Antidote

Watch this. It's been all over the blogosphere, but this is the first time I've seen a video of this encounter. Nine-year-old Zachary Ro asked a question of Pete Buttigieg at a town hall in Colorado:

If you can't imagine the outrage from the usual suspects, read this. Keep in mind, though, that factual accuracy is not a requirement for right-wing commentators.

Today in Disgusting People: More Crap from a "Christian"

I wonder, quite often, if these people really are this deluded or if they're more cynical than even I can believe. This is from Stephen Strang, founder of Charisma Media, via Joe.My.God.:

Light versus darkness. Good versus evil. God’s plans and purposes versus the enemy’s deceitful agenda. That is the binary way Bible-believing Christians see the world.

And there's your first mistake -- the world is not black and white, either or: it's an infinite series of grays, a "yes, and" sort of place. I see this way of thinking as a major cause of the mess that Western civilization has become, even in science, where two possibilities that are not mutually exclusive are presented as an either/or proposition. For example, the Field Museum of Natural History, at the beginning of the "Ancient Americas" exhibition, has a video presenting the two prevailing theories of the peopling of the Americas -- did people come across the Bering land bridge during the Ice Age, or did the follow the coast in boats? The answer that make the most sense, of course, is "Yes": There's no reason in earth they couldn't have done both.

But I digress.

Needless to say, Strang, being a hard-right "Christian" supporter of Trump, goes on:

And I believe that behind the craziness manifested by so-called “Trump Derangement Syndrome” are principalities and powers.

The vengeance with which some people hate Trump can only be understood if seen in spiritual terms.

Horsepucky. It's perfectly understandable that people hate Trump for purely mundane reasons: he's a liar, a crook, a cheat, a sexual predator (at least in his fantasies), and even worse.

And have you wondered why these evangelical "Christians", who claim to follow a god who taught shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, are fine with separating migrant children, some of whom are too young to walk, from their parents and putting them in cages? Or, one of the latest bits of nastiness, the regime wants to fund its "emergency response" in part by taking money from poor people:

House Democrats tell us they are outraged by one aspect of the White House response in particular: The White House appears to have informed Democrats that they want to fund the emergency response in part by taking money from a program that funds low-income home heating assistance.

A document that the Trump administration sent to Congress, which we have seen, indicates that the administration is transferring $37 million to emergency funding for the coronavirus response from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which funds heating for poor families.

yeah, take away subsidies for heat during winter. That will certainly help solve a health crisis. Which just demonstrates that Trump and those who work for him are not only nasty, but stupid.

Culture Break: Flash Mob, Beethoven's Ode to Joy

This one seems to be a favorite for flash mobs. An antidote, of sorts:

What's New at Green Man Review

More goodies -- books, music, film, the works:

A Collaboration between Steeleye Span and Terry Pratchett, Two of the Best-loved Fantasy Movies of the 1980s, Eight Classic SF Novels of the 1960s, Ritter Chocolates, Jazz Drumming, A Choice Zelazny, Live Nightnoise and Other Lively Matters

And it's all right here.

WTF? A Twofer

The "Christian" apologists are out in full force, and even more clueless than ever. First, Glenn Beck, from a diatribe against Pete Buttigieg:

You can’t pick and choose if you’re going to use the Bible.

As if every Christian throughout the history of the religion hasn't done just that.

And even more unhinged, Bill Donohue:

There is a reason the Diocese of Harrisburg filed for bankruptcy the day after the Boy Scouts of America did: both have been targeted by lawyers who have a profound hatred of institutions that promote traditional moral values. It is incontestable that no religious organization is known for doing this more than the Catholic Church, and no secular organization can rival the Boy Scouts on this score.

It would be interesting to learn a bit more about what Donohue considers "traditional moral values". I had never heard that they included raping boys put in your care.

Words fail me.

Culture Break: K. Sridhar: from Raga Keervani

We're used to hearing raga -- if we're used to hearing raga at all -- played on the sitar. Krishnamurti Sridhar does it on the sarod, which is a very different sound. I have an album of a concert he gave in Paris which, sadly, does not include this piece.

Today in Disgusting People (Updated)

You may have heard that the Boys Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy. Perennial hate-monger Tony Perkins, of course, is ready to fix blame. Via Joe.My.God.:

It’s one of the saddest, most predictable “I-told-you-so” moments of our generation. The Boy Scouts, where future moon walkers and presidents learned the virtues and value of leadership, has finally collapsed. Turns out, the decade of compromise hasn’t been kind to the Scouts, who turned in their moral compass seven years ago to chase the approval of critics it could never win. Now, deep into the BSA’s self-imposed identity crisis, the group is filing for bankruptcy — an unhappy ending we all warned was coming.

For those who knew the Scouts through their proud and honorable days, the demise has been slow and painful. But this is what comes of throwing up your hands on a century of conviction: irrelevance and, ultimately, insolvency. For 103 of its 110 years, the Boy Scouts were a pillar of principle — not that it was easy.

As most of us know, the fight to live out your beliefs in this world can be an exhausting one. The Scouts spent years in court just for the freedom to stick to their moral code. They won — but to the organization’s dismay — the battle didn’t end. Waves of LGBT activists kept coming. The pressure built and built until finally, in 2013, under the leadership of Rex Tillerson, headquarters gave into the lie that compromise would be their salvation. Seven years later, the irony is: there’s nothing left to save.

As Joe points out:

. . . today’s bankruptcy filing comes in response to thousands of lawsuits filed over alleged sexual abuse that happened long before openly LGBT persons were allowed to participate. In almost all of the cases, the alleged abuse took place decades ago in Boy Scout chapters operated by Christian churches.

There's a lot more information on that in the comments, which are worth reading.

Update: Here's a report on what's actually happening, without the moral posturing.

This Week at Green Man Review

It's Sunday again, and another collection of reviews of the odd, the unusual, and the fascinating:

On Breakfast, Judy Collins Live, Cats, Tolkien in Person, Champagne, Music from Just About Everywhere, and much more

So dive on in and enjoy.

Image of the Week

The expression on that kid's face is priceless:

With thanks to commenter Fred Kepler at Joe.My.God.

What's New at Green Man Review

It's that time of the week again, and more goodies in store:

Horslips live, Bourbon, Definitive Earthsea, Traveling the Pacific, Robin Hood, and more

And if you're wondering what that's all about, hop over and see for yourself.

Read It and Weep

While you still can -- this is almost beyond belief -- or it would be with any other administration. From an interview with historian Matthew Connelley:

So, you write, “The Department of the Interior and the National Archives have decided to delete files on endangered species, offshore drilling inspections and the safety of drinking water.” You also talk about, specifically, when we’re talking about ICE, that last month they announced that ICE could go ahead and start destroying records from Trump’s first year, including the detainees’ complaints about civil rights violations and shoddy medical care. Is this different from previous administrations?

It gets worse. It gets much worse.

This is straight out of something -- maybe a Monty Python sketch:

MATTHEW CONNELLY: It is. I would say that under this administration things have gone much further, much faster. I think perhaps the best example of that is how Donald Trump tears up his own papers in tiny little pieces. Now, in this case, the National Archives tried to do the right thing. They sent staff to the White House to Scotch tape those papers back together again. I’m not even kidding. So, what happened to them —

AMY GOODMAN: Say that again.

MATTHEW CONNELLY: They went to the White House to Scotch tape those pieces of paper back together again. These are our federal employees having to fish out of the trash pieces of paper that Donald Trump had left there rather than leaving a record for the rest of us. And so, they Scotch taped those records back together. So, what happened to those people? They were fired. They were terminated.

This is your government, ladies and gentlemen -- covering its tracks.

Thanks to commenter coram nobis at Joe.My.God.

Now What?

OK -- the Senate had it's "trial" -- and frankly, Stalin couldn't have staged a better show -- acquitted Trump (no surprize there -- Moscow Mitch told us right up front that was going to happen), all this just after Trump gave his State of the Union address, as usual chock full of lies. Nancy Pelosi ripped up her copy at the end.



Cue the right-wing outrage -- "How disrespectful!". Trae Crowder -- a/k/a the Liberal Redneck -- has some thoughts on that:

Of course, it's all Democrats, out to destroy America. (Just a reminder: it's called "projection".) Franklin Graham is just one example:

What we saw from President Donald J. Trump’s opposition last night during the State of the Union address felt like a very personal resentment and hatred for the successes of America that had just been spoken of. How could leaders in Congress be so indignant about good news for the people of this country?

It gets better:

BREAKING: I'm filing an ethics complaint against @SpeakerPelosi for destroying @realDonaldTrump's State of the Union speech.

Her conduct was beneath the dignity of the House, and a potential violation of law (18 USC 2071).

Nobody is above the law. She must be held accountable. pic.twitter.com/dXPPWQNtI8

— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) February 6, 2020

You may remember that Gaetz is not only rabidly pro-Trump, he's not very intelligent.

There. That's my summation of the news for the past few days.

Antidote

This kitten was caught in a house fire, and rescued by one of the firefighters:

Ending today with this. Good night. 💚pic.twitter.com/IGJZIhUFim

— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) February 6, 2020

There are good people in the world.

With thanks to commenter jixter at Joe.My.God,

This Week at Green Man Review

Unlike that Scottish Estate, there's actual sunshine here -- weak, tentative, but there, for the first time in days. But, back to that Estate:

J

ohnny Clegg’s Final Album, More Fables Considered, Live Steeleye Span, Some Things Whovian, An Unusually Flavoured KitKat and Other Matters

And it's all there waiting for you.

And Happy Groundhog Day.