The Progressive Puppy

The Black and White World of Wingnuts

We thought Elizabeth Dole's insane TV spot linking her Democratic opponent with "godless Americans" was about as low as conservatives were prepared to stoop during this election cycle.  We were wrong.  A right-wing organization called the Susan B. Anthony List has sent mailers to over half a million swing state voters, essentially accusing Barack Obama of infanticide.  The first image you see on the mailer is a sepia-toned photograph of a baby carriage sitting in the middle of a railroad track.  In what I presume is meant to be "scary" font face, are the words:  "If you saw this, you would take action - Wouldn't you?"  Page two of the mailer shows the Democratic candidate frowning, and the dire message:  "Barack Obama won't!"  The text reads: "Despite hearing horrifying testimony from nurses about healthy babies being left to die in supply closets, he voted against protecting these innocent children who defied all odds and survived an abortion.  Seem too gruesome to believe?  It's true!"  (Emphasis theirs.)    

Fred Clark at The Slactivist writes:  Let's try, for the sake of argument, to accept the premise of this ad: Abortion is indistinguishable from killing babies and politicians who support abortion rights are the kind of people who would do nothing and pass by if they saw a baby -- a poor, adorably helpless baby -- abandoned in the path of an oncoming train.  The people who composed, prepared, funded and shipped this mailer do not believe any of that.  They're not lying, exactly.  They like the idea that something like this might be true.  They want the world to be like this.  They want the world to be easily divided between heroes and villains, and they want to be able to count themselves on the heroic side of that divide.  It's amazing that in the 21st century there are Americans who still view the world in absolutes.  But that's the reality of the fundie mindset.  In the final half of his post, Clark correctly suggests that part of the social conservatives' strategy is to slowly wear us down with their shocking images and shrill warnings.  (At least they've eased off on the clinic bombings - for now.)  Apparently these anti-choice activists are in this fight for the long haul.  To them, anyone who dares to consider gray areas in the abortion debate - y'know, victims of rape or incest, or the health of the mother - is no better than a person who would leave a baby on a train track to die.

Related Post:  Leslee Unruh, and South Dakota's New Abortion Ban Initiative

Make History.

We're down to the wire, everybody. Here's a nice little reminder about Nov. 4th. The ad also is a serious call to action: Spread the word about VoteForChange.com, the Obama web site to help people figure out when, where, and how they can cast their ballots.

In Texas Hell House, Girl "Deserved" Rape

... and some smart teens push back!

How is this for Christian compassion:  A girl makes friends with a guy on Facebook.  They decide to go out on a date.  When they meet, the guy brutally rapes her.  A demon emerges from the shadows, sneering, and says she deserved it.  It's her fault she was raped.  She shouldn't have agreed to meet someone from one of those sinful online communities. 

Next up?  A young girl is sexually assaulted by a family member and in despair commits suicide.  She is promptly consigned to the fires of hell for an eternity of pain and suffering. 

Welcome to Hell House - The Devil's Playground, a production of Trinity Church in Cedar Hill, Texas.  For seventeen years this Pentecostal  place of worship has produced Halloween hell houses designed to scare the bejesus out of youths 13-years-old and up.  Director of Student Ministries Carlos Ortiz directed the seven outlandish and grisly skits that are performed nightly inside the church's "haunted house." 

Says Ortiz:  "We don't do it to scare people.  The scary part about the Hell House is the reality that we portray."  (No, Mr. Ortiz, that's not the scary part.  The scary part is that deranged individuals like yourself feel compelled to create these grotesque exhibitions in order to frighten youngsters into following your church's narrow social agenda.) 

It's worth noting that this year something happened to cast a pall over Trinity's annual hell house extravaganza.  More than a dozen young churchgoers from the United Methodist Church in Richardson decided to take a stand against the event. 

I contacted the Richardson UMC and spoke with administrative assistant Jennifer Rawlinson.  She told me that the idea for the protest came from young people in her congregation who had visited "The Devil's Playground" and were disturbed by its depiction of an unforgiving God turning his back on victims of sexual abuse.  They returned to their church and voiced their concerns to Tommy Houghteling, United Methodist's youth minister.  A discussion ensued and it was decided that a protest should be organized.  So Houghteling accompanied a group of his  conscientious teenagers to the site of Oritz's hell house where they peacefully demonstrated against the intolerant message espoused by their fellow believers.

I'll admit that here at ProPup, Janis and I are quick to point out the hypocrisy and mean-spiritedness of Christian fundamentalists who are often as irrational as they are ill-informed.  And it's tempting to tar all religious folks with the same brush, especially when mainstream churchgoers remain silent while their ill-tempered brethren spew hateful rhetoric at liberals, secularists, gays and lesbians, and pro-choice advocates.  (Hell houses across the country commonly show devils snickering over dying AIDS patients, aborted fetuses condemning their terrified mothers -  y'know, good clean family values entertainment.)  But these young people at The United Methodist Church actually stepped up to the plate and denounced the grim proselytizing of churches like Trinity - and in doing so they've shown us a different side of Christianity.  They have also earned our respect.

Babies for Obama!

The Christian Right's Idolatry in Action

I bet you didn't realize that yesterday was the official Day of Prayer for the World’s Economies.  Yup.  It was.  So declared noted professional prophet Cindy Jacobs after Cindy claimed the Lord spoke to her, "Cindy, the strongman over America doesn’t live in Washington, DC – the strongman lives in New York City!  Call My people to pray for the economy."  Cindy trumpeted the word, organizing a prayer jamboree for the stock markets, banks, and financial institutions of the world on the date the stock market crashed in 1929.  They met at the New York Stock Exchange, the Federal Reserve Bank, and its 12 principal branches around the US.  In announcing the prayer events, Jacobs said: 'We are going to intercede at the site of the statue of the bull on Wall Street to ask God to begin a shift from the bull and bear markets to what we feel will be the 'Lion’s Market,' or God’s control over the economic systems. While we do not have the full revelation of all this will entail, we do know that without intercession, economies will crumble."

And why oh why Ms. Profit Prophet, is this financial blight befalling us? The all-knowing Cindy responds: "On September 29 last month, the US stock market went down 777 points in one day. It was no coincidence that this happened on the first day of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. This is so severe in the economic area because we are facing judgment from the actions, not only for our stance towards Israel, but our blatant sin against Him in passing laws such as the one allowing homosexual marriages.”

So, take a look at that photo. Christians praying for wealth around a golden bull (think "calf") statue.  Seriously, you religious right folks don't see any major Biblical hypocrisy here?

GOP Ghoul Tom Delay Shows His Repugnant Hide on Hardball

The most despicable of the GOP has-beens showed up on Chris Matthews' Hardball yesterday to hurl a barrage of slime on John McCain's behalf.  Yes, I am speaking of the disgraced bug killer Tom Delay (Remember, he was an exterminator before he brought his poisonous spray to Congress).

In the course of his few minutes of airtime, he managed to call Barack Obama a socialist, Marxist, terrorist sympathizer, radical and claimed Obama's goal is to shred the Constitution.

Delay apparently decided he could play Karl Rove on steroids for Halloween. When asked about the tenor of the campaign, Delay said that McCain hasn't been aggressive enough about Obama's so-called questionable associations and wild-eyed leftist philosophy.  

Here's some choice direct quotes from the interview:

• "He [Obama] must agree with the Marxist theology of black liberation theology."
• "I tagged Barack Obama as a Marxist months ago. [...] He's a Marxist, or a socialist at best."

Chris Matthews did little to challenge Delay's completely hateful and false assertions. Although Matthews recently has gained something of a reputation for smacking down the worst of the wingnuts (e.g., Michelle Bachmann recent McCarthyite channeling), he always seems to have an inexplicable softspot for Delay.

Let's not forget that Delay remains indicted on criminal charges that he conspired to violate campaign finance laws.  He was forced by his fellow Republicans to resign his Congressional sets and two of his close aides were convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal.  He is a scoundrel of the first order.  Why anyone puts his mug on television is one of the great cosmic mysteries.