remember, kids, he's pro-life!

Rick Warren refuses to condemn a bill to make homosexuality (or even support for gay rights) a crime in Uganda, sending gays to jail for life, and executing HIV positive gays:

The fundamental dignity of every person, our right to be free, and the freedom to make moral choices are gifts endowed by God, our creator. However, it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations.

Unsurprisingly, the author of the bill is considered a "core member" of The Family, the Christian conservative organization on Capitol Hill. When he started catching some flak for this remark, Warren replied that, "Globally last yr 146,000 Christians were put to death last year because of their faith. No one, except Christians, said anything."

Nevermind the highly suspect and unverified nature of Warren's number, what's the lesson here from the good pastor for the kids at home?

1. that one cannot be Christian and gay at the same time;
2. that it's ok to stand by and watch evil happen, saying nothing, if your people were wronged on some previous occasion;
3. that gays can be punished for other people's crimes.

These political pastors, they really live the Word, ya know?

Greenwald on Jenna Bush: Reporter!

Greenwald on Jenna Bush getting hired as a "reporter" on Today at a time when actual journalists are getting fired left and right:

They should convene a panel for the next Meet the Press with Jenna Bush Hager, Luke Russert, Liz Cheney, Megan McCain and Jonah Goldberg, and they should have Chris Wallace moderate it. They can all bash affirmative action and talk about how vitally important it is that the U.S. remain a Great Meritocracy because it's really unfair for anything other than merit to determine position and employment. They can interview Lisa Murkowski, Evan Bayh, Jeb Bush, Bob Casey, Mark Pryor, Jay Rockefeller, Dan Lipinksi, and Harold Ford, Jr. about personal responsibility and the virtues of self-sufficiency. Bill Kristol, Tucker Carlson and John Podhoretz can provide moving commentary on how America is so special because all that matters is merit, not who you know or where you come from. There's a virtually endless list of politically well-placed guests equally qualified to talk on such matters.
...
Just to underscore a very important, related point: all of the above-listed people are examples of America's Great Meritocracy, having achieved what they have solely on the basis of their talent, skill and hard work -- The American Way. By contrast, Sonia Sotomayor -- who grew up in a Puerto Rican family in Bronx housing projects; whose father had a third-grade education, did not speak English and died when she was 9; whose mother worked as a telephone operator and a nurse; and who then became valedictorian of her high school, summa cum laude at Princeton, a graduate of Yale Law School, and ultimately a Supreme Court Justice -- is someone who had a whole litany of unfair advantages handed to her and is the poster child for un-American, merit-less advancement.

I just want to make sure that's clear.

I lol'ed.

Harry Potter and the twisted panties

Even on the "liberal paper of record," Americans can be such frakin' prudes.

There's a pattern in a lot of the hand-wringing in this article (and, I suspect, elsewhere) that's worth pointing out. For example:

“Hermione is such a tightly wound young lady, but she’s liberated by some butterbeer,” she said. “The message is that it gives you liquid courage to put your arms around the guy you really like but are afraid to.”

and later:

“I hope parents can talk to their kids and tell them even though Harry Potter made that seem fun, that it isn’t O.K.,” said Dr. Welsh, the author of a 2007 article about alcohol use in the Harry Potter series, published in The Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse.

I find it interesting (as does Amanda Marcotte in a pretty good post) that these people don't want anyone conveying the message that alcohol "gives you liquid courage" to express your feelings or that drinking is fun. That's a bit odd, though, because these two statements are undeniably true. Alcohol does lower inhibitions and drinking is fun.

Have any of these people considered the implications of keeping your kids from certain behavior by lying to them about it? It isn't like there aren't any bad things about alcohol you can tell them truthfully. Why risk losing the trust of your kids the second they find out that drinking really is like liquid courage?

I think Amanda may be right, furthermore, that this lack of openness about alcohol and our zeal in trying to keep it out of the hands of everyone under 21 probably has contributed to the apparent increase in college binge drinking, particularly in the strange way that college kids look at alcohol as if it's a priceless commodity that can never, ever go to waste and must be drunk NOW NOW NOW.

I think too many temperance movements and too many ad campaigns and too many Wars on Drugs have really warped our perspective on alcohol and drugs. We as a society should take a step back and reevaluate what we think about alcohol and drugs (everything from caffeine to heroin), what we know to be true, and what the dangers actually are. It doesn't do us much good to tell our kids that EVERYTHING WILL KILL YOU IF YOU TOUCH IT, only for them to discover that we were lying. The end result is the same as if we told them nothing at all: they will rely on experience and their peers to find out the truth.

a bizarre perception of moral imperative

This whole Sanford thing has gotten so, well, weird. Here we have Lindsey Graham telling David Gregory that the besieged governor should be allowed to keep his job, but only if he reconciles with his wife.

It makes my brain hurt.

First, let's set aside the strange spectacle of a single, and an almost certainly closeted gay, Republican senator essentially implying that Sanford becomes unfit for public office if he loses his marriage, though that alone makes me stare at Graham like he just leapt upside down onto the ceiling while cackling and spitting green goo. What difference does it make whether Sanford's wife agrees to reconcile or not, or for that matter whether he decides his marriage is worth saving or not? Who the f**k cares, and what does it have to do with his ability to do his job? Does his infidelity somehow become less egregious if he convinces his wife to stick around? If this happened because his marriage is emotionally over, is it more "gubernatorial" to stay in a loveless marriage than to get a divorce?

Either I just don't understand the southern conservative moral code, or Lindsey Graham doesn't.

don't apologize to me, apologize to her!

John Ensign is a hypocrite and a douchebag. He browbeats people for engaging in the same behavior he engages in. His efforts to prevent other people from gaining equal rights have apparently failed to protect his own marriage.

Of course, it's kind of amazing this story ever made it this far. What are the chances that the swindler son of a casino mogul would become a United States senator by painting himself as the paragon of Christian morality?

I will give him credit, though: he's the only politician I've seen admit to infidelity without dragging his wife up onstage with him while he apologizes to everyone else. Kudos. I guess.

Perry all bluster

What happened to that independent spirit, Governor Perry? From AP:

AUSTIN (AP) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 16 cases of swine flu in Texas, and Governor Rick Perry has issued a disaster declaration for the entire state.

Perry's disaster declaration, which he announced Wednesday, will allow officials to begin emergency protective measures and seek reimbursement from the federal government. Perry also said the CDC has approved his request for additional courses of antiviral medication.

You want help from whom? Hypocrite.

Mary Ann Glendon shivs the President

If you haven't heard yet, you probably will: this year's Laetare Medal recipient, Mary Ann Glendon, is boycotting Notre Dame's commencement because the Dark Lord, Barack Obama, will be there. Glendon served as Ambassador to the Vatican from '07 to '09, and it's not like this is the first time we've seen Bush Administration officials turn around and attack the new president after serving in that trainwreck. Nevertheless, it's particularly rich coming from this Great Moral Arbiter who, so far as I can tell, was hunky dory with her old boss' frequent, gleeful, and unrepentant use of the death penalty, not to mention sanctioning of torture, mendacity, and killing of hundreds of thousands of people in an unjust war. Barack Obama being pro-Roe, however, totally crosses the line.

I know it may seem like I'm spending a lot of time on this subject, but what can I say? This really sticks in my craw. Ths kind of double-standard makes practicing Catholics (and Christians generally) look a little, well, "weird" to everyone else, especially the inflation of gay marriage and birth control and stem cells and, yes, abortion to the status of absolute moral sine qua nons, when these same people have no comment or waffle or find some sort of "nuance" on torture, preemptive war, child molestation, worldwide poverty, etc. Where was Glendon when George W. Bush was accepting the very same degree from Notre Dame in 2001, with the blood of dozens of prisoners fresh on his hands? Where was Bishop D'Arcy when Catholics were clamoring for someone in the clergy, anyone at all, willing to say that any priest caught molesting children should be cast from the Church and left to the mercy of the American legal system?

From what I can tell, she's also very fond of calling herself a feminist while lecturing other women on what they should be doing with their bodies, so I'm not exactly crushed that she won't be gracing the stage this year.

it's the election, stupid

This is not a protest about taxes, because 95% of Americans (and probably 100% of the teabaggers) got a tax cut this year. This is not about spending or the size of the government, because there were no such protests when George W. Bush broke Clinton's balanced budget and put the government on steroids. This is not about freedom, because there are no rights being curtailed whatsoever.

The teabaggers are protesting losing Congress and the presidency to the Democrats. That's it.

don't you have any pedophiles to relocate or something?

Bishop D'Arcy, never one to pass up a moment in the spotlight, boycotts Notre Dame's commencement, accusing them of putting "prestige over truth." You won't be missed, Angry Johnny.

The bishop also made sure to raise a stink over Dr. Nancy Snyderman and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan for their criminally pro-Roe v. Wade opinions, but apparently his concern for "life issues" doesn't extend to torture and unjust war: George W. Bush was no problem in 2005. I guess, for the good bishop, it's only the lives of the unborn that matter.

Do you know who I am?

From Roll Call (c/o TPM):

Roll Call reports that Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), the staunch social conservative whose career became bogged down in the 2007 D.C. Madam prostitution scandal, was sighted this past Thursday night having an incident of airport rage at Dulles Airport.

Vitter arrived 20 minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart, and found the gate locked. He then opened the door, setting off the alarm and inviting the attention of an airline worker:

Vitter, our spy said, gave the airline worker an earful, employing the timeworn "do-you-know-who-I-am" tirade that apparently grew quite heated.

That led to some back and forth, and the worker announced to the irritable Vitter that he was going to summon security.

Vitter, according to the witness, remained defiant, yelling that the employee could call the police if he wanted to and their supervisors, who, presumably, might be more impressed with his Senator's pin.

But after talking a huffy big game, Vitter apparently thought better of pushing the confrontation any further. When the gate attendant left to find a security guard, Vitter turned tail and simply fled the scene.

A classy bunch, these conservative family values Republicans. The worker may have been a bit of a hard ass about keeping him off the plane, but is there anyone alive who doesn't know you have to be at your gate 45 minutes to an hour before departure for domestic flights, especially at major, busy airports like Dulles? Admittedly, David Vitter usually has, eh, pressing matters to attend to in New Orleans, but still, a guy who flies as often as United States Senators do can't claim ignorance of the rules. Then again, if there's anything we know about David Vitter, it's that he believes the rules don't apply to him.

It's ok, Dave: if it gets too hot in this kitchen to take it by yourself, you can always drag your wife into the spotlight with you again.

Sarah Palin quoted man who called for Bobby Kennedy's assassination

And she did so in her big RNC speech. No kidding. From Frank Rich's NYT column today:

No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin’s convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago’s mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was “regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.” In the ’60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls.”

And thus the McCain campaign's use of projection as a rhetorical tactic descends into farce as Sarah Palin favorably quotes an advocate of domestic terrorism.

Sarah Palin: still exploiting her children for political gain

She is so disgusting. Sarah Palin got invited to the Flyers' season opener against the Rangers, and came up with a great idea to keep from getting booed to death: she could hide behind her 7-year-old daughter, Piper! From ugh, FOX News:

Sarah Palin has become known as “The Most Famous Hockey Mom in America” for her constant referral to herself on the stump as “just a hockey mom.” This evening, she met that title head on by dropping the first puck of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey season in their opener with the New York Rangers.

A carpet was laid down and Palin, dressed in a beige trench, walked on to the ice joined by her daughters Willow and Piper. The GOP Vice-Presidential nominee said at an earlier fundraiser that she would stop some of the booing from the rowdy Philadelphia fans by putting her seven year old daughter, Piper in a Flyers jersey. She said, “How dare they boo Piper!”

Here's the reaction she got:


FOX News calls that "mixed."

"academic freedom"

Conservatives hate Affirmative Action, except when they don't:

All faculty shall be hired, fired, promoted and granted tenure on the basis of their competence and appropriate knowledge in the field of their expertise and, in the humanities, the social sciences, and the arts, with a view toward fostering a plurality of methodologies and perspectives.

support the troops: send them off to die

John McCain released an ad today denigrating Barack Obama's patriotism, accusing him of "voting to cut off funds for our troops." Aside from the logical implications of that accusation which I've covered in more detail on numerous prior occasions, I would like to point out that John McCain is the last person with any right to Barack Obama on this point.

You see, back in the '90's we had a little mini-conflict with Somalia, and it didn't go well. In this case, you may remember, the war eventually ended because the Republicans passed an amendment to cut off funds. Guess who introduced that amendment?

the National Enquirer and its suddenly sterling reputation

When the Enquirer, and only the Enquirer, was reporting Edwards' affair, right wingers suddenly started talking about how the publication actually vets their stories pretty scrupulously. "They win lawsuits," said Jonah Goldberg.

And now liberals are saying the same thing, as the Enquirer's new story is:

In a world exclusive The NATIONAL ENQUIRER names GOP VP Candidate Sarah Palin's secret lover!

No less than three members of the man’s family including one by sworn affidavit have claimed that Sarah Palin engaged in an extramarital affair with hus­band Todd’s former business partner, Brad Hanson.

These sources have named Hanson as Palin’s secret love, and say their affair nearly wrecked both their marriages.

Hanson owned a snowmobile dealership with Palin’s husband Todd, who immediately dissolved the partnership after he heard stories about the affair, which occurred around 1996, according to the sources. At the time, Palin was mayor of Wasilla.

As I've said several times before (and generally been correct), I do not believe that God loves us this much. The McCain campaign threatened to sue several weeks ago, but my inner hopemonger points out that the Enquirer has chosen to publish the story anyway, implying that they believe they really have the goods.

No. It can't be. I do not believe God loves us this much.

exploiting the dead for political gain

So inappropriate. So incredibly inappropriate.

Also, apparently they timed John McCain's speech to begin at 9:11. How tacky is that?

hypocrisy now

When Jon Stewart's on, he's really on.

Sarah Palin: former member of the Alaskan Independence Party?

From ABCNews blog:

Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States.

And while McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- "Alaska First -- Alaska Always."

Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, tells ABC News that Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. Clark was AIP secretary at the time.

"We are a state's rights party," says Clark, a self-employed goldminer. The AIP has "a plank that challenges the legality of the Alaskan statehood vote as illegal and in violation of United Nations charter and international law."

I can just see an Obama surrogate's response: "We want to keep this election from being about 'small things,' to quote Barack Obama's magnificent speech last Friday. We are confident that Sarah Palin has since decided that she does, in fact, want to remain an American citizen."

Mr. Projection strikes again.

On a more serious note, some of us know what secessionists are like, having come from states where that kind of thing gains a bit of traction. You'll still see bumper stickers in Texas that say "Secede" on them, and I've met a couple of people who are into that. And they are, nearly to a man, wild-eyed jingoists completely detached from reality. This is not a flattering association for the young governor, as it makes people like me start to look at her not just as a hard core righty, but one that's so far out in right field that you have to wonder about her sanity. She's approaching Ted Nugent levels of crazy.

This veep pick is turning out to be a nightmare for the GOP.

It is Sarah Palin

The Pandersaurus makes his play.

So, I thought Barack Obama didn't have the experience to be president? But Sarah Palin, who's been the governor of the second least populous state in the Union for a year and a half, does?

Pandering hypocrite much?

Chuck Todd inadvertently nails the GOP:

They really wanted to pick a woman, and there were no obvious choices.

Ouch.

I'm increasingly coming to the belief that, were I a Hillary supporter, this pick would infuriate me, not make me more likely to vote McCain. This pick is obviously an attempt to mop up the PUMA vote by saying, "You wanted a woman for president? Here ya go! Here's one for Vice President! That's close enough, right?"

But here's the thing: Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have nothing in common... except their gender. They have no policy positions in common and no common experiences. Hillary Clinton is a former First Lady and current US Senator who everyone (even Republicans) admit is an expert on health care and a hard core policy wonk. She went toe to toe with a bunch of deeply intelligent, powerful men in an endless litany of debates and kicked the s**t out of every last one of them. Clinton voters chose her over Obama because they wanted a sober, realistic, keenly intelligent, strong woman committed to universal health care with a great Democratic president at her side, not an anti-Roe pro-ANWR drilling creationist homophobe who only 2 years ago was the part-time mayor of a city of 7,000 people.

And here's McCain saying, "All you were really looking for is a woman, right? Here, take this one!"

Bush: McCain's treatment not torture

Interesting. I can't believe I didn't think of that!