It really was not a normal state of the nation. Biden faced some very hostile Republicans who tossed decorum under the bus by interrupting and yelling at him. (We have come a very long way since Joe Wilson’s famous “You Lie” shout during an Obama SOTU. Nobody went along with that). Normally the GOP leader would reign them in, as was done for Wilson, but McCarthy can’t. If he did then they would pull the plug on him being speaker.
So how did it play out?
As they jeered and mocked, Biden sparred with them and won.
Seriously?
Yep, very much so …
This was wondrous. Biden used the SOTU to get the Republicans to publicly promise to keep their hands off Medicare and Social Security. A brilliant chess move on live TV. The GOP walked right into it.
Republican Mike Lee Pretends to be shocked during SOTU when Biden stated that Republicans wanted to get rid of Social Security and Medicare, yet he is on camera saying that’s exactly what he wants and that it is top priority…
As has now been observed by many numerous times, if you elect clowns then you will get a circus.
Moving on, below you will once again find my usual selection of some truly bizarre and extreme claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary. With my usual hat tip to my various sources, let’s dive in.
Enjoy.
Christian Nationalism
Outraged that DirecTV has dropped Newsmax from its lineup, Troy Miller, president of the National Religious Broadcasters, declares that “it’s time for Christians to step up and take back this media landscape.”
- “take back” !!! … when exactly did Religion own the media landscape?
- Fact Check: Newsmax demanded increased carriage fees and DirectTV said, “Nope” and then dropped them. It was a purely financial decision that Newsmax inflicted upon themselves. If they resolve that then they really might be back.
- As for Mr Millers demand, well yes, if there is one group that is completely unheard from and totally silenced across the media spectrum (and the world), it is religion.
- Side Note: Yep, he’s a full on conspiracy nutter that has a well-established track record of promoting misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.
Ali Alexander wants to make something clear: “I’m the Karen, the Kraken, the monster under the bed, Gabriel protecting Eden with a flaming sword, Michael kicking Satan in the face. Father, forgive me for my warrior’s lust. Ali Alexander is dat nigga.”
- If the stop-the-steal guy, who has previously claimed he is a time traveller, is now claiming that he is a monster, then I have no disagreement with that.
The Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins delivered a “State of Faith, Family & Freedom” address Monday night, proclaiming that “we the people, under the authority and direction of God, will determine the future of this nation. We will not wait for Washington any longer.”
- He is demanding the establishment of a religious dictatorship.
- I spoke to God and he told me that I alone have his exclusive direction and authority. God also told me that Tony is speaking shit. The basis for my claim is exactly the same as his. Hint: The term “Authority of God” carries exactly the same weight as the authority invested in me by the Kingdom of Magic Unicorns.
- If you check his audience in the clip you will find almost all of them are seniors. Why oh why does that not surprise me.
Great Dictators
Nick Fuentes is very open about his preferred form of government: “I want a supreme leader totalitarian Christian dictator to put all these people in jail.”
- Some say the quiet part out loud … this guy grabs a megaphone and yells it.
- One can only wonder how he might feel when the “supreme leader totalitarian Christian dictator” deems Nick’s specific flavour of Christianity/Politics to be heresy and decides to literally burn him on a bonfire. History reveals that “supreme leader totalitarian Christian dictator“‘s tend to have a bit of a habit of doing stuff like that.
Dalton Clodfelter shares Fuentes’ affection for authoritarian government: “I would love something like China, but like a Christian state. … We need to take inspiration from China and from Russia.”
- What is abundantly clear is that Dalton and Nick and pushing the envelope of utter cluelessness to new previously unexplored heights. What they totally fail to grasp is that if something like this did come about, they would not be the ones calling the shots and what actually happened would not align with their desires.
Whites
Vincent James gripes that … “from ‘To kill a mockingbird’ and the Scottsboro Boys, to the Diary of Anne Frank, all curriculum & reading lists are designed to make whites feel guilty, and shut them up while their countries get taken over.”
- I can only wonder what he would actually like to see on curriculum … “Mein Kampf” perhaps?
Hail Satan
Texas state Sen. Bob Hall has introduced legislation that will deny licenses and insurance to any doctor that provides gender-affirming care to individuals under the age of 18 because, he says, providing such care is satanic.
- Soooo … apparently not “Satanic” if over 18.
- Deeply religious fanatics micromanaging health care is going to drive the next generation of doctors to other states.
- I’m guessing that Sen. Bob thinks that the Salem Witch Trials were a jolly good idea.
- I’d also speculate that while he thinks that gender affirming care is mutilation, he does not think that circumcision is.
Outraged about Sam Smith’s performance at the Grammys, Ali Alexander declares that blasphemy and Satan worship “should warrant prison time.”
- European history is chock full of people declaring what is and is not blasphemy then setting fire to the blasphemers. It was all such fun at the time that he clearly wants lots more of it.
- Going to jail would involve holding a trial … good luck to him proving that God and Satan actually exist during such a trial.
- Is his specific belief so fragile that it can’t cope with anybody who does not believe exactly what he believes?
- Reminder: Blasphemy is a “crime” that has no actual victim.
Dave Daubenmire is going to wage “spiritual warfare” against Rihanna’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl on Sunday: “Instead of offering our time and attention to the Halftime Orgy we invite you and those you are watching the game with to join us for 30 minutes of prayer and intercession as their Satanic ritual is streaming.”
- If that’s what you want to do Dave D, then Knock yourself out and have fun. As for the rest of us, we will be enjoying the show.
Jan 6
Tim Gionet (aka Baked Alaska) reported to federal prison today to begin serving a 60-day sentence for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, claiming that he’s “being politically persecuted because of my politics.”
- Well damn … actions really do have consequences.
- He is not a political prisoner, Amnesty will not be writing him letters.
- Meanwhile he says in his clip … “This is where your taxpayer dollars are going…” so yes, I’m totally good with that.
- If you are wondering why just 60 days, well, it is all there in the court documents. He threw his fellow insurrectionists under the bus and blabbed on them all.
Misogyny
Steve Franssen asserts that “‘patriarchy’ is a made-up word, invented by feminists so that unhappy women could have something to be mad at.”
- Can he perhaps identify any word that has not been “made up”, that’s literally how language works.
- Fact Check: Patriarchy literally means “the rule of the father”. It comes from the Greek πατριάρχης (patriarkhēs). The concept of patriarchy was developed to explain male dominance as a social, rather than biological, phenomenon
- Steve Franssen Translator: “Women need to calm down, shut up, and fall in line with what the men are telling them to do“.
Truly Bizarre
Enraged by Pfizer’s sponsorship of the Grammys, right-wing broadcaster Pete Santilli encouraged listeners to literally attack Pfizer’s production facilities: “Destroy Pfizer now! Do it now. Go over the wall. Get into their frickin’ buildings. Unplug all their frickin’ equipment.“
- If you do what he says then some of you may die … but that’s a sacrifice he is willing to make and so he sends you on your way to go do his bidding.
Rick Joyner asserts that increases in fires, floods, and natural disasters are not the results of climate change but are actually “the judgments of God.”
- It is literally palaeolithic thinking to attribute fires, floods, and natural disasters to angry gods that need to be appeased .
- Will he be forecasting the future by reading chicken entrails next week?
Ali Alexander is certainly not lacking in confidence: “I am God’s solider. He has commanded enemies to give me everything I want.”
- Yes, the time traveller and monster is also apparently “God’s chosen one“.
“Lady” Brigitte Gabriel is willing to tackle the tough issues: “What would the Founding Fathers say about the price of eggs today?”
- If some guys from the 1700s entered a well-lit supermarket, saw eggs in a cardboard box fitted to hold them, and noticed that all the shoppers held devices that light up and talk. The shoppers then run the box of eggs over a laser scanner that beeps, and they put a plastic card in box to pay … and she thinks it is the price of eggs that would shock them!!
- I also suspect their first question might be, “Who is this women, and why is she not in the kitchen at home cooking?“
- As for prices, in the context of today’s wages and earning power, compared to the 1700’s, they would be truly shocked to see how cheap everything is when compared to the buying power in the 1700s.
The False Profit$
Spiritual Warfare Breaks Out Among the Trump-Loving Prophetic Community
- Each of the “prophets” are pointing at the other “prophets” and declaring that they are false “prophets”. When it comes to this specific declaration, that I do actually have to agree that all of them are correct.
- Here is a juicy quote via the above link to temp you into reading it: …. “With Trump struggling to recapture the support of evangelical voters as he bids to return to the White House, the prospect of a spiritual and theological fight breaking out between those who were previously among his most ardently devoted followers cannot be a good sign for the former president. More broadly, what started out as an attack by one leader—Murillo—on other leaders—Kunneman, Kerr, and Bullock—has already shown signs of widening as other prominent figures in the movement weigh in and begin to choose sides. If this smoldering controversy continues to spread, it could burst into a significant conflagration within the larger Charismatic spiritual and political communities.“
The above is also not the only right-wing fight currently in play. Right-wing conspiracy theorists Greg Locke and Lin Wood are fighting and going after each other as well.
- I’m perplexed … will my popcorn supply be sufficient for all this?
It looks like some of the self-proclaimed “prophets” are starting to gravitate toward Ron DeSantis, with Charlie Shamp claiming that he received a vision several years ago revealing that DeSantis’ “ultimate future is to have a position in the United States as the president.”
- So yes, this is the same “prophet” that guaranteed 100 percent … on camera … that Trump would get two terms. That’s not the only example of his failure rate, all his “prophecies” are wrong all the time.
- If there was a God looking do on all this, I suspect he would be thinking, “Time to use that flood option once again“.
- The Shamp Translation is of course obvious: “Trump isn’t popular anymore so we need to grab on to Ron to keep this grift going”
Pastor Shane Vaughn fumes about conservative Christian voters who would consider supporting anyone other than former President Donald Trump in 2024: “When you do not support the man that God has ordained for the job, you are a Judas.”
- “The Man that God has ordained for the job” … lost the election.
- Grifter, who has been in jail for fraud, claims that he speaks for God.
- I guess this also means that if you don’t support Trump then you can claim 30 pieces of silver off Pastor Shane Vaughn.
Interesting Articles
- Emine Yücel @ Talking Points Memo: Why On Earth Are Some MAGA Republicans Wearing AR-15 Pins?
- Erik Maulbetsch @ Colorado Times Recorder: Indicted CO Clerk Peters Falsely Implies DA Murdered Witnesses’ Brothers.
- David Badash @ The New Civil Rights Movement: Trump Spent 2020 Attacking Ballot Drop Boxes – but Now He’s Demanding They Be Deployed in Churches.
- David Weigel @ Semafor: ‘At any age’: Donald Trump pushes the GOP towards targeting transgender adults.
- Media Matters: Daily Wire host: Doctors who provide gender-affirming care should be executed.
- Kiera Butler @ Mother Jones: The Far-Right Bounty Hunter Behind the Explosive Popularity of “Died Suddenly.”
- John Fea @ Current: Charles Koch and his network will oppose Trump in the 2024 GOP primaries.
- Kelly Weill @ The Daily Beast: Preacher Accused of Enabling Pedophile at Creationist ‘Dino’ Theme Park.
- Brandon Gage @ Salon: “I don’t enjoy it”: MTG complains that being in Congress has “made my life miserable.”
- Erik Maulbetsch @ Colorado Times Recorder: Colorado Election Fraud Conspiracist Appears to Have Committed Voter Fraud, Court Docs Show.
- Hemant Mehta @ Friendly Atheist: Democrats just passed a resolution condemning “white religious nationalism.”
- Tess Owen @ Vice News: The Christian Right Is Having a Meltdown Over the ‘Satanic’ Grammys.
Statistic of the week
Not really a surprise, but still interesting …