Cast the first stone

By Capt. Fogg

I'm disgusted by violence; I always have been. I'm human enough, none the less, to recognize in myself the urges we inherit from the common ancestor we share with Chimpanzees and yes, I'm quite capable of committing violent acts under the right circumstances, my antipathy notwithstanding. One of those circumstances would be to prevent violence being committed upon others and particularly upon women and children. I'm afraid I would become uncontrollable if forced to witness what Iran plans to do to a group of women for having sex or something close to it in violation of some religious code from the dark minds of the dark ages.

Despite a pledge to hold a moratorium on such crimes against nature, decency and humanity, Iran announced last week that it was going to stone 9 women and one man for adultery.

"The European Union calls on the Iranian government and parliament to abolish, in law and in practice, recourse to cruel and degrading punishment and, in particular the use of stoning, as a method of execution,"

reads a statement from France Thursday, which holds the current EU presidency. Fat chance.

In case the procedure is too vague to depict the horror of watching women and girls buried up to their shoulders be pelted with fist sized stones until they either bleed to death or as the skull fractures, the eyeballs hanging by threads from a pulped face, the brain damage becomes sufficient to cause them to stop breathing, here's a picture. Here's a glimpse into the dark heart of religious madness. Here are the people who worship a merciful God and thereby demonstrate his non-existence. Here are people I would gladly kill regardless of the personal cost.

Look into her eyes and smash her in the face with a brick - go ahead, but just don't let me get my hands around your God fearing neck.


Cross posted from Human Voices

Madness

by Capt. Fogg

If the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, the price of free speech is eternal bullshit. Yes, this is a real billboard in Florida and for sure, some hysterical nitwit will begin to howl this at the moon.

In an ignorant and emotionally volatile population, Democracy is dangerous.

Cross posted from Human Voices

The Empire retires?

By Capt. Fogg

There's a new kind of darkness come to the Sunshine State. Karl Rove, whose bald pate is sometimes described as looking like a shaved testicle, has bought himself a house in a small development on the gulf coast in the western half of the Florida panhandle. You may have a hard time finding it on the map. It's quite a way from any place with a name you might recognize; the kind of place that gets hurt really, really bad by the hurricanes that scream through now and then. The mangroves and the vegetation that used to protect the dunes are now gone to be replaced by condos and beach houses and the country types who used to inhabit the area have been replaced by more economically upscale and in this case at least, a morally bankrupt politician.

I could imagine all sorts of reasons that Karl would choose to spend at least part of his time in a remote area, even if locals aren't particularly likely to admire him any more than I do, but it seems to interest Raw Story to a degree I find amusing. The stereotype of the typical "liberal" often is someone of limited means with a jealous grudge against those with less limited means. It's not true, but of course one will find examples.

The story focuses on how large and expensive is his abode as though to provide a very unneeded reason to dislike Rove. It has to make a Floridian smile. Perhaps to a rust belt city dweller a 2500 square foot house is big and a million dollars for a seaside property is expensive, but Welcome to Florida. Even in the midst of a real estate slump a 50,000 square foot house was completed last month, just a few miles up the coast from me. A big chunk of the people who live here don't need mortgages and a million buys a rather average house if it's within sight of the water. Did anyone think a high level king maker like Rove couldn't afford it - regardless of his party affiliation? I'm actually surprised at how modest it is compared to the palatial Rush Limbaugh seaside estate in Palm Beach.

The real surprise though, is that the real base of the Republican party, and I don't mean the money people, the influential people, but the guy whose house has wheels, the small businessman resentful of taxes, the retired military lovers of authority who always vote Republican, the Religious right; that such people support Rove and Rumsfeld and Bush and Cheney even now is what amazes me. That they think the Party represents them, is on their side and is lead by struggling people just like them, is beyond understanding. But let's not do so much to further the false image of Democrats that serves the Republicans so well. Let's not make demons of anyone with money when it's those who get rich by lying, cheating and stealing; those who use economic power to subvert politics to nefarious ends who are our opponents. Karl Rove isn't evil because he made a few bucks, but because he made it the way he did.

Cross posted from Human Voices

Same old Dick

By Capt Fogg

I'm rather tired of the false familiarity politicians sometimes use when trying to sound like one of the guys; as though they'd really rather be called Dick than Richard or even "Mr. Vice President" because power and status are uncomfortable to these log cabin born rail splitters with dung on their boots. I'm always happy to call our current VP Dick however, although the opportunity isn't likely to present itself unless we have another hurricane in my part of Florida this summer.

I was beginning to think for a while that Dick was in ill health or that George had sent him to his room so as not to embarrass the party, but he's back. He's back with the same old "go F*** yourself" attitude, the same old so what response to the will of the country he was elected to serve and the same old authoritarianism in conservative clothing. Like most mythological creations of religious organizations do, Dick speaks in parables and his latest and most overused parable seems to be tale of the democratically elected hero who knows much more and much better than does the peasantry about what needs to be done and so steps outside his job description and like a fat Napoleon, on to a white marble horse.

Gerald Ford, says Dick, exhibited the same sort of heroism in pardoning the other great Dick of American History that he and his administration did by fabricating a story requiring us to invade, demolish, pillage and occupy Iraq. Let's not be so formal as to call this sophistry, let's continue with the familiarity thing and call it a foul, stinking, crock of shit and worse: an effort to advance the cause of paternalistic, authoritarian and yes, imperial government. Of course no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of Americans and especially that of Republicans, but it shouldn't be too difficult to recognize that pardoning a cheap, chiseling, neurotic and alcoholic crook like Nixon could never have the same kind or degree of repercussions or involve the same kind of human and financial costs as did and does our occupation of Iraq.

But if anyone still needs help, arguing that because a president may sometimes have to temper the short term passions of the public, a ruthless dictator is ipso facto a good president, is a false argument of insidious intent. Get it?

Dick likes to pose as the long suffering victim of unintelligent and unappreciative liberal advocates of popular sovereignty whom time will eventually exonerate and promote. As you may recall, we were suffocated with similar sentiments concerning the other Dick and so far Nixon looks worse with every passing year and every transcribed tape. I'm afraid glory will escape Dick Cheney in his lifetime and in saecula saeculorum unless of course honest history fails along with our democracy and our republic.

Cross posted from Human Voices

legacy

By Capt. Fogg

Bush is certainly right. The decision to create a false scenario to facilitate the killing of 600,000 innocent people, the exile of 4,000,000 people; the destruction of their homes, farms, factories, roads, schools, markets and even their museums and ancient ruins "will forever be" the right decision, but only in the minds of the stupid, the venal, the religious and the inhuman. A speech such as he gave to the annual National Religion Broadcasters convention yesterday would only be cheered by such people as have made the proliferation of lies and confusion their profession and the spread of human misery their quest.

And cheered it was. Larded with his usual references to "Freedom" and "values" the 42 minute harangue was well ballasted with references to God and how much he looks just like us. Indeed he does, since he is us, and as we are stupid, arrogant, violent and stuffed full of our own righteousness to the point of shock and awe, we know that God just loves George Bush and the smell of the blood and burning flesh, the pong of poverty, the stench of fear and hopelessness he has brought to Iraq. None of that will waft its way to George's gentleman's estate. There isn't even the smell of manure to disturb his sanctimonious leisure or soil his Lucchese boots. He will retire to a life of flags, libraries, ceremonies and lapel pins where the cries of orphans and the sight of the maimed are far away and in another country - enjoying their George given freedom.

If this were a different age, a man like Bush might commission statues of himself, looking confidently into the infinite future toward the far bank of the Nile. Such things adorn ancient ruins from Egypt to Babylon, the tyrants and torturers who made them turned to dust or shrivelled mummies. At any rate, I hope he is remembered nearly as long; remembered for what he has done, for his fatuous faith, for his dishonesty, for his contempt for truth and those who speak it.

I wish I had faith in the Devil. I wish I could believe in a hell, that I might dream that the stench of George Bush and his deeds "will forever be" filling its bottomless bowels.

Cross posted from Human Voices

Here There Be Monsters

This past week there was a monster loose at Va. Tech and he wreaked havoc and destroyed lives and families. And now more monsters are coming to Blacksburg.
The Topeka, Kansas based Westboro Baptist Church is coming to Blacksburg to spread their message of hate. The founder, Fred Phelps, claims that America has condemned itself to destruction for accepting homosexuality and other "sins of the flesh". His wacked-out daughter puts in her two cents worth, claiming the students brought it on themselves for not being good christians and got what they deserved.

“The evidence is they were not Christian. God does not do that to his
servants,” Phelps-Roper said. “You don’t need to look any further for evidence those people are in hell.”

These crazies are the same people that protest at the funerals of fallen American soldiers killed in Iraq. Luckily, the law may help take care of these people. If they show up, Virginia's disorderly conduct law can be used to keep them out of earshot. The law was changed to deal specifically with these types of people.

These people are on the fringe and preach hatred and a doctrine not shared by mainstream Christian groups, right? Maybe not. Remember this golden oldie from just after 9-11?

"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that analternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'"

This hate-filled diatribe was spewed out by the Reverend Jerry Falwell. Not exactly from the fringe is he? He is a major force in the right-wing, evangelical movement. This is the guy that gets out the so-called "values voters" for our Commander-in-Chief. He apologized for this outburst but he meant every word he said, you can tell.

You scratch one of these political preachers and out crawls a howling little christianist.

Fred Phelps and his little coven are monsters, but I fear they are not too far out of the mainstream.

Jim M