One of the more infuriating things about people in the mainstream starting to wake up to the fact that the Republicans are overtly all about Christian nationalists is remembering all the times I argued with people and they ignored me- “Trust me they don’t just want to stop at 16 weeks they want to end it for everyone and ending abortion is just the beginning” and get met with “no they don’t just a few crazy ones.” As Americans become less religious the ones who are religious have become louder and more crazy. And I am just tired of their stranglehold on public policy.
Religion
Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Día de los Muertos
DAY OF THE DEAD:
Hundreds of people dressed as skeletons took to the streets for an early celebration of the Day of the Dead in Mexico City. Yesterday's parade is one of many events for "Día de Los Muertos" celebrations. pic.twitter.com/zymNm6wXOW— KTVN 2 News (@KTVN) October 23, 2023
When I was a wee child in parochial school, the nuns’ Baltimore Catechism said that All Saints’ Day (November 1) was for ‘calendar’ saints — those who were named in the 365 days of the official liturgical calendar — and All Souls’ Day (November 2) was for the rest of our beloved deceased, most especially those who might need a little additional prayer-boosting to move them from Purgatory to the higher plane of Heaven. (Then the Second Vatican Council dropped a whole bunch of the ‘official’ saints for insufficient historical documentation, precursing Wikipedia and pissing off a great many believers in those no-longer-publicly-celebrated icons…)
Regardless of the precise theological dating, it had long been a(nother) three-day observance, in a season when many cultures in the Northern Hemisphere mark the shift from harvest abundance to winter rigor. A time when the veil between present, past, and future seems thinnest… and one where it behooved every community member to settle old grievances and prepare to be cooped up together for the hard dark days.
We’ve all been talking, in recent days, about how the encroaching darkness is making us sad and reminding us of how much we’ve lost, individually and collectively, in the past months…
Good Washington Post story (with a terrible headline) on ofrendas and their purpose — [unpaywalled gift link]:
Enrique Quiroz didn’t know his grandparents, but you would never suspect that if you heard him talk about his grandmother.
He can tell you what she looked like and what sweater she loved wearing. He can tell you what she cooked and what phrases she was known for saying.
“I feel like I know her,” he told me on a recent afternoon. “I feel like I met her because of this tradition.”
“This tradition” is part of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. For the holiday, people across Mexico and the United States put together ofrendas — altars that are adorned with photos of their loved ones and items that tell of the lives those loved ones led. A grandfather’s favorite drink might sit in that space. So, too, might a beloved aunt’s gardening gloves or a child’s toy.
“It’s about remembering and respecting your ancestry,” Quiroz said. “The Aztecs and the Mayans used to say there are three deaths. The first one is when your heart stops. The second one is when you’re buried. And the third one, and the most fatal one, is when you’re forgotten. The minute I stop talking about my grandma, she is dead. Because then no one remembers her, no one is talking about her.”
Wednesday Morning Open Thread: <em>Día de los Muertos</em>Post + Comments (169)
I’m So Old
After having seen several interviews with this Johnson fellow out of Louisiana, I have a couple of thoughts.
First, he has that slimy hyper religious sheen that a lot of the hucksters who are religious in the sense that they cherrypick the bible to justify who they are currently hating on. The whole Tony Perkins patina if you will. And when you see these guys, there’s a scandal in there somewhere whether it is a dead girl or a live boy.
Second, I think the more interviews he does, the better he is for Democrats.
Third, I’m so old I remember when Markos was getting yelled at for calling these guys the American taliban or when everyone got chided for calling them Christianists and that not all Republicans, and here we are in the year of our lord 2023 and they’ve up and had every single elected Republican in the House voted for a live one right there in front of us all.
Late Night Creepy Tales Open Thread: Tim Ballard, Grifting & Groping for ‘Freedom’
Tim Ballard is being sued by five women accusing him of sexual misconduct and detailing what precisely they say happened. The suit was first reported by the Utah outlet KSL. https://t.co/UpwKyVSXno
— Anna Merlan (@annamerlan) October 10, 2023
Mike Lee (… roy Jenkins!) just dodged a bullet:
The suit was — and I suspect this is not a coincidence — filed the day before Mr. Ballard was reportedly about to announce his Senate run. Multiple people told us that he was going to announce his candidacy today, October 10.
— Anna Merlan (@annamerlan) October 10, 2023
Best guide to ‘conservative’ politics — Every accusation a confession:
Tim Ballard, the founder and former head of the anti-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad whose heavily fictionalized exploits were the subject of this summer’s surprise box-office hit Sound of Freedom, has been sued in Utah’s Third District Court by five women accusing him of sexual misconduct. The Utah news outlet KSL was the first to report the filing. An accompanying press release issued by their attorney, Suzette Rasmussen, reports that additional suits are likely to be filed by more women in the coming month.
“The tragic irony is not lost on these five women,” Rasmussen wrote in the press release. “Tim Ballard literally trafficked them for his own sexual and egotistical gratification.”
In the suit, the women, who all live in Utah, and who filed the suit using initials to protect their privacy, accuse Ballard in detail of “coerced sexual contact.” The suit alleges that Ballard and/or the co-defendants have committed sexual assault and battery, conspiracy, fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and “outrage,” and accuses OUR of failing in its fiduciary duties, asking for a trial by jury and damages in an amount to be proven at trial.
The central allegations have to do with the so-called “couples ruse,” which is described in the suit as “a tool for sexual grooming.” …
The suit names a slew of co-defendants alongside Ballard, including Operation Underground Railroad, Children Need Families (an adoption grant organization founded by Katherine Ballard, Tim’s wife), the SPEAR Fund (a new anti-trafficking group for which Ballard has said he is a senior adviser), Liberty and Light (a Utah organization that appears to be the entity behind the SPEAR Fund), and three Utah shell companies that have been associated with Ballard: Rockwell Group Inc., Deacon Inc., and Slave Stealers LLC. The suit also names members of OUR’s board and Janet Russon, the purported psychic medium whose “intelligence” was used to carry out ineffectual missions for OUR and who was, the suit says, complicit in Ballard’s abuse…
The suit is the latest in a swift and stunning reversal of fortune for Ballard, long a prominent figure in anti-trafficking circles, and in Utah more broadly. It was filed on October 9, the day before Ballard was said to be planning to announce a bid for U.S. Senate, in the seat recently vacated by Mitt Romney. One of Ballard’s biggest supporters in the state, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes—who has himself gone on missions with OUR—said recently that in light of the allegations, he wouldn’t support Ballard in a Senate run…
If you don’t remember / were lucky enough to miss the whole Sound of Freedom circus, here’s a pretty comprehensive update from the Washington Post, dated last July 13th — “The man at the center of ‘Sound of Freedom’ abruptly leaves group he founded” [unpaywalled gift link]:
Friday Morning Open Thread: Be Aware of the Autumn Supermoon
Eyes to the skies: it's Harvest Moon time!
Folklore tells us that the nearest full moon to the autumn equinox is so-called because it rises soon after sunset, allowing farmers to harvest their crops.
The last supermoon of 2023 peaks on Fri, Sep 29.#HarvestMoon #FolkloreThursday pic.twitter.com/SQf9MLQVfe— Mark Rees (@reviewwales) September 28, 2023
Not that our, shall we say, alternatively sane neighbors need any more excuses, but IMO it’s not a good omen for getting anything useful accomplished this weekend.
“Democracies don't have to die at the end of a rifle. They can die when people are silent; when they fail to stand up and condemn threats to #democracy…The answer to the problems we face is engagement.” @POTUS offering hope and possibility — not MAGA’s#ExtremeRepublicanShutdown pic.twitter.com/eiOHWS6Oml
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) September 28, 2023
House Republicans have turned their backs on the bipartisan budget deal that two-thirds of them voted for just a few months ago and are marching us toward a shutdown.
It’s time for them to stop playing political games with peoples’ lives and keep the government open. pic.twitter.com/pz7HaA3RWz
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 28, 2023
Friday Morning Open Thread: Be Aware of the Autumn SupermoonPost + Comments (91)
Wodensday Morning Open Thread: The Old Ones Return
Probably it’s photoshopped… or is it just somewhere in Britain?
>spear, eyepatch, live crow
nobody tell them pic.twitter.com/OdxVTmu3T6
— Daddy Warpig (@DaddyWarpig) September 25, 2023
The institution may not always have been in his corner, but Murphy bless the Secret Service agents sweating here…
President Biden became the first sitting president to ever walk a picket line when he joined striking UAW autoworkers. pic.twitter.com/WotURmSDfD
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) September 26, 2023
Hillary Clinton refuses to lie low:
Today, I was honored to return to the @StateDept and join @SecBlinken in unveiling my official portrait as 67th Secretary of State.
We're delighted to share it with the American public right here, in case you don't make it in person to headquarters in Foggy Bottom anytime soon. pic.twitter.com/YcPymY77aq
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 26, 2023
Wodensday Morning Open Thread: The Old Ones ReturnPost + Comments (166)
Friday Morning Open Thread: Shana Tovah!
At Rosh Hashanah reception at the Vice President’s residence, VP Harris quotes the Talmud (Pirkei Avot), “It not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.” pic.twitter.com/irNXcBjiHA
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) September 13, 2023
Honored to be at the home of @VP for a Rosh Hashanah celebration. My grandparents were chased from Russia. Today I celebrated the coming New Year at the VP’s home, where a mezuzah adorns the entrance. pic.twitter.com/QlHT7DPeDD
— Rep. Steve Israel (@RepSteveIsrael) September 12, 2023
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For @MSNBC: No Joe Biden is not dropping out of the 2024 race; he’s not booting VP Harris from the ticket … and he’s still the Democrats best hope to win in 2024 https://t.co/qTlTM2QSFs
— Michael A. Cohen (NOT TRUMP’S FORMER FIXER) (@speechboy71) September 14, 2023
Friday Morning Open Thread: <em>Shana Tovah!</em>Post + Comments (313)