[lie d'jour] Separation of Church & State

"The tenet of the separation of church and state is an unconstitutional doctrine," she said.

"The separation of church and state arises out of the Constitution," Ralston replied.

"No it doesn't, Jon," Angle said. "Thomas Jefferson was actually addressing a church and telling them through his address that there had been a wall of separation put up to protect the church from being taken over by a state religion, and that's what they meant.

Washington Post, 30 June 2010, Amy Gardner, Sharron Angle grilled on Social Security, Medicare, and 'taking Harry Reid out', retrieved 1.Jul.2010

Now, I will certainly admit that the Founding Fathers probably didn't envision the current understanding of this separation. And, I suppose someone might technically argue that she is correct, in that the separation of church and state is actually in the Bill of Rights, and not the original Constitution. This doesn't change my assessment of this as a Lie.

A church being taken over by the State...?
They would have LTAO.

Lecturing to a congregation to fear the government's actions? This would be the same Thomas Jefferson who espoused:
"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." [emphasis mine]
as well as
"Because these Pseudo-evangelists pretended to inspiration, as much as the others, and you are to judge their pretensions by your own reason ..."
Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, Aug. 10, 1787*

This would be the same Thomas Jefferson who, with James Madison (another Founding Father) waged "a long and successful campaign against state financial support of churches in Virginia." [emphasis mine]

These early American Citizen-Politicians' experiences would have been that the State already had a religion (The Church of England), and they were Out of Luck if they wanted to hold office and weren't Anglican. If you were Roman Catholic, you were just fucked. The majority (Protestants) were probably just pissed that they were being lumped in with the Catholics by being denied.

The C of E had the power, and the American colonists wanted it. The King was the head of the C of E (like the Pope, but with more wives). So, the Founding Fathers' experience was that the only way to get real political freedom was to get rid of the British Government which was run by the British Parliament, which required you to be Anglican to get in, and which required you to consider George III God's Vicar here on Earth.

So - their solution was to eliminate the possibility of an entire government be stuck adhered to one specific sect. How? Prohibit anyone in the new government from setting their flavor of Christianity as the Preferred Choice. In other words: "Let's have no state-mandated religion so we can all equally seek earthly power".

Their solution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


Anyone who is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate should be expected to know and understand the contents of the Constitution of the United States of America. Which is unfortunate, since I am under the impression that the only parts of the Constitution most politicians read is a few sentences within the Commerce Clause. They tend to be much more likely to quote from the Bill of Rights, especially the First, Second and Fifth Amendments.

It is doubly unfortunate they don't read it, since it is one of the shortest constitutions in the world. This one document has had a greater impact on the entire world in the past 220 years than anything imagined by the men who wrote it. I think they would be shocked at the scope of the impact of these 4 pages.

I think the early Americans would also be shocked at the idea of acknowledging the populist religion (evangelical/pentacostal Christianity) as the de facto Religion of Choice for the operation of the government.




*Thomas Jefferson, letter to his nephew Peter Carr, from Paris, August 10, 1787; Merrill D. Peterson, ed., Thomas Jefferson: Writings, New York: Library of America, 1994, pp. 900-906.

as an afterthought ... I really hope she isn't elected; I might have to add another woman to the euphemistic category She Who Must Not Be Named.

.

She Who Must Not Be Named #2

Be a lady

Arlen Spectre tells She Who Must Not Be Named (R-MN) to act like a lady, to wit:

"I'm going to treat you like a lady," Mr. Specter shot back. "Now act like one."

Ah, all the more reason to rejoice that he became a democrat: no party harangue after such an honest reminder of common courtesy. This article, however, gave grave cause for fear & trepidation. She Who Must Not Be Named (R-MN) is apparently hosting She Who Must Not Be Named (R-AK) at some rally. I will definitely be somewhere else that day.

I thank God that I don't live in the 6th District. Keith Ellison could board a Northwest flight with explosives in his underwear & I would still prefer him to Bachmann. Come on - complaints about Ellison going on Hajj - or complaints about Bachmann lying about health care bills?

Truth-o-Meter Lie of the Year:

61% Palin ... claims ... uh, lies ... about death panels

3.8% Bachmann ... claims ... uh, lies ... about health care bills

Now, lest you think this is just a bunch of "liberal elitists" slamming "poor misunderstood Christian conservatives":
7.1% of their readers thought that Pres. Obama's claims about "preventative care saves money" was a lie.

Why spend money on basic education, when PR campaign dollars are so much cheaper and quite obviously so much more effective?

I can't vote her out ...

Local nut job apparently represents the conservative Catholic vote in Minnesota. Why can't people just go back to ignoring the ignorant? Stupid behavior and blatant false statements shouldn't be rewarded by the front page of the New York Times.

The state waits with baited breath to see whether sanity can prevail in the 6th District.

... but he's the only serious candidate here in the 5th District. Expecting a Republican to win here is like expecting palm trees to grow up in Bimidji.

****ipedia

Google: dickipedia

1st hit: Sarah Palin
2nd hit: Michelle Bachmann

now, I realize that the media hand-pick photographs to suit the tone of their reporting. Check out Chancellor Merkel - anything that tries to paint her as a hard-ass has her looking like one; anything that tries to highlight her needing to compromise with the other pariets has her looking a bit confused like "what the hell am I doing here?"

But seriously, I've never seen an attractive picture of Rep. Bachmann. So - either she's inherently unattractive, or the media realizes what a total and complete fruit cake she is. .... What a pity her constituency hasn't.


.

Underfunding

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for the oversight and enforcement of compliance with regulations addressing the safety, efficacy, and potency of drugs (as well as all medical devices & biological drugs).

FDA sends its auditors to every drug manufacturer in the US at least once every 2 years.

They send auditors to foreign manufacturers who supply US drugs whenever they get around to it. 80% of our drug materials are made overseas.

I can personally vouch for the fact that the oversight of the FDA and their power to terminate licenses at will on zero notice quite sincerely does drive compliance with their regulations.

The 2007 congressional appropriation for this agency was $1.58 million dollars.

$1.57M is less than 3/4 of the budget for the county school district where FDA's headquarters is located.

$1.57M is approximately the projected cost of the Sarah Palin commemorative 'Bridge to Nowhere'. -Playing "Kick the FDA" - Risk Free to Players but Hazardous to Public Health, Alastair J.J. Wood, New England Journal of Medicine, vol 385, no. 17, 4/28/08

So the next time people start dropping dead from bad Vioxx or heparin or toothpaste made with anti-freeze labeled as sugar syrup, Congress needs to be added to the whipping boy list.

Why I Hate America

... Representative Robin Hayes, who prefaced his comments by saying it was important to “make sure we don’t say something stupid, make sure we don’t say something we don’t mean.” Republicans, he reminded the crowd, were kind people.
Plus, he added, the liberal media had shown itself eager to distort such remarks. With the crowd duly chastened and put on best behavior, he accused Obama of “inciting class warfare” and said that “liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God.”

Our own Palin clone was - of course - cited immediately after this paragraph. See revised comments below.

What is this? The RNC must have cut off funding for "Control Mechanism on Speech of Radical Christian Idiots We Are Trying to Distance Ourselves From"?

Our own Palin - revised

Unfortunately, in contrast to the individual running as the GOP-VP, this woman has actually been elected to office. And succeeded in winning the GOP primary. Although, since the party actually let someone run against her on the party ticket, I suppose it could be inferred that even within the party ranks she isn't a golden child.

Bachmann is pretty much a cookie cutter of Palin. Thank god she isn't my representative. She's a darling of the local media (at least the ones I read) due to her truly bizarre behavior.

People from around the country donated $640,000 to Tinklenberg's campaign after Bachmann said Friday on MSNBC's "Hardball" that Obama "may have anti-American views."

That comment not only replenished the campaign war chest of Bachmann's opponent, but it also clogged up her office voice mail with many angry messages.

During an interview Sunday on WCCO-TV, Bachmann suggested people are overreacting to her remarks Friday.-MPR

This is just all over the news today (Monday). Tinklenberg's campaign has received $800,000 dollars in 3 days (since Friday, after the 'misunderstood' comment). The Cook political assessment group has switched her district from 'definitly republican' to 'could go either way'.

Tuesday:
Bachmann's opponent in the primary has decided to launch a write-in campaign against her in the general election.

Bachmann Friday on MSNBC Hardball:
On B.Obama "Absolutely. I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views."
On M.Obama's 'first time I'm proud of my country" comment: "And so these are very anti-American views."
On Media: "I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America?"

Bachmann on Monday: claims she didn't suggest "some House Un-American Activities Committee witch hunt into my colleagues in Congress." Well, that is true. Tangential and misrepresenting, but factual.

On top of the Democrats/liberal/reasonably intelligent people screaming for her head, the Governor of Minnesota, Republican Tim (I Wouldn't Be So Screwed If I'd Picked Him as VP) Pawlenty criticized her comments. Of course, T-Paw immediately appended "well, that's what happens when you talk all day", you say things you wish you hadn't said that way. Well, Mr. Governor, perhaps it's a matter of "you say things you should have kept your mouth shut & not said at all"?

Hocky Fan Mom

I like hockey. I'm hoping Santa Claus brings me a ticket to the Wings' game here in town in January. I am not, nor shall I ever be, a 'hockey mom' (like I'm going to let my boys do that on a serious team? Be real. Pond hockey yes; NHL no). Soccer mom, maybe if you can be one without letting it consume your soul. We might have a mini-van, though. With camping gear.

After hearing about this for several days, I finally found a functional internet connection, and watched it. Wow. Awesome!

The Nation's comment about Failin' Palin hiding behind her daughter's skirts was the most laughable. If she's going to drag the little kid out onto the ice, to keep the Flyer fans from booing her, the least she could do is give the kid the damn puck.



Although, as a PR point someone should have made to her, she should have avoided the Burbury coat and worn a hockey jersey. Not from the Flyers (whose fans might have been even more enraged), but the U.Alaska/Fairbanks. They have a nice team. "Rah rah hockey" without the "I'm sucking up" factor.

Just so much fun ...

As Mr. Healthy Gopher observed, the longer Palin is in the race, the funnier she becomes. Funny like bizarre.

Palin: "community organizer? what's that? who cares? I am a governor"

Jesus Christ was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a governor.


The following observations are from one of the news blogs here during McSame/Palin's shindig up in Blaine yesterday:

• This woman scares me, I don't see how any foreign leader can take her seriously. I'd buy Avon from her, but not vote for her for serious office. It's like the Ketchup couple woman on A Prairie Home Companion running for office. Maybe I need some ketchup with its mellowing agents to calm down.
• When this over so I can turn my radio back on? I really find it annoying to listen to someone this stupid. It's like listening to Bush speak.
• Gov Palin says "We'll never forget we're there to work for you. It's about you. I've never forgotten who I'm accountable to." ... As long as 'you' and 'the rule of law' aren't the same things.

Placard/protest signs from Alaska Women Reject Palin protest in Ancorage, AK last Sunday. Which, if the head-count of 1,500 is correct, means that 1/4 of a percent of the entire state population was there.

Bush in a skirt
McCain/Palin - Unstable & Unable
Real Leaders don't have to Cram for the Interview
Pittbulls make poor Diplomats
Wrong Woman, Wrong Message
Hocky Mom for Obama
Sarah Palin: Fundamentally Wrong
Bristol Got to Choose: Why Don't We?
I Support My Choice (very pregnant woman holding sign)
Another Bush We Can't Trust (now, I'm not 100% sure how to take this, but I'll assume the artist was willing to be subtle, and consider this awfully, awfully damned funny)
I'll Need Reproductive Rights One Day (8-yr old girl holding sign)
I Don't Like Hockey! Figure skating Moms 4 Obama



Potential amendment to my Election Rules:

A multi-partisan commission will be established.
It will review advertisements and speeches.
The accuracy of claims will be established, regarding what the candidate claims to have done or what the opponents have done.

The commission will awards points for false statements. It will aware more points for each time the statement/ad is repeated after the first issuance of points.

For every 10,000 points you get, your side loses one electoral vote.

The above amendment is from bigalmn at MPR's blog, who added: "If we did this today both sides would likely be in the negative electoral votes overall and the Independence Party would win by default since they have no money to spend on advertising and get no press attention."

News Cut Quiz of the Week

Question 5:

What happens if you actually try to put lipstick on a pig?

* They break out. Pigs are allergic to lipstick.
* You can't. Pigs don't have lips.
* They look kinda sexy, in a political kind of way, of course.
* They have a sudden urge to drive their piglets to hockey practice.