This seems significant:
New York/London (CNN Business)Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since the Bolshevik revolution more than a century ago.
Following reports that Moscow had failed to pay about $100 million in interest on two bonds during a 30-day grace period that expired Sunday, the White House said the default showed the power of Western sanctions imposed on Russia since it invaded Ukraine.
“This morning’s news around the finding of Russia’s default, for the first time in more than a century, situates just how strong the reactions are that the US, along with allies and partners, have taken, as well as how dramatic the impact has been on Russia’s economy,” a senior administration official said on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Germany.
The article says analysts had expected the default sooner but rising energy prices cushioned the blow. Russia says the check is in the mail:
Russia denied it was in default, saying the payments had been made, in dollars and euros, on May 27 and the money was stuck with Euroclear, a settlement house based in Belgium.
Well, May 27 was a month ago. I’m pretty sure such an excuse wouldn’t fly with my creditors. The article says it’s unclear how this will affect the Russian economy in the short term, but in the long term, it looks pretty grim for them. We shall see.
In other news, the radical clerics on the SCOTUS removed another block from the wall the Founders built to separate church and state, ruling in favor of an assistant high school football coach in Washington who was fired for insisting on leading post-game prayers at midfield. [WaPo]
The coach started off taking a knee, but that wasn’t provocative enough since no one objected to a (white) school official taking a knee, so he escalated to public praying, directly contradicting the teachings of Jesus (Matthew 6:5-6) and the spirit of the First Amendment.
The coach and his wife have since retired and moved to the Florida Panhandle, where I’m sure they’ll fit right in and contribute a couple of DeSantis votes. Here’s hoping a high school band leader with a penchant for satanism takes up the challenge.
Open thread.
schrodingers_cat
Let’s see if we see fewer attacks on Ds on social media now.
Old School
A story I read said that was true. Russia has the funds to pay the interest, but the sanctions are preventing them from being able to actually make the payment.
Betty Cracker
@Old School: Right — according to the linked article, that’s thanks to the sanctions. Russia can’t convert rubles into a currency that’s acceptable to pay the debt, hence the default.
MinuteMan
artem1s
how about full on call for prayer 5 times a day? Why should interrupting everyone’s day with prayer be limited to the sportballs events? same god, or so I’ve been told. Shouldn’t be a problem for the fundies, right?
Nicole
@Betty Cracker:
“Alexa, play all the sad trombones.”
Keith P.
There’s your new “Fox News Religious Liberty Contributor”, folks
lowtechcyclist
Meanwhile, the Russians launched a missile attack on a shopping center in Kremenchuk, far away from the front lines of the war, turning the shopping center into an inferno. Roughly a thousand people were inside at the time.
https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1541429545030615047
artem1s
@Betty Cracker:
The GOP has wanted to test the waters on defaulting on the national debt since W at least. I was surprised TFG wasn’t braying a bankruptcy option all day everyday of his administration – I’m sure this was part of what the Glibertarians and Paulites who wanted him elected had in mind.
Hope Liz is paying attention to this or anyone who wants to style themselves as the ‘sane’ remainder of the GOP.
Good new is Russia can always have one of their oligarchs pay the loan with some crypto, right?
Feathers
As the former assistant to an economics professor who did a lot of work on sovereign default, the long term effect on Russia will be determined by whether the markets decide if this was Russia’s “fault.” Could Russia have avoided this? Will Russia keep doing whatever it was that led to this default?
So question becomes will the banks/markets see Russia as the bad actor in this situation and call in the rest of Russia’s debt? Or will they blame the sanctioning countries and give further extensions?
We can blame the Republicans (of course) for some of this mess. By playing chicken with US debt, they have lessened the “cost” of sovereign default for all countries.
debbie
Let Russia know America will convert the cash — for a price, a steep, very unpleasant proe.
rikyrah
Putin: Check’s in the mail…
BWA HA HA AH AH HA HA HA HA
Betty Cracker
@lowtechcyclist: Holy fucking shit. If firebombing a shopping mall full of civilians isn’t a war crime, what is?
rikyrah
tee hee hee
randy khan
@Betty Cracker:
Oops.
This is one reason it’s good to have your currency as a reserve currency.
rikyrah
Yeah, sure….we believe you Russia.
BWA AH AH AHA HA HA HA HA HA AH HA
Kristine
They’ll argue that any religion other than their flavor of Christianity isn’t a real religion. That argument is already popping up over Judaism b/c of abortion.
I’d be surprised if they weren’t working towards the official declaration of a state religion, all others being invalid. I wonder if they’ll let the Catholics play?
Tony Jay
Looks like that Republic of Secessiona we were discussing might have a ready made Chief Sovereign Citizen and First Obedient Wife waiting tanned, rested and ready to lead their fellow numbnuts into the mouth of the Gator God.
I think there’s also a few Injustices who might be looking for a new gig in a year or so.
Tim C,
Speaking as an exurban High School teacher, I can say there’s some very interesting breakdowns and changes in the last 20 years with boys sports. It’s telling how the sports teams have become much more political and religiously aligned over that time. At least in white outside-Portland exurbs, but at the same time?
They suck.
Like every time they face a team from an area that isn’t all tied up in flags and ceremonies and their political rituals they just get their asses handed to them. A lot of it has to do with, I think, the fact that they are so wrapped up in their cultural identity, which goes with a huge amount of entitlement and laziness, that they don’t particularly work hard at practice and try to avoid most actual work. Then some team that actually focuses on the actual game just lights them up.
As a small and petty man, I do enjoy hearing the whining the next day.
But yeah, basically when sports becomes overtly identified with conservative politics, it’s not good for the team at all.
E.
@artem1s: This fucking “Court” is going to lead us straight into religious warfare. I’ve always said the violence in this country would begin with brazen and somewhat state-permitted attacks/pogroms against the homeless. But it may quickly become God-based violence.
Fester Addams
@artem1s:
With MAGA prayer rugs oriented to point towards mar-a-fuck-lago?
Another Scott
@Old School: Yup. (They probably actually have the dollars at the clearing house, but can’t use them because of the sanctions.)
Vlad no-doubt points to XE.com’s chart which says things are going great for the Ruble!!1
(Narrator – Psst! Note the volume graph. Nobody can trade Rubles for Dollars, so the “value” is meaningless.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Tony Jay
@rikyrah:
The cheque is in the mail? Seriously?
ETA – Oops, you already made that joke.
Betty Cracker
@Kristine: A synagogue in South Florida is suing the DeSantis regime for imposing a ban on abortion after 15 weeks. The new law goes into effect July 1. It’ll be interesting to see how that shakes out.
My guess is DeSantis isn’t super happy about the radical clerics’ striking down Roe. Oh, he praised the decision on Twitter, but I’m sure he was doing the political calculations in his head.
From the so-con point of view, Florida’s dirty little secret is that it’s the destination of choice for women in other Confederate states who can’t access reproductive healthcare at home.
DeSantis threw the base a sop by reducing the weeks access was available below Roe’s threshold. But now that Gilead is at hand, will they be satisfied with that?
(Sorry to go off on a tangent…)
Captain C
Putin, once again, is shown to be a small liar.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
My impression, perhaps false, is that the Republican voters in the southern half of the state are more libertarian than religiously conservative.
lowtechcyclist
@Betty Cracker: And one of these days, the State Department might get around to classifying Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism.”
There ought to be a category above that because Russia isn’t sponsoring terrorism, it’s doing the terrorism.
Kristine
@Betty Cracker:
I did not know this.
I’ll be watching the synagogue’s lawsuit with interest. I follow Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg on Twitter and via newsletter. Learning a lot.
Betty Cracker
@Tony Jay: I gotcher Gator God right here, pal:
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: I resent the email (its the aol one, its the one I have)
BTW I was in the Chicago area a week ago and wanted to see if you wanted to meetup.
*Waves from MA
Tim C,
@Betty Cracker: No, they won’t be satisfied.
I think there’s a possibility, a real one that the actual disaster for the GOP is in purple states where there’s a lot of holy rollers, but not enough to win state wide elections by going the full ban.
Florida is a perfect example I’m guessing. The hard core for-real-they-believe-this forced birthers are going to want the full ban. And they are fresh of a huge win at SCROTUS that says they can have it now.
So DeSantis and all the other GOP Governors have to give it to them or face the wrath of the Holy Rollers.
Ken
The ruble is now an NFT? Its nominal dollar value being defined by a few trades, where if you look closely it’s the same three guys shuttling a dozen NFTs back-and-forth?
cmorenc
@artem1s:
Let’s see what happens when a coach who is muslim has his players kneel on the field to while the coach recites an islamic prayer. Or even a coach who recites simple Buddhist salutations/prayers like “namaste” before his kneeling players, in front of Christian parents in the stands. We’ll truly see what the RW SCOTUS majority thinks of this kind of “religious liberty”.
Mike in NC
The infamous Florida Panhandle, where Matt Gaetz spends his free time stalking teenage girls. Has he been linked to any abortions, Republicans?
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I’m not sure that captures the dynamic fully. In South Florida, Republicans’ animating force is to oppose communism (understandable; I also oppose communism, but I also know what it is, and it ain’t Joe Biden or even AOC), but the region is also heavily Catholic, so there’s that.
In the northern, rural parts of the state, the culture is as Southern as Georgia or Alabama, hence the saying “the farther north you go, the further South you get” — it’s heavily evangelical.
Betty Cracker
@Mike in NC: As you know, hypocrisy won’t faze them. If Donald Trump hasn’t paid (or promised to pay) for at least half a dozen abortions, I’ll eat my goddamn shoe.
BC in Illinois
“The Supreme Court just ruled 6-3 that public school teachers and other staff can now lead students in prayer . . .”
[ Ooh! Ooh! I can guess who were the six! ]
As a (retired) Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor, let me weigh in on this one.
We start in Montgomery County, Maryland. Weller Road Elementary School, Belt Jr. High School, and Wheaton High School had — as I remember, and as far as I knew — a pretty even mixture of Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant teachers. (Pretty well reflecting the community at the time.) No telling how many were non-religious or irreligious.
Fast forward from the Eisenhower administration to today. Look at the entire nation, in every locality. Add a higher percentage of non-religious teachers and students. Mix in a certain number of Muslim, Mormon, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and other Non-Missouri-Synod-Lutherans — both students and teachers.
Who leads what prayers? Does the teacher decide? For all students? Can the administration overrule the teacher? Do they rotate among Christian and non-Christian prayers? Do they think that it is an easy task to devise an all-inclusive, non-denominational, inoffensive prayer, properly distinguishing between Law and Gospel? (Have they ever dealt with Missouri Synod Lutherans?) (Or [insert denomination of choice]?)
I can just see some committee putting together a prayer for all students and teachers to recite. Decide how the Schema, the name of Jesus, the submission to Allah, the writings of John Smith, and the teachings of the compassionate Buddha can all fit together.
There is a reason that the Missouri Synod in the 1800s was opposed to letting the public schools teach religion to their students. That was not the office of the government. (We were in favor of having our own schools.)
[Historical note: When a church in Illinois (where I used to be pastor) was established in 1910, the US President was William Howard Taft, a Unitarian. As he said, “I am a Unitarian. I believe in God. I do not believe in the divinity of Christ, and there are many other of the postulates of the orthodox creed to which I cannot subscribe.” He was the Chief Executive of the secular nation. He was not — for Christians — their religious leader or model.]
Letting teachers or . . . worse! . . . administrative committees decide how to lead students in prayer is not a good thing. Who will evaluate, supervise, and decide the qualifications of the teachers to lead this educational activity? What will be the “religious test” [US Constitution, Art. VI] involved? Who will determine the test? Who will evaluate the evaluators?
And let’s get real – – – think back on your actual teachers.
All of them.
The good. The bad. [And the . . .]
Can you picture each and every one of them saying, “Now, join me in prayer?” Really? I can name names of teachers in whom I would not have a lot of confidence, if they assumed that responsibility. If I were a more pious Junior High School student, I should have spent more time in my own prayers, asking for grace and guidance in enduring some classes. I would not have wanted to say those prayers out loud, in the presence of the teacher who was the object of the prayer.
The introduction of some kind of prayer into the public school curriculum may, of course, give Christian students an opportunity to give witness to their faith by rejecting and not participating in Christ-less prayers.
But I am not sure that is the function of whoever is now teaching at Weller Road Elementary School.
cmorenc
@Kristine:
4 out of the 5 RW justices who voted to overturn Roe v Wade are Catholic (the exception is Gorsuch). This doesn’t count Roberts and Sotomayor, who are both Catholic. So how did SCOTUS become 2/3 Catholic when only just over 20% of the US population is Catholic? Answer: all of the Catholic justices except Sotomayor were appointed by GOP Presidents, and it’s not at all random that they especially targeted conservative Catholics for SCOTUS appointments.
Doug R
@Betty Cracker: Looks like Broidy’s payment might have been covering for trump:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/05/more-evidence-that-broidy-was-covering-for-trump-in-affair.html
Bruce K in ATH-GR
One, there are only three members of the Supreme Court currently deserving of the honorific of “Justice”. Roberts gets zero points for trying to square the circle.
Two, anyone who’s okay with forcing a religion on people no longer gets to call themselves American in my presence. Maybe this is the part of America history that we don’t get taught in school, that has been our ugly secret for centuries, but no more. We said it about slavery, we’ll say it about forced religion: no longer, not in our America.
Three, Trumpism is not a big jump away from Putinism (appropriate because TFG hocked his soul to Vlad). And both are a short hop away from Nazism, and deserve the same fate (specifically, the gallows under Nuremberg prison).
Tony Jay
@Betty Cracker:
It’s great to see worshipers of Sobek the Magnificant enjoying the end of a lovely day out as they parade down the gullet of their Divine Devourer.
That’s what religion’s supposed to be like, kids!
Mnemosyne
@BC in Illinois:
It turns out that one of our teachers in junior high on the North Shore told my friend who is a Hindu that she was going to go to Hell if she didn’t accept Jesus into her heart. So, yeah, I don’t trust teachers to be objective about religion at all.
Sanjeevs
@artem1s: Trump definitely mused about defaulting.
https://www.npr.org/2016/05/09/477350889/donald-trumps-messy-ideas-for-handling-the-national-debt-explained
Thankfully the media were able to clean up for him.
J R in WV
@BC in Illinois:
Well said.
I really wish everyone had read the Constitution in some detail to learn why things are the way they were. Religions should have nothing to do with government, ever. You can base your vote on a candidate’s religion I suppose without breaking the Constitutional oaths people have sworn to. Do veterans even remember their oath at their enlistment?
“Congress shall make no law respecting… religion” seems pretty clear that the founders wanted to keep religion and government as far apart as possible. The Kings of England/Britain used their ownership of the state religion to jail and kill a lot of people, and our founders knew that. Many of the signers of the Declaration were early Unitarians, which was probably more common back then.
I gotta do real world stuff now. Banking and shopping and prescriptions and such.
ETA to make shorter
lowtechcyclist
@Betty Cracker:
I assume they’re challenging it on grounds that the ban is based on a religious belief, hence it constitutes an unconstitutional establishment of religion. I’d been wondering if these laws would be subject to challenge this way.
If that’s their approach, it’ll be a test of just how far the Fascist Five will go into realms of illogic to justify what we all know they want to do. My guess is, pretty damned far.
I think it’s worth building up this sort of track record in order to convince 50 Senators (in the next Congress that is, I have no hope wrt Manchin) that this Court really is way out of bounds, and expanding the Court is a necessity.
Hopefully they notice today’s prayer decision.
Ruckus
@Tim C,:
But yeah, basically when
sportsanything becomes overtly identified with conservative politics, it’s not good forthe teamanyone at all.FIXITFY
The Moar You Know
@Mnemosyne: I spent my early childhood being told various permutations of that bullshit from a few (thankfully not many) adults and a shitload of fellow kids. I was hoping we could spare some people from this, but no, now it’s got the full support of the state behind it.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
I think I’ve mentioned in the past about how I was conscripted into the Greek army (part of the price of dual citizenship), and how an officer, on learning that I had no baptism record to sort out how to spell my name in Greek, ordered me to get baptized at the first opportunity.
That was the moment that the Greek state forfeited any claim to my loyalty.
And it’s happening in the United States now, too.
Who was it who said that fascism would come to America waving a flag and brandishing a cross?
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
That seems like a fairly safe bet for the anti shoe diet.
Ohio Mom
@lowtechcyclist: Abortion is permissible in Judaism, even required if needed for the health and safety of the woman. Also, we hold that life does not begin until the first breath.
I believe the argument the synagogue is using is that they are being denied the right to practice their religion. Which is I guess the flip side of the establishment of religion, the two go together.
Captain C
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Roberts should be known forever going forth as Dred Scott Roberts. His entire term as Chief Joke has been marked by numerous decisions as or nearly as egregious and harmful as the previous low-water mark for the SCOTUS.
The three Trumpists should probably be arrested if we can figure out what to charge them with.
BC in Illinois
In some comments on other social media, people are strongly asserting that this is all about *voluntary* prayer, so everybody should just calm down.
And it is very true, that voluntary prayer, bible reading, faith, etc. are part of the free exercise of religion. (Sort of like the voluntary prayer that I may silently engage in, when I decide how to respond to some pinhead or other.)
But when the person leading the prayer and inviting others to participate is the coach who decides who will be the starting tight end or the teacher in the classroom who decides the grades for english and for deportment . . . and the occasion is part of the school activity . . . then the students (in this case) who complained about feeling coerced, have a point.
Torrey
@lowtechcyclist: I’m neither a lawyer nor an expert on Judaism, but they can challenge the law on the basis that it interferes with the requirement of their own religion that the health and well-being of the mother are paramount. One of our own commenters pointed out that their wife had a problem pregnancy that went septic and that, had abortion not been available, she’d have died. There was a case of exactly that kind in Ireland, and it may have contributed to the vote there to allow abortions.
ETA: I see that Ohio Mom got there first with the information about Jewish belief and practice.
Rocks
@Captain C: Perjury, for lying under oath during their confirmation hearings when they stated that Roe was settled precedent. Already suggested by Charlie Crist, running to be the Democratic candidate for governor of Florida.
planetjanet
@Betty Cracker: I have been to that tourist attraction when I was little! I still remember it. One of the snake cages was left open as I walked by. All the aligators were just sunning themselves beside the sidewalk.
Ruckus
@BC in Illinois:
A question from a different direction.
What if a student is not religious? Does that student not have to attend the prayer? Is that student forced to attend against his/her will?
I ask this as a non Catholic person who attended a Catholic HS for freshman year, and yes it was against my will. Now only once did I have to have anything to do with the religious part and that was when one of the fathers said I had to attend confession one day. As I was the smallest kid in the school I wasn’t sure I could land the kick to his crotch if he grabbed me, and I wasn’t sure that my fist would do enough damage. I never went in the confession booth, I just read a couple of the most ridiculous pamphlets I’ve ever seen and walked back out before I started laughing out loud inside.
I’m sorry if I offend some of you but I am a non believer and have been for over 60 yrs. I have read the bible cover to cover. I attended Sunday school and church for a long time as a kid. I get why many do believe, the concept is persuasive, the teaching goes back far and gets reenforced by the repetition. And the concept has good points but they aren’t good enough for me. I don’t think anyone should be in any way degraded for their acceptance but forcing ANYONE to accept the concepts is a very long and wrong way down the wrong side of every hill ever seen.
Madeleine
@BC in Illinois: Somebody front -page this?
Kristine
@cmorenc:
It’s not that I really care–I moved into the “lapsed RC” category decades ago. I’m just mildly surprised at the alliance.
I attended a Catholic high school, and some of my classmates were various flavors of Protestant. Mass every Friday during school hours–I can’t recall if non-Catholics attended. But I do recall one of my Protestant classmates referring to Catholics as “idol worshippers” because of the statues–she was in my class for 4 years and still felt that way.
So at the state/local level, I have a feeling that even some conservative Catholics may learn they were allies of convenience to be used and cast aside.
As an aside, this was West Coast Florida in the mid-70s. Our senior trip was to Disney World, and one of the companies they tried to hire to provide bus service refused because Catholic.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Speaking of Putin, word is Russia is begging Belarus for ammunition.
Ruckus
@BC in Illinois:
I know this is your point but I still feel I should say it.
When the person is in some way beneath someone else, it’s not feeling coerced, it is being coerced.
My comment about having to attend confession was against both the religion of my parents and my belief (or non belief) system.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@BC in Illinois: as an atheist parent who raised her only child as an atheist from birth, if I lived in your state and my kid had to be subjected to any teacher/coach/adult leading prayers I would sue everyone. This shit has to stop ( and no telling my kid they can leave the room or put a target on their back by not participating is not the answer). Of course I m also the parent who has a problem with Under God being in the pledge and with minor children reciting what amounts to a loyalty oath. Sorry for the rant. It’s been a bad week.
ian
@J R in WV:
other way around.
the little …s obscure the most important phrase there
The free exercise of religion includes the ability to try to proselytize others. It includes trying to influence public policy to be more like your religion. It is incumbent upon the rest of society and government to resist this. You are confusing the establishment clause with separation of church and state. It is the job of secular government to refrain from participating in religion, not the job of religion to refrain from participating in government. Some religions (one can make an argument that Mathew 6:5 says this about Christianity) may prohibit themselves from entering governments, but nothing in the constitution does.
FelonyGovt
@Ruckus: I remember prayers in my (public) elementary school in the 1960’s. It made me feel very uncomfortable and out of place.
Mnemosyne
@Kristine:
This is absolutely going to happen. Just as Jewish conservatives had a rude awakening after Trump was elected, Catholic conservatives will also find out the hard way that they’re not considered “real” Christians by their ostensible allies and can be discarded as soon as their usefulness is over.
Remember, Catholics may be a little lower on the KKK’s hate list, but they’re still on there.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Ruckus: thank you! And come sit by me if you want. Funny story. When we had to move in with my mom the only temporary child care I could find right away was a sort of vacation bible school at the Catholic Church my mom attended ( I had been an atheist since I was in my late teens) It was two weeks so I sent my kid with the teachers understanding my child was being raised atheist. My daughters expressions when she came home and explained how her classmates tried to explain the Bible stories to her were Priceless! My kid has a strong snark gene and loves science.. the eye rolls were epic from a five year old.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Mnemosyne: my husband was Catholic as a child. In Tennessee….he used to say He was number three on the Klan’s hit parade. He was also an altar boy…
Will
I’m fine with the decision. It was stupid to fire the guy for leading prayer for those that want to partake after a football game. Stupid shit like that is why the middle look screwy at Democrats just as much Republicans. They just can’t understand why you care so much about something small and insignificant.
I’m an atheist and this doesn’t even register on the scale at all to me. I grew up an atheist in a small town of Appalachia. My parents didn’t raise me that way. At some point around age 7 I told my mom I thought all this was stupid, she told me if I felt such a strong way I could walk home. Shockingly for her, that was the green light for me and I walked home. Never went to church again except for weddings.
From this thread my life should have been horrid and miserable. Shocking to those that believe that, outside a handful of crazies, no one cared. I was best friends with the quarterback. Life went on, I stayed an atheist, no one even tried to convert me.
planetjanet
Sojourners sent out a study this week on faith and white identity. They studied the reactions of a variety of people to Bible verses that discussed empowering minorities, welcoming foreigners and confessing the sins of your group. They found significant reaction against these concepts from white Christians, more so than from other groups. The correlation held when cross checked against income, education and other demographic factors. The authors argue that white identity comes before faith for many of them.White identity and the Christian faith.
livewyre
@Will: Public policy has to reach beyond “I got mine” into systemic effects in broader society, though. It’s like paying taxes for schools you don’t have kids in. Not sure what the court decision has to do with Democrats in particular, except…
satby
@Will: and of course your experience is everybody else’s… uh, nope.
SCOTUS has attacked the foundational concept of separation between church and state twice in a week. Whether you personally have a problem with it isn’t the point. It’s a direct assault on one of the founding principles of this nation.
Will
@livewyre: I don’t see how a coach leading a volunteer prayer after a game is a systemic risk to the system. Again, saying stuff like that just sounds crazy to average human being.
As for what the court decision has to do with Democrats, which sides do you think Joe & Jane Average ‘Murican thought the political parties came down on that? I’m sure they thought Kagan, Breyer, and Sotomayor were the Republican appointed justices.
Will
@satby: Sorry, some old dude and some kids praying at the 50 yard line after the end of the game doesn’t shake the foundations of this country. If you fear people doing insignificant stuff you don’t approve of, I suggest you find the correct party to join, the Republican Party.
livewyre
@Will: To be fair, you’re commenting on a political blog – we actually know the names of most of the justices on the Supreme Court. Most of us, at least. Some, for sure. Well, at least those of us who keep track of it.
The systemic interest in public policy is not what happens once, of course. Any case that makes it to the Supreme Court has enough implications on precedent for the entire nation that a ruling informs those in every single court from then on. At least, that’s the idea.
Besides, it’s not who nominated the justice that matters so much as what they do. Some of them have surprised us on various landmark decisions. In short, we have to keep track of what a ruling does, not what names it has on it, if we want to keep policy moving.
Ruckus
@FelonyGovt:
We didn’t have those, I would remember.
I sometimes lose names somewhere in that dense conglomeration of unconnected cells that is my brain but there are things that are seared in there. The compartment on religion is one of them that has clarity.
Ruckus
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone:
It is wonderful that some can see and think with clarity at a very young age. I read that bible before I was 12. It wasn’t a quick hour before bedtime or done in one sitting. I really wanted to know what the fuss was all about. Some days I think it was about the collection plate. I have a friend whose wife was a stewardess on a major airline. They could fly anywhere for the cost of the insurance, if there were empty seats. They flew to Rome once and got a tour through the back entrance of the Vatican. He said there were gold crosses just leaning against the walls because there was no place else to put them. I’ve told the story here before of during that school year in hell the LA cardinal came to visit. In a Rolls Royce, chauffeur driven limousine, silk robes and enough diamonds and precious stone rings to pay the debt of a third world country. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve seen in my life. My view of religion and especially some of them didn’t go upwards. In the least.
Ruckus
@satby:
This.
An exceptional point, we often need to be reminded of this.
StringOnAStick
@Will: That’s nice no one tried to convert you. My high school Spanish teacher led a morning bible study before classes once a week, and he tried to convert me. When I refused to come to his bible study, he made it a point to be shitty to me in class. I decided I didn’t need to take 3rd year Spanish, something I wish I had done, just not with that guy (the only Spanish teacher). He directed the kids in his bible study to “keep after” me.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Will: because in the context of a school function the word “volunteer” is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Coaches and teachers can have a lot of influence and power. If you are the only Atheist, Muslim, Jew, Zoroastrian, Hindi kid why the hell should your options be go along with the group or be made to feel and made into The Other?? Why should a staff member who happens to be a member of the dominant religion basically get to lead kids in prayer at a school function at public school.
apocalipstick
@artem1s: No, very different gods. It’s right there in the names: one is Allah, one is God. Now, I understand that ‘Allah’ is the Arabic word for ‘God’, and that, for instance, Iraqi Christians would say ‘Allah’, but…
I’ve lost my train of thought.
Will
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone:
Sorry, got busy with work so I couldn’t respond and I doubt you’ll see it but I wanted to respond.
I never felt like the Other. My experience with people that feel like “The Other” is they feel that way because they want to feel like the other. It’s their personality. I don’t think that is the case for all and I am well aware my experience isn’t everyone else’s experience, that there are people that do get treated that way.
So I don’t think a coach going to kneel and pray AFTER the game is over is that big of a deal. If I was in school and at the event, I wouldn’t have participated and no one would care. Also, key point is this was AFTER the school event was over. Do you go to highschool games? Are you aware of how quickly it is empty after it’s over with only coaches, players, and parents around? It’s not like every student even attends the games, much less stays after they are over.
Again, it was an insignificant event, and by treating this as a five alarm fire, Democrats hurt themselves with normies. To them, a teacher wearing a Pride shirt at a school event is just as much a social commentary on beliefs as someone wanting to pray after the game was over. In other words, it’s insignificant crap that no one cares about except the far wings of society.