Prostrate Yourselves, O Ye Unworthy!

Had we not abandoned the old ways, the Newtown massacre never would've happened. Had we not abandoned the path of truth of the Mighty Cthulhu in schools for the effete religion of the demigod Jesus, let alone the foolishness of atheistic "liberty," there would be no violence in our schools. Instead, the heads of our mortal enemies, the Islamofascists and Mexicans, would ring the Pentagon as a warning to all those who would tread on our sacred forests and lands! Hail the Mighty Cthulhu! All hail!

God, Guns, and Hucksters

Today, the world mourns the loss of 27 people slaughtered by yet another mentally disturbed man with easy access to armaments. Is the problem that, as The Onion put it, our "government-protected right to own a portable device that propels small masses of metal through the air at lethal rates of speed"? No, says Snakeoil Spokesbot Mike Huckabee:

We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we’ve systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage because we’ve made it a place where we don’t want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability? ...one day, we will stand before a Holy God in judgment. If we don’t believe that, then we don’t fear that.

That's right, it's all about God--and fear thereof. Presumably, the Lack of God in movie theaters, malls, and other public spaces is also to blame for our nation's pastime of wholesale murder. Given that by "God" Huckabee means the personal kind that is "holy" and judges people for doing shit, as if they somehow stood separate and apart from Him (not Her!), one wonders what Huckabee thinks of the U.S. Constitution, which forbids the government establishment of religion.

That said, let's assume for a moment that Mr. Huckabee is right. We need more God in public schools. There is a simple way to do this while remaining within the strictures of the First Amendment: teach Comparative Religion. Students can learn to define God as practically anything they want, from the fundamental energy of nature, to Shiva the Destroyer, to Lucifer, to The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, to their inner selves. Students can learn that somehow by "becoming gods," they answer to no one yet are fully responsible for their actions. They can learn to pray for trinkets from a Universal Santa--and be sure to pray correctly, lest His Bearded Eminence fill their stockings with West Virginian coal. They can learn to appreciate the impersonal connectivity of all that exists and to "be" the moss in the back yard. They can learn to ask favors of Voodoo's Papa Legba in exchange for pouring cane syrup on the floor. Or they can ask Jesus to save their hellbound souls. 

They can also learn that there is zero need to believe in any God at all.

But it's clear that such a broad religious education would not satisfy Mssr. Huckabee and friends. For some reason, they think that returning a vague monotheistic deity to His (never Her!) Rightful Throne on the local school board will somehow prevent people from massacring each other, even though massacres happen the world over. Somehow they reason that supposed knowledge of "God" in American schools will solve the problem of easy availability of firearms, despite the fact that the Middle East is awash in both arms and God, and God knows everything's hunky-dorey over there.

That's a monotheistic God, by the way, whether He's called Allah or Yahweh, who is presumably holy and before whom devotees must live in fear of judgment. And yet that doesn't stop the locals from butchering women and children. Does anyone in their right mind think that more God would bring peace?

Why then would more God bring peace here?

I imagine such a God might offer the following advice for Mr. Huckabee: "Have you thought of doing something about all those guns?"

WW4

This is an interesting site tracking resistance to neoliberal corporate policies (as in OWS).

Bank Transfer Day

November 5 is apparently the day to say "fuck you" to your ginormous banking conglomerate.

Archives

I'm not sure what's going on, but the dates in the archives are all screwed up.

The Satanic Verses

The book I read that got me writing books. Happy 20th Anniversary.

Truth and Consequences

Plenty of people have written eloquent, unassailable arguments for why we're obliged to prosecute the lawbreakers of the previous Administration. Here is another.

What Cooked the Economy?

A wide-ranging explanation of why we're hemorrhaging money.

On Eve of Bailout, Vitter Proposes Wage Reduction for Prostitutes

Fitzgerald to Pre-Indict Next Illinois Governor

Michael Moore Would 'Go Naked' for Right Role

What, you want a story after that?

John McCain Appointed Guardian of White House Lawn

RIP Paul Newman

Who doesn't wish they could live that long and that well, and give the world such a legacy?

The Real War

Some disturbing clips of a Baghdad journalist's return to his home town. (h/t Raw Story.)

Video Clips from Iraq

Crooks 'n Liars found this revealng post of YouTube clips from Iraq. Won't see this stuff on the teevee.

What a Surprise

Seems the CIA was protecting recently captured Serbian war criminal Rodovan Karadzic for years. Boy, would I like to know why. According to the report, the deal was that he'd have informal protection and immunity from arrest as long as he stayed out of Serbian political affairs. But he jess couldn't hep hissef:

"Karadzic, indicted for genocide and war crimes, was under the US protection until 2000, when the CIA intercepted his telephone conversation that clearly proved he personally chaired a meeting of his old political party," the daily quoted a "well-informed US intelligence source" as saying.

I guess there wasn't a Politicians Anonymous in Serbia....

Tying up Loose Ends

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the gov't claims that a guy you've never heard of, a Mr. Bruce E. Ivins, a scientist with anthrax-access at Fort Detrick, Maryland, where we knew the Ames strain of anthrax used in the post-9/11 anthrax attacks* came from, committed suicide right before being charged with being behind such attacks. Allegedly, Mr. Ivins was depressed for the last month or so before his death. His alleged method of suicide was a combination of "prescription Tylenol and codeine."

Our astute AP reporter neglected to mention that:

1. The first wave of attacks targeted media outlets. Why?
2. The second wave targeted two Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D., S. Dakota) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D., Vermont), both of whom were carefully examining the pending Patriot Act and expressing the unlikelihood that they would pass it.

Our astute reporter then failed to ask:

1. When Ivins' brother "sang like a canary" to the Feds, what did he say?
2. What would Ivins' motive have been? Does anyone know or claim to know?
3. What would Ivins have been trying to accomplish?
4. Why, if Ivins did it, did he perform the alleged attacks so soon after 9/11? Did he merely take advantage of the situation? (If so, see #3).
5. Could Ivins, if guilty, have been subcontracting for another entity? (If so, see #2.)

There's far more to the story than this, all of which has long ago been reported. Randi Rhodes has them here, in case any actual journalists care to read the background information necessary to doing their fucking jobs. And, no, I didn't get the above ideas from her. Two of the most important articles in her list are likely this and this. Let's just say money, Dick Cheney, Saudi Arabia, and some intelligence folks appear to've been involved.

*Bububut there haven't been any terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11! Oh, wait....

UPDATE: Brad Friedman has a long post on the coverage of today's story.

It's a Class War, Stupid

The single best article I've ever read on the state of the country and how our presidential campaigns never address it. A must read.

Bush Cronies not Immune from Supoenas

Shocking ruling from a Federal judge today. You mean...there's more than one branch of government?

blogsturbation

"Blogging is like masturbating in front of a mirror while you're videotaping it so you can maturbate to it later."

--Lewis Black, Root of All Evil, 7.30.08