Here is a twitter thread by TX representative James Talarico (he is the good guy here). As a committed Christian he proceeded to explain why the bill to mandate a 10 Commandments poster in every school is deeply offensive and very very wrong. He masterfully slices and dices it all, pointed out the GOP’s deep hypocrisy, and made one of the bill’s chief defenders squirm.
It’s a glory to behold …
Here is one great quote from roughly 9 min mark in the above …
TALARICO: I want to make a comment and thank you for answering my questions. I’ll probably have more later. And I say this to you as a fellow Christian, representative, I know you’re a devout Christian and so am I.
This bill to me is not only unconstitutional, it’s not only un-American, I think it is also deeply unchristian.
And I say that because I believe this bill is idolatrous. I believe it is exclusionary. And I believe it is arrogant. And those three things in my reading of the Gospel are diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus.
You probably know Matthew 6:5, when Jesus says, ‘Don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners. When you pray, go into your room and shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret.”
A religion that has to force people to put up a poster to prove its legitimacy is a dead religion. And it’s not one that I want to be a part of. It’s not one that I think I am a part of.
You know that in Scripture it says faith without works is what? Is dead. My concern is instead of bringing a bill that will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, we’re instead mandating that people put up a poster.
And we both follow a teacher, a rabbi, who said, “Don’t let the law get in the way of loving your neighbor.” Loving your neighbor is the most important law. It is the summation of all the law and all the prophets.
I would submit to you that our neighbor also includes the Hindu student who sits in a classroom, the Buddhist student who sits in a classroom, and an atheist student who sits in a classroom. And my question to you is: Does this bill truly love those students?
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
Why the Christian Nationalist ‘History’ Peddled by David Barton Simply Cannot Be Trusted
- Barton has an impressive CV. The only academic qualification he has is in “Religious Education” from Oral Roberts University (really), and his published history book on Jefferson is officially recognised as the “least credible history book in print“. Even his Christian publisher lost confidence in him.
- The word that sums him up is that he practises pseudo-scholarship and pseudo-history. That’s a polite technical way of saying that he lies.
Meanwhile …
Fascists
Radical right-wing broadcaster Pete Santilli has repeatedly called on the military to round up and execute Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and other Democratic officials, but that didn’t stop Trump campaign attorney Christina Bobb from appearing on Santilli’s show Tuesday.
- When I was a kid my dad would drop me at school on the way to work. He also occasionally gave a ride to a colleague of his that was very very right-wing. On the way the guy would babble on about rounding “them” all up, putting them against the wall and shooting them. I can only admire the patience my dad had. While I had to endure the car journey, he had to work with this guy all day. Santilli very much reminds me of that guy.
- Irony: He wants to overthrow the constitution that gives him the freedom to say stuff like this via a military coup. If that actually happened, he might find that they decide that he gets free board and lodgings in Guantanamo
“Discerning” Racists
If Isabella Riley Moody had to rank herself on how racist she is on scale of 1 to 10, she confidently declares that “I’m a 10.”
- Seriously, are any of you actually surprised?
- Reminder: She also hates the 19th amendment as well (votes for women) and has also declared that she wants to make bigotry great again.
- The Log Cabin Republicans did at one point pick her to be their ambassador (yes really), but then they quickly rowed that back when she declared that they made her want to vomit.
Milo Yiannopoulos laments that there is no movement today where “discerning racists” such as himself can find a home.
- “discerning” ??? … that’s really not a word your prefix to “racist”.
- Hypocrisy Note: He is deeply anti gay and very hostile to LGBTQ+ … but is also still married to and lives with his boyfriend.
Trump Cult members
Gene Bailey of “FlashPoint” got a chance to interview Trump recently and desperately tried to get Trump to talk about his personal faith but to no avail.
- Trump cosplays Christianity. Backstage he holds all his evangelical buddies in utter contempt, but they still worship him as their messiah and don’t see him for who he really is.
Brenden Dilley declares that the reason the “most of the powerful leaders in America and around the world” want to stop Trump from assuming the presidency again is “because he cracked down on their ability to fuck and traffick children from 2016-2020.”
- He thinks the guy who bragged about walking backstage to see undressed teenage pageant contestants did that! Nope, not buying, we really are not that stupid.
- For anybody wondering, Brenden is a full blown QAnon nutter who hosts YourVoice America on YouTube – Evidence for any of his claims – exactly zero.
Meanwhile for those struggling with this, here is a quick primer …
Clarence Thomas
Transphobia
- When faced with folks who deploy terms such as “Satanic” or “Demonic”, then what they are actually telling you is that they have literally no rational arguments to deploy. All they have is fictitious religious imagery to rile up the mob with.
- When faced with people like this, some might consider the thought that it is time for Jesus to take the wheel. Er no … in this case it is way beyond that. Jesus needs to pull over and spank some empathy into them with his flip-flops.
- Irony Award: “…it’s a violation of science, it’s a violation of your evolutionist…” … says the guy who rolls with Creationism and rejects all the scientific evidence that confirms evolutionary biology to be factual.
Tucker Carlson
Jim Garlow laments the firing of Tucker Carlson from Fox News: “Tucker spoke TRUTH. And he is gone. He was silenced. Censored. Muzzled. So much for an ‘independent’ news source. That is a staggering loss for America. This may be remembered as the day that TRUTH (as far as the media is concerned) died.“
- Fox firing Tucker because he slagged off all the Fox Execs and also cost then $878 million (and counting), is indeed a truly “staggering loss” for … disinformation, lies, BS, racism, and utterly false propaganda. He will not be sadly missed.
Jonathan Cahn claims that Tucker Carlson’s firing from Fox News “wasn’t natural” but rather due to “demonic forces”: “It was about the spirits he’s exposing coming after him.”
- So basically he is claiming that Rupert Murdock, the owner of Fox News is a (checks notes) “demonic force” … yea, I think we can work with that.
So this revelation also emerged this past week …
And also this story …
Washington Post (May 2, 2023) : Tucker Carlson text on ‘how white men fight’ alarmed Fox board members
For those struggling, here is a translation of the above for you …
Truly Bizarre
Former Rep. Jody Hice suspects that more people are identifying as LGBTQ because there is an effort afoot to “create a minority sex class to then be oppressed and get special rights.”
- If you are wondering who this guy is, he is a Far-Right pastor who got into politics by attacking the LGBTQ community.
- Meanwhile … since when exactly did equal rights become “special rights”.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to expose the “Biden crime family” and declares that “no amount of lawyers will be able to stop me from exposing the potential influence peddling, money laundering, and human trafficking done by the most corrupt family in American history at the expense of the American people.”
- Poor old MTG is as confused as ever. She appears to have the Biden family and Trump family mixed up.
- For anybody curious, this is simply her creating clips to be used to solicit donations with. There is a specific demographic that laps up stuff like this and will happily pour gold into her purse in response to it. It’s all about the $$$, it really is just that.
Rachel Hamm’s quest to become former President Donald Trump’s next press secretary took a step forward, she claims, after God recently arranged for her to be introduced to Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
- Reminder: This is the lady who ran for election as Secretary of State for CA because Jesus spoke to her son in the closet
- You can literally see the gears cranking in Trump’s head … young, blond, very stupid, likes me, yep, she is in …
Ali Alexander is outraged by the conviction of multiple Proud Boys for their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection: “This is a political lynching that will impact all Americans’ rights.”
- Wow … guys who stormed the capitol and attempted to overturn a democratic election are now facing the consequences of their actions. What a shocker that outcome is, literally nobody saw that coming.
Ted does not know who Colin Allred is. For context, its, not a media mix up. Ted himself tweeted the wrong picture …
The False Profit$
Hank Kunneman warns that any Christian who supports anyone other than former President Donald Trump in 2024 “is not hearing what God has been saying.”
- So says the guy who, as a self-appointed “prophet”, claimed that Trump would win in 2020.
- Hey Hank, that voice in your head … that’s not God. I know this because God just told me that you are full of sh*t.
- Remind me again what the bible says should be done with false prophets.
Statistic of the week
Guns again, and again, and again, and again, etc…
That’s not a quip below, that’s the actual guidance given on Fox News …
I really don’t think that his twitter poll went to way he wanted it to go …
Social Media Apps that people really want
A social media site that opts to not meet bad actors half-way is actually worth considering. Think of it as Twitter, but without the Nazis.
Meanwhile, if you happen to be on twitter in conversation with somebody, then you glance at their timeline and find vile stuff, blocking them is just fine. You don’t need to explain why, nor tell them, just walking away is OK. Nobody is paying you to tolerate their BS.
Oh, and for context, the topic here is BlueSky.
Weird Claim: Opposition to banning gender-affirming health care is an ethical violation, because she has a transgender son.
One Further Nebaska Update
“I’m a leftist, I want to be a part of the work to move the country and the party to the left from where it is now, and that’s not compatible with the work the Dem party is doing,”
@NebraskaMegan said Friday.
Day of Reason
If only this could become a resolution of every day and not just one …
Why are the writers striking?
Quote: “Times are changing, we are not making as much money as we once did…”
Here is his response …
Interesting Articles
- David Badash @ The New Civil Rights Movement: ‘Moral Rot’: Abbott’s ‘Illegal Immigrants’ Attack on Five Murder Victims Called ‘Dehumanizing’ – It Also May Be False.
- Tommy Christopher @ Mediaite: Donald Trump Posts Attack On Woman He’s Accused Of Raping In Email To Journalists.
- Hemant Mehta @ Friendly Atheist: Kansas lawmaker to non-Christian constituents: I’ll “try and convert you.”
- Alex Kaplan @ Media Matters: In his first year of actively posting on Truth Social, Trump amplified QAnon-promoting accounts nearly 500 times.
- Matt Shuham @ HuffPost: A Reality Star Sheriff Could Swing A Senate Race To The Far Right.
- Alex Bollinger @ LGBTQ Nation: Rachel Maddow connects Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill to Arizona Christians.
- Joe Jervis: FL Rep: Terrorists Hate Homosexuals More Than We Do.
- Tessa Stuart @ Rolling Stone: The Next Front in the GOP’s War on Women: No-Fault Divorce.
- Sarah Rumpf @ Mediaite: Shocking 75% of Trump Supporters Say They’ll Vote For Him Because They Believe Fantasy That He Won the 2020 Election.
- William Vaillancourt @ The Daily Beast: Greg Gutfeld Says Being Woke Is Just as Racist as White Nationalism.
- Heidi Przybyla @ Politico: Leonard Leo used Federalist Society contact to obtain $1.6B donation.
- Rachel Schraer & Mike Wendling @ BBC: Is this anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist the next Alex Jones?
- Josh Israel @ The American Independent: Jim Marchant, election denier with ties to QAnon, launches bid for Nevada Senate seat.
- Robert Downen @ The Texas Tribune: Conservative Christians want more religion in public life. Texas lawmakers are listening.
Meanwhile …
For some reality truly is an undiscovered country …