June 28, 2015

Those were the days. Or was it "daze"?

June 28, 2015

And while I'm listening to a premature 4th of July fireworks splurge, I'm reading an essay that goes

"BOOM!!!!!"

DANG, Nance - again you hit it not just outta the ballpark but all the way to Mars.

I couldn't agree more! INDEED...

Doesn't it strike you as odd that all these self-congratulating, self-anointed uber "Christians" just never ever seem to get around to quoting from the Beatitudes? You NEVER hear that.

Nor do you ever hear them quoting the passage that describes Jesus's encounter with The Rich Young Man - who is instructed that if he truly wants to follow Christ, then he needs to give away all his worldly goods and come join up.

Nor do you ever hear them quoting the passage that describes really the only time Jesus ever got pissed off - when he threw a fit in the Temple and drove the money-changers and the local capitalists outta there.

Nor do you ever hear them quoting that passage that compares the rich dude who parades down the center aisle of the Temple to show off the bags of gold he intends to contribute in public so everybody can see and ooh and agh - to a poor widow hiding over in the shadows to the side with only a penny to put in the collection plate. She's embarrassed because that's all she had, and she doesn't want anybody to see. Well, GOD saw. And Jesus made it clear whose offering God found more pleasing.

Nor do you ever hear any of them quoting the passage where Jesus talks about how you should go in secret and hide in a closet or some such private place when you pray. He recommended AGAINST making a big showy splashy public production out of it.

And there's another thing, that's not written but I bet it's possible, just considering demographics and laws of averages and the ongoing theme in the New Testament of Jesus being inclusive of EVERYBODY, including the poor and downtrodden and shunned. There were 12 apostles, we're told. I have seen studies that suggest the number of gays compared to straights in the general population is thought to be about 1 out of ten. So doesn't it stand to reason that at least one of the 12 original apostles might be gay? Why wouldn't it? Seems like an entirely reasonable speculation to me, just on the basis of sheer numbers. Also seems entirely reasonable to think Jesus would minister to EVERYBODY of every sort, size, shape, color, age, orientation, physical condition, legal status, and belief system, both insiders and outsiders. That sure was what He was always quoted as talking about.

There are SO many things I've learned about Jesus, starting in Catholic school, that run SO contrary to the "teachings" and advocacy of those who claim to have an exclusive franchise on speaking and interpreting for Him. Maybe that's what the apostle Paul meant by "noisy gongs and clanging cymbals."

June 27, 2015

Hey! We could throw a marshmallow roast! Make a party out of it!

Let's all camp out around the just-reinstated Dixie Swastika and toast marshmallows. Somebody got a flame-thrower?



Wouldn't it be cool - every time it's raised back up on that pole, something else happens to it and the tatters have to be replaced. Every time it's restored, some rogue activist(s) find some way to burn it, paint-ball it, shred it, or cut it down.

June 27, 2015

Thank you for taking one for the team.

Nothing I could bring myself to do, I must confess.

June 27, 2015

I'm kinda surprised others haven't stepped up to join him in this.

But Thank God for Michael Moore. I wish him HUGE wealth and financial security. Because I like what he does with his money.

There are some people who SHOULD be rich.

June 27, 2015

Or a flamethrower? How far do they shoot? That flagpole is 30 feet high.

And nikki haley is NO hero until she presides over that hate rag coming DOWN. Once and for all. Just talking about it isn't enough anymore.

I'M not in any hurry to burn incense to her or hail her as some sort of brave leader or something. It took her FIVE DAYS (from Wednesday night to Monday day) to come around enough to start stepping away from the old bullshit excuses of "it's our heritage" or "this is not the time to..." or "well, there are many people in this state for whom that flat is meaningful" or "this is who we are" or "it's part of our history" or "well, we'll have to bring it up first in the state legislature" or "well, yes, it IS time to talk about doing something..." (Just like jebbie-boy took ALL WEEK, from Monday to Friday, to fumble his way around toward making the claim that he wouldn't have done it the way his dim-bulb brother did it on Iraq.)

NO!!!! Just fuckin' HELL NO!!!!!! It's NOT time to talk. Not time to TALK about it anymore. It's long past time to DO SOMETHING about it. If nikki haley REALLY wants to be considered a bold courageous leader, let her step up, make some sort of official proclamation using whatever power she has as governor - and she's AWFULLY PROUD of being governor and prancing around in her nice little form-fitted business suits and stepping to the front and center of the big crowd of local and state officials at the microphones (in her pretty white suit so she'd stand out bigtime in the photo ops, of course - think some of us didn't notice THAT one?) and being the star of the news conference or the press gaggle. That - she loves. That spotlight - she just LOVES. Well, this just might come with it, girlfriend. And whatever the state laws are, HERE is where she could show leadership. By executive order, decree that the flag is taken down - NOW. TODAY. In an hour or so - to give the press time to get there and set up their shots. Set a time and just fuckin' DO IT. Just fuckin' GET IT DONE.

Simply supersede the legislature and the dick-dance that allows them to drag things out and tap-dance around it and agonize over it and go to committee and let everybody weigh in and bring it up for a series of votes in a SERIES of committees and blah-blah-blah. Just fuckin' DO IT. ON YOUR AUTHORITY AS GOVERNOR, nikki. Show some REAL courage and bold leadership. Take a stand. Instead of running and hiding behind a bunch of bullshit procedures and fancy complicated legal hurdles and other excuses why it Can't Get Done - NOW.

Just fuckin' DO IT.

Her constituency is full of people who like those maverick-y people who nobody-tells-them-what-to-do. Well, then, nikki, BE A MAVERICK. BE ONE. Just fuckin' DO IT.

June 27, 2015

How far does a flame-thrower shoot?

I saw one account that said that was a 30-foot flag pole.

June 27, 2015

Gorgeous!!!

This is great!

June 27, 2015

It was so moving, so humbling, and there was such a sense of grandeur in that moment.

That speech was a real humdinger. Breathtaking. Stunning and shattering and thundering and magnificent and all that. It was a landmark moment. Sometimes I found myself unconsciously standing up. It'll probably be entered into the Hall of Fame of Great Speeches. And if not, it deserves to be there.

One thing he noted, too, was that the past week-and-a-half has sparked a national introspection, a reexamination, a different perspective. This whole week in particular, from the first moves on Monday to take that damn flag down - all the way through some unexpectedly favorable Supreme Court rulings finishing up today, has been a landmark. The whole week! What sure seems like a seismic shift of some sort. All shifting and shaking down TO THE LEFT. Causes and conversations and topics that weren't just finally brought up, but came loudly and abruptly stomping into the middle of the national discourse. A whole bunch of "oh no, you can't go there" and "you can't touch this" topics are suddenly in all the big speeches and boldest policy statements from all the biggest and most prominent leaders.

Last Friday just shook me so deeply. When those families faced Dylann Roof after he murdered their loved ones, and forgave him through their tears, I found that just devastating. I've been lost in thought about it for days. Even though their faces weren't seen, their voices were clearly audible. I think we were actually hearing some real-life saints speaking through their tears. It felt like we were listening to the voices of actual living saints. Because as I learned it and understand it since, that seems to be the complete and exact embodiment of what Christ taught, doesn't it? Weren't they living and behaving precisely the way He said to? I hope their example touched hearts and consciences all over America. From what Lindsey Graham said - describing his change of heart about that damn flag after listening to those sweet gentle people forgiving that kid even in the midst of their own abject grief - seems like it may have done so. I hope so.

Even in my own silly little life, it made me realize how far I have to travel to date to walk even near to these astonishing and grace-filled mourners. I kept pondering - more accurately, marveling at how they could forgive, after the worst possible sin that could possibly be committed against them. And thinking "sheesh - can I ever get there?" And I wondered if I could learn something from that about getting over myself and some of my petty little "grievances" and grudges. Whatever it is that I might have to forgive in my own life is microscopic by comparison.

I hope that as a nation, we stop throwing tantrums and screaming at each other and grow up a little. Maybe find some of that grace along the way.

June 27, 2015

Unhinged indeed. Maybe we should consider doing something about that. Or saying something,

at least.

Some little ill-placed and rather inappropriate and even nonsensical cuties, for sure:

"The Court's next bit of interpretive jiggery-pokery..."

And "Pure applesauce,"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/25/scalia-dissent_n_7662702.html

Seriously? This is a grown man, supposedly one of the most highly-educated and esteemed legal minds ...

I think the rather infantile snark in his remarks (rather crude, tasteless, and yes, childish, for a 79-year-old Supreme Court Associate Justice and the decorum that attends such a position) suggest a serious questioning of this man's sanity. Are we witnessing his mental and intellectual decline? Deterioration? Are we watching a senior government official slowly but steadily coming unspooled?

I think maybe it's time to start questioning his mental acuity and indeed, his sanity. It's certainly worth asking questions about. This individual appears to be increasingly and manifestly mentally unstable. Perhaps it's time to question his ability to continue performing his job.

Hey scalia - maybe it's time to consider heading out to pasture? Surely this is just not as much fun anymore, if nothing else, 'eh? I can't imagine it's still fun for you, especially as you see some of your "ideals" being judicially unraveled.

Just sayin'... (she said, attempting to plant a new meme...)