2005
"Take Him Out," as in Dinner at Applebee's?
Three days ago on The 700 Club, the pious, bloodthirsty idiot Pat Robertson said this about Venezuelan president Hugo Ch�vez: "You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." Robertson urged the United States "to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
Yesterday on that show, the pious, bloodthirsty, lying idiot Robertson denied having called for Ch�vez's assassination: "I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' 'Take him out' could be a number of things including kidnapping." ("Robertson Apologizes for Ch�vez Remarks," Associated Press, 8/25/05)
Really, Robertson--we know what you really mean by "take him out." If our country kidnapped Ch�vez, do you think it would let him live, or release him so he could continue running Venezuela? The Bush administration hates Ch�vez for his refusal to let U.S. corporations run Venezuela (as they do with every other Latin American country) and for his interest in (gasp!) social programs for the poor. The Bush administration has ties to the failed 2002 coup against Ch�vez, in fact.
Imagine how Robertson would react if Ch�vez advocated assassinating Bush, then lied about it. Imagine how Robertson would react if Venezuela tried to topple our government.
August 23, 2005
You Can't Spell "Poisonous" without P-I-O-U-S
Yesterday, Pat Robertson suggested on his TV show The 700 Club that the United States assassinate Venezuelan president Hugo Ch�vez to stop the spread of "communist infiltration and Muslim extremism." Robertson thought having "covert operatives do the job" of murdering Ch�vez would help our country financially and economically: "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war...and I don't think any oil shipments would stop." ("Televangelist Calls for Assassination of Ch�vez," Associated Press, 8/23/05)
Pious, bloodthirsty idiots like Robertson (and his pious, bloodthirsty, idiot idol George W. Bush, whom Robertson thinks has received "the blessing of heaven"--see my October 24, 2004, blog entry) have thrived in America's more-poisonous-than-usual political atmosphere not just because so many pious, bloodthirsty idiots live here. The news media, for a variety of reasons (corporate control, laziness, fat paychecks, fear of government reprisal) have failed to alert more civilized citizens to the dangers American authoritarianism poses to lives and freedom worldwide. Less docile reporters would ask Robertson what he means by "communist infiltration and Muslim extremism", and what proof he has that Venezuela has spread them, and why he thinks those actions merit violating national and international laws against government-sponsored assassination, and if he would support assassinating the heads of pro-U.S. (i.e., pro-corporate) states who started showing insufficient loyalty to our country, and if he would care about Venezuela if it didn't have any oil, and how his ecstatic support for state slaughter meshes with the teachings of that guy named Jesus whom he says he worships.
August 18, 2005
Just Half, Rush? You've Grown Soft-Hearted!
"I'd like to import the ability that the Brits are doing to export and deport a bunch of hate-rhetoric filled mullahs and imams that are stoking anti-American sentiment. Wouldn't it be great if anybody who speaks out against this country, to kick them out of the country? Anybody that threatens this country, kick 'em out. We'd get rid of Michael Moore, we'd get rid of half the Democratic Party if we would just import that law. That would be fabulous. The Supreme Court ought to look into this. Absolutely brilliant idea out there."--Rush Limbaugh, from his radio show, August 11, 2005
Yes, Michael Moore's ballcaps have built-in shortwave radio transmitters that broadcast messages about American military operations to the Iraqi insurgents: "Camp Pre-Amputee will launch an attack on the Fallujah vegan co-op at oh-four-thirty tomorrow...Bring chips and Hawaiian Punch..."
Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and many, many other right-wing freedom-haters (and bashers of the liberal media) now comprise the mainstream punditocracy. The American government can't slide into great, fabulous, brilliant authoritarianism too quickly for them. Re. yesterday's blog entry: what to do when the troglodytic area you live in has become the entire country--participate in left-wing political organizing (or blogging) and risk suffering government oppression (I know, don't flatter myself), or stay quiet and withdraw into your private aesthetic universe of narcotizing irony?
August 17, 2005
Conked Out
The Beaver County Times does not print any racist or anti-Semitic columns. It apparently has no problem with homophobia, though.
On August 13, the paper's From the Pulpit feature consisted of an anti-gay rant from the Reverend John Conkle, Sr., a local Baptist pastor.
He states that the god he worships, God, neither created nor likes homosexuality, lesbianism, or bisexuality: "People who commit such sinful acts and die in that twisted, crippled state of mind will not make it to heaven." Same-sex love "is a cancer" that "only one great and powerful physician", Dr. Jesus, can cure.
Never mind that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, lesbianism, or bisexuality.
Instead, I have a few questions for Conkle and and the other Christian homophobes whose writing appears in the Times:
� Do you agree with the Biblical passage Leviticus 20:13, which calls for the death penalty for homosexuals?
� If you do agree with that passage, do you think the United States start executing gay people?
� If executing gay people were legal, would you personally kill any gays, lesbians, or bisexuals?
And I have a question for Christian gays, lesbians, and bisexuals:
Why do you belong to a religion that wants you dead?
The above piece first appeared, in slightly different form, as a letter in today's issue of the Beaver County Times. Reprinted by permission. Anti-gay letters from "Conkle and...other Christian homophobes" often appear in that newspaper, along with very few pro-gay letters. I just ask for some balance...and for a less troglodytic area in which to live.