Rev. Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A., M.Div.

Does this make us apostates?

You for posting this, and me for liking it?
 

That's us! Apostate-Americans!
 

Apostates? No. Now if the character played by William Shatner had been the one giving the summation, then YES, we would all be apostates.
 

I don't think I get that.
 

Well, then, see if you can get this...

For once I totally agree with you.

Awesome and sickenly depressing.

Awesome because it was powerfully delivered and wonderfully acted, and sickeningly depressing because almost every word of it has been demonstrated repeatedly to be wrong.

And sickeningly depressing because you continue to fall for it all.

Hook, line and sinker.

"The...whole...(waves hands around nonchalantly) WMD thing turned out not to be true." (Mugs for the camera.)

Awesome.

Bullcrap.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/11/16/122915.shtml

"Recently discovered Iraqi documents now being translated by U.S. intelligence analysts indicate that Saddam Hussein's government made extensive plans to hide Iraq's weapons of mass destruction before the U.S. invasion in March 2003 - and had deep ties to al Qaida before the 9/11 attacks."

The perpetrators of the Abu Ghraib abuses (if they were indeed abuses) are being prosecuted and punished.
ALL of them.

1200 Terror suspects (not U.S. Citizens, Terror suspects) who had been under surveilance since way before 9/11 were arrested shortly after 9/11 and the U.S has not suffered another single terror attack since.

NOT ONE.

The "massive illegal surveilance program against our own citizens" that he mentioned was neither massive, nor illegal, nor was it directed against American citizens, unless they were talking to known terrorist operatives outside of the U.S., so every single word in that particular sentence was either a gross exageration, or an outright lie.

And you cannot name a single American citizen that has been wrongly jailed or prosecuted or even bothered because of that program.

On the "Free Speech Zones" malarkey, he stated "If you agree, you can stay. If you protest, you will be removed."

Awesome. Sickening. Bullcrap.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/31/sheehan.arrest/

"On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Florida, spoke on the House floor saying his wife, Beverly, had been "ordered to leave" the gallery during the speech for wearing a shirt that said, "Support Our Troops."

KNOCK IT OFF. fOR THE LOVE OF FREEDOM! KNOCK IT OFF!

This kind of post is the very reason that I have stopped dropping by here as much as I used to, ER.

You continue to disappoint me, and to ever increasing levels.

I no longer waste my time trying to discuss important issues with people who refuse to accept facts.

Sorry, my friend...
 

Americans don't deserve Liberals.
 

And, Peace, to you as well.

But you have GOT to tighten up, ER.

You are MUCH, MUCH smarter and better than this.

I love you like a brother, but I can't stand to see you forging onward toward the Dark Side, and degenerating into a liberal talking points reciting automaton, in spite of ever increasing evidence that those talking points are wrong.

Demonstrably wrong. Undeniably wrong.

Use your brain, man!

I know that you still can...
 

ER,I completely agree with Tug. One of you has swallowed the propaganda hook line and sinker. One of you is being back into a corner and is becoming desperate. One of you is being betrayed by those he trusted and can not fathom what to do about it. One of you is in anguish because others can not see the truth that he knows. One of you is listening to Tim MacVieghs deamons and believe the angels themselves are guiding your thoughts. Both of you are America in a nutshell. How can we proceed from here?
 

Mark said...
"Americans don't deserve Liberals."
Ipso facto, liberals are not Americans?
Do you really believe that Mark?
 

Mark believes whatever the F he hears on talk radio.
 

And ER believes whatever the F he reads on Moveon.org.

Pots.

Kettles.

All of us.
 

Ha. Here's what I read regularly:

The paper I work for.

Foreign Affairs.

The Christian Century.

Newsweek.

The Journal of the American Historical Society.

The Chronicles of Oklahoma (history journal).

The Rebel Yell. (newsletter of local SCV camp.)

Mistletoe Leaves. (newslettr of of state historical society.)

Mark's blog.

Tug's blog.

Bitch, Ph.D.'s blog.

A smattering of other blogs, right, left and non.

I listen to Don Imus, although not lately.

I listen in NPR.

I'm a Pot and I'm a Kettle, Tug.

But don't accuse me of ripping my thoughts off of others. You have more daily influence over my thinking than MoveOn, which I vaguely am aware of, or the Democratic Party, which increasingly makes me want to puke for its ineffectiveness.
 

I didn't see anything NASCAR on the list either. Nor did you mention your own "newspaper"! :)
 

Nick, yer right. I do read the Focus on the Family newsletter daily.
 

Um, I did mention "the paper I work for."

'Nuff of that. This is a work-free zone.
 

And reading about NASCAR is like watching golf on TV. WTH?
 

ER, you also didn't mention that you read my blog daily, which leads me to think 1) you don't and 2) why do I read yours daily? :(
 

Boston legal has zingers from far left and far right nearly show. If your middle of the road it makes for a very good show. Spader zings Fox news quite a bit.
 

I never said FOTF was Jesus-betraying. I think most of what it does is irrelevant to the Gospel, and harmful to the country.

Tech, I check your blog regularly, but not every day. Every time I make you daily, you disappear for two or threee days to direct a play or something! :-)

I must confess I've never seen the show, Boston Legal.

I do miss the show. Boston Common. It was a hoot.
 

ER said: "I must confess I've never seen the show, Boston Legal."
That would be why you didn't get my William Shatner reference.
 

Ah.
 

You got me. Liberals are Americans, they just act like they'd rather be from some Socialist country. ;)
 

ER, the personal rancor reflected in that last remark, I don't intend to dignify with comment, but I would like to address the assertion that everything I think I got from talk radio. It's just not true.
 

Mark,

1. Yer right, and I apologize. The "talk radio" crack was made in haste and in anger. Rancor redacted.

2. Many liberalsd would prefer to be in a socialist America.
 

"www.newsmax.com....."

AAAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! newsmax?! puh-lease! when you get hold of a credible source, let us know. 'til then, keep them thumbs firmly lodged.

"....the U.S has not suffered another single terror attack since."

no need; they're killing us there so they don't have to kill us here!

but seriously, i don't think england and spain would appreciate being left out of your discussion.

"....was neither massive, nor illegal, nor was it directed against American citizens"

you want to get hung up on the word "massive", that's you prerogative, but the rest of it is accurate.

"On the "Free Speech Zones" malarkey"

so, what were those zoned areas in nyc during the rnc? and what of the chimp's national appearances last year? during his feckless "save soc sec by killing it" tour, there were plenty of pro-chimp banners and buttons, but nary a voice of dissent allowed in the door.

"KNOCK IT OFF. fOR THE LOVE OF FREEDOM!"

GO CRAM YOUR SELF-rIGHTEOUS DEMAGOGUERY!

"This kind of post is the very reason that I have stopped dropping by here as much as I used to, ER."

i don't think anybody noticed your absence.

"You continue to disappoint me, and to ever increasing levels."

you're as predictable as ever.

"I no longer waste my time trying to discuss important issues with people who refuse to accept facts."

farewell, freerepublic.com?

"Sorry, my friend..."

i do not think that word means what you think it means....

KEvron
 

As a libertarian boarding on anarchist, I will tolerate neither a facist nor socialist America. I like her the way she is, fucked up and everthing, always changing, evolving, and trying to be better.
A place where one man's Dark Side is another man's shade from the glaring sun. As Mercutio said, " A curse on both your houses." For they would make worms meet of me, but I'll be damned if I'll let them. Both side have tried, but I am still here.
 

"Americans don't deserve Liberals."

and yet:

"....the personal rancor reflected in that last remark....It's just not true."

go to hell.

KEvron
 

I think all you rightwing nuts believe there are a hell of a lot more liberals out there than there really are. Like wise, the left wing jerks, see a neo-con nazi behind every tree. Both of youz think that nobody else is in the Game. Boy are you guys going to be suprized when the radical middle of the road John Spruce Society takes over!
 

This is just a ramble about an American oddity:
Speaking about rightwing nuts reminded me of my 1955 Studebaker President.
Every nut and bolt and screw on the left hand side of the car had left hand threads. Every nut and bolt and screw on the right hand side of the car had right hand threads. Suposedly it had to do with torque and things staying "tight", but it was shit to work on. It would however go a clocked 120 mph, stock without modification. It had a two barrel carb, dual exhaust, on a small 280 HP V-8, with a five speed automatic transmission. It was our four door family car.
This don't mean nothin. Just thinking about how wierd the right and left hand nuts ect. were on that car.
 

our country is, to some extent, already socialist; public education, welfare, medicare, social security, organized labor, etc., are all socialized programs.

KEvron
 

"Organized Labor": that is an oxymoron in 2006, and even in the 1930 it didn't originate with the government. They were late comers to the "cause".

"Welfare": gutted and reduced by Mr. Clinton. And anyway was more of a bugaboo than an actual help.

Medicare: was conceived as a doctor and hospital corporate welfare program.

Social Security: a program laughed at for 50 years by Washington politicians because it gave them a backdoor way to raise general revenue by borrowing from the fund and never paying it back. After the New Deal faded away SS became just another revenue stream.

Public Education: K-12 education is a "Populist concept" from the late 1900's and is funded by local revenues. Local control has been its mantra. Only 6 cents on the average of every K-12 dollar comes from the Feds. The rest comes from local and state taxes and levies.

What other socialist program are you all thinking about?
 

Interstate highway system. Federal prison system. Department of Defense.

In the states, the equivalents. Seems like the liquor stores in Alabama are state-owned.

In cities and towns, trash collection where it still remains city-owned. School districts with their schools. And wouldn't any cooperative -- electric, cotton, farmer's -- fall into the evil S category?
 

OK, I'll accept the Liquer Stores in Alabama as socialist.
 

"'Organized Labor': that is an oxymoron in 2006, and even in the 1930 it didn't originate with the government. They were late comers to the 'cause'."

granted, ol did not originate with the feds, but the right to organize is protected by federal legislation. i would also contend that collective bargaining does have a socialist aspect to it, although that hardly matters today, with unions accounting for only about 10% of the work force.
(btw, american labor unions predate your reference to the 1930's by some four decades; the ibew was founded in 1891.)

"Welfare....Medicare....Social Security"

good, bad or indifferent, these programs are socialized.

"Public Education....Only 6 cents on the average of every K-12 dollar comes from the Feds."

i did qualify me contention, didn't i? lessee: "...to some extent...." yep. six cents of every dollar fits the paradigm nicely. but the fact that funding comes primarily from the local and state levels does not discredit my claim; socialism is not exclusive to the federal level. in fact, in some forms, control is exercised through localized collectives rather than a central govt.

"What other socialist program are you all thinking about?"

er added a few more to the list, and i could add subsidized farming, but i feel my examples make my point for me quite nicely; that, to some extent, our country is already socialist, like virtually every modern industrialized nation. i would like to see single-payer healthcare added to the list....

perhaps "socialistic" would have been a better choice of words.

KEvron, ibew, local 6
 

Ok I accept the Liquer stores in Alabama.
 

and who wouldn't?

KEvron