Category: Religion

Nose-cutting, Face-Spiting Dems.

Ambitious Dems Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. and Governor Mark Warner try to establish their presidential bona fides by joining in on the anti-Dean pileup. I wouldn’t have used Deans’s “white christian” line — We shouldn’t be in the business of reinforcing the GOP’s hold on white Christian voters, particularly when so much of the Republicans’ bellicose, intolerant, and avarice-fueled agenda is flagrantly anti-Christian in any real sense. Today’s GOP may talk the talk of Jesus, but their leaders continually prostrate themselves before the altar of Mammon. As any good Christian knows, you can’t serve them both.

All that being said, it’s highly dismaying to watch the Dems eat their own like this. Obviously, our lazy, cowed excuse for a national newsmedia is going to leap at every possible note of intemperance to emanate from Dr. Dean, because it’s an easy story that won’t tick off the White House and doesn’t involve much in the way of reporting. So every two-bit Democratic official that wants to start generating some media buzz and moderate cred for a 2008 bid is currently mouthing off to reporters about the former Governor of Vermont.

Do Republicans do this? Not hardly. I don’t remember GOP officials rushing to lambast Bill Frist for his “against people of faith” photo-op, or Tom DeLay for all the garbage that routinely comes out of his mouth, to say nothing of all the Limbaughs, Hannitys, Coulters, etc. But one Dem uses stronger rhetoric than usual to characterize the opposition and we fall over each other to condemn him in the name of electable statesmanship. It’s pathetic. Word to the wise, Dems: Let Dean be Dean — we didn’t pick him for his social nicety — and concentrate your rhetorical firepower on the opposing trench.

From Stem to Stern.

On the Sunday shows, Republican Senators Arlen Specter and Sam Brownback go toe-to-toe on stem cells. “Brownback questioned ‘what it does to the culture of life’ when government approves performing research on the embryos, which he considers ‘young human life.’ Specter shot back, asking what it does ‘to the culture of life when you let people die because there are medical research tools which could keep them alive?’” For what it’s worth, Specter believes the Senate has the votes to override a Bush veto, even as Boss DeLay erroneously invokes various world religions to keep the House in line.

Oh, you mean that Koran.

While the toilet incident that got Newsweek in trouble was emphatically denied, the Pentagon announces — after the release of FBI interviews obtained by the ACLU — that there have in fact been incidents of Koran mistreatment at Gitmo. (Surprise, surprise.) While “the interviews underscore that U.S. government officials were made aware of allegations of prisoner abuse and Koran mistreatment within months of the opening of Guantanamo Bay in early 2002“, just last week “Pentagon spokesman Lawrence T. Di Rita said the Defense Department had received no credible claims of such abuse.”

Dubya Stems the Tide.

In the face of growing bipartisan support (and withering hopes for Social Security privatization) in Congress, Dubya declares he will veto a bill easing stem cell restrictions. In five years, Dubya has never used the veto before…but of course he’s always ready to answer the bell when the right-wing fundies come-a-knockin’.

All’s Blair.

Upon Tony Blair’s third election victory (albeit one that may well lead to his ousting), the WP‘s Dan Balz makes the case that the Dems could learn much from Labor “Blairism”. I don’t think simply moving to the center is the right answer for the wayward Dems — We need to focus less on that type of protective camouflage and more on articulating our own principles, particularly as they differ from those of the GOP, who routinely and as a matter of pride put corporate profits before the American people. Still, there is some food for thought here.

One intriguing passage: “Where Blair, Brown and Labor cannot help the Democrats is on the social issues or the intersection of religion and politics. There is nothing comparable in British politics. Howard tried to make abortion an issue at one point but quickly abandoned it under pressure from all parts of the spectrum. When Blair proposed using the words ‘God bless’ in a speech before the Iraq war, his advisers hooted him down.”

Praise Be to Dubya.

“During the presidential election last year, Chandler told the congregation that anyone who planned to vote for the Democratic nominee, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), should either leave the church or repent.” Chan Chandler, a N.C. Baptist minister puts pandering for Dubya above saving souls, a decision which would likely serve him in good stead among Rick Scarborough’s “Patriot Pastors,” a Christian Right group now mobilizing the zealots for the coming filibuster fight. Update: Chandler claims “a misunderstanding.”

A Canticle for Ratzinger.

Hmmm…in retrospect, perhaps they should have picked the aardvark. In surprisingly short order, the Vatican conclave chooses conservative enforcer Joseph Ratzinger as the new pope, which likely means trouble ahead for progressive Catholics. Once one of Hitler’s pups (albeit somewhat reluctantly), Pope Benedict XVI, a.k.a. “God’s Rottweiler,” has spent his career railing against “the dictatorship of relativism” and acting as a divider, not a uniter…and he’s shown he’s not above moonlighting as one of Dubya’s hounds if need be. On virtually every major issue facing the Church today, Benedict XVI stands firmly on the side of the fourteenth century, and his ascension to the papacy seems to herald an era of retrograde retrenchment for the Vatican. Boo hiss.

Two Suns in the Sunset.

“‘I think Senator Frist has backed himself into a corner where I don’t see how he can avoid pulling the nuclear trigger,’ said Charlie Cook, editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.” According to the WP and various lookers-on, the Senate Majority Leader is “all but certain” to go nuclear on the question of judicial filibusters in the next few weeks, mainly so he can shore up his possible presidential candidacy with freak-show conservatives. In addition, his nascent 2008 bid also explains why Catkiller has chosen to appear on a forthcoming fundie telecast that claims Democrats are “against people of faith.” That’s a low blow even from you, Senator…How dare you? Update: Election 2008 maneuvering heats up among the GOP as Frist’s allies go after John McCain for his apostasy on the nuclear option.

Don’t judge the judges.

Without naming names (*cough* DeLay), Vice-President Cheney wisely flees from the idea of “retribution” against Schiavo judges.

By the way, since I didn’t mention this earlier and probably should get it in writing — family, friends, loved ones, and any federal judges forced by right-wing hoopla to get involved — if at some point I fall into a persistent vegetative state with little-to-no hope of recovery, I would prefer to die with some sense of dignity, and not have the Republican Party use my prostrate body as a get-out-the-vote strategy for conservative crazies. Thanks much.

Also, please don’t play any Meatloaf or Celine Dion at my funeral, and try to launch my remains in a direction other than right at Genesis. In fact, a ship to Valinor would probably be preferable.