Read this quote and then guess who is speaking and what they are talking about.
"I believe as we stand on the abyss tonight, that those Americans who are want to turn to God for answers, that this is a time to be doing that, to ask for his help, supernaturally, so we don't make this fatal step..."
Hmmm, a situation so dire that our only option is to turn to God and ask for supernatural intervention, something that, if not stopped, will be a fatal step for America. What could it be? Has some self-proclaimed prophet convinced himself that nuclear war is imminent? Let's look at the end of the quote:
"...so we don't make this fatal step, pushing our nation into socialized medicine."
Once you realize the subject of supernatural intervention is health care reform, it should become sadly obvious that the person talking is some member of the House or Senate who's deaf to any legitimate policy discussion because he's got his iPod on repeat, listening to The Book of Revelation. In this case, the Congressman is Rep. Todd Akin, (R)-Missouri.
Having problems with current health care legislation is not wrong. Fear mongering, while both manipulative and morally dubious, is certainly a tactic that has been ingrained into the political process. What Akin is doing here though is a hybrid of sorts, a symbiotic relationship that I like to call Evangelist fear mongering. The perfect mix of church and state.
Akin is not calling for the general, "please find a way to help the victims in Haiti" or "keep our soldiers abroad safe" style of dialogue with God, but instead is asking that we plea for direct, "supernatural" intervention against health care reform. Prayer and belief in God imply a certain level of supernatural-ness, but Akin wants us to forget the implied supernatural activity of normal prayer and really swing for the fences this time in the hopes that maybe we can get the big guy to come down from the clouds and do something tangible to stop health care reform.
That is, in this case, God's mysterious ways will not do, we need him to step in and specifically stop health care reform. So get to praying America, because God and God alone is our only hope. In other words, if we don't pray to God, we are just plain fucked ("those Americans who are want to turn to God for answers" are making a "fatal step" into the "abyss").
Christianity has been telling non-believers they are fucked (going to hell) for its entire existence, but the political arena is supposed to be distinct from the religious. On a subtle level, this respect of the divide between church and state has been gone from near the beginning, as anyone running for elected office must declare their faith in God, no, I correct myself, their faith in Christianity, if they want a chance of winning. But what Rep. Akin is doing here is going a step further. God is not just there to answer to our spiritual needs, but also our policy decisions.
Congress is in good hands.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Daily Show and C-SPAN Gems
There is a lot of talk out there about how many young people get their news from The Daily Show. For people who do not pay attention to current events or politics, I think that is a fair statement. On the other hand, for the people out there who do pay attention to the news, The Daily Show provides poignant satire on politics and the sad state of mass media. Still, for the latter group of informed fans, The Daily Show does provide an educational service of high value.
If you were to ask anyone you know if they watch C-SPAN, the answer would most likely be no. If you asked the same question to the writers/editors of The Daily Show, the answer would be different. The Daily Show sifts through C-SPAN for gold. By gold I mean the absurd, theatrical, and/or sad actions of Senators and Congressmen on Capitol Hill.
Last Monday, March 1st, The Daily Show produced a segment about Senator Jim Bunning and his obstructionist tactics. By his objection alone, he blocked a motion to extend unemployment benefits for one month to the unemployed.
Jon Stewart does not only scold Jim Bunning, but also the Democrats who Bunning played like a fiddle. Due to the farcical old rules of Capitol Hill, for the motion to be passed, all the Dems would have had to do is get Bunning out of the room. Stewart makes jokes about how the Dems should have called him to the 'courtesy phone', but the point he is making is simply that the Dems are a bunch of inept jackasses with their thumbs stuck up their asses.
Bush pretty much did whatever the fuck he wanted to do while he was president, and he never had anything close to a supermajority. What he did have was Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, two very smart and politically savvy veterans of D.C. who knew how to get things done when they wanted to. I disagree with most of what they did, but I still have to respect the fact that they got it done. Politics is a dirty game, and the Democrats just don't seem like they know how to play.
To quote Jon Stewart, from a different episode of The Daily Show:
"It's not that the Democrats are playing checkers and the Republicans are playing chess. It's that the Republicans are playing chess and the Democrats are in the nurse's office because once again they glued their balls to their thighs."
So thank you Jon Stewart and staff, without you, most of us would never see for ourselves, in cold, hard evidence just how dysfunctional D.C. really is.
If you were to ask anyone you know if they watch C-SPAN, the answer would most likely be no. If you asked the same question to the writers/editors of The Daily Show, the answer would be different. The Daily Show sifts through C-SPAN for gold. By gold I mean the absurd, theatrical, and/or sad actions of Senators and Congressmen on Capitol Hill.
Last Monday, March 1st, The Daily Show produced a segment about Senator Jim Bunning and his obstructionist tactics. By his objection alone, he blocked a motion to extend unemployment benefits for one month to the unemployed.
Jon Stewart does not only scold Jim Bunning, but also the Democrats who Bunning played like a fiddle. Due to the farcical old rules of Capitol Hill, for the motion to be passed, all the Dems would have had to do is get Bunning out of the room. Stewart makes jokes about how the Dems should have called him to the 'courtesy phone', but the point he is making is simply that the Dems are a bunch of inept jackasses with their thumbs stuck up their asses.
Bush pretty much did whatever the fuck he wanted to do while he was president, and he never had anything close to a supermajority. What he did have was Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, two very smart and politically savvy veterans of D.C. who knew how to get things done when they wanted to. I disagree with most of what they did, but I still have to respect the fact that they got it done. Politics is a dirty game, and the Democrats just don't seem like they know how to play.
To quote Jon Stewart, from a different episode of The Daily Show:
"It's not that the Democrats are playing checkers and the Republicans are playing chess. It's that the Republicans are playing chess and the Democrats are in the nurse's office because once again they glued their balls to their thighs."
So thank you Jon Stewart and staff, without you, most of us would never see for ourselves, in cold, hard evidence just how dysfunctional D.C. really is.
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