The Anti-American GOP

How’s that for an inflammatory title?  I think I can support it, though.

Democracy is the philosophy which holds the United States of America together.  The rules apply to all.  We all pay taxes¹, taxes which we, through our elected representatives, have agreed to pay as an admission fee for a civilized country.  We all obey the same laws, laws which we, through our elected representatives, have agreed to obey to make our lives safer.  Yet one of our major political parties, the Grand Old Party, the Republican Party, is attempting to short circuit this grand experiment in self-government.   

Democracy cannot be enforced at the point of a bayonet².  It is a social and governmental compact to which we, as citizens and residents, have agreed.  The idea that all men are created equal, that there are certain inalienable rights which apply to all, requires fealty to the idea that we all must follow the same rules, tolerate the same red tape, stand in the same lines.  We expect there to be no special privileges such as the hochadel of the 1600s enjoyed, such as the lords of England enjoyed, such as the party members of the USSR enjoyed.

But democracy also requires three basic conditions — literacy, free time, and wealth.  And, since the Reagan Revolution of the early 1980s, what has been under attack by the new conservatives?  Education and middle class wealth, and the free time that wealth created.

The Tactics of Authoritarianism: Fear

They (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers call this a new order.  It is not new and it is not order.
                   Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Fearing the ‘Other’

I strongly suspect that (((Wife))) and I scare the shit out of many extremely religious people.  I bet dollars to donuts that my best friend does, too.  Why?  We’re boringly normal.  

Lies and the Resistance to Change

One of the commenters who shows up, repeatedly, on any post involving extending human rights to all human beings — including gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals — is a rather frightening homophobe who goes by the name of Reginald Genovese.  He has a bug (of maybe something much, much larger) up his ass concerning the idea that allowing gay marriage is directly related to the downfall of civilizations, cultures, or economies.  In his latest bit of word salad, he wrote (I guess as a form of proof):

What European nation currently has the highest unemployement rate, the lowest standard of living and the shortest life expectancy is Holland the same nation whose embrace of the perversion of those who broke the social compact lead directly to the slaughter of 70,000 innocents in Srebrenicza, Yugoslavia accoriding to the testimony of one of America’s most decorated officers.

American Jihadists? Yee-Fucking-Ha!!

I have been asked, through email and through comments, why I, as an atheist, give a flying fuck about theists — about what believers do, or think, or believe.  Why do I blog about religion and belief in god(s) if I am an unbeliever? 

There are many reasons I blog.  I blog to help me understand who I am.  I blog to poke fun at political and religious absurdity.  And I blog because I am scared abso-fucking-lutely shitless about the radical right.

I am Shocked. Shocked, I Tell You!

I am amazed.  Shocked.  Aghast.  Mentally obliviated.  Blown away.   Surprised. Why am I amazed, shocked, aghast, mentally obliviated and blown away?

Criminalizing Miscarriages?

On of the things I admire* about the radical religious right wackos is their ability to get you coming or going.  First, they fight tooth and nail against any possibility of teaching our children actual facts about reproduction, sex, and all of the various ways to prevent pregnancy (abstinence, condoms, birth control pills, sponges, aspirin, IUDs).  Then, if a girl and boy do what teenagers do and (because they have been lied to about the effectiveness of birth control) she gets a little bit preggers, they make it as difficult as possible to get a legal abortion (by intimidation (of doctors, nurses and patients at women’s health clinics) or violence (up to (and including) murder).

Out in Utah (a bastion of progressive thought), a new law has just passed out of committee.  The “bill tightens the definition of what an abortion is and removes a legal immunity for women if they intentionally try to have an illegal abortion.” (this (and all others (except where noted)) is from KCPW‘s website). 

The Right is not Right Enough for the Right!

Off the top of my pointy little head, I can think of many, many truly uncomfortable things that I could be doing.  Getting a root canal while listening to rap music is up there near the top.  As is listening to the 1812 Overture played entirely by cats on blackboards.  Nothing that I can think of, however, could be as bad as running for office as a member of the Grand Old Party, forced to please both the religious and political radical right. 

The party has moved so far to the right that a right-winger like McCain or Snow are considered too liberal.  The teabaggers and thumpers are controlling who can, and cannot, be elected as a Republican, and it is based on faith, not fact.  Today, Saint Ronald Himself would not be an acceptable conservative.

 Two cases in point:

The Dangers of Saying “Happy Holidays”

Today, while in uniform (National Park Service), I (not on the clock at the time (I was out to lunch (physically, not just mentally))) wished someone “Happy holidays.”  And got a rash of shit.

D.C. Council Approves Human Rights; GOP Representative Objects

Back in early December, the Washington D.C. Council decided that human rights really do apply to all humans.   The District will be joining Vermont, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut (Maine and California voters (with heavy funding from outside the states) decided that some humans are not eligible for human rights).   

“This is a culmination of the entire gay rights movement,” Richard J. Rosendall, a past president of the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance of Washington D.C., said after the vote. “We have spent many, many, years working toward this.” (from the Washington Post)

Unfortunately, Washington D.C. is not a state.  It is a federal district.  Though they do have home rule now (the days of the U.S. congress voting on parking meter increases is long gone), the congress has 30 days to object.  Luckily, there is no sign of opposition.

Oh.  Wait.