Look out anti-christ, you're about to get your shit ruined.
[UPDATED]
[UPDATED AGAIN]
1. You may have seen this article about the FBI conducting raids on the Christian militia group Hutaree in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. According to the USA TODAY:
On its website, Hutaree quotes several Bible passages and states: “We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. … Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment.”
Now I’m only nominally a Christian, but I did spend 12 years in Catholic school and I don’t recall any bible passages about acquiring weapons to defeat an Anti-Christ [gee, I wonder who they have in mind?]. And at what point does god/allah come down to clarify a few issues? You know, like abortion, torture, war, guns, etc. If there is a god, s/he must be pleased as punch to see these wingnuts ad-lib the message. It reminds me of an Onion article titled “Radiohead denies influencing local band”. And why do these militia assholes only seem to emerge when Democrats are in office?
The Hutaree militia apparently plotted to kill police officers and bomb a funeral home. Does this make them terrorism suspects who should be thrown into the Guantanamo/Bagram legal black hole? Should they be tortured? Or does that only apply to foreign suspects?
Anyway, I can’t think of anything more disturbing than the prospect of apocalyptic militias stock-piling weapons to fight “the anti-christ”. At least our elected officials and political pundits are doing all they can to quell the violent rhetoric. Oh wait…
2. Harry Shearer makes the salient observations about Obama’s photo-op appearance in Afghanistan. Who are we fighting over there? And for how long? And what does Obama mean by “victory”? Who knows! Indeed, this war is killing/maiming thousands of innocent people and costing (literally) untold billions, but Obama wants to avoid the political fallout from our eventual withdrawal. Sure it’s cowardly and morally depraved, but it’s the politically savvy move. [Yes we can!]
3. Please, please, please tell me that Duke isn’t going to win the national championship. For Exhibit 357 why Duke blows, see the Baylor game when Blue Devil guard Jon Scheyer swung his elbow at a Baylor player, drew a technical, and smugly smiled as he walked away. How can we guarantee a Duke loss to West Virginia? The only 100% stone-cold lock is me wagering $100 on the Blue Devils. Well, America…is it worth it? Should I fall on the sword so we don’t have to witness the insufferable spectacle of Duke fans and players celebrating another title?
[UPDATE I]
4. If Michael Steele keeps this up I might have to start donating to the RNC!
[UPDATE II]
5. How many businesses would like to suffer the same “losses” as the health insurance industry? Not only did they keep their antitrust exemption, but insurers were gifted with over 30 million new customers who will be required to buy their products. And what’s to keep insurance companies from simply raising prices to make up for the minor concessions contained in the HCR bill? Not one god-damned thing. [Who knows if health insurers can survive such progressive reform!] The political discourse in this country is truly bizarre. For another hilarious example, take how AIPAC and its political allies have been filling up the airwaves with claims that Obama is undermining Israel. As the inimitable Glenn Greenwald put it after a hack blogger complained that Obama was subjecting Israel to treatment befitting Equatorial Guinea:
Do you think that Equatorial Guinea, if given the option, would choose to be treated by the U.S. Government the same way Israel is: with billions of dollars of American taxpayer money transferred to them each year, automatic diplomatic protection at the U.N. for anything they choose to do, American-backed loan guarantees, weapons transfers on demand, one-fourth of their bulging military budget provided by the U.S., an American law requiring the Obama administration to maintain their military superiority, a White House Chief of Staff who twice served as a civilian volunteer in their army, and a Speaker of the House who proclaims — in the midst of her own’s government conflict with that foreign country — that the entire U.S. Congress “speaks with one voice” in support of them rather than their own government?
Similarly, last year media outlets consistently reported that Obama planned to slash defense spending when he actually planned an increase. And lest you think I’m being too kind to Obama, perhaps the greatest Orwellian moment came last year when the President won a Nobel Peace Prize after escalating the war in Afghanistan. Thus, it stands to reason that soon I will receive an honorary divinity degree from Harvard and a nomination as one of People Magazine’s 50 sexiest men.
6. Apparently I forgot about the time Jesus was accused of covering up the molestation of gentiles by his disciples. And if Catholics are supposed to “pray for the Pope”, what exactly are we supposed to ask for? Forgiveness? A defense verdict?
