Rowhouse Logic - Breathtaking Inanity

John Danforth:

The problem is not with people or churches that are politically active. It is with a party that has gone so far in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension of a religious movement.

When government becomes the means of carrying out a religious program, it raises obvious questions under the First Amendment. But even in the absence of constitutional issues, a political party should resist identification with a religious movement. While religions are free to advocate for their own sectarian causes, the work of government and those who engage in it is to hold together as one people a very diverse country. At its best, religion can be a uniting influence, but in practice, nothing is more divisive. For politicians to advance the cause of one religious group is often to oppose the cause of another.

Via Just Between Strangers

If you are so inclined and have entirely too much time on your hands, you can go to a forum featuring the candidates for both Philadelphia District Attorney and City controller tonight. I’m not certain that Lynne Abraham will be there but, as of now, Seth Williams will. The event is at 7:30 PM at Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church at 22nd & Spruce Streets. If I can get myself untwisted and in some sort of reasonable condition I’ll be there to check it out and support Seth.

Sitting at home for the last few days has been something of a crash course in just how disgusting all, and I do mean all, of the 24 hour news networks have become. Perhaps it was always so and I’ve just been too busy to notice. I’ve met drunken frat boys, giggling at the sound of their own farts who were more dignified than the morbid squaller of high pitched hysteria and chest thumping that passes for televised news on these stations. Totaly revolting. This topic is discussed at length, and with more eloquence than I ever could, on nearly every political or news blog out there, but seeing it for myself for the first time in years is something of a shock to the system. I need a drink.

I’m pleased to anounce that RHL comes in at number 3 on Google for the search string Santorum is a Moron. I’m not real thrilled with the post that it points to, but that’s neither here nor there. Carry on.

You can call me crazy. You can also accuse me of knowing nothing, since I have no children. But when I read this article, I just couldn’t fathom any parents who would allow their 9 year old daughters to sleep over at the home of a 56 year old man.

We don’t know if the man is a relative, a family friend, or just a complete freak who is into little girls. But we do know that two (count em, two) sets of parents deemed it appropriate to send their children to his house to sleep, otherwise unsupervised.

I know I just ranted about this subject in my last post, but really, how many kids have to be exploited before we wise the fuck up.

Don’t say the Bush economy hasn’t ever done anything for you. From Usa Today:

The recession earlier this decade had one positive impact: Americans’ commutes held steady because fewer people were working.

It’s a bit unsettling to see Philadelphia so high on the list of cities with long commute times, coming in just ahead of Los Angeles(!).

I’m on it. You’re not. Ha ha ha ha. Enough said.

I’ve never had a significant beef with the Boy Scouts of America. It’s not that I agreed with their stance on gays, but I wanted to believe that the organization taught valuable life lessons to young men and boys. And I thought that it remained worthwhile despite some questionable decisions in recent years.

I attended both Brownies and Girl Scouts as a child, and I learned wonderful things, both at my meetings and at camp. Working toward earning the merit badges was fun. If I’d never been a girl scout, I probably never would have learned how to tie a slip knot (not that I remember it now - that’s not the point), I never would have experienced the supremely zen activity of whittling a piece of wood into a smooth shape with my trusty pocket knife, and I certainly never would have learned the words to all those terrific camp songs; John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt, anyone? How about B-I-N-G-O or I Love the Mountains? The girl scouts taught me that raw hot dogs are not bad for you. In fact, they taste just like beef bologna; you know, the pink stuff? And they taught me that swinging from vines, just like Tarzan did, was a whole lot of fun.

I always imagined that the Boy Scouts learned similar stuff and if they had anywhere near as much fun as I had, there was no reason not to give the organization my stamp of approval.

But then I see news stories like this one and I am tremendously saddened. All the wackos in our society who want to prey on the innocent, start out by getting involved in organizations like the Boy Scouts. And we’re worried about the possible influence from gay scouts and scout leaders? How many children have to have their innocence stolen before we realize that straight is not synonymous with moral and gay does not mean perverted?

Just try not to think about it too hard.

Excuse me, but fat ugly hairy men aside, who the hell needs porn on their phone?

Mithras, March 29, 2005

Will Bunch:

It’s becoming more and more clear that as the president travels the country, trying to rally Americans behind his Social Security privatization scheme, that event staff is using lists to deny entrance to legitimate ticket holders — exercising a type of prior restraint even if they merely suspect the attendees will protest for the cameras.

And what happens every time is this: The national media flies into town with the Bush entourage, gets a pithy soundbite or video, and zips back out of town right after the event. Meanwhile, the citizens who’ve been barred from attending go to their local newspaper, and the story finally appears a day or two later, when the big media circus has moved somewhere else.

Your tax dollars at work.

Krugman:

America isn’t yet a place where liberal politicians, and even conservatives who aren’t sufficiently hard-line, fear assassination. But unless moderates take a stand against the growing power of domestic extremists, it can happen here.

From Roll Call Via DSCC and Susan:

Erasing any doubts that they will wage a protracted, scorched-earth campaign to win a Senate seat in Pennsylvania, Democrats and their allies wasted little time last week highlighting what they see as Sen. Rick Santorum’s (R) hypocrisy on the issue of Amtrak funding.

A group of union leaders fired off a letter to Santorum accusing the Republican of flip-flopping and ignoring the needs of his state by recently voting against restoring more than $1 billion in funding for the national passenger railroad corporation in next year’s budget.

Sensing the potential volatility of the issue, the Senator penned an opinion column in Friday’s Philadelphia Inquirer expressing his support for Amtrak funding.

The March 23 letter was signed by 10 national and local labor leaders, most of whom represent transportation trades.

“Simply put, an Amtrak bankruptcy would be a disaster for Pennsylvania, and your vote brings us a step closer to that,� the leaders wrote.

The letter was in response to Santorum’s vote a week earlier against an amendment that sought to restore $1 billion in operating subsidies to Amtrak. The measure, introduced by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), failed by a vote of 52-46.

President Bush proposed in his fiscal 2007 budget that Amtrak’s federal funding be eliminated and that the rail line be placed in bankruptcy as a prelude to restructuring.

…

Amtrak service is an essential part of the state’s economy and transportation system. Philadelphia is Amtrak’s third-busiest station and the company employs more than 3,000 workers in the state. Additionally, eight commuter railroads operate on Amtrak-owned or operated tracks in the Northeast Corridor.

Rick Santorum - Soon to the head of one of any number of right wing think tanks. Don’t be sad Rick - I hear the pay is excelent.

The Poor Man:

Asking oneself “why do they keep playing me for a chump?� is a question that chumps are always asking themselves, a question which answers itself, chumps. Yes, the Republican Party is primarily concerned with A) diminishing the government’s power over large corporations and the very rich, and B) pandering to a sizeable constituency who want to increase the government’s power over every other facet of American life, and over the rest of the world, in accordance with God’s Holy Bible, a book they have not read. Here is the platform of the Texas Republican Party, the party of Bush and DeLay, a platform which proposes to “dispel the “myth� of the separation of church and state�, oh, and eliminate the IRS, the ATF, the EPA, the DoE, HUD, HHS, Education, Commerce, Labor, and the Surgeon General, evict the UN, and teach Creationism in science classes, praise Jesus. That’s the Republican position - or at least the position of those Republicans currently in charge of the party - and it will remain the position of the party, like it or not, until such time as it stops winning elections. Until such time, in other words, as y’all stop acting surprised every time they do what they say they want to do, and stop supporting them.

Mithras Adds:

…You may have thought your interests and the interests of the rich were identical, but you don’t own large chunks of multinational corporations…The fact is, only one side of the aisle is interested in that “make the country a better place” thing, and it’s not the side you are currently on.

I add nothing. Typical.

Have a look at the email that Liberal Avenger sent to Donald Sensing of One Hand Clapping. It’s at the bottom of the post.

As a liberal living in the shadow of the Kennedy Space Center, Sinfonian may well be an endangered species, but he’s not dead yet. After a several month Hiatus, one of my favorite blogs Blast Off! has returned and it’s on fire. Go give it a read and give Sinfonian plenty of encouragement.

Billmon:

The empire no doubt will continue mashing its way forward – until financial treads come off somewhere down the road. American democracy will continue to vegetate in the chronic ward, occasionally moaning or drooling or wetting itself, until someone in authority finally orders the feeding tube pulled out. The Republican Party no doubt will continue to metastasize into an unholy alliance of Christian authoritarians and nationalist xenophobes. Little Green Footballs uber alles. The world, in other words, no doubt will continue heading for hell in a hand basket.

Just a reminder to myself; I really need to do something to make the look of this site something more satisfying than the aesthetic equivalent of the stench of fresh compost and rotten meat. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day.

Via Young Philly Politics, The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed Seth Williams bid for District Attorney. The official announcement will come today at FOP headquarters on Spring Garden Street. This is good news, not only for the psychological impact of the FOP turning its back on Abraham, but it also provides a crucial union endorsement to a candidate that won’t get too many others. The machine does not readily turn on its own. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.

OK, I’ll admit my dirty little secret. I don’t really like politics. In fact, lately, I’m starting to think that I hate politics. I know, how could I confess such a thing on a liberal political blog? I don’t know, maybe the “all Terri, all the time” stuff is warping my brain.

In recent years, I’ve had increasing difficulty identifying where I fit along the political spectrum. I’m absolutely liberal on certain causes, but as I’ve grown older, I find that my conservative upbringing pokes its head out more and more frequently.

Hillary Clinton’s apparent move to the center is particularly intriguing to me. Sure, we all understand that Hillary’s move is all about political gain; no one ever accused Hillary of being stupid or politically naive. I’m curious how others view her strategy, particularly people who lean farther left than me.

I know lots of liberals are encouraging Democratic politicians to try and appeal to the progressive base of the party. Same thing goes for the Republicans and their evangelical Christian base. Can I ask a question? I’ll admit it may be a stupid one. What’s the point of trying to appeal to either party’s base? Are either the far left Democrats or the far right Republicans going to vote for the other party? I seriously doubt it. Now, admittedly, dissatisfied bases will make for very entertaining caucuses and primaries, but once the candidates have been selected, nobody is going to be crossing party lines. And what might happen to these unhappy people in the alienated bases of their respective parties? Well, my hope, and one day I’m confident this will happen, is that they go out and form new, viable political parties to breathe some new life into our political system.

There can’t be just two choices. I have opinions that run the gamut from 1.)The war on drugs is a huge waste, 2.)More cops on the street won’t cut down on crime, 3.)The breakdown of the family has caused serious problems in this country, and 4.)Gay couples (once joined by civil union or marriage) should be afforded identical benefits to married couples and should viewed as good adoptive parents for unwanted children. Clearly, my opinions are all over the place.

Where’s the political party to represent my views?

Oh, there isn’t one?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

The Liberal Avenger says it better than I ever could, so I’ll just steal:

Republicans have become caricatures of the worst liberal fantasy demons they could possibly conjure up. Nanny-state, politically correct, big government, lying, wasteful, intrusive… holding up signs that say “Auschwitz” outside Terri Schiavo’s hospice. They’re everything they’ve been accusing us of being that we never were. Imagine the pride they must feel tonight being part of a confused, cannibalistic, apocalyptic movement with lying sacks of shit like Tom DeLay and Dennis Hastert at the helm.

Wow, they suck.