Thursday rant

I already ranted about opening ANWR, though that does still piss me off. I would be far more sympathetic if we had first taken some steps to increase efficiency. Put it this way, as long as we are rolling out Hummers, there is absolutely no justification for this.

Ok, on with the rant. I have pointed out that those who believe the bible to be innerrent tend to be quite selective in that process. Here is a great example (thanks to Carlos at Jesus Politics).

Jesus Politics: I Can't Listen to Christian Lawyers: "A key sponsor of the bill, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), actively opposes abortion and same-sex marriage on biblical grounds yet believes the Good Book's clear definition and condemnation of usury is irrelevant. The Old Testament, revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, mandates debt forgiveness after seven years, as was pointed out earlier this month by an organization of Christian lawyers in a letter to Grassley.
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'I can't listen to Christian lawyers,' said the senator, 'because I would be imposing the Bible on a diverse population.'"

Nice. Really speaks to the issue of how sin has become only sex. Money? Pursuit of money? Go for it! Get as much as you can, and if you can get it from the poor and stupid, then all the better. Verily.
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Next subject: our President and what he is teaching the children.

No connection between competence and advancement. President Bush said yesterday that he has chosen Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, a key architect of the Iraq war, as the U.S. nominee to head the World Bank."

Let's go over this once again. Say you have a guy who hates the UN and jokes about the UN building losing 10 floors (not really funny anymore)? Well, of course, you make him ambassador to the UN. What about a lawyer who says that the US doesn't have to adhere to the Geneva Conventions and suggests that the President can authorize torture if he wants? Of course, you make him Attorney General so he can go after the porn industry. How about someone who oversaw intelligence failure after intelligence failure? You make her Secretary of State.

Now we have one of the most aggressive Neo-cons who said that we could invade Iraq on the cheap, that Iraq would pay for their own reconstruction, and who admitted that the WMD wasn't really the reason for the invasion, just the one that could scare the American people into supporting the war? You make him the head of the World Bank. He has no economic background, and has alienated much of the rest of the world.

This president (despite all the claims for his religious faith) has savaged any critics. He has made sure that those who don't follow him completely leave Washington with their reputation gone (just ask Ambassador Wilson, Richard Clarke, or Paul O'Neill). But, if you kiss his ass and tell him how smart he is, and that he is really an instrument of God, you will get promoted even if you suck at your job. Of course, they haven't sucked at their job when that job was defined as protecting the King's ass. Gonzales made sure that Governor Christian Bush could sign off on executing (and possibly mocking) the condemned on Texas's death row.

Some day, we are going to read about how truly simple our President is. I think the future will reveal the Oedipal nightmare of the Bush family, and will reveal how this child of privilege has associated with ideologues who fit his idea of "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps." Molly Ivins said this of his father, but it is more true of Shrub: "He was born on third base and thought he hit a triple." Someday, those of you who backed this man will have to apologize someday for what you have done to the poor, the environment, and to gays and women.