“Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a judicial rock star, fighting for justice and equality for half a century. Her loss will be felt for another half century. https://robrogers.com/2020/09/21/rbg/ #RBG #SupremeCourt #Equality“
The big news of the week was the passing of RBG and the subsequent wingnut mad rush to fill her seat with an originalist. The issue is not Amy Coney Barrett’s religious belief, but rather is her judicial philosophy. If you are struggling with that, then permit me to briefly explain the flaw – If one is to look at the interpretation (or, meaning), which inheres at a particular time period, the question becomes: why is that reading the essential one?
To translate; do you really want the thinking that prevailed over two hundred years ago to be the finial and decisive word that is beyond any debate or consideration for gay rights, human rights, and women’s rights?
The dead hand of prior generations should not control important contemporary issues.
This is perhaps what the evangelical support for Trump has really been all about. They know he is utterly incompetent and odious, but because he will pander to their beliefs by injecting people into the judiciary that they believe will undo gay rights and women’s rights, then they will happily hold their nose and vote for the idiot-in-chief. They then justify it by telling themselves that he is the appointed one, a messiah like chosen one, and despite all evidence to the contrary, assert to themselves that he is now a believer just like they are. They have managed to successfully fool themselves, but nobody else.
Let’s take a look at some of the things they have been claiming. As you might perhaps anticipate the passing of RBG and the empty SCOTUS has garnered a lot of focus.
Wingnut proclamations from the last 7 days
Here are some of the highlights …
The Cult Of Trump
- Mario Murillo says that refusing to support President Donald Trump because of his personality is the “stupidest excuse I’ve ever heard” because “the man has actually become sweet.”
- On the list of reasons to not support him “personality” gets pushed to the bottom by rather a lot of other stuff.
- DeAnna Lorraine Urges Women to Vote Like They Are Choosing a Boyfriend or Husband and Support Trump
- If the pussy-grabber is your ideal Boyfriend and Husband, then your good-boyfriend radar is seriously banjaxed.
- Eric Metaxas insists that anyone who calls President Donald Trump an authoritarian or compares him to Hitler is just revealing “their tremendous ignorance of history.”
- Metaxas, of course, said exactly those sorts of things when Barack Obama was president.
- right-wing theologian Wayne Grudem asserts that Trump doesn’t lie: “President Trump is often not careful in some of the things he says. He is given to exaggeration. Sometimes he’s made a statement after being given inaccurate information. I’m not sure he’s ever intentionally affirmed something he knows to be false, which is how I define a lie. As you know, I have written an ethics textbook. I believe it’s never right to affirm X when you believe X is false. If someone wants to point out to me some actual Trump lies that fit that definition, I’d be happy to look at them.”
- This author of an ethical textbook is lying – Trump’s dishonesty is robustly documented, it even has it’s very own Wikipedia page
RBG
From the folks who seriously think that every sperm is scared …
- Religious-Right ‘Prayer Warriors’ Celebrate Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death as ‘Move of God’ to Save Trump’s Presidency, Warn Trump Opponents That God Might Not Be Done Killing
- The observation that they “Celebrate” her passing tells us a great deal about these people.
- Dave Daubenmire Says Ruth Bader Ginsburg Was ‘Wicked and Destructive,’ Compares Her to Hitler
- Yes indeed, Hitler, the guy who fought for the equality of women everywhere in the courts … right?
- Gordon Klingenschmitt reacts to the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “I personally mourn her death because she apparently did not know Christ. This past month I prayed for her soul, that she would prepare to meet God. Now she has met God. How will the Holy and Righteous God, the God of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, receive a powerful earthly judge who declined to help innocent children avoid slaughter, who legalized sodomy. … Since I’m not her Judge, it’s not for me to say if Ginsburg is in heaven or hell. But those are the only two options.”
- I strongly suspect that a Jewish justice has a far stronger claim in the eyes of “the God of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” than Mr Klingenschmitt.
- E.W. Jackson shares his thoughts on Ginsburg’s passing: “While I have compassion and even some admiration for her as a human being, I will not join the hypocrisy parade of praising her judicial legacy. In my view, it is not a good one, and we would be better off as a country to undo much of it.”
- Praising her legacy requires no hypocrisy. Rejecting it tells us a great deal about Mr Jackson
- Sheila Zilinsky doesn’t hold back on her view regarding Ginsburg: “There’s no rest where that mass murdering hag went. She killed more babies & ruined more lives than Hitler, Mao & Stalin combined. That’s a fact.”
- “Hitler, Mao & Stalin combined”. I really don’t recall a moment where RBG invaded Poland, perhaps I missed that highlight from her Judicial career.
- John Zmirak suggests that God killed Ginsburg “at just this moment for some special reason”: “Maybe God wants to strip away the veneer of lies and distortions surrounding our upcoming vote in November. Then force us to see what’s really at stake.”
- He is accusing his preferred god of being a murderer
- ‘That’s No Accident’: Robert Henderson Credits His Prayer for Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death
- He claims that he successfully prayed to his preferred god to murder somebody.
- Scott Lively says that because of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “wickedness spawned by open defiance of God – and the suppression of the natural law by which it might otherwise be reversed – has taken us to the brink of utter chaos.”
- We reached the brink of chaos in 2016 and have been carried over the edge by all that has happened since then.
- Mark Taylor Says Ruth Bader Ginsburg ‘Worked for the Kingdom of Darkness’
- He appears to be claiming that the supreme court is the Kingdom of Darkness
- Sid Roth asserts that “if there is one position on the heart of God at this moment, it’s the sin of murdering the innocents. Why do you think there is a vacancy [on the Supreme Court] right now?” He continue, adding that God “wanted [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg in the worst way to turn to him, but in his mercy, he doesn’t want to see another baby murdered in the womb.”
- If he really thinks that abortion is murder, then legally by extension that means a miscarriage is manslaughter. I wonder what his legal position on jerking off might be.
The empty SCOTUS seat
- Josiah Lippincott writes at American Greatness, a pro-Trump right-wing blog, about whether President Donald Trump should nominate a new Supreme Court justice before the election: “The Supreme Court is the most powerful legislative body in America. It is an entirely partisan institution. Let’s stop pretending otherwise.”
- Paula White insists that Senate Republicans can confirm a Trump SCOTUS nominee in an election year despite blocking Obama’s nominee in 2016: “By law, we have the right to confirm … a Supreme Court justice.”
- Operation Rescue declares that “this is a moment we have been waiting for since the first state decriminalized abortion in 1968. This is the moment that President Trump’s decision can shift the Court away from its current pro-abortion bent. With this nominee, he can literally save millions of innocent lives throughout future generations and restore a respect for human life that has been deteriorating in our culture.”
- Intercessors for America Says Vacant SCOTUS Seat ‘Belongs to God’
- Cool, so God will turn up and claim it in person then?
- Carrie Severino Argues Precedent Supports Trump Filling SCOTUS Seat Before Election
- Merrick Garland has a rather different view regarding precedent
- Dominionists Say God Has ‘Anointed’ Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court
- Translation: “Anointed” simply means that they think she believes what they believe and will use that belief to trump the law.
Truly Bizarre
This is the self-parody section ….
- Elections Are a ‘Spiritual Battle’ and Only ‘Mature’ Christians Are Ideal Candidates, Says Trump Cabinet Bible Study Teacher Ralph Drollinger
- We should thank him for pointing out that Trump is not an ideal candidate
- Sheila Zilinsky is not happy about being called a “conspiracy theorist” for asserting that LeBron James is an “Illuminati wizard”: “It’s not a ‘theory’ if it’s a fact.”
- I’m not convinced she knows that the word “fact” actually means. As an aside, how exactly does somebody become an “Illuminati wizard”?
- Least you wonder what is really going on, she cranks up 12 million views on YouTube. Weird claims will ensure she earns $$ from clicks.
- Michele Bachmann Warns That Joe Biden Will Make U.S. Communist Within His First 100 Days … she also claimed … Christians Will ‘Be Punished for What the Bible Says’ If the Equality Act Becomes Law
- She is doing her usual hot-button pushing to manipulate people.
What else came out of the Wingnut fantasy land last week?
Lots of other stuff.
As always, it is an endless stream. Some of it is good, some sad, some is rather grim, and some is quite frankly hilarious. Here are a few more samples …
COVID-19 …
- Robert Jeffress: Thanks to Supreme Court Chaos, COVID Is “Background Noise”
- The Christian pastor is thrilled that RBG’s death means less attention on the pandemic.
The Catholic Church …
- Germany’s Largest and Richest Archdiocese Will Close 90% of Its Churches by 2030
- They’re having a hard time finding priests. I can’t imagine why.
- Vatican: Priests Must Condemn “Intrinsically Evil” Medically-Assisted Dying
- The Catholic Church always finds new ways to be cruel.
If you feel that I’m on a bit of an anti-catholic rant here, then I recommend that you get your revenge on me by ensuring that you vote for the Catholic candidate, Joe Biden.
Weird…
- Mike Pompeo: It’s “Imperative” to Connect U.S. Foreign Policy to Christianity
- Which specific version of Christianity does he have in mind?
- Dominionist Pastor: QAnon’s Conspiracies “Confirmed the Revelation” God Gave Me
- Fiction confirms fiction.
- Christian Preacher: If You Have Faith, You Can See Dead People Come Back to Life
- “I’ve seen multiple people raised from the dead,” said Christian liar Andrew Wommack.
Bonus Item – The Climate
Here are some insights via Sarah Cooper …
And as a brief reminder …