A dangerous mind

dK is functionally down.  I can’t rate (I can still see hidden so I suspect it’s not all about me) so what’s the point?

I have duties tonight as host of TDS/TCR and I’ve spent most of the afternoon trying to write that.

At first I had 2 hours of chasing down a link to Jon’s guest, and after that another 2 hours of trying to grok my response.

I’m going to post it below, but I think for the show (if I can post at all) I’m going to go with the abbreviated version-

My Mom said, “When you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it.”

Jon-

Stephen-

The original-

On Jon tonight we have Peter Steinfels, Stephen is hosting the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders and Ed Rendell.

Well I spent waaay too much time on detective work to have much of a diary tonight.  Peter Steinfels’ Wikipedia entry is worthless and the first 20 pages of his Googles are blog posts that mention him.

Obscure blogposts.

FINALLY I was able to track down his New York Times page where he’s a “belief” columnist.

As many of you know I’m a die hard atheist and I see no reason for politics to pander to the irrational belief in an invisible friend who kisses your ouchies like mommy did and punishes you when you’re bad like daddy.

I think public piety is a cynical scam and religion is the opiate of the masses and you can call me a Marxist all you like- I also believe in worker control of the means of production in democratically organized collectives and inheritance caps and wealth taxes.  I think “Free Market Capitalism” is nothing more than an organized crime syndicate engaged in gambling, prostitution and “protection” as well as murder for hire.

Religious Right May Be Fading, but Not the ‘Culture Wars’

By PETER STEINFELS, The New York Times

Published: February 16, 2008

There is a third reason the culture wars will not only persist but may also regain their former intensity. The leaders of the Democratic Party have done their best to counter the impression that it is hostile to religion and religious values. The potential of Senator Barack Obama’s religious stance to heal the culture wars of the baby boom generations was an underlying theme of Andrew Sullivan’s brief for the Illinois senator in The Atlantic in December.

But it is unclear how far this sensitivity goes into the ranks of the liberals and progressives who will be filling posts in executive agencies, Congressional offices and the judiciary if the Democrats win in November. The occasions for friction are legion, including decisions about financing religion-based charities, nondiscrimination legislation and regulations of many kinds.

After years of enduring attacks from the religious right, a few may relish the opportunity for payback. Many more may simply have little patience for religious objections and little familiarity with religious allies as they press measures they care about deeply. And not a few may be in more agreement with Christopher Hitchens’s maxim that “religion poisons everything” than with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s or Mr. Obama’s public affirmations of faith.

When it comes to religion and politics, the culture is at a strange conjuncture. Over the last four years, a growing stream of evangelicals, including a former president, Jimmy Carter, have published books calling for a broader, kinder, gentler religious public agenda than the religious right’s. Just as the message has apparently been heard, it has encountered a counterwave of books arguing that religion is totally unfit, not merely for public life, but for personal life as well.

If the latter surge finds any receptive audience, it is much more likely to be among liberal Democrats than among Republicans. If a Democratic administration is not watchful, it could set off another of the overreactions to overreactions that have marred American politics.

I say good.

GOD damn those sanctimonious hypocrites.  GOD damn them to hell.

Cheerleaders.

Tits and ass much Stephen?

What place do they have on your show?

Are you going to mention that W‘s sole athletic accomplishment was…

Wait for it.

Cheerleader?

And Ed “HillShill” Rendell-

The 1985 police confrontation and bombing of MOVE, an African-American commune, occurred during Rendell’s tenure as District Attorney. It is alleged by survivor Ramona Africa that it was Rendell that orchestrated the bombing, which resulted numerous deaths of commune members, including women and children.

Nice Guy.  Glad he’s on our side.

33 comments

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  1. So this is what exclusive content looks like.

  2. looks good to me, but I am a die hard fan.

    I had an invisible friend when I was a kid.

    I am holding out for talking animals in my fantasy world.

  3. I look upon 99.995% of the population as defective.

    • nocatz on April 17, 2008 at 04:33

    I’ve been meaning to give this to you in honor of all you do.  Originally a prize for breathingstill (whom we all hope is okay).   A team of graphic artists from around the world spent weeks working on this.  

    Photobucket

  4. You think you know a person . . .

  5. …I wonder what the big fuss is about the displays of other people’s piety?

    Like it or not, most people in American and the world are religious.  Like it or not, that is good enough reason for the Times to have a reporter on religion and faith.  Like it or not, the visit of the Pope (a criminal in my opinion) is a big deal for Catholics, the world’s largest religious sect, with nearly as many adherents as the entire Muslim faith.  So, why shouldn’t TDS have him on as a guest?

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