QotD for 30 Sep., 2008

Religion, uncontaminated by power, can be the source of a great deal of private solace, artistic inspiration, and moral wisdom. But when it gets its hands on the levers of political or social authority, it goes rotten very quickly indeed. The rank stench of oppression wafts from every authoritarian church, chapel, temple, mosque, or synagogue – from every place of worship where the priests have the power to meddle in the social and intellectual lives of their flocks, from every presidential palace or prime ministerial office where civil leaders have to pander to religious ones... --- Philip Pullman

How to Wake Up the Electorate

Oh, so that's what it takes... ;->

QotD for 29 Sep., 2008

On the failure by House Republicans to sufficiently support the bailout plan that was voted on today:

There are lots and lots of reasons not to like this bill. But most of those reasons are Democratic talking points. The GOP alternative proposal was borderline illiterate.

I’m writing this in haste, without a lot of reflection. But the whole way this has played out has been something of a watershed moment for me. There is only one party in Congress that thinks we are in a financial crisis, only one party in Congress with a functioning leadership. --- Noah Millman, on The American Scene

Maybe there is a silver lining to all this, if the GOP completely falls on its face. Cold comfort, I know...

Leadership! That's What It Is!

Some quotes from around the blogosphere about Sen. McCain's decision to "suspend" his campaign (except for those anti-Obama attack ads that continue to run, and his interview with Katie Couric at the same time he was telling Letterman he was unavailable, and the speech he gave this morning at some conference in NYC, and...) and to get out of the scheduled debate this evening:

To suggest that McCain’s decision to come to Washington affected that to any extent is to suggest that because someone chooses to walk in front of a parade already assembled, they are thereby leading it. --- John Scalzi

McCain reminds me of Dilbert’s boss–he’s not needed to fix the problem, it’s not his job to fix the problem, and he has no idea how to fix the problem. Nonetheless, he’s going elbow his way in there and spray Leadership all over it. --- "EarBucket"

Because, you know, the other 98 senators and 435 representatives can’t do anything on their own; they need McCain and Obama to drop everything and run back to Washington to lead them out of the wilderness. If I were a senator or representative, I’d be insulted by McCain’s implication...What, they don’t have telephones in the McCain campaign? --- DG Lewis

Brave Sir Robin ran away — bravely ran away, away… --- "John H."

Vote for McCain! Another Vote for McCain!

When Al Jean, executive producer and head writer of The Simpsons was asked if Homer was for Obama or McCain, he replied:

It's time for a change, so he actually is going to vote for Obama. So he goes to vote and it says one vote for McCain, he tries to hit it again and it says two votes for McCain and then he hits it three times and there are three votes for McCain. The machine starts trying to kill him and it says, "must warn President McCain."

Bwahaha! :D

QotD for 18 Sep., 2008

The oil industry has a 50-year lease on the Republican Party. And they're drilling it for everything it's worth. ---Al Gore, former VP of the U.S.

"We're stuck with dirty, expensive energy because the oil and coal lobbies are spending hundreds of millions to block real change." See the latest ad from We Can Solve it for details.

Palin Contradicts Palin

As part of an effort to beat back the investigation into whether Governor Sarah Palin fired Alaska's public safety directory Walt Monegan because he refused to dismiss a state trooper involved in an ugly divorce with her sister, Palin's attorney filed papers on Monday claiming that Palin fired Monegan because of his "outright insubordination" regarding policy and budgetary matters. The problem with this explanation: it directly contradicts Palin's own story.

Read the whole thing at the Mother Jones magazine blog in Palin Contradicts Palin on Troopergate Explanation.

Obama Starts Playing Hardball

The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan points out the first Obama ad that plays hardball with the fact that McCain has lied, and continues to lie, in McCain's Dishonor. While John Scalzi addresses the issue in his usual trenchant manner with Lie to Me.

Come on, folks. Obama was a Chicago pol before anything else. Did the Republicans really think he couldn't spell "hardball" ? I hope this is the start of Obama trusting his gut again, instead of listening to some of the people of questionable competence working in his campaign...

Hurricane Ike

Bp. Lambert of the Diocese of Dallas has heard from Bp. Dena Harrison, Suffragan of the Diocese of Texas, that:

- Their offices in Houston do have power.
- They assume their church in Orange, TX is under water at this time, but have had no official report.
- Trinity Church, Galveston has extensive damage including a hole in the Tiffany window above the altar.

Bp. Lambert is still awaiting a call back from Bp. Macpherson from Western Louisiana to get an assessment of their needs. They did have evacuees at their camp over the weekend, but many have left.

He asks that anyone who wishes can contribute to the “Hurricane Ike Fund,” making your contributions payable to the Diocese of Dallas. They will forward those funds to the bishops of the diocese of Texas and Western Louisiana so they may address the needs of the people in the diocese who're affected. Donations can also be sent via Episcopal Relief & Development.

Lipstick on a Pig

The last word on that "Lipstick on a Pig" nonsense can be found in today's Sinfest comic.

'Nuff said ;)

QotD for 14 Sep., 2008

Likewise, in the particularly contentious ranks of theologically minded Catholics, or perhaps in the polemic-weary ranks of mainline Protestantism, there are those who have surrendered the label of orthodoxy to conservatives, either because they no longer have the energy to protest or because they have concluded that the whole idea of orthodoxy — correct doctrine or right belief — is too encrusted with questionable notions to be worth defending. --- Peter Steinfels, The Audacity of Claiming the Last Word on This Word, the New York Times, 13 Sep., 2008

[hat tip to The Mad Priest]

McCain's Ads are Lies.

In the last few days we have seen a disgusting descent into the worst sort of sleazy "Swiftboat" politics. Isn't it time for campaigns to get called on this kind of garbage ?

watch on YouTube | digg story

What a Doll!

Hey look, there's even a Caribou Barbie doll out now! ;)

More Palin fun here.

The Loving Mallet of Correction

Scalzi applies the Loving Mallet of Correction to some of the more hysterical Democrats who're freakin' out over Sarah Palin and the post-convention bounce in the polls for the GOP:

Take a nice, deep cleansing breath, center yourself, have some tea, and get a g*ddamn grip. It’s going to be a long two months and if you’re all going off the rails at the slightest hint that this election is not, in fact, a pro forma coronation, it’s going to be even longer still. And you know what? As long as the next two months will be for you, it’ll be nothing like what the next four years will be like if you don’t calm down, get your sh*t together, and fight like you mean it. So settle down. Get some perspective. Focus. ---John Scalzi in A Previous Message Repeated, Slightly More Forcefully

Jesus Was a "Community Organizer"

Shirts and bumper stickers available on Cafe Press.

QotD for 5 Sep., 2008

You wouldn't drink caffeine-free Red Bull just for the flavor. So why would an intelligent woman vote for a female politician opposed to women's rights ?" --- L'il Sis in the webcomic Diesel Sweeties

"But hey, she's a Hockey Mom just like me!" Yeah, right. And if you buy into all that "I know feminists are bad 'cause I'm conservative & religious" stuff, perhaps a reading of The Handmaid's Tale is in order.