I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Pass the humbugs, please.
Well... the war is over in Iraq - isn't it?
How do these aides know he was face down in prayer? Did they administer a breathalyzer?
"You are what you pretend to be, so be careful what you pretend to be." --K. Vonnegut
Wow. No sweets! That's a sacrafice on par with a limb or a life.
What a turd.
You know, I don't like Bush, and I love Atrios, but I really, really can't imagine who cares about this issue.
Whoops! that was me. not Ann.
Well, I'm just relieved to think that honesty will compel them to include the moment in 1988 when a reporter asked GWB what he talked about with his dad, and he said: "Pussy."
I think that's a pretty important insight into his born-again faith right there. There's no way they'd leave it out.
Shaw, are you saying you're the real Ann Coulter?
You should see MY Adam's apple!!
it's all silly hype, but what Methodist prays face down on the floor? Is this some new technique i've not heard of, a poorly worded phrase by a reporter?
He and Rush now yoga partners?
Combine this with the pretzel incident, and i could imagine some paranoid scenario that Bush is having seizures of some kind. Diabetes? Is the man's health is good as it's reported?
Nothing kills your sweet tooth like heavy drinking.
So Bush is "expansive" is he? Actually, he seems a little manic, expcially when you read the headline to the linked article:
"Bush Says Kim Let His People Starve, Shrink"
---------------
Kim, he told reporters, has "let his people starve and shrink in size" and said it will require patience and allied resolve to coax an agreement out of him giving up nuclear weapons program.
---------------
Funny that he goes to Asia and becomes fixated on height. The last time he visited Asia, didn't he call Kim a pygmie?
Why yes, I do believe he did. Perhaps Bushy is trying to reawaken our Asian allies' fond memories of his previous visit.
"How do these aides know he was face down in prayer? Did they administer a breathalyzer?"
Maybe he was having a temper tantrum. Religious ecstasy and trantrums look about the same to a disinterested bystander. (Come to think of it, so do orgasms...)
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his jubjubes for his friends.
y'know james robison's view of democracy is well known! no wonder bush and him get along.
maybe instead of sweets we can get him to give up invasions for Lent.
face down on the floor sounds more like a muslim prayer.
and giving up sweets, wow! no president has sacrificed as much as him.
No sweets, but the golf game goes on.
dumb, pathetic alcoholic.
"It became known that he refused to eat sweets while American troops were in Iraq, a partial fast seldom reported of an American president."
US Soldier: He's giving it up for me? For me? Oooooooh, I feel like Wally Simpson! He's giving it up for me!
Since he is now eating sweets, our soldiers can come home, right?
Georgus is bound for deification. If Penguin's doing it this it's going to get bad. Expect a number of churches called holy quadrinity any time now.
While our troops are in harm's way, I'd be more comfortable if he stayed ON the sweets and OFF the religion.
Too many butterscotches wouldn't influence policy, but too much religion...? Bleah.
On second thought, let's introduce him to the concept of mortification of the flesh. I mean, if he'e already given up sweets he's obviously ready for a hair shirt and cat o'nine tails. Maybe Laura would help.
"Kim, he told reporters, has "let his people starve and shrink in size"
Actually, Kim is working on an extremely clever method of beating the world overpopulation crisis, developing bonzai people.
How do these aides know he was face down in prayer? Did they administer a breathalyzer?
Did they find any near-by half eaten pretzels?
The only Gods Bush prays too is the K Street lobbyist. Halliburton's lobbist seem to have gotten a majority of Junior's pray time.
evangelical Methodism
two words that just don't really belong together
"What is the president doing face down on the floor?"
"Ah, he's drunk again. Damnit. What are we going to say this time? We used the stupid pretzel idea last time. It was just ridulous enough to work. What can we do that is less silly? Day time nap? Nah. Too Reagan-like. Pilates? Yoga? Nah. Not tough enough. How about praying?"
"Nobody prays FACE down!"
"I saw some priests do it one time when they were being ordained."
"Really? But that must be a Catholic tradition."
"Nobody knows that but Catholics, and they aren't going to complain. The non-religious left hates us anyway. Let's say that he was praying and start working on another reason for next time."
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! now gimme some GODDAMM CANDY!!!"
Now, folks, I'm sure God told him it was okay to get back on the sugar.
. . . quadrinity . . .
EPT--This is one of the things I love about weblogs--I never even knew there was such a word!!
The world can only hope that W doesn't surrender his ability to fuck up everything he touches.
Necessity is the mother of invention, I think.
"and chopping the air for emphasis."
Junior has always been a little kid at heart and in his mind as well. Somehow this reminds of that MIB "Man in Black" show whereby the alian "chops air" in one scene.
I mean, really, is anyone surprised that this pathetic excuse for a human being is back on the butterscotch wagon while expendable kleenex-like American soldiers are losing life and limb and sanity in Osama bin Laden's new recruiting paradise?
When did Bush stop blowing up frogs with firecrackers?
Er, I read that the ban on sweets was for weight loss, to improve his running times.
If only he cared half as much about the country as he does about his workouts.
He's gone beyond frogs. Now it's American soldiers.
How do these aides know he was face down in prayer? Did they administer a breathalyzer?
Sturges nails it.
Notice how they point out that Bush was speaking Bibically saying things like "He has to go."
Wow.
Strong Biblical words there. Does anyone know the book/chapter/verse that comes form?
pfft. silly liberals. clearly none of you have ever been through Skull & Bones. George was merely having a flashback to his paddling days -- "face down on the floor, maggot!"
How do these aides know he was face down in prayer?
'cos he was facing Mecca, of course.
Him and Prince Bandar Bush.
Jesus went to the desert and fasted completely for 40 days. Dubya goes to his ranch in Crawford and doesn't eat Life Savers. God's kinda lowered the requirements for his chosen servants over the last couple millennia.
Should we take all the candy that W didn't eat and send it to the North Koreans to make them grow big and strong and quit starving?
"evangelical Methodism
two words that just don't really belong together"
My thoughts exactly! It is basically an oxymoron. Methodists are about as pedestrian of Christians as they come.
"Evangelical Methodists." It's like Fundamentalist Lutherins.
This ain't no two-great-tastes-that-taste-great-together. Not by a long shot.
speaking in tongues would explain much about Bush's extemporaneous speaking style.
Episcopal priests (some) do the prostrations during ordination and Holy Week. Hell, Methodists don't even kneel!
Next, they'll tell us he's playing air guitar.
And John, please explain more: ... a reporter asked GWB what he talked about with his dad, and he said: "Pussy."
I think that's a pretty important insight into his born-again faith right there. There's no way they'd leave it out.
John Isbell 10.22.03 - 1:01 pm
I agree with you. I doubt they'd leave that out. When did this ever get reported? I'll try to google it.
I'M CRAZY COMMANDER CODPIECE!! NOW GIVE ME SOME CANDY!!!
(Adam Sandler reference)
Maybe we should send him some Circus Peanuts, they're really awful, not really candy and just might do him in.
Face down on the floor? Maybe it's nothing more than an alternative to the missionary position for the dogmatically aroused?
Well, George's kid is a religious fanatic, doesn't eat sweets, and gets the military involved in a quagmire in the most volatile area in the world. Meanwhile, me & Nancy were into astrology, I ate jellybeans, and I had us invade small Caribbean islands. And the Republicans think he's inheriting my legacy? Dipwads.
The problem with "God wants me to run for president" is Bush's mistaken assumption that his abilities are what God is using. Instead, God may want him to be president in order to bring us down. In the Old Testament, look to the Book of Judges: God allows an evil man to enslave the people, then raises a judge to dispatch the evil (rinse, repeat).
God may be using Bush to teach us the hubris Western Europe finally learned: war destroys all.
Of course, if you go New Testament, there's Judas Iscariot. God had a plan for him, too. Without Judas, there's no betrayal/crucifixion/redemption. Has Mr. Bush considered that God has called him to betray us?
And after Bush's reign is over, we will have been redeemed: never again to let mean, pinch-faced bitter old church people enslave us!
Finally, the reason for the "Mission Accomplished" stunt comes to light.
Atrios = Frum Sad.
Is "Bring 'em on!" a way of speaking Biblically?
And thanks Auntie Mame. People say the Lord works in mysterious ways, and then they try to say exactly what those ways are. Evidently Bush thinks that making his friends richer, making a lot of Americans poorer, and lying to start a war is how God wants him to save this country.
the pussy quote is in "the bush dyslexicon", by mark chrispin miller. i cant remember where it came from originally
The problem with "God wants me to run for president" is Bush's mistaken assumption that his abilities are what God is using.
Don't a lot of murderers think God's telling them to do stuff? Then this all makes perfect sense: God's talking to Bush, and he's a serial killer.
Funny, the religion that springs to mind when I read the words 'face down on the floor in prayer' is Islam. Could it be that George was captured by a secret group of Wahabi brainwashers during National Guard maneuvers in Texas?
Barbara: "George get your feet off the table. If you want to relax, why not try a nice game of solitaire?"
It would certainly explain a lot.
He probably just gave up sweets while American troops were in Husseinian Iraq. Now that Iraq is an occupied territory (and former enemy soldiers are now termed "terrorists"), I daresay he can feed the sweet tooth once more. He deserves it, after a job well done.
My waife saw Bush in his embroidered silk jacket in footage from the APEC summit and commented, "He really likes to dress up, doesn't he?"
...and chopping the air for emphasis.
Was he practicing his karate moves on unseen foes?
There's nothing that corrupts more surely than belief in your own sincerity.
Sounds like something millions of american do and did throughout the war, so why is Bush singled out for special reward?
So he thinks god wanted him to be president?
I think Bush seems to think everything that has happened in his life was gods reward of some kind?
When he saw how terrorist sponsors were bailing him out of his failed business ventures, he thought it was god helping him out.
When men in black suits and tenchcoats made sure he never appeared before a judge for his drunken driving incidents, he thought it was god looking out for him.
When he was getting away with stealing money by selling off the Rangers ballpark staidium for a profit while it had been publicly financed by the taxpayers of Texas, he thought god wanted him to be rich.
When he sat in front of a televised interview mocking the last minute pleas of a female immate about to die by lethal injection, he thought god wanted him to mock god's enemies.
This whole thing smacks if an illness the rich and priviledged suffer from where they think it was divine providence they they be rich and powerful, thus giving them the right given to them by god, to make decisions for the little guy without or against their consent.
The man is diseased.
MYOB'
.
I'm shocked...
Junior doesn't even buy his own empty symbolism.
"chopping the air for emphasis"
Nice little metaphor.
"'Any leader that starves his people is -- you can't respect anyone who would let his people starve and shrink in size because of malnutrition,' he said. 'It's a sad, sad situation...'"
George W. Bush
Wednesday, 10/22/03
Yes, Shrub, you're right. You can't respect any leader who would let his own people starve. It's unconscionable...
http://www.plu.edu/~poverty/
stat...l#international
http://nutrition.tufts.edu/consu...onsumer/hunger/
Wait, what's that hollow sound? It sounds like an echo... oh, his WORDS are hollow! I get it!
We are hosed. We are so hosed, with this guy in charge.
I KNOW Stephen Mansfield.
Until about a year ago, he was a pastor of a fundamentalist/pentecostal church here in Nashville.
I must say, I heard him preach on two occasions while he was still the head pastor and it was enough to make me never want to attend a worship service at his church again.
Mansfield, by the way, either is, or is aligned with, the "Christian Reconstructionist" movement.
A friend of mine who is on the pastoral staff of that church got a little perturbed at me when I referred to Mansfield as a "faux scholar." You see, Mansfield is the author of a number of historical books and he has a Ph.D. (from where, I do not know).
But in any event, not only me, but a significant number of people that I know that have dealt with Mansfield have had serious problems with him as any kind of a "messenger of truth."
By the way, for more on Stephen Mansfield check out the following website and check out their board of "scholars":
www.AmericanDestiny.com
It is enough to make any thoughtful and knowledgeable person of either a secular, or even truly spiritual, stripe want to puke.
My guess is this is the last-gasp of the bullshit "junior is a real man" fake media that we've been getting for nearly 3 years now. as the election draws near, we may reach a shrill pitch on how religious, how pious, how caring, how prostrate he actually is.
Can he still have pretzels?
OT -- Riverbend is writing about a large demonstration in Baghdad: "The troops began firing into the air and fighting suddenly broke out between the mob and some troops". It started when a soldier searching a woman's bag took out the Quran and tossed it on the ground.
Riverbend's blog
I believe 98% of these public outward displays of faith by Politicians are nothing more than political posturing. I can't imagine a person of serious faith would allow their picture to be taken while they are praying (Bush on the cover of Newsweek a while back). Sometimes Bush (and other political christians in office) give statements confessing their own faith that seem geared to convence others that they are a men of great faith, etc.
It's like one big unending PR thing.
PWG, Poor Widdle Georgie, the world's biggest midget of faith, has given up his 'partial fast' of sweets while his trusting American betters are being killed in Baghdad for Halliburton.
My heart is filled to overflowing with the thought of Jeebus' first conversation with him after Poor Widdle Georgie has passed.
No, wait, Jeebus will be in a limosine miles away from any 'free speech zone'!
So Poor Widdle Georgie will have to face his millenia of magma enemas with his 'Kristian Kronies' like Pat Robertson, the great African Missionary, to keep him company in the sulphurous fumes.
Don't know what I mean about Pat, the Patron Saint of Looting? Well, look around on the web a bit! Seems old Paddy might be involved with more blood than just talking about the holy blood Jesus shed at his death for sinners.
"The Truth is out there..." Yes, it is, praise Jeebus, it really is!
.
Lisa is right.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/was...sh-cover_x.htm:
"Bush has imposed an almost military discipline on himself. Even though he's as lean as he was in college, he decided just before the war that he was unhappy with his running times, which were slowing from his preferred pace of 7.5 minutes or less per mile.
"So Bush gave up his one indulgence: sweets. It worked; he's losing weight and improving his time."
How quickly we forget.
It started when a soldier searching a woman's bag took out the Quran and tossed it on the ground.
Yikes! All right, I'll agree that the troops didn't fully understand the culture, customs, and religion of the Iraqis when they first got there. But, come on. Though they've been there several months now, they obviously aren't going to be experts, but throwing the Quran on the ground? When the climate is extremely hostile partly (mostly?) because of their ignorance and insensitivity?
Talk about making a worse situation worst...
(Bush, speaking to the troops)
You now go into a great battle. Many of you will be wounded. Some of you will be killed.
And I am giving up gumdrops.
But that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.
This is almost as disturbing as the striking similarities I noticed last night between General Ritter and Dubya in Dr. Strangelove. Just waiting for the bomb to drop.
I might be dating myself, but after reading the Village Voice article, I feel as though we are all caught in a bad episode of TWILIGHT ZONE.
"He's a man of steel, he's a stand-up guy. He's a sheriff," Bush said. "Of all the people in the world who understand Texas, it's probably Australians."
Does Bush even know that he is the President of the United States, or does he think he was elevated from the govenor of Texas to King Cowboy of Texas???
I heard that it fell out of her bag because there was a tussle cuz she did not want a dog touching her 'Bible' with it's to the Iraqi's mind, 'unclean' muzzle.
Yep, the Iraq situation is getting better and better as our 'culture' mixes with Iraq culture. We are fighting the Occupation of Iraq war because somebody lied us into thinking we had to. The Iraqis are doing it for God.
I understand from Gen. Sanchez that the attacks are up to around 35 a day now. That is almost a 50% jump in a month... That Israeli strategy of bulldozing trees works as well in Iraq as it does in those other Occuppied Territories nearby...
Iraqis attacks are up, so the CPA will certainly do more Israeli tactics in Iraq, there are not enough American kids dying there yet...
I wonder how soon it is going to be before our troops seek refuge in... Syria.
.
Atrios = Frum Sad.
LoneStar | 10.22.03 - 2:02 pm |
Omigod, LoneStar, you're right! How could we all have been so naive regarding the diabolical genius of Atrios? He's really a Weekly Standard neocon collecting the IP addresses of dissenters for easy round-up later on.
Owwwww! My tinfoil hat got so hot it burned my scalp.
Waitaminute...I thought Atrios was Gene Lyons...
"Snacking noisily" on butterscotch - yet another reason to despise the Resident. I failed at achieving most of the hallmarks of lady-hood - can't sew, don't go to Tupperware parties, have limited tolerance for other peoples' kids, etc. But one thing my parents did insist on was impeccable table manners. So to this day, the one thing that makes my skin crawl is someone who makes noise when he eats. People who snort, smack, slurp and chew with their mouths open should occupy their own special circle of Hell. But I must say, I expected nothing more of the man.
I believe 98% of these public outward displays of faith by Politicians are nothing more than political posturing. I can't imagine a person of serious faith would allow their picture to be taken while they are praying (Bush on the cover of Newsweek a while back). Sometimes Bush (and other political christians in office) give statements confessing their own faith that seem geared to convence others that they are a men of great faith, etc.
It's like one big unending PR thing.
"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. "Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward."
Matthew 6:1-2
call me when he gives up GOLF for war.
>It worked; he's losing weight and improving his time.
Well he's got a serious spare tire now judging from recent pictures (the "dropping the dog" one and the film of him walking with Rice after that announcement about giving her Iraq responsibilities).
i think i know why he was facedown in prayer...or could it have been a pretzel?
Please do not refer to our President as "Resident" ... "sqWatter" comes to mind...
I have got to wonder if Dubya has been drinking at the river of the Toronto Blessing. I'm kind of mortified to say it now, but I indulged in that spiritual swill back in the mid 90s. In churches that indulged in the Toronto Blessing, you'd see all sorts of things, including people doing "carpet time."
Maybe Dubya is doing Toronto-style "carpet time."
(Don't believe me? go to http://www.tacf.org )
Bush must have been using the previously little heralded strength of the ex-alcoholic there to pull off his amazing feat of self-abnegation.
Has any president ever sacrificed more than Dubya?
Brothers and sisters, let us set aside our partisan biases, just this once, and give the man his due. After all, he gave up "sweets!"
I'm sure the only thing Dear Leader regrets is that there was not more he could lay down for his country.
this may have already been noted, but Joan Didion's piece in the NY Review of Books is a scathing look at Bush's religiosity. Happily the essay is online:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/16749
Sneaking candies on the plane after telling the world he abstains to support the truth.
Can the man not even tell the truth about his fucking diet?
Ain't it ironic (and everyone says irony is dead - hah!) that some of the most inept, unqualified people are the very ones who claim that god wanted them to do some thing they have no business doing? Well, inept, unqualified people and LUNATICS.
Tena,
"Nicholas Kristof reminded us in the Times that Bush has said he does not believe in evolution. 'After all, religion has been around a lot longer than Darwinism,' Bush told George magazine on this point."--Joan Didion, NYReview of Books
I had an aunt who claimed god talked to her all the time. Her family put her in a mental health hospital.
Why is it deemed mentally healthy to have the president of the US say he believes God intended him to be the president? And thereby inferring that he is on some sort of mission for God?
And why are Americans comfortable placing these fruitcakes in positions of great power?
Extremely frightened, inquiring minds want to know.
The more I see of Dub, the more I'm convinced that his primary inspiration derives less from God Almighty than from Napoleon - and I'm not talking about Bonaparte, but rather the Machiavellian porker from Orwell's 'Animal Farm'.
I have only a vague recollection of the novel, but I do recall that at one point the pigs made a great show of sacrificing some personal comfort for the common good, which later turned out to be a great deal longer on symbolism than substance. And more generally, the pigs were always coming up with new and creative ways to spin their acts of greed, gluttony and slothfulness as evidence of the ruling elite's great humility, generosity and nobility of character.
The biggest difference between Animal Farm and Planet W is that the pigs achieved their position by virtue of their superior intellect - so exactly how are we then supposed to account for Shrub? Perhaps the explanation is that seven or eight generations of inbreeding tends to dull even the sharpest minds, but by that time the ruling class has become so firmly entrenched that superior smarts is no longer an essential attribute.
____
Shaw Kenawe - Why people seem to think it's ok to put these fruitcakes in power is the question? Jeebus, don't ask me. I'm just as scared as you are by them. When someone says that he or she doesn't believe in evolution, I duck or run or both.
In truth, I can only surmise that people wouldn't have been so pleased with the moron in the WH if America hadn't been attacked, which scared the crap out of everyone. Americans circled the wagons, hauled out the flags and decided to stand tall behind their president. The Bushliks knew a good thing when they saw one and capitalized on it for all it was worth.
Its my opinion that he was face down on the rug in hopes of lapping up some of Clintons precious bodily fluids.
Tena,
This was written by Richard Dawkins, a British scientist, in the introduction to "The Best American Science and Nature Writing, 2003:"
"Evolution is one of the most securely established facts in all science. The knowledge that we are cousins to apes, kangaroos, and bacteria is beyond all educated doubt: as certain as our (once doubted) knowledge that the planets orbit the sun..." And yet,if polls are to be believed, approximately 45% of the population of the US firmly believes, to the contrary, an elementary falsehood: all species separately owe their existence to "intelligent design" less than ten thousand years ago. Worse, the nature of American democratic institutions is such that this perversely ignorant half of the population (which does not, I hasten to add, include leading churchmen or leading scholars in any discipline)is in many districts strongly placed to influence local educational policy."
"That 45 percent figure really is something of a national educational disgrace. You'd have to travel right past Europe to the theocratic societies around the Middle East before you hit a comparable level of antiscientific miseducation. It is baffingly paradoxical that the US is by far the world's leading scientific nation while simultaneously housing the most scientifically illiterate populace outside the Third World."
And our president, proud in his stupidity, leads the pack of "the most scientifically illiterate populace outside the Third World."
Video footage shown on the Daily Show clearly showed a stoned/drunk Bx, smirking and grinning in Asia like a drunken fool.
THAT is why this is an important issue and post by Atrios. This guy is USING. I don't know whether its Rx drugs or illicit drugs or just alcohol, but his eyes were swimming, he gave glazed stares, and he was hebephrenic.
A great difference from the depressed quality he has been betraying lately. The guy had no cares in the world, and that, in a sociopath, is VERY worrisome.
Shaw,
That is a simply scathing intro. I'm absolutely stunned that people refuse to believe evolution. I'm a little less stunned when they think Darwin came up with evolution. The theory of evolution predates Darwin, what Darwin did was figure out how evolution took place: natural selection. But that's a minor quibble.
We are truly led by idiots. Worse yet, they are proud to be idiots.
"We are truly led by idiots. Worse yet, they are proud to be idiots."--steve
Yes. I wonder if Dubya knows that the Bible has also been around longer than the Theory of Relativity, general and special. D'oh? Yes. And the Bible has been around longer than Maxwell's equations. Newton's Principia? The Bible's also been around longer than has the discovery of DNA!
Coming to your neighborhood soon: IGNORANCE, brought to you by the fundamentalist wing of the Republican party.
Shaw - it all just goes to show that the US has way more in common with the people who are supposed to be its enemies - the extremist Muslims, than it does with the rest of the civilized world. It absolutely boggles my mind that people stubbornly refuse to acknowledge facts and evidence and cling instead to ignorance and superstition. *sigh*
On the local news here last night there was a really nasty little story, and the way the reporter skewed it was truly amazing. Seems there is a senior citizen center where a group of senior citizens has been coming regularly for meals, and company. However, that isn't all our nice old folks have been doing - they've been praying, singing hymns and holding what amounts to church services in this city-owned and operated place. Someone complained because they didn't like being forced to pray, etc. So the city in question has written and told the center's administrators that unless they quit treating the center like a church, meals will be stopped, etc. The reporter actually said that such "abuse of senior citizens [by withdrawing the meals] is unprecendented." The entire story was framed to make it seem that the separation of church and state is a plot against aging Christians. The aging zealots have hired a lawyer. Sometimes I really want to just repeatedly bang my head against the wall.
I believe that Bush could heed these words from whom he supposedly aspires to live like
"They are hypocrites, as their inner life does not reveal their so-called righteousness and holiness, which they pretend to possess. They demand and prefer outward sanctification to inward sanctification" (Matthew 23: 26-27).
Tena,
What amazes me is the willful blindness these Christians have to their own extreme brand of fundamentalist religion--the same kind of fanaticism that fueled the 9/11 attacks.
Our president, our attorney general, the Speaker of the House, a military general, among others, speaking and behaving in such a way as to give the world the impression that the US is a Christian religion-besotted nation.
Where's the outrage? The shame? The embarrassment? from our media? from the populace? from our scientists and intellectuals?
Anybody out there concerned about this besides the blogsphere?
And I'm not even religious
George since you claim to be Christian, that big book you claim to follow with all those funny sounding middle Eastern names ('cept for that New Testament thing which has lots of names like your golfing buddies) is for you to READ & HEED not just to have on your desk for "prayer sessions"
Ah forget it...Bush would start at the beginning of the Bible and think..."hmmm six days of work with one day of rest, God didn't even get paid extra for overtime"
"...then why did all the democrats vote against my cutting overtime?"
(apologies for the choppiness of my posts)
evangelical Methodism
two words that just don't really belong together
Although you wouldn't think so from looking at Methodists today, at the time of its founding by John Wesley, Methodism was as radical an evangelical faith as Pentacostalism is today. Here's a description of Methodism at its inception:
From 1739 onward Wesley and the Methodists were persecuted by clergymen and magistrates; attacked in sermon, tract, and book, mobbed by the populace, often in controversy, always at work among the neglected and needy, and ever increasing. They were denounced as promulgators of strange doctrines, fomenters of religious disturbances; as blind fanatics, leading the people astray, claiming miraculous gifts, inveighing against the clergy of the Church of England, and endeavoring to reestablish popery. Wesley was frequently mobbed, and great violence was done both to the persons and property of Methodists. Seeing, however, that the church failed in its duty to call sinners to repentance, that its clergymen were worldly minded, and that souls were perishing in their sins, he regarded himself as commissioned of God to warn men to flee from the wrath to come; and no opposition, or persecution, or obstacles were permitted by him to prevail against the divine urgency and authority of his commission. The prejudices of his High-church training, his strict notions of the methods and proprieties of public worship, his views of the apostolic succession and the prerogatives of the priest, even his most cherished convictions, were not allowed to stand in the way in which Providence seemed to lead. Unwilling that ungodly men should perish in their sins and unable to reach them from the pulpits of the Church, he began field-preaching. Seeing that he and the few clergymen cooperating with him could not do the work that needed to be done, he was led, as early as 1739, to approve tacitly, soon after openly, of lay preaching; and men who were not episcopally ordained were permitted to preach and do pastoral work. Thus one of the great features of Methodism, to which it has largely owed its success, was adopted by Wesley in answer to a necessity.
It's funny, the evangelicals change from town to town, not even region to region. Where I live, the Presbyterians are the right-wing evangelicals. Go three towns over, it's the Baptists. That's just puzzling to me.
Then again, I'm Catholic, so I'm used to ignoring right-wing nutjobs in my own church. sheesh, check out the pope.
"...then why did all the democrats vote against my cutting overtime?"
(apologies for the choppiness of my posts)
stephen - well, down here we grow fundamentalists of the old fashioned kind, except for that fundie Methodism that George picked up in Highland Park (I had no idea the Highland Park Methodists were evangelicals; it doesn't compute.) Anyway, ours are mostly Baptists and Church of Christ and a fair number evangelical con men churches. The Presbyterians are really pretty liberal here, as Presbyterians go, and the Lutherans are practically Unitarians. I'm surprised to hear that Presbyterians are evangelicals in other places. But then, there was a "charismatic" Episcopal bunch in the suburbs for awhile - prayer circles and distance healling and all that, which seems very un-Episcopal to me. But then again, I don't consider myself a Christian anymore, and thus I don't go to church.
To the question of whether it is 'just' the blogosphere (blogocube or blogovector would make as much sense as this stupid term), of course it is. There are many millions of people living through this drunk's demise (and hopefully not our own).
One of the values of regular street protest (such as I'm heading for in a half an hour) is that one meets lots of people, many in cars. The overwhelming experience is one of a great confluence of anger over how our country is being screwed by W.
How would people make this anger known? What are they supposed to do, rip out their hearts and offer them to the sun? The press simply does not cover the protest. The revolution is not being televised.
This weekend, Saturday especially, will be another gigantic worldwide protest to demand Bx's impeachment. Mass protests will occur in SF and in DC (Bx is always out of town). The DC protest will probably be awesomely large--a great number of military families are expected to attend, as well as union blue collars, underpaid police officers, and a range of others not usually given to protesting with International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism).
Will there be coverage? Ten seconds on the evening broadcast, and several hours on CSPAN for the junkies. So it is simply not possible to taste the air and determine how big the protest is over these horrid and absurd current events. It's real, it's active, it is taking unprecedented steps, but it does not have a fixed shape that can be seen over corporate media, or reflected in the biased theories of the press.
Get behind the Governor.
WELL, YOU REALLY CAN'T EXPECT HIM TO GIVE UP SWEETS FOREVER CAN YOU?
Paul - what I would give to live close to one of the cities where the protests are going to be held. Here in Dallas, I've had two guys in two days pull up even with my car to give me weird, head shaking looks. Since this hasn't happened before, I can only surmise that they were doing it in response to my "Bush Lied - People Died" bumpersticker.
But it does my heart good to hear about the protests.
Awesome catch, Atrios and sdent.
But ye gods, how could you stand to read through the proofs of that dreck.
There oughta be a medal!
Bush has got the munchies, eh?
Religious ecstasy and trantrums look about the same to a disinterested bystander. (Come to think of it, so do orgasms...)
so he was dry humping the carpet?
Clinton got a hummer in the White House and Bush dry humped the carpet. Seems appropriate somehow.
"Evangelical Methodist" is to the President's religious affiliation as "Imminent Threat" (Bush admin's definition) is to International Law.
Franken has an exchange with GWB's alleged Bible study partner, who said they focused on Acts and then claimed to Franken that it contains the parable of the talents. Which is in Matthew. This is for anyone with a lingering shred of belief that GWB's "born again" braggadocio is any less crooked than a three-dollar bill.
It's a f***ing con, folks. I doubt GWB believes in God. He has seen the light the way Eddie Murphy saw it at the start of Trading Places.
OTOH, expect increasing displays of his amazing faith as election time draws near.
Also, pussy.
Picturing Streaker trying to Google "bush" and "pussy" and explain it at work. LOL.
RE his/her post:
And John, please explain more: ... a reporter asked GWB what he talked about with his dad, and he said: "Pussy."
I think that's a pretty important insight into his born-again faith right there. There's no way they'd leave it out.
John Isbell 10.22.03 - 1:01 pm
I agree with you. I doubt they'd leave that out. When did this ever get reported? I'll try to google it.
Streaker | 10.22.03 - 1:52 pm | #
"It became known that he refused to eat sweets while American troops were in Iraq, a partial fast seldom reported of an American president."
Well there you go. That's why he prematurely declared the war was over - he wanted to resume eating sweets.
This is like a scene from "Life of Brian" only here, aides are scampering around behind Bush interpretting every trivial action as a holy gesture with great meaning.
All we need now is for Barbara Bush to say, "He's NOT the messiah! He's a very naughty boy!" -- or a "dirty dog" or whatever.
I'd rather see Dubya on the sweets, thanks. I had an assortment of alcoholic uncles and brothers-in-law, so one thing I got to know is that sugar is what they had to go on with between drinks.
As for the carpet-worship, he could have been hopefully sniffing for magic powder residue when his stash ran out... Like Minnie the Moocher's squeeze, he was cokey.
I try to be charitable, but it's harder every day to maintain that organized religion is not inherently a Bad Thing. There is a power in people working together; why do so many want to use it to make themselves and others miserable?
You've heard of "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."
As long as someone else has got the "pro patria mori" covered, he'll get right on that "dulce."
Here 'tis:
Ten years ago, at the 1988 Republican Convention, Hartford Courant associate editor David Fink struck up a conversation with George W. Bush. “When you’re not talking politics,” Fink asked the vice president’s son, “what do you and [your father] talk about?”
“Pussy,” George W. replied. -- “Prodigal son” by Jake Tapper, Salon.com, April 9, 1999
god told ME that she never speaks to Bush, never has. she told me that Bush is a phony shell of a puppet. she says she has nothing to do with him. And I believe god when she says these things.
Someone asked "who cared"...
Well, it's pretty hard to resist when the President of the United States sends out troops off to war on an excise-of-the-day, dresses up like Evel Knievel for photo op, sneers "Bring 'em on" from the safety of the White House lawn and think it's a frigging sacrifice to give up CANDY for the war.
Maybe it's a trivial point but everything about Bush's grating platitudes and fraudulent piety seems summed up in that statement.
"it's all silly hype, but what Methodist prays face down on the floor? Is this some new technique i've not heard of, a poorly worded phrase by a reporter?"
Perhaps he's a Muslim?
I just keep seeing Belushi and Akroyd on a "Mission from God".
Except this is not a comedy
"I've had two guys in two days pull up even with my car to give me weird, head shaking looks."--Tena
There are definitely parts of the country where I wouldn't put stuff like that on my car. Driving is just too much of an altered state. My car has a War is not the Answer and a Dean sticker, and I've seen stickers saying: 'Another American Proud to be Against War' which I think is great.
But signs that specifically attack Bx are great protesting on street corners, but I don't recommend putting such things on a car.
Thanks, John. Not that I didn't believe you to begin with about bush's pussy comment. I'll have to refer my Mormon friend to that (she's a retired Marine and bush fanatic).
"Snacking noisily" on butterscotch - yet another reason to despise the Resident.
If he was a smoker he'd throw his butts on the ground. I'm sure he spits on the sidewalk ...
It is baffingly paradoxical that the US is by far the world's leading scientific nation while simultaneously housing the most scientifically illiterate populace outside the Third World."
Yet the incidence of disease continues to rise daily. That too is baffling, and suspicious! No research into alternative forms of treatment for cancer, or any disease, many of which are/were promising.
Sometimes I really want to just repeatedly bang my head against the wall.
Tena, I love your posts, and I love Texas. My favorite family members are there (die-hard liberals; alternative lifestyles in W. Texas). Many of us are with you in this and are banging our heads, too. Just remember 'we are in a time of transition' (Hillary was the last person I heard say that). We are blessed/cursed to be living in 'interesting' times. But, I agree, sometimes it's almost too much.
"Bush Says Kim Let His People Starve, Shrink"
---------------
Kim, he told reporters, has "let his people starve and shrink in size" and said it will require patience and allied resolve to coax an agreement out of him giving up nuclear weapons program.
Here's something that gets me. When folks in countries with gummints we don't like starve, we blame the leaders, and imply it is the responsibility of these leaders to feed their citizens. However, in the USA, when folks starve, it is the holy market at work, and we shouldn't mess with the holy market.
Maybe the Bushies should combine their cultural conservatism and their fiscal policy in such a way that the Muslims would know we are not at war with them. Five times daily, we should turn and face Wall Street and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, not only with "under God" (please, identify Jehovah by name!), but with "by the grace of Alan Greenspan, indivisible and insoluble, with liberty, justice and tax cuts for all."
tena don't feel bad i live in big D and have a green party sticker on my car. I get looks from Rethugs and Dems who blame me for Gore.
I wish the little king would start imbibing again. Then he would have an excuse for the irrational behavior.
Characters Remaining:
Commenting by HaloScan
