Franken in Morris

We were just talking about Al, and now I learn that he’ll be making a campaign stop on my campus on Monday, 27 October, at 10:30am in Oyate Hall in the student center. I don’t even have classes at that time, so I’ll be able to stop by and join the cheering crowds — if you’re somewhere nearby, come on around.

Vandalism in Minneapolis

Someone has been targeting politician’s homes for vandalism: it includes both Democrats and Republicans, including Michele Bachmann and Norm Coleman and John Kline and Amy Klobuchar. Despite their different political affiliations, all of the spray painted messages on the homes have the same message: they call them “traitor” or “scum”, demand resignation, and reference the same bible verse. So all we know at this point is that they have one deranged source, and whoever it is is almost certainly not an atheist. The verse in question is Psalm 2, which is typical biblical noise about demanding that defiant kings must serve the lord.

By the way, this has been a vicious campaign season here in Minnesota, not that that excuses such behavior. Norm Coleman in particular has been awful: he’s running an ad all the time right now that outright calls Al Franken a “pornographer” and throws sleaze like it was confetti. I haven’t been able to find a copy of it on youtube yet, but here’s a critique of Coleman’s negative campaigning that shows one example.

I’ll be relieved when this election cycle is finally over…I just hope the Rovian slimebeasts don’t win, again.

Fear of the godless horde

We are so scary. Now the fact that godless Americans exist and that people actually talk to us is the subject of a political ad by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Watch this: it’s got ominous music, it’s got atheists saying there is no god, and Daylight Atheism gets another shout out…and that’s about it. And it will effectively motivate the fundie base, I’m sure.

It also has various right wing blowhards huffing and puffing over the fact that atheists would like to remove god from the pledge of allegiance and our money. These guys have no imagination. Those are trivial, superficial issues. We want to change the culture as a whole so people make rational decisions about government and education, rather than relying on superstition and ignorant authority, and that’s what ought to scare them more. We have the goal of making people think, something these trembling wahoos are ill-prepared to do.

OH NOES! SPIRCHUL WARFARE!

Great. It just gets more and more insane. It seems that while McCain’s side knows how to do ‘spiritual warfare’, Obama has all the witches on his side.

Minutes ago I spoke with friend Dr. Norman G. Marvin, M.D. and he is so concerned at what he has learned about Barack Obama’s family in Kenya that he is calling a special prayer meeting in his home to pray against the witchcraft curses attempted by them against John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Dr. Marvin sent me the below e-mail from Flo Ellers. Flo is credentialed with the International Fellowship of Ministries which is based in Washington State. She is also a member of EndTime Handmaidens and Servants of Jasper, Arkansas.

IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO SPIRITUAL WARFARE, PLEASE PRAY TODAY AND CONTINUALLY THAT ALL SUCH CURSES BE BROKEN AND SATAN’S PLAN FOR AMERICA BE DEFEATED, IN JESUS’ NAME. PRAY AND COVER MCCAIN AND PALIN WITH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO SPIRITUAL WARFARE, IT IS TIME YOU LEARN!!!

Two days ago, I listened to a 9-6-08 message by Bree Keyton, a young woman evangelist who had just traveled to Kenya and visited Obama’s home village and what she found out about his relations with his tribal people was chilling. And his “cousin” Odinga was dreadful. She said the witches, warlocks and those involved in satanism and the occult get up daily at 3 a.m. to release curses against McCain and Palin so B. Hussein Obama is elected.

<Pssst. McCain supporters. Here’s the secret to winning the election: stay home for the next few weeks praying nonstop. Especially when the polls open up in November, you must stay on your knees calling on your god the entire day. Otherwise, the witches will get us.>

But wait! There’s more!

You really don’t want to read about another terrifying crazy Republican woman, do you? Too bad. Here it is: a good Christian homeschooling mom who doesn’t like gay people. And by “doesn’t like”, I mean “wants them stoned to death and everything they touch blown up.”

A friend recently sent me this article about a “gay-friendly” high school. If we were living in a biblical society, homosexuality would be punishable by death so such a school would be unnecessary. Although I’m against the special accommodations, perhaps this new trend of segregation will protect straight kids from these predators. With any luck, some radical will blow up the gay school. No, I’m not condoning vigilantism–I’m merely saying that it would be poetic justice.

This has been yet another chapter in Our Scary American Electorate.

(via 2000 Years of Deception)

Against mob rule and pandering to ignorance

Keith Olbermann rips into a certain “unstable congresswoman from Minnesota,” Rush Limbaugh, the politics of divisiveness, the McCain campaign, and places the ultimate responsibility on John McCain himself, and demands that he address the smears and bigotry of his supporters. It is great stuff.

I have to say that I am personally more than a bit tired of the yahoos on the right constantly telling me that I’m not a real American and that I hate my country.


And of course Jon Stewart charges in, too.

Californians, it’s your turn

There is currently a proposal before Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to rip through desert wilderness in your state to put powerlines. Chris Clarke makes the case against it; you don’t have much time to respond, so phone or email your protests IMMEDIATELY. Let the state government know that there is a dedicated bloc of environmentally aware voters in the state who are not going to sacrifice what makes California a state worth living in for power company profits.