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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Photo of the Week

http://www.bilerico.com/images/Rick-Santorum-Gay-Porn.jpg
I'm assuming this was made from Santorum's personal stash?

 From the Tosh.0/Comedy Central Blog, it's Santorum's image made out of Gay Porn.

Scares the hell out of me to think that the Republican base get's behind this guy.
He's been in the news lately with some humdinger quotes, I tell u what:

1. Opposing birth controlQuote: "One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country.... Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that's okay, contraception is okay. It's not okay. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." (Speaking with CaffeinatedThoughts.com, Oct. 18, 2011)
Reaction: This is "pretty basic: Rick Santorum is coming for your contraception," says Irin Carmon at Salon. "Any and all of it." Threatening to "send the condom police into America's bedrooms" is pretty bad politics: More than 99 percent of sexually active women have used some form of birth control, and "helping people get access to birth control is actually a popular issue," supported by 82 percent of Americans. But a national contraception ban is "clearly the world Santorum wants."
2. Keeping moms at homeQuote: "In far too many families with young children, both parents are working, when, if they really took an honest look at the budget, they might find they don't both need to. ... What happened in America so that mothers and fathers who leave their children in the care of someone else — or worse yet, home alone after school between three and six in the afternoon — find themselves more affirmed by society? Here, we can thank the influence of radical feminism." (Santorum's 2005 book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good)
Reaction: Santorum is actually right, says Bonnie Alba at Renew America. Degrading "the stay-at-home wife and mother while idolizing women who chose careers" is "certainly part and parcel of the feminist ideology which has twisted our society into a pretzel of me-ism."
3. Re-spinning the CrusadesQuote: "The idea that the Crusades and the fight of Christendom against Islam is somehow an aggression on our part is absolutely anti-historical. And that is what the perception is by the American Left who hates Christendom. ... What I'm talking about is onward American soldiers. What we're talking about are core American values." (South Carolina campaign stop, Feb. 22, 2011)
Reaction: "If you were worried there wouldn't be a 2012 candidate touting the pro-Crusades platform, then today is your lucky day!" says Jillian Rayfield at Talking Points Memo. The religiously sanctioned European military campaigns were aimed at recapturing Jerusalem, and "along the way the Roman Catholic forces massacred thousands of Jews, among others." I know the Crusades predated the U.S. by a few centuries, but how exactly does this military campaign reflect "core American values"?
4. Rejecting the very idea of "Palestinians"Quote: "All the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis, they're not Palestinians. There is no 'Palestinian.' This is Israeli land." (Campaign stop in Iowa, Nov. 18, 2011)
Reaction: "The striking thing about his comments is that they represent an even more conservative position than that taken by the Israeli government," says Glenn Kessler at The Washington Post. Israel's anti-Palestinian position itself isn't "accepted by much of the world, but it seems that the very least a potential U.S. president could do is accept the definitions used by the Israeli government."
5. Reminding America that some view Mormonism as "a dangerous cult"Quote: "Would the potential attraction to Mormonism by simply having a Mormon in the White House threaten traditional Christianity by leading more Americans to a church that some Christians believe misleadingly calls itself Christian, is an active missionary church, and a dangerous cult?" (Santorum's Philadelphia Inquirer column, Dec. 20, 2007)
Reaction: Santorum was responding to Mitt Romney's famous speech reassuring evangelical Christians that he shares their values, and to be fair, "Santorum's ultimate verdict on Romney was more or less positive," says Dan Froomkin at The Huffington Post. But he draws plenty of "distinctions between Mormonism and Christianity that others have avoided lest they seem overly inflammatory."
6. Dissing welfare programs that "make black people's lives better"Quote: "I don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money; I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money." (Campaign stop in Iowa, Jan. 2, 2012)
Reaction: "This is the sort of subtle racism" that should, but won't, harm Santorum among Republicans, says Steve Benen at Washington Monthly. Why did he single out black people when talking about cutting government aid?
7. Bringing race into Obama's abortion viewsQuote: "The question is — and this is what Barack Obama didn't want to answer — is that human life a person under the Constitution? And Barack Obama says no. Well if that person — human life is not a person, then — I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say, 'We're going to decide who are people and who are not people.'" (CNS News interview, Jan. 19, 2011)
Reaction: Equating fetuses to slaves got Santorum some pretty bad press, says David Weigel at Slate. But critics don't "appreciate how mainstream Santorum's point is among pro-life activists" who commonly "consider their work a continuation of other movements that protected human life and elevated the status of people whom the law doesn't consider 'human.' In the 19th century, it was African-Americans; in the 21st century, it's children in the womb."
8. Equating gay marriage to loving your mother-in-lawQuote: "Is anyone saying same-sex couples can't love each other? I love my children. I love my friends, my brother. Heck, I even love my mother-in-law. Should we call these relationships marriage, too?" (Santorum's Philadelphia Inquirer column, May 22, 2008)
Reaction: Did noted "homophobe" Santorum just admit to a "weird sexual relationship with his mother-in-law" and brother? says Michael J.W. Stickings at The Reaction. He may be atop the Republican heap, "but make no mistake about it, Santorum's still a bigot and a moron."
9. Comparing homosexuality to "man-on-dog" sexQuote: "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does. ... That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing." (AP interview, April 7, 2003)
Reaction: "Rick Santorum has expended a great deal of thought and energy to finding new words to disparage gay marriage," says Daryl Lang at Breaking Copy. And even if you agree with Santorum, "would you really want a president who is this obsessed" with gay sex?

 And that's just the old stuff; more recently his remarks towards the President have included innuendo of 'phony theology' and SATAN!

Bill Maher summed it up best when he joked with this "Tweet" for Santorums' Twitter page:


Better Late Than Never Wrangle

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance will never be able to say the word "surge" again with a straight face as it brings you this week's roundup.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones resigned her position to run in the GOP primary for SD25 after finally coming to the realization that her argument that we can't really know where the capital of Texas is located was completely lame. Off the Kuff provides the commentary.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is really getting worried at how America's religious culture and the GOP are pushing America backwards into the previous century with barbaric personal intrusions. Virile GOP: American Women Are Property Again and Population Control, Climate Change and Zealots describe how these are taking place.

Nothing will change with school finance in Texas until we change our elected officials. That's what WCNews at Eye On Williamson tells us in this post: We must "Re-Fund" public education in Texas.

Neil at Texas Liberal wrote about Houston right-wing talk show host and former Houston city councilmember Michael Berry. Mr. Berry is alleged to have been involved in a hit-and-run incident outside a Houston gay bar. In the recent past, Mr. Berry has said things relating to gay people that did not seem very nice.

Santorum -- the man, not the substance -- is surging, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs gathers the evidence.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants you to know that Nueces County Republicans screwed with redistricting, too.

Ken Judkins' column at the Lewisville Texan Journal asks: Why are otherwise good people so uncivil when it comes to politics?

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Be Cool or Be Cast Out

Suffragettes protesting at the 1920 Republican Convention. Left to right: Mrs. James Rector, Mary Dubrow, and Alice Paul. Sign reads:
"No self respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party that ignores her self." - Susan B. Anthony, 1872


I caught some of Whitney Houston's funeral yesterday. I always love seeing a glimpse into the black church. Talk about a soulful bunch of people. Their music and enthusiasm is infectious.

As I watched, I couldn't help but be reminded about what's going on in Washington D.C. right now with regards to women's rights.

You see, no one has suffered more in this country than black folks and women.

They all have a certain resolve that I admire. A calmness of knowing, faith, and frustration.

I thought about Whitney and her tremendous success, and I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to grow up in America as a black women.

Can you?

I tell u what: Black folks and women of all colors, don't expect anything from this country, so when they don't get it, they're not disappointed.

I felt at peace, and a little silly, knowing that these people weren't as upset with the system, and it's cruelty towards them, as I was. At least they didn't show it, they never show it, they just chalk it up as "life in America," then they move on. Their strength and perseverance is amazing to me...

Question:

Are women of all colors going to be silent about their rights being stripped away by a panel of men in 2012?

Or,

will they MAKE their voices be heard this November?

Sunday Funnies