Factual Ignorance, Left-wing Bias or Anti-Christian Bigotry?

I link, you decide.

Tar Heel Tory's link doesn't take you directly to the story [video], but I found it via Google's cache. I make no promises as to how long my link will be good for.

Yes, in the video it does look like JJ Ramber is trying very hard to pillory Hayes for his remarks, and that her two interviewees are trying to downplay the issue. Tar Heel Tory wants us to believe that Hayes was quoted out of context, but does not provide us with a complete transcript of Hayes' remarks. Anyone out there in Conservative Blogoland want to point me to one?

THT goes on to say:

What Congressman Hayes was speaking about was the exportation of Christian values to Iraq – not Christianity itself, or the forcible conversion of Iraqi Muslims to the Christian faith.

Um, dude, peace on earth and goodwill towards all are values of a number of major and minor religions, not just Christianity. The fact that the good Congressman tossed in “Everything depends on everyone learning about the birth of the Savior” suggests he's proselytizing, and proselytizing for Christianity, if you ask me. But then I'm a godless humanist living in the Bible Belt, constantly fending off other peoples' attempts to save my mortal soul, so I could be overly sensitive here.

There's a discussion down in the comments section comparing Congressman Hayes' speech at Rotary Club meeting to Congressman Ellison's speech at a conference of Muslims. Not a valid comparison, I say. Speaking about specific religious values at a gathering of, for, and about your co-religionists is fine, but Rotary International frowns on dissing the beliefs of others. Let's hope that Hayes was just an invited speaker and isn't himself a Rotarian.

[ just an aside on the death penalty ... ]

I was skimming this article and decided to vote. This is what the results looked like at the time [yes, I'm in the 21%]:

Okay, now I'm just annoyed.

First it was these guys. Then it was this guy. And these guys. To be fair, there were some others, but you get the idea.

But it's not really them [or not just them] that I find annoying. It's the realization that like colored folk and women, gays are acceptable to the public at large if they consent to remain cute, loveable, manageable, harmless pets.

I dunno. Possibly I'm over-reacting. It could just be that I can't see beyond the borders of my picturesque and picaresque home in the Redneck Riviera, where prejudices of all stripes still run amok.

Farm Subsidies, Part I

I'm still wading though this little bit of light reading from the WaPo.

Dear Santa Claus:

I've been very nice this year. I can even provide references. Please may I have a lump [or two] of coal in my stocking for Christmas?



On second thought ...

Coal mining is hazardous to people, hazardous to the environment, and not especially kind to the landscape.

Plus, we need that coal to make electricity. Oh, wait! We could get our electricity from nuclear power, and store the nuclear waste in the abandned coal mines, once we've got all the coal out. Preferably somebody else's abandoned coal mines.

And coal mining provides jobs. Jobs that can't be off-shored. A boon for the economy, no more unemployment worries! I mean, it's not like somebody in Pakistan or India could sit down with a computer monitor, gaming console, joy stick or what-have-you in hand, and operate a bunch of robots here in US coal mines. Oh, wait.



[sigh ...]

There's more. Stay tuned.

Holy cow!

Tom DeLay has a blog.

From the About section at TomDeLay.com:

The importance of the blogosphere in shaping and motivating the current conservative movement is unquestionable- not only has it served as an important tool in breaking through the liberal MSM clutter but it has helped to keep our elected officials true to principle.

This blog is meant to further the online discussion in the marketplace of ideas.

Dude! Guess what! We liberal bloggers feel the same way about our blogosphere: it's been an important tool in breaking through the illiberal MSM clutter.

I'm guessing that my ideas aren't going to be welcome in that there marketplace.


I did get a chuckle from this blurb about his latest project, G.A.I.N.:

Become an elite activist by applying to be apart [sic] of Tom DeLay's grassroots network.

Elite? Grassroots? Isn't the point of a grassroots movement that anybody can join? The unwashed, the untouchables, the rabble, the hoi polloi?

At least he's not lying about the elite part. You have to submit an application to join G.A.I.N., complete with references.



thanks, Timothy Noah and Slate

Christmas Wish List

I belong to a largish clan, well-scattered over the 50 US states, and [mostly] we all like each other. We [mostly] all like each other enough to enjoy exchanging Christmas presents.

But with dozens of cousins and such all over the West, Midwest, Alaska, Hawaii, and even that outpost of civilization, Washington DC, I was spending beaucoup bucks on presents, wrappings, boxing and shipping.

We're all more or less middle class, comfortably well off, and can usually go out and buy whatever we want. Besides, none of us needs more stuff.

So, several years ago, we all decided to take whatever money we wanted to spend on a person and donate that amount to the charity of that person's choice. Or to the charity of our own choosing, if our loved one[s] expressed no particular preference.

My wish list this year:

adopt a panther
adopt a kid
set somebody free
help somebody live their final days as well as possible



If you would like to donate to a charity, but wonder if your money will be used wisely, you can always check them out on the web:

Give.org
CharityWatch.org
CharityNavigator.org
even the government [FTC] is watching out for us

Genocide

from one side
from another side