A Little Something for the Intelligent Design Crowd

This is for all the folks who think that "intelligent" design should be taught in our schools...

I think it says it all!

Hypocrites Rule - - And I'm Kinda Happy About That

I hope that the title of this little blog entry was surprising enough to get you to read this. I know that my little description of myself off to the right of the screen says that I hate hypocrites, and in theory that is still true. But I think I've found an exception to the rule.

That exception is the vast number of so-called christians who hold positions of power in our government. I'm glad that most of these christians are hypocrites instead of full-fledged, dyed-in-the wool, smote-you-in-the-eye chrisitans. You see, my theory is that many politicians claim to have "faith" and a "unflagging belief in god" in order to get elected. But, in actuality, many of them are faking. Oh, sure, they probably still "believe" in a god, but they don't really buy into the whole shebang of christianity.

By that I mean that many of them rarely, if ever, attend church services. And other than claiming faith and faking piety they don't do much of anything else that is religious. And I'm glad of this, because if everyone who claimed to be religious or "have faith" actually did, and actually acted that way, man, we'd be royally fucked. I think we'd be on the road to a theocracy in the good old US of A... and we aren't (which kinda backs up my thesis).

I know there are folks "out there" who sound the alarms that we are on the verge of a theocracy here, but that is just alarmist bullshit. It is true that we have a lot of religious bullshit where it does not belong (faith-based initiatives, god in the pledge of allegiance and on our money, religious stupidity dictating policy [as in no stem cell research], etc.)... but we are in no danger of using the bible as the law of the land. Shit, christians don't even know most of what is in the bible, so they'd have to learn that first.

Now do I wish that these politicians did not have to be hypocrites? Of course I do. But until more people start using their brain I embrace their hypocritical nature. Lie to us you fuckers! And make us like it!

Ben Stein is a Fool

You know Ben Stein, don't you? He is that mousy little pipsqueak who used to host a game show with Jimmy Kimmel (until Jimmy left the show and there was no longer a reason for anyone to watch it). He was also a speechwriter for Richard Nixon. Or maybe you know him as the Economics teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Bueller.... Bueller...).

So what the fuck, csm, you may be asking yourself. Who gives a damn about that old weasel? Well, I bring to your attention, an impending movie titled Expelled. Evidently the old coot is going to champion the blatantly ridiculous intelligent (sic) design movement in this upcoming cinematic turd.

But perhaps I am being too hard on Benny boy. He is, after all, just an actor these days, and maybe the jobs are getting harder to come by. There cannot be much demand for a short, uppity-acting, doughy-faced old-timer like Stein in this day-and-age, can there? Then again, I cannot imagine any circumstance under which I would participate in anything that promotes anti-science as Stein will be doing in this movie.

Of course, Stein has made some incredibly fucking stupid statements in the recent past that seem to indicate that he is off his rocker. Here is a good one from Stein: I think Mr. Bush is going to go down in history as one of the great peacemakers and democracy-builders in the history of the world.

Go back to your Clear Eyes commercials, Ben - - at least that stuff probably works.

Presidential Primaries Need to be Fixed!

This USA Today opinion (Ludicrous Leapfrog) column makes some good points about the farce that the presidential primaries have become. I like the proposal it gives for fixing this mess:

The best idea is regional primaries that rotate every four years, so no part of the country always gets to go first. A lottery could let a few small states vote early, to allow for retail campaigning.
It's too late to change the demeaning free-for-all of 2008 (or is it 2007-08?), but the major parties could create a new system for 2012 if they're frustrated and embarrassed enough. They should be.

Hillary Clinton: The Next Ronald Reagan?

If the polls are accurate, then for only the second time in 30 years are the most loyal partisans in the Out-of-Power political party and their most partisan opponents in the In-Power party backing the same candidate to be the next presidential nominee of the Out-of-Power party.

Three decades ago, the first choice of then-out-of-office Republicans was the conservative champion from California, Ronald Reagan. Democrats of that era were nervous about Jimmy Carter, their embattled incumbent, facing Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker or even former U.N. Ambassador George H.W. Bush.

But Democrats were positive that American voters would reject a far-right, 69-year-old, ex-movie actor with, what former President Ford had called, "prematurely orange hair." Reagan carried 44 states in 1980.

Today, it is Republicans who are publicly salivating over the prospect of running against the Democrats' front-runner, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Some see her candidacy motivating conservatives to vote in record numbers, guaranteeing GOP retention of the White House and Congress. Others see themselves becoming wealthy tapping the nervous checkbooks of donors who view the Clintons as proof of the impending Apocalypse. Very few even see the remote possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Like 1978 Democrats, 2005 Republicans may be making the serious mistake of talking only to people who agree with them. That is the warning sounded by some wise, battle-scarred Republican veterans of GOP presidential politics, who take a Hillary Clinton candidacy very seriously indeed.

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Have You Seen "Which Circle?" Yet

Just stumbled across this funny web comic that is worth keeping up with. The comic is basically a satire of the Campus Crusade for Christ organization. It is called "Which Circle?" and a portion of the latest strip is shown below (click on it to go to the full comic):




If you go here you can review all 21 of the "Which Circle?" comics.

Rats Leaving a Sinking Ship?

With Karl Rove moving on to the next chapter of his life, does this signal the start of the rats abandoning the sinking ship that is the lame duck portion of GWB's presidency? Or is it just Rove accepting the reality that he can no longer play war and cut taxes for the rich? I'm guessing Rover realizes that his friend (the president) has poll numbers stuck in the mud, is a lame duck, and has to work with Congress having a majority for the opposition - - and therefore nothing of consequence will happen in the final 17 months or so of the GWB administration.

A Mormon in the White House? Romney Wins Iowa Straw Poll.

Republican Mitt Romney won the first test of the 2008 White House race on Saturday, using a big wallet and broad organization to muscle aside a field of second-tier rivals in a low-turnout Iowa straw poll.

Romney won 31 percent of the votes cast in the nonbinding mock election, a traditional early gauge of support in the state that holds the first nominating contest leading up to the November 2008 election.

Competing on a shoestring budget, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee finished a surprising second with 18 percent of the 14,302 votes cast -- a much smaller turnout than the approximately 24,000 who voted in the last Republican straw poll in 1999.

Romney was a heavy favorite after the other top three national Republican candidates -- former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson -- skipped the poll.

For the biggest losers, the results could mean a quick campaign exit. Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who said he needed to finish in the top two to go on, came in sixth. With little money to continue, other laggards could face similar decisions.

Romney matched the 31 percent of the vote won by then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in his 1999 straw poll victory on the road to the White House. He said his performance was not devalued by the absence of his top rivals or the low voter turnout in the sweltering heat.
"You've got to be successful in Iowa if you want to be president of the United States," said Romney, who leads state polls but trails Giuliani and the other top contenders nationally. "I'm still an underdog."

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Who knows what this could portend? A strong start for Romney in Iowa could help to propel him along and raise him above the current perception that Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson are the Republicans to beat.