Pork Barrel Degrees Of Kevin Bacon
When you get start to follow links on the innertubes, there is no telling where you will wind up. Today’s rabbit hole started with Peach Pundit.
It seems that Kevin Bacon made a video about reproductive rights. Six degree dude mentions a “Lawmaker in Georgia calling women farm animals”. This is supposed to make people angry enough to sign an online petition.
Here is the speech that Terry England gave to the lesterslature. Dr. England is a veterinarian, and talked about the heartbreak of delivering a stillborn cow. Next, there is a discussion with a “salt of the earth” person. “You tell those folks down there, when they quit killing babies, they can have every chicken I’ve got” Dr. England notes “If that don’t put it in perspective for you real quick, your bread ain’t gonna rise and your eggs ain’t gonna cook”. This leads into a bit of talk about abortion.
The last quote is from the book of Jeremiah. “He doesn’t stutter, he doesn’t stammer”. The quote Dr. England uses was “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee.”
Peach Pundit says that Kevin Bacon quotes Terry England out of context, and perhaps he does. Quoting out of context is a rhetorical tradition, beloved by both liberals and conservatives. The bible is quoted out of context all the time.
In his speech before the lesterslature, Dr. England did not read the entire bible verse. The complete verse of Jeremiah 1:5 is “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
It seems that Jeremiah is some sort of minister. (Note: PG is not a bible scholar, and this interpretation might not be good enough for some people.) The next few verses are fun.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. 7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. 9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
So, the person G-d knew before birth was a minister. Jeremiah was not a cow, a pig, nor abortion collateral damage.
One thing that liberal actors have in common with Georgia lawmakers is saying foolish things. Whether they are in or out of context, these ravings should be taken with a bit of independent thought. You should beware of people trying to get you fired up.
On March 22, PG wrote Corruption In Georgia. The comments of Dr. England are discussed. The post has a link to a site called Atlanta Unfiltered. PG does not visit AU regularly, but decided to drop in.
AU has an amusing post. Report: Paul Broun among ‘most corrupt’ Congress-persons. Dr. Broun was in the news recently about his “testimony” in a Baptist church.
This was written like William Shakespeare. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Privilege
PG had heard the phrase “white privilege” a few times, and decided to ask Mr.Google about it. The top choice was White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack “This article is now considered a ‘classic’ by anti-racist educators.” It is four pages long, which might not break the attention span.
A document like this is almost impossible to read with an open mind. You are a member of a group, such as a white male like PG. There are a lot of things here which PG agrees with, a few his disagrees with, and a few that are dependent on the reader’s point of view. The sentence that PG felt obliged to copy was ” I was taught to think that racism could end if white individuals changed their attitudes”. It is as if the attitudes of black people did not matter.
There are more headshakers in this article. In a list of privileges white folks take for granted, number 18 was ” I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge,” I will be facing a person of my race.”. That might have true once, but is not today.
Getting back to White Privilege (and ignoring the White Privilege Conference results), there are lots of people thinking about this subject. The University of Dayton contributes Defining “White Privilege”. In the text, the author mentions starting a site, Whiteprivilege.com. This site is currently under construction. It does give you the opportunity to buy “Privilege Car Insurance”.
A feature, What is white privilege?, compares every person with pale skin to the Palin family. “White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.” This runs counter to line 21 of the Invisible Knapsack list, ” I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group. “
PG went looking for answers, and got more questions. He does not deny that being caucasian has advantages in our society. These advantages do not mean that one should lay down quietly and let black people get their revenge. We are all G-d’s children. You should be proud of who you are, without taking advantage of your neighbor.
After publishing a feature about white privilege , PG thought it would be fair to look into black privilege. When you visit Mr. Google, some of his suggestions are black privilege checklist, black privilege furniture, and black privilege fact or fiction. The top result is a feature in American Thinker. “Personally, I have never had a moment of white guilt in my life. Now this is a significant statement given that I am Jewish and from New York. I feel guilty about pretty much everything!”.
NPR has an audio file called Black Male Privilege? . It is downright fascinating.
Prof. LEWIS: I think youve unfortunately identified one of the central issues of black male privilege. So often, black men are used to being under attacked that when it comes to being accountable for the actions we may have, we quickly say, well, I couldnt possibly be doing anything wrong. Look at all the ways in which Im oppressed. Look at all the ways in which Im at the bottom of the barrel. What that does is rob us of an opportunity to actually build stronger community and it robs black men of a chance to actually take hold of the actions that they have so that we can empower the community.
MARTIN: What reaction do you get when you talk to people about this?
Prof. LEWIS: Among black women, in particular, I get a lot of amens and saying, thank for actually exposing this. Among black men, one of the most common ones I get is, well, this seems ridiculous. Its an oxymoron. How could black men be privileged? Its like jumbo shrimp. It doesnt add up. … And they say, you know, what did my black male privilege get me? Im unemployed. … : Initially, my first exposure was actually around the Million Man March. I felt that I was transformed by the Million Man March, and I thought it was one of the most powerful events ever. And I was having a conversation in class with a professor, Dr. Beverly Guy Sheftall, and she said that she couldnt support the Million Man March because it was very patriarchal and it put black men at the center. And I said, well, it doesnt always have to patriarchal. You dont always have to put black men at the center. And if she said, isnt it an amazing privilege to tell someone else what they dont have to take seriously? And that paused me for a moment. And I said, wow. What is it in my past that makes me say I can define what someone else would think of as important? (Here are more thoughts on this subject by Dr. L’Heureux Dumi Lewis )
Times are tough in the US of A. To an unemployed white person it is easy to say, what good has this privilege done me? And isn’t it a form of privilege to label anything you don’t like about someone as being due to privilege? Has privilege become a catch22 for anything you don’t like about a person?
This feature is not a complete recap of the google results for black privilege. There were a couple of white racist sites that are best ignored. Two wrongs do not make a right. This is a double repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is written like H. P. Lovecraft.
Pitts Of Hell
Dr. Paul Broun is the Republican Congressman from Georgia’s Tenth District. He recently gave a testimony at Liberty Baptist Church, in Hartwell, GA. Here is the headline quote:
G-d’s word is true. I’ve come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell. And it’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior. You see, there are a lot of scientific data that I’ve found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth. I don’t believe that the Earth’s but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That’s what the Bible says.
The testimony was delivered at “Hitting the Mark” Sportsman Banquet, Thursday, September 27, 2012. “There were Giveaways & Door Prizes including: GUNS & SPORTS-RELATED GIFT CERTIFICATES.” Dr. Broun’s 47 minute speech is available here.
The first twenty minutes of his remarks are about hunting. Dr. Broun shows slides of trophies. There is a bear he killed in Alaska. There are two lions that he killed in Africa. The second lion was leaping towards him when Dr. Broun shot it in the face. “I believe G-d directed that bullet.”(20:55)
The next part is his own story. Dr. Broun went to services at “two major denominations” as a child. (Neither wikipedia nor his congressional bio give denominational details.) Dr. Broun said he was sprinkled on the head as a small child. Later in his remarks, he says Pastors who baptize children in this manner are sending them to hell. (34:13)
When he got a bit older, Paul Broun left the church. He joined the Marine reserves, and did not go to Vietnam. He became a Doctor, got divorced three times, and said he was living for himself. His fourth marriage was not working. He saw a football game, and saw a man holding a John 3:16 sign. There was a Gideons bible in the waiting room of his office. (Wikipedia says his practice was exclusively house calls.) Dr. Broun read the bible, and asked G-d to straighten out his life. Once again, he was living for himself. He became a Christian.
He worked up to his headline quote by talking about his recent deployment to Afghanistan. Dr. Broun is in the reserves, and was sent to Afghanistan for 47 days to work in hospitals. It would be interesting to know how much it cost the government to send a 66 year old congressman to Afghanistan for 47 days.
There was an Afghan soldier who was injured by an IED. His sternum stopped the flak from going into his thoracic cavity. Dr. Broun said this was an example of the wonderful design that G-d had for the human body. He did not mention why these bombs were being set off eleven years after nine eleven.
At the 42 minute mark of his testimony, Dr. Broun led a prayer. He asked for anyone who had prayed to Jesus to change their life to raise their hand. “You are holding up your hand to G-d”
Pictures are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. This was written like Kurt Vonnegut.
The Parable
A facebook friend gave PG the link to a video, The Power of Parable , and set some events into motion. It did not end well.
TPOP is an interview with Peter Rollins. He says that “a parable tries to get beyond something in the head, and rupture something in the heart.” A parable is like a painting, with a different meaning every time you look at it. It should make you think, it should move and transform you. A parable ” is not giving water to those who are thirsty, it is giving them salt to make them thirsty.”
PG had been thinking of the story of The Prodigal Son , and decided to publish this story on his blog. He found the text, in Luke 15. PG’s late father was named Luke.
The story of The Prodigal Son (a phrase that does not appear in Luke 15) had long been a favorite of PG. It is about family, acceptance, forgiveness, and welcome. The disgust that PG feels for the abusive ways of Jesus worshipers does not affect his enjoyment of this story.
At about this time, PG saw a comment thread at a blog . The writer of this blog, ZSB, had butted heads with PG before. A few comments were made, including one snide remark by Frank Turk. For some reason, PG decided to send a link to The Prodigal Son , The story was about forgiveness and kindness, and PG hoped to build a bridge.
ZSB … Chamblee, I like the photos (although, as usual, they seem unlrelated to the post), am ambivalent about the video,dig the rainbow-text effect, and LOVE the words contained in the text… but what on earth does it have to do with this post or this meta? Oh, wait, I get it—you’re further showcasing how the Internet often fosters random non-sequitur-style communication. September 15, 2011 3:27 PM
chamblee54 …. 1- I did not read the complete dialog. I seldom have the patience for long discussions like this. When I saw the comment “G-d has given us a perfect bible”, I realized that this was built on a shaky foundation. I simply do not agree with that concept. 2- The story that I used is The prodigal son. It is about not giving up on people. It is about not labeling someone a troll, and ignoring everything they say. I see that as highly relevant to the dialog between Mr. Turk and myself. 3- I linked to a video in the story. It is a monolog about the value of parables. It is about taking a text and thinking about the many different meanings that it can have. This is different from calling this text the “word of G-d”, and saying that it has a literal meaning. The story of the prodigal son can have many meanings. 4- The Prodigal Son was a parable. It was a made up story, used to teach a lesson. When you call a text a literal piece of work, you contradict the nature of parables. The Prodigal Son story may have happened, or may not have. This is beside the point to the overall story. 5- The video is a song by Tom Waits. While not a direct cause and effect companion to the story, there is a connection. Whatever happens to little boys who never comb their hair? September 15, 2011 3:42 PM
ZSB … Chamblee54 said… “. [The Prodigal Son] is about not giving up on people. It is about not labeling someone a troll, and ignoring everything they say. ”
Um, no. No, a thousand times no! That is not what the Lord’s parable of the lost son is about. Look at the context. It’s about salvation. It’s about something you won’t hear because you’re tripped up by the words “God has given us a perfect Bible.” Reject it, laugh at it, spit on it, but don’t turn it into a benign little collection of nice-isms that you can live with, because, while it doesn’t harm God’s Word, it makes you look silly to do so. September 15, 2011 4:27 PM
chamblee54 … My point exactly. A parable is like a poem … it should have a different meaning every time you hear it. When you take an allegory, and call it a literal work, you are not always going to have the “correct” interpretation.
This story was written by someone. It was written many years after Jesus had his ministry. It was translated at least twice. It was copied by hand, probably more than once. It was compiled into a book by the council of nicea. This is not a copy/paste of a word document written by Jesus.
But, when someone disagrees with your view, and you have a hissy fit, then it makes YOU look silly. September 15, 2011 5:01 PM
ZSB … Okay, I’ve dealth with the tired, ill-founded claim of “twice-translated” words of Jesus, allegedly far-removed from his ministry here . And parables aren’t allegory. Fairly common rookie mistake.
And this comment thread is actually about the subject of the blogpost. Like all of my blog comment threads, it’s not about your beef (and borderline obsession) with Frank Turk.
Comment thread is now un-hijacked. i.e. all comments unrelated to the post (paticularly by those who admit to not having read it) will be deleted post-haste. That is all. September 15, 2011 5:15 PM
PG was had many ups and downs with Jesus. Some of the bad experiences were not his fault. In this case, he should have known better. You don’t discuss poetry with Jesus worshipers, at least ones who care mostly about life after death. It is a “fairly common rookie mistake”. Jesus was spoiled for PG a while back. This visit was a reminder. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Palindromes For Fun And Profit
Palindromes are phrases that are spelled the same backwards as they are forwards. Barry Duncan is a/the master palindromist. This is a self applied title … “The other, slightly longer, slightly more combative answer is that it means you shouldn’t confuse me with any of those garden-variety, ‘Madam I’m Adam’ hacks who couldn’t paint my shadow.” Mr. Duncan takes reversible phrases very seriously. The article makes a few points much better than this correspondent. When reading these quotes, be aware that the terms “words” and “characters” are used interchangeably. There is a difference between 44,444 words, and a similar number of characters. As it is, it would take 315 tweets to transmit 44,444 characters, and almost no one would realize that the last one is the first one in reverse order. (Quote) “One way that he categorizes them is by length. Those of one hundred or more characters are labeled simply “long.” Palindromes of one hundred or more words he calls “epic.” And palindromes of one thousand or more characters are called “mega.” … “Palindrome-writing in itself is nothing new. Bill Bryson, in his history of the English language, The Mother Tongue, puts the form at at least two thousand years old, citing our knowledge of Greek and Roman palindromes. The word itself derives from the Greek palindromos—“running back again”—and Bryson dates its English debut to 1629. He even claims to have found the first recorded palindrome in English, by the poet John Taylor (“Lewd I did live, & Evil did I dwel”), though, as Bryson points out, the ampersand is a bit of a disqualifier. Palindromes are just one form of wordplay among many. There are anagrams (transpositions of the letters of a word or phrase into a new word or phrase using exactly the same letters), tautonyms (words or phrases of two or more identical parts), isograms (words containing no more than one of any letter), pangrams (groups of words using each and every letter of the alphabet exactly once), bigrams, trigrams, tetragrams, and on we go. Many of these forms of wordplay have been around for quite a long time, but A. Ross Eckler, former editor of Word Ways magazine, dates a “renaissance of interest in recreational linguistics” to the mid-1960s. The growing interest in palindromes themselves can be tracked, indirectly, by the exponential increase in length of the Guinness-recognized world’s longest palindrome: from 242 words in 1971; to 11,125 in 1980; to 44,444 in 1984, sometime after which they seem to have stopped keeping the record.” (/Quote) El Google has a few results for palindrome. Fun with words advertises Georgia Natural Gas and Glenn Beck, before getting down to business. There is a list of popular palindromes…Do geese see God? … Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw? … Murder for a jar of red rum … Some men interpret nine memos. … Never odd or even. … Don’t nod … Dogma: I am God … Never odd or even … Too bad – I hid a boot … Rats live on no evil star … No trace; not one carton … Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw? … Murder for a jar of red rum … May a moody baby doom a yam? … Go hang a salami; I’m a lasagna hog! … Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas! … A Toyota! Race fast… safe car: a Toyota … Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts … Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era? … Doc Note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod … Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo … No, it never propagates if I set a gap or prevention … Anne, I vote more cars race Rome to Vienna … Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus … Kay, a red nude, peeped under a yak … Some men interpret nine memos … Campus Motto: Bottoms up, Mac … Go deliver a dare, vile dog! … Madam, in Eden I’m Adam … Ah, Satan sees Natasha … Lisa Bonet ate no basil … Do geese see God? … God saw I was dog … Dennis sinned. Special attention is given to the immortal “A man, a plan, a canal – Panama!”. Leigh Mercer published the phrase in the November 13 1948 issue of Notes & Queries. The webmaster of this facility points out that Panama is easy pickings for palindromists, with it’s alternating vowel, and consonants. The origin of this phrase is a matter of speculation. This page advertises a book, More George W. Bushisms: More of Slate’s Accidental Wit and Wisdom of Our 43rd President [Paperback]. Fun with words advertises Verizon stuff, and has lists. Since the list of phrases will probably have repeats from the above list, we will focus on the list of words and place names: aibohphobia, alula, cammac, civic, deified, deleveled, detartrated, devoved, dewed, evitative, Hannah, kayak, kinnikinnik, lemel, level, madam, Malayalam, minim, murdrum, peeweep, racecar, radar, redder, refer, reifier, repaper, reviver, rotator, rotavator, rotor, sagas, solos, sexes, stats, tenet, terret, tests, Glenelg (Australia), Kanakanak (Alaska), Kinikinik (Colorado), Navan (Meath, Ireland), Neuquen (Argentina), Ward Draw (South Dakota), Wassamassaw (South Carolina), Yreka Bakery (Yreka, California). Some of these phrases are worth repeating. We will try to weed out the dupes, but reversable fatigue may set in first: A dog, a plan, a canal: pagoda … A new order began, a more Roman age bred Rowena … A tin mug for a jar of gum, Nita … Able was I ere I saw Elba … Animal loots foliated detail of stool lamina … Anne, I vote more cars race Rome to Vienna … Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era? … Are we not pure? “No sir!” Panama’s moody Noriega brags. “It is garbage!” Irony dooms a man; a prisoner up to new era … As I pee, sir, I see Pisa! … Barge in! Relate mere war of 1991 for a were-metal Ernie grab! … Bombard a drab mob… Bush saw Sununu swash sub … Cain: a maniac … Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic … Daedalus: nine. Peninsula: dead … Dammit, I’m mad! … Delia saw I was ailed … Denim axes examined … Dennis and Edna sinned … Depardieu, go razz a rogue I draped … Desserts, I stressed! .. Did I draw Della too tall, Edward? I did? .. Do good? I? No! Evil anon I deliver. I maim nine more hero-men in Saginaw, sanitary sword a-tuck, Carol, I — lo! — rack, cut a drowsy rat in Aswan. I gas nine more hero-men in Miami. Reviled, I (Nona) live on. I do, O God! … Drab as a fool, aloof as a bard … Drat Saddam, a mad dastard! … Draw, O coward! … Draw pupil’s lip upward … Ed, I saw Harpo Marx ram Oprah W. aside … Eva, can I stab bats in a cave? .. Evil did I dwell; lewd I did live … Gateman sees name, garageman sees name tag … Go hang a salami; I’m a lasagna hog … Goldenrod-adorned log … Golf? No sir, prefer prison-flog … Harass sensuousness, Sarah … I roamed under it as a tired, nude Maori … Laminated E.T. animal … Lepers repel … Let O’Hara gain an inn in a Niagara hotel … Live not on evil … Lived on Decaf; faced no Devil … Lonely Tylenol … Ma is a nun, as I am … Ma is as selfless as I am … Madam in Eden, I’m Adam … Marge lets Norah see Sharon’s telegram … May a moody baby doom a yam … Meet animals; laminate ’em … Mr. Owl ate my metal worm … Murder for a jar of red rum … Never odd or even … No, Mel Gibson is a casino’s big lemon … No cab, no tuna nut on bacon … No lemon, no melon … No sir — away! A papaya war is on … On a clover, if alive, erupts a vast, pure evil; a fire volcano … Party boobytrap … Poor Dan is in a droop … Reviled did I live, said I, as evil I did deliver … Rise to vote, sir … Saw tide rose? So red it was … Senile felines … So many dynamos! .. Some men interpret nine memos … Stab nail at ill Italian bats … Stack cats … Stella won no wallets … Step on no pets … Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! … Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts … T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad. I’d assign it a name: gnat dirt upset on drab pot-toilet … Tarzan raised Desi Arnaz’ rat … Ten animals I slam in a net … Too bad I hid a boot … Was it a car or a cat I saw? … Wonder if Sununu’s fired now … Won’t I panic in a pit now? … Won’t lovers revolt now? … Yo, banana boy! … Yo, Bob! Mug o’ gumbo, boy! … Yo, bottoms up! (U.S. motto, boy.) As some have noted, a popular entertainer has the last name Palin. She has a blog, Welcome To The PalinDrome: Sarah Palin’s Blog. The last post was October 2, 2008. We don’t want to Harass Sarah. We got tired of her a while back, just like this story about palindromes is getting tiresome. HT for the Barry Duncan story goes to the non reversible Andrew Sullivan. Pictures for this story are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost
Measuring Racism
PG hears the word “racist” tossed casually so much, he suspects it has lost it’s meaning. Dictionary definitions are of little use. The meaning of the word depends on who is saying it.
The modest suggestion here is for a seven point scale to measure racism. Zero would be totally colorblind, and six would be metaphysical hate. For the sake of simplicity, this scale, in the beginning, will only apply to white-black relations in the United States.
The model for this is the Kinsey scale. In his books on human sexuality, Dr. Kinsey described a seven point scale. Zero was totally heterosexual, and six was totally homosexual.
PG does not have a clue how to write a test for this scale, or how to score this test. White people see racism differently than black people. White people are affected by racism in different ways than black people. Different cultures view racism in different ways.
How would PG score on this scale? He has black friends and black enemies. Certain parts of black culture are enjoyable, and certain parts make him want to turn the radio off.
PG does not like people that do not like PG. When it is us against them, you need to remember which one you are. How does this register on this racism scale? It depends on who does the judging.
This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Did BHO Say He Is A Liberal?
PG listened to The Allen Hunt Show on his way home from Piccadilly Sunday night. The radio talker was discussing charitable giving. It was said that WMR, who calls himself a conservative, gave X% to charity. Meanwhile, BHO calls himself a liberal, and gave Y% to charity. The question PG had was, when did BHO say, in so many words, I am a liberal? At 7:25 PM – 23 Sep 12, this tweet went out: @chamblee54 “@AllenHunt When did Barack Obama say “I am a liberal?” If there is a reply, it will be shared here.
One viewpoint is that conservatives enjoy labels more than liberals do. You seldom hear anyone boasting about how liberal they are, while conservatives seem to get off on selfapplying the c word. It could be that conservatives enjoy putting labels on people more than liberals.
Part of the problem is the changing definitions of the L and C words. It used to be that an activist foreign policy was considered liberal. Then conservatives discovered the fun of sending armies out to kill people. Since BHO has been the POTUS, the war in Afghanistan has been escalated. The use of futuristic drone airplanes to kill women and children in neutral countries has dramatically increased. Is this the behavior of a liberal?
One easy test is to use wikiquotes. The BHO page has 40k words. The search term is liberal. The first thing to come up is the classic routine from his 2008 campaign. “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.” Another BHO quote is “We cannot disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism..” There are three quotes from others who describe BHO as a liberal. The quote we are looking for is not there.
If you ask Mr. Google “has barack obama ever called himself a liberal”, you get 17 million results. For “I am a liberal” Barack Obama”, there are 188k results. These two first pages may, or may not, give a time and place for this alleged quote.
On September 11, 2012, the Daily Kos posted Are you more (or less) liberal than President Obama? Take the Quiz!. “This quiz was in no way intended to represent the political spectrum in America in a traditional way.” Nor does it tell us the context for this “urban legend” quote.
The rest of the first page for I am a liberal” Barack Obama is useless. It is a bunch of blog posts containing the phrase “I am a liberal”. One exception is a book review, Review: ‘I Am a Liberal’ is the Mocking Liberals Deserve.
The other search page does not show this magic unicorn of a quote. It does have some seriously weird stuff. Fact Check Project: Allegations that Barack Obama Does Not Exist. 7 Reasons Obama is NOT a Christian. Wikiality, the Truthiness Encyclopedia, gives you a choice: “THIS IS ABOUT THE REAL MOOSLIM OBAMA, FOR THE THEORETICAL OBAMA THAT SOME REPUBLICANS HAVE FOR THERE FANTASY, SEE: THIS PAGE.”
Before we leave this page, there should be a visit to Liberty Counsel – Adopt a Liberal. “Pick one or more of the liberals from the list we have posted online at http://www.LC.org, or choose your own liberal(s) to adopt. If you are led to choose one or more of the liberals we have selected for consideration, please read their brief biographical statement, including the reasons they stand in need of prayer.” One of the choices is “The unknown Liberal.” “There will likely be additional liberals the Lord may bring to mind who desperately need your prayers. Feel free to select your own unique liberal and adopt them for prayer, perhaps even nominating one or more liberals for listing on our website by emailing us at liberty@LC.org.”
The question remains, did BHO ever say “I am a liberal”? In a way, it doesn’t matter. People are going to believe whatever they want to believe. It would be fun to know the context of any such statement.
Out of a misguided sense of fairness, PG decided to investigate whether WMR ever said ” I am a conservative”. When you ask Mr. Google “did Mitt Romney”, the suggested searches are dodge the draft, outsource jobs, start staples, and really save the olympics.
You don’t have to go far to get results here. There is a story, Romney Has Conciliatory Remarks on Obama and Health Overhaul. “Reminded that he had once called himself a “severe” conservative, Mr. Romney seemed to play down that description. “I am as conservative as the Constitution,” he said.” This comment could be taken in different ways. The Constitution was a fairly liberal document for the 18th century. Maybe amendments made it conservative.
Mr. Romney’s reputed conservatism combined with Oxycontin to put Rush Limbaugh on cloud nine. “I was a severely conservative Republican governor,” Mitt Romney told the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2012. Severely conservative? Conservatives snickered. “I may be a little giddy here,” Rush Limbaugh said. “I have never heard anybody say, ‘I’m severely conservative.'”Here is the source: Mitt Romney’s ‘Severe Conservatism’.
On the trip to Piccadilly, the theme of the Allen Hunt show was a sign on NYC busses. The poster was produced by Pamela Geller. The text reads “IN ANY WAR BETWEEN THE CIVILIZED MAN AND THE SAVAGE SUPPORT THE CIVILIZED MAN SUPPORT ISRAEL DEFEAT JIHAD PAID FOR BY THE AMERICAN FREEDOM DEFENSE INITIATIVE ATLASSHRUGS.COM SIOAONLINE.COM JIHADWATCH.COM.”
Two of the web addresses on the sign are not valid. Spell check suggestions for the websites: ATLASSHRUGS/ GLASSHOUSES, SIOAONLINE/ NONLINEAR, JIHADWATCH/ BIRDWATCHER.
Mr. Hunt said the sign was accurate. He consulted a dictionary, and said that any definition of savage fits Muslims. Mr. Hunt said he did not approve of the sign, and would tell his audience why after a commercial break. By this time, PG was in the serving line at Piccadilly. Chicken tenders taste better than the opinions of a radio whiner.
During the invasion of Gaza, Israel killed children using depleted uranium shells. During an incident with a Turkish ship, Israel shot an American citizen four times at point blank range. On the West Bank, Israel bulldozes homes to build illegal settlements. Maybe Israel is the savage.
Eat Morons
PG was hoping that Eatmorchikingate was over. The affair had gathered far more publicity than it deserved. It had degenerated into a lot of name calling, with people finding a brand new reason to tell everyone how much they hate their neighbors. The sandwiches are overpriced anyway.
This week brought the news that CFA was making nice with the Chicago politicians, and would no longer donate money to anti gay organizations. There were also reports of Christians upset with the company for “backing down”.
Before long, there were reports that CFA was going to continue to give money to “pro family” organizations. That story links to a CFA statement that pledges: “the Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.” The spell check suggestion for Chick-fil-A is Chick-fail-A. Spell check is not a popular device at CFA.
Mike Huckabee has milked eatmorchikingate for the publicity it brings him. On his site, he posts a statement by Dan Cathy, CEO of CFA, which says ““There continues to be erroneous implications in the media that Chick-fil-A changed our practices and priorities in order to obtain permission for a new restaurant in Chicago. That is incorrect. Chick-fil-A made no such concessions, and we remain true to who we are and who we have been.”
There is a tour of Israel being promoted on the Mike Huckabee website, Next February, you can go to Israel with Mike Huckabee and Tony Orlando.
The fishwrapper has a little story today about how Dan Cathy personally lobbied the Chicago politician, and assured him that the anti gay agitating was going to stop. There were a couple of side stories that were amusing. It seems like the Chicago restaurant was going to be in the Parking lot of a Home Depot. Bernie and Arthur sold supplies to a lot of decorators, and knew the business value of being gay friendly.
The comments at the fiswrapper were the usual mix of first amendment, Bible fueled gay bashing, and cows who cannot spell. It got interesting on the second page. “Yeah, well Mr. Cathy’s bottomless pit of corporate lawyers are still suing a little Vermont t-shirt maker for his Eat More Kale business, even though he doesn’t sell fat- and sodium-laden chicken sandwiches in Vermont, and you’d have to be an idiot to confuse a t-shirt with a chicken sandwich.”
Mr. Google has more on this story. It seems the T shirt guy is fighting back, and refusing to quit telling people to “Eat More Kale”. The fact that all the words are spelled correctly is not a good excuse.
Some digital troublemaker has posted the Letter of Protest that was sent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This is not the first time CFA has defended their monopoly on eat more advertising. Other slogans to get in trouble include eat more burgers, eat more beer, eat more buffalo, eat more goat, eat more kariboo, eat more dog, eat more moo, and eat more cereal.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Sweet Tea For Jesus
There are a lot of lips moving about the “Tea Party” these days. Many of the party people are Jesus Worshipers, who believe that the Bible is the word of G-d. While this belief is not required to join the party, it is very, very helpful. Probably, very few tea partiers are Muslims, who believe the Koran to be the word of G-d. Whatever the phrasing, these three movements are real to those who believe.
PG watches from the sidelines. He feels that practice is more important than belief. PG sees Jesus in the words and deeds of those who worship Jesus. (Is this worship a violation of the first commandment? That is another issue for another day.)
This hobby blogger drinks a lot of tea, favoring the cheapest brand available. Put two bags in a pitcher, heat the water for ten minutes, and pour the water over the bags. Sugar gets in the way of the taste, and lemons are too much work. You make the next pitcher of tea when you pour the last glass. What this custom has to do with politics or religion is a matter for those with a philosophical bent.
A blogger named Frank Turk made a video. There were 86 comments. Mr. Turk makes the comment in this video that Jesus is a real person. This is different from PG’s view, which is that Jesus is a spirit that lives in the hearts of those who worship him. To PG, this spirit has almost no relation to the person reputed to live in Palestine 2100 years ago.
In the video, Mr. Turk tells a story about tea parties becoming real . ” My brother-in-law David tells a story about the first time he visited Boston. David’s ex-military, and He says that he can remember all through school people told him about American history — about the events that happened that caused us to be a country, the list of facts. But in Boston, he found himself out in the harbor looking down into the water, and when he looked into the water and out at the harbor he realized: “Wow. This is were they dropped the tea into the harbor.” And at that moment, all those men and all the stories about them weren’t just facts or true statements anymore: the real people became obvious to him, and it changed the way he thought about our country and his part in it.”
Politics and religion are emotional affairs. Some sayings resonate, and some do not. This feature is about the concept of “real”. How political movements are based on events that only marginally relate to the movement, but make a statement that you feel in your gut. How religious movements worship a figure who has been distorted to mean what the believer wants him to mean. About how you know something is “real”.
First, the present day tea party, and the events in Boston Harbor December 16, 1773. PG wrote about the original Tea Party earlier in 2010. In the ecologically sound tradition of recycling your own work, here is what he found.
The namesake event was the Boston Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, crowds of people (some dressed as Mohawks) went on board the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver. The crowds threw overboard 342 chests, containing 90,000 pounds of tea. The crowds were unhappy because the East India Company was importing the tea into America, with a 3 pence per pound tax. (It is not known how the imitation Mohawks cut their hair.)
A website called listverse plays the contrarian. “American colonists did not protest the Tea Tax with the Boston Tea Party because it raised the price of tea. The American colonists preferred Dutch tea to English tea. The English Parliament placed an embargo on Dutch tea in the colonies, so a huge smuggling profession developed. To combat this, the English government LOWERED the tax on tea so that the English tea would be price competitive with Dutch teas. The colonists (actually some colonists led by the chief smugglers) protested by dumping the tea into Boston Harbor.”
According to Wikipedia, the Dutch tea had been smuggled into the colonies for some time. The Dutch government had given their companies a tax advantage, which allowed them to sell their product cheaper. Finally, the British government cut their taxes, but kept a tax in place. The “Townsend Tax” was to be used to pay governing colonial officials, and make them less dependent on the colonists.
In Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia, the tea boats were turned around, and returned to England with their merchandise. In Massachusetts, Governor Thomas Hutchinson insisted that the tea be unloaded. Two of the Governor’s sons were tea dealers, and stood to make a profit from the taxed tea. There are also reports that the smugglers were in the crowd dumping tea into the harbor.
Smugglers, a corrupt colonial governor, and peaceful solutions at the other major harbors. Is this the story Glenn Beck is crying about? Or has he taken a dramatic moment from history, and exploited it for his own purposes?
In a similar fashion, modern Jesus worshipers have taken a figure from the past, and created a spirit in his name. The history of Jesus is much further in the past than the Boston Tea Party, and much less is known. There are those who say the Bible is the word of G-d, and can be trusted to tell the facts about Jesus. Others are much less certain.
So, when did Jesus finally become real to PG? The watershed incident took place in the spring of 1999. By this time, PG had decided that he did not agree with the two key beliefs of Jesus worship…that the Bible is the word of G-d, and that belief in Jesus will affect what happens when you die. It was becoming apparent to PG that Jesus was different things to different people, and that not all of them were good. You need to trust your eyes, ears, and soul.
The incident took place at PG’s place of employment, a business we will call redo blue. A co worker was a Bully for Jesus. The BFJ was an angry man, given to temper tantrums, where he used Jesus to hurt people. On this day, the BFJ shouted down and humiliated PG.
When the tirade was over, PG started to run a job. BFJ took a phone call, and screamed “I never felt better in my life”. In that instant, Jesus became real to PG.
This is a repost of a feature originally published two years ago. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. The tea party is still boiling water, although their influence in the upcoming election may not be apparent. PG drinks more green tea than caffeine enhanced, and continues to be alienated from Jesus. Frank Turk is still in business. PG has a facebook friend called “Sweet Tea”. This post is not about her.
Being Spammy Or Unsafe
PG found an amusing post Wednesday morning. “Yesterday I posted a link to the New York Times article about what is being called “the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife,” and several friends commented on it. This morning my post has disappeared. I did not remove it, nor did I delete any of the comments, which I found interesting. When I tried to repost the article, I got this message from Facebook: “The content you’re trying to share includes a link that’s been blocked for being spammy or unsafe.” The New York Times is spammy or unsafe??? … As a theology geek, I find this new discovery fascinating. But as a Christian, my faith does not depend on Jesus’ celibacy. So if it were to be proven somehow that he was indeed married, it would not retroactively affect the relationship I’ve had with Jesus throughout my life. If anything, it would support the belief that Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine.”
Smithsonian magazine has a feature on this artifact. It is too long for a slack blogger. The NYT article is less than a page, and says enough to base this post on. The article has header ads, which rotate with the different page views. The two noted are for “Obama Victory Fund 2012” and Wells Fargo Bank. Which one is spammy, and which one is unsafe, is left for the reader to determine. Some times, you have to think for yourself.
Here is a money quote from the NYT. “A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …’ ” The faded papyrus fragment is smaller than a business card, with eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass. Just below the line about Jesus having a wife, the papyrus includes a second provocative clause that purportedly says, “she will be able to be my disciple.”
The specimen is written in Coptic. This is probably related to Coptic Christianity, which is still going on in Egypt. Reportedly, there is some connection between the Coptics and the recent controversy, about a movie offensive to Muslims.
The word prove is used several times in the article. Perhaps indicate would be a more accurate verb. It is tough to “prove” anything using a 1700 year old papyrus fragment. The last paragraph in the NYT says “The notion that Jesus had a wife was the central conceit of the best seller and movie “The Da Vinci Code.” But Dr. King said she wants nothing to do with the code or its author: “At least, don’t say this proves Dan Brown was right.”
Of course, none of this means anything to most contemporary Jesus worshipers. They think the Bible is the word of G-d. This text is is inerrant, sufficient, spam free, and safe. Recent discoveries about Revelations are ignored. Like the bumper sticker says, “G-d said it, I believe it, that settles it.”
A person’s religion is a one of a kind experience. How you are introduced to a spiritual discipline is much more important than the mechanics of the church. The facebook commenter says that it won’t matter to him if Jesus has a wife. To PG, any new information would not block the memory of humiliation at the hands of aggressive Jesus worshipers.
There was another commentary published recently about the separation of G-d and spam. It was in New Yorker magazine, written by Hendrik Hertzberg. There was a post about Mr. Hertzberg at Chamblee54 once. PG sent an email to Mr. Hertzberg about the post, and got a very nice reply.
The feature in question is about the way politicians think it will help them get elected to talk about G-d. PG, on the other hand, thinks this is a grotesque violation of the third commandment. The New Yorker feature doesn’t really cover much ground, but has a bangup last paragraph.
“It was not hard to guess what idol, and what institution, the Cardinal had in mind. On the other hand, his reference to “nature and nature’s G-d” was not so clear. The phrase was there to echo the Declaration of Independence. But Dolan must know that it is pure Deism—Jeffersonian code words for a non-supernatural G-d, a G-d who creates the universe and its laws and leaves the rest up to us. Could it be that we were witnessing an unheard-of political phenomenon, a dog whistle to voters who, whether or not they believe in a rights-endowing Creator, have their doubts about the sort of deity who begets sons, writes books, performs miracles, and determines the outcome of football games? Probably not. That G-d won’t hunt. “
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This was written like Dan Brown.
Thurston Howell The Turd
Chamblee54 tries to be a tasteful, family oriented publication. Ok, maybe if you are Gomez and Morticia. Sometimes, however, the use of profanity is too much fun to pass up. The title of this post is an example. It refers to Willard Mitt Romney. Apologies are extended to any unit of animal waste that is offended by the comparison.
Many of you have heard about the video. It was made at a fund raiser, and WMR says things that will get him in trouble. This is not surprising. Many of us already know that WMR is a jerk.
What goes around comes around. Four years ago, BHO was secretly taped at a fundraiser. He said that bitter people were clinging to their guns and bibles, or something to that effect. A few said that it was tacky to secretly record a fundraising party like that. And it probably is. Especially when you know something like this could happen, and you fall into the trap.
Georgia is assumed to be sending it’s electoral votes to WMR. The white voters of Georgia must be so red that they glow. Lets take a look at the math.
For purposes of this discussion, lets make a few assumptions. PG is not a political scientist, (oxymoron alert) just a slack blogger that doesn’t know any better. Lets say one million votes will be cast in Georgia in November. Thirty percent, or 300k, of those voters are black. Lets go a step further and guess that ninety percent of those black votes will go to BHO.
That means that BHO has 270k votes. To get to 500k and win, BHO needs 230k out of the remaining 700k. This is 32 percent of the non-black vote. He probably won’t get it. If BHO wins Georgia, the election is over. Pictures are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. The spell check suggestions for WMR are WAR and WM.
The Tweet Goes On
Part of the fun of a free press is checking in on those you disagree with. When a man posts his twitterfeed on a blog, anyone can see what he thinks. When it is a Jesus worship blog, with a taste for drooling right wing politics, the tweet can’t be beat.
The big story is the movie, and the rioting among the faithful. In a logical world, this would be a problem for BHO. This is not a logical world. Both tweets discuss this matter. And so, here are the twoubbling tweets.
@BibChr Absolutely infuriating: bit.ly/PuARWF. If only it were parody… but these are the lofty watchdogs of liberty. (No offense, dogs)
@Frank_Turk @theanchoress: Anti-Islam Filmmaker Donated Million Dollars To Obama Campaign shar.es/uYtbh via @sharethis”
The first one links to a feature written by Mark Steyn. PG heard him on the radio once. Mr. Steyn said, referring to the war in Iraq, “They have their ribbons and banners ordered for the defeat celebration.” This was before the surge. Part of the surge strategy was for the press to declare victory. When this was said, the talking points included the term defeatocrat.
“If, like me, you’ve been wondering why the US media has all but totally failed to cover the real issues in the Benghazi murders and the embassy seizures, wonder no more. … (JOE SCARBOROUGH:) If Mitt Romney had kept his mouth shut, if he had not acted like a rank amateur, if he had not embarrassed himself–and by the way internally the campaign understands they screwed up, he’s moved on, they know that… But Romney got in the way of the media looking at the president, going, wha-, wha-, what happened here? How did this happen? Now, those questions are going to be asked in the coming weeks. But they weren’t asked in the first 24 hours because Romney was holding this horrific, irresponsible, press conference.”
Sometimes, it is tough to tell who is complaining about what. Since this is a wingnut, it is safe to assume he was whining about the media. That is what they do. When the message does not please you, you whine about the messenger.
The truth is, WMR should have muttered some platitudes about sympathy for the families. Instead, he said that a wretched movie is “American Values”. This did take attention away from questions about why the embassies are not secured better.
This seems to be a pattern with WMR. During the GOP convention, he was supposed to have a national audience for his speech. Instead, Clint Eastwood had a conversation with a empty chair. When you provide a lunatic sideshow, the main news item gets pushed aside.
Tweet number two has a great title: Anti-Islam Filmmaker Donated Million Dollars To Obama Campaign. When you go there, you note that it is Breitbart.tv. You start to hear an auto start video before long. Auto start may be the single most annoying thing on the internet.
When PG went to the link, the first thought was the *person* who created the video. The producer is a bit of a mysterious character, which should be fun for conspiracy fans. However, “Sam Bacile” was not the “Anti Islam Filmmaker”. (Spell check suggestion for Bacile: Bacilli)
“Bill Maher made a comedy/documentary called “Religulous” that’s most famous for mercilessly mocking Christianity. But what people forget is that the last twenty-minutes or so of the film make a damning case against Islam. Bill Maher made a film that mocked Islam. Oh, yes, he did. Bill Maher also contributed $1 million to a pro-Obama super PAC.”
Pictues today are from The Library of Congress.
leave a comment