Conservative Standards

I can't help but notice, lately, just how low conservatives like to set the bar for themselves -- and their peers. In Canada, the Conservative Party is just fine with having its move to strike hate speech laws, applauded by skinheads. The Republican Party -- with some exceptions -- has been perfectly fine with being taken over by incompetent wingnuts who are so livid with a black man being the President of the United States, that they have flat out stated that their first priority is not fix America's sagging economy, but to get rid of him at all costs.

For that matter, they have little apparent problem with hitching their economic hopes to a presidential team that was respectively near-to-dead-last in job creation, and whose only economic idea is to raise taxes on the middle class while cutting upper-class taxes even more. This goes against any kind of financial sense, never mind the overwhelming view of the people the Republicans are trying to convince to vote for them.

For that matter, Republicans -- by and large -- seem to have no problem with being associated with people who wear their utter hatred of blacks, gays, and women on their sleeves... and yet are so stupid and juvenile that they will still insist they aren't bigots. This is despite campaigning on voter suppression that targets blacks, revoking most gay rights, banning women from military service, and forcing impregnated rape victims to carry the offspring of their attackers (and probably give them visitation rights, as is already the case in many states).

This is the company that conservatives today keep -- either by their direct support, or by their compliance. It's true that not all conservatives are like this... but it begs the question of where they were, when the extremists were given the keys to the car. It also begs the question of why so many of them are still counting themselves among the number of these people who are not just offensive and inept, but borderline terrorists. Was there truly nothing you could do to stop it? Is there nothing you can do now?

If I were a member of any political group that engineered or condoned open bigotry, sabotage of the country for no good reason, election tampering, violence against people who simply want to help others, or even assassination of an elected leader... not only would I be putting as much distance as possible between myself and them, but I would be publicly speaking out about it. It's admirable that there are groups calling themselves "Republicans for Obama" -- but if it were me I wouldn't even want to call myself a Republican.
I would be far too ashamed.

Taliban Santorum wants to violate the Constitution

Whenever a hardline conservative claims to be against big government, pro-liberty, and pro-Constitution, throw this one at him/her.

Rick Santorum Says He Will Overturn The Supreme Court If Same-Sex Marriage Is Ruled Legal (VIDEO)

Not content to talk about criminalizing birth control, making rape victims carry the children of their attackers, and flat out screwing over black people, Republican contender Rick Santorum -- ostensibly the only REAL CONSERVATIVE candidate (more on that in a bit) -- has come out swinging at gay-marriage-banning Proposition 8 being struck down as unconstitutional. While he's not going as far as quite a few American conservatives, in flat out calling this a war on liberalism (yes, I've seriously seen that phrase used), he is still vowing that if he is President when the Supreme Court inevitably rules that bans on same-sex marriage are illegal, he will take the Newt Gingrich route and overturn the Supreme Court itself.

Now, in case no one has explained this to you before -- and if you're a Teabagger, chances are no one has -- NO PRESIDENT CAN DO THAT. The Constitution specifically forbids it. That's the entire point of making the judges a separate branch of the government; so they cannot be persuaded or coerced into ruling however the government wants them to.

Of course, the irony should escape no one, that Santorum is one of those firebrand right-wingers, who are convinced that ANY liberal ruling is an example of judicial activism (even when it simply enforces the law of the land).

Now, this is something that seems to have been lost in the last thirty years or so, but it used to be that being politically conservative, genuinely did mean to be against intrusive and wasteful government -- something that I am totally fine with, by the way. How exactly this relates to OPENLY PERSECUTING PEOPLE, SILENCING WELL-INFORMED CRITICS, and FORCING RELIGION DOWN THE THROATS OF THE MASSES, is way beyond the logic of... well, anyone with moderate comprehension skills.

Oh, and at the risk of repeating something that I have said many times about other right-wingers, Santorum's attitude is no less than an open slap in the face, to anyone who fought or was killed by terrorists in the last ten years. The last thing America needs, is its own Ayatollah.

December's Morons of the Month

Stay tuned for the 2011 Douchebag of the Year, to be awarded on New Year's Eve.

• Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina for giving his friend/chief of staff a $30,000 pay raise, and lying about whose idea it was.
• Lowe's Hardware Stores for caving in to the a Florida hate group, that threatened them for advertising on the TLC show "All American Muslims".
• The US Congress (and Barack Obama) for seriously toying with the idea of expanded police powers (basically Patriot Act PLUS).
• Fox News for saying that the new Muppets movie, is teaching kids to embrace communism. Seriously.
• Ann Coulter and Jeremy Clarkson for calling for union strikers and Occupy protesters to be shot.
• Charles McVety (and other "family values" assholes) for continuing to call for queer kids to be bullied at school, even if it means those kids take their own lives -- basically, a quiet way of calling for genocide.
• Conservative MP Jim Hillyer for miming shooting at the opposition, when voting to axe the gun registry.
• British PM David Cameron for sabotaging the European economy, by vetoing a treaty that was going to fix it.
• The Harper Government for doing what no other nation in the WORLD has done -- pulled out of the Kyoto Accord.

Conservatives vs. Decency

As all Canadians know by now, Opposition Leader Jack Layton passed away on Monday, after a long fight with cancer. We can debate forever about the man and his politics, but the fact is he was a very effective leader, genuinely stood up for every Canadian, and is probably the most inspiring politician that the country has seen in some time. However, simply respecting this fact, seems to be very hard for some of his critics.

National Post writer Christie Blatchford decided to print a column in yesterday's paper, slamming Layton's deathbed inspirational letter to Canadians as a cynical political ploy. Yes, you read that right. According to her, telling people to be nice to one another, is evil and manipulative, even when it's one of the last things you ever do. Furthermore, she whined and complained about how Layton's death was all over the news... less than a day after Layton had died, when it really WAS news.

Very classy, Christie.

But the sick thing is, that's about as tasteful as the criticism I've seen, gets. If you go to any open comment board on the Internet, that refers in any way to Jack Layton's death, you will find a lot of comments like "good riddance, now we won't have to pay his pension", or "now Stephen Harper can get things done". There are also remarks accusing Layton of being a pedophile, with no evidence at all to back it up. Just how low people are willing to go, to criticize a prominent left-wing leader, seems to depend on whether or not they have to post comments with their real names.

You know, I never thought that I'd be caught dead, defending Stephen Harper on a moral issue, but even he had the class to show some respect to Jack Layton's family and what they've gone through. Yet his followers -- the same kind of people who claim that gay people and atheists are inherently evil -- can't even wait for Layton to be buried, before going to the bathroom on his grave. It reminds me of an obscure children's movie, called "Alaska"; one scene features a polar bear cub being teased by poachers with the skin of his dead mother, which he still licks affectionately.

It does not -- and should not -- matter if you are liberal, conservative, or social democrat. It should not matter if you are religious or not. If you have been raised with ANY moral standards at all, you know that there are certain things that you just don't do. One of them, is attacking a dead man and his family, barely 24 hours after he passed away. Another, is attacking other people for simply being in grief. Presumably none of these ghoulish, sleazy troublemakers would want anyone attacking them and their loved ones after a death in their families, so what makes them think it's okay to kick others while they're down? Furthermore, while it takes very little courage to attack people who are emotionally wounded or physically unable to fight back, I wonder if these scumbags -- including Ms. Blatchford -- would have the guts to hold up signs with their vile views, at Layton's funeral, where they will be seen by Layton's family, friends, and supporters. I suspect not.

Thinking of Norway

As we all know by now, Norway was bombed and shot up yesterday, in related attacks that have so far killed over 90 people (as of this writing). At this time, a suspect is in custody, who is known to have had extreme right-wing views... and contrary to what Sun News and the various Murdoch propaganda machines have claimed, this man is NOT a Muslim, but a Norwegian-born Christian.

I'm honestly not sure what to feel more appalled by; the loss of life on its own, or the fact that various conservative bigots are STILL blaming this on Muslims and liberals.

I hesitated to put this article up so soon after the attack, but this really has to be said: THAT IS ONE OF THE STUPIDEST THINGS I'VE EVER READ. There is ironclad proof that a man who allegedly spent hours murdering indiscriminate innocents -- including children -- is a conservative extremist, with an axe to grind against Muslims. Yet rather than actually obey basic sense, these assholes ONCE AGAIN give in to base instincts and sheer hatred, and BLAME ANYONE BUT THEMSELVES.

In fact if you read the comments to this article, you will find a user named "Viktor" (and others) saying that the kids got what they deserved, because they were non-white and in a left-wing event.

...I have no further words for that -- at least, none that wouldn't make me fall prey to the same blind hate that these people thrive on.

OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH NORWAY.

Taking Leaks

Why Burning the Quran is Stupid

So here we are, nine years after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Sadly, many in the West -- especially in America -- haven't learned a thing. There are people like Reverend Terry Jones, who staged a supposed international burning of the Quran. This is being internationally condemned, by people of all faiths, and political stripes (though in Emperor Harper's case it's probably with his fingers crossed behind his back). While I have some faith that the majority of Americans and Christians still have enough decency to be revolted by this, the sad truth is that this lunatic's supporters are vocal and have no intention of backing down.

The irony and hypocrisy of this is nothing short of astonishing. We all know how Christian fundamentalists -- like their Muslim counterparts -- have the little habit of totally ignoring what their own holy books say, but this takes the cake. Jesus clearly said, among other things, to forgive and love your enemies -- not piss them off even further. Speaking of which, I guess the right wing doesn't really support the troops and homeland as much as they insist the rest of us do, because it doesn't take a genius to see that this is going to give Al Qaeda and the Taliban even more reason to kill Westerners. If the more fanatical Muslims out there got so mad over a racist cartoon of Muhammed (or putting him in a bear suit on South Park), how do you figure they're going to react to some gun-toting hick in Florida wanting to burn their holy book? Or let me put that another way: how would these same righteous Christians react, if anyone called for an International Burn the Bible Day? I know this is a hard concept for these xenophobic douchebags to get, but Christianity is not the only faith in the universe, and it is very likely not the one true faith.

Which leads me to the real scope of this problem. Mr. Jones -- yet another minister I will refuse to call by title -- may only have 50 parishoners, but there are definitely a lot of other vocal and influential conservatives out there who agree with him (and not just because this guy is a supporter of Fred Phelps). Between this and the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, tons of conservative pundits are calling for everything from the expulsion of Muslims, to actually attacking this community centre if it ever gets built (by the way I'd just like to remind everyone that in the real world, this centre is about as much of a mosque, as a YMCA is a church). It's sadly getting very common in the States for innocent people to be beaten up, stabbed, and left for dead, just for being Muslim. It's even very easy to find remarks on Facebook, YouTube, and God only knows how many blogs, to the effect that every last Muslim should be wiped out, just because they have the nerve to breathe the same air as the righteous Christian folk.

Hey wait a second, where have we heard all of this before? A certain race is expendable, even spawned of the devil; we must take back the land from the minorities and unbelievers; we must smash their homes, businesses and places of worship; we must burn their books; we must destroy the whole people; only we are the master race... Geez, does anyone else remember when it really was silly to compare the Christian Right to the Nazis?

Here's the final reason this is not only ironic and hypocritical, but just plain stupid: all of this is being done on the anniversary of 9/11, to supposedly defend the honour of the people who were killed that day. Far be it for me to presume what the dead thinks, but doesn't it seem a bit dumb, to "defend" victims of religious intolerance and violence, with even more religious intolerance and violence? What exactly makes it so horrible for Osama bin Laden to call for a holy war, but so acceptable for Terry Jones and his ilk to do the same thing? If Jesus does exist, and there is any truth whatsoever to The Gospel, I can guarantee that He is weeping for what is being done in His name, yet again.

Neo-Con Trolls

About Fort Hood

As we all know by now, an army psychiatrist and another soldier went berserk in the Fort Hood US Army base, killing or wounding about 40 people before being taken into custody.

The disgusting thing is that even more this man was revealed to be of Arabic descent (which Fox News sure didn't hesitate to jump on), there were people commenting on blogs and forums, "This is a war on Islam!" (of course they conveniently forget that just about every other mad shooter or domestic terrorist in American history has been a white man).

Right wingers have accused me and the left of slamming them unnecessarily when it comes to attitudes towards ethnics, but honestly what more proof do you need that North America as a whole is much more racist than it wants to admit? They insist that Islam as a whole is a brutal religion, based on no more than the actions of some fanatics (though of course no one is allowed to judge Christianity on the same grounds). Whenever some kind of trouble erupts, not only do they assume it's a Muslim doing it, but if they are right, they want to just lynch the person on the spot -- no trial, no due process, no nothing. Yet if the same thing happens to any other ethnic or religious group on the other side of the world, we call it a travesty.

Furthermore, when Oklahoma City was bombed, or Columbine High School shot up, I don't recall a single person saying that all the white people and/or Christians should be kicked out or killed. Enough said.

Obama Derangement Syndrome

Uncivil Discourse

So we've had the debates in Canada's sham election, and we're a little over a week away from voting. The last time I had checked, while Harper still has a lead, there's been a drop in confidence, given the very rough time our economy is having right now. So I'm really hoping and praying that things are turning against him. That's right, I'm a public figure, and I have an opinion on how the world works. Live with it.

Things were rough for Harper in the French debates, right away; one of many reasons why the man is called a clone of George W. Bush is because they share the same hands-off attitude about the economy. Basically, their approaches are to ignore what goes on in the world until the corporations cry for more money, at which point Harper or whoever cuts taxes for those who have plenty of cash to spare, but ignores people who have to find three jobs just to get decent groceries. Let's not forget, it's because of this sort of "wait and see" mentality that the stock markets around the world nearly collapsed twice this week. I should also point out that historically the worse economic times in history have been supervised by right-wing governments.

What really got to me, though, was Harper's stance that various inspection agencies should be deregulated and privatized -- in other words, the work done by companies only interested in how much money they make. This is after ample proof that this policy has killed people; one need only look at Walkerton's tainted water problem, or the recent listeria/tainted meat outbreak, or the propane explosion in Toronto, to see how seriously corporate inspectors take their jobs. In fact, the Canadian Medical Association Journal recently attacked Harper over this policy. Guess what his reply was? He blamed it on some sort of conspiracy by the Liberal party.

This is typical, not only of Harper but of anyone I've seen support him. They blame everyone else for getting on partisan high horses, but whenever someone disagrees with the Tories they are branded as left-wing extremists, and often Ottawa tries to silence them altogether. Don't forget, this is the only Prime Minister in recent memory who tells the press what questions they are allowed to ask him, and has seen to it that progressive artists can't afford to spread their views in public. And believe me, if you take complaints to the party itself, they will either ignore you completely, or just treat you like you don't matter. And don't even get me started on some of these psychotic assholes speaking for them in forums -- I've actually seen people say they hope I get kicked out of the country, just because I don't agree with them, and call me a liar because I mention events that are reported in every single newspaper in Canada.

Sure enough, when Harper had his rematch in the English debates, all he did was deny that there is an economic problem -- despite rather clear evidence to the contrary -- and call his opponents useless. His entire strategy thus far has been to say that I'm right, you're wrong, and that's that. So I don't buy this "strong leader" bullshit that's in the Tory propaganda. His attitude says exactly this: "You're either with us, or against us." Where else have we heard that lately? Enough said.