Atheists in the clergy

Yeah, that would be news. Fundamentalists who don't believe much of anything science has to teach on the House Science Committee?  Says Paul Broun (R-creationist doctor with three ex-wives):

“All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell,” Broun said at a banquet for a church sporting club. “And it’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior.”

Ho hum, not worth a thought from big media political journalists.

Never give up a lie

The bullshit continues, this time in Georgia, where an administrative judge believes he has the power to compel the President to appear and prove the birthers wrong. Even though he has done this over and over and over again.

It's time to start fucking these people up, by which I mean ruining their fucking lives, not injuring their bodies. The judge, the plaintiff, the plaintiff's attorney (Orly Taitz, the Fred Phelps of birtherism, rebuffed at every turn and even sanctioned for it but still insane enough to continue her abuse of the legal system), and anyone who funded this nullificationism. It's time to find out what they've done wrong and make it known - to their wives, to their creditors, to the press.

It's long past time to stop being nice, to start taking no prisoners. Figuratively.

Start with Orly Taitz. Find the lies in her naturalization record - maybe she's a planted late Soviet era sleeper - revoke her citizenship, and deport her worthless insane ass back to Russia.

Yeah, it's going on in Alabama too. Neo-confederate assholes.

Republicans can only win in the long run if they lie and cheat.

Excluded middle ruled unconstitutional

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Well, the law of the excluded middle would have been overturned if Jeff Sessions had been confirmed to the Federal judiciary.  My friends in Georgia are embarrassed to be represented in the Senate by this purveyor of iced bullshit tea, but there aren't enough of them to retire him to the Rest Home for Shameless Doublespeakers.

Getting right with god

[T]he football cheerleaders at a public high school here wanted to make the Bible a bigger part of Friday night games. So, ... they painted messages like "Commit to the Lord" on giant paper banners...

That eight-year-old tradition ended last month after a parent expressed concern that it could prompt a First Amendment lawsuit. ... [T]he school district agreed.

... [T]he new policy has produced an unexpected result: more biblical verses than ever at football games, displayed not by cheerleaders but by fans sitting in the stands.

That's how it's supposed to work! People express their own religious views. Government institutions don't.

In this case, an evangelical raised the issue of separation of church and state. No one's free exercise of religion was suppressed, quite the contrary in fact.

“From an atheist’s standpoint, it’s frustrating because I don’t want more religion in my face,” Caleb [Wickersham] said. “But it’s their constitutional right.”

Why is it that a 17-year-old atheist can understand this, while it goes straight over the heads of adult fundies?

Fringe party former rep from Georgia

Does CNN offer Cynthia McKinney a platform for commentary? Are you kidding me?

Bob Barr? Of course.

I think we should hear from the fringes every now and then - as long as we hear from both fringes. Or I should say all fringes. Even though McKinney would most likely be as critical of the Democrats as Barr is of his old mates, the Republicans.

Wasn't gonna happen

This is Georgia we're talking about, after all. It's a place where everyone assumes you're conservative, and they're happy about that.

Just hypothetically

Put yourself in Alaska's position. When would you vote in favor of a convicted felon?

No, never is not the answer I'm looking for. There are worse choices than a felon, though not often. Edwin Edwards, whatever the state of his rap sheet at the time of election, was better than the repellent racist David Duke.

Alaska has now made its choice not to re-elect a convicted felon. By a hair over one percent. A hundred and forty-seven thousand Alaskans thought that patronage hack and convicted felon Ted Stevens should be re-elected because at least he wasn't a Democrat, and you know they'll bring the end of ... what, exactly?

Of course, I wouldn't expect the felon to acknowledge defeat any more than he has acknowledged his convictions.

For all us boys and girls keeping score at home, that's 58-40. Is Joe Lieberman in Georgia yet?

Insincere hypocrite

If Joe Lieberman is serious about making nice with actual honest Democrats, why isn't he in Georgia with Jim Martin demanding to know why John McCain has completely flip-flopped on the dishonor of Saxby Chambliss? Or is holy scolding only for us on the left of the aisle?

Who has to make a choice?

Joe, make your choice. That's what you did for McCain. Make your new choice now. Which caucus do you want to be in? Do you want to sit next to Jon Kyl? Your seniority lapsed when you went out on your own.

Harry, it's going to be 58-42 without Lieberman. The path to 60 runs through Maine (and other places), not Connecticut. Let Joe make his choice, no strings. Of course, you'll want to string him along until Georgia reelects Chambliss, the invidious jerk.

Too far away to understand

Can someone explain why Saxby Chambliss appeals to Georgians? Is his blowhard conservatism enough to overcome the fact that he's clearly a son of a bitch? Y'know, he may be an SOB, but he's our SOB.

What he did to Max Cleland with the eventual approval of Georgia voters in 2002 continues to keep me in a slow burn. Keeping oneself safe from the draft is apparently only unforgivable in a Democrat.

But even in a guy named Saxby? Republicans would cast doubt on the manhood and even sexual orientation of any Democrat so unfortunate as to have parents effete enough to name him Saxby.

I have real doubts about our ability to win this run-off election, which leaves us at 59 in the Senate. (Yes, I think we're going to win both Alaska and Minnesota.)

Why liberals think Republicans harbor racists

Because they do.

“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” Westmoreland said, according to the Capitol Hill Newspaper [sic] the Hill.

Anyone who buys the transparently lying claim that Lynn Westmoreland of west fucking Georgia doesn't realize exactly what 'uppity' means to racist white people among his constituency and, no doubt, his goddamn household should just hook up to the Republican matrix, 'cause man you're already taking the bullshit by IV.

Next thing you know he'll be claiming 'nigra' is neutral and 'colored' is a compliment.

What is this, 1954?

Was he drunk when he gave the quote at the top? Even if, the only honest thing he could say after would be: I was drunk and surrounded by people who didn't care, and so I let slip the racism I was trained in from birth.

Need a briefing, John?

While CNN is off in the VP weeds, pretending it's breaking news that their reporters are staking out Joe Biden and Evan Bayh, there is still real war and real journalism going on in Iraq (h/t Joe Klein).

John McCain claimed he didn't need a briefing on Russia's invasion of Georgia, and he might have been right. After all, one of Georgia's lobbyists runs his campaign, despite his made-for-media, bullshit purge of a few of his lobbyist buddies.

The renewed civil conflict in Iraq, however, is a return to the Sunni-Shi'ite distinction that McCain still needed Joe Lieberman's help with, despite at this point what surely must have been hundreds of briefings.

Don't Duhbya and the Bushists prove once and for all that we need a leader who will listen and learn? McCain would bring four more years of going with the gut. Voters who want more of the same are choosing the longest self-service colonoscopy on record.

Just a sound check

Click image to see full Mike Luckovich/Atlanta Journal Constitution cartoon.

McCain steals one of Ronnie Reagan's infamous throwaway lines. Hey, that couldn't be bad, could it? Pretty sly on Luckovich's part, though.

Third person omniscient bullshit

Glenn Beck is so full of bullshit that it's hard to know where to start cleaning it up.

Here, he starts and finishes with this utter nonsense:

"This is for America. This is for NATO. This is for Bush." These were the phrases that the president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvilli, told me were on Russian bombs...

I suppose Saakashvilli has super hearing to match the super vision that gives him the ability to read chalk off of falling bombs. Beck must think so. He takes everything Saakashvilli says as if he's George Washington and James Madison and who else could he roll into his ball of over-the-top hyperbole?

Later, Beck gives the UN the back of his hand for merely condemning the Russian invasion - as if the U.S. has done anything stronger. Oh, I forgot, we cancelled a joint military exercise with Russia. That'll teach 'em!

Beck would be an embarrassment to McCNN if they were capable of it. When will they have a liberal host who gets months and months of promotion? Never, that would make too much sense.

But someone ought to be reminding viewers and readers that Russia is engaged in the same sort of violation of international law in Georgia as we are Iraq.

Unbelievable gall

It's scary how bereft of any unselfish principles the Republicans are.

Barack Obama is too Presidential overseas, and there's a week-long shitstorm on cable about it.

John McCain meddles in the Russia-Georgia crisis, and the Washington Post finally catches up to Digby with a story on A16.

But he's not presumptuous. That's a bad thing, and no Republican can be bad by definition! IOKIYAR!

I would really prefer to have a President who holds himself to the same standard he holds others to. Without that, there's no morality, there's no ethics, and there's no law. Remind you of anyone?

Asleep at the switch again

Republicans talk tough, but:

The United States has repositioned some of its intelligence assets to provide the Bush administration with direct information about the conflict in Georgia and Russian military movements, a U.S. defense official said Thursday.

...

In the initial days of the Russian-Georgian conflict, the United States did not have its own assessment of the fighting, said the official, who would not speak for attribution because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Having it both ways

Sums up blood 'n' guts McCain in one sentence:

Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that the crisis in Georgia should not be used to score political points, but his campaign has stepped up its attacks on Sen. Barack Obama's foreign policy credentials.

Anyone want to guess which half McCNN calls out as a story highlight? Yep, it's obvious:

• McCain says crisis should not be used to score political points

While he's scoring every point he can. No shame from him, just advocacy for the use of force whenever there's a question. That's why I put him in the bully faction of the Republican Party.

McCain's strengths

According to Bill Schneider at McCNN, bullshit, blather, and impotent bluster are John McCain's strengths. Yeah, he would be a great choice. We can always use another war to set America right.

Update: Not satisfied with Schneider's slighty mealy-mouthed statement of the McCain strong like bull talking point, McCNN gives Bushist Linda Sanchez a second crack at it here. She says McCain "conveyed strength and determination," which is conservative code for macho bluster. These people are idiots, and they expect us to be, too.

Posted without comment

Creating rules for how colossal, muscle-bound men should pretend to tear one another's heads off is, it turns out, a delicate matter.