A Flag for "Honoring God"?

I thought this was an interesting piece of news:

A 17-year-old Eagle scout wanting to honor his grandfather's "love of God, country and family" with a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol has helped remove a ban on the word "God" in certificates that accompany these flags...The boy had asked that the certificate read: "this flag was flown in honor of Marcel Larochelle, my grandfather, for his dedication and love of God, country and family." But the Architect excised "God" from the inscription, saying it violated a policy, set in 2003, banning religious and political expressions on the certificates.

My position on this bit of stupidity might surprise you. I don't see the harm in putting what your constituent wants in such a certificate. Of course, it must be handled equally. My relatives should be able to request a flag to be flown in my honor with a certificate that reads something like: "this flag was flown in honor of csm, for his dedication to truth and country, and his long-standing battle against belief in gods."

Who wants to make a bet on whether that inscription would ever get put on any such a certificate?

On The GOP Candidates for President 2008

I just had to share this comment from Mitt Romney on comparing the 2008 Republican primary race to the TV series "Law & Order":

"It has a huge cast. The series seems to go on forever. And Fred Thompson shows up at the end," Romney said.

Here's hoping it ends the same way... with Thompson no longer participating.

Sad, But No Surprise in Recent Survey

A recent survey conducted by Gallup indicates some non-surprising results:

• Religious folks tend to disbelieve the science of evolution


• Republicans tend to disbelieve the science of evolution

Gee, I wonder if there is any connection?

MSU Has Been Touched By His Noodly Appendage

Pastafarianism - that is, the church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster - is the number two religious group at Missouri State University.

Watch this video for a news coverage. To me, the saddest part of this is the final statement made by the reporter about threats the group has received.

Ya just gotta love a good satire - and lament the humorlessness of some christians.

Is Norway's Princess Any Nuttier Than the Average God Believer?

Ever heard of Princess Martha Louise of Norway? She thinks she can talk to angels. And she claims to be able to communicate with horses (and not just by pulling on the reigns).

Now this may sound crazy to you... and it does to me, too. These things, in and of themselves, are ridiculous. But I'm an atheist and I don't "believe" in supernatural horse shit. However, why should a christian (for example) think this is nuts? If you are a christian, mull that around in your cranium for a minute or two...

Christians believe plants were created before the sun existed, that a man named Noah lived for more than 500 years (and, oh, by the way, he built a boat and put pairs of ALL the world's animals on it and sailed it around the world during a global flood), giants used to walk the earth (Genesis 6), and that Abraham had more than a half dozen kids after he was 100 years old... and that is all from just the first chapter of the christian "holy" book. Christians also believe in a man/god, a virgin birth, talking animals, and on and on and on....

I think you're all nuts... just like Princess Martha Louise!

A Statesman Whose Time Has Arrived

The time has come for Al Gore to run for president. Here is a compelling case taken from the Draft Gore web site.

Whether the issue is global warming, war and peace, reforming government, or leading a technological revolution, Al Gore has always been ahead of the curve. The climate crisis may be hot today, but Congressman Gore was pounding on this issue long before Washington had even heard of global warming.

At a time when politicians have lost the art of inspiring and leading, Al Gore speaks the truth and speaks it from the heart. His message is born out of conviction and is often decades ahead of its time. And he never gives in to politics as usual.

In 2002, he became the first prominent political figure to speak out against the war in Iraq. His predictions came to pass with painful precision. In the months and years that followed, Gore continued to brave the political winds by speaking out forcefully and compellingly on this and other issues of moral imperative: the assault on the Constitution, the abuses of executive power, the dire consequences of the Administration’s economic and environmental policies. He called for Rumsfeld’s resignation in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal and for the repeal of most of the Patriot Act.

Again and again, Gore has blasted open the national debate on the most important issues of our time. The opposition movement in America, desperate for a voice and a leader, has found one in Al Gore.

A proven winner

Only Gore has demonstrated he can take the heat and win the presidency of the United States. Even without considering the Florida fiasco, in 2000 he defeated George W. Bush by more than half a million votes, receiving the second largest number of votes ever cast in a presidential election.

As a moderate with a populist message and strong support among independents, Gore can unite the different factions within his party as well as draw support from voters of other partisan or non-partisan persuasions.

And recent polls indicate that Gore would be the favorite both for the nomination (see primary polls in New Hampshire, Michigan) and the general election.

A statesman with experience to be President

Gore’s credentials and experience are second to none. As vice president for eight years of peace and prosperity, he worked closer than any of his predecessors with the President, and many have called him the most successful vice president in history. Previously he served eight years in the House and was elected to a second term in the Senate. He has since worked with heads of state and other influential individuals and groups worldwide, and is respected by leaders around the globe.

Should he be elected, Al Gore would need no on-the-job training. He would hit the ground running from Day 1 with a vision and experience second to none.

And a cause that shall never die

Al Gore personifies a cause to millions of people who fiercely believe he was rightfully elected in 2000, and who will never get over the events that stopped the counting of the votes in Florida and put the election in the hands of a partisan Supreme Court. To this day people continue to address him as President Gore. As Martin Peretz wrote in a June 2006 op-ed in The New Republic, “there is an undercurrent of guilt around the country about the fact that the presidency was taken from him by a vote of 5 to 4."

Without a Gore candidacy, the country will be forever divided by a profound sense of justice denied. He may not have wished to become a cause, but millions of Americans cannot forget, and many more wonder each day, “What could have been?”

A Sad Veto History Likely to Worsen

George Bush is threatening to do it again.

First he vetoed the stem cell research bill. Then he vetoed the bill with a withdrawal timetable for our troops in Iraq. Now President Bush is at it again and is ready to veto the Children's Health Insurance Bill this week.

Within the next two days, Congress will pass legislation to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance for millions of children whose parents can't afford it on their own. But President Bush's veto will cut millions of children from the program.

Every day, countless parents live in fear that their sons and daughters may get sick or injure themselves, and then won't be able to pay the medical bills. A sudden illness or a broken arm shouldn't mean financial ruin -- but this is the price that hard-working families have to pay when Republicans put their own interests before the needs of the American people.

For the billions of dollars we spend in Iraq each month, every uninsured child could have access to the health care they need. Our society should promise every family that no child in America will be denied access to good medical care.

That's a huge difference between Democratic priorities and Republican priorities.

House Getting a Bad "Rap"

House panel debates hip-hop lyrics: Two rappers, sitting side-by-side in an ornate House hearing room, went in different directions Monday on the need for hip hop artists to expunge their work of sexist and violent language.

...

At the hearing, music videos showing scantily clad women were played; music executives in dark suits testified on the uses of the "B," H" and "N" words, and black civil rights leaders talked of corporate exploitation.

[sarcasm on]
Oh, I'm just so glad that the House is investigating the lyrics of hip hop music. It is not like there is a war going on, is it? And everyone had health coverage, our borders are protected, and the executive branch isn't full of power hungry, wiretapping, oil-drunk, rich white shit heads, right?
[sarcasm off]