A loaf, a fish, a crock
By Capt. Fogg
There are millions of people out there praying that a little will turn into much, says the would-be preacher-president Mike Huckabee. He's right. Very little would have to turn into much more than this shameless huckster could possibly have to offer by himself; for him to be even remotely what the world needs to put in the White House. It may be an effective way to latch on to the dreams of the witless, some of whom are convinced that invisible spirits have a secret plan of Glory for them too, but when half the candidates claim that god wants them as their co-pilots, it gets hard to deal with all the loaf and fish metaphorical bullshit. How long will it be before we see a shirtless Mike with bleeding stigmata or Mitt with his head in a white hat reading the secret golden tablets?
I've been off-line with a nasty virus for nearly a week and the relief of finally feeling better was instantly tempered by the disgust generated by images of Preacher Mike and Prophet Mitt in full revival mode this morning. Which one is more God smitten and thus better suited to understand complex geopolitical, economic, strategic and scientific problems? Doesn't matter. America's problems will be solved by raving and swooning and not by intelligence, knowledge and experience. Just keep sticking our head deeper into the crock and we'll all feel much smarter by and by.
Last week I had lunch with a couple of the country's premier geneticists. We discussed the recent progress in understanding neurodegenerative disease at the molecular level. Not long ago I read that an unspeakably huge hole in the visible universe may confirm the existence of parallel universes. Mankind might seem to some as emerging at long last into the full light and glory of truth. Somewhere in America, blue-suited idiots rave about the Bible like paleolithic shamans dancing around their fires in some cro-magnon night.
(Cross-posted from Human Voices.)
There are millions of people out there praying that a little will turn into much, says the would-be preacher-president Mike Huckabee. He's right. Very little would have to turn into much more than this shameless huckster could possibly have to offer by himself; for him to be even remotely what the world needs to put in the White House. It may be an effective way to latch on to the dreams of the witless, some of whom are convinced that invisible spirits have a secret plan of Glory for them too, but when half the candidates claim that god wants them as their co-pilots, it gets hard to deal with all the loaf and fish metaphorical bullshit. How long will it be before we see a shirtless Mike with bleeding stigmata or Mitt with his head in a white hat reading the secret golden tablets?
I've been off-line with a nasty virus for nearly a week and the relief of finally feeling better was instantly tempered by the disgust generated by images of Preacher Mike and Prophet Mitt in full revival mode this morning. Which one is more God smitten and thus better suited to understand complex geopolitical, economic, strategic and scientific problems? Doesn't matter. America's problems will be solved by raving and swooning and not by intelligence, knowledge and experience. Just keep sticking our head deeper into the crock and we'll all feel much smarter by and by.
Last week I had lunch with a couple of the country's premier geneticists. We discussed the recent progress in understanding neurodegenerative disease at the molecular level. Not long ago I read that an unspeakably huge hole in the visible universe may confirm the existence of parallel universes. Mankind might seem to some as emerging at long last into the full light and glory of truth. Somewhere in America, blue-suited idiots rave about the Bible like paleolithic shamans dancing around their fires in some cro-magnon night.
(Cross-posted from Human Voices.)
Labels: Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, religion
posted by Capt. Fogg at
3:37 PM
7 Comments:
Hi Capt, I am glad you are back (I didn't know about your virus but your absence was duly noticed, and your blog posts missed).
Echidne has an excellent post on Huchabee's (aka Gomer Pyle) release of the convicted felon, Wayne Dumond, who raped a cousin of Bill Clinton. Apparantly, the release was prompted by pressure from right wing Clinton haters. An interesting story indeed. Her post: A Tale of Two Michaels.
On the neurodegenerative story, please note: my wife is a former research scientist in that area (PhD, molecular bio, NIH Fellowship Grant, Research Fellow at the Institute for Basic Research, etc.). A valuable source of info and very opinionated too (but in a nice way).
By
Swampcracker, at 4:50 PM
BTW, I forgot to mention, please check out my latest post called "Doodles on the Scratchbook of Time," a satirical comment on evolution versus intelligent design from a crab perspective.
By
Swampcracker, at 4:56 PM
I wasn't aware of that story, but I am aware that the Republican moral compass seems to point differently depending on whose transgression it was.
We can be sure that to them, who ever was raped, it was Clinton's fault anyway.
By
Capt. Fogg, at 6:40 PM
Capt, I found this survey at a conservative news source:
Whom would you be less likely to support?
A Mormon - 25%
A Muslim - 45%
An Atheist - 61%
(Source: Newsmax.com, Dec 07, p. 46)
For all their "islmaofascist" rhetoric, they would support a Muslim over an Atheist. A very curious statistic among this constituency. It appears religious beliefs are more important to this group and a prerequisite for leadership than no beliefs at all.
Yet, these survey results contradict everything I know about Atheists who are, in my opinion, the more tolerant, more educated, and more ethical people I know. Strange. Perhaps this is really Torchwood, and there is a rift in the Universe, and I am on the wrong side of it.
By
Swampcracker, at 10:44 PM
Hey guys,
While the old saying rings true now more than ever, "Religious tolerance is something we should all practice; however, there have been more persecution and atrocities committed in the name of religion and religious freedom than anything else."
Walter Koenig
I'd agree that athiests are generally more tolerant by nature, maybe more educated and ethical too when looked upon as a whole but there are some of us who count on a very real relationship with God to get us through the day. Maybe you see it as a crutch but it works for me. I'm no fan of Huckabee but he seems to be a little more honest, like you can take him at face value, than the majority of the candidates from the right. Willard Romney seems too opportunistic and hypocritical to be believable at all. I suppose McCain or Paul would be okay but seem like long shots. Rudy seems only a half a degree seperated from being a crime boss so maybe Huckabee is the least of the evil on the right? While I'm doing everything I can to push Obama to the front in my precint and state of Iowa the reality that Hillary may be the Dem candidate is still highly probable. Can she win? Would we want her to win? In that context Huckabee might not be so bad. I'm just sayin'.
By
cwilcox, at 11:19 PM
there are some of us who count on a very real relationship with God to get us through the day. Maybe you see it as a crutch but it works for me.
cwilcox, I respect what you say and would not argue with you all.
What is not very well understood these days is that when religion starts to dominate politics, the faithful are themselves at risk.
Imagine what would happen, for instance, if Alan Keyes got his way and ended the anti-establishment clause of the Constitution? Or if Randell Terry got his way and forced the entire US population to embrace his religious beliefs (or suffer punishment)? Or if Pat Robertson got his way and started persecuting Presbyterians (yes, he did call them the "Anti-Christ")?
Wouldn't this be ironic: Atheists protecting the rights of the faithful from the fanatics who would want to oppress the moderate and mainstream faithful.
With respect to Huckabee, however, I have major policy differences with him on such issues as the environment, civil liberties, taxes, healthcare, the Iraq War, economic policy, energy policy ... pretty much everything. But thats just me ... an unrelenting moonbat.
By
Swampcracker, at 1:21 AM
And then there's the fact that Huckey is manifestly an idiot.
Perhaps confused people are attracted to a man who simply doesn't have the brains to understand the modern world, but for the nation that landed on the moon and has lead the world in technology and science and medicine and mathematics to be forced to choose between a moronic pantheon of tambourine-shaking primitives who insist that a magic man created a tiny universe that exists only to test our ability to refrain from sex, is a tragedy worthy of Sophocles.
Mankind is doomed so long as we continue to insist we must respect the ideas of those who strive to drag us down to some simian comfort zone with it's simulated and soothing reality
By
Capt. Fogg, at 8:47 AM
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