http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2007/... /

In this op/ed piece, Joe Conason puts the smackdown on religious intolerance, who is more prone to practice it, and why we should be gravely concerned about electing people who would insist that "freedom requires religion," among other things.

Dec. 7, 2007 | Distasteful as all the Bible thumping and ostentatious piety of the Republican presidential aspirants certainly are, the time may have come to address their religious pretensions directly, instead of turning away in mild disgust. For the truth is that no matter how often candidates like Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee promise to uphold the Constitution and protect religious freedom, they are clearly seeking to impose the restrictive tests of faith that the nation's founders abhorred.

The most egregious offender against basic American civics today is Huckabee, who told a group of students at Liberty University, the center of higher learning founded by the late Jerry Falwell, that his sudden rise in the Iowa polls is an act of God. He compared the improvement in his political fortunes to the New Testament miracle of the loaves and fishes. He wasn't joking, as both his demeanor and his words demonstrated.

The Rev. Huckabee has proved willing to risk his oversold reputation as the "nice" evangelical with a primary strategy that draws attention to his qualifications as a "Christian leader," in contrast to the suspect Mormonism of Romney. Huckabee was honest enough not to deny that he believes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a cult -- and in fact, many if not most of his fellow Southern Baptists regard the LDS church as a satanic cult.

In response, Romney delivered an address that simultaneously pleaded for religious tolerance and urged intolerance of what he termed the "religion of secularism." The former Massachusetts governor at once declined to discuss the specific dogmas of his own faith while seeking to convince the bigots in his political party that, like them, he accepts Jesus Christ as the Son of God and his Savior. (Actually, Mormon beliefs about Jesus, which Romney insists he will not abandon, are considerably more complicated than his speech implied and bear little resemblance to the theology of orthodox Christianity.)
--clip--

Check it out....

Now we know. It's the peroxide, stupid!

It's far more interesting that Wal-Mart (a known Gilded-age-style robber-baron corporation) is pushing energy-saving light bulbs than that Al Gore (a known champion of conservation) is doing so.

Of course, the real story is that the (1) price of these bulbs is no longer cost-prohibitive and (2) the light produced by these bulbs is as good that from an incandescent bulb. My house has been full of them since about 2001 (when they were eight bucks apiece), and I replace maybe one bulb every couple of years. So I say reward good corporate behavior and buy some of Wal-Mart's newfangled swirl bulbs, if you haven't already made the switch.

There were Democrats on EVERY row of the ballot. I flipped the levers slowly, to savor it. Then I pulled the big lever to open the curtain and register my vote, heard the "ding" that indicated that my votes had been counted, and it was sweet. Sweet, I tell you. There was a spring in my step afterward as I perused the offerings of the little old ladies running a bake sale at the other end of the room. I bought some peanut butter cookies, got in my car, and sped off to work. As I drove, I noticed that everyone else was driving a little faster than usual, not as if they were in a hurry, but as if they were in a really good mood.

It must be nice to have an unlimited pile of cash to send people stuff they already know is bullshit. Not that it matters much. This one is about the phone sex wrong number call. Oh, and someone on his staff found a strip club while at a conference.

Total cost to New York taxpayers, for those of us who are keeping score:

Phone sex: $1.50
Strip club: $0.97
Total: $2.47

Gee, I wonder what my share of that $2.47 is. I bet I could buy as much as three drops of gas for my car.

The NRCC should just stop it. It's getting embarrassing, and now I have these really entertaining jpeg scans to share with the RAI community. And DU. And DailyKos. And whoever else gives a damn. Do Democrats send garbage like this in the mail? I haven't seen it yet.

As previously stated, this one was thoroughly debunked about a week ago. TV stations won't play it because they already know it's bullshit. We're still laughing our asses off at how stupid the Republicans think we are.
>
I don't know what they were trying to say with this one. Arcuri's office spent more money to put bad guys in jail. That's not exactly a liberal agenda item. Considering his conviction rate was around 90 percent, that's money well-spent, and even conservatives agree with that assessment. Besides, last I checked, the state legislature and the Governor Pataki are the approving authority for spending increases.
>
I don't have the one about the rapist the grand jury let go anymore. It's too bad. That one also came about a week after the Observer-Dispatch debunked it.

So what's the deal with the direct mail? Is the NRCC so flush with cash that they have money to go around spreading lies that everybody already knows are lies? Somebody ought to send Mike a framed set of these flyers on Election Day, just so he can hold them up when Meier concedes. That would be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060718/...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Internal Revenue Service has been warning churches and nonprofit organizations that improper campaigning in the upcoming political season could endanger their tax-exempt status.

In notices to more than 15,000 tax-exempt organizations, numerous church denominations and tax preparers, the agency has detailed its new enforcement program, called the Political Activity Compliance Initiative, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Under the initiative, the IRS plans to expedite investigations into claims of improper campaigning, no longer waiting for an annual tax return to be filed or the tax year to end before launching a probe. A three-member committee will make an initial review of complaints and then vote on whether to pursue the investigation in detail.

"While the vast majority of charities and churches do not engage in politicking, an increasing number did take part in prohibited activities in the 2004 election cycle," IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson said in a statement. "The rule against political campaign intervention by charities and churches is long established. We are stepping up our efforts to enforce it."

There will be a Memorial Day concert starring some of the usual suspects who usually show up at these things, mostly country "music" stars and a smattering of GOP friendly D-list Hollywood personalities. The link goes to a form where you can post your own eulogy for a fallen loved one to be posted on the site and supposedly read at the event. This is where you all come in.

For those who have actual fallen loved ones to eulogize, this is your opportunity to put the DU stamp on what would otherwise be yet another "give Bush a chance" event. Alternately, you can write up something on someone else whose story has touched you in some way. Either way, we can help drive home the point that these men and women, our best and brightest, died needlessly, for no good reason, and that those who would send our sons and daughters to die in such a way should not be allowed to get away with it, especially on Memorial Day.

The URL with the eulogy form:
http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/reme...

Not to mention a needless subsidy that will be quickly gobbled up by yet more price increases. How about some real leadership instead? How about a "if it has a back seat, it's a car" rule? How about ending the tax incentives on SUV purchases by "businesses?" How about a progressive federal excise tax based on vehicle weight? Or engine displacement? How about a subsidy on fuel efficient cars, REGARDLESS of the under-hood technology?

How about, dare I say it, rationing? Yes, that's an extreme step, but a temporary one, and forcibly reducing demand would be arguably better for consumers than letting the "market" ration gas. Besides, if you were limited to, say, 10 gal. a week per car, you'd find a way to stretch it. Lots of you Prius drivers would be selling your surplus coupons to your dumber neighbors (or on eBay), and that would be OK too, I suppose. It would probably give you a certain sense of smug satisfaction, at the very least.

Including the Supreme Court. And I like my life fine, thank you very much. What I want to know is, since when has "trust" in any government official as an excuse to write bad legislation, make bad rulings, and claim absolute power become a hallmark American value? The very structure of the Constitution is based on a healthy mistrust of each component part of the government. We fought wars to preserve the idea that it is not only OK, but good policy to mistrust the government.

Germans gave Hitler their absolute trust 70-plus years ago, and see where it got them.

Trust is earned, and as far as I'm concerned, Fat Tony hasn't earned it. He's hell-bent on making George W. Bush into some kind of a king, and that makes him unfit to serve on the Supreme Court, and unworthy of my trust.

Folks, my little homemade blog has jumped the goldfish. It never really was much to begin with, so it really doesn't deserve a shark, so a goldfish (with a teeny, tiny laser beam attached to its head) will have to suffice.

Anyway, for a little while there, I was getting a modest amount of traffic. It felt good. Now, all of a sudden, my little back corner of the information dirt path appears to be deserted. I get the occasional lost tourist who stops over for a tank of gas and a road map, but that's about it.

So how did I jump the goldfish? I have no idea, but here's my appeal. Come over for a visit (the link is shown below in my sig) and read my stuff. My writing has improved quite a bit over the last couple of years. Sure, there really isn't much going on to write about right now, but there is still some pretty good content on my site, and I feel it deserves more than the half-hearted perusal and one-line comments of my few remaining regulars. Who knows? Maybe I can be the next DailyKos...or maybe not.