Making Things Worse

So Megyn Kelly decided that it would be a good idea to have the molestation-enablers, Jim-Bob and Michelle Duggar on for a friendly interview. I've embedded the video below, if you have the stomach for it. I didn't. I made it to about 1:20 before I had to turn it off, smash the monitor, or throw up. I turned it off.  Listening to this mother who clearly feels like the real victims here are herself, Jim-Bob and Josh was just too sickening.
Sample quote "The one ray of hope was Josh has a tender conscience and came to us himself."

 

Fortunately, Think Progress has someone with the iron constitution to view this sick trainwreck and report it to us.

Breaking his silence on Fox News, Jim Bob Duggar repeatedly minimized the actions of his son Josh, who sexually molested several of the Duggar daughters.
“He had gone in and just basically touched them over their clothes while they were sleeping. They didn’t even know he had done it,” Jim Bob said. Later Jim Bob admitted there “were a couple incidents where he touched them under their clothes, but it was like a few seconds.”

 Holy frickin Christmas cake!

If you're trying to salvage your family's reputation, this is pretty much the exact wrongest way to go about it.You could not show more callous disconcern for your daughters, who were victimized by your son under your roof. You're really going to try to minimize this? Oh, they were asleep, they didn't even know it happened. Because someone suddenly stroking your genutals is not something that would wake a person up.
Oh, and it doesn't really count because it was "over the clothes." He never , ever put his hands under their clothes. well. . . .

Hardly Everrrrrr!!!

I'd love to know how the Duggar parents would react if one of their daughters came home from a date and said "I got felt up, but don't worry, it was over the clothes, so I'm still pure!" I'm guessing that loophole doesn't apply to consensual feel-copping.

He emphasized that “this was not rape or anything like that.” 

  

Right, it wasn't "Rape" rape! What's the big deal?

Throughout the interview, Jim Bob returned to these themes. He emphasized again and again that some of the instances occured while his daughters were sleeping and the molestation occured over their clothes. (At the same time he acknowledged that, in other cases, his daughters were awake and groped underneath their clothes.) Jim Bob also attempted to characterize Josh’s behavior as commonplace. “We talked to other parents and different ones since then, a lot of families have said that they’ve had similar things happen in their families,” he said.

   

Seriously? This is a common occurrence in your circles?
How could that possibly. . . oh, right. Weirdo religious cult. I forgot.

“He was still a kid, you know, and he was still a juvenile. He wasn’t an adult,” Jim Bob explained. He also sought to deflect blame from himself. Jim Bob told Megyn Kelly that “kids will make their own choices.”

Right, of course. That's the usual conservative approach to kids who commit crimes. Only a lad, you really can't blame him. . . Oh no, wait. The conservative answer to juvenile offenders is "lock 'em up and throw away the key, unless you think this might warrant the death penalty, 'cuz that could work too."

It's almost like there are two sets of standards for folks like this.
Drug offenders should do hard time, except for Rush Limbaugh who probably had a good reason for needing oxy.
Unwed teen moms are destroying the country, except Bristol Palin who's a role model for girls everywhere!
Sex offenders should be punished to the full extent of the law. Unless they've asked God for forgiveness and it wasn't really, ya know, "rape" exactly. I mean, hey, it's not like he tried to marry a dude or something!

Of course, being a right-wing theocrat in America means never taking any responsibility for your own actions!

Here's the video, if you're interested. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Oh, P.S. I'm aware that "disconcern" is probably not a real word. But I like it, so it stays.
Hey, Shakespeare made up words all the time, ya gotta love it!

The War on Thanksgiving.

About this time each year, the FOX crowd starts trotting out their "War on Christmas" bs machine.



 Oh, they will fight to the death to defend Christmas from the imagined "attacks" it faces from people who, um. . . are willing to acknowledge that some people celebrate other holidays?

Or folks who want to maintain the separation of Church and State?
Oh no,  wait, I mean INFIDELS!!!! AMERICA-HATING INFIDELS!!!!!


And every Spring they pretend there's a "War on Easter" to be fought.

Heck, they've even discovered a "War on Halloween"



Even though the only people who tend to object to Halloween are evangelical Christians who object to the holiday's pagan roots and scary "occultic" overtones. In other words, FOX news viewers.

But what about Thanksgiving?

Because Thanksgiving is actually under attack by the obscene spectacle known as "Black Friday." People are actually having their Thanksgivings taken away from them by stores who now not only insist that their employees be at work before the crack of dawn the day after, but now don't even close for Thanksgiving itself.

Where is the outrage on the right?

Why does the "pro-family" crowd raise no objection to people being deprived of family time in the service of feeding America's frenzy of acquisitiveness and materialism?

What's a bigger affront to holiday tradition, a cashier wishing you "Happy Holidays" or having a Thanksgiving that goes like this:  "Gee, Grandma, everything smells so good, you've really outdone yourself this year. . . well, got to go sell some cheap electronics or I'll be unemployed. See you at Christmas hopefully!"

 

See you later. Those robot dogs aren't going to sell themselves!

Every year it gets worse and worse. The entire concept of "Black Friday" is grotesque enough to begin with. Once the term "Black Friday" went from being backroom retailer jargon to part of the everyday lexicon of normal people, we lost a part of our national soul. Once flyers began proudly announcing "Black Friday Sales!" we as a society should have stood up and said "No! We will not create a holiday based on celebrating your corporate profitability!" But we didn't. We allowed this indignity to infect our culture and it quickly spread like a cancer.

First it spread to Midnight of Thanksgiving day. Which of course meant that store employees were forced to leave their families by 10 or 11 that evening.

Then the stores began opening earlier and earlier Thursday evening until they got to the point where many stay open the entire holiday. As if it were just another day to make sales.

So where are the FOX News special reports on the "War on Thanksgiving?" Why does the one holiday that is actually under attack not see the same umbrage raised  as those holidays whose attacks are pure fiction?

Could it be because this war is being waged by large powerful corporations in the interest of increased profits? Instead of by "secular humanists" or whichever right-wing bogeymen are launching the imaginary wars on other holidays? Nah. . . couldn't be.

The Worst Thing About the Bachmann-Medicare Kerfuffle

Bachmann’s hubby – $137,000 from Medicaid

Republican presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann has decried Medicaid for swelling the “welfare rolls”, and charges that President Obama wants to bankrupt Medicare to force seniors onto “Obamacare.”
But a “quality Christian counseling” clinic run by Bachmann’s husband has collected more than $137,000 in Medicaid payments for treating patients over the last six years, according to an NBC News investigation.

It's not the hypocrisy. The blatant, stunning, shameless hypocrisy of Bachmann complaining about Medicare while profiting from it. That's pretty much what you would expect from someone like Bachmann. This is the same Michele Bachmann who is all up in arms about government spending and "socialism" while collecting thousands of dollars in federal farm subsidies. There's nothing even surprising about someone like Bachmann trashing a program while taking money from it. That's to be expected. It's also not surprising that she sees absolutely no irony in this.

Here's the worst thing. Bachmann's husband's psychology practice specializes in de-gayification.

"Bachmann and Associates believes in providing all clients with quality counseling in a Christian environment," reads the mission statement on the business's website. Some of the listed specialties of the clinic and its counselors include "abuse issues," "co-dependency," "men's and women's issues," "shame," and "spiritual issues."
But some observers claim that the mission of the practice includes counseling homosexuals in an effort to "ungay" them. "It is absolutely sincere," adds former school board member Cecconi. "They specialize in 'reparation' regarding sexual orientation."  (source)

This is not only bullshit, it is hate-based bullshit, and Medicare dollars should not be going to such a practice.

This is him, by the way, addressing the topic of what to do about gay youth:





If you are a psychologist, and someone comes to you and says "help me, doc, I'm gay!" your job is to say "let's see if we can't help you to accept yourself. You need to come to grips with who you are and learn to love yourself." or something like that. Your job is NOT to pray the gay away. Your job is NOT to say "don't worry, I can help you become straight!" It's bullshit, it doesn't work, nor should it. Gay people don't need to be "fixed" or "cured" or "converted." And the taxpayers of Minnesota should not have their tax money wasted on this this type of horrible faux-therapy.

Newt Forgets the First Rule of Holes

The first rule of holes is: When you find yourself in one, stop digging.
Newt just keeps on digging himself in deeper on the whole marital infidelity thing.

from an interview with Chris Wallace on FOX "News."

WALLACE: So, I'm going to go there. You were asked recently about the fact that you cheated on your first and your second wives. And here's how you responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: There is no question that at times in my life partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard, and that things happened in my life that were not appropriate.

Now at this point, you oughta realize you've dug yourself a hole. Once you blame your extra-marital affairs on your passion for the US of A, you need to look around and say "shit, I'm in a hole." And by "in a hole," I mean I've made myself look like a complete idiot as well as a serial philanderer.

Dang, I better quit digging!

But no, not Newt. When you're in over your head, time to double down.

WALLACE: Speaker, you've had more than a decade to come up with an answer. And in all honesty, there were a lot of people who thought that answer was kind of lame. I know it's heart-felt. [kiss ass!] But let me explain why. You love your country and you're working hard. And so you strayed. That wouldn't work with my wife.

Nor would it work with anyone's wife. It's just idiotic. It wouldn't work in any situation.
Your honor, before you pass sentence, may I just say in my defense that yes, I did rob that bank, but I was confused by how much I love America!

Oh, you clocked me at 70 in a 35 mph zone? Well excuse me for loving America!

WALLACE: There's something else that bothers people. You were leading the charge to push Bill Clinton from office for lying about an affair and yes, he lied in a court proceeding, in a deposition, where he was sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, but nothing but the truth. At the same time, you were leading that charge, you were having an affair. Isn't that hypocrisy?

Now this would be the time to say yes. Say "yes, that was hypocritical of me, but I've matured and blah blah blah. . . "Who wants to bet that Gingrich won't say "yes?" 

GINGRICH: No. 

 

 Really?

GINGRICH: No. Look, obviously, it's complex 

No. It isn't. How is it complex? This is one of those "Oh, you're just not smart enough to understand" defenses, isn't it? 

GINGRICH: No. Look, obviously, it's complex and, obviously, I wasn't doing things to be proud of. 

Yeah, obviously.

On the other hand, what I said, very clearly -- I knew this in part going through a divorce --

 (two divorces. Both due to Newt's scumbaggery.)

I knew this in part going through a divorce -- I had been in depositions. I had been in situations where you had to swear to tell the truth.

See, Chris, you've never fucked around on your wife, so you wouldn't understand. It's very complex. Only a true sophisticate such as myself can really understand the subleties.

I understood that in a federal court, in a case in front of a federal judge, to commit a felony, which is what he did, perjury was a felony. 

That assault on syntax should be a felony! As should this next sentence:

I thought the notion -- I mean, I don't know what you would have had me do because I think the notion that the president of the United States committing perjury -- remember, he is a lawyer. 

What else would you have me do? What could I possibly do other than drag my political opponent through a sham impeachment on trumped-up charges? It's not like I wanted to, I had to!

 

Short Memory

From Glenn Beck:

I have never seen anything like this. The storyline of blaming Sarah Palin/Rush Limbaugh/Glenn Beck/the tea party/the right continues even though there is NO EVIDENCE SUPPORTING IT. 

 

Really, Glenn? You've never seen anything like this? Really? You must have been asleep during the '80s, because I remember having seen  a few things like this.

I remember the movie Taxi Driver being blamed for John Hinckley's assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan.


I remember heavy metal music being blamed for teen suicides.



I remember "gangsta rap" being blamed for all kinds of violence. (see)



I remember Dungeons and Dragons being blamed for a whole bunch of murders and suicides.



I remember Beavis and Butthead being blamed for kids starting fires. (see)



I remember sex-ed classes being blamed for teen pregnancies.





I remember Bill Clinton being blamed for teen blowjobs.



More recently, I remember video games being blamed for the Virginia Tech massacre.
(see: Dr. Phil Suggests Video Games to Blame for Virginia Tech Shootings)

I remember South Park being blamed for a redheaded kid getting beat up at school. (see)

I remember the show Jackass being blamed for a kid setting himself on fire.

So if you want to make the point that it's not fair to blame Sarah Palin, yeah you probably have a point. As far as we know, the shooter was not motivated by her or by any other political figure (although we don't yet know much about him, he may well turn out to be a teabagger, who knows)? But don't pretend like this is some unprecedented phenomenon. Especially when we remember headlines like these:

Glenn Beck Blames UAH Killings on Far-left Political Extremism

Glenn Beck blames atheists for America's problems

Glenn Beck blames the Holocaust on Charles Darwin

Glenn Beck thinks 'political correctness' is driving people to shooting rampages

 

Glenn Beck Blames Health and Spiritual Problems On Walter Lippmann. Really.

Beck Blames California Wildfires On The ‘Damn Environmentalists’

 

Glenn Beck Blames George Soros for Low Ranking in Time Person of the Year Poll

Glenn Beck blames Weathermen for Homer Simpson

 Funny how it's only when you and/or one of your right-wing nutjob buddies is getting blamed that it becomes so important not to point fingers.

Wingnut Ministers Proudly Break US Law.

From the ADF:

LEAWOOD, Kan. — Pastors from approximately 100 churches nationwide participated in the Alliance Defense Fund’s third annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday on Sept. 26. The pastors preached sermons related to biblical perspectives on the positions of electoral candidates or current government officials, exercising their constitutional right to free religious expression despite a problematic Internal Revenue Service rule that activist groups often use to silence churches.

So, over 100 ministers decided to violate IRS rules which they consider "problematic," and that's supposed to be Okay? And, of course, like most wingnuts, they claim that people are trying to "silence" them. Listen, Reverend. No one is trying to "silence" you. You can say whatever you want. It's just that if you're going to endorse candidates, you can't claim to be a tax-exempt organization. That's it. You just have to choose.

Pulpit Freedom Sunday is an event associated with the ADF Pulpit Initiative, a legal effort designed to secure the First Amendment rights of pastors in the pulpit. The Pulpit Initiative is part of the larger ADF Church Project.

Again your First Ammendment rights are not at issue. I can say whatever I want and endorse whatever candidate I want, and I have to pay income tax. If you want the special privilege of not paying taxes, you have to give up endorsing candidates. Why would you think that you should have it both ways?

So, I wasn't familiar with the ADF until I heard this story. Turns out, they're pretty much what you'd expect, promoting phony stories like this:

The Church is Being Silenced Across America

Growing government intrusion into the affairs of the Church is posing a serious threat to church autonomy and our most basic religious freedoms. Pastors are being censored, the proclamation of God’s Truth is being blocked, and churches are being discriminated against and threatened with punishment.

Really? Let's take a quick look at that claim. How is "God's Truth" being blocked? Unless you consider "Vote for Smith" to be "God's Truth" I don't think you have anything to back that up. But let's say that "vote for Smith" really is what you're talking about when you say "God's Truth." Let's look at this story about one of your member pastors in the USA Today:

"For governor, I'm going to encourage people to vote for Bill Haslam," said David Shelley, pastor of Smith Springs Baptist Church here, one of seven Tennessee religious leaders who plan to take part in the pulpit protest. He also will throw his support behind a Republican congressional candidate and a Republican statehouse candidate and urge his congregation to skip the spot on the ballot where a Democratic state senator is running unopposed.

Shelley knows he runs the risk of provoking the Internal Revenue Service into revoking his 60-member church's tax-exempt status. In fact, he's hoping the IRS will try. But this is the second year he's baited the IRS from the pulpit, and still the agency has not risen to the bait.

So, nothing has happened. This minister has purposely flouted the IRS rules from his pulpit, and nothing has happened to him. This guy WANTS the IRS to come after him, and nothing has happened. These are the most pathetic jack-booted thugs in the world.

At the urging of anti-Christian groups seeking to secularize America, courts and government are increasingly treating our churches more as nuisances than as pillars of the community. And some are treated not just as nuisances, but as criminals for exercising their Christian faith!

That’s exactly how Bishop Rick Painter of Christ the King Liturgical Charismatic Church was treated before ADF was given the opportunity to defend him. For years, he rang the bells of his church as an expression of praise to God – until the city of Phoenix wrongly determined that the bells violated a local noise ordinance. As a result, a judge sentenced Bishop Painter to jail! After ADF attorneys filed suit, a federal court ruled that the city’s noise ordinance could not be applied to churches. Eventually, the court reversed Bishop Painter’s criminal conviction.

Oh my God, this minister was treated as a criminal merely for having broken the law? What is this, Russia? And, yes, he did violate the law. Just because he a judge ruled that the law doesn't apply to churches doesn't mean the bells weren't a violation, the church is just getting preferential treatment.

here's a little background on the church-bell kerfuffle:

Bishop convicted of disturbing peace for bell ringing

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Los Angeles Times

July 15, 2009, 5:51PM

PHOENIX — After nearly 20 years on an impersonal commercial strip, the Cathedral of Christ the King moved to a quiet residential neighborhood in the northwestern edge of this metropolis. Church leaders were eager to be part of a community.

Then, on Palm Sunday 2008, they started ringing the church bells every half hour during the day.

Every Half Hour! I used to live across the street from a church in San Francisco, and it they had rung their bells every half-hour, I would have gone postal on them. I like the sound of church bells, I really do. But not while I'm trying to sleep.

The complaints soon began, so church leaders cut back to once per hour.

Oh, well, if they're going to be that accommodating, who could possibly complain?

. . . church leaders cut back to once per hour. They put up Styrofoam to muffle the sound. But they didn't see how they could stop tolling the bells.

“We ring our bells as a part of our worship, just like singing, praying and preaching the Word of God,” they wrote in a statement.

Unless you're holding services every half hour throughout the day, that argument really doesn't hold water.

“It's frankly a little bit astonishing,” said ADF attorney Gary S. McCaleb, contending the case violates the church's First Amendment freedom of religion. “It's very clearly an expression and outworking of their faith.”

But Phoenix officials and some of the church's neighbors see it differently.

“It wasn't an isolated incident. It happened repeatedly,” said City Prosecutor Aaron Carreon-Ainsa.

Al Brooks, who lives behind the church, offered a more vivid description. “We were living in a bell tower.”

And, see, here's the thing. These people were here first. You moved into Their neighborhood. I f they don't want bells ringing at all hours, you should have the decency to knock it off. If, for instance, I moved into an apartment across the street from an existing church, I probably don't have much right to complain about the bells. Just like if you buy a house near the airport, you can't really complain about the airplane noise. But if the guy across the street decides to build an airport in his backyard, he's going to have a problem with me! That's right, Fred! You heard me! You better not build no stinking airport! I'm not afraid of you!

But I digress.

Some neighbors liked the bell, church leaders said. They heard from people who set their clocks by it, and a postman who used it to time his rounds.

But, Brooks pointed out, none of those people lived next to the bells. He and other immediate neighbors contacted a company that manufactures electronic church bells to ask what distance they should be played from residences. The response: 400 feet.

Brooks' house is 40 feet from the bells.

So, my point is, this church was not being discriminated against. The law is about noise, not religious belief. If Al Brooks decided he wanted to put a carrilon on his front lawn and ring in the new day every morning with a "Sound of Music" medley, he would be violating the noise ordinance same as the church. The ADF just wants the church to get special treatment. They want to be exempt from the law. Just like they want to be exempt from IRS regulations that apply to every non-profit. The Red Cross is not allowed to send out fliers saying "vote for Smith," or "Vote against Jones" without giving up their non-profit status. Neither is the American Heart Association, or the World Wildlife Fund." The same rule applies to your churches. And to you, not getting special treatment is equivalent to being discriminated against. Which is typical wingnut thinking.

I Am Shocked, SHOCKED!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

More Wacky Palin Family Antics!

According to the Calgary Herald, Palin told her audience that, “My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse. Believe it or not – this was in the ‘60s – we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he burned his ankle in some little kid accident thing and my parents had to put him on a train and rush him over to Whitehorse and I think, isn’t that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada.”

Okay, Ms. Palin, I know you think that's kind of a cute little story, but here's the thing:

Your family lived in Alaska. Alaska is part of the US, not Canada.

Therefore, your family paid taxes to the US governmnet, not to the Canadian government.

Which means that when you were "Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada,” you were getting care that was paid for by the citizens of Canada. Which makes you a cheat and a thief. Well, not you so much as your parents, because you were 5 years old, but you were the beneficiary of this theft. I guess socialized healthcare is Ok as long as it's someone else's tax dollars funding it?


P.S. How did anyone from this family make it through the death panel?

Carrie Prejean is a Traditional Girl.

Dammit, I wish Carrie Prejean would quit making me aware of her existence!



She's in the news again:

RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively that Prejean, famous for her conservative Christian views and opposition to same-sex marriage, is living with Boller in his Del Mar, Calif. home.ome

.
A source close to the couple confirmed to RadarOnline.com that Carrie has indeed moved in. “She’s living there. He’s remodeling the house and she’s helping him.”

Yes, Ms Prejean has taken the principled stand that only heterosexual, one man / one woman couples should be allowed to shack up and, to use the Old Testament phrase, fornicate.
You know, like God intended. What could be a better defense of "traditional" marriage than an as-yet-unmarried couple co-habitating?

"hey, at least I'm not some horrible lesbian," said Ms. Prejean. "Old Testament laws don't apply to today's modern world, except the stuff about homos! God really hates that homo stuff!"

(quote fabricated, obviously)


Also, only decent, God-fearing hetero women are allowed to expose their nipples in public.



And I really have to agree with her on this point. If I see one more heathen, atheist, lesbian nipple on a public beach, well. . . wait what were we talking about? Boobies? I think?
heeheeeheee, "boobies!" That's a naughty word!

It's Just So Predictable

It happens with such regularity that it barely even qualifies as news anymore. The more a politician talks about "family values," the more you can assume that he can't keep it in his pants.

This time, it's California Assemblyman
Mike Duval (R [of course]-Yorba Linda)
According to the Orange County register, "he has received a 100 percent rating for his “family values” voting record from the Capitol Resource Institute, an anti-gay lobbying group based in Sacramento."
So it should come as no surprise that the married Mr. Duval was caught on tape bragging about his TWO MISTRESSES. And using R-Rated language to boot.

WARNING: Audio is NSFW






If you don't want to play the audio, here's a little excerpt:

“She wears little eye-patch underwear. So, the other day she came here with her underwear, Thursday. And so, we had made love Wednesday — a lot! And so she’ll, she’s all, ‘I am going up and down the stairs, and you’re dripping out of me!’ So messy! … So, I am getting into spanking her. Yeah, I like it. I like spanking her. She goes, ‘I know you like spanking me.’ I said, ‘Yeah! Because you’re such a bad girl!’