Open Thread – 11/20/2016

Posted by TomCat at 11:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Nov 202016

I’m somewhat rushed today, because Wendy just left. After she scrubbed and polished the filthy TomCat, we did the dreaded task, cleaned floors and counters, pad bills, organized paperwork and had French toast for brunch. Tomorrow, I have a podiatrist appointment for routine diabetic foot care, so please expect no more than a Personal Update.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:57 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Donald Trump Prepares Cold Open

I wish Fuhrer Drumphenfarten were going to scrap all those things! Fat chance!

From Common Dreams: As members of vulnerable communities and their allies gear up for threats the upcoming Donald Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress could unleash, the top legal officers in at least five states are also preparing, announcing they are ready to be "the first line of defense" to block any constitutional violations.

Reuters reports that the statements come from the state attorneys general in Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, and Washington. They are all Democrats.

Kudos! I hope many more join them.

From Politico: Keith Ellison, an early favorite to become the next Democratic National Committee chairman, has hit his first roadblock. The Minnesota congressman and Bernie Sanders ally is facing growing resistance to the idea of electing another party chair who is a sitting member of Congress.

On the heels of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s troubled tenure as DNC chief, the issue of whether Ellison will commit full-time to the job poses a threat to his candidacy — even as he enjoys significant support in his bid to become DNC chair.

Wasserman Schultz drew criticism in party circles for how she handled the two demanding roles, and Democrats privately grumbled that she sought to leverage her position as party chairman to give her congressional donors plum spots at DNC fundraisers with President Barack Obama and solicited DNC donors for contributions to her campaign.

“I think we all watched at DNC meetings a chair trying to do both and both is a matter of the amount of time being taken but also if you are a sitting officeholder there’s potentially some separation between your interests and the interests of the national party," said Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper.

Already, two of Ellison’s opponents for the top DNC job — former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison — have made the point that congressional responsibilities would dramatically undercut ability of the next chairman to do the job effectively.

I disagree. The last thing we need for the DNC are former lobbyists and Blue Dogs. If they want to insist on an unemployed politician, they can tap Alan Grayson.

From Right Wing Watch: Religious Right leaders were some of Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters in the presidential election—offering dozens of religious justifications for backing Trump in spite of his evident arrogance, dishonesty, mistreatment of women, and other character flaws. Telling the supremely narcissistic Trump that he has God’s special backing seems to be pouring gasoline on the fire, and that’s what Religious Right leaders have been doing since Election Day. “The Lord did this!” exulted former Rep. Michele Bachmann on the night of the election. Televangelist and End Times huckster Jim Bakker called Trump’s victory “the greatest miracle I have ever seen.”

George Barna, an evangelical pollster and Religious Right activist, appeared after the election on “Stand in the Gap [pseudo-Christians delinked],” a radio program hosted by the American Pastors Network’s Sam Rohrer. Barna gushed that voter turnout among SAGE (Spiritually Active Governance Engaged) Christians—his term for “real Christians” who attend church often and are politically active—was “astounding.” He said SAGE Christians were “the single most united and strongest segment backing Donald Trump.”

But Barna went beyond that to say that God had specifically acted to make Trump president. “I’ve witnessed a major miracle,” said Barna. “What has happened is that God has intervened in our reality and changed that reality more to His liking than what would have happened if He’d left us to our own devices.”

I want to puke!! Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians are the exact opposite of authentic Christians. Unlike Jesus, these satanic Republicans hate love and love hate.

Cartoon:

1120Cartoon

New Rule Plus Barack

Posted by TomCat at 10:04 am Politics, Religion

Nov 052016

Last week several of you expressed the hope that I could share Bill Maher's interview with Barack Obama on Real Time. I can and shall, but if you saw it on TV, watch anyway, because this is the full version, about twice as long as the televised one. But first, Bill takes on Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian Bible Trumpers.

New Rule: Bible Trumpers

This is the first time Bill has discussed Religion, when, in addition to laughing at him, I have agreed with virtually everything he said, with one small exception. Jesus would have recognized Trump. Then he would have braided cords to make a lash and driven him out of the temple with the rest of the Republican Party. Authentic Christians are not Trump Supporters.

President Obama: FULL INTERVIEW

I can't remember another interviewer that has done such an effective job in drawing Obama out on the topics on which they disagreed. I don't agree with either 100%, but major kudos to both!

Vote Blue!

Open Thread – 10/17/2016

Posted by TomCat at 1:36 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Oct 172016

I’m very tired and running behind, because I have lots of chores today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:27 (average 4:56). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Let’s take a break from the presidential debates and non-stop media coverage of the November 2016 election and deal with a particularly urgent matter — whether or it’s legal or not to hunt for the elusive Bigfoot.

Don’t try Bigfoot hunting in California – it could result in your arrest and conviction, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

On May 11, 2012, the CDFW issued a statement in response to media reports about a Texas wildlife official proclaiming that bigfoot hunting is legal in the long horn state.

“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says that in theory, it would be legal to hunt Bigfoot in their state,” stated a CDFW facebook post. “Not so in California!”

Now, considering her progressive political views, it’s easy to understand why Texans would hunt our beloved Sasquatch, and she would be safer in blue California. But in the end, only one thing matters. Is Bigfoot hunting legal in BC?

From NY Times: When Jen Hatmaker speaks to stadiums full of Christian women, she regales them with stories about her five children and her garden back in Austin, Tex. — and stays away from politics. But recently she took to Facebook and Instagram to blast Donald J. Trump as a “national disgrace,” and remind her legions of followers that there are other names on the ballot in November.

“Trump has consistently normalized violence, sexual deviance, bigotry and hate speech,” she said in an email interview. “I wouldn’t accept this from my seventh-grade son, much less from a potential leader of the free world.”

In the nearly four decades since Jerry Falwell Sr. founded a group called the Moral Majority, evangelical Christians have been the Republican Party’s most unified and reliable voting bloc in November presidential elections. The leaders of what came to be known as the religious right were kingmakers and household names, like Pat Robertson, James C. Dobson, Ralph Reed.

But this year, Ms. Hatmaker’s outraged post was one small sign of the splintering of the evangelical bloc and a possible portent of the changes ahead. While most of the religious right’s aging old guard has chosen to stand by Mr. Trump, its judgment and authority are being challenged by an increasingly assertive crop of younger leaders, minorities and women such as Ms. Hatmaker.

I’m glad to see a splinter in the evangelical camp, and I have been willing to respect the belief of and coexist with folks with different beliefs, even Republican Supply-side Pseudo-Christians, if they are also willing to respect my beliefs and coexist with me. To date, that has been the problem with pseudo-Christians.

From YouTube: "Dangerous"

I endorse Katie McGinty for the US Senate. Flush Toomey in his frack-water!

Cartoon:

Pseudo-Christians on the Trump Hate Train

Posted by TomCat at 12:22 pm Politics, Religion

Aug 172016

Whenever hatred abounds, you can be sure that Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians (the polar opposite of real authentic Christians) will jump on the hate train. And with Rump Dump Trump as the personification of today’s Republican party, you can be sure that the supply of hatred will be endless. The following author listed reasons they are backing Trump.

…Here are just some of the religious arguments made on Trump’s behalf:

1. God is using Trump to pave the way for the Second Coming

Frank Amedia, a pastor who has been serving as Trump’s “Christian policy” liaison, said that God told him personally last year that Trump would win the GOP nomination and help pave the way for the Second Coming. Amedia also suggested that only God could explain how Trump has survived all his blunders:

And the Lord spoke very clearly to me, and he said to me, ‘This man is going to win the nomination and I want you to be ready to serve my cause when I call you.’…In this instance, it’s not because Donald Trump has heralded his faith or the name of God, but the Lord has put His favor upon him, and how amazing it is that the favor of God can overcome so many mistakes, so many bumbles, so many things that otherwise we would think would destroy somebody in business, destroy them in politics, destroy them in relationships. But yet it’s very evident it was the will of the Lord to do this and here we sit now.

2. God is using Trump to get pastors to fight for religious freedom

Pastor Michael Anthony, president of Godfactor and founder of the National Week of Repentance, attended Trump’s June meeting with evangelicals and said he is convinced God is using Trump [pseudo-Christians delinked] to move Christians to act to defend their religious freedom. “I think God was speaking through him at that moment, to the church, to tell us why are you being silent about the most important thing about your lives?”

3. Trump could make America worthy of God’s blessing

The Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins was a big Ted Cruz backer and has publicly been a somewhat reluctant supporter of Donald Trump. He told radio host Sandy Rios that Trump has made plenty of mistakes, but that if he “walks in that grace that is available” and surrounds himself with good people, he could “cast a vision that moves America back to the country that honors God again and therefore would be a recipient of His blessing.”

4. Trump would make America friendlier to Israel

Many conservative evangelicals have embraced a theological approach to Middle East policy, interpreting Bible verses [pseudo-Christians delinked] to suggest that in order to enjoy God’s blessing, America must unconditionally support the Israeli government. Says [pseudo-Christians delinked] Pastor John Hagee, head of Christians United For Israel, “we have a mandate from the Bible and that mandate is to be supportive of Israel and the Jewish people.” Even though Trump said earlier this year that he would be “neutral” regarding the Israel-Palestine dispute (a position he later backed away from), right-wing leaders have long denounced Obama as an enemy of Israel. The Times of Israel notes [pseudo-Christians delinked] that Hagee, “has all but endorsed Trump by name.” Indeed, Hagee told his viewing audience that God would hold them accountable for their vote, saying, “I’m not going to vote for the party that has betrayed Israel for the past seven years.” Hagee has complained [pseudo-Christians delinked] that “three million evangelicals did not vote in the past election,” saying “God forbid that happen again. We are going to storm the voting booths of America this time around.”…

From <Right Wing Watch>

I’ve shared the first four of twenty-five listed reasons that Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians are on the Trump hate train. Click through for the other twenty-one.

They want Trump in the White House. How do you plan to prevent it?

Republicans Move to Legalize Hate

Posted by TomCat at 10:22 am Politics, Religion

Jul 112016

It’s taken a month for the Republican Party to come up with an official response to the Orlando Massacre. They took an ever so brief timeout from hating, Blacks, Latinos,Women. the poor, etc., to focus their hatred on the LGBT community.

One month ago on Tuesday, a gunman shot and killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. House Republicans plan to mark this milestone with a hearing on a bill that would enable widespread discrimination against LGBT people. The legislation, ironically named the “First Amendment Defense Act” (FADA) rests on the idea that discrimination should be excused when it is justified by religion.

On Tuesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform plans to consider FADA. The anti-LGBT bill has 171 different co-sponsors, nearly all of them Republicans.

By its own explicit terms, FADA grants special rights to individuals with a “religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.” In that sense, it closely resembles a Mississippi law that a federal judge halted earlier this month, in part because it extends special treatment to individuals with anti-LGBT religious beliefs.

Under, the core provision of FADA “the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with” a religious objection to marriage equality or a faith-based belief that sexual relations must be reserved to a marriage between people of the opposite sex. Subsequent provisions define the term “discriminatory action” to include a broad range of sanctions against religious objectors who themselves engage in discrimination. The government cannot deny tax subsidies to religious objectors who discriminate against LGBT people, or deny them a grant or benefit, or, under a catch-all provision, “otherwise discriminate against such person.”… [emphasis added]

From <Think Progress>

Photo Credit: The Great American Disconnect

Essentially this proposal would codify allowing the right to religious beliefs of one person to take precedence over the Constitutional rights of another person, but only if the beliefs, upon which hateful discrimination is based, are the beliefs of Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, the polar opposite of authentic Christians. As such, it seeks to establish pseudo-Christianity as a state religion, a clear violation of the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment.

Of the 171 co-sponsors of this hateful garbage, I could find only one Democrat. He is Rep. Daniel Lepinski [DINO-IL]. If you’re an Illinoisan, especially from the 3rd Congressional District, would you please give this Trump Humping DINO a call and tear him a new one?

Open Thread – 7/4/2016

Posted by TomCat at 12:35 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Jul 042016

It’s a good thing I slept well on Saturday and Sunday nights, because I know I won’t tonight. The main fireworks display is only seven blocks from me. I hope you are all having a happy and safe weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:10 (average 6:11). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos (classic 7/2014): 1. Conservatives opposed the Founding Fathers, the American Revolution and a lot of other righteous stuff as well.

By definition a conservative is one who wishes to preserve and/or restore traditional values and institutions, i.e. to “conserve” the established order. No surprise then that 18th century American conservatives wanted no part of breaking away from the British Empire and the comforting bonds of monarchical government. Those anti-revolutionary conservatives were called Tories, the name still used for the conservative party in England. The Founding Fathers? As radically left-wing as they came in the 1770s. The Boston Tea Party? The "Occupy Wall Street" of its day.

Some of the other "traditional" values supported by conservatives over the course of American history have included slavery (remember that the Republican Party was on the liberal fringe in 1860), religious persecution, the subjugation of women and minorities, obstacles to immigration, voter suppression, prohibition and segregation. Conservatives started off on the wrong side of American history, and that’s where they’ve been ever since.

2. The United States is not a Christian nation, and the Bible is not the cornerstone of our law.

Don’t take my word for it. Let these Founding Fathers speak for themselves:

John Adams: “The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” (Treaty of Tripoli, 1797)

Thomas Jefferson: “Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law.” (Letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814)

James Madison: “The civil government … functions with complete success … by the total separation of the Church from the State.” (Writings, 8:432, 1819)

George Washington: “If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded, that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.” (Letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia, May 1789)

You can find a multitude of similar quotes from these men and most others who signed the Declaration of Independence and/or formulated the United States Constitution. These are hardly the words of men who believed that America should be a Christian nation governed by the Bible, as a disturbing fundamentalist trend today would have it be.

These are just the first two of thirteen listed facts about America that Republicans wish you would forget. Click Through for the other eleven.

From Crooks and Liars: In this web exclusive, John Oliver lets us know just what we’re missing by declaring independence from Britain.

LOL! God save the Queen!!

From TPM: If elected president. Hillary Clinton plans to appoint enough women to the top levels of her administration that females would make up half of the cabinet positions, the New York Times reported. The report is based on interviews with friends and advisors close to Clinton — some on the record, some unnamed — and they told the Times that she also plans to look at talent from Silicon Valley to assemble a diverse cabinet.

Only about a quarter or a third of the president’s cabinet has been female in recent years, according to the Times.

I consider this move as progress in the right direction, but why stop mat half? Also, we’d better have a supermajority in the Senate, or many will not be confirmed.

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 6/30/2016

Posted by TomCat at 1:05 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Jun 302016

After staying here nine nights, Julie and Killer Dawg moved out yesterday. I’m feeling lonely. After a while I‘ll get used to my routine again. She will be back for about four hours on Saturday and will help train her replacement for a couple hours on Tuesday. I felt too tired to sleep well last night, so I took a Lona Nap this morning and I am running late.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:44 (average 5:34). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Because that is what Jesus would do, right? No, wrong. Assault weapons are meant for one thing — to kill. Jesus was against killing.

The Globe reports on a church in Joplin, Missouri, that held a raffle and gave away two Black Rain AR-15 assault rifles on Father’s Day. Fathers were given one free ticket and another for each child they brought in. (I wonder if you could bring in someone else’s child for extra tickets…) Ignite says it was part of a marketing strategy to “lure” young men between 18-35 to follow Jesus. Because that’s what Jesus would do right? No, wrong. No where [sic] does it say Jesus “lured.”

It would appear that church exists to worship Republican Supply-side Jesus, who Republicans invented to justify their false gospel of violence, lies, hate and greed. Republican Supply-side Jesus is the polar opposite of the real Jesus.

From MSNBC: Rachel on Benghazi BS

Republican Benghazi BS had one purpose only, to propagandize against Hillary Clinton. And Nameless was right. It STILL isn’t over.

From Alternet: Donald Trump has been showered with accusations of financial impropriety, from fraud suits levied against his now-defunct Trump University, to charges that the presidential candidate drastically inflates his charitable donations. To add fuel to the monetary fire, Trump is now facing repercussions for poor fundraising acumen; on Wednesday, the Federal Elections Committee filed a complaint against Donald J. Trump for President for “soliciting contributions from foreign nationals” in a series of emails the campaign sent to “foreign nationals in Iceland, Scotland, Britain and Australia.”

Following reports earlier this month that Trump’s fundraising numbers are severely lagging, the presumptive Republican nominee sent emails to members of the British parliament, Talking Points Memo reports.

Sir Roger Gale, British Member of Parliament (MP) complained about the correspondence to the Speaker of the House Commons, Politics Home notes. "Members of Parliament are being bombarded by electronic communications from Team Trump on behalf of somebody called Donald Trump,” Gale said Tuesday. ”Mr Speaker, I’m all in favour of free speech but I don’t see why colleagues on either side of the House should be subjected to intemperate spam."

Click through for more details. Trump has not even tried to hide his criminal foreign fundraising behind bogus nonprofits, the way Republicans normally do.

Cartoon:

They need to Vote Blue!

Open Thread – 6/13/2016

Posted by TomCat at 3:03 pm Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics, Religion

Jun 132016

I’m getting another late start, because I’m so tired I needed a Lona nap this morning. Then I needed to arrange a medical cab for all three trips to and from Casey Eye Institute next week. Then I needed to massage the parade pictures into shape. Finally I ordered a new pad for my wheelchair, as the old one is worn out.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:11 (average 4:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade:

The Rose Queen and her Court. (a better Court than SCROTUS).

After every horse act came a contingent of poop-scoopers. Republicans lack the intellectual capacity to do this job, Winking smile

Short Takes:

From NY Times: …Mr. Sanders said that he and Mrs. Clinton planned to meet on Tuesday and that he would ask her “whether she will be vigorous in standing up for working families in the middle class, moving aggressively in climate change, health care for all, making public colleges and universities tuition-free.”

“And after we have that kind of discussion and after we can determine whether or not we are going to have a strong and progressive platform,” he said, “I will be able to make other decisions.”

There have been signs that he was winding down his run. While Mrs. Clinton has been hiring campaign workers, Mr. Sanders started laying off at least half of his campaign staff members last week. He has let go of a number of advance staff members who help with campaign logistics, as well as field workers who have been canvassing for votes.

According to a person who attended the meeting at Mr. Sanders’s home Sunday, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private gathering, there was no talk from Mr. Sanders about trying to win the nomination. The group was keenly interested in how the senator’s meeting with Mrs. Clinton on Tuesday will turn out, and whether he would get assurances that she would fight for his ideas, this person said…

By continuing to run, Bernie increases the likelihood that his dream will live-on because it gives him a stronger negotiating position for the platform. As their stance clings to more and more desperate delusions, those who say they follow Bernie, but ignore his overtures toward unity work to increase the likelihood that Bernie’s dream will die in a totalitarian Rump Dump Trump Reich.

From Alternet: …The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, which works to support and empower LGBTQ Muslims, declared in a statement released on Sunday, "This tragedy cannot be neatly categorized as a fight between the LGBTQ community and the Muslim community. As LGBTQ Muslims, we know that there are many of us who are living at the intersections of LGBTQ identities and Islam. At moments like this, we are doubly affected."

"We reject attempts to perpetuate hatred against our LGBTQ communities as well as our Muslim communities," the organization continued. "We ask all Americans to resist the forces of division and hatred, and to stand against homophobia as well as against Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry."…

The violence stems from neither Islam, nor Christianity, but from right wing pseudo-Muslims and right-wing pseudo-Christians, who abuse their respective religions to pursue the right-wing hatred and homophobia that they share.

From Think Progress: This morning on Fox & Friends, Donald Trump not so subtly returned to the subject that launched his political career — outrageous conspiracy theories about Barack Obama.

Trump said there were two possible reasons the gun massacre took place in Orlando. The first possibility was that Obama is “not tough” and “not smart” and therefore incapable of stopping terrorist attacks.

The other scenario, according to Trump, is that Obama is fully capable of stopping terrorist attacks but “has something else in mind.” In other words, Obama is purposefully allowing terrorists to kill people in the United States to pursue a hidden agenda.

Barf Bag Alert!!

Perhaps we could use his hair as a filtration mesh for sewerage. I can’t imagine any other productive use for him, at the moment.

Cartoon:

0613Cartoon

Before SCOTUS became SCROTUS (Republican Constitutional VD)

Older Entries Newer Entries