Headlines - Monday March 29

My favorite YouTube atheist tackles the latest Catholic scandal: Pat Condell: Is Satan A Catholic?

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Sign the "Boycott Discovery networks" petition to remove Sarah Palin as host of "Sarah Palin's Alaska."

 

 

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Here's a shocking journalistic discovery by famous webzine the New York Times: Turns out all those Tea Party people are out of work or, at best, retired and homeless. Surprise! Bet you thought they all had seven-figure executive salaries and traveled to these dirt-lot Sarah Palin swap meets on Lear Jets. MORE »
 

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Pope's Palm Sunday service: Poor me, I'm the victim.

 

And then New York's Archbishop compared the criticism of Benedict to the suffering of Jesus Christ:

The charges being hurled at Pope Benedict XVI are the "the same unjust accusations, shouts of the mob and scourging at the pillar" suffered by Christ, Dolan said in his first Palm Sunday Mass as New York archbishop.

I don't remember hearing anything about Jesus Christ covering up for criminals who raped children.

 

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Terrorist fist jab II 

They've infiltrated our military. Uh, oh.

 

 

President Obama returned from Afghanistan this morning after an unannounced visit and "personally delivered pointed criticism to President Hamid Karzai in a face-to-face meeting," a reflection of "growing vexation" with Karzai. Anti-war Obama also met with U.S. troops. "You are part of the finest military in the history of the world," he said. "And we are proud of you."

 

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I was wondering when it would become our fault. It seems it's been our fault for years.

 

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Frank Rich: The rage is not about health care

 

The Republicans haven't had a single African-American in the Senate or the House since 2003 and have had only three in total since 1935. Their anxieties about a rapidly changing America are well-grounded.

 

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Details are sketchy, but it seems that a Xristian Xrazy Militia group in the midwest was raided by the FBI today, and several people were arrested. The charges are not available at this time, but some Fox News are saying that they were making and selling pipe bombs.

UPDATE: From the AP

Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, said one of his team leaders got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, a Christian militia group, who said their property in southwest Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"They said they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a place to hide," Lackomar said. "My team leader said, 'no thanks.' "

The team leader was cooperating with the FBI on Sunday, Lackomar said. He said SMVM wasn't affiliated with Hutaree, which states on its Web site to be "prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren't."

"We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ," the group's Web site said. "Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment.

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The repug lie that the violence they themselves incited is really the fault of the targets - Democratic politicians and their supporters - is getting traction in the MSM.

Help keep the truth alive with this post from Rachel Slajda at Talking Points Memo.

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Irony? Dead? Surely you jest! Why, it hasn't even been sick! You know how the teabagger freeloader/nitwits are always going on and on about the Constitution, and how people who don't think highly enough of it ought to be summarily executed without a trial? Sister Sarah repeated her smirky "now more than ever is when we need a commander-in-chief, not a constitutional law professor lecturing us from a lectern" to the teabagging nincompoops gathered in Searchlight, Nevada yesterday. The crowd, morons and constitutional illiterates every fucking one, with nary a trace of irony or shame, went nuts cheering for this bit of red meat and cognitive dissonance.

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Breaking news: GOP fires bin Laden.

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Insurance companies may still not have to cover little children with terrible health problems, because … it would just be so ruinous to their image if they demonstrated any fucking humanity whatsoever? New York Times

 

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Screeching dingbat delights group of teabaggers.

 

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When you're really in love, send her a bacon bouquet.

 

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"I believe it's your turn to change him."

 

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I see your true colors shining through

 

The threats and violence against Democrats aren't really surprising, even if they are disturbing. American culture and American politics have been infused with violence since before America was even an independent nation, and it has continued to be an important strand in the American tapestry throughout our history. Of course, those who employ violence never perceive themselves as doing anything wrong: they are only doing what is necessary to achieve political goals which they cannot advance through the normal democratic process. More here. 

 

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This Week In Holy Crimes

Over the last seven days...

Texas: Pastor Dean Richard Tarkington found guilty of possession of child porn.
Kentucky: Pastor Alonzo Bradley arrested for torturing his wife by "beating and burning her with implements."
West Virginia: Pastor Johnny Ray Dempsey pleads guilty to incest and sexual abuse by a parent.
Florida: Rev. John C. Spinks charged with possession and distribution of child porn.
Maryland: Father Thomas Bevan to face September trial for multiple counts of child molestation.
Connecticut: Youth Pastor David Esarey convicted of sexual assault on a minor and possession of child porn.
Ireland: Father Francis Markey charged with rape of 15 year-old boy forty years ago. Markey had been suspended at least three times for sexual misconduct but was always allowed to go back to "work."
Vienna: An unnamed priest has resigned after confessing to sex with a boy. Two other priests in the same diocese have been suspended.
Arizona: Rabbi Bryan Bramley charged with rape of 7 year-old girl.
California: Pastor Matthew Davis charged with multiple felony counts of lewd and lascivious behavor and indecent exposure to children.
New Zealand: Pastor Donald Tarnaki charged with sexual assault of 13 year-old girl.
Florida: Music worship teacher David Lanham charged with 16 felony counts of sexual abuse of four children ages 5-11.
Ontario: Pastor James Sinclair charged with three counts of sexual assault.

This Week's Winner-
New York: At his Palm Sunday Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, today Archbishop Timothy Dolan defended the Pope against charges of complicity in the ever-widening child molestation scandal, comparing the Pope to Christ and saying that Ill Papa is "being daily crowned with thorns by groundless innuendo." Dolan claims that the Catholic Church if being "unfairly singled-out" for their kiddie-fuckers because child molestation happens in other religions too. Dolan, of course, made no mention of the inconvenient fact that other religions don't have an ongoing (and until recently, very successful) global system of shielding their child molesters from prosecution. 

 

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Bipartisanship (GOP style) explained

Mark Rubio, the tea party pick to be Florida's next Republican Senator, explains bipartisanship as his party understands it.

"Partisan gridlock is not something I'm in favor of. Okay? But the problem is it depends on what you're standing for. What are you fighting for?"

"I've been more than happy to work across the aisle to do things like lower the capital gains tax, lower the corporate tax, flatten the tax rate, lower all these other taxes that make America increasingly unfriendly place to do business. And if the Obama administration tomorrow announces that is their agenda or the leadership in Congress does, I'll be more than happy — I'll be thrilled to work with them."

"But what they're attempting to do fundamentally is redefine the role of government in America. And we can't cooperate with that. We have to stop that from happening."

Rubio is essentially saying, "I'm all for bipartisan politics as long as Dems do exactly what we'd do if we were the majority."  As ridiculous as his position is, even that is a lie.  As we've seen from Republican's position on health care, even when Democrats proposed a weak bill which was a far cry from what progressives would have hoped for…and which contained a bunch of stuff Republicans were in favor of in the past, they still voted against it.

Teabaggers and conservatives are a lost cause but one can only hope that independents will wise up and realize that a Republican majority would essentially mean a repeat of the Bush years.  And they all know how well that went..