The Cult
Not to sound like a feminazi or anything, but one has to wonder how strongly correlated a patriarchal theology is with monarchy. I mean if the universe was decreed by some big guy in the sky (who had a son on Earth without deigning to defile himself with a woman) from whom all rectitude proceeds, doesn't belief in Him tend to bleed into practical beliefs? If the God/Angels/Prophets/Saints/Vicars/Righteous/Sinners/Damned/Temptors hierarchy undergids all existence, shouldn't we more or less replicate that hierarchy in our government? And don't we basically tend to, consciously or not?
Certainly one of the effects of traditional religion is to infantilize us -- for we are all God the Father's children. And we see that patriarchal cosomology mirrored in the "Conservative" agenda. The people need a leader. Even if he lacks wisdom, learning, and ethics, claiming for himself only the nebulous (and circular) virtue of
leadership, we should follow the man.
But isn't leadership, and aren't leaders, incimical to democracy? Free adult citizens do not elect leaders; they elect
representatives. But fools, who seem to comprise the slim majority of humankind, must find someone among them to worship, somebody with miraculous abilities....
Last question: when did "Conservatism" become a cult?
Money for Nothing
George W. "Gutterball" Bush wants, along with the moon and stars, the
line-item veto so that he can encourage fiscal restraint. This would be the same man who lied us into the Iraq war which, according to the
Pentagon's own figures, is currently running us about $9.5 billion a month, or about $316 million dollars
a day.
Why the Vichycrats are not wearing this figure around their necks and shouting it through megaphones I don't kn.... Oh that's right, they
voted for the war.
Thanks again, fellas. And ladies.
Up without Down, Right without Wrong, or Left
Whenever I hear W talking about the "freedom" he's protecting (or promoting at gunpoint) I want to snicker. Prince Pussyfart knows no more about freedom than he does about String Theory or Fermat. Freedom to him has something to do with "Scot-free," and "free lunch." Then again how
could he know? Nothing in his life has ever acquainted him with freedom's correlative: responsibility. He can no more understand freedom than Catholic kindergardners do
virginity. They just don't have the concepts or context to make sense of it.
"Support" the Troops
Sure these Republican fat cats support the troops, if by that you mean enrich themselves at the troops' expense; if by "support" you mean
suck their blood. Product liability lawyers sometimes ask, as punitive damages, for one day's profit a big corporation makes on a hazardous product, because, even thought that can be a really big number, it sounds a lot like justice to a sensible jury. So, jst think, thanks to Halliburton and the like Dick Cheney is said to be worth about $100 millon -- that would just about pay for one day of the war he lied us into. If there were any justice Dick's dollars would be going to the Treasury sometime very soon. Why not W's $ too?
Another Short Argument Against Theocracy
Some years ago I recall reading of a man who was boating on an Iowa lake when a thunderstorm blew up. Being totally plastered, he took umbrage. He climbed up on the roof of his boat's little cabin and loudly cursed God and then flipped the Almighty off. Not surprisingly he was thereupon stuck by lightning and immolated -- leaving his guests on board nearly insane with fear and shock. Bad boating practice.
Well, here's the opposite sort of
cautionary tale about a fellow who decided to put the Daniel Among Lions Principle to a practical test. Darwin Award with Double Oak-Leaf Cluster for Extra Irony.
Illegal to Export this Device to Country of Its Origin
This is a direct lift from
Mark Kleiman, of UCLA. But, because we can always use a laugh, I had to pass it on:
An old friend writes:
My Mother recently bought a new Dell PC. Its paperwork states that national security laws prohibit the export of either the PC or its OS to a list of proscribed countries, including China. Both the PC and the CD with the OS on it are labeled "made in China."
Footnote: Yes, it's conceivable that this isn't as stupid as it looks. Maybe the PC is assembled in China, and the CD that carries the OS is made in China, but the OS is actually written on to the CD here, and it's the OS that's sensitive. On the other hand, it's also possible that this is precisely as stupid as it looks. Kleiman's commenters confirmed, not surprisingly, possibility number 2.
Above: the man I now nominate to replace Washington on the dollar.
A Short Argument Against Theocracy
Upon Hearing Scripture Bullhorned from the Capital Steps
God judgeth the righteous; and is angry every day.
Psalms: 10:11
A prayer in public’s like a curse in church,
the context toxifies the words.
The truth’s enacted though an inward search,
it’s prostituted if it is coerced.
I suspect the Devil loves faith worn on sleeves,
showing whose refusal he need not believe.
The spawn is always pain, death, hate
when gods and government miscegenate.
