For Christ 's Sake

I was raised Catholic, and I am not a fan of organized religion these days, but I have to admit I'm really beginning to dig these folks over at the United Church of Christ. They put up these great billboards that take direct aim at all the "Christian" hate and exclusion being spouted from sea to shining sea. (This one is on I-95 in Stratford, CT). Messages like, "No matter who you are or where you are in life's journey, you're welcome here," feature prominently in the church materials. I mean, call me a heretic but doesn't that sound a little bit closer to "Love thy Neighbor" than the following statement, which was spouted last week by "The Reverend" Pat Robertson. "They [liberal academics] are racists, murderers, sexual deviants, and supporters of Al-Qaeda...These guys are out and out communists, they are radicals...they are, some of them killers, and they are propagandists of the first order…you don’t want your child to be brainwashed by these radicals, you just don’t want it to happen. Not only brainwashed but beat up; they beat these people up; cower them into submission."

Damn, I must have missed that class.

So now the cool folks over at UCC are continuing the fight against the radical right on television where, as their president Rev. John Thomas says, "We been dissed and forced to the back of the bus while the righties get all the airtime." So the UCC made a commercial featuring an ejector seat in a pew that quickly "removes" any so-called undesirables from the church--a gay couple, a single mom, etc.--and proclaims, "God doesn't reject people; neither do we." Well guess what? The networks won't show it. The hypocrisy is stunning. It gets me so mad I can't even rant about it. Cruise on over to Street Prophets http://www.streetprophets.com/storyonly/2006/4/6/12191/39547 and read up. It'll piss you off too.

So anyway, in the face of all this, more liberal churches are joining in the fray. I love what Rev. Michael Livingston (quoted in today's NY Times) has to say. It is about as succinct a description of the battle as I've read. "Mainline Protestant and Orthodox churches have been pounded into irrelevancy by the media machine of a false religion; a political philosophy masquerading as gospel; an economic principle wrapped in religious rhetoric and painted red, white and blue."

I'm liking what that says. And if my Irish Catholic ancestors are rolling over in their graves by the very thought of a Left Footer in the family they can relax. I haven't jumped ship yet. But if the Catholics don't start playing like the UCC guys, I'm outa here.

Watch the commercial: http://www.ucc.org/commercial.html

Swing Heil You Nazi Bastard

Encouraging early news out of Pennsylvania today. The lastest poll numbers are in and it seems that the sactimonious Senator Rick Santorum, is 11 points behind his Democratic challenger Bob Casey. The party line split is pretty standard -- 70 percent of Republican's favor Mini Bush; 77 percent of Dems favor Casey. The big news is the independents -- where the race will be won-- a third of the Pensylvania vote. They favor Casey 53 percent to 28. I guess the Indy's aren't too pleased with Santorum's little Terri Shaivo stunt, his "interesting" mortgage arrangements, his flirtation with intelligent design, his K-Street Project to bully lobby organizations into hiring republicans, his wholehearted backing of El Presidente's bid to "save" social security, his refusal to question anything regarding Iraq, his laughable take on ethics, his anti-gay comments, his anti-birth control stance, his attempts to further impoverish the working class by sponsoring a bill that undercut overtime--not to mention his oppressive holier-than-though attitude and his laughable Richie Cunningham haircut.

Come November, Saint Rick is gonna be wishing he saved one of those lobbyist jobs for himself. 

Al Franken - 1 - Fascist Bee-atch - 0

If there is a fight card better than Al Franken vs. Ann Coulter I certainly haven't heard of it. So we know that Al and Ann went at it at for an evening of fun and that my favorite political satirist completely mopped the floor with the lockjawed elitist from Fairfield County. Couldn't have happened to a nicer broad.

Check out Al's PAC:
http://midwestvaluespac.org/ 

As Close As I'll Ever Get

This picture was taken with a cell phone from my office overlooking I-95, which was shut down today twice because of El Presidente's visit to Bridgeport to discuss healthcare issues. With whom? No one in Bridgeport has healthcare. Ooooh. Is that the point? Yeah, whatever. Anyway, there were F-16s flying overhead, 23 cars in the motorcade, and Coast Guard boats with machine guns cruising the Housatonic River. Must be nice to be popular. Crappy picture I realize but then again...crappy president. 

Who Invited Him???

Well apparently Dubya is coming to town tomorrow. I love New Haven mayor John DeStafano's take on the whole thing...all he cares about is the traffic tie-ups it will cause.

Bush visit to cause traffic shutdown

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- State Police urged motorists to avoid one of the busiest stretches of Connecticut highway Wednesday to reduce the delays caused by President Bush's motorcade.

Bush is scheduled to fly into New Haven and speak at 10:55 a.m. in Bridgeport. Police expect to close parts of Interstate 95 between New Haven and Bridgeport sometime before that.

"We do the best we can," State Police spokesman Sgt. J. Paul Vance said. "There's definitely going to be delays and there's nothing we can do to prevent that."

Even on a good day, a minor fender-bender or breakdown can snarl traffic in and around New Haven, causing delays that spill over onto I-91 and into the city where Bush was born.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, a Democrat running for governor, has long complained that highway congestion is slowing business growth in the region.

"I'd want to be in the car with him and point out that he's the only one that travels that highway at more than 20 miles per hour and that Connecticut really needs a fair share of transportation dollars," DeStefano said.

Vance said police would try to limit the disruption but urged motorists to find alternate routes if possible and give themselves more time.

"If they must be in that area," Vance said, "they may get caught in a backup."

DaLong DeLay Towards Justice Begins

Bye, Bye, Bye

Get used to that orange suit Mr. "I Am The Federal Government". DeLay's skin must be roasting things are getting so hot. Why else would he announce he's not seeking reelection, this after beating a bunch of GOP wannabes in his Texas primary a week or so ago (once again proving that Texas is primarily populated with boneheads). But insiders are squealing and his one-time friends are putting as much distance from him as they are from Bush and Abramoff. I expect a tearful Falwell-esque classic conservative public apology anyday now. "Ah have sinned against God and mah countrymen." Blah, blah, blah. Goodbye Tom. Please let the big door hit you on the way out. 

My Arm's Too Fat to Box with God

So today comes the shocking news that American kids are getting too fat for their car seats. For some reason age three seems to be the magic number. Judging from the kid in the picture, that's the age most kids start giving up the bottle and chowing on supersized fries. My question is this: how can any parent look at a child this size and not think there is a problem? And if you can get arrested for not buckling your kid into a safety seat, shouldn't the same rule about endangering the welfare of minor apply when you drag him into a McDonalds every day and call a McNugget dinner?

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=40830