The Progressive Puppy

Rick Perry's Fischer Regret

Is Rick Perry (or possibly one of his campaign strategists) finally realizing that the support of wild-eyed religious zealots might be detrimental to his presidential aspirations?   Perry is as intellectually listless as former President Bush - but I've never said the man was dirt dumb.  The Texas governor possesses a sly streak when it comes to crafting a public persona that's palatable to voters, no matter how chimerical that persona might be.  But his close relationship with the odious AFA has raised the eyebrows of corporate titans who, thanks to the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling, are expected to handily purchase the Oval Office for whichever GOP candidate is willing to guarantee more tax cuts for the wealthy.  Conventional wisdom says that America's robber barons would likely balk at financing a politician who (to borrow Sarah Palin's pet phrase) "pals around" with Christian Right leaders making statements such as ...

"Homosexual bigots continue the 'Night of the Long Knives' purge against anyone and everyone who believes in natural marriage...  The homosexual lobby is rapidly turning us into China and the former Soviet Union. Christians are now being treated officially as second-class citizens with far fewer human and civil rights than those who engage in aberrant sexual behavior...  The homosexual agenda and religious liberty cannot co-exist. America will have to choose between the two, because we cannot have both...  The day has already arrived when it has become a criminal offense for a Christian to act on his convictions. The day is coming when it will be a criminal offense to have Christian convictions at all." 

... So Sayeth Bryan Fischer, Director of Issues Analysis for American Family Association, the SPLC-designated hate group that's hosting Governor Rick Perry's August 6 fundie hoedown (aka: The Response, A Call To Prayer For A Nation In Crisis) at Reliant Stadium in Houston.  (Non-Christians open to changing their religion will be permitted to attend.)

Right-wing evangelicals are so delusional that they can condemn, castigate and deny equality to LGBT citizens while at the same time hanging themselves upon imaginary crosses and crying out against non-existent persecution.  (Needless to say, any person who believes in the Bible's absolute inerrancy would have to be a bit, shall we say, fanciful?)  With the eager collusion of sex-obsessed Roman Catholic prelates and professional homophobes like Tony Perkins at FRC, Brian Brown and the miserable Maggie Gallagher at NOM, and an overwhelming majority of Republican politicians south of the Mason-Dixon Line, America's Christian extremists are just itching to destroy the last vestiges of church-state separation and create a Sharia-esque conflagration with the remnants of our constitutional republic. 

But never mind that.  Look how persecuted the Bible thumpers are!  Poor, put-upon, crazy old things. 

Rachel Maddow reports that Rick Perry might be starting to suspect his hasty coupling with AFA's deranged haters will lead to suicide by political auto-asphyxiation (particularly in the eyes of moderate voters) and so he's trying to slip out of the noose-strewn bed before fat-cat GOP donors begin doubting The Guv's crossover appeal in vital swing states.

Chance Makes An Unwise Decision

We walked down to the pond and Chance decided to roll in the mud.  Alas, there were consequences.

Chance, en burqa ...

Despite Evidence to the Contrary, Perry Insists Abstinence Works

In order to preserve a fundamentalist belief system that flies in the face of science and logic, Biblical literalists often perform intellectual contortions that (they think) "prove" their assertions but actually just reaffirm biases and validate their faith in a jealous and vengeful god.  (If mental gymnastics are beyond their scope, the brain simply shuts down and all rational thought is banished.)  This has been going on for centuries as "moral men" have used scripture to defend bloody wars, the institution of slavery, the practice of thrashing disobedient wives and children, and the subjugation of females.  Governance by so-called "Holy Writ" still occurs in America today, with the descendants of those same entitled patriarchs - in particular evangelical pastors and right-wing politicians - co-opting different passages from the Bible to suit society's ingrained (and invariably sex-obsessed) prejudices. 

When a Texas Tribune reporter recently presented Governor Rick Perry with irrefutable facts contradicting the efficacy of abstinence-only education, The Guv held fast to his ideological talking points, stubbornly insisting that "abstinence works."  There was no argument and no discussion.  Case closed.  His attitude is identical to that of former president George W. Bush, possibly the most intellectually incurious human being ever to walk the planet, Sarah Palin aside.  

Over at the Huffington Post, Shawn Lawrence compiles a succinct summary of Tea Party Perry's regressive positions and narrow-minded values:  Texas Governor Rick Perry is toying with a run for president. Perry is a skilled politician and has never lost an election, but he has taken an increasingly anti-science turn in his approach to governing. (In academic circles, Perry and his disreputable cabal of ultraconservative "educators" provide an endless source of amusement - and embarrassment.)  On global warming he now says that the leading source of "supposedly deadly carbon dioxide" is the mouth of Al Gore.  (Please. Are Perry's jokes being penned by David Zucker?)  On education he has appointed creationists to lead the Texas State Board of Education.  And on the issue of sex-ed in Texas, Perry has taken governing positions that affect millions of children based on his own personal opinions, even when those opinions are overwhelmingly contradicted by the evidence.  (Wingnut brains stall here.)  Texas lawmakers cut sex-ed from two six-month courses to a single unit of "abstinence only" education. But early indications showed that the program wasn't working. In fact, teens in almost all high school grades were having more sex after undergoing the abstinence only program. By 2007, Texas had the highest teen birth rate in the nation.  Nevertheless, the program continued.  By 2009, 94 percent of Texas schools, which at the time were educating more than 3.7 million students, were giving no sex-ed whatsoever beyond "abstinence only," a curriculum that includes emphasizing that birth control doesn't work.

This sort of sanctimonious posturing is to be expected from a political party that would gleefully turn its back on needy and disenfranchised Americans, criminalize women's reproductive choices, and bash sexual minorities to curry favor with religious zealots.  Only time will tell if voters choose a slow but steady path forward, or change directions entirely and return the country to those ignoble and antiquated policies of yesteryear.  Republicans, it goes without saying, pray for the latter scenario.

AZ State Senator Steve Smith - Birther, GOPer, Fearmonger

Arizona Republican Steve Smith is determined to prevent those dark-skinned, "unhygenical Mex'cans" (aka undocumented immigrants seeking better lives for their families) from "stealing" menial, pittance-paying jobs and bringing the United States to the brink of economic collapse. (As if the GOP with its gargantuan tax breaks for corporate billionaires hasn't already done that.)  With plenty of time on his hands before the next election, the freshman senator is adding his whiny Tea Party bombast to John McCain's "Complete The Dang Fence" refrain.  The birther-cum-lawmaker wants "red-blooded patriots" to shell out more than fifty million dollars for a nearly 400-mile barricade between Arizona and Mexico.

Brady McCombs reports for Arizona Daily Star: Through Thursday at 5 pm, the website - www.buildtheborderfence.com - has received donations from 1,837 people for a total of $80,014, said Mike Philipsen, spokesman for Senate Republicans. Donations have come from every state in the union, he said. The website went live Wednesday at 12:01 p.m. under a bill passed by the Arizona Legislature in April and sponsored by first year Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa. Smith said he won't accept the federal government's stance that there are enough barriers along the border.

Did they drop the idea of a moat filled with alligators?   (Left: Political 'toon courtesy Mark Hurwitt, Right photo: Sen. Steve Smith)

Little Brother Meets The Cows

Along the east side of our property is a barbed wire fence that veers off into the hills before reaching the woods which surround the house.  Behind that fence, a small herd of cows graze.  Little Brother barks at them, but cautiously.  The cattle are not particularly impressed with his restrained show of bravado.

NY Bishops Fighting Gay Marriage, Protecting Pedophile Priests

Who can comprehend the leviathan hypocrisy and odd priorities of the Roman Catholic Church?

SNAP:  The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Curiously, the Catholic Church in the state of New York appears marginally more interested in protecting its predatory priests than discriminating against committed same-sex couples, a favored preoccupation of the Holy See.  During a regional Catholic conference, the bejeweled bishops expended much of their time - and copious church funds - attempting to bribe convince local lawmakers to block an expanded statute of limitations for child sex crimes.  (Stay focused, Yer Worshipfuls, and plug those pesky lawsuits!)  Make no mistake, Pups, the prelates still managed to bluster and posture and rail against marriage equality.  But for once, denigrating gays and lesbians wasn't their primary focus.  When diocesan finances are threatened, all else must take a back seat...

Duncan Osborne reports for GayCityNews:  While the New York State Catholic Conference spent some cash to oppose gay marriage in New York and Roman Catholic leaders made statements against making such unions legal, reports filed with the state agency that regulates lobbyists show that the bishops spent far more money lobbying against bills extending the statute of limitations for bringing civil lawsuits or criminal cases for sex crimes against children.  According to reports filed with the Commission on Public Integrity, the Conference hired three lobbying firms in the first six months of 2011. Two firms worked exclusively opposing legislation that would give child sex crime victims more time to bring lawsuits or criminal charges. The third firm spent most of its time on such legislation.  Collectively, the Conference paid the three firms just over $111,000 in fees and expenses. The firms lobbied the governor, the State Senate, and the Assembly. The Church is concerned with limiting its financial liability in lawsuits resulting from allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests.

I would think that a conclave of venerable bishops might be more concerned about, I dunno, child hunger or poverty or war or a thousand things other than sticking it to abuse victims and obsessing over loving gay and lesbian relationships.  I would think that, but I'd be wrong.    (Editorial cartoon via Nick Anderson)

Related Post:  Little girls are often the forgotten victims of priestly abuse.