Well, all this is interesting to me, anyway, and that's what matters here. The Internet is a terrible thing for someone like me, who finds almost everything interesting.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Bathing in the tears of the religious right
"I would love to bathe in the tears of Republicans who are just like... meh, because they didn't get their way." Heh, heh. That's why I'm posting this. I feel the same way. All the whining from the hate-filled and the bigoted is like music to my ears.
If you don't want to marry someone of the same sex, don't marry someone of the same sex. Problem solved. But if you just want to force your own beliefs on everyone else, you'll have no sympathy from me. Weep on, conservatives.
Of course, this is all about religion. There is no secular reason to ban gay marriage, none at all. This is a free country. Believe whatever you want, no matter how crazy I might think it. But don't force your beliefs on everyone - on anyone - else.
Jaclyn Glenn had other great lines, too. For example: "But... for this guy, marry your lamp. I approve. You're marrying up."
This Supreme Court ruling was great, but it was very close, just 5 to 4. Only one Republican was willing to join the sane justices in this decision. And the others are absolutely furious about that.
Right-wing Republicans already dominate on our Supreme Court, more often making decisions based on what's best for the Republican Party than on the law. (Make no mistake, this decision and the recent decision upholding Obamacare are both very beneficial to the GOP, much as Republicans may hate to admit it.)
And there's another presidential election next year, with the next president almost certainly going to select a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, if not for other justices. Even with a Democratic replacement, that will leave the Supreme Court dominated by right-wing Republicans. With another far-right Republican, we'd be screwed for generations.
Still, this is a time for celebration, so let's continue with right-wing tears:
Hmm,... I wonder if bathing in Republican tears will keep me young? Probably just the reverse, huh? Probably turn me into Rupert Murdoch. :(
"(Make no mistake, this decision and the recent decision upholding Obamacare are both very beneficial to the GOP, much as Republicans may hate to admit it.)"
Good point. It gives the GOP more "red meat" to throw to the "angry mob."
At the risk of sounding like a kill-joy, I'm a little concerned about the overflowing euphoria coming from us left-types. (In my best Yoda voice) "Backed into a corner the wounded right-wing animal is. Great care must be taken" At the same time, I don't begrudge the euphoria, either. You know as well as I do, whenever the Right scores a victory in SCOTUS or in an election, they rub our collective faces in it at every opportunity. This is a sad commentary on ALL of us. We're SUPPOSED to be grown-ups, but we aren't. And I'm just as guilty as everyone else.
As far as the dissenting Justices go, I'm reminded of the line from the movie "The Ten Commandments:" ..."once again, Pharaoh's heart was hardened."
Yes, John, it's scary, isn't it? The Republican Party has packed our Supreme Court not just with right-wing ideologues, but with partisan right-wing ideologues - and, at the time they were appointed, with young partisan right-wing ideologues.
They have been attempting to lock America onto their right-wing path, no matter what. Of course, they've been doing the same thing with gerrymandering and voter suppression. And some are even planning to change the Electoral College system - just in particular states - to make a Republican president guaranteed in every election.
Their solid victories in November have made all of this more likely to continue, and we've got only the very thin thread of Hillary Clinton in 2016 to combat it. I think she'll win, but if she doesn't - or doesn't win big - it would be a disaster for America.
I'm not a huge Hillary Clinton fan, but at least she'd keep the Supreme Court from moving even further to the right. But will progressives sit this one out (as they did in November)?
It gives the GOP more "red meat" to throw to the "angry mob."
Not just that, Jeff. If the Supreme Court had decided against Obamacare, millions of people would have been affected. And since Republicans control Congress, the ball would have been in their court to do something about it.
But they've been promising for years to "replace" Obamacare, without being able to come up with a replacement. And there was absolutely no consensus about fixing this problem, either - even though the fix would have been very, very easy for rational people.
I'm sure Republican leaders gave a big sigh of relief when the Supreme Court announced its decision. They will never admit that, of course, but it was still a win for them.
With gay marriage, it might not be so obvious. But they've clearly lost the American people on this one. Support for gay marriage has grown rapidly. It's already supported by a clear majority of Americans, and it's still growing. This has become a losing issue for the GOP.
The Supreme Court decision pretty much ended the debate. Oh, as you say, the Republicans will still throw red meat to the faithful, but they won't actually do anything other than that.
And it will stop being a political issue now, which it wouldn't have if the decision had gone the other way. Given that it's become a losing issue for Republicans (shockingly quickly, don't you think?), this was a huge win for the GOP in the guise of a loss.
Oh, sure, I'm very happy about both of these decisions. But they helped the Republican Party. Republicans may not recognize that, and they definitely won't admit it, but I still think that's true.
I'm a skeptic. I think it makes sense to have reasons for what I believe, so I apportion my belief to the evidence. You're welcome to disagree. Please, tell me I'm wrong. I probably don't agree with anyone about everything. Why should disagreement be a problem? Check the Pages section below for series posts and links to book reviews and game posts, as well as contact info. Unfortunately, I rarely blog at all, anymore. So don't expect new posts. - Bill
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. - Robert Wilensky
It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong - Richard Feynman
The general root of superstition is that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss, and commit to memory the one, and pass over the other. - Sir Francis Bacon
When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Speculation is perfectly all right, but if you stay there you've only founded a superstition. If you test it, you've started a science. - Hal Clement
No matter how many times a theory meets its tests successfully, there can be no certainty that it will not be overthrown by the next observation. This, then, is a cornerstone of modern natural philosophy. It makes no claim of attaining ultimate truth. In fact, the phrase "ultimate truth" becomes meaningless, because there is no way in which enough observations can be made to make truth certain and, therefore, "ultimate". - Isaac Asimov
The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion. - Treaty of Tripoli, passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and signed by President John Adams (1797)
I don't doubt the sincerity of dowsers, but even after we've demonstrated that they can't produce results that are any better than chance they'll still go away believing in their abilities... It is like the mother whose son is caught shoplifting on tape. She wonders why someone would want to frame her child by producing a fake video. - James Randi
During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. The Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church ... imprisoned, tortured, hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood. Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry. - Mark Twain
Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives' mouths. - Bertrand Russell
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. - Friedrich Nietzsche
I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them. - Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.
This is not about proof. Science does not use proof. We favor evidence, and the work consists largely of the slow accumulation of evidence in support of ideas, not magically potent proofs that establish an idea as unassailable. - PZ Myers
No, people don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. - President Barack Obama
The formula was very simple: build this really flexible, really open economy, tolerate creative destruction so dead capital is quickly redeployed to better ideas and companies, pour into it the most diverse, smart and energetic immigrants from every corner of the world and then stir and repeat, stir and repeat, stir and repeat, stir and repeat. - Shekhar Gupta
We are prodding, challenging, seeking contradictions or small, persistent residual errors, proposing alternative explanations, encouraging heresy. We give our highest rewards to those who convincingly disprove established beliefs. - Carl Sagan
We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. - Richard Dawkins
120 million of us place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer. - Sam Harris
To kill a man is not to defend a doctrine, but to kill a man. - Michael Servetus, burned at the stake in 1553
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We cannot absolutely prove that those are in error who tell us that society has reached a turning point, that we have seen our best days. But so said all who came before us and with just as much apparent reason. - Thomas Macauley, 1830
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and remember we are not descended from fearful men. - Edward R. Murrow
The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence. Science is simply common sense at its best - that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic. - Thomas Huxley
There is no absurdity so obvious that it cannot be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to impose it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity. - Arthur Schopenhauer
Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such an important part of every person's life, freedom of religion affects every individual. ... Erecting the "wall of separation between church and state," therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society. - President Thomas Jefferson
To be elected in America, no matter from what party, the candidates have no choice but to year after year pledge to lower taxes further and further. We have become the nation of Ken and Barbie, looking good but very poor at the math. - Rack Jite
Invisible Pink Unicorns are beings of great spiritual power. We know this because they are capable of being invisible and pink at the same time. Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them. - Steve Eley
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In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican. - H. L. Mencken
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4 comments:
It's a wonderful day for democracy but like you it worries the crap out of me that ONE person could have swung this the other way.
"(Make no mistake, this decision and the recent decision upholding Obamacare are both very beneficial to the GOP, much as Republicans may hate to admit it.)"
Good point. It gives the GOP more "red meat" to throw to the "angry mob."
At the risk of sounding like a kill-joy, I'm a little concerned about the overflowing euphoria coming from us left-types. (In my best Yoda voice) "Backed into a corner the wounded right-wing animal is. Great care must be taken" At the same time, I don't begrudge the euphoria, either. You know as well as I do, whenever the Right scores a victory in SCOTUS or in an election, they rub our collective faces in it at every opportunity. This is a sad commentary on ALL of us. We're SUPPOSED to be grown-ups, but we aren't. And I'm just as guilty as everyone else.
As far as the dissenting Justices go, I'm reminded of the line from the movie "The Ten Commandments:" ..."once again, Pharaoh's heart was hardened."
.
Yes, John, it's scary, isn't it? The Republican Party has packed our Supreme Court not just with right-wing ideologues, but with partisan right-wing ideologues - and, at the time they were appointed, with young partisan right-wing ideologues.
They have been attempting to lock America onto their right-wing path, no matter what. Of course, they've been doing the same thing with gerrymandering and voter suppression. And some are even planning to change the Electoral College system - just in particular states - to make a Republican president guaranteed in every election.
Their solid victories in November have made all of this more likely to continue, and we've got only the very thin thread of Hillary Clinton in 2016 to combat it. I think she'll win, but if she doesn't - or doesn't win big - it would be a disaster for America.
I'm not a huge Hillary Clinton fan, but at least she'd keep the Supreme Court from moving even further to the right. But will progressives sit this one out (as they did in November)?
It gives the GOP more "red meat" to throw to the "angry mob."
Not just that, Jeff. If the Supreme Court had decided against Obamacare, millions of people would have been affected. And since Republicans control Congress, the ball would have been in their court to do something about it.
But they've been promising for years to "replace" Obamacare, without being able to come up with a replacement. And there was absolutely no consensus about fixing this problem, either - even though the fix would have been very, very easy for rational people.
I'm sure Republican leaders gave a big sigh of relief when the Supreme Court announced its decision. They will never admit that, of course, but it was still a win for them.
With gay marriage, it might not be so obvious. But they've clearly lost the American people on this one. Support for gay marriage has grown rapidly. It's already supported by a clear majority of Americans, and it's still growing. This has become a losing issue for the GOP.
The Supreme Court decision pretty much ended the debate. Oh, as you say, the Republicans will still throw red meat to the faithful, but they won't actually do anything other than that.
And it will stop being a political issue now, which it wouldn't have if the decision had gone the other way. Given that it's become a losing issue for Republicans (shockingly quickly, don't you think?), this was a huge win for the GOP in the guise of a loss.
Oh, sure, I'm very happy about both of these decisions. But they helped the Republican Party. Republicans may not recognize that, and they definitely won't admit it, but I still think that's true.
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