Or, as the man himself perceives it, America’s High Priest-King? Well, here’s a report from NYMag‘s Adam K. Raymond:
Rick Santorum has been in charge of Christian film company EchoLight Studios for about a year now, and after a handful of wholesome releases starring Corbin Bernsen, the former Pennsylvania senator is nearly ready to use his production company to swing an election. EchoLight said this week it will release its latest film, One Generation Away: The Erosion Of Religious Liberty, on September 1, just in time to rile up voters before November’s midterm elections. It will first be released in churches before rolling out to theaters.
The film aims to “help Americans open their eyes to the reality that we are indeed closer than ever before to losing the religious freedoms that our ancestors so bravely fought to obtain,” says EchoLight Studios President Jeff Sheets. It paints this scary picture by focusing on seven different cases in various stages of the U.S. courts, including the recently decided upon Hobby Lobby case…
The trailer’s at the link (don’t say I never did you any favors), and I’d say the film will be a much better fit for churches than theaters. It’s also, apparently, pitched to viewers of a certain age — there’s an extended riff on LBJ’s infamous “Daisy” ad, sonorous voice-overs from St. Ronald of Reagan, and newsreel clips of Nazi rallies, because First they came for the forced-birth bigots… Pretty clear Preacher Sanctorum is not looking for the youth vote, since even the homeschooled unfortunates like his own kids tend to escape the ideological veal pens around the time they’re old enough to start voting…
***********
Apart from sleazy summer entertainment, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
chopper
i hear they spent half the budget on sweater vests.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
Rih is my pih for winning the nomination.
nellcote
Dudebro Fest
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I think Cruz takes Santorum’s voters. Cruz is just as nutty, he’s more of a heavy weight, and will have more moneybags than Foster Friese behind him. And Cruz has the potential to make Pat Buchanan seem reasonable and likable
nellcote
Senate Race Conference Call Spins Into Complete Disaster After Questioner Asks About ‘Harvesting Black Votes’
Villago Delenda Est
That whirring sound you hear? That’s the Founding Fathers revolving at high velocities in their graves at the new definition of “Religious Freedom” that is being pushed in this country.
NotMax
Both of them.
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ted Cruz: all exclamation, no point.
bago
Bad day to be a public urinist.
Trollhattan
I happen to know this film will harvest viewers by the tens.
Villago Delenda Est
From Business Insider
Osteen is a seriously smarmy sack of televangelist shit…the man oozes slime from every pore.
bago
Also too, the q tag doesn’t work as advertised.
gogol's wife
Corbin Bernsen? He’s still alive?
Calouste
There is definitely an erosion of religious liberty in the US, namely the erosion to believe something different than your boss without consequences.
JGabriel
Anne Laurie @ Top:
This is one of those favors like offering a junkie a lethal dose of heroin, right?
MazeDancer
Seriously, trademark that.
What a triplet. That’s some excellent writing. So apt. Chained and tortured little ones serving the happiness of oligarchy.
Though, your thoughts of the brutalized one escaping at 18 may a bit optimistic. If the kid isn’t already in rehab – and/or dealing drugs and/or living in Hollywood selling the reality series rights – abusive childhoods take a bit longer to start the breaking free.
Gin & Tonic
What’s on the agenda? It’s hot and humid, so a cocktail may be.
Trollhattan
@NotMax:
So stealing that.
“But, he was on the debate team!” I’ll bet he was the shoutiest of shouty debaters, alright.
As soon as he opens that yap and the dentist’s drill voice pours out, campaign ovah.
Villago Delenda Est
My agenda for tonight is some soul food.
Violet
@Villago Delenda Est: Osteen fills his former-professional-sports-stadium church every week at multiple services. He may be smarmy and and slimy but he’s selling something people are lining up to buy.
JGabriel
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Which means Cruz could also make Santorum seem reasonable and likable.
And, no, I’m not exacty sure which definition of Santorum I’m using there either.
Villago Delenda Est
@Violet: May God have mercy on their souls. They will need it if they follow Osteen.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
in other 2016 non-news, Mark Halperin is for some reason trying to gin up a not-Hillary campaign for Al Gore:
I like Al Gore, and I suspect he probably does understand the media, but I don’t see what good that has ever done him. Also, too, no evidence that he knows how to, much less has any desire to, “mess with the Clintons’ heads”. Seems to me he’s all but dropped out of public life
Trollhattan
@Gin & Tonic:
Limes on my tree as only the size of walnuts, so we’re a good month off yet. Have been watching this a.m.’s surprisingly clear sky muck up to L.A. levels, doubtless because of this.
http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=988
Has grown a LOT since that 7:00 a.m. update.
David Koch
It’s always projection with these wackos.
He’s the one who wants to take away rights.
Sen Man on Dog wrote a book saying women shouldn’t be allowed to work, moreover he says people shouldn’t be allowed to have sex outside of procreation, and of course he uses religion to demonize gays.
Mandalay
@Villago Delenda Est: Also from your link, in McDaniel’s fundraising plea for justice to be heard:
It’s all about money.
craigie
I do so love a good turn of phrase.
Violet
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’d really like to move past the 1990’s.
David Koch
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Hahahhahah, yeah, the media was really on his side in 2000.
Usual stoopid Halperin.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mandalay: Grift. It’s the grift.
The parallels to Joel Osteen keep piling up!
Hal
I wish this were true. Rove would have been Ed Starked back in 2009.
Also, this Quinnipiac poll. I saw the story over at slate, and it truly amazes me how short sighted this country can be. How the fuck people have more appreciation for the guy (GWB) who messed everything up than the one who took over? Falling unemployment, massive expansion of health care for the unemployed, no false wars started to make his cabinet rich, but yes, Obama is the worse President evah! All hail Ronuldus Raygun!
Botsplainer
@Villago Delenda Est:
Religious freedom=acting like an asshole to crush the hopes and dreams of people who aren’t in your religiously free group
Randy P
@Villago Delenda Est: I’ve never heard his schtick and I don’t know anything about him, but just looking at Osteen’s face on his posters gives me the willies.
Betty Cracker
This is excellent news. I’d love to see the Republicans get the 2012 band back together — Santorum, Perry, why not Gingrich too? His coffers must need a fresh cash infusion. Hell, we even have Baby Doc, the tribble-topped presidential aspirant, to stand in for his nutty father. I’m sure Romney would be good for a few more patrician gaffes — maybe he can promise Antoinette a few more dancing horses if she’ll agree to another campaign. And Cruz would be the insane cherry on top of that shit sundae. Bring. It. On.
David Koch
With Christie and Walker heading to prison and with Jeb cutting his own throat on immigration, it’s a wide open primary on the far right.
The money-bags wing may try to get behind Kasich or one of the clowns from Indiana, but they’re boring.
Baby Doc is a good demagogue so may have the best chance to squeak by.
Talentless Hack
Veal pens. Interesting way to say “cannon-fodder plant.” Why else would you encourage people to pump one out every year if not to create a whole expendable class of non-person to fight the next war?
scav
@Hal: It’s one poll, not an established permanent trend yet, and it’s a poll probably reflecting diffuse general angst as much as anything else. People respond in certain ways because they’re generally unhappy and wish to voice it and then Whoops! an entire national nearly elects Le Pen pere. Luckily, France had a chance to walk that one back (no bets on future acts of idiocy, although at least they seem to making vague attempts at actually prosecuting other past mistakes). I rather people be grumpy in a poll than in the election booth.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Betty Cracker: Don’t forget Rubio. I am sure he is game for a couple of rounds.
Kay
@David Koch:
The December after Kasich was elected I went to a Republican lawyer Christmas party (that’s not what they call it; it’s what I call it) and they were all talking about Kasich for President. Coming over to my table to tell me that.
Hungry Joe
Run, Rih, run! That smarmy creep gives anyone with more than .27 of a functioning brain the serious fantods; he all but manufactures Dem voters.
Violet
@Randy P: His wife is even scarier. She’s under “Stepford Wife” in the dictionary.
Davis X. Machina
@Hal: Two words — team spirit.
Hill Dweller
@Hal: There are a lot of people on the interwebs today who broke down the internals of this poll. Whites, seniors and rural voters are over-represented.
Quinnipiac is a shit polling firm(finished last in Fordham University’s accuracy study of 2012 polling) who were looking for a specific outcome.
Also, too, Dems split their votes on worst and best Presidents. Conversely, almost all the Republicans voted for Reagan as the best and Obama as the worst.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Hungry Joe: This is why I back him as my opponent of choice. Creepy, devoid of charm and humor, and without any positive ideas for governing. He, off his own bat, could manufacture an LBJ-like landslide for whoever the Democratic candidate is.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@gogol’s wife:
Hey, he was a regular on Psych, which just ended its run a few months ago. He was pretty good, too.
Baud
@Hill Dweller:
So a poll of Real Americans™ then?
Villago Delenda Est
@Hill Dweller: Exactement. They’re looking to bash the near sheriff and to extol the shitty grade Z movie star.
gogol's wife
@Hill Dweller:
Quinnipiac U. is in deep financial trouble. I wonder if that’s being reflected in the polling operation.
skerry
@Talentless Hack: The Quiverfull movement (think the Duggars from TLC “19 kids and counting”) has as one of its goals the production of enough voters to take over the country and establish Dominion theocracy.
Interestingly, they do not promote military service. It might expose their children to outside thoughts. They have the ALERT program (Air Land Emergency Resource Team) that most young men attend.
Scary people.
gogol's wife
@Steeplejack (tablet):
I didn’t know that. He’s a good actor. I guess he’s a wingnut.
His mother just died recently, so he probably has good longevity, if we’re being serious.
WaterGirl
@gogol’s wife: I hate finding out that actors and comedians I like are wingnuts. Ugh.
Villago Delenda Est
@gogol’s wife: Might have just been another gig for him, have no idea what his personal political druthers are.
Calouste
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Cruz has the potential to make Nazi-apologist Pat Buchanan seem reasonable and likable?
The only way I can see making excuses for wars of aggression and genocide 70 years ago seem reasonable and likable in comparison is advocating for wars of aggression and genocide right now.
Kay
@Calouste:
They don’t have a leg to stand on, as far as I’m concerned. They take tens of millions of dollars in federal and state funding for their orgs, everything from Catholic Charities to Lutheran Home Services. We even have a Mennonite “faith based” contractor here. Catholic Charities is a misnomer. They should call it “Catholic Contractor”.
How did they think this was going to go? They would get all these contracts but have absolutely no responsibility to obey the laws everyone else has to observe?
Jewish Steel
Rick Santorum. Isn’t it His Turn?
gogol's wife
@Villago Delenda Est:
Wikipedia: “Through his participation with the Red Paper Clip, Bernsen was introduced to the town of Kipling. It is here, along with the death of his father, that Bernsen was inspired to begin making religious films. His first such film was RUST, released in 2010 by Sony Pictures. Bernsen, along with his producing partner Chris Aronoff, decided to form Home Theater Films, an independent production company that, develops, produces and markets films and television shows this market. 25 Hill, which he also wrote and directed, is the first title from his newly formed company and was released in July 2012. This was followed by 3 Day Test (2012) and Beyond the Heavens (2013). Currently Bernsen is in post-production on another project, Christian Mingle coming in Fall 2014 from Capitol.
Bernsen has one of the largest snow globe collections in the world. Bernsen said in an interview on Marie by Marie Osmond on January 21, 2013 that he had 8,000 snow globes in his collection.
Bernsen considers himself a Christian and consistently explores these faith based themes in his films.
Villago Delenda Est
@gogol’s wife: The snow globes are the giveaway.
Baud
@Kay:
My Magic 8-ball says “Signs point to yes.”
WereBear
Heavens. I’m sure the German has a word for that; some portmanteau of “boring,” “unattractive,” and “rapacious.”
Villago Delenda Est
@Calouste: “Nazi apologist” kinda soft pedals just how utterly evil Buchanan is.
If Buchanan were on the national stage in the 40’s, he would have fared far worse than Lindburgh did.
Citizen_X
@Hill Dweller:
This is good news for Jimmy Carter!
(Seriously, Carter barely registered on the Repub’s worst Pres list. Have they already forgotten History’s Greatest Monster?!?)
Villago Delenda Est
@Citizen_X: They’ve got a ni*CLANG* in the WHITE House now. That kinda causes them to focus exclusively on the hear and now.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ve learned to disconnect politics and entertainment, or I’d have to give up watching football. With the exception of Robert Duval, what I’ve noticed about most Republican actors is that they’re… well…. they’re Jon Cryer and Adam Sandler. Kelsey Grammar I think is enormously talented, but Frasier went on too long. I never saw Boss but I heard it was really good.
Howard Beale IV
@skerry: Wonder how many in the Christian Caliphate get WIC/SNAP and at the same time heap scorn on the Federal Government?
Villago Delenda Est
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Sandler is well past his sell by date. He’s veering into Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers territory, and it’s just as unpleasant.
WereBear
I have found wingnut talent… lacking.
Kelsey Grammer is great at playing pompous bores. But is that talent?
Litlebritdifrnt
Sitting here monitoring the weather channel seeing where Arthur is going to hit. We are already under a Hurricane Warning and they are issuing evacuation orders. It is funny on Monday when I first heard about the TS I told the lawyers I was having lunch with “it is going to slide up the gulf and punch the nose of NC”. This morning on MJ Bill Karins (?) said SC and GA didn’t have to worry but “North Carolina is the nose of the United States”
Cool thing though, I was sitting at the car dealership waiting for my bosses car to be fixed and I was surfing the web on my phone when I got a sudden text alert that we had gone into a Hurricane Warning, I don’t remember signing up for any such alerts but sure enough I got one.
Botsplainer
Every time I see Rck Santorum’s face, I find myself wishing that the Bible was true so I could go join the minions of the Antichrist.
Baud
@Botsplainer:
As if Jesus would fight on Santorum’s side.
Villago Delenda Est
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Better to be America’s nose than America’s wang.
WereBear
In other news, I have dug up some journal articles which prove that specialist I wasted the last two days seeing (300 mile round trip which needed a hotel room in between cuz hello I’m sick) as the incompetent women-hating ego-ridden arrogance-the-size-of-the-Colossus-of-Rhodes that I knew he was.
He’s not up on his Standard of Care. He didn’t interpret the test I did have done correctly, he didn’t order the right tests, and he didn’t even do one of them the right way.
So I’m gathering all this up and going back to my GP, hopefully to reassure him that he’s far more competent to treat me than this clown. I’m not the kind of person who is vindictive at all, but honestly, this guy is a freakin’ danger to his patients.
Steeplejack
@gogol’s wife:
I don’t know if he’s a wingnut—I don’t remember seeing/hearing anything about that—I was just addressing the “He’s not quite dead yet” factor.
It’s got to be hard to reinvent yourself after a big, splashy role like the one he had in L.A. Law, but he seems to have made a productive career out of TV B-movies, guest shots on big-time series and longer runs in supporting roles (like the one on Psych).
srv
@nellcote: That was hysterical.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Here’s Dave Weigel’s take on that Quin. poll (which Steve Kornacki is hyping like it’s the most carefully and accurately conducted poll in polling history! “ONE THIRD OF AMERICANS! ALL FIVE HUNDRED OF THEM!” ):
that’s a “perfect news story”? Even for someone who’s supposed to be a conservative reporter, as I think DW is, that’s some bullshit.
Jesus Kornacki’s being a dick.
Hill Dweller
@Citizen_X: I’ve seen a couple of people on the internets say 82% of the respondents in that poll voted for Romney in 2012. Quinnipiac was trolling for a result, and found it.
Mnemosyne
Assuming all goes well, tomorrow I’ll be seeing 1776 on the big screen for the first time since high school. The things we do for love …
Baud
@Hill Dweller:
I don’t believe it. The poll numbers weren’t that bad for Obama.
Roger Moore
@Kay:
That’s exactly what they expected. They honestly think that their religious beliefs are and should be a general purpose excuse for not doing anything they don’t feel like. They think the establishment clause means the government isn’t allowed to tell them to do anything that violates their conscience, even when they’re operating as a government contractor.
MomSense
@WereBear:
I’m really sorry that you went through this. Sending you my support and some virtual hugs.
Howard Beale IV
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Say hello to Specific Area Message Encoding-the system the sent you you Hurricane Warning.
TR
I can always tell when a post about the Religious Right was written by Anne Laurie.
All the subtlety and nuance of a Ted Rall cartoon. As effective, too.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Howard Beale IV:
Cool!
Kay
@Baud:
Well, people said it. They said when “faith based publicly-funded contracting” started that religions would be giving up some of their autonomy (and value) as outside actors, principled critics of government. It was always framed as a concern that they would lose their moral authority if they were lining up with all the other contractors for cash. I don’t think anyone dreamed they would simply demand to have it both ways. The fear was they would be compromised and have to bend too much to secular forces. I don’t think anyone anticipated they would instead insist government bend into pretzel shapes to meet their demands.
I always had concerns about it because I thought Republicans only supported “faith based” services because they hoped the religious orgs would cut into the public employee ranks and existing public entities, like public hospitals, for example. I think I was right. Republicans don’t care who does the contracting as long as it’s a contractor. Republicans oppose “public”, not heathens.
Davis X. Machina
@Talentless Hack: “Veal pens” has a history — it featured prominently in the Obama-HCA wars of ’10, too. Cf. the legendary “Manic Progressive vs Obama Supporter” video…
Who can forget “Obama stole my penis!”
JPL
@WereBear: I can top that. I brought my son when he was a teenager to Dr. Tom Price. Since we had gold insurance at the time, it was the only time the self funded company called to ask about his charges. We all know who Price is now.
BD of MN
@Howard Beale IV: Actually SAME is what tells your weather radio to turn on when your location’s code is sent for a NOAA warning. The cell phone thing is newer (IIRC, cell phones started doing this two years ago or so…) and has another TLA (three letter acronym), WEA, wireless emergency alerts…
edit: wikilinky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Mobile_Alert_System
Howard Beale IV
@Howard Beale IV: Actually it is CMAS, combined with SAME being sent to the cell providers.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
If you think William Daniels’ Adams was a smug prick when watching it on the telly…
Baud
@Kay:
IIRC, they pushed for a long time to get that result legislatively when the Republicans controlled Congress. They’ve now turned to the Supreme Court since legislative solutions are no longer possible.
Hill Dweller
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: This is the sort of thing that has helped convince me MSNBC decided to take a hard turn right after the 2012 election.
Quinnipiac is an awful polling firm. Awful. Kornacki has to know this, but I bet the producers want him to push this bullshit poll.
NotMax
@Baud
And placed enough flacktivist judges on the bench to aid them along.
scav
So, Christian Corporate Persons are going to insist on their right to earn Federal Dollars while only obeying those Federal regulations they feel like, while insisting the ‘persons’ working for them conform to the corporate standards of acceptible behavior and not those of the wage slaves own belief system (hey! they could get other jobs!) and screaming like howler monkeys about efforts to raise the minimum wage and whining about moochers getting govt welfare. Religious Freedom in all its numinous glory.
raven
@Hill Dweller: Bah, it’s one guy.
Anne Laurie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Adjust your sarcasm meter. Weigel’s more-or-less libertarian, but he’s not insane or insanely ideological; he’s saying the poll is a “perfect story” by the standards of the Village Media, and the lobbyists/plutocrats who fund the Media Village Idiots. Return of the Repubs! Dems in Disarray!
Doesn’t have to be true, just full of what Colber calls truthiness.
Brian R.
Holy shit, that trailer is amazing.
The best part? The scary quote at the end, where Reagan warns people that if they don’t act now, they’ll have to tell their grandchildren what it was like to live in an America where people used to be free?
It’s from a 1961 speech he gave. About the oncoming evils of MEDICARE.
Baud
@Hill Dweller:
This happens every time there is a bad poll for Obama. Everyone goes crazy for a day and then more polls come in and it turns out nothing much has changed.
Kay
@Baud:
It’s a huge problem with hospitals. They have to do these elaborate work-arounds where they’re making women walk across the parking lot to get the “forbidden” services at the “stand alone” facility, or whatever.
I don’t remember saying I preferred funding a Catholic hospital over a public hospital, especially because they are now merging with FOR profits. Give me a break. What was this all about, again? Al Gore said something about “faith based organizations” and the next thing I knew the contractors were calling the shots.
Violet
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Seriously? That’s part of your job description as a paralegal? Seems like that isn’t taking advantage of your expertise.
Be safe. Hopefully the hurricane won’t do much damage. Glancing blow.
Litlebritdifrnt
In other news I just discovered my new favorite snack food Walkers Tomato Ketchup flavored crisps with salsa. It is awesome!
raven
@Violet: Okracoke and Hatteras are being evacuated.
Baud
@Kay:
It’s faith-based mission creep. First, they push the principle that the government shouldn’t discriminate against religious organization in terms of eligibility for federal money. Sounds great, right? Nondiscrimination. But once that becomes the norm, they seek small, innocuous exemptions from the general rules because, otherwise, the government would be discriminating in effect without any countervailing benefit. So on and so forth, and all of a sudden, religion is a sword that can be used against any governmental rules that the right doesn’t like.
Hobby Lobby is sovereign citizen theory in jurisprudential garb.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Also also, too, Joe Lieberman.
JPL
@Brian R.: MSMedia will point that out so all Americans understand the context
.
Brian R.
My other favorite part of that trailer is how they insist Christians are being persecuted by showing all these giant towering crosses.
Yeah, they’ve practically been driven into the catacombs, haven’t they?
MikeJ
@Howard Beale IV:
They view it as their way of starving the beast.
NotMax
@raven
Have heard of cherry coke…
Talk about a niche market. :)
Litlebritdifrnt
@Violet:
I agree, however business is so lousy right now (as it is for all other lawyers in the area) that at least by doing something useful for him I am earning my paycheck, as opposed to sitting in the office, waiting to answer a phone that never rings.
Interestingly there is a battle royale going on in NC right now. The State Bar has sued Legal Zoom for the unauthorized practice of law in NC. The case is currently in litigation so what does Legal Zoom do? They buy themselves some NC legislators to change the law, there is currently a bill being fast tracked through the house to specifically exclude Legal Zoom and companies like them from the “unauthorized practice of law”. All of the local attorneys are up in arms because Legal Zoom are literally takings millions out of the pockets of sole practitioner attorneys.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Hill Dweller: I saw it as less a sign of a hard right turn than unwonted histrionics. Kornacki has always struck me as low-key to the point of nodding off, and as you suggest, the sort of politics junkie who would dig in to cross tabs and consider the sample size and source, etc etc. For a few minutes there he was out-Tweetying Tweety, shouting down the White House flack and trying to get David Corn to join him in a panic reel.
Violet
@raven: Doesn’t surprise me. They aren’t done. Still voluntary evacuations? Or mandatory?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SiubhanDuinne: heh, good point
Litlebritdifrnt
@Violet:
Hatteras Island is mandatory, I think Okracoke is voluntary.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
I was feeling a little bit sorry for myself because I wasn’t invited to the Consulate’s Canada Day party yesterday.
Then I saw some photos someone posted on Facebook, and sure enough, there was Tom Price holding forth.
Just as glad they cut me from the invitation list.
raven
@NotMax: There are actually British Cemetery’s on both islands. Beautiful beaches and dunes and only 25 miles to the gulf stream for great fishing.
SiubhanDuinne
Okay, why the fuck is my reply to JPL in moderation? I had no links, I used no bad words….
raven
@Litlebritdifrnt: Right.
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
At least he’s supposed to be playing a smug prick that nobody likes. I don’t mind that. It’s when they have a character who’s a smug prick but the movie keeps trying to insist he’s a lovable hero that it drives me nuts.
Plus Howard da Silva manages to perfectly deflate Daniels’ smugness every time.
Violet
@Litlebritdifrnt: Interesting. I’m sure other states will be watching that case to see how it’s done.
Violet
@Litlebritdifrnt: I hope the hurricane turns out to be an inconvenience. I’ve lived through two major ones and they are not fun.
Litlebritdifrnt
@raven:
There is also a British Sailor buried in the historical burial grounds in Beaufort, NC. Apparently he was buried standing up, facing England and saluting the King. My Mum always takes a poppy to put on his grave every time we visit Beaufort.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: Well at least you are still allowed to say fuck.
Am I alone that I think protesters against the buses trying to bring illegal immigrant to a safe place waving american flags, need to hanged for treason.
SiubhanDuinne
Back to the topic up top:
So this is great scheduling. If I plan things just right, I can see OGA:TEORL on September 1, and then on September 12 I can see Atlas Shrugged: Part III, and then I’ll be TOTES riled up for November’s midterms!
Litlebritdifrnt
@raven: Que?
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
I don’t think one is allowed to have a Balloon Juice account without having used the word fuck somewhere in one’s nym or initial post.
Howard Beale IV
@Litlebritdifrnt: Kinda like Uber and Lyft earning the wrath of cabbies and limo drivers.
Patrick
@Brian R.:
Even if that was true, which any rational person can see that it is not, so what? Christians are taught to turn the other cheek and love thy enemies. I truly don’t understand these people, who call themselves Christians, who behave this way.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Violet:
Looks like it is going to be. We have been through a lot worse. Sandy was brutal, not because of the strength but because of the time she took to go by, it was almost 24 hours and I got to the point where I was screaming at my skylights “go the fuck away already!”. Like I and Bill Karins said, NC is the nose of the US, and whereas a hurricane would just sail up the east coast they always manage to clip that nose.
Violet
@Patrick:
Ha ha. No. No they aren’t. Christians are taught to hate other religions, especially Islam. They are taught that bombing people is a Good Thing and part of Freedom. And they study books with titles like “Why Do They Hate Us?”–a book about Islam.
That pacifist stuff you’re going on about is not what’s taught in churches today. It’s not Real Christianity.
Bubblegum Tate
@MikeJ:
They loves them some Cloward-Piven.
WereBear
@MomSense: Thanks! I know they train doctors to hear hoof beats and think horses, not zebras, but what if you have a zebra?
I’m dealing with that now.
WereBear
@JPL: that would give me the willies!
JPL
@WereBear: It appeared that he was making $ from different xrays and tests and yes, I did change doctors.
edit.. so i’m not sued by the price folk.. or at least the insurance was concerned about it….
Howard Beale IV
@Patrick: US ‘Christians’ who complain about being persecuted domestically can kindly STFU when real Christian persecution (Chaldeans) is happening in Iraq. They wouldn’t know what real persecution was if it walked up and bit them on their collective arses.
And in reality, a lot of these folks who say their Christians, are not Christians at all-they’re Neo-Pharisees. They have been conditioned so thoroughly few can recognize their own situation and realized they’ve been used.
Patrick
@Violet:
I don’t think that applies to most Christians, at least outside America. But even so, it really makes me question if I want to call myself a Christian. When I hear a Christian such as Pat Robertson saying we should murder Venezuela’s leader, and I was always taught “thou shalt not kill, I know we don’t belong to the same faith.
The same thing took place in the run up to the Iraq war. It was completely unprovoked, yet many, many people in the Christian field argued for it. At least the Pope was against it.
I am hoping that it is just Christians here in the US that have simply lost their way and not other countries.
Howard Beale IV
@WereBear:
Then go to a place that can find the zebra, depending on the breed. Some places that are very high at finding a particular zebra may suck at finding your particular beast.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: Yeah, but after all those years, it would have been nice if they included you, so I can understand how you felt.
Matt McIrvin
@Hal: It was a stupid poll.
They asked people to name the best and worst presidents ever, and Obama got the most votes for “worst president” and Reagan got the most votes for “best president”. All that means is that all the Republicans said Obama was the worst and Reagan was the best, whereas other people were not idiots and said more varied things. (But George W. Bush got the second-largest number of votes for worst, because a lot of the Democrats said that.)
Nothing to see here, move along.
WaterGirl
@Litlebritdifrnt: Why aren’t the good guys buying any legislators?
Roger Moore
@Howard Beale IV:
They’re thinking about Matthew 5:10-12, where Jesus says it’s good to be persecuted for being a Christian because it proves you’ll get into heaven. They desperately want to be persecuted, and they’re perfectly happy to exaggerate the tiniest inconvenience into terrible persecution in order to achieve their goal.
NotMax
@Violet
A sure to be incomplete list of major hurricanes recall being present for:
Hazel
Carol
Donna (that one was a doozy)
Esther
Agnes
Iniki (another doozy)
Lesser ones number well over a dozen.
Matt McIrvin
…it is kind of shameful, though, that so many Republicans picked Reagan over Abraham Lincoln, and says something about the party, I think.
WaterGirl
@Matt McIrvin: Everybody knows that Abraham Lincoln was a RINO, and besides what the hell was he thinking freeing all those black people???
/republican “thought” process
Violet
@WereBear: I’m sorry. I’ve got a good friend who is dealing with that. The numbers of doctors she’s gone to is staggering. They’re all a hammer looking for a nail–they each have their specialty but can’t see her holistically. They have found some problems–include an acute issue that required emergency surgery–but she’s got more than that going on. She’s basically her own doctor at this point. We joke that she needs a Dr. House.
JPL
@WereBear: The situation happened decades ago. My son is tall and because of that he had growing pains or osgood schlatter disease. He was trying out for a premiere baseball team but they noticed a knee problem so I brought him to the doctor. When the said doctor entered the room, he said I noticed you had xyz insurance so these are your choices.. Either a cat scan which at the time most insurance didn’t cover or a cast for six weeks. When you a thirteen year old, a cast is the kiss of death. The scan showed nothing and the company called saying did he mention that he had part ownership and I said no. At that point I switched doctors and yes it was icky. First I never had a doctor who reviewed my insurance coverage before recommending an action. This was in the early nineties. The reason the folks voted him in was because he gave his services for physicals for the local high school. He’s revered here.
rikyrah
as we remember the signing of the Civil Rights Act, and remembering Freedom Summer, mine is only one story, but it’s not unique.
My mother grew up in the Police State that was Jim Crow Mississippi.
My father would have been FORTY-TWO YEARS OLD, if he had stayed in the state of his birth, before he would have been able to vote. And this is AFTER he put on the uniform for this country and put his life on the line for a country that had him – in the laws on the books- as a second-class citizen.
My maternal grandmother, a Black woman who had her Masters Degree before she married in 1910, was unable to vote in Mississippi because she couldn’t pass the ‘literacy’ test.
The GOP doesn’t understand – this Voter Suppression shyt they’re doing is PERSONAL. And folks will never forget it.
Chet
An acquaintance on another forum, who lives in AZ, was just complaining about his next-door neighbors, who – after leaving their dogs outside unattended all fucking day despite it being well over 100°F there – finally came out, only to scream and yell at said dogs.
Would it surprise you at all to learn that my friend lives in Maricopa County? If only his asshole neighbors were brown.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
I’m kind of shocked at how hurt I am by the cut, after 25 years. Silly.
Patrick
@Hal:
Voting Obama our worst President ever? I can only assume that most folks that voted in that poll hate America. Obama, unlike Bush, got bin Laden. Obama inherited an economy in a complete free-fall and now the Dow is breaking all time records. Again, there is no other answer, the folks that voted Obama our worst President must really, really, dislike our country.
JPL
@rikyrah: Imagine this, the person who repaired my septic had to renew his license and was proud to bring the reams of paper that are now required in GA to accomplish that, because it would prevent the others for voting. It was the first time in my life, I knew to shut my mouth because I didn’t want to imagine what could happen if not. My sons blamed it on his working in shit all day but I don’t know. We live in strange times.
Howard Beale IV
@Roger Moore: Ah, but they also forget Christ’s teachings that when the try to proselytize that they should dust off their sandals and fucking leave if they aren’t receptive.
Violet
@Patrick: No, they’re racists and tribalists and the GOP is their tribe. That’s all. Doesn’t matter how well things are going. Obama is the Worst President Evah.
chopper
@Mnemosyne:
given the theme of the thread, don’t you mean ‘smug prih?
JPL
@Patrick: At maddowblog, they looked at the poll and the repubs pretty much hate obama but the dems spread the hatred. It’s really a silly poll.
Roger Moore
@Patrick:
They hate America as it is and want it as they believe it used to be, and Obama is the symbol that things aren’t the way they want.
Howard Beale IV
@Patrick: Those who voted against Obama probably saw what Holder and that sniveling ferret-faced weasel Lanny Breuer did to bring those who were the most responsible for tanking the economy to justice (losts of PR, no jail time)-and when Obama said that ‘A lot of what was done wasn’t illegal’ totally pissed on many whistelblowers who had the goods on robo-signings, forced place insurance, predatory lending, money laundering and all sorts of other financial chicanery.
So if you want to laud Obama for the Dow being sky-high, know that it’s being done because of nonfeasance on the part of the Obama administration and the DOJ. Meanwhile, thousands of illegal foreclosures continue to get rammed through many state courts, with fraudulent documents.
Happy?
Be careful of what you ask for-you may get it.
Anne Laurie
@JPL:
I saw a clip of those protestors on the evening news. Just send ’em back where they came from, because at least half the protestors on-camera looked to be retirees who moved to that part of California in the last decade or less.
Scott Pelley, ICYMI, was fear-mongering the fvck out of his new chewtoy. Trembly little old white ladies saying they was scaaared; shots of all the brownest, most Indio-looking, stone-faced mamas filing off the bus; ominous voice-over about how ICE just fingerprints these people and sets them loose, to travel all over America! They could be anywhere! In Baltimore! In Chicago! In your basement! Ooga booga!…
Howard Beale IV
@Roger Moore:
Well, if you mean justice being ass-fucked with at 20-foot long razor-wire-wrapped, curare-tipped telephone pole with no lubricants, you may have a point.
Problem is, for a lot of folks who voted for hope and change, that’s exactly what they got.
WereBear
@Howard Beale IV: @Violet:
To make it extra annoying, I used the website of the Foundation for what I think I’m dealing with, and this was the closest specialist for this particular zebra.
However, from what I saw of the practice and the doctor, they are simply a referral/prescribing machine. I looked up what they are supposed to do, and he’s not doing it. Next time, I can evaluate better, and walk right out if another jerk appears.
WereBear
@JPL: He made “revered” as soon as he put together “sports” and “doctor” I bet.
Howard Beale IV
@WereBear: Bypass the association and go to the NIH’s wesbite and see who’s doing what research. Some of these associations are so far in the tank for Big Pharma it pays to hit not only to hit the NIH but the particular medical center’s website and providers that may be recognized as a center of excellence.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s not silly at all. We aren’t robots and most of us make friends with people we work with for a long time, and then you retire and it seems like “out of sight, out of mind”. It does hurt. I’m sure they were sorry to see you go, but they moved on.
On the plus side, maybe that encourages you to not hang on to your pre-retirement life?
Edit: now it would be silly if you still feel hurt 25 years from now!
Patrick
@Howard Beale IV:
I wanted bin Laden gone and I got it thanks to Obama.
I wanted the economy to get better and I got it thanks to Obama.
Anything else?
WaterGirl
@WereBear: Perhaps you might want to contact that foundation and let them know of your experience with this awful doctor, and see if they can recommend someone else?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Patrick: Verily the Citizens United and Hobby Lobby Rulings remind all true Scotsmen, the People’s Front of Judea and Ralph Nader that there is not a dime’s worth of difference…
And Sonia Sotomayor is secretly pro-life and Elena Kagan is a corporatist
Violet
@WereBear: You do have to think outside the box sometimes. Am I remembering correctly that you’re the one who’s had success going gluten-free/grain-free? Have you looked for a functional medicine doctor? Someone who thinks more holistically might help. Best of luck. Let me know if you want to bat around some ideas. I have friends who call me “Dr. Violet”. You’re probably much the same since you have to diagnose yourself half the time. Best of luck. Sorry you had the crappy experience. Been there.
Howard Beale IV
@Patrick: Since it looks like you’ve been heavily conditioned there is no sense in continuing this conversation. As the late master of the age once stated:
Patrick
@Howard Beale IV:
You are exactly right. I don’t respond to people who resort to childish name-calling. Have a good evening.
Howard Beale IV
@efgoldman:
Ah, ye of such little faith.
Bankruptcy does wondrous things for corporations-not so much for individuals.
With the latest SCOTUS rulings, the CPFB appointments may not mean so much-if they’re allowed to stand, that is.
Another heavily conditioned individual, I see. No matter. The prescription is still the same.
Howard Beale IV
@efgoldman:
Unicorns? Whazzat?
Funny thing-When Enron, Arthur Anderson, Sprint and Tyco went in the shitter under Bush II, how many of their execs went to jail? Quite a few as I recall.
Under Obama and Holder/Breuer, with a crises of at least three magnitudes worse than with Shrub had – how many folks went to jail again?
The Bankruptcy Act of 2003 was a bad deal but its damage pales to what Ol’ Slick Wille signed to get the hounds off of l’affaire Lewinsky.
Game, set, match.
Hal
@JPL: I just looked at maddowblog and they have an update:
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-07-02/yet-another-worthless-presidential-poll
David Koch
@Howard Beale IV: how many bankers did FDR put in jail for creating the Great Depression?
Is it a bad thing for the 401Ks and pension plans of average people to recover?
Matt McIrvin
@WaterGirl: Actually, I was mistaken about a detail of the poll: they were rating post-WWII presidents.
Elliot Rosewater
love the quotes by Reagan at the end warning us against Medicare…..
lol they talk in ever decreasing small circles.