It would appear that the October surprise might in many ways be the Hurricanes.
Apparently MAGA is a bit divided at the moment. When you blend the far-right, QAnon, and the fanatically religious, then you end up with conflicting claims about Hurricanes. They don’t appear to be able to work out if they are God’s Wrath or a Deep State Weather Weapon. One thing they do agree on is that Climate Change is a hoax.
Intercessors for America are quite sure it is all the Wrath of God …
Meanwhile we have elected representatives and others promoting the claim that “They” are doing this. Here is MTG claiming it …
Here is the GA GOP Chair Kandiss Taylor also claiming it …
Are there voters out there stupid enough to buy into the above claims?
Oh come now, you already know the answer …
Votes really will have life threatening consequences for many in the years to come. In a rapidly warming world where storms are becoming more intense, we need accurate reliable timely information …
Meanwhile, you have the Gov of Florida, Ron DeSantis who denies climate science, and also delays and blocks climate action.
Hurricane Milton is not “the storm of the century”. It is just the beginning. Unless we stop pouring greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, such devastating events will become commonplace – and ever more horrific.
In a very shakespearian move, it is the court jesters, the political cartoonists who are the truth tellers. Here is Nick Anderson’s cartoon from Thur Oct 10 …
Many now find themselves leaning upon the services they literally voted to obliterate …
Also a reminder, these people voted against FEMA funding within the districts that now desperately need it…
Charlie Warzel writes in The Atlantic until the title “I’M RUNNING OUT OF WAYS TO EXPLAIN HOW BAD THIS IS … What’s happening in America today is something darker than a misinformation crisis.“. There he explains …
The truth is, it’s getting harder to describe the extent to which a meaningful percentage of Americans have dissociated from reality. As Hurricane Milton churned across the Gulf of Mexico last night, I saw an onslaught of outright conspiracy theorizing and utter nonsense racking up millions of views across the internet. The posts would be laughable if they weren’t taken by many people as gospel. Among them: Infowars’ Alex Jones, who claimed that Hurricanes Milton and Helene were “weather weapons” unleashed on the East Coast by the U.S. government, and “truth seeker” accounts on X that posted photos of condensation trails in the sky to baselessly allege that the government was “spraying Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton” in order to ensure maximum rainfall, “just like they did over Asheville!” …
…The world feels dark; for many people, it’s tempting to meet that with a retreat into the delusion that they’ve got everything figured out, that the powers that be have conspired against them directly. But in turning away, they exacerbate a crisis that has characterized the Trump era, one that will reverberate to Election Day and beyond. Americans are divided not just by political beliefs but by whether they believe in a shared reality—or desire one at all.
His tone of complete exasperation is indeed felt by us all.
So let’s move on now and see what other crazy weird stuff popped up this past week.
Christian Nationalism
RWW: Christian Nationalists vs. the Constitution: Religious Right Demands ‘Biblical Worldview’ Test for Supreme Court “Christian nationalist leaders want to force Americans to live in accordance with their religious and political beliefs, and they have a plan to make it happen. They are demanding that future Republican presidents and senators consider only potential Supreme Court justices who meet the American Family Association’s “biblical worldview” standard.“
- You and I know it, but they have apparently forgotten it, so here is a quick and rather obvious reminder – Constitution Article VI, clause 3 “no religious Test shall ever be Required as a Qualification To any Office or public Trust under the United States“. The founders were very very clear about this.
- Put aside the blindingly obvious constitutional barrier above for a moment, and mull over the observation that they are calling for a “biblical worldview” test. Ask yourself this: who exactly gets to decide what is and is not the correct “biblical worldview”? There are literally thousands of denominations, each clinging to different variations of a “biblical worldview” and deeming all others to be heresy. What they are advocating for is a recipe for a continuous religious war. The deep irony here is that the only civil algorithm that actually preserves their liberty is state neutrality. Picture in your mind the vision of these people sitting high up in a tree and vigorously sawing and hacking away at the branch that they are sitting on, and by doing so you can bask in an understanding of just how deeply ignorant and stupid these people really are.
- The real reason for decline can be found with his nearest mirror.
- The primary driver for the ongoing rise of nones has been the abhorrent and totally obnoxious behaviour of the deeply religious. I mean seriously now, if you are backing a sexual abuser and convicted felon as the chosen one of god, then all you are doing is putting your moral bankruptcy on public display.
- His declaration that Separation of church and state is a myth also demonstrates his willingness to embrace nonsense as fact, and dismiss facts as nonsense.
The Cult of Barton
David Barton and also his son Tim just keep on peddling historical fiction week after week.
No, David Barton, George Washington did not issue a “prayer proclamation” in 1789 because “we just finished the Bill of Rights” and he knew it was such a “God thing,” he issued a proclamation because it was Thanksgiving.
- Calling out the lies of this pseudo-historian matters because he is very influential.
There is something ironic about hearing Tim Barton, son of David barton, complain about people “who know the truth, but they’re intentionally being dishonest” because that pretty well describes both he and his father, Christian nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton.
The Kamala Fan Club
- He has got nothing credible, so reverts to emotional blackmail to try and keep the easily manipulated voting for the sexual abuser and convicted felon.
- The real consequence is that those voting for Kamala will have a clear conscience.
JD Vance Continues to be Weird
- All JD Vance had to do in that moment was not be an asshole and he still failed.
- It’s very symbolic – build something awful, blame the dems when it falls apart, run on fixing it.
Astonishing Stupidity
Mark Meckler says that “FEMA shouldn’t exist in the first place” because the federal government should have no role in responding to natural disasters.
- There really is no denying that some are always willing to push stupidity out into new undiscovered territory.
Rick Green asserts that Christians must be politically engaged because “Jesus spent a lot of time talking about politics.“
- Tell me you have never read the NT without actually telling me you have never read the NT.
Homophobia on Steroids
Christian nationalist Jason Rapert declares that “the LGBTQ movement in the country is of the devil” and therefore “you cannot be a Christian and vote for people that do the devil’s work.“
- This is the same guy who wanted funding for PBS cut off because a gay actor once appeared on Sesame Street.
- Sarah Sanders also appointed him to the Arkansas library board so that he could ban lots of LGBTQ books and then discovered his fellow board members would not play ball with him, and then suggested his fellow board members should be “Tarred and Feathered”. He also called being on the board a “hostile work environment” – well gosh, I wonder what caused that.
- “ruin this nation” … Sorry Ken buddy, but as the king of the religious con-men, that’s you doing this.
Hate-Preacher News
There appears to be a bit of news concerning Hate Preacher Steven Anderson who has made a career out of preaching that gay people should be put to death …
- He did not turn up for the preaching engagement mentioned above. The guy who did turn up simply went with “Anderson is having a rest”.
- For a bit more context, Hemant recently wrote about how Anderson’s children speaking out publicly about the abuse they suffered at his hands.
- For even more context, Anderson is so vile and toxic that he has been banned from many countries, in succession: South Africa, the United Kingdom, Botswana, Canada, Jamaica, the Schengen Area, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
Weirdest of the Weird
MAGA cultist Mario Murillo, yes him again, is outraged that he and others are being mocked for insisting that Kamala Harris’ campaign is driven by witchcraft and “demonic powers“: “For you to wonder if we’ve lost our mind is totally unacceptable.“
- Well … as the old observation goes … if he finds it upsetting to be mocked for coming out with weird and blatantly false shit, then the rather obvious solution is to stop promoting that weird shit, or instead make peace with the observation that we all all continue to mock him.
- Is he really delusional or does he sincerely believe this? … The answer is that he knows it is a scam, he simply promotes stuff that brings him money and influence. His latest “outrage” is all part of that religious cosplay.
- Here he is suggesting that there is something sinister behind Hurricane Helene: “This storm is suspicious. It feels manipulated. There is something going on.“. He is tapping into deep fears and trauma with the suggestion that the Hurricane is in some way supernatural. This strategy enables him to bypass reason and tap directly into emotions.
Lance Wallnau admits that while he has no evidence that Kamala Harris “is a practicing witch,” he is nevertheless convinced that “witchcraft is at work to seduce rational minds into irrational choices – like voting for Kamala.“
- When criticised for not taking a stand for Hatain immigrants and for not condemning Trump for the hell he has put them through, his response was “It’s been harder for the cats” (yea, he really went there).
- I think somebody should explain to Lance that he is a devoted disciple of Nero, not Jesus.
Eric Metaxas declares that “the Left is the threat to democracy“: “We are facing real evil in our time.“
- Somebody needs to remind him who promoted the big lie and who attempted to literally overthrow democratic norms.
Christian nationalist Douglas Wilson continues to gripe over women having the right to vote: “The net effect of women’s suffrage was not an advance in women’s rights but rather part of a push to replace covenanted entities, like families, with raw individualism.“
- His most notable hit was a booklet that argued that Slaves just loved their masters and felt deep affection for them.
- In this instance he appears to really hate it when women are individuals not just breeding stock.
- If you go to war against the democratically elected government on the basis of lies and incitement by their cult leader then there are going to be consequences.
- Meanwhile, all the stuff that he was previously claiming that Q was telling him was about to happen … exactly none of it ever happened, because it was all BS.
- It turns out that the “Praying Medic” is actually the Preying Medic.
- Taking him seriously means you are in a cult.
- Yes, Mormons like Glenn also believe in a second coming … but not in the evangelical sense.
- It’s weird that he really does not recognise that he is cheering for and vigorously supporting team evil.
The False Profit$
- This time she had her Gandalf cane from the Universal Studios gift shop, so what could possibly go wrong this time?
- People might wonder what the harm is in people’s silly beliefs. This is the harm: the people that believe this charlatan don’t evacuate.
- Well, it’s been over 24 hours now and of course … (tumbleweed).
- Conman Dad attracts all the frauds. Sometimes I wonder if Eric is genuinely deceived by the entire racket (but let’s not forget that it was Eric who stole from the children’s cancer fund).
JD Vance & Lance Wallnau: highlighted by John Oliver
Lance suggests God arranged for a Hurricane to enable JD Vance to be with him…
Abortion
Democrats … More powerful than God
- They would never actually admit this, but April is right, it’s literally what they are claiming.
The Cartoonists continue to be excellent
Clay Jones who also explains …”Republicans don’t believe in man-made climate change but they believe Democrats can create hurricanes and tornadoes and send them to red states. My head hurts.” …
Evangelicals For Harris – Keep Clear
The EvangelicalsForHarris produced this ad below that contrasts Billy Graham’s teachings with Trump. It very much rubs their moral bankruptcy in their faces, and so they have been running this in swing states …
If you are aware of Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, then you will most probably know that he has been fully red-pilled, so the above has really really really … (did I mention “really”) … upset him, because it is indeed deeply embarrassing to have his own dad speak like this.
He is now threatening to sue Evangelicals For Harris, but sadly for him, he does not have any legal basis for doing so …
If they can persuade some Evangelicals to seriously reconsider their support for the convicted felon in swing states, then it just might make a difference.
Even if they can’t make the leap to Harris and instead simply don’t vote, I’ll take it.
Finally…
Here is a Trump supporter who thinks the COVID global pandemic was a Democrat conspiracy to win in 2020 …
For some, Misinformation is both a problem and also embraced …
The guys were at the Erie Pennsylvania Trump Rally, and yes those they interviewed were as nutty as always …
One Last thought
When you vote, the ballot is secret, nobody need know how you really voted. If you find yourself immersed within a MAGA family then you do still have a free choice.
Republican women: your vote is a secret. Your husband doesn’t have to know.
