Jan 12 2015
I have 4 articles for you this morning!
First, 3 regarding free speech, consistency, and hypocrisy in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings:
These are the biggest hypocrites celebrating free speech today in Paris
But as Daniel Wickham points out (as amplified by the journalist Glenn Greenwald), many of the 40 leaders attending the rally in Paris don’t have the best record of defending the principle of free speech so viciously attacked earlier this week:
Jump!
Aug 31 2011
Cross-posted at Firedoglake.com and ThomHartmann.com
Rick Perry. Oh My G-d.
I’m a Texan, and I had the misfortune to watch part of Perry’s loudly-publicized “The Response” prayerapalooza a few weeks back. You can see archives of it here (You have to go to Part 2 to see Perry).
The ostentatious praying and public piety. The exaggerated ritualism. The loud caterwauling of his followers–and it struck me: I’m watching a Pharisee.
And that reminded me of some writings in a book he’s apparently never read: The Christian Scriptures (“New Testament”).
Like this one, from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” as recorded in Matthew 6:1-8:
“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Of course, Perry doesn’t have to worry about whether his giving of alms is too public, since he gives only about 1/2% of his income for charitable causes:
“Between 2000 and 2009, he has earned $2.68 million, according to the Houston Chronicle. That’s a lot of means and opportunity to give back to all those who have lost their jobs, suffered through a harrowing addiction or endured a housing foreclosure.
And Texas has plenty of people in need, whether it’s the chronically unemployed in the Rio Grande Valley or the men and women huddled in Austin’s crowded shelters. Yet Perry’s money hasn’t answered many prayers. A review of his tax records from the mid-1990s through 2009 show the governor has contributed very little to charity. When he has, Perry has given mainly to charities connected to his family, and even then, his donations have sometimes been slight. An analysis by the San Antonio Express-News in mid-June reported that of his $2.68 million, Perry ‘gave half a percent to churches and religious organizations, or $14,243.'”
The Express-News goes on to note: “By comparison, Americans averaged gifts of nearly 1.2 percent of their incomes to churches and religious groups from 2004 to 2008, according to Empty Tomb Inc., an Illinois-based research firm specializing in U.S.-church giving trends.”
Feb 22 2011
We are witnessing what may be the birth pangs of nascent democracy in the Middle East. Or, we may be witnessing something else entirely. A region which has long trailed the rest of the Western world in basic freedoms for its citizens is in the process of long-needed transition. What it will be and what form it will eventually take has yet to be established. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we won’t try to transpose our own understanding upon the scene that lies before us. Especially when we contemplate the unknown, we can fall so easily into dichotomies. When comparing two things simultaneously, it is easy to believe that everything must belong to one part or the other, or, failing that, nothing can belong simultaneously to both parts. Egypt is not Libya, nor is Tunisia exactly like Egypt.
Nov 19 2010
I posted the following in an open thread, over at KOS, last night, it’s a local report about another hypocritical grifter trying, apparently, to get on that gravy train of the rush, beck, palin types. He’s either not succeeding or he’s lyin, which would be typical and going along with the grifter con, hitting the easy marks and reaping that wealth.
I’ll add a few more lines to what I posted, why?, well it’s still getting local play, caught it this morning, and this guy apparently needs more press exposure. My duty to help him out so he can make more ‘grifting’.
Nov 17 2010
The celebrity gossip website TMZ has published an immature tirade/flame war involving two of Sarah Palin’s daughters, Willow and Bristol. In it, both Palin daughters frequently exchange profanities with other posters and Willow, aged 14, uses a homophobic slur. This exchange, carried on over Facebook, was in response to a poster’s criticism of their mother’s new TLC show. The whole story would be little more than the softest of soft news, unless their mother had not set herself up to be the eventual leader of the party which claims sole rights over morality. There is a certain gotcha, gutter journalism quality to this story, in keeping with many Palin revelations, but it also fits well within the canon of what we already know about their mother.
Sep 14 2010
Since I moved to Washington, DC, I have obtained piece by piece of a massive jigsaw puzzle. No one bothered to explain the rules, or what the picture is supposed to look like when you’re finished with it, but that’s just not how things work here. Because I don’t believe that truth ought to be granted on a need-to-know basis, I have written about what I’ve uncovered. Perhaps enough of us will chip away at the Sphinx long enough to find the answers to the riddles it holds close to the vest. What follows is another one recently explained.
Sep 03 2010
Whether we’re even conscious of it, we need and desire a means of discernment. We seek a measuring stick with which to compare our own individual perspectives with something close to objectivity. We desire something firm and deeply grounded when the world around us is always changing. Increasingly, Americans view science as the final and ultimate say. To qualify my remarks, I don’t caustically dismiss scientific progress out of hand in favor of religious belief. I do know that science is never static, and that it is a field which is constantly evolving as surely as are all living beings. To place complete, unwavering faith in science is to overlook the continual process of human discovery.
Sep 02 2010
Let me jog your memory, about one of the more memorable things the Former VP said to a ‘fiscally responsible’ Treasury Secretary — right before he fired him …
OnTheIssues.org
[…]
O’Neill said he tried to warn Vice President Dick Cheney that growing budget deficits-expected to top $500 billion this fiscal year alone — posed a threat to the economy. Cheney cut him off. “You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don’t matter,” he said, according to excerpts. Cheney continued: “We won the midterms (congressional elections). This is our due.” A month later, Cheney told the Treasury secretary he was fired.
Source: Adam Entous, Reuters, on AOL News Jan 11, 2004
Maybe “deficits don’t really matter” — whenever the Gophers have the National “Credit Card” in THEIR Pockets — Then it’s Party time, for their friends and buddies in the corporate boardrooms?
Otherwise — it’s “evict the lazy bastards”.
Cut the Funds for something — NOW!
Jul 18 2010
Obama used to insist that the healthcare mandate was not a tax. Now, in court, in fighting state nullification, the Obama Administration says just the opposite.
Jun 02 2010
It’s easy to be outraged at Israel’s outlandish, criminal and immoral behavior. Israel murdered a bunch of peace activists on the high seas with total disregard for international and maritime law. Israel runs the biggest prison camp in the world. Israel is an apartheid state. The current government of Israel is a global pariah.
What’s not to be outraged about?
But what I want to know is where is the outrage against the United States of America who makes Israel look like Utopia?
May 31 2010
James Carville has been all over the news lashing out at Obama for not being strong enough in his response to the BP oil disaster. And with the news that the oil geyser will continue spewing its stuff until August, I don’t blame the man. He is, after all, from Louisiana.
But for some reason I’m not convinced he’s being completely sincere. In fact, Colombia held a presidential election yesterday and (this may seem somewhat bizarre if you don’t know much about him) Carville actually helped the establishment candidate who wants to encourage “foreign investment,” at a time when BP is considering offshore drilling in Colombia’s waters.
A political guru, frequent CNN pundit and a personality who was featured in the well known documentary The War Room, Carville moves in powerful circles in the U.S. What’s less commonly known, however, is that Carville is also a virtual kingmaker in Latin America — indeed, his professional contacts have ranged from Mexico’s Ernesto Zedillo to Brazil’s Fernando Enrique Cardoso to many others.
Crossposted at DKos and other blogs
May 19 2010
Yes, this is Congressman Mark Souder discussing abstinence. The women who is interviewing him is the one who he was having an affair with. Can’t be blamed. Abstinence and hypocrisy makes me horny too: