And then there are the Republican contestants battling each other to see who can be Most Evil.
Starting point: the Secretary of State addressed delegates to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday and
delivered what historians will one day look back upon as a monumental speech, in which she declared that the continuing oppression of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people is “one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time.”
Sexual minorities, Clinton said, “are treated with contempt and violence by their fellow citizens while authorities empowered to protect them look the other way or, too often, even join in the abuse.” She addressed the pernicious argument — common in Uganda and many other places — that homosexuality is “a Western invention,” plainly calling it a “human reality.” And she issued a challenge to a world in which more than 70 countries criminalize homosexuality: “It should never be a crime to be gay.” On the same day as Clinton’s speech, President Obama issued a directive instructing federal agencies to “ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.”
Well, the Republicans weren’t having that.
But this was too much for some of the Republican presidential contenders, most notably Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Condemning the abuse of gay people overseas, he said, constitutes “a war with people of faith in this country,” a “war on traditional American values,” he specified, that “must stop.”
I think that wins the Most Evil award, at least for today.
It “must stop” when those people of faith learn to keep their uninvited noses out of other peoples’ genitalia. Not a second before.
If Rick Perry didn’t have people to hate, what would he have? He doesn’t appear to have anything positive in his agenda. He’s proud and eager to tell everyone what he’s against but he doesn’t seem to be for anything.
I like to imagine that the harder these (R) candidates work to appeal to the base, the less appeal they’ll have in the general election. I hope I’m right. The experiences of Barry Goldwater and Geoerge McGovern may suggest this is the case.
But Gov. Perry has had some traction praying to the higher powers of weather, no? Pity he appears to be too preoccupied with other people’s privates to have bothered with the real world: http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/286170-wind-turbine-bursts-into-flames-as-hurricane-force-winds-hit-scotland/
Maybe with an even bigger platform he will be able to REALLY combat some pesky windmills. Or other pressing matters. Like counting to three.
Oh, those turbines were not directly exposed to any of his speeches, were they?
Perry is really digging himself into a big hole when he tells such obvious lies, ie. Children can’t pray in school.
Condemning abuse is a war with people of faith? Yes, that wins the “most evil” award of the day. “We enjoy abusing people, and we won’t let you stop us!”
So should I be happy he’s said this aloud and it can be used against him or angry at this promotion and encouragement oof bigotry by a public figure?
Don’t any of these people know that in future generations these sound bites of theirs will be used to show how stupid and primitive some people were in the past? (not to mention that it shows how stupid and primitive they are now….)
It’s things like this that show just how fragile and endangered progress and civilization really are. That some politicians are still eager to pander to such “values” is disgusting. There’s a new Dark Age lurking just beneath the seemingly thin veneer of reason and sanity.
@5 frankb:
Is he? In terms of the primary, I don’t think he is. What seems to matter to his base is the purity of his ideological message, rather than its adherence to facts. A judicious study of reality would probably alienate his supporters.
As another commenter said the general election is another story, but even then do you see Obama (in the very unlikely case of Perry’s nomination) saying “oh hey remember that thing you said about gays six months ago?” I don’t.
I have to agree with ewanmacdonald @ 9- They may be outright lies but he really has nothing to lose by telling them. The people who know they are lies probably wouldn’t have voted for Perry anyway. Conversely, those that would vote for him either think they are verifiable truths or don’t care so long as it feeds into whatever narrative they want to believe.
Really, if truth had any factor in this campaign we wouldn’t have most of the candidates we have in the Republican race. Every single one of the main ones so far are opportunistic liars, empty suits waiting for someone to tell them what they need to say and/ or have a pretty hostile relationship with reality in general.
This is as good a place as any to share this Brokeback Perry link. http://failbook.failblog.org/2011/12/08/funny-facebook-fails-brokeback-perry/ I love teh interwebs.
Oh noes, a gay jacket!!
The Republican Party is the party of freedom for the American people. And they can say this with straight face. Mainly because the party considers non-male, non-white, non-Christians, non-straights, non-rich, to be neither American or people.
I still have faith in the inherent greed of the Republican party. Their big money donors don’t like Obama, and they want to see him replaced. They are not going to back any pony in the primary that can’t win the general election. I suspect that when push comes to shove, the reactionaries will be pushed to the side.
Fear and Loathing in Damascus
Oh noes, a gay jacket!!
Well, ‘Tis the season…
Condemning the abuse of gay people overseas, he said, constitutes “a war with people of faith in this country,” a “war on traditional American values,” he specified, that “must stop.
Similarly, up here in Canuckistan, the Ontario government has implemented some anti-bullying measures, including the statement that public schools must support the creation of gay-straight alliance school groups/clubs. A coalition of religious groups has got together to voice their objections to this (or perhaps it would better be termed an “unholy alliance”, as it includes Catholics, fundagelicals and Jews, among others). Charles McVety claims that religious people are in fact being bullied by the government because they are being prevented from voicing their bigoted opinions in public and at school…
Old Fuse Panel Upgrades