David Barton is not good at understanding things.

It's been well established that "historian" David Barton doesn't understand history. That's why he's Glenn Beck's favorite "historian." Turns out, he doesn't understand Christianity either, which wouldn't be a big deal if he wasn't a Christian Dominionist.

(via)

Barton: Look at Jesus. I mean, Jesus in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 and the Minas in Luke 19, you know he lines the guys all up and says "I gave you an investment, what did you do with it? 'I did nothing with it.' 'I gave you, what you'd do?' "I turned five-fold.' 'I gave you, what you'd do?' 'I turned ten-fold.'" He says "Okay, take away from the guy who didn't do anything with the investment and give it to the guy who had ten."
Whoa, that's not fair! Jesus said "to him who has will more be given, to him who has not will be taken away even that which he has."

Green: I think the message version of that says to the one that's picketing down on Wall Street and not working, we're taking from you now and we're going to give it to the Wall Street guy.

Barton: You're not productive. We're ain't giving [to] you if you're not productive and that's the message. The way it's supposed to work is if you're productive, it's going to trickle down to you. But if you think the guy who had ten is going to trickle down to the guy who didn't do anything with his one, Jesus says it's not going to happen that way.
It does not trickle down. As as matter of fact, it will trickle up. If you are not productive, I'm going to give it to someone who is and he's going to get more.

Of course, anyone who knows anything about Jesus knows that he isn't actually talking about money in this parable.  A parable is basically an extended metaphor. He's talking about people using their skills or talents to recruit new members to Christianity. Because when Jesus actually talks about money literally, he says things like:



Matthew 19:21-22: "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven

You cannot serve both God and Money."

-Matthew 6:24

'I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'"

-Matthew 19:23-24

And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” 
-Luke 3:11

Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.
 -Luke 6:30

You know, all that hippie, socialist stuff.
Taking away from the poor and giving to the rich?
This guy?

 

It's okay, little lambie. I'm going to give you to a wealthy banker!

Why is this lunatic allowed on TV?

This is just from the last couple of days:

Bachmann: The ACLU Is Running The CIA Under Obama

 

And they're both stealing my thoughts and putting words in my brain!

"[Obama] is allowing the ACLU to run the CIA" Bachmann asserted. "We have decided we are going to lose the war on terror under Obama."

It's almost impressive, how she's able to come up with this stuff.

Then there's this little exchange from Meet the Press:

MR. GREGORY: No, no, let me just make the point. Your view that waterboarding should be reinstituted, you understand that puts you at odds with most of the generals, OK, the former Republican nominee of your party John McCain, General Colin Powell. You realize you're on the opposite end of what they believe? Do you not trust them and their views?

REP. BACHMANN: Well, but what, but I, but I'm on the same side as Vice President Cheney on this issue, and others as well. Because, I, again, what we're looking at is what will save American lives. And that's what the most important thing is. We've got, we've got to decide that we want to defeat the terrorists.

 

Hey, I'm on the same side as a disgusting, evil bag of scum who knows nothing about the subject!

And the topper:

I believe that Iraq should pay us back for the money that we spent. And I believe that Iraq should pay the families that lost a loved one several million dollars per life...
MR. GREGORY: All right.
REP. BACHMANN: ...I think, at minimum. 

 

I must remember to send Fat Tony a check!

Aaaaand, she thinks we should be more like China.

 

She has a point. Those are some snappy uniforms.

Bachmann added: "If you look at China, they don't have food stamps. If you look at China, they're in a very different situation. They save for their own retirement security... They don't have the modern welfare state and China's growing. And so what I would do is look at the programs that LBJ gave us with the Great Society and they'd be gone."

So on the one hand, we'd lose Medicare, Medicaid and the Consumer Protection Agency. On the other hand, we'd have, um. . . a great leap forward? 

By the way, how's that whole "saving for their own retirement" thing working out for ya, China?

An elderly Chinese woman collects scraps of wood for cooking, near the Yangtze river city of Jiujiang. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images) 

 

 

Yeah, that looks way better than foodstamps!

Michele Bachmann is a national fucking disgrace.

Why do people keep giving her a platform?

Caturday -- Kitten Covers

Stolen, not surprisingly, from The Kitten Covers Tumblr