Reason Morning Links: More Problems at ATF, a Close Reading of Michele Bachmann's Personal Theology, Why Tim Pawlenty's Fizzling, Not Sizzling

• ATF's "Operation Fast and Furious" had kin in Tampa by the name of "Operation Castaway."
• Does Rep. Michele Bachmann hate the Pope? Yes, and Sarah Posner explains why. 
• BREAKING: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was supposed to be the next big thing, but he's sort of not doing so great. 
• Evangelicals for Ron Paul.
• This is the greatest picture of Sen. John Kerry ever.  
• Ze Germans feel that the debt ceiling debate is approximate to "holding the world hostage." 
• Whitey Bulger, survivalist.  

New at Reason.tv: "Author Nancy Rommelmann on Her New Novel 'The Bad Mother' and the Myth of Hollywood"

Comments

[Montani Semper Liberi]

A US default would have catastrophic consequences, they warn.

Good thing the US won't default, then.

[sage]

No, no. You see, when the debt ceiling is hit, we automatically default. That's what the "experts" in the media, some economists, and politicians keep saying. With lots of !!!!1!1!one!!

Interestingly enough, the "market" doesn't seem worried at all. I wonder which of them will be right, what with the word "unexpectedly" coming from the experts so often.

[Trespassers W]

Seriously, what's the argument that default results if they hit the ceiling? Are these people ignorant, or lying, or am I missing something?

If default over that time horizon were at all likely, wouldn't the US already be downgraded WELL BELOW a AAA rating?

[Montani Semper Liberi]

I don't know maybe there is some truth to it. Like the time I hit my credit card limit and I came home to find all my stuff repo'ed and my house foreclosed on.

[prolefeed]

It's all based on the assumption that if the feds can't borrow money, the first thing that will stop being paid is interest on the debt. "If they can't borrow more money, then obviously they can't repay the interest on the borrowed money!"

Seriously, what idiot loans money to someone whose official repayment plan is, "we'll borrow money from someone else to repay you"?

[Bernie Madoff]

It's a workable idea.

[Charles Ponzi]

I don't see anything wrong with the idea.

[adam]

That's pretty much how it works, yes.

"If investors chose not to purchase a sufficient volume of new Treasury securities, the United States would be required to pay the principal on maturing debt, and not merely the interest, out of available cash. Yet the Treasury would be unable to make these principal payments without the continued confidence of market participants willing to buy new Treasury securities. Your proposal assumes markets would be unconcerned by our failure to pay other obligations. But if this assumption proved incorrect, then the United States would be forced to default on its debt."

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics.....ebt-limit/

[cynical]

It doesn't really matter how they define, what people are worried about it is "will people keep lending us money so we can live in manner to which we are accustomed". Which rests mainly on whether you dick over the people who have a choice about whether to give you money.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

John Kerry - Carpetbagger

[Quetzalcoatl]

They gave me a rug. I have the rug to this day. I have the rug.

[Mongo]

That Rent-an-Armed-Negro looks pretty cool.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I wonder if MSNBC will crop him from the neck down.

[Clarence Thomas]

High-tech lynching!

[Steven Spielberg]

Replace it with a Walkie-Talkie!!

[Otto]

Yeah, but an M4 and shades will help just about everyone in that department.

[Jon Schaffer`s Right Hand]

He's exercising proper trigger and muzzle discipline too! Sadly such seems to be the exception rather than the norm in photos with guns in them.

[Cunctator]

THat rug will tie the whole room together.

[Zeb]

It's a pretty good picture, but still nothing compared to the Romney "Fudge" picture.

[db]

It's a different kind of picture. He's got a bodyguard and a personal porter, fer chrissake. Maybe if he was wearing a yachting cap it would be more over the top, but this pic makes it clear that Kerry is not a normal guy. He is an elite member of an aristocracy most of us will never experience first hand. The Romney pic shows the depths politicians are willing to plumb when they're fishing for votes from the proles. The Kerry photo demonstrates the separation of social strata between regular citizens and our politicians. Both images show unpleasant sides of our political system.

[Mike Laursen]

Well, we have to give him some credit for walking, with his own feet.

[Pablo]

Im not bothered so much by Kerry's wealth and aristocracy--it is his hypocrisy that is appalling. He can have a rich wife or a 400 dollar haircut or a Thurston Howell costume and I wont give a rat's ass. But he's protected by a bodyguard using exactly the type of weapon Kerry would deny we peasants the right to own. And when he got on that plane I really doubt he had to get groped and rape-scanned by the TSA.

[Hercule Poirot]

You have the mistaken idea implanted in your head that a detective is necessarily a man who puts on a false beard and hides behind a pillar! The false beard, it is vieux jeu, and shadowing is only done by the lowest branch of my profession. The Hercule Poirots, my friend, need only to sit back in a chair and think.

[the real oo]

Go Tribe! Yanks & Sox sux

[Fist of Etiquette]

Operation Castaway? At least they're watching better movies.

[Hugh Akston]

Once you hear the details of Operation Eat, Pray, Love, you'll lose all hope for this country.

[SugarFree]

Winna, winna, chicken dinna!

[T]

I'm holding out for Operation Eat, Fuck, Kill. At least it's more honestly named...

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I think you've got your order all wrong, or not.

[Otto]

The first word is somewhat ambiguous.

[Hugh Akston]

"If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skins into their clothing. And if we're very very lucky, they'll do it in that order."

[SugarFree]

What's that from?

[cynical]

What, seriously?

[cynical]

Firefly, BTW.

[SugarFree]

Never heard of it. Was it a cartoon or something?

[prolefeed]

Firefly is an awesome TV series that ran for a portion of a year, based on a mixture of Western frontier and space travel.

It works much better than you might expect. Rent or buy the series -- best sci-fi series ever.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Successful troll is successful

[db]

Serenity.

[SugarFree]

Oh... Serenity, the Austrian metal band. Was that a quote from lyrics? I don't recognize the song.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, stop it.

One good thing about Firefly is that I can simply buy the entire series and gift it to people who are so unfortunate as to have not seen it yet. Hasn't failed once (of course, I only give it to people who like science fiction in the first place, but still).

[SugarFree]

I don't tell anyone about Firefly. I hate to share.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Croatian metal bands are where its at.

[Jon Schaffer`s Right Hand]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....burg_6.jpg

Damn, she knows how to tits!

[Clich? Bandit]

I am going to quote SugarFree in response to SugarFree:

Never heard of it. Was it a cartoon or something?

DONT FEED IT!!!

p.s. well played SF...well played.

[Pro Libertate]

Better yet, Gilligan's Island.

The Congressman who is complaining here in Tampa is Gus Bilirakis, who is my representative. Explains all the automatic weapons fire I've been hearing in the neighborhood.

[Ska]

I have to assume he's commonly referred to as the head malaka in charge.

[Pro Libertate]

He's Greek, like his father before him (a former Congressman himself). He's not a bad representative, as he's voted fairly well on economic issues. Not sure about everything else.

[Quetzalcoatl]

They should have called the past 10 years Operation Rambo III. People would have known what to expect.

[JW]

The good news is that TurboTax Timmay!'s Operation Armageddon is coming along swimmingly.

[SugarFree]

Can Feminists Go On Diets?

I don't know... can they?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Yes, but God help anyone who suggests it.

[Appalachian Australian]

A large part of the reason we're fat (including feminists) is through eating lots of government-subsidised food.

The government pays us to eat corn syrup, beef, and dairy. If anything, the patriarchy's role is in making sure we're all fat and unhealthy (whilst pretending otherwise).

Oh, and the government is busy telling households they can't grow a vegetable garden.

[the real oo]

effen exercise, how do it work?

[Au H20]

Dude, the government isn't the patriachy! The government is the means by which women are finally liberated, because it pays for shit.

See, it's totally different than when your Dad paid for all that shit, which was the patriarchy, because now, we only take from *rich* dads!!!

[Pablo]

Agree 100% on the corn syrup. Disagree on beef and dairy. People have been consuming dairy for thousands of years, and meat since the beginning of time.

Today most people get most of their calories from three sources that were totally unknown until recently--refined starches, refined sugars, and processed seed oils. Also some people eat significant amounts of soy, knowingly or not. We are just beginning to learn the havoc these substances wreak when consumed in large amounts for long periods of time.

[Clich? Bandit]

Pablo, Most humans (under 25%) lack the enzyme lactase to digest dairy after infancy/todler age. We are meant to drink mother's milk until grade school age...no longer. As an aside the 25% that do maintain lactase are of mostly northern european stock...I mean fuckin Swedes...litteraly.

[PS]

*Ahem* eating animal fat (and protein) doesn't make you fat. Eating corn syrup does, of course.

[JW]

How is doubling your intake of righteous indignation considered dieting?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Because it's all hot air.

[JW]

Tell that to Ben & Jerry's.

[Tim]

THAT'S NOT FUNNY!

[SugarFree]

Said with a spray of cake crumbs...

[Fluffy]

If weight loss is a "patriarchal bargain", does that mean "not fucking anything in a skirt" is a "matriarchal bargain"?

After all, anything I do to make myself attractive to anyone of the opposite sex is "bondage to power" - right?

[SugarFree]

Power only flows from one direction in their minds. The hilarious thing about it all: Feminists think men are far, far more powerful than they really are or ever could be, and somehow that's a "critique."

[Fluffy]

It's just so hard to take the naked hypocrisy of it all.

After all, what's the worst thing that happens if you don't diet? Assuming you don't become obese to the point that you have health issues or can't function, of course.

The worst thing that happens if you don't diet is...the most attractive men won't date you, and you have to date less attractive men instead.

So the patriarchy is oppressing these women by...stopping them from acting on their own lookism or classism or statusism or whatever.

I'm supposed to feel bad for them for this?

[SugarFree]

Ah, but you aren't really attracted to the girls you are attracted to, you are brainwashed by patriarchal culture. False consciousness again rears it's fat, ugly, mustached head..

[Brett L]

I don't know. Celebrity and wealth don't tend to diverge from beauty in the female sex as often as the male, but give me a clean run at an ugly and overweight billionairess and see how fast I turn on the charm. Just like women. Oh, wait. Did I prove the wrong point again?

[Fluffy]

But wouldn't that mean that they would similarly suffer from false consciousness?

It's just so confusing.

All I know is that if I had been at Yale at the same time as Naomi Wolf, we would probably have had many long arguments about how women are oppressed by the patriarchy's standards of beauty, and the entire time she would have been thinking (in at least a part of her mind), "This guy is way too short and scrawny for me to date."

[SugarFree]

No, because they have had The Click! Moment:

A code word for the awakening of feminist consciousness, or a moment of truth in which the need for the Women's Liberation Movement and one's own personal liberation became irrevocably clear.

Which radical feminists often describe in terms that are reminiscent of the reception of gnosis in Gnostic Christianity (My eyes were finally OPENED!) and a paranoid schizophrenic breakdown (I realized THE PATRIARCHY WAS EVERYWHERE! And I saw the intricate net of oppression all around me!).

[T]

I realize this is your hobby, but you've spent way too much time reading and thinking about this crap. My one semester of Women & Politics was enough to send me screaming into the night forever more. Apparently my limit for Marxist-Feminist critiques of society based on the concept of women's bodies as the means of production was one. Well, less than one, actually, since I gave up in disgust halfway through.

[Fluffy]

Since it appears that they are defining every act of individual judgment anywhere EVER as part of an unequal power relationship, I'm not surprised that they see the patriarchy everywhere.

It would pretty much have to be everywhere other than in natural phenomena like the wind and the tides.

[Trespassers W]

The wind is always blowing up their skirts, and the tide has that rhythmic pounding action on a global scale. Both are forms of rape.

[Brick Pollitt]

It's like a switch, clickin' off in my head. Turns the hot light off and the cool one on, and all of a sudden there's peace. Now I'm waitin' for that click and I don't get it. Listen, I'm all alone. I'm talkin' to no one where there's absolute quiet.

[Lost_In_Translation]

that didn't go the way I thought it would go...why would you have let Naomi Wolf live?

[Fluffy]

Back then, she was hot.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm a sucker for women - they hold more "cards" than I do since they have the power of the privy purse.

[Shh]

It's actually worship if you think about it.

[Rich]

her mission to spend 365 days avoiding the mirror

Fact: Vampires are visible in mirrors, although interestingly enough, they are often quite uncomfortable with their own reflections.

[Otto]

Why should they have a problem with diets? Assuming they're not trying to look better for men, of course.

[Zeb]

That was my first thought. There are lots of reasons to change one's diet besides conforming to the patriarchal standard of beauty (or whatever they think it is). They seem to think so little of themselves that they cannot imagine any other use of their bodies other than an object for men to gaze upon.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"Dieting can also be understood as a type of "patriarchal bargain" (an individual woman's decision to accept gender rules that disadvantage women-as-a-group, in exchange for whatever power she can wrest from the system). By strategically losing weight, we accept the THIN=BEAUTIFUL*GOOD equation (which implies FAT=UGLY*BAD), and propel ourselves into positions of greater social advantage. On an individual level, having "thin privilege" feels empowering. (Recall, Oprah Winfrey ? arguably the MOST powerful woman in the world ? has described "going to the gym when I really prefer wine and chips" as her greatest accomplishment!) Yet, these THIN powered feelings depend upon a system of inequality in which power/privilege/respect are denied to others on the basis of these standards."

Or maybe Oprah likes how she feels when she's not a bloated whale.

I'm tired of the feminist refrain, "I'm empowered, but the patriarchy is still repressing me." Either you've got your shit together or you don't, grow the fuck up.

[Fluffy]

Women would deny me power/privilege/respect if I stopped bathing and called every woman I met a stupid bitch.

It's a system of inequality, I tell ya! Come observe the inequality of the system!

[Otto]

Stop oppressing with your clean/polite privilege!

[Warty]

The threat of becoming a martyr for this cause (i.e., by voluntarily giving up "thin-privilege," if we've got it) can be terrifying.

Thin-privilege.
Thin-privilege?
Thin-privilege??
Thin-privilege???

[SugarFree]

Remember, they are also liberals. Liberals can't believe that anyone benefits from effort or talent... if you are thin, it must be a alignment of the planet blind luck sort of deal. Just like being fat is a roll of the dice and has nothing to do with you stuffing your face day in and day out.

The notion of personal responsibility--even a smidgen--threatens the foundations of their so-called philosophy.

[the real oo]

obviously u know as little about "effort or talent" as u know about lub-rahls

[Atanarjuat]

Well, in my observation, attractive women are treated far better than anyone else, so that's a privelege of sorts. If you're a sloppy, fat female, maybe you'll catch almost as much shit as a man on a day-to-day basis.

[Warty]

RaisinGirl @Rooo sez BISH PLZ
I go through phases of heavy calorie/fat/sugar restriction because sometimes I get despairing and think "Well, at least I can be THIN and ugly..." but no, pulses don't figure heavily in my food intake. And I'm sorry if anything I've said on the issue comes off as smug and self-congratulatory. It truly truly isn't meant that way.

I don't see articles that generate discussion as a bad thing necessarily, unless you're being cynical about Jezebel posting stuff they know will guarantee page clicks. (I totally do that sometimes.)

Yes, dear, I'm sure you can be thin and ugly.

[Au H20]

From the comments:

"Oy, with the kneejerking already. Can I just say, first and foremost, that I am sick and fucking tired of choice feminism? The whole concept of, "I am a woman, and if I make a particular choice, as long as I WANTED to make that choice, it's feminist!" is utter bullshit. Yes, everyone makes choices, but you don't live in a vacuum. As a woman, every single choice that you make is a product of your circumscribed agency stemming from being a woman, as well as the social and cultural environment you exist within and the dominant ideologies that society takes for granted. Not every choice you make is going to be a feminist choice. Hell, because we live in a patriarchal/kyriarchal society, it's IMPOSSIBLE for every choice that we make to be a feminist choice. That is okay. It's unavoidable. But fucking own it when you make choices that aren't feminist instead of playing it off under the guise of choice feminism.

As far as the "can feminists diet" issue is concerned -- yes, of course feminists can diet. I'd wager to say that taking care of one's body insomuch as eating nourishing, unprocessed food, exercising/moving around, and paying attention to one's health are all feminist acts, because patriarchal ideology has inculcated the idea that we should disregard our bodies, feelings, and health. However, dieting as it is popularly used, i.e. the restriction of food intake for the sole purpose of losing weight -- is trickier. Are there women who diet in order to feel more comfortable in their own bodies? Yes. Are there women who diet for health reasons? Of course. Are there women who diet solely to better appeal to the male gaze? Certainly. We can argue that the first two sets of reasons are "feminist," while the latter is not; but, considering the fact that we do live in a patriarchal/kyriarchal society, thin privilege does exist and women are often cognizant of the fact that being fat is an oppression and a liability in Western culture. Is dieting in order to retain or gain thin privilege feminist? Not really, but all too often it's the patriarchal bargain that we end up making in order to claim some sort of power, be it employment or being free from ridicule based on your size or whatever else.

So. Can feminists diet? Yes. Is the choice to diet a feminist choice? Not necessarily. Does it matter? Not really, and it's none of my damn business what women do with their bodies as long as they are not harming anyone else. But for the love of god, stop claiming that every choice that you make is a feminist one simply because you're a woman or identify as a feminist. Christ."

Seriously, what ISN'T privilege here? Being thin is privilege, being white (well, in the Western world) is privilege, being male is privilege, being attractive is privilege. Is being smart privilege?

Jesus tits Christ, this is why I can never date a woman who in the first paragraph of our conversation mentions being a feminist. She wants to mention it on the first date, or second date, and casually toss it out there? Fine, maybe you're one of the smart ones like Cathy Young. But y'know what Jezebel? You are ruining for the women out there, like Cathy Young, who call themselves feminists, but AREN'T retarded.

[Zeb]

"kyriarchal" That's a new one.

[Au H20]

Also, I love the idea that there are right and wrong reasons to make a choice, and that the choices women make aren't actually choices because the patriarchy is everywhere.

Wasn't feminism sold in the 70s as being about, "Giving women choices"? Now, it's about, "Women can have choices, but only if they choose for the right reasons, as approved by me. Oh, also, if they are liberal."

[Jon Schaffer`s Right Hand]

This is a surefire way to tell when a system of thought has gone totalitarian - thought crimes. Witness the same tyranny in fundamentalist christianity: it's not only important what you do, but why you do it and if your heart is in it. If you do something right for personal gain, god will be on to you and punish you eternally. But he loves you, of course.

[cynical]

There's a difference between saying your intentions matter morally, and saying that your intentions matter materially in your relationship with the state. I'm pretty sure even most statist fundies save the sin in your heart stuff for people's relationship with God and just want government to enforce proper speech and behavior.

[Au H20]

Also, from our friend Dr. Wik E Pedia:

Kyriarchy is a neologism coined by Elisabeth Sch?ssler Fiorenza to describe interconnected, interacting, and multiplicative systems of domination and submission, within which a person oppressed in one context might be privileged in another.[1] It is an intersectional elaboration of the concept of patriarchy[1] ? it extends the analysis of oppression beyond traditional feminism to dynamics such as sexism, racism, economic injustice, and other forms of internalized and institutionalized oppression[2].

Yes, you will note the phrase "economic injustice", which I believe is shorthand for "being poor".

[Fluffy]

Wow, I should have read the comments.

Note that she can't just have an idiotic ideology - she also has to LIE.

The statement that women's primary concern - or even a significant concern - in being thin is employment is either a bald-faced lie or the most pathetic lack of self-knowledge I've ever heard.

Women's primary concern in trying to be thin is to be able to be in relationships with males (or females) who they consider to have high status. That's it.

"Employment". Yeah, right.

But I suppose they can't admit that admission, even to themselves.

[Fluffy]

Sorry about the redundant redundancy that I redunted there.

[Audrey the Liberal]

This is why MNG thinks we're all a bunch of Team Red lackeys. All Jezebel posts, and no Free Republic posts.

[Warty]

So contribute.

[Audrey the Liberal]

I refuse to visit either of those sites. I simply have too weak a constitution to handle such idiocy. Forgive me.

[Warty]

It's a good point, though. I'll try to include some Freeper gems. I sometimes do ar15.com, but I could do an even dumber site if I must.

[Audrey the Liberal]

I like you Warty. You're not like the other people, here in the trailer park.

[dunkel]

Warty knows what the queers are doing to the soil?

[Brian]

Can anyone explain Feminists to me? I one point I thought it was merely "Yeah, I've got tits, lets move on to something more interesting" but now I'm very confused.

[Audrey the Liberal]

The feminists who post on Jezebel are a very particular (and very asinine) kind of feminist. I can assure you many (maybe even most) feminists are not like that.

[feminists explained]

Some feminists are man-hating bitches.
Some feminists are self-hating bitches.
Some feminists are capitalism-hating bitches.
Some feminists are (patriarchal)God-hating bitches.
Some feminists are penis-hating bitches.
Some feminists are penis-envying bitches.
Some feminists are angry bitches.
Some feminists are never-happy bitches.
Some feminists are can't-be-happy bitches.
Some feminists are self-important bitches.
Some feminists are power-hungry bitches.
Some feminists are female-beauty-envying bitches.

Figure out the theme yet?

[Aqua Buddha]

From the FF thread:

Democrats to Introduce Gun Control Legislation Tomorrow
Democrat Representatives Maloney, Cummings and McCarthy, all members of the Minority on the House Oversight Committee chaired by Republican Congressman Issa, plan to hold a press conference tomorrow to announce new gun control anti-gun trafficking legislation in light of Operation Fast and Furious. The "Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement Act," is designed to "keep high powered firearms out of the hands of dangerous criminals, including Mexican drug cartels."...

Holder Launches Witch Hunt Against Biased Banks
...In the new prosecutions, Justice acknowledges in every case it did not prove charges of intentional discrimination, while banks have denied any wrongdoing. Many, in fact, earned outstanding ratings from anti-redlining regulators enforcing the Community Reinvestment Act....

...As part of settlement deals, prosecutors have required banks to sign "nondisclosure agreements" barring them from talking about the methods used to allege discrimination. Bank lawyers contend the prosecutors are trying to hide the shaky legal grounds on which the cases are built. "It's horrible what they're doing at the civil rights division," said Reginald Brown, a partner at Wilmer Hale in Washington, who has represented banks in connection to recent race-bias investigations. "They don't have any proof, just theories."

He added, "They want you to sign something saying you agree, under the condition of any settlement with them, that you won't disclose what their theories were. That's because their theories are loopy and wouldn't stand the light of day."...

[Rocket J. Squirrel]

You don't really have a job, do you.

[cynical]

So, this is the "farce" version of history, right?

I've heard some people make allusions to the Reichstag burning, but this is more like the Communist patsy is proved to the public to have been coerced into burning it because Nazis kidnapped his family, and the Nazis still say it means that Communists are dangerous and they need more power to deal with them.

[Sparky]

Can we call her a gold digger NOW, or do you think it's not her fault?

http://www.foxnews.com/enterta.....test=faces

[Quetzalcoatl]

Hey, the guys are still getting the better end of that deal.

[Atanarjuat]

Do you really find her that stunning? I can't get past the manly jaw.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Maybe not Top 10 in the world, but probably Top 100.

[the real oo]

after 2 kidz? top 100? forgetaboutit

[Quetzalcoatl]

OhioOrrin: Wrong about Politics. Wrong about Women.

[OO]

OhioOrrin: not an old married fart

[Miss O'gynist]

The charming bachelor has previously dated Bridget Moynahan, mother of Tom Brady's baby.

Does the new bf have a fetish for sloppy seconds?

[Fluffy]

Both of these guys are good-looking and athletic and only a little older than her.

I think the discrepancy in appearance and age has to be a lot wider before you can definitely assert gold-digging.

Especially because she doesn't need the money now, right? She could pull a Madonna and screw 20 year old Latin guys instead.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Maybe he's got a great sense of humor!

[MP]

Via Volokh comes a legal opinion that reads like The Real World:

then J.H. started arumor that Sanches "had a hickey on her boob"
...
J.H. slapped C.P.'s buttock as she walked by Sanches and C.P. and stated that "your ass is so cute..."

[Cyto]

Sounds like Vivid has a plot for their next direct-to-dvd feature!

[Brett L]

Lutherans thinking the Pope is the Antichrist is news? To whom? People who don't know the story of Martin Luther?

[Quetzalcoatl]

The narrative around Bachmann so far has been mainly outrage that she holds fairly unremarkable views for a mainstream traditional Protestant.

[mr simple]

Martin Luther just wanted to reform the Catholic Church, not crush or even split off from it.

[Brett L]

Before or after his excommunication?

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'm sure there's a distinction between wanting to change several very basic tenets of a faith and wanting to crush that faith, but I'm not sure it's a meaningful one.
Most of the his issues that were actually reforms (rather than theological disagreements) were fixed shortly after he split.

[Audrey the Liberal]

His views on Jews, however... eh, let's not get into details.

[Fluffy]

I think the news is that they still think it.

Seriously - if someone approached you on the street right now, put a pamphlet in your hands, and asked if they could talk to you for a while about how the Pope is the Antichrist, do you or do you not think to yourself, "Um, no thanks, weirdo."

[Brett L]

Moreso than if they approached me with one about how the Pope is the direct spiritual descendant of Simon Peter and therefore given the power to damn or forgive sins?

[Fluffy]

Hey, I think the Catholics are pretty crazy too.

I think Catholics get given a pass because everyone assumes that none of them actually believe in the catechism, and that they're Catholics only because they were born into ethnicities that are mostly Catholic.

But with Bachmann, you have to assume she's an informed consumer of religion (because she claims to be one so strenuously) and that she belongs to a particular sect because she has made the positive choice that it's got the correct doctrine.

[SIV]

I think Catholics get given a pass because everyone assumes that none of them actually believe in the catechism, and that they're Catholics only because they were born into ethnicities that are mostly Catholic.

Let me guess: you assumed Obama was an atheist who actually supported gay marriage and marijuana legalization?

[Fluffy]

I assumed he was a practical agnostic who went to church as a political ploy and saw churches as vehicles for community activism and little more.

So I guess I thought he was just a liar.

[T]

And you were right! Look what you've won: a train wreck of an economy!

[Mongo]

I voted for Obama and would piss off my fellow Obama supporters by lamenting that he was a Democrat and a Christian.

[Brett L]

Or you could believe that she started going to a church belonging to that Synod and the Pope as Antichrist doesn't come up all that often. Hell, I've been to a Pentecostal church on earnest invites from friends. They talked about being protected from fortune-tellers and diviners. Pretty sure my Chemistry PhD candidate friend and his nurse wife weren't worried about that. I didn't feel the need to get up and leave either. It cost me nothing and it made my friends feel good.

[Fluffy]

But you surely must see at least some contradiction between that and the repeated statements of someone like Bachmann that her religion is the most important thing in her life.

How can it be the most important thing in your life if you don't know anything about it?

A friend of mine's dad considered classic cars the most important thing in his life. And that motherfucker could take those things apart and put them back together blindfolded. Is religion just not like that? Can people simultaneously be extraordinarily devoted to it and completely incurious about it? I'm asking in all seriousness.

[Brett L]

Just to clarify: When Obama says it, you assume he's lying. When Bachmann says it, you assume she's informed and consenting on all of the dogma her sect puts forth.

I can't understand why people think Republican female candidates get a different level of scrutiny. Seriously, I don't like coming to her defense, but if we give men a pass on this stuff, lets give the ladies the same pass. Maybe Fluffy was on Huckabee like white on rice for this same stuff, but in general the tone is completely different for Bachmann than anyone else.

[Fluffy]

I was all over Huckabee, too.

Huckabee gives me more targets to hit, that's all. I have to devote some time to his nannyism and his love of big government and his family of scary monsters.

Although I see myself devoting some time to Bachmann's obviously gay husband in the future.

Quick poll: What are the odds of someone coming forward as that guy's gay lover? I say it's 50/50.

BTW, Pat Robertson is male, and I don't give him a pass.

The reason I concluded that Obama was lying is because just about every element of his public persona made it pretty obvious. And just about every element of Bachmann's public persona makes me conclude the opposite. To say otherwise is like saying that because I thought Bill Clinton cheated on his spouse, I must believe that all politicians have cheated on their spouses - and that's silly. We're obviously going to make separate conclusions about different candidates.

[Audrey the Liberal]

The Hit & Republicans want to give her a pass because they want to fuck her. It's really not that complicated.

[Fluffy]

I would certainly at least consider hitting it. But that doesn't mean crazy ain't crazy.

[Audrey the Liberal]

I too often think about hitting it. With a rock.

[Mike Laursen]

Can people simultaneously be extraordinarily devoted to it and completely incurious about it?

I've seen it with my own eyes many, many times.

[prolefeed]

and that they're Catholics only because they were born into ethnicities that are mostly Catholic.

There are a lot of white Catholics. I married one of them.

[Quetzalcoatl]

The Irish are mostly white.
Also: an ethnicity.

[FlyoverCountry]

As did I. Thank little baby Jesus that she was open to my never-ever-attending-mass-voluntarily-because-the-catholic-church-believes-in-some-crazy-shit viewpoints.

[Pro Libertate]

The Pope? Which one? All of them? I thought the Antichrist was just one dude.

[Satan]

I thought the Antichrist was just one dude.

** laughs up sleeve **

[SugarFree]

That's silly. The Pope isn't the anti-Christ. They are just His avatars on the material plane.

[Pro Libertate]

I'd like to be Pope. I'd start by issuing a bull that lets me keep the wife and kids, then I'd focus on secular rule, forcing the Italians to restore the Papal States to, well, me. After that, I'd live the billionaire lifestyle to which popes are entitled to, and I'd preach some serious reforms. I'll take the name of Pope Origen.

No, I'm not Catholic. So what?

[Brett L]

So basically, you'd be like every Pope before the Counter-Reformation.

[Pro Libertate]

But popier.

[SugarFree]

With Xtra Stain-Fighting Papishness!

[Pro Libertate]

Me and the cardinals will all be wearing togas, too.

[Brett L]

The Sign of the Beast is that funny hat.

[PoliteEdward]

From 2John1:7

"I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist."

Lots of antichrists out there.

http://www.biblegateway.com/qu.....ersion=NIV

[Quetzalcoatl]

However, based on this quotation, not the Pope.

[Lost_In_Translation]

You can believe that Bachmann's crazy without having to argue whether or not technically in some religions the tenet is to believe the pope is the antichrist. Catholics also notice that the small thin wafers and wine don't taste like small circles of skin and sips of O+ without having to change the basic tenet of their beliefs. But if one was to come out and say that he has only catholics get to heaven because only they have the secret to Jesus, you would rightfully believe that catholic was nuts.

In short, Bachmann is crazy and she preaches her form of crazy everyday.

[Audrey the Liberal]

Bachmann isn't crazy, she's just your standard cynical politician. Nothing we haven't seen before, or won't see again.

[Mike Laursen]

Martin Luther was barely mentioned in our Lutheran Sunday School and catechism classes. They certainly didn't bring up the hating Jews thing.

My parents were part of an unofficial born-again Christian youth movement within the Lutheran church. The only place I ever heard any "the Pope is the Antichrist" talk was in other more hardcore, born-again churches; never in the Lutheran movement.

Lutherans are pretty benign. They're more about Jello and bad coffee.

[Alan Vanneman]

Hey, Mike, Kerry just twittered me. He's going to have the brother waste your damn ass, wrap your corpse in the rug, and toss you in the Baltic! Sayonara!

[Chortle]

[Pro Libertate]

The Germans think our internal debt debate is holding the world hostage? You know who else held the world hostage?

This reminds me of something I ran across recently about some people in the UK voicing the belief that the rest of the world should be able to vote for the American president (No, piss off!).

[SugarFree]

Start paying us tribute, and we'll think about in a 100 years or so.

[Pro Libertate]

Long ago, even before I got on the Censor kick, I suggested that we sell admission to the United States. There would be requirements other than payment--liberal system, adoption of our common law principles, etc.--but the real bonus is the money. For a mere $1 trillion (credit available), statehood can be yours!

So if Germany coughs up the trillion and adopts American political principles, its citizens will be able to vote for president. Oh, and no Nazis!

[Deutschland]

How much for Nazis?

[Brett L]

I thought the Supreme Court was okay with Nazis as long as they didn't burn down statehouses.

[Pro Libertate]

Once they're a state, they can have all of the Nazis, speech-wise, they want. It's just a precondition to statehood.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Tell them to get in line behind Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

[prolefeed]

There is no line. These territories have so far chosen to not become states.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Why buy the cow, etc.

[Fluffy]

The problem is that situations where large numbers of subject allies are highly dependent on a single metropole's internal politics, but are excluded from that politics, are not stable.

Athens found that out, Rome found that out.

I would happily admit the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and Mexico (as a start) into the US, if they'd cut themselves up into appropriately-sized states.

[KDN]

They already have internal subdivisions that could be considered appropriately sized states, (Scotland, New South Wales, Tabasco) though I think England itself would have to be split up for Electoral College purposes.

Question: would the Commonwealth states be constitutionally permitted to keep their existing legislative setups if they became part of the US? Is there anything illegal about a system where the head of the legislature is also the chief executive?

[Spoonman.]

IIRC many of the original state Constitutions provided for no executive branch at all. So no, it wouldn't be a problem as it would still be considered a "republican form of government."

[Fluffy]

The Constitution merely commands that member states have republican forms of government. It doesn't define "republican", but I guess as long as the Queen gets the boot England would be OK.

[Isaac Bartram]

I have always wondered about whether some state could amend its constitution or some new state admitted with a parliamentary form.

Say, for example, Albertans decided they'd had enough of Ottawa and petitioned for statehood. Could they keep their current from of government as long as the lieutenant-governor stopped being subordinate to the Queen and the Governor-General and instead a head of state like a US state governor (but without those exective powers that the premier has in the parliamentary system).

In fact, the parliamentary system may fail to pass muster on division of powers grounds, since some executive powers are held by the PM who is a member of the legislative branch.

Just some ruminations I go through from time to time since I have lived in both systems and see their relative merits and drawbacks.

But then I've also lived in two constitutional monarchies (with the same monarch) and can see their relative merits and drawbacks of that system as well.

[Pro Libertate]

I think we might admit a Canadian province without immediately requiring a change ("republican system of government" and all), but I could see constitutional challenges popping up for a while until things settled down.

[Isaac Bartram]

Yes, but how do you feel about inviting one of the several presently unemployed European royals to be the constitutional monarch of the New American Empire?

Now, given that we gave the boot to an ancestor of the current house of Mountbatten-Windsor, I'd have to say none of them are starters; so we'll not consider any of them.

And we kicked the ass of the Gran'paw (or great grandpaw or sunthin) of the current King of Spain in '98 (eighteen, that is) I'd say any of them fellers is out o' the runnin'.

Then, at one time, we had a big Swede influence hereabouts but that fella has him a job kingin' over them Swedes who seem to like him just fine. Same thing for the Dutch, who wuz the first folks what lent our new republic the money to get rid of that fat German bastard. Which kinda leaves out any of the German Royals even if we did have a big enough German population at one time that there was talk of making German the official language.

So that pretty much leaves us with one of Pretenders to the French throne, which might be entirely appropriate considering how the last reigning monarch of that line was so much help in our founding.

OK, I give up. I guess I'll stick with being a republican (small r).

[Isaac Bartram]

Australian states and Canadian provinces have a governor who is head of state and a premier who is the head of government. All they would have to do is get rid of the notion that the governor is the representative of the monarch and perhaps arrange for election rather than appointment by the premier and cabinet.

The difference between the Australian state governors and the Canadian provincial lieutenant-governors is that in Canada the L-Gs are subordinate to the Governor-General whereas Australian state governors are directly responsible to the Queen and cannot be overuled by the G-G.

[Pro Libertate]

There's already some standards for admitting states, so we could just follow those. It might not be a bad idea to set a maximum cap on the population of an admitted state, just to keep things from getting weird.

The Queen of Wessex!

[Isaac Bartram]

The entire population of the Commonwealth of Australia is only a little more than that of Florida but somehow I don't think anyone would be too keen on a state with the same land area as the contiguous 48 somehow.

But as KDN notes above they already have several subdvisions (6 states and three territories) that are pretty ideally sized both in area and population.

Whether anyone wants to bring several million ockers into the population is another matter. Talk about cultural disruption.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Were those old pieces written during the "Obama is so dreamy" courtship/honeymoon phase (which I also recall reading), or new pieces written after the Bush's third term/abusive husband phase became readily apparent to anyone with open eyes?

[Tim]

I can't wait to find out that ATF was running guns into Canada and maybe across the Bering Strait to Siberians.

[SIV]

Our very own American-flavored Taliban, people with the vaguest and most tenuous connections to "Christian Reconstructionism" (according to the SPLC), are split between Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul.

[SIV]

^From two of Riggs' links^

[SIV]

Her work has appeared in The American Prospect, The Nation, Salon, The Washington Spectator, the religion blogs at the Washington Post and the Guardian, and other publications.

Explains the reliance on the SPLC as a source and the "guilt by association with neo-confederate theocrat extremist Ron Paul"

[MNG]

At last, good news for the beta male.

The beta is No. 2 in the wolf pack or the baboon troop, not such a bad position. But conversationally, the term has become an almost derisive label for the nice guy, the good boy all grown up, the husband women look for after the fling with Russell Crowe.

It may now be time to take a step back from alpha worship...Laurence R. Gesquiere, a research associate in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton, and colleagues report in the journal Science that in five troops of wild baboons in Kenya studied over nine years, alpha males showed very high stress levels, as high as those of the lowest-ranking males.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07.....l?_r=1&hp;

[gaijin]

Unless one exists in an isolated pack, we're all beta males in some situations and alphas in others.

[Aqua Buddha]

My plan is to be a Zeta male.

[Fluffy]

You're well on your way.

[Lost_In_Translation]

How are epsilon males fairing?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Did the alpha males go Galt?

[T]

This is such a no duh study. You gotta work to stay on top. Work causes stress, especially when you're dealing with freaking baboons. Corporate politics may be a bitch, but I guarantee you the guy in the cube next to mine isn't going to try to eat my face to get next promotion available.

[Pip]

I saw a National Geographic show that said the primary and overwhelming cause of stress for baboons wasn't from lions or other predators, but rather, one another.

[Zeb]

Baboons are dicks.

[MNG]

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill making California the first state in the nation to add lessons about gays and lesbians to social studies classes in public schools.

Brown, a Democrat, signed the landmark bill requiring public schools to include the contributions of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender in social studies curriculum. The Democratic-majority Legislature had passed the bill last week on a largely party-line vote.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

[Rich]

Brown, a Democrat, signed the landmark bill requiring public schools to include the contributions of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender in social studies curriculum.

However, I suspect there have been very few people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender.

Of course, it *is* California.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Look on the bright side: maybe they'll add Greek Philosophers back into the curriculum!

[CoyoteBlue]

That's what I was thinking. They cut them since they were a bunch of dead white guys - BUT now their queerer than a three dollar bill, so let's read the 'Republic'.

[Quetzalcoatl]

The Symposium is probably more relevant.

[Zeb]

How are they supposed to know which historical figures are gay?

[So Rich]

I'm sure that libertarians everywhere will object to this blatant use of governmental power to push a specific moral code onto CA citizens. Combining the teaching of the contributions of gays to history, which is really just flagging contributions by the sexual orientation of the contributor, with the provision that negative stereotypes and anti-gay bias not be taught will result in the distortion of history by making certain historical actors immune from criticism.

The good news is that this silliness will drive many parents to take their children out of the government school system, hastening the destruction of the monopoly.

[Joe M]

BREAKING: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was supposed to be the next big thing, but he's sort of not doing so great.

Teehee, I dance upon his political grave! The fact that people aren't buying his bullshit gives me hope. Now if they could just do the same for Romney...

[wylie]

News at 11: Americans not as retarded as the media assumed. Regrouping session starts in 15min.

[Palin]

what? who?

[Mongo]

Re: Bachmann

Yes, the Missouri Synod believes the Pope to be the anti-christ. I was raised in the Misery Synod and my parents are still very active in it.

The Synod was 100 per cent pro-GWBush during his terms and any questioning of his policies meant that you were pro-terrorist and anti-American.

Look up their newspaper The Christian Times, which the ADL has labeled a hate-rag, for a laff.

Christ, the Missouri Synod considers other Lutheran synods to be devil-worshippers.

I'm not sure if Bachmann is Wisconsin or Missouri Synod as I've heard both.

[Pete Mynack]

The Bachmann article lost me when they started quoting the SPLC. Seriously, media, stop relying on those clowns for quotes. There is plenty frightening about Michelle, you don't need those goons to make your case.

[SIV]

Wisconsin according to the hit-piece.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I think I read that she was in Wisconsin Synod, but left it somewhat recently.

[So Rich]

which the ADL has labeled a hate-rag

The ADL also labelled a bunch of SoCon groups "Neo-Nazi" even though they are some of the most fervent supporters of Israel in the world. The ADL doesn't have a lot of credibility at times.

[Fluffy]

I don't care as much about the Pope as Antichrist thingie as I care about the 10 Commandments as the foundation of law thingie.

It would help if people would occasionally, you know, read the 10 Commandments.

[Fluffy's Parents]

It is an honor having you for a child.

[Fluffy]

"Hey, man, honor thy father and mother."

"Or what?"

"Or you do five years in medium security, bitch! The 10 Commandments are the foundation of our law now!"

[SugarFree]

"Sir, do you know why we pulled you over? Are you aware it is the Sabbath as of five minutes ago?"

[Lost_In_Translation]

Wouldn't that put both the officer and the offender in equal violation? The only resolution to that would be public shunning of both.

[CoyoteBlue]

Isn't the Third commandment about quargtering troops or something?

[SIV]

Would you prefer The Code of Hammurabi?

[Otto]

If I'm not put to death for being an atheist, possibly.

[Otto]

And no, I don't believe that Bachmann would actually try to do this; my reply was strictly related to immediate comment.

[Fluffy]

It's not a question of whether it's preferable. It's a question of whether it's the basis for our existing law or not.

[SIV]

In the sense that both are early codified law originating in the "cradle of civilization" or thereabouts, yes.

[Zeb]

Fine, but in that case, the first caveman to figure out how to bash another over the head with a rock is the foundation of our government.

[T]

Since it allows me to kill incompotent contractors, I'd definitely give it serious consideration.

[Lord Humungus]

http://www.hammurabigame.com/hammurabi-game.php

classic!

[Lord Humungus]

If you're an old computer hack that is.

[T]

I typed the Basic version of that motherfucker in only to find out it wouldn't run on my lowly VIC-20.

[FlyoverCountry]

Fuck yes! I'm a winner!

Hammurabi: I beg to report to you,
In Year 11, 0 people starved, 3 people came to the city.
The city population is now 69
The city now owns 725 acres.
You harvested 4 bushels per acre.
Rats ate 0 bushels.

In your 10-year term of office, 0 percent of the population starved per year on average, .i.e., a total of 0 people died!!
You started with 10 acres per person and ended with 10.5072463768 acres per person

Evaluation:
A fantastic performance!!! Charlemagne, Disraeli and Jefferson combined could not have done better!

[Lord Humungus]

I had 0 deaths but the people weren't please by my less than 10 acres per person. But I had to sell land to keep feeding the ungrateful bastards!

[Leroy]

Hammurabi: I beg to report to you,
In Year 11, 0 people starved, 3 people came to the city.
The city population is now 71
The city now owns 727 acres.
You harvested 3 bushels per acre.
Rats ate 0 bushels.

In your 10-year term of office, 0 percent of the population starved per year on average, .i.e., a total of 0 people died!!

You started with 10 acres per person and ended with 10.2394366197 acres per person

Evaluation:
A fantastic performance!!! Charlemagne, Disraeli and Jefferson combined could not have done better!

-- After a few tries I determined the only way to win is with the luck of a few good plagues to kill off population.

[P Brooks]

ATF claims the program was above board and not similar to Operation Fast and Furious at all.

Oh, okay, then.

That's good enough for me.

[Eric Holder]

For me, too.

[The Media]

Us, too!

[Lost_In_Translation]

Thus admitting what scumbags they were for Operation F&F. Burn them all.

[mr simple]

So Germany is also full of newspapers with editors who have no idea what's going on in the real world. I'm amazed that people still think Aug. 2nd is some sort of drop dead date and that the US will implode if we don't take on more debt by then. No, not amazed, disappointed.

[Rich]

I'm amazed that people still think Aug. 2nd is some sort of drop dead date and that the US will implode if we don't take on more debt by then.

"What happens if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling before Aug. 2? No one knows for sure."

See, it *could* happen. The US could even explode or shrivel up.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!

[Zombie Patton]

STFU Germany before I kick your ass again.

[hmm]

# This is the greatest picture of Sen. John Kerry ever.

You'd think, as someone working personal protection, that if you were bothering to wear a suit you would bother to get a black or similarly less conspicuous or better matching bug-out bag. But then again totting an M4 kind of negates that need.

[Spartacus]

That video still is...distracting.

[ZZ Topp]

Wrote a song about it. Like to hear it? Here it goes...

[sailor]

SO that CFN ustream sucks. jeez. Fire those tech guys in charge of it.

[P Brooks]

If it continues like this, the US will be bankrupt within a few days.

There, there, Isolde; lie down on the fainting couch with this cool damp cloth over your eyes. Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. That's right.

[P Brooks]

The political climate in the US has been poisoned to a degree that is hard for us (Germans) to imagine.

Wait, what?

How many jews gypsies can you fit in a Volkswagen, again?

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Yeah, that caught my eye, too. I believe it's a foreign version of "oh why can't those evil Republicans reasonably compromise by totally acceding to our demands" sort of thing.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

of a.

[Warty]

It parses just fine to my eye without the article. Maybe that's just my hillbilly dialect fucking with me, though.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

LOL, I missed that.

[highnumber]

Poo-poo to that profile of Bachmann. Posner cherry-picks only her most deeply held beliefs in order to terrify us.

[SIV]

My favorite is associating her with the Huckabee-hating, Ron Paul-supporting "Christian Reconstructionist" who founded her law school alma mater.

Titus took a dig at Mike Huckabee, saying that host of Fox News' Huckabee show "doesn't understand the difference between the state's business and the church's business," because he believes in "welfare taking care of the poor, which is contrary to Jesus' teaching."

On foreign policy matters, for example, he said he'd be more aligned with the non-interventionism of Ron Paul than with Bachmann.

[P Brooks]

if someone approached you on the street right now, put a pamphlet in your hands, and asked if they could talk to you for a while about how the Pope is the Antichrist, do you or do you not think to yourself, "Um, no thanks, weirdo."

I'd say, "I already knew that."

[prolefeed]

Say something like, "I'm on my way to sodomize my mistress, but if you want to come along and watch and offer horrified commentary about how we are damned -- DAMNED! -- it would be hilarious."

They will leave you alone.

[Brett L]

I used to have great conversations with the Jehovah's Witness guys about 2am on Friday/Saturday night staggering up Guadalupe in Austin in the late '90s. Extremely polite. Low key. I think they'd have won more converts hanging out at the same place at 9:30am the next day.

[T]

The Jehovah's were never a problem. Those hippie Zelnik (?) bastards were pushy as fuck, tho'.

[Brett L]

Which were those? I don't remember anyone except Witnesses and Scientologists. Admittedly, I was bombarding my system with chemicals that inhibit the formation of long term memories, so...

[T]

They tried to 'sell' you some deranged environmental screed.

[the Time teller]

Um, that was the kids from Zendik farm. It used to be between Austin and Bastrop. They've since moved...

I spent a (very long and enlightening) weekend there once.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Just mumble "goddamnit, i'm working on that, give me some time" and then look at their shocked expression and walk away in disgust.

[Robert]

Funny, none of the pagans I know believe this:

http://www.religiondispatches......tc_302.jpg

In fact, they tend to believe the exact opposite! That is, they tend to think Jehova has what's ascribed in the photo to the pagan view of gov't, while pagans have what's ascribed to the Biblic view of gov't.

[Audrey the Liberal]

I'm sure there are lots of pagans (and Christians) who do (and do not) believe what those posters say they believe. As a classical liberal, I believe it's important not to stereotype people. However, I also believe it's important to mock all people, all religions, all ideologies, all the time. The most important question is: Is it funny? I didn't find it all that funny, but others might, so, whatever.

[Non Sequitur]

Speaking of Michele Bachmann, here's a picture of Katherine Harris on a horse. You're welcome.

http://www.wonkette.com/politi.....-thumb.jpg

[Warty]

I'm impressed that she can balance so well with that high center of mass.

[SugarFree]

Those aren't boobs; those are make-up reservoirs.

[SIV]

My favorite pic of Ms Harris

No doubt taken backstage at a tractor pull.

[SugarFree]

She must be pretty strong to be able to pick up Biden with only one hand.

[Pro Libertate]

She was endowed by her Creator with certain unalienable, well, somethings.

Knowing American proclivities, I'm surprised she isn't president.

[Audrey the Liberal]

I find opossums to be simultaneously cute and scary.

[Robert]

But as to the last line on each placard, the pagan whose educational material I've been proofreading and copy editing believes in both creation and evolution.

[David Rollins]

Don't forget the feds' investigation of Credit Suisse (my old stomping ground) for US tax evasion. We are all subjects now.

[P Brooks]

John Kerry:

"I funneled billions of dollars to Afghanistan, and all I got was this lousy rug."

[Brett L]

I keep seeing these bumperstickers in Tallahassee that say "Rick Scott: The Anti Crist", as in former governor Charlie Crist. I can't tell if they are pro- or anti- Rick Scott.

[Pro Libertate]

Since no one likes Crist, they're clearly pro-Scott.

[Brett L]

I think that too, except that I see them only at the state office complex in Southwood.

[SugarFree]

Laptop Stickers Show You Where To Drill To Destroy A Hard Drive In Case Of Emergency

[David Rollins]

We Are Legion.

[Warren]

Holy Crap. Whose body is rolled up in that carpet? Or is he just smuggling in one of his bastards?

[Mr. FIFY]

Had to steal this from a local letter to the editor:

Unlike a monarchy, theocracy, or dictatorship, our democracy/republic, through our elected representatives, reserves to "we the people" the power to self-destruct. We are not dependent on a tyrannical form of government to dictate our demise.

We let Congress do it.

[P Brooks]

The Ascended One is speaking. Disingenuous nonsense fills the air.
Also, appeals to "authority".

Once again, our President demonstrates his visceral disdain for savers.

"Set politics aside" you obstructionist bastards! Yield to my political agenda, dammit.

[Warty]

Gasp!

Tressel also had reprimands in his personnel file for permitting an outside person to coach kickers before a full team practice and allowing the mother of a recruit on an official visit to make a call for $7.93 that was billed to the university.

So Jim Tressel was daring the university to fire him. This makes me like him even more.

[OO]

hated the way tress went but i always felt his coaching style didnt take full advantage of the players athletic potentials

[cynical]

I hope that scumbag never goes into politics, I don't think America can take that level of corruption.

[P Brooks]

When the President says, "I've gone over those numbers" I find it difficult to believe him.

Once again, he urges people to KEEP BORROWING11111

Moar debtz, plz!

[Bean Counter]

This is the greatest picture of Sen. John Kerry ever.
Read the accompanying article. It must be hard to type with Kerry's dick in your mouth.

[Mike M.]

Sarah Palin reports low fundraising.

She only raised $1.6 million in the first six months of this year, which is basically nothing for a serious presidential contender these days.

This more or less puts to the rest the big mystery as to whether she's going to run or not. She has no chance, and it's clearly not going to happen.

[SIV]

Brokered Convention Bitchez!!1!

[R C Yoda]

She only raised $1.6 million in the first six months of this year, which is basically nothing for a serious presidential contender these days.

Of course, she hasn't actually announced that she is running. That total is for her PAC, and couldn't be used for her campaing anyway (beyond the token $5,000 cap. I doubt contributions to a PAC that can't be used in her Presidential campaign tell us much of anything about what she could raise.

[R C Yoda]

Can people simultaneously be extraordinarily devoted to it and completely incurious about it?

I think faith can work like that, yes.

[OO]

u mean like faith in gravity, which is implied/inferred but not proven?

[Warty]

Jesus fucking Christ. Back on the blacklist you go.

[cynical]

What? Gravity is a relationship between things with mass. You can find all the proof you need by jumping off a skyscraper.

Go on, try. I'll wait here.

[OO]

typical ignorant response. again my splatting on the sidewalk doesnt PROVE the existance of gravity. could be another force. its not the LAW of gravity. effin scientific method, how do it work?

[Jordan]

Holy shit, you are fucking stupid.

[heller]

#2 Where is my Mind

[Clich? Bandit]

Don't know if it has been said but the first thing I thought on the Bulger story was "What a moron, he is holding dollars. LOL"

Am I alone here?