Katy TX – how pathetic
I was going to title this post “Texas Bigots” but thought it might be redundant.
Would the folks of Katy be as upset by a Christian church or a Jewish temple? I think not. And they wonder why some people think all Texans are big-haired, backwards morons, rednecks, members of the KKK, and/or loyal supporters of His Imperial Majesty… Chokes-on-Pretzel….the President.
From the AP, via MSNBC:
A plan to build a mosque in this Houston suburb has triggered a neighborhood dispute, with community members warning the place will become a terrorist hotbed and one man threatening to hold pig races on Fridays just to offend the Muslims.
Many neighborhood residents claim they have nothing against Muslims and are more concerned about property values, drainage and traffic.
But one resident has set up an anti-Islamic Web site with an odometer-like counter that keeps track of terrorist attacks since Sept. 11. A committee has formed to buy another property and offer to trade it for the Muslims’ land. And next-door neighbor Craig Baker has threatened to race pigs on the edge of the property on the Muslim holy day. Muslims consider pigs unclean and do not eat pork.
[snip]
Katy, population 13,000, is a mix of middle-class bedroom-community neighborhoods and small farms on Houston’s western edge and boasts of being the hometown of Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger. It is 70 percent white and 24 percent Hispanic.
The Houston metropolitan area has about 170,000 Muslims, according to the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, and among their many mosques is one built in Houston by former NBA star Hakeem Olajuwon.
The Islamic association bought the land in Katy in September for $1.1 million. It said the overall cost of the project has not been determined.
The dispute began when the group asked Baker to remove his cattle from their newly bought land. Baker agreed but mistakenly thought the Muslims also wanted him off the land his family has lived on for more than 100 years. The rumor spread.
[snip]
A few complaints about the mosque project have also trickled in to Harris County offices: The “Coming Soon” sign was on government property; the parking lot gravel was piled up without a permit; the project would increase traffic in the quiet neighborhood.
County Commissioner Steve Radack said traffic concerns can be addressed as they are elsewhere, with off-duty police officers. He also noted the group has said it would comply with rules on drainage and flood control.
Cynthia Blackman wrote Radack that the center was a security risk: “Would you and your family safely and comfortably live next to this 11-acre Muslim mosque and facilities?”
The reaction has not been all negative. Fotouh said one man came to the mosque on a Friday afternoon and apologized for his neighbors. “He moved me, really,” Fotouh said. “The sense of fairness, the sense of standing by the underdog.”
Though he now concedes the Muslims are probably not after his land, Baker said he is obligated to go through with the pig races, probably within the next few weeks, because “I would be like a total idiot if I didn’t. I’d be the laughingstock now because I’ve gone too far.” [emphasis mine]
Um….but-
Never mind.
Friday Anti-War Song
“My Hero, Mr. President — Paula Cole
Yea, Yea
Yea, Yea, Yea
Well hello there, blue blooded boy
Your bed is lined with dollars
I bet you’re cumming oil
I love the way you take control and push the world around
United Nations- Ha,ha
No one can keep you down
Daddy’s little helper, silver foot in your mouth
Policeman of the world gonna start another war
Connecticut yankee in a cowboy hat
You’re my hero, Mr. president
Remember the elections for the presidency
No matter the call of the majority
Your cousin married Fox TV, he declared you were the one
Your brother came through with his promise he’d get Florida
(chorus)
Now what you gonna do about our economy
You spend three trillion dollars in a heartbeat
Now what about us folks who live hand to mouth
We can’t afford our lives, and we’re working three jobs
(chorus)
Now don’t you want your grand children to see the colorado river?
You’re kissing so much corporate ass that
You’re selling away our future
We can all wear our geo-thermal suits and toast to you ‘W’
Now wiping out the terrorists, that’s fine by me
But please don’t erode our civil liberties
The America we fight for and hold so dear
Includes a woman’s right to choose
Freedom of religion, freedom of assembly
And free speech like the song I’m singing here
(chorus)
Daddy’s little helper, silver spoon in your mouth
The Policeman of the world gonna kick Hussein’s butt
Connecticut yankee in a cowboy hat
You’re my hero, Mr. President
You’re my hero, Mr. President
You’re our Nero, Mr. President
Mmmhmm
Freedom of the Press vs. Wingnuts ‘R’ Us
“No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.” –Thomas Jefferson to John Tyler, 1804
We rabid lambs of the blogosphere are really getting tired of listening to wingnuts pretend they’re the appointed ethical guardians of America.
Only they stand between us and those four flag-burning “hippies” of last year – and the three from the year before. Only they stand between us and gay people being treated like human beings. Only they stand between us and a crazed liberal media that wants to act like a free press instead of writing only what the Administration wants written. (Gregg’s stenography is tough to learn after all…)
Only they can save us from those damned photographers who would show pictures of the driveway, flag, and trees (not to mention the birdhouse security camera) of Rummy’s vacation retreat in St. Michaels, MD.
The fact that nearly every sentient being already knew Rummy had a vacation spot there doesn’t matter to them. That a great many of us have even seen photos of it before now – since it has some historical significance – doesn’t matter to them.
But, some idiot feels a need to post the private address and phone number of the photographer who took it – and encouraging his idiot packmates to “tell her what a great photographer she is” and later updates his post with directions to her home!
The underlying threat in those two acts cannot be ignored. (You can go to the General for more; I won’t link directly to the idiot involved.)
I believed it was wrong when that self-hating anchor baby, Michele Malkin published private contact information, and I believed it was wrong when AnchorBaby’s own private information was published. I also believed it was wrong that private information about Thersites and NYMary was published, as well as that of other bloggers in the last few weeks.
I believe it’s wrong that a photographer – who was (most likely) handed an assignment by her editor – should be threatened and intimidated for snapping a picture that was no doubt approved by the Secret Service before publication.
For the idiots on the right who don’t understand the difference between Donald Rumsfeld and Linda Spiller, I’ll repeat those two words for you: Secret Service.
Donald Rumsfeld is surrounded by the most well-armed, best-trained protection agency in the world.
Linda Spillers? I’m guessing she’s got three locks…maybe a doorman? I don’t know if she has a house, an apartment or what. I don’t want or need to know. By now, she’s either moved to an undisclosed location, or she’s hired a private security firm to protect her from the lunatics who will no doubt be thirsting for her blood.
What these crazed BushBots miss is that it was a travel piece! Nothing more than a fluffy, written version of “Lifestyles of the Rich and inFamous.”
Naturally, though, the wingers treat it with the same hysterical whining that accompanied the revelation that the Bush mis-Administration is spying on the bank accounts of Americans in the hopes of finding some terrorists. Purposely missing the point in order to whip up hysteria among the base.
Apparently, only the brain-dead followers of Georgie didn’t know that the mis-Administration has been tracing financial transactions since Sept. 11th. Only the koolaid-crazed sheeple want to give up every civil liberty ensured by our Constitution as long as someone – anyone – promises to protect them from the boogeyman.
Just wait till Bushie tells them that – to protect America from those terrorists – they’ll have to give up yet another freedom…and turn in their guns to the local ATF office! *snort* Let’s see who’s for doing whatever Prezzie wants whenever he wants no matter how many laws and Constitutional guarantees he breaks after that decree is issued!
Let’s get real for a minute. Would these same twits sit by complacent as little sheepies, so very accepting of the government’s position on the free press, or anything else – to the point of releasing personal information and threating a photographer -if it was a Democrat sitting in the Oval Office and issuing these same edicts?
“Rights?! We don’t need no stinkin’ rights!”
*
More at Unclaimed Territory and Firedoglake.
Terror is an emotion
President Bush stood once again at Arlington, mouthing the now-familiar platitudes we've heard repeated over the past three-plus years. Mr. Bush's disconnection from reality has never seemed so obvious.
Wearing his rose-tinted shades, Mr. Bush sent young men and women into harm's way without proper planning, without vital equipment and protection, and without clear objectives. And he has done so without noting the cost.
Since the beginning of the "Global War on Terror" he has not once stood on the tarmac of Dover AFB to receive our returning dead, and he has attended precisely zero funerals of those who died on his watch as "Commander-in-Chief".
He and the Republican-controlled Congress have under-funded the Veterans Administration and slashed veterans' benefits even as more than 16,000 wounded men and women returned with a variety of devastating physical and emotional injuries.
During his time in office, Mr. Bush has alienated many of our country's allies and damaged the reputation of American goodness, generosity, and respect for law above all. By invading Iraq, Mr. Bush created a new breeding ground for terrorists and lost focus on Afghanistan – a known state sponsor of terrorism – allowing Osama Bin Laden to remain on the loose nearly five years after the Sept. 11th attacks.
Mr. Bush, in speeches in front of screened audiences of supporters, has continued to tell us, more or less, "Be afraid. Be very afraid." His standard excuse is “the terrorists” when called on for gutting the Constitutional protections that generations of Americans died to preserve.
From Pachacutec at FireDogLake:
There is no "War on Terror."
There is, however, a "war" on the U. S. Constitution.
After September 11, 2001, we’ve learned that we can take a punch and move on. We’ve faced far worse threats to our national survival in our history – the Civil War, the War of 1812, World War II to name a few – but we never abandoned our Constitution. Until now.
Terror is an emotion. Emotions are part of human nature and cannot be eradicated. A "War on Terror" is therefore a war on humanity. The Bush administration has exploited the fear and shock of a nation in the wake of a surprising and dramatic act of violence to whip national fear and paranoia into a constant boil. Why?
The evidence suggests the whole point has been to seize power and steal money. We are witnessing a creeping coup in the United States […]
[snip]
Today is Memorial Day. Today we remember countless patriots who died and fought for those freedoms our president tells us we must abandon. . . in the name of "freedom."
If there were really a "War on Terror," an emotion, Wes Craven would be hiring a lawyer: he scares people. The "War on Terror" is a sham. You know what changed after September 11th? We, the people of the United States, forgot how strong we are. We gave in to fear, when the only thing we should have feared was fear itself. Osama bin Laden wants you to be afraid. So does George Bush.
Using "We were attacked" as his theme, Mr. Bush has, in essence, told us the following: Questioning policy is unpatriotic. Questioning the constantly changing reasons for the war in Iraq is unpatriotic. Questioning the use of torture is unpatriotic. Questioning the right of the administration to spy on Americans in hopes of finding a connection to terrorists is unpatriotic. Believing that the Constitution should be the supreme law of the land is unpatriotic.
But those days are over. More and more Americans are standing up to question this crony-laden, incompetent administration. More and more Americans are remembering the words of another wartime President, who told us, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
More from Pach: [emphasis mine]
I know I’m not alone when I say, I’m an American and I’m not afraid. I know I’m going to die. I accept that I’m going to die, no problem. What I do not accept and will not accept is the notion that I must live as a slave to fear for the purposes of craven, cowardly men who, in their time, pissed the bed rather than fight an actual war, later to become powerful and use that power to line their pockets with my tax dollars. Give me liberty or give me death. Take your "terror" and shove it.
Far and wide, you will begin to hear the refrain of average Americans taking their country back:
Mr. Bush, I am an American. And I am not afraid.
Valedictorian Punished for Attempting to Give Speech
Update: (4/25/06) The superintendent 'ordered' Gallatin High School principal Rufus Lassiter to award Chris Linzy his diploma, and the charges against him were dropped. Details at Tennessee Guerrilla Women.
* * * *
Being the valedictorian of your high school graduation used to mean two things: you were the smartest kid in your class, and – for one brief, shining moment – you would have the spotlight. For just a few moments, the entire graduating class would know who you were (most having read it in the program minutes earlier) as you gave the final speech of the evening.
My high school actually allows the top two GPA-earners to speak: the valedictorian and the salutatorian. (I was neither. My grades were good enough to earn me the nickname 'egghead' as well as unrelenting teasing and torment from my 'peers', but thanks to "Freshman Insanity"*, they were not quite high enough to rank in the top 5 in the Class of '86.)
Many speeches have been given by many valedictorians all over the world, but how many school districts are insane enough to 1) not allow the valedictorian to speak, and 2) file criminal charges against him for attempting to do so?
Turns out that Gallatin High School has its own tradition – the valedictorian is still the smartest kid in the class, but he or she in't allowed to give the valedictory speech.
Egalia has the story at Tennessee Guerrilla Women. (I bet you already guessed this school is in the South.)
If you've ever wondered why so many people homeschool their kids in this state, look no further than principal Rufus Lassiter at Gallatin High School in Sumner County, Tennessee.
Rufus Lassiter has filed a criminal complaint against Chris Linzy, valedictorian with a 5.35 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
The valedictorian's crime?
The kid attempted to give a geeky speech at his graduation ceremony. I kid you not! Chris Linzy managed to get out all of two sentences before the mike was turned off. Then like any good geeky kid would, he quietly went to his seat.
Sadie Baker has this in the comments at TGW: [emphasis mine]
Somebody needs to send that principal back to school because he doesn't know English.
The word "valedictorian" means the person who gives the farewell speech:
"In the United States and Canada, the title of valedictorian (an anglicized derivation from the Latin vale dicere 'to say farewell') is given to the top graduate of the graduating class (compare dux) of an educational institution. The title comes from the valedictorian's traditional role as the last speaker at the graduation ceremony."
There's more on the story from the Gallatin News Examiner.
[…] Linzy said part of his disappointment is that the achievements of ultra-smart students such as himself are minimized at the school. Since most Sumner County high schools ask the school’s top students to deliver speeches, he said Gallatin High’s tradition disturbed him.
Although he had tried to get the rule changed earlier in the school year, he said he’d given up on it until he heard Lassiter make a statement to the audience Friday night.
In the statement audience members and students were threatened with legal action if they were loud or disruptive with applause or calling out names, said Chris Linzy’s father, David Linzy. They were told they would be ushered out of the gymnasium and that a petition for disruptive behavior would be filed.
[snip]
Lasssiter also expressed frustration about the attention Linzy is receiving from the media and said about 270 students who did comply with the school’s tradition “are the ones who should be rewarded.”
David Linzy said he asked Lasssiter how to make the situation right and was told that Chris would need to present a written apology.
The young man’s father said he tried to deliver the letter Monday but was turned away and asked to come back Tuesday.
[snip]
David Linzy felt betrayed by Lassiter when the police came to the family home with a misdemeanor criminal citation about 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, because he had been led to believe that his son’s letter of apology was all that would be required of him to resolve the issue.
“I shook (Lassiter’s hand),” he said “ I never saw this coming. This is vindictive. There is no justification for this. This takes it to a whole new place we hoped we would never reach.”
David Linzy said things escalated even more when a teacher from the high school called to tell them the administration was in the process of confiscating all of Chris’ school papers and homework. […]
*
(*Freshman Insanity – a term my mother coined to explain why a more or less normal, high-achieving student suddenly became the smart-mouth of the class while simultaneously failing four subjects during the first semester. As with everything, it hits kids earlier these days, so my daughter went through "Grade 7 insanity".)
Good one, Dick!
Update: (6:36p – 5/4/06) Here's the Russian response to Cheney's pot calling the kettle black, from Reuters:
The Kremlin on Thursday rejected as “completely incomprehensible” remarks by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney that Russia was backsliding on democracy and using its vast energy supplies to bully its neighbors.
“The speech of Mr. Cheney in our opinion is full of a subjective evaluation of us and of the processes that are going on in Russia. The remarks … are completely incomprehensible for us,” said Kremlin deputy spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Cheney, in remarks that could cause tense moments when Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts his first summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in July, earlier told Baltic and Black Sea leaders in Vilnius that Moscow should return to the path of democratic reform. [emphasis mine]
I am rather disappointed that the Russians didn't take my advice, but I do like the sound of 'completely incomprehensible'. It's the perfect phrase for describing most of the administration's speeches.
* * * *
* * * *
It would almost be funny, if it weren't so pathetic.
From Reuters:
Vice President Dick Cheney, in one of the Bush administration’s sharpest rebukes to Moscow, accused Russia on Thursday of backsliding on democracy and urged it to stop using energy supplies for "blackmail."
[snip]
Cheney, in a speech mostly devoted to praising Eastern European countries for democratic reforms, also took aim at Moscow’s use of its vast energy supplies for what Washington says is sometimes the bullying of neighbors.
“No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail, either by supply manipulation or attempts to monopolize transportation,” he said.
[snip]
Cheney said Russia, meanwhile, had restricted rights.
“In many areas of civil society — from religion and the news media, to advocacy groups and political parties — the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of the people,” he said. [emphasis mine]
Who the hell is he trying to kid? As if Darth Cheney can stand in front of any audience and claim moral superiority on any of those issues?!
Vladimir Putin, I really hope you bitch-slap this guy! Better yet, take his own remarks and make some substitutions.
Let's see how that would look:
[Russian President Vladimir Putin], in one of the [Russian] administration’s sharpest rebukes to [Washington], accused [the United States] on Thursday of backsliding on democracy and urged it to stop using energy supplies for "blackmail."
[snip]
[Putin], in a speech mostly devoted to praising [some] countries for democratic reforms, also took aim at [the United States' hankering for] vast energy supplies for what [Moscow] says is sometimes the bullying of [other nations].
“No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail, either by supply manipulation or attempts to monopolize transportation,” he said.
[snip]
[Putin] said [the United States], meanwhile, had restricted rights.
“In many areas of civil society — from … the news media, to advocacy groups and political parties — the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of the people,” he said. [emphasis mine]
Hmmm….
A Christian Nation?
A great many of the Founders of the United States were not Christians, but Deists. They didn't believe in the Christian god, but believed in a God – the God of Nature, God of Enlightenment, God of Reason, etc. They believed some divine force was at work in the universe, and many believed in God and his Son, but not in the trappings of Christianity.
From the literal beginning of our nation, a division between government and religion was made.
From God and the Founders in Newsweek:
America's first fight was over faith. As the Founding Fathers gathered for the inaugural session of the Continental Congress on Tuesday, September 6, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Thomas Cushing, a lawyer from Boston, moved that the delegates begin with a prayer. Both John Jay of New York and John Rutledge, a rich lawyer-planter from South Carolina, objected.
Their reasoning, John Adams wrote his wife, Abigail, was that "because we were so divided in religious sentiments"-the Congress included Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and others -"we could not join in the same act of worship." The objection had the power to set a secular tone in public life at the outset of the American political experience.
[snip]The Founders, however, resolutely refused to evoke sectarian-specifically Christian-imagery: the God of the Declaration is largely the God of Deism, an Enlightenment-era vision of the divine in which the Lord is a Creator figure who works in the world through providence.
The Founding Fathers rejected an attempt to rewrite the Preamble of the Constitution to say the nation was dependent on God, and from the Lincoln administration forward presidents and Congresses refused to support a "Christian Amendment" that would have acknowledged Jesus to be the "Ruler among the nations."
Thomas Jefferson is the best known example. From his writings, he made it abundantly clear that a person's faith was something private and personal, solely between him and his chosen God. Jefferson, despite all reports to the contrary, believed Christianity was just about the worst thing that could have happened to the teachings of Christ.
He even went so far as to create his own New Testament – literally cutting apart Bibles printed in English, French, Latin and Greek – removing all references to miracles, angels, and supernatural events, re-organizing verses, and leaving what he described as the 'distilled essence' of Christ.
First, the immense arrogance of such a task – to assume he could recognize the 'real' words and events of Christ's life and ministry from the 'chaff', and then re-organizing the New Testament as he saw fit! Does this sound like the act of a devoted Christian? Hardly.
Though he is often cited as an example of a 'Christian' founder, because of his use of the word 'God' in his many writings, the truth is that Jefferson didn't subscribe to Christian orthodoxy – in fact, he said that religious leaders of his time worried about his becoming President, and he understood their fear as he had 'sworn eternal hostility' to any form of tyranny over men's minds.
Jefferson himself equated religous leaders with tyrants because they required blind loyalty and subservience at the expense of rational thinking. And Jefferson prized rational thinking and scientific process above all else.
Through Jefferson's numerous letters and essays, we get a much clearer picture of the man and his belief system. In a letter, he once said that he was no member of any organized religion, and believed he was the only member of his particular faith.
Here are a couple sites with more in-depth information: Early America Review and an essay by Stephen Morris from 1995.
What Happened to Free Speech?
Someone needs to rush a copy of the Bill of Rights – preferably a large-type edition – to the White House, and quick!
I seem to recall learning something in elementary school, fourth grade probably, about the rights of the people, and how our most important rights were contained in the first Amendment of the Bill of Rights. After reading Attytood, I began to think Mrs. Brink's civics lessons had all been a dream. We hadn't really been forced to memorize it, I didn't get a 98 on the test, nor did I spend a week writing an essay on 'What the Bill of Rights Means To Me".
Apparently, the people at Attytood must have thought the same after listening to CNN's correspondents call a protester's actions a 'shame' and a 'blemish' on the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The fact that these highly-paid talking heads don't even recognize the irony of a protester being yanked by the Secret Service just after the President tells Hu that China can become even more successful by allowing the same freedoms guaranteed Americans by the Bill of Rights…. It's simply staggering.
From Attytood:
At an outdoor ceremony, Bush told Hu:
China has become successful because the Chinese people are experience the freedom to buy, and to sell, and to produce — and China can grow even more successful by allowing the Chinese people the freedom to assemble, to speak freely, and to worship.
Seconds later, one of the people assembled on the White House south lawn actually tried to speak freely right here in America — about both the lack of free speech and religious freedom in China.
That free-speaking woman was promptly hauled off and arrested:
She shouted in heavily accented English, "President Bush: Stop him from killing" and, "President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong."
Bush, standing next to Hu, leaned over and whispered a comment to the Chinese leader, who paused briefly when the shouting began and then resumed his remarks.
The protester was waving a banner with the red and yellow colors used by Falun Gong, a banned religious movement in China. She kept shouting for several minutes before Secret Service uniformed agents were able to make their way to her position at the top of the camera stand. They dragged her off the stand.
A photographer who was standing next to the protester tried momentarily to quiet her by putting his hand in front of her mouth.
Turns out, that time in fourth grade wasn't a dream after all. A quick search of Google turned up this from law.cornell.edu:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Welcome to Amerika.
Declaration of Independence under review
From freewayblogger:
Washington DC: Key provisions of the U.S. Declaration of Independence are currently under review by the Bush administration, according to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
“We are studying the document with an open mind and absolute respect for the authors’ intent.” he announced today in a morning press conference. “Let me assure you that this President considers the Declaration of Independence to be the very bedrock of American democracy. However, given the seriousness of the threats facing our nation today, it would be a forfeiture of our duty not to reconsider some of its more outmoded provisions.”
Originally written and signed into law on July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence has long been considered an untouchable “third rail” of American politics. According to Gonzales though, “9/11 changed all that…”
Read the rest here.
You Have Spoken
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“I don’t have an agenda, I don’t have a program. I’m not a communist or a socialist. I guess I’m a left-libertarian and a populist, and I believe in the Bill of Rights the way some folks believe in the Bible.”
– Molly Ivins, 1944-2007
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The Lady Speaks 