Yesterday was another day of significant joint pain in the knees and hands so I stayed low and covered up until I had to go out to a meeting in the evening. Sitting at the computer is difficult and it is at times like this that I wish I had a laptop so that I could work with my legs stretched out and warm under a blanket. Maybe some day . . . Today is supposed to rain very heavily although it has not yet started which is odd. I will be off to teaching again this afternoon with Lucia.
Short Takes
CBC — Pope Francis said Thursday that Donald Trump is "not Christian" if he intends to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Trump immediately fired back, saying it is disgraceful for a religious leader to question a person's faith. …
Trump, a Presbyterian, last week criticized Francis' plans to pray at the border. He said the move was ill-informed and showed Francis to be a political figure …
"No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man's religion or faith," he [Trump] said.
So Trump would suspend the first amendment rights of the Pope, or any other religious leader for that matter, for commenting on the actions of another when those actions do not meet with the professed values of that person? Get over it Trump!
Alternet — Historians may someday see the 2016 election season as the turning point in how our society understands the Dominionist movement that is seeking to recast society in its own image. …
… discusses the influence of “seven mountains dominionism” on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) – who may be the most openly theocratic candidate ever to be a serious contender for a major party presidential nomination. Perhaps just as remarkably, the Dominionism advocated by the likes of the Cruz family is wrapped in a claim that religious freedom is under assault in the U.S.
IMO, religious freedom — the freedom to believe or not to believe, to worship or not to worship — is under assault in the US, but NOT as Cruz and his ilk would have us believe. It is people like Cruz who would ram their pseudo Christianity down everyone's throats, who would legislate biblically based laws (Christian Sharia law) that all people, regardless of their beliefs, would have to follow.
Truthdig — But then comes the imbalance: If there is a common element in the rhetoric of all the Republican candidates, it is that Obama’s presidency is an utter disaster, and he is trying to turn us, as Rubio keeps saying, into “a different kind of country.” You’d imagine from hearing the Republicans speak (Kasich is a partial exception) that we are in the midst of a new Great Depression, have just been defeated in a war, have lost our moral compass entirely, have no religious liberty, and are on the verge of a dictatorship established by a slew of illegal executive orders.
Oh, yes, and the president who brought about all these horrors has lost the authority to name a Supreme Court justice, no matter what the Constitution—which should otherwise be strictly interpreted—says.
EJ Dionne is correct . . . the Republicans are hammering away at Obama's presidency in their less than truthful style. Democrats need to uphold Obama's presidency and call out Republicans for their action . . . or should I say, lack of any meaningful action for the country!
My Universe —
7 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 19/02/2016”
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Our cat will be so jealous if I show her this picture!
CBC: Trump: Open mouth, insert foot. He has no respect at all for anyone, even the Pope!!
AlterNet: He's getting really weird and very scary. Everything he believes in, I don't.
TruthDig: ''Our (Democratic) stewardship has been a smashing success and we should get another term.'' I'm all for that! The Dems need to insist and stand up for what they believe is right.
My Universe: Very good fisher cat. Got dinner immediately.
Hope your knees and hands get feeling better. 'Icy Hot' works well for me, OTC. It's fairly reasonably priced too. Enjoy your evening, and Thanks, Lynn.
Sounds like you had a rough day, hope your hands and knees are better today.
CBC: Trump has such a large ego that he would probably challenge Jesus if he thought he was criticizing him.
Alternet: People like Cruz frighten me, they are indeed like the sharia, believe their way or no way.
Truthdig; I agree with Dionne. The Democrats need to stop running from Obama and embrace the good that he has accomplished while fighting a Republican controlled congress. That is why Kentucky now has a Republican governor who is dismantling every good thing our previous governor accomplished, they tried to separate themselves from Obama and the things democrats are supposed to uphold.
My Universe: Brave cat. I doubt any of mine would get that close to water.
So sorry to hear you continue to be in pain, Lynn. Please don't make the mistake of thinking you are obligated to write on this blog each day. I know TomCat is battling a cold at the moment, but you mustn't torture yourself with sitting behind a desk for this blog because you feel you must fill in for him.
CBC: Although we're both baptized Catholic as babies, my atheist husband and I have a very low opinion of the Catholic church as an institution and have (even officially) severed all ties when we were very young. But when we saw the news clip of Pope Francis denouncing Trump as a Christian, we both cheered for him. He didn't mention any names and referred to the building of the wall to keep immigrants out, so it is a remark all GOP candidates AND their voters can take to heart, as Pope Francis meant it to be taken. Trump responded within 10 minutes entirely as expected, so there's little hope of that, but I applaud Pope Francis for having the courage to say what so many other world leaders haven't got the ball to say: These GOP candidates are a disaster for humanity.
Alternet: You're spot on with you're comment, Lynn, there's nothing I can add to your analysis of Ted Cruz's Talibangelism.
Truthdig: From where I'm sitting, Obama has done a marvelous job given the circumstances, i.e. the complete lack of cooperation and even obstructionism of the GOP/TP, a far better job than I thought he could possibly do given the legacy of Bush he was stuck with: wars in the Middle East and an economic crisis. People tend to forget a lot in 7 years, especially in politics, so Democrats should make the most of Obama's positive legacy and not turn against him like a number did at the half-term elections. That only decreased Democratic voter turnout even further and resulted in the GOP taking Congress. It is essential that this is turned around in the next elections.
My Universe: That cat likes his dinner fresh.
Thanks Lynn. Hugs!
Sorry to be so late – but at least everyone has said everything so I don't have to. Just as well. I have been so scared of Dominionism for so long I would probably have verbal Republicosis.
CBC: Trump would suspend the rights of anyone to disagree with him if he had the power! However he identifies religiously, his real religion is "ME-ISM!" But, now, especially, he has even more (If that'spossible)access to platforms for spewing his crap.
Alternet: Intresting! G.W. Bush is the one, I believe, who claimed that there was a war on Christianity, being waged by those who did not want to have it shoved down their throats. I'm going tohave to look up "Dominionism," but I do not like the sound of it.
Trughdig: More of the BIG LIE put out by the GOPigs, who have done nothing but get in the way of democracy since Obama took office…not that they were friends of democracy previously. the on e most responsible for making this a :different kind of country," was Reagan, whose influence has been wielded from the grave, given his SCOTUS clowns, the theocracy he, and his buddy Jerry Fallwell, and ilk, have fostered! G.W. Bush and the continuing of Reagan's redistribution of wealth upwards, changed the country. Would that Obama had been able to have similar impact!
Okay, I thought I'd put this into PP earlier, but, be that as it may, I have since looked up Dominionism, found that it is what Cruz' father eats for breakfast, that Daddy might just think Teddy is close to being the Messiah, and, in any case, this ois just one more itiration, in my humble opinion, of delusional Rapture related BS!
Apparently "they" took the Biblical statement to Adam and Eve, that "You shall have dominion over…," literally and spun it out of sight. In the economic realm, one of the seven mountains of Dominionism, I guess St. Reagan, will really be sanctified, as his push of wealth to the 1%, which Bush helped along, can be seen as a part of Gods plan to have wealth all put in one big pile, so that it can then be "given" to the proper Christians.