, and the beat goes on.

So, let's be fair and give ol Hup a break. After all, he fits right in.

How Many Catholic Male Supreme Court Justices Does It Take To Ruin A Country?

Oh, just a simple majority.

That's all.