McCain might want to stay clear of this guy

Republican Senator and likely presidential nominee John McCain received an endorsement today from the people McCain once called "agents of intolerance".

SAN ANTONIO — Senator John McCain got support on Wednesday from an important corner of evangelical Texas when the pastor of a San Antonio mega-church, Rev. John C. Hagee, endorsed Mr. McCain for president. Mr. Hagee, who argues that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive, biblically prophesized military strike against Iran that will lead to the second coming of Christ, praised Mr. McCain for his pro-Israel views.

“John McCain has publicly stated his support of the state of Israel, pledging that his administration will not permit Iran to have nuclear weapons to fulfill the evil dreams of President Ahmadinejad to wipe Israel off the map,'’ Mr. Hagee said at a news conference at the Omni Hotel in San Antonio.

Mr. Hagee also praised Mr. McCain for his “solid, pro-life voting record for the past 24 years.'’

Mr. McCain, who has been on a steady search for support among conservative and evangelical leaders who have long distrusted him, said he was “very honored'’ by Mr. Hagee’s endorsement. Asked about Mr. Hagee’s extensive writings on Armageddon and about what one questioner said was Mr. Hagee’s belief that the anti-Christ will be the head of the European Union, Mr. McCain responded that “all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee’s support.'’

Looking at this move from a political perspective, this is a great endorsement to have for the Arizona Senator. It might ease some of the concerns of the evangelical Republican voters about McCain's stance on the issues, by watching one of their own side with McCain. He's going to need the votes of the evangelical crowd in order to win the White House.

My personal opinion is that I wouldn't want that fundamentalist kook even a few inches from me. Check out the history of Hagee, and you'll see what I mean.

He argues the land of Israel never belonged to the Arabs who now call themselves Palestinians[citation needed] because sovereignty went from the Ottoman Turks who controlled the land for centuries prior to World War I, to the British, to the United Nations which authorized the creation of the Jewish State of Israel. He emphasizes the land was first renamed Palestine after the extinct (and non-Semitic/non-Arab) Philistines to punish the Jews for their revolt against the Romans, that there is no Palestinian language and most of those who now call themselves Palestinians immigrated from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and other Arab nations shortly before 1948.

Hagee has said Iran is a threat to Western civilization and does not believe the "Islamofascist" mentality will ever respond favorably to diplomacy[citation needed]. He supports an American-Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran to eliminate its nuclear capability and supports the Neo-Conservative movement in the United States.

Think that's nuts? Check out what the Pastor foresees in the near future.

In his book Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World, Hagee interprets the Bible to predict Russia and the Islamic states will invade Israel and be destroyed by God. This will cause the anti-Christ, the head of the European Union, to create a confrontation over Israel between China and the West. A final battle between East and West at Armageddon will then precipitate the Second Coming of Christ.[7] In a discussion concerning Muhammad, he claims Muhammad was a man of war and this influence on Islam is the cause of the troubles of Jerusalem[citation needed].

Theologically, Hagee believes in the "baptism of the Holy Spirit", the "absolute authority of the scripture", miraculous healing, anointing with oil, baptism by immersion, the importance of evangelism, and the "worship of the Lord through singing, clapping, and the lifting of hands."

As I said in my title, John McCain would be smart to stay clear of this Christian extremist, but with many conservatives not fully warming up to the prospect of McCain becoming the Republican nominee for President, he'll take whatever conservative/evangelical influence he can get.

I may have figured out the madness of Jeremiah

Here's a theory into why Jeremiah, the religious kook we've all come to know and love, is the way he is.

To understand the madness of Jeremiah, we must understand the roots of what a fundamentalist Protestant believes.

Firstly, fundamentalist Protestants take the Bible at face value, which is to say that every word of the Holy Book is the Absolute Truth, or shortly, the Will of the Almighty.
Secondly, fundamentalist Protestants believe that, morally, America has lost its way. In the eyes of a fundamentalist, the increases in drug abuse and death, crime, the murder rate, youth pregnancy, poverty, divorce, etc., are signs that the moral infrastructure of America is deteriorating.
Coupled with the belief that Christianity holds the Absolute Truth, that everything in the Bible is true, and that their religion will lead to peace of mind and the promise of eternal life in heaven, fundamentalist Protestants prey to the disillusioned and the simple-minded portion of citizens that America needs to return to the Bible before we all burn in hell; ergo, Jeremiah.

But it's just a theory, and like all theories, mine could be wrong, and that Jeremiah is just simply, out of his fucking mind.

The start of something new

Well now i'm a contributor at Count's Banned and Dangerous blogsite, where you can catch up on the mass hysteria of right-wing rants and quotes!

Check me out!

Dobson to endorce Huckabee

Too little, too late. The best way to sum up James Dobson's endorsement of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

James Dobson, one of the nation's most prominent evangelical Christian leaders, backed Mike Huckabee's presidential bid Thursday night, giving the former Arkansas governor a long-sought endorsement as the Republican field narrowed to a two-man race.

"The remaining candidate for whom I could vote is Governor Huckabee," Dobson said. "His unwavering positions on the social issues, notably the institution of marriage, the importance of faith and the sanctity of human life, resonate deeply with me and with many others ... Obviously, the governor faces an uphill struggle, given the delegates already committed to Senator McCain. Nevertheless, I believe he is our best remaining choice for president of the United States."

Two questions are nagging at me; one of them I'll be able to answer.

One: I know that the GOP can't stand their candidate, so why didn't the conservative base try and fight him, tooth-and-nail, from winning in Super Tuesday when they had their chance months ago?

Two: Why would anyone want Dobson -- the same religious kook who went on an idiotic crusade against Spongebob Squarepants for having a so-called, homosexual agenda -- to endorse their bid in the race for the White House?

Then I realized why the leader of Focus on the Family chose Huckabee: He's just as batshit crazy as he is.

This God stuff isn't just talk with Huck. One of his first acts as governor was to block Medicaid from funding an abortion for a mentally retarded teen­ager who had been raped by her stepfather — an act in direct violation of federal law, which requires states to pay for abortions in cases of rape. "The state didn't fund a single such abortion while Huckabee was governor," says Dr. William Harrison of the Fayetteville Women's Clinic. "Zero."

As president, Huck would support a constitutional amendment banning abortion and would give science a back seat to religion. "Science changes with every generation and with new discoveries, and God doesn't," he says. "So I'll stick with God if the two are in conflict." Huckabee's well-documented ­disdain for science was reflected in the performance of the Arkansas school system when he was governor; one independent survey gave the state an F for its science standards in schools, a grade that among other things reflected Huckabee's hostility toward the teaching of evolution.

The moral of this blog? Two minds think alike.

Valentine's Day is Overrated

Ah, Valentine's Day. The one day of the year where we share our affection to our significant other, because as we all know, the other 364 days don't count.
The one day of the year where you can really express to your lover (or to that girl/boy on the side) just how much you care about them....by buying our lover some expensive diamond ring, or camera phone, or tie. Nothing speaks volumes about romance like buying an iPhone.
Give me a fucking break.
If you were to say that i'm cynical on V-Day, then you would be right. My beef with V-Day is that its merely an exercise for billion dollar industries like Hallmark and the candy companies to get people to buy their shit.
I really can't stand how V-day is probably going to be made into this huge deal at ORHS, especially the couples who will be annoying me with their talk of 'you're my soulmate; we'll be together 4ever, baby', and whatever puke-able crap I'll no doubt hear thought the day. Please, stop with that fucking garbage! You're not going to stay together forever, and all bets are pointing toward you two getting into some stupid fight and breaking up! Who the fuck are you trying to impress here?
The phrase, I love you is about 8 letters long. Well, so is this phrase: bullshit.

Just in time for Black History Month....

I've read some vile tripe from the fringes of the right-wing, but this latest nugget is by far, the most insulting piece of garbage I've read. This comes from Jeremiah, the self-called "fundamentalist Evangelical" who believes the standard conservative Christian nonsense that gays are an abomination to the Almighty, Liberalism is evil, etc.

One of the most common arguments you hear coming from modern Secular skeptics these days is that, Christianity and the bible "support" slavery. What does the bible say? Were they treated like slaves were in the 1800s? Leviticus gives us some incite...

Leviticus 25:53 - He is to be treated as a man hired from year to year; you must see to it that his owner does not rule over him ruthlessly.

Hmmmm...Let's see, they got paid, were given plenty to eat, a place to sleep, they went to church (as was required by God), so forth and so on. Doesn't sound to me like cruelty or mis-treatment, but of servants of their own free will, willing to work, so they could survive

Yes, you heard right.

My black ancestors couldn't have possibly been cruelly mistreated because the Bible said so.

Let's take a look at how 'kind' the plantation owners were to my black ancestors.

According to both the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Brion Davis and the Marxist historian Eugene Genovese, treatment of slaves was both harsh and inhumane. Whether laboring or walking about in public, people living as slaves were regulated by legally authorized violence. Davis makes the point that, while some aspects of slavery took on a "welfare capitalist" look......

Was this the kind of humane treatment you spoke of, Jeremiah, or is this what you were talking about?

On large plantations, slave overseers were authorized to whip and brutalize non-compliant slaves. Slave codes authorized, indemnified or even required the use of violence, and were denounced by abolitionists for their brutality. Both slaves and free blacks were regulated by the Black Codes, and had their movements monitored by slave patrols conscripted from the white population which were allowed to use summary punishment against escapees, sometimes maiming or killing them. In addition to physical abuse and murder, slaves were at constant risk of losing members of their families if their owners decided to trade them for profit, punishment, or to pay debts. A few slaves retaliated by murdering owners and overseers, burning barns, killing horses, or staging work slowdowns. [30] Stampp, without contesting Genovese's assertions concerning the violence and sexual exploitation faced by slaves, does question the appropriateness of a Marxian approach in analyzing the owner-slave relationship.[31]

Or was it this random act of kindness you spoke of Jeremiah?

Genovese claims that because the slaves were the legal property of their owners, it was not unusual for enslaved black women to be raped by their owners, members of their owner's families, or their owner's friends. Children who resulted from such rapes were slaves as well, as they took the status of their mothers, unless freed by the slaveholder.

Jeremiah was right. Such loving kindness did the Southern slave owner showed toward my ancestors.

Here's how the slaves were treated in terms of living conditions:

According to Genovese, slaves were fed, clothed, housed and provided medical care in the most minimal manner. It was common to pay small bonuses during the Christmas season, and some slave owners permitted their slaves to keep earnings and gambling profits.

Hey, at least they were being housed, clothed, fed and during the holiday season, paid, isn't that right?

Jeremiah: your words were not only blatantly ignorant and false, they were also out-and-out insulting to the memory of our black ancestors who were robbed of their humanity because of their skin color and because of centuries of racial prejudice and the racist thinking that the white man was superior over all beings.

You ought to deeply ashamed of yourself.