The Tiny Evangelical Tyrant.

Donald Trump in Cleveland prayer huddle -- (YouTube screen grab)

Donald Trump in Cleveland prayer huddle — (YouTube screen grab).

While the Tiny Tyrant is embroiled in scandals, and the senate is busy doing all manner of evil and nefarious things while people are distracted, Donny found himself in need of people willing to shovel endless amounts of praise into the black void of his ego. He found them in the Road to Majority, an annual evangelical meet up.

While millions of Americans spent Thursday glued to television coverage of former FBI director James Comey’s testimony, Donald Trump took time to bask in the adulation of Religious Right activists who gathered in D.C. for Road to Majority, the annual conference hosted by Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Amid these conservative Christians, Trump didn’t need to worry about hearing a discouraging word or being challenged about his habitual lying. “We love him because he is our friend,” said Reed. Trump returned the sentiment, saying, “You didn’t let me down and I will never, ever let you down, you know that.”

And he hasn’t. About the only group Trump hasn’t screwed into the ground is the Religious Reich. As will be made clear as we go on, this is the reason I have no use for the ‘president Pence would be worse!’ excuse to keep Trump in place. No, he wouldn’t be. He’d be the same as far as all the christian crap is concerned. These hateful zealots are Donny’s über faithful, the core of his cult which has actual power.

Reed and Trump both cited the overwhelming support Trump received from white evangelical voters. Trump recalled that he had appeared at the conference last year asking for their support and prayers, and “boy did you deliver.” Reed praised Trump for focusing “like a laser beam” on winning evangelical support “and that’s why he’s the president of the United States today.”

Trump touted his accomplishments: the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, filling the Cabinet with people who “share our values,” withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and his proposed “historic” tax cut. And, of course, he bragged about having signed an executive order “to protect religious liberty in America” and to “stop the Johnson Amendment from interfering with your First Amendment rights.” Perhaps in a nod to those Religious Right activists who were disappointed that his order did not include sweeping exemptions for LGBT discrimination in the name of religion, Trump assured the audience, “Believe me, we’re not finished yet.”

And there you have it. Not finished yet, not by a long shot, and unless this catastrophe masquerading as a human being is ousted, the theocracy will continue marching in, with brutal oppression for everyone.

Trump cited the Bible, reading from a verse in Isaiah, as well as more vaguely stating:

[A]s the Bible tells us, we know that the truth will prevail, that God’s glorious wisdom will shine through, and that the good and decent people of this country will get the change they voted for and that they so richly deserve.

That’s pro forma for Trump, a bunch of shit wrapped in shiny gold foil, but if there’s one thing the Religious Reich is good at, it’s reading into things, deciding “ooh, he meant ____” and then applying pressure for whatever filled the blank.

Trump seemingly, but vaguely, endorsed Christian-nation activists’ goal of returning official prayer and religious instruction into the nation’s schools, saying schools “should not be a place that drive out faith and religion, but that should welcome faith and religion with wide-open beautiful arms.”

Oh goody, shades of Bush Jr with his faith based initiatives and abstinence only crap. This promises to be worse.

Trump also endorsed Religious Right fearmongering about the religious freedom of conservative Christians being under attack in America, saying “It is time to put a stop to the attacks on religion.” He promised, “As long as I’m president, no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith or preaching what is in your heart.”

I am beyond sick to death of this shit. No one stops anyone from practicing your faith (as long as you’re christian, or profess to be) or standing on a street corner screaming yourself hoarse. I don’t care what religion you might be, however, I appreciate it if you keep it in your pocket. I can handle my own affairs, thanks. You aren’t being fucking crucified if someone isn’t interested in your brand of psychopathic salvation, and you aren’t being oppressed if there are people who believe differently from yourself. It’s a free market – a marketplace of ideas, yeah? If people find what you’re selling to be nasty, stale, cruel, and stupid, time to change your product, not insist that everyone else get shut down, so shut the fuck up already.

And in a line recycled from his speech at Liberty University last month, Trump said, “In America we don’t worship government, we worship God.”

And, I repeat, In America, we don’t all worship “god”.  Sure as shit, theists certainly don’t all worship the same “god”. Christians don’t worship the same fucking “god”, for fuck’s sake. First, catch your god. Then define it.

Trump trashed Democrats as “obstructionists” and urged the activists to give him bigger Republican majorities in the House and Senate in the 2018 elections.

There’s something which needs to be fought, tooth and nail.

Reed had kicked off the luncheon by bragging about conservative electoral victories since his coalition was formed in 2010, and mocking mainstream media predictions about the Religious Right’s demise. Among the speakers who preceded Trump were Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Senator Ted Cruz.

Paxton bragged about how many times Texas had sued the federal government during his tenure. Among the cases he cited was a challenge to federal Department of Education rules on transgender students’ access to bathrooms; he said the state’s legal challenge to the Obama administration rules had delayed their implementation until the Trump administration dropped them. Paxton said that if Hillary Clinton had been elected and was able to name a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Antonin Scalia, “we were likely going to be in a post-constitutional America.” That didn’t happen, he said, thanks to the prayers and political work of Christian conservatives, “Praise God.”

We all know that prayer is utterly useless, but the Religious Reich will work harder than ever on the political front, and that has to be met with an overwhelming wall of resistance. I know I’m feeling burnt out, burnt crispy, but we cannot afford to stop, we cannot afford to stop countering this evil everywhere.

…Perdue praised Trump for doing what he said he’d do on the Supreme Court, regulation, and immigration and praised his trip to the Middle East. “Look, this president is nobody’s choir boy, right?” said Perdue to chuckles from the audience, “But he is a man of action.”

“No choir boy.” They know exactly what the Tiny Tyrant is, and they are perfectly okay with that, because he’s the instrument by which they think they can bring about the Theocalypse™. This is their one chance to see that hatred and evil win. This is a fight we cannot afford to lose.

Full story at RWW.

“She’ll Cut Your Pee-Pee Off.”

Red Gate Arts.

Wayne Allyn Root is at it again, this time with a dire warning about liberal cat lovers. Well, liberal cat lovers who happen to be women. I guess the liberal cat lovers who are men are okay. Wayne seems to think that liberal cat ladies are all penis whackers. Hackers? Slicers? Dicers? Something.

Root was ranting about a federal contractor who was arrested for allegedly leaking classified information to a news outlet when he went off on a tangent about how liberal women who own cats are all insane.

Hmmm. So, if I say all 55+ white men who have radio programs are insane, that would be okay? Cool.

“Find me a woman who is a feminist and a liberal and likes cats and I will find you someone who ought to be in an insane asylum every single time,” Root bellowed. “Hey guys, if any of you out there are single and you ever meet a woman who admits to being a liberal and hating Trump and when you get to her house, she’s got cats, run for your life. Run, run, run. Like those ads in Britain, run and hide and tell other men to run and hide.”

I’m a feminist. I’m a liberal. I’m a woman. I have cats, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I like them. I like some of them. I’m not the cat person in the family, I’m more on the dog and rat side. Most of the time, I’m fairly sure I don’t belong in an insane asylum, but we all have our days, do we not, Wayne? I’m thinking you might benefit from a quiet time out.

“No man can ever live with a liberal woman with cats,” he continued. “She’ll cut your pee-pee off, I promise you. Liberals are mentally unstable and mentally insane. They’re unhinged.”

I’m certainly not as unhinged as you are, you inflamed asspimple. I’ve lived with my partner for 40 years, and his penis remains intact. I know, amazing, ennit? Personally, I think anyone who goes on a radio show, no matter how little, and starts ranting about women cutting “pee-pees” off is somewhere in the lunatic fringe region. By the way, Wayne, the word is penis. It’s okay, you can use it.

Via RWW.

“Praying about the absurd, vitriolic energy…savaging Donald Trump.”

Praying Hands (Betende Hände) by Albrecht Dürer.

Lance Wallnau is at it again, and I think the kindest thing one could say is that he is very confused. That’s the charitable interpretation, I have no doubt the reality is of a more sinister nature, given Wallnau’s dedication to obscurantism. This time around, he is touting the power of prayer, one of the most useless activities ever dreamed up.

“Prayer is working but I don’t think we often see the connection between our prayers and what’s happening,” Wallnau declared, marveling that he had just been at an intercessory prayer gathering in Georgia and now there has been “a breakthrough regarding our prayers in [the] exposing of the deep state” directly related to Georgia.

No, prayer doesn’t work. This is known as wishful thinking, and as we’ll see, this particular instance has the distinct odor of desperation about it. Sweaty, hanging on by the fingernails desperation.

Wallnau was referring to the arrest of Reality Leigh Winner:

“We were praying for the deep state to start to get exposed,” Wallnau said, “and indeed, in the state of Georgia, I’m so pleased to see where the first deep state arrest is happening.”

Confusion would be the kind explanation. It’s hard to say exactly how they view this situation, but the reality of it is very far away from this particular, er, viewpoint.

Wallnau said that they were also “praying about the absurd, vitriolic energy … with which the left has been savaging Donald Trump” and, as a result, Trump critics like Griffin and Maher now find themselves at the center of controversy.

Those “controversies” are pretty much yesterday’s news. Apologies were issued, one a notpology, and the other sincere. That said, Maher was not being disparaged over a criticism of the Tiny Tyrant, he said something extremely bigoted and offensive, had to do with People of Colour. Maher is always shoving his ass in his mouth over something, and he will most likely never cross a line that HBO won’t forgive. As for Griffin, in a thread elsewhere, I said that what irked me so was that she gave the Tiny Tyrant a sympathy card to play. That’s not helping. Anyroad, I don’t see how this could be the answer to a prayer. It’s not as if El Shaddai got off his arse and pinpointed tornadoes with unaccustomed accuracy at every single person on the planet who is engaged in daily criticism of the TCO (Trump Criminal Organization). Something like that would have been impressive. A couple of comedians who are known for crossing lines being smacked a bit? Sorry, but that’s pathetic.

“My contention is that when there is such sustained disrespect for authority,” he said, “especially authority that we are of the opinion that God has anointed, God has blessed, when you have that kind of obnoxiousness going on, you simply want to pray and say, ‘Lord, do something’ and I believe God has … I see that as a silencing of the left in these critics.”

Oh, if only that “god” of yours would do something about obnoxiousness, you’d have to say bye bye, wouldn’t you, Lance? Hell, he won’t even arrange for you to have a show on HBO, basic cable, or network television. Nope. Pray harder. Pray so much you don’t have time to get up off your knees. Pray so much you won’t have time to run your mouth.

“I believe this is really, in a strange way, an answer to prayer,” Wallnau said.

Oh, it’s strange alright, just not the way you believe.

Via RWW.

A list of 100 things liberals hate about America.

I mentioned this list of stupid by Michael Snyder the other day, and it does leave people with an itch to respond thoroughly, so, the big list of stupid. Feel free to expand or leave your own answers or peeves about any or all of it. As noted previously, the list is obviously, desperately padded, because Michael really couldn’t think of much more than 5 things, but “A list of 5 things liberals hate about America” isn’t terribly catchy. A good portion of this is going below the fold, because this is going to get long. Very long.

1.  The U.S. Constitution

I don’t hate the constitution. I don’t worship the damn thing, either. I do think it is superannuated, and in dire need of rewriting. A good deal of it was written with the interests of the ruling classes and slave owners in mind, and that shit needs to go. The nonsense about militias needs to go, as well, as it was to protect slave owners.

2. Liberty

Uh … I’m fine with liberty. No problem at all.

3. Freedom

Yeah, you know, don’t you, that liberty and freedom mean the same thing? Maybe I was wrong about that ‘five things’ business.

4. Success

No problem here, I court the fickle lady of success. I don’t want success at any cost, however, and my personal principles and ethics keep me on track. Sometimes, that’s a shame, because in so many cases, it would be so eeeeaaasy to take advantage of gullible right wingers.

5. Big Trucks

What are we talking here? Semis? They’re needed for transport, and while I wish there were better methods of transport, eh, not something I get all frothy about. Now, if we’re talking monster trucks and SUVs, yeah, I have a problem with them, as in most of them are not fucking needed by the jackasses driving them, they pollute and increase dependence on fossil fuels. Smart cars and bicycles for everyone!

6. Capitalism

I don’t like capitalism gone amok, like it has here in uStates. Most everything is more important than money. Don’t get me wrong, I like money, I keep chasing it, trying to convince I would give it a very good home. That said, the pursuit of money to the exclusion of all else is a formula for a rotting society, and that’s what we are seeing right now.

7. Free Markets

Oh, aarrggh, blecch. People who parrot ‘free market’ generally don’t have the slightest fucking idea of what they are talking about, witness all the witless libertarians tossing this about as if they were erudite. Tell you what, Michael, when you can prove, to my satisfaction, that you understand what free market means in the wider context of economics, we can talk.

8. Wealthy People

Okay, you almost have something here. I don’t hate any of them, but I’ll cop to despising and loathing. Filthy rich people tend to be plain filthy, in respect to ethics or principles. They freely indulge in their hatred of the masses, and they will fuck any and all over in the name of another thin dime to add to their pockets. Yes, there is the occasional filthy rich person who manages to hang onto things like sense and empathy, but they are a rare breed. Filthy rich people tend to all come to one end: their money leads them to an addiction to power.

9. Economic Prosperity

Oh, FFS, how many of these are we going to have? I’m pretty sure most people, including myself, enjoy economic prosperity. That said, you don’t get that when you’re busy funneling all available monies into the pockets of filthy rich people and corporations.

10. The Rule of Law

Oh, do I sense a lover of technicality here? Laws are fine. Well, most of them. Many of them are in dire need of revisiting and rewriting. Laws might be important, but justice is more important, every time.

[Read more…]

Facebook, Oh Facebook XVII.

Clay Higgins. © Facebook.

We open with republican congressman Clay Higgins, who seems to be a tad fuckin’ bloodlusty.

In a Facebook post, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), a viral YouTube star who was elected to Congress last November, argued that Christendom “is at war with Islamic horror.”

“Their intended entry to the American homeland should be summarily denied. Every conceivable measure should be engaged to hunt them down,” Higgins wrote. “Hunt them, identity them, and kill them. Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all.”

Oh, but it’s ever so bad that some of those people you so demonize feel exactly the same way, right? That makes them evil, but being an indiscriminate bloodthirsty killer is okey dokey if you’re white and at least nominally christian. Got it. Don’t go speaking like you represent America, either, because you sure as hell don’t represent me.

“Not one penny of American treasure should be granted to any nation who harbors these heathen animals. Not a single radicalized Islamic suspect should be granted any measure of quarter,” Higgins said in the post.

Oh stuff it, you obnoxious blowhard. This isn’t pirate land, and no one is after your “treasure”. What other nations do isn’t any of your business, Clay. Many of them are setting a fine example of how to be an excellent nation, and how to focus on integration, love, and empathy, rather than how to be a self righteous psychopath. Every single person who elected this fucking idiot? You should be godsdamned ashamed of yourselves.

Via The Hill.

Then there’s Harvard students…

Harvard College rescinded admissions offers to at least ten prospective members of the Class of 2021 after the students traded sexually explicit memes and messages that sometimes targeted minority groups in a private Facebook group chat.

A handful of admitted students formed the messaging group—titled, at one point, “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens”—on Facebook in late December, according to two incoming freshmen.

In the group, students sent each other memes and other images mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, and the deaths of children, according to screenshots of the chat obtained by The Crimson. Some of the messages joked that abusing children was sexually arousing, while others had punchlines directed at specific ethnic or racial groups. One called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child “piñata time.”

After discovering the existence and contents of the chat, Harvard administrators revoked admissions offers to at least ten participants in mid-April, according to several members of the group.

The Harvard Crimson has the full story.

Sunday Facepalm.

Okay, this is going to be something of a roundup, because there is a whole lot of facepalm to be had on this fine Sunday. We start with that Prince of Purple Prose, Lance Wallnau, who simply gets goofier and more absurd as he attempts to find good things about the Tiny Tyrant. His latest took place on a Christian Cruise of Nuttery.

“That same unpredictable, erratic Twitter twitch that he has is in the hand of the Lord,” Wallnau said, asserting that Trump’s tweets about China forced Chinese president Xi Jinping to come to America “to try to just get a handle on him because he’s tweeting these crazy tweets.”

That meeting was fortuitous, he explained, because it happened just as Trump ordered airstrikes on Syria for its use of chemical weapons against civilians.

Wallnau said that “it was the hand of the Lord” that Trump bombed Syria while President Xi was visiting because that move showed China that it must take steps to rein in North Korea.

On top of that, Wallnau celebrated Trump’s ignorance about world events, saying that he doesn’t have to understand these sorts of issues because “when you are anointed, you can get away with a lot of things.”

Where to start? I suppose ‘unpredictable, erratic Twitter twitch’ suits Jehovah well enough; it is a bundle of psychopathy, whims, and tantrums. I rather doubt the Tiny Tyrant’s Twitter Twitch has forced anyone to do anything. Meetings with global leaders is standard protocol anytime there’s a new president Fucking Idiot in the white house. The supposed reason for the Syria bombing was Ivana Jr’s upset over those poor babies. I expect it was more in the line of “I can use my toys! Look what I can do!”

I have described the current regime in terms of Nineteen Eighty-Four more times than I can count, and now I don’t think that’s quite enough. Yes, people can get away with a lot of shit here in Amerikkka if they have enough money, are white, and in particular, in politics. We have an outdated constitution, which is closer to dogma than policy, and a highly broken, fucked up political system. It’s not being anointed. Although, I wouldn’t be averse to oil being dropped all over Donny, followed by a ton of glitter. I’m evil like that.

Via RWW.

Yesterday, Religious Right pundit Michael Snyder unveiled “a list of 100 things liberals hate about America,” warning that if liberals get their way, “the country that you and I love so much today will be gone forever.”

The list of things liberals hate about America includes big trucks, big cheeseburgers, Jesus, Israel and Dolly Parton.

Oh, Sweet Zombie Jesus, this post would be a mile long if I tackled each item on the list. I will note that Jesus comes in at #29, well below both Trump and Pence. Pretty sure that qualifies as some kinda sin. If you’d prefer to stay away from Charisma News, and who could blame you, RWW has the full list. And for the record, I like Johnny Cash. Just sayin’.

And then there’s trumPence, trying to sound all veeply, opining over why climate change became an issue at all:

Pence hailed Trump for demonstrating “leadership” by pulling out of the international accords and standing “without apology for the American people.”

He added that he was perplexed as to why people, particularly liberals, even care about climate change: “For some reason or another, this issue of climate change has emerged as a paramount issue for the left in this country and around the world.”

I can answer your bafflement, sir – we don’t want to fucking die, and we don’t want to live in utter hellholes, tortured in every way, before we fucking die. Not so sure if I mind if you drop dead and spare us the oxygen.

Via RWW.

And last, we have that sterling moron, Wayne Allyn Root, who, after boasting about his abilities to beat the shit out of a liberal, went on to whine about how mean young people are, especially on Twitter. After that, he went on a rant about race. I’ll let you good folks click over and read that part, I haven’t had enough tea or functioning server for that one yet.

Despite his tough talk, Root spent a good portion of his radio program yesterday complaining that vulgar liberals were being mean to him on Twitter, at one point saying that calling him “old” is no different than calling a black person the N-word.

Root said that he has been the target of “the most disgusting, low down, revolting profanity-laced, filthy, wash your mouth out with soap gutter language you ever heard from liberals” on Twitter. He was particularly upset by the fact that “every single young liberal in the world, every single one of them [was] calling me ‘old man,’” despite the fact that he is only 55 years old.

“There’s no difference in when you call someone ‘old’ versus when you call someone the N-word,” Root said. “There’s no difference. It’s a lack of respect. It’s filthy. It’s disgusting.”

Root said he was shocked by the racism of the “millions and millions of Hillary voters, Bernie voters, Obama voters, liberals in general, young liberals who think anyone over the age of 30 should be called an old effin’ white man.”

“Every young liberal in this country, from what I’ve seen answering me, needs a bar of soap to wash their filthy little mouths out and maybe a mother with some class who would have taught them something about how you speak to somebody,” he stated.

I’m 59 years old, looking at 60 in November. Yeah, I’m old. So what? I know when I moan about old people, in particular, old white men, it’s not their age as much as that their brains atrophied about 50 years previously. As an old hippie, I well remember don’t trust anyone over 30. We had that on stickers, man. Nothing new under the sun, and at 55 years old, Root should at least be aware of hippies and the counterculture. It’s not an insult to be called old. Lots of places, societies have a great deal of respect for their elders. I suggest if you’re getting such flak, it’s because your tiny pea brain is indeed atrophied, and there’s that whole fucking idiot business. You really need to climb down off that cross, Mr. Root, it’s very flimsy and about to collapse.

RWW has the full story.

The War On Autonomy.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer.

It seems I never come to the end of people who weakly defend the Tiny Tyrant because Pence. “He would be worse!” I am very tired of hearing that. No, he would not be worse. We’ve had theocrats in office before, remember George faith-based initiatives and abstinence only Bush Jr.? He was a born-again christian theocrat. So yes, Pence would be a theocrat, and while Trump cannot be accurately described as such, he’s acting as  theocrat, so what fucking difference does that make? None. At least Pence would be less likely to let the nukes fly. Although, that said, Pence is up to his pasty neck in the Russia business, too.

Women have been repeatedly targeted in the Fuck You Care Plan, and Trump is happily enabling the ‘moral objection’ shit, along with making some very dangerous moves in regard to abortion. Trump also didn’t waste anytime in removing guidelines and protection for transgender people, including children, and wiped out many protections in place for all LGBT peoples. Trump is more than happy to give the Religious Reich whatever they want, and in return, they will do whatever they think is necessary to keep his abundant arse in power.

The Trump administration is poised to roll back access to birth control by severely weakening Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate —  and, at the same time, dangerously weakening the distinction between “religious” objections and “moral” objections to reproductive health care.

During the Obama years, the birth control wars largely focused on the tension between people seeking contraceptive coverage and religious employers who object to birth control in some form or another. Both Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Zubik v. Burwell, the two contraception cases heard by the Supreme Court in the last several years, involved employers who objected to providing birth control coverage on religious grounds.

Yet a handful of hardliners — the March for Life, the Alliance Defending Freedom, Justice Samuel Alito — have tried to blur the line between religious objectors and moral objectors. While cases like Hobby Lobby and Zubik involved claims that people with religious objections to the law often have the right not to follow it, the hardliners would extend this right of defiance to people who raise moral objections not rooted in religious belief.

That’s a major shift that would seriously undermine the efficacy of the law as a whole. And, in a document leaked to Vox’s Dylan Scott and Sarah Kliff, the Trump administration appears to embrace this shift. Under the rule described in this document, employers who do not want to provide birth control coverage to their employees will be permitted to do so so long as they claim that doing so would violate their “moral convictions.”

Think Progress has the full, in-depth story.

On May 31, 2009, Scott Roeder killed Dr. George Tiller, a late-term abortion provider, in Wichita, Kansas. By all accounts, Roeder waited in the pews of Tiller’s church, and then following service, he walked into the church foyer and shot him directly in the forehead. Roeder, who was staunchly anti-abortion, committed murder because of Tiller’s national prominence as an abortion provider. Now, eight years later, the country is recreating and expanding the same environment of extremist views that allowed for Tiller’s murder.

Since Trump came into office, his administration and the Republican-majority Congress have been on a mission to impede the rights of people — especially women, girls, and their providers — from accessing constitutionally protected health care services. Earlier this month, the House passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017 which Trump vehemently supported. The AHCA disproportionately targets women: domestic abuse, rape, pregnancy, C-section, and maternity care can all be considered preexisting conditions. Less than two weeks later, Trump expanded the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule (GGR), a death wish for women around the world seeking abortion services. The GGR, newly named “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance,” says that foreign aid can go only to organizations abroad that “neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.” The rule could affect up to $9 billion in funding that is also used to combat health concerns like HIV/AIDS, Zika, and more.

Trump, an accused sexual assault perpetrator, has always promoted violence and hatred against women, including being able to access safe and legal abortions without criminal prosecution. During his candidacy, Trump said that women who seek abortions should be subject to “some form of punishment” if the procedure was banned in the United States. Trump eventually changed his mind (his fourth position on abortion in just three days) and claimed that only “the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman.” Nonetheless, this position still leaves abortion providers on the hook for performing a medical procedure that should be decided on by only a doctor and their patient. This kind of rhetoric would only embolden people like Roeder.

Allowing extreme policies against reproductive rights will increase the numbers of unintended pregnancies, which will increase the number of unsafe abortions. If pregnant peoples’ rights to immediate services are curtailed, this will undoubtedly cause a delay in options. As a delay continues, so does the potential for an unwanted pregnancy which could cause seeking a late-term abortion — the same abortions performed by the late Tiller. That, in turn, allows people — who are like Roeder — to effectuate their extremist views on those seeking healthcare services, including but not limited to abortion and family planning options.

Think Progress has the full, in-depth story.

Today marks the beginning of Pride Month. The Regime, however, is not celebrating. They aren’t even mentioning it, no. Instead, it’s all about:

Yep. You can read all about it here.

Sunday Facepalm.

ccckenya.com

Wayne Allyn Root is at it again, metaphorical saliva foaming over. Oh, those awful fellow conservatives, they are lazy, cheap, wussie country clubbers! They aren’t properly motivated programmed, so it’s time to call in the pros, those who will attack , and have experience in killing people. That will fix everything right up, because otherwise, he seems to think his life, and that of other batshit conservative christians, will be erased. I think Mr. Root has been watching bad movies.

Outraged that WorldNetDaily had its Twitter account temporarily suspended for its incessant promotion of the debunked Seth Rich conspiracy theory, Root fumed that conservatives “are all wussies and they don’t understand that we have to fight back so viciously and we have to boycott every liberal company in this country.”

Any company that advertises on MSNBC or CNN or in the New York Times, Washington Post or on any liberal website must be universally boycotted by every Trump voter in America, Root said, “before we are taken off the airwaves and our lives are erased.”

I can’t imagine anyone having the time, resources, and energy to “erase” lives such as yours, Mr. Root. Reality is not a bad movie. As for the rest of your plan, while there are too many Trumpholes, as in one is too many, they are actually a very small percentage of the population, and don’t have the power to make a boycott effective.

Reading from a letter he received from a friend, Root claimed that progressive organizations like Right Wing Watch, Media Matters, and the Center for American Progress have massive offices all over the country filled with staff who do nothing but send emails, letters and make phone calls “to sponsors and newspapers and cable and TV networks all over this country and all over this world to try to destroy the right.” Conservatives don’t have a similar operation, Root fumed, because they are “lazy, cheap, wussy, country club, RINO a-holes.”

Oooh, a letter from a friend. What an authoritative source. Nothing like advertising your gullibility. I imagine if these massive offices existed, there would be quite the buzz, because jobs. It’s true that lefties tend to pay attention, and get involved in a lot of grassroots action, sign petitions and all that, but that’s a far cry from this odd conspiracy you have cooked up. Most of us have to get on with the daily business of living, working every day, taking care of families, all that. Not much time leftover to be a paper assassin.

“We need to hire an attack dog,” Root declared. “We need to hire former CIA or NSA or FBI or Navy Seals that have been involved in counter-insurgency operations all over the world, that have killed people, that understand how to fight; that don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, that bring a gun to a gunfight, preferably a shoulder-fired missile to a gunfight, preferably a nuclear weapon to a gunfight!”

We? Who the hell is We? A slight hint here, Mr. Root – people such as you’re describing might not appreciate being called an attack dog. A nuclear weapon to a gunfight. Yeah, there’s that good ol’ christian conservative spirit: obliterate the fuckers, all of them! I can’t say I’d mind if you dropped dead, Mr. Root, because you’re a dangerous zealot, who thinks unleashing nuclear weapons would be a good idea. It would probably be a good thing if you figured out that if nukes fly, you’re dead, too. Jesus Fuck, what is wrong with you people?

“It is time to go after the left as viciously as they go after us,” Root proclaimed. “These people are mentally insane … and I will tell you right now, they would burn books if they could.”

“They would love to burn the Bible, because we all know they hate God,” he added. “And you know they hate the country.”

Let’s take a look. According to you, the left are viciously engaged in letter writing and phone calling. So, you think killers, guns, and nuclear weapons are an appropriate response. And that’s supposed to be mentally sane? Now, as for this: “they would burn books if they could”, um, what is it that you think is preventing people from burning books, if that’s what they want to do? I haven’t burned a bible, but I’ve shredded a couple. *shrug* Nothing happened, no one cares.

I don’t hate “god” because gods don’t exist. I don’t hate the country, either, but I certainly don’t like many of its inhabitants.

Via RWW.

A More Violent Christianity.

Jean Colombe, Detail of a medieval miniature of the Siege of Antioch from Sébastien Mamerot’s Les Passages d’Outremer.

Coach Dave (Daubenmire) is on a tear again, this time over the woeful lack of aggressive violence in today’s Christianity. More violence! More aggression! More manly men being assholes! Yeah, that’s the ticket! I will say that Coach Dave gets a point for honesty.

“The only thing that is going to save Western civilization is a more aggressive, a more violent Christianity,” he said.

A good part of the planet is still soaking in the blood spilt by Christians throughout the ages, who could never seem to get enough war, torture, and various kinds of killing. Given a warped enough view, one could see that as ‘saving’, I suppose.

Playing a clip of Trump shoving aside the prime minister of Montenegro at a recent NATO summit so that he could stand in front of the group of assembled leaders, Daubenmire heaped praise on Trump for showing that “he is large and in charge.”

“Look at him,” Daubenmire screamed gleefully while watching the clip. “They’re all little puppies, ain’t nobody barking at him … He’s walking in authority. He walked to the front and center and they all know it, too, man. He just spanked them all.”

Trump’s behavior is an example for the church, Daubenmire said. “The Lord is showing us a picture of the authority we should be walking in.”

Oh. So that’s what Coach Dave means, that men should wallow in being toxic assholes. I’m rather amazed he hasn’t noticed just how many men already do that sort of thing. It’s a problem. Basically, this just sounds like the posturing plaint of “hey, you aren’t pussy-whipped, are you?” A moronic, faux-macho stance of fucking idiots everywhere. Allow me to translate Coach Dave: “See that? Trump isn’t pussy-whipped, he’s a pussy grabber!” Yeah, grate™.

Daubenmire then cited Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte’s assault on a reporter the day before he won a special election in Montana as another example for the church.

“People are sick and tired of it,” he said. “They’re saying, ‘Yes, a fighter! Go, dude, go!’ … Who won? The dude that took the other dude to the ground.”

Well, no, dude, that’s not what happened. Most of the votes were already in when Gianforte assaulted the reporter, a crime he was charged with, by the way, because he was guilty. That’s not something to celebrate, and you certainly should not twist facts to make it seem like voters approved of his crime. I’m sure some of them did, but I’d be willing to bet most did not. No one wants to stand in front of someone who has so little self control. This person is sick and tired of all the toxic assholes running around, using dude dude dude in a sentence because their minds and vocabularies are so damn impoverished.

“That should be the heart cry of Christian men,” Daubenmire said. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of God has suffered violence and violent men take it by force.”

At least he got something right. Yes, Christianity has always been a horrible snarl of blood-soaked violence, brimming over with violent men who believe in taking everything and everyone by force. Seems to me it’s past time for that sort of shit to be over.

Via RWW.

Minnesota: “I have an eternal perspective…”

Screengrab.

Meet Minnesota Rep. Abigail Whelan, a nasty bit of work from every reality-based perspective. Ms. Whelan is a truly fine example of an asshole Christian, filled to the brim with sanctimonious hate. She hates women, and demonstrates that with anti-choice legislation. She hates transgender people, demonstrating that with anti-transgender legislation. And so on. She is, however, very pro-money, and making sure that people have a nice way to tuck all that lovely money away. She recently voted against an amendment to close loopholes for offshore tax havens. Goodness knows, hypocritical corruption must be protected, and well, why talk about that when we can talk about an eternal perspective and joy in Jesus?

Minnesota Rep. Abigail Whelan, a second-term House legislator from suburban Ramsey, was responding to a question from Democratic Rep. Paul Thissen early Wednesday morning about whether she thinks “benefiting people who are hiding money in Liberia is worth raising taxes on your own constituents.”

Whelan ignored the question and instead sounded off about her religion.

“It might be because it’s late and I’m really tired, but I’m going to take this opportunity to share with the body something I have been grappling with over the past several months, and that is, the games that we play here,” she began, leaving the tax haven discussion in the dust. “I just want you to know, Representative Thissen and the [Democratic] caucus — I forgive you, it is okay, because I have an eternal perspective about this.”

She forgives them? For what, having the spine to question the hypocritical corruption she supports? This is a very good example of just why Christians should be barred from holding office, they constantly use their particular religious belief as both a distraction and a cudgel to beat other people with, all the while indulging in the worst sort of behaviour.

Whelan went on to make a case that happiness is not to be found in good public policy, but rather in the eternal love of Jesus.

Aaaaand there it is, that high and mighty Christian “Fuck you, oh, by the way, have you heard about Jesus Juice? It will fix everything!”

“I have an eternal perspective and I want to share that with you and the people listening at home that at the end of the day, when we try to reach an agreement with divided government we win some, we lose some, nobody is really happy, but you know what, happiness and circumstances — not what it’s about,” she continued. “There is actual joy to be found in Jesus Christ, Jesus loves you all. If you would like to get to know him, you’re listening at home, here in this room, please email, call me, would love to talk to you about Jesus, he is the hope of this state and this country.”

I’d like to know why you can’t shut the fuck up about your idiotic mythos, and why you support loopholes in tax havens for filthy rich assholes fucking everyone over. Can you imagine a representative of a different religion popping off like this? There would be howls of outrage, calls for them to resign, and all manner of puffed up pissiness about them “shoving their religion down our throats.” Have that one all pictured? Good. Now, close your eyes, and imagine the impossible: an atheist representative deciding to lecture people on the improbability of gods, rather than loopholed tax havens. Yeah.

Asshole Christians, one of the most obnoxious of specimens, allowed to get away with anything and everything.

Even though she didn’t address the issue when Thissen posed the question to her, Whelan did take a stance on it. She later voted against the amendment to close offshore tax loopholes. Not a single Republican voted for it, and the amendment was defeated in a party-line vote.

You can read more about Ms. Whelan’s abominable track record, and watch a video of the Jesus Juice speech at Think Progress.

Sunday Facepalm.

Uh Oh, it’s the Apocalypse. Again. I’ll confess, I didn’t watch the video, but I love that capture of Bakker holding up a piece of paper, with ‘Words’ written on it. There are definite echoes of A High-Tech Lynching! A Crucifixion! A Tsunami! An Earthquake! The Gates of Hell! in Bakker’s latest apocalyptic admonition.

Jim Bakker repeated his claims that criticism of Donald Trump is inciting violence and bringing about the Apocalypse and End Times, and asserted that conservative media pundits are being targeted for persecution.

Oh, the brutal bugbear of modern times – criticism! Criticism, no matter how mild, constructive, or politely couched, now considered the equivalent of purges, witch hunts, and lynchings in certain quarters, and it is beyond absurd. While criticism can certainly sting, it’s not life threatening, and it’s not a terroristic act, either. Regimes are noted for their hatred and fear of dissent and criticism though, and this does get confirmed, time and time again.

Bakker pointed to attacks on Trump as proof that “the Apocalypse has already began” and “the spirit of Antichrist” is growing in America.

“They want to kill our president, President Trump, with words,” he said. “They want to assassinate his person.”

Honestly, no one needs to go to the trouble of doing so. The Tiny Tyrant does a great job of assassinating his own character, such as it is.

Critical words about Trump, according to Bakker, are the fulfillment of biblical prophecy about the First Horseman of the Apocalypse.

He pointed to the cancellation of a Tim Allen sitcom as further proof that conservatives are under attack.

Uh…okay. The first horse, the white one, is the one which is most disputed, and interpreted rather widely. Could be Conquest, Christ, The Antichrist, Pestilence, Evil, or Empire Prosperity. Now, apparently, the rider of the white horse is Criticism! Oh woe is us and all that shit. As for Tim Allen, what? And more to the point, who fucking cares? I’d assume a sitcom being cancelled was due to the fact it wasn’t bringing in eyeballs. Or money. Most likely due to not being funny.

Bakker claimed that “the devil is trying to cut out the voice of the church” and that “they’re eliminating anyone that is pro-Trump from every broadcast; soon, very soon, the only conservatives will be on Christian television and then we’re the next target—write it down!”

Seems to me you can’t get rid of pro-Trump people in all sorts of broadcast; they’re worse than lice. If you want to claim that conservatives are being herded toward the last bastion of Christian television, you’re going to have to do some work first: Get rid of Fox news would be number one on the list. Then, scrub the internet clean. This is your mission, if you wish to be perceived as persecuted and oppressed. Good luck. This tape will self destruct in 5 seconds.

“They hate Trump,” he said. “What is this? This is not a normal spirit. This is not a normal hate. This is that spirit of the First Horse of the Apocalypse, which is riding now. It’s the spirit of hatred that’s taking over America and life and death is in the power of the tongue.”

Oh, you Christians are the specialists in hate. Most of the rest of us can’t be bothered to expend that sort of energy. I don’t hate the Tiny Tyrant. I don’t know him well enough for that. I find him disgusting, disturbingly narcissistic, incompetent to the nth degree, and remarkably devoid of skill and talent, yes. I definitely want the Volatile Clown kicked out of the political circus. After that, I don’t care what he does, just like I didn’t care before.  As for a spirit of hatred, mmm, with hateful bigots, neoNazis, and fascists all pouring out of the woodwork in support of their wannabe dictator, that’s a fair enough statement. You’re just misplacing the source of the hate.

As for power of the tongue, yes, words are indeed powerful. That would be why you should actually be more focused on not spreading hatred; and why you should pay attention when those words turn critical.

Via RWW, the video is there.

A High-Tech Lynching! A Crucifixion! A Tsunami! An Earthquake! The Gates of Hell!

It’s customary for the Religious Reich and Uber-Conservatives to employ purple hyperbole, but Wayne Allen Root takes this habit to a whole new level. To say his latest screed is hyperbole overkill is something of an understatement. I’m rather surprised he omitted witch hunt and purge. Well, perhaps he felt the lynching and crucifixion were enough to get on with, along with the triune of Trump, William Wallace, and Jesus Christ. There’s a trinity for you.

Root says that Trump, like William Wallace and Jesus Christ, is a champion of the people and is now “facing one of the most intense, over-the-top, attacks ever seen in world history,” orchestrated by the “deep state,” the media, and “disgusting, disgraced people” like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“They have to stop him at all costs,” Root said. “Not just stop him, destroy him. Lynch him. Crucify him. They need to send a clear message, so no one ever tries to educate, enlighten, or empower the people ever again. That’s why the gates of hell have been opened on President Trump. That’s why Trump is facing a tsunami, earthquake, tornado, hailstorm all in one.”

Okay, perhaps I’m simply easy to amuse, but I got a good laugh out of the notion that Trump, in any way, educates, enlightens, or empowers anyone. (Empowering himself and family, yes. Everyone and everything else? No.) As for the weather hyperbole, if we don’t get busy on the whole climate change is coming to get you, Barbara, that might happen to lots of us.

“They need to kill Trump,” he said, “whether it be character assassination or the real thing, aka murder.”

“Never in all my years in politics have I ever [seen?] anything like the way the gates of hell have been unleashed on Donald Trump,” Root said. “This isn’t just an old-fashioned attack, it isn’t random. This is a coordinated conspiracy to destroy Trump. This is a high-tech lynching. This is a crucifixion!”

How does one go about a high-tech lynching? Is that the same as a cyber-lynching, or just better tools? It never ceases to amaze just how much privileged white people love to invoke the very real terror of lynching, as if it were remotely applicable to themselves.

“And that’s why we must all support President Trump,” Root warned. “If we don’t back Trump now, if you don’t back Trump now, it’s all lost forever. It’s time to fight like a cornered wolverine. It’s time to fight like it’s the end of America, because it is. We can’t go back in time and save Sir William Wallace. We can’t go back and save Jesus Christ from being nailed to that cross. But we can change the future course of history today. There is still time to stand with Donald Trump against the forces of evil.”

I’m pretty sure you don’t want to go back in time to save your buddy Jesus. If you did that, you wouldn’t have your seriously twisted religion, would you? Well, actually, I’d be fine with that, make it so, okay? And stop besmirching the reputation of Wallace with your awful comparisons. Trump is no William Wallace. George, maybe. Anyone else getting the “I just found out about Wallace, I must use it!” vibe in this rant?

Via RWW.

Satanists. Again.

Curtis Ellis, screengrab.

The Tiny Tyrant is more than a little too fond of Curtis Ellis, a former writer for that bastion of batshit, WorldNetDaily. Ellis is now being considered to head up the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs. [Bloomberg].

“The little-known deputy undersecretary position at ILAB is considered an essential piece of the White House push to restore U.S. manufacturing jobs by cracking down on labor abuses overseas,” Penn writes. “Ellis is currently part of the Labor Department’s beachhead team and is overseeing the department’s trade policy. He has already been attending ILAB meetings and representing the bureau to foreign governments as a temporary political appointee.”

This is a serious problem for all the regular reasons, but in the case of Ellis, there’s so much more. He is convinced that multinational elites are out to run the world, installing a small, hidden, anonymous cabal of elites. All these nefarious elites, of course, are in turn run by … Lucifer! This is just so old anymore. They need a new villain.

Elite.

noun

1. (often used with a plural verb) the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons.

2. (used with a plural verb) persons of the highest class: Only the elite were there.

3. a group of persons exercising the major share of authority or influence within a larger group: the power elite of a major political party.

It’s beyond me, the constant talk of elites among the religious reich, and uber-conservatives. How do they manage to forget they have the major share of wealth and power? They are the elite, alright, the elite baddies.

Along with WorldNetDaily, Ellis also has ties to Breitbart, the outlet formerly run by Trump’s chief strategist Stephen Bannon.

In an interview last year with “Trunews” host Rick Wiles, Ellis reflected many of Bannon’s ultranationalist views and Trump’s love of Vladimir Putin, and expressed his view that a group of satanic elites is intent on gaining world domination.

Multinational elites, Ellis said, want to create “global tyranny where a small cabal of anonymous, hidden elites rule the world.”

Ellis added that this secret global cabal is a “Luciferian” and “satanic” group that elevates materialism over the spiritual world, pointing to the installation of a replica of the Arch of Baal, which was destroyed by ISIS, in New York.

“ISIS, they did destroy the archway to the temple of Baal,” Wiles said. “I guess if there’s any redeeming value to ISIS, I guess you can credit them for bringing down the Temple of Baal.”

Oh yes, Baal, the godthorn in the side of the psychopathic Yahweh. Lots of people in the bible died because they preferred Baal, God of Ekron, over Yahweh, and that bloodthirsty shit didn’t like competition, no. So not only does this idiot believe in one god of the bible, he believes in one of the other ones, too. Great.

RWW has the full story.