Tweet du Jour

A new, large study finds that children who did not get childhood vaccines were more likely to be diagnosed with autism than kids who did get their recommended vaccinations. - @NBCNewsHealth https://t.co/FOeN8ZncYq

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 25, 2019

Giggle du Jour

This, courtesy of commenter Halbe, at this post at Friendly Atheist:

(Yes, there actually are people who believe the earth is flat.)

Welcome to the Twighlight Zone

This is from a couple of days ago, but I had to share it. I could never make something like this up, but someone has a vivid imagination.

Staunch pro-Trump vloggers Diamond & Silk made an appearance on Fox & Friends to talk about, in part, how awful and evil Hillary Clinton is. What was most alarming about this particular diatribe from the duo, however, was their completely false claim that the former secretary of state sold a bunch of uranium of Russia and now the country has nuclear weapons.

“I think and we think that Hillary Clinton reminds us of a nasty sore that’s rotten to the core that really won’t go away,” Diamond said, as Silk said “That’s right” to punctuate her every point.

“And listen, I think it’s time for her to go somewhere and be quiet,” Diamond continued. “If she’s going to be on the national platform, or on her little platform, she needs to talk about her dirty deeds. How she paid for that fake dossier to try to undermine President Trump during the election. How she sold 20 percent of the uranium to Russia and now Russia have nuclear weapons. And you know that uranium is bomb-making material.”

The Soviet Union had nuclear weapons in 1949. Hillary Clinton was about three years old at that point.

And no, she didn't sell "20% of the uranium" to Russia.

But then, this is Fox News, the second largest purveyor of fake news.

There's video at the link, if you can stand it.

And, just to show that a good conspiracy theory never dies, there's Roseanne Barr, who is using her new-found popularity to go right over the edge:



Also known at "Pizzagate Redux" -- you remember the child sex-trafficking ring Hillary was running out of the basement of a pizza parlor in D.C. -- that didn't have a basement.

Reports are that Barr has always been a disgusting person; this is just the latest manifestation.

There's more detail at the link.

Well, It's Started (Update)

Given the moral bankruptcy and somewhat questionable mental stability -- not to mention a complete lack of humanity -- on the fringe right, I suppose it was only a matter of time before we started seeing things like this:

The Washington Times has created a village of village idiots. The village idiot of the village of idiots is columnist Cheryl K. Chumley. Monday she writes: “Obnoxious, ignorant teens now demand curbs on guns.”

Teens across the nation, fed up with school shootings, are planning marches, media events and three-minute demonstrations at the White House in order to get across their messages of frustration with the Second Amendment and to demand lawmakers take immediate action.

Now if only they weren’t so dang entitled, snarky and obnoxious.

Looks like the NRA has decided to take the gloves off. This is, of course, the Moonie Times, home of the unhinged. But they're not alone. This popped up in the comments to this post at Joe.My.God., courtesy of commenter Eddi Haskell:

Gateway Pundit is the home turf of Jim Hoft, widely considered the stupidest man on the internet.

This is just the beginning -- I'm sure we'll see more attacks on the survivors of the shooting -- and of course, there will be death threats. I wonder how long it's going to take Fox News to pick up on this.

Update: It didn't take long at all, and we get a twofer: Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, all in one smelly package:

While speaking to Fox News Sunday, Limbaugh was asked by host Chris Wallace if a planned march by students could get lawmakers to act to prevent school shootings.

"Chris, I have to ask if anybody is really serious about solving this because none of this -- by the way, I couldn't care less about the gun angle of this," Limbaugh replied, referring to a group of students from Parkland that Wallace had just spoken to. "None of this is going to solve -- prayers and condolences don't solve it and marches aren't going to solve it. Chris, the next shooter is out there."

"It's not the fault of the NRA. It's not the fault of any -- it's the fault of the people doing this and our inability to deal with that and stop them," he insisted. "Until we're willing to get serious about where we are and how do we they stop this from happening and marches aren't going to do it, saying no more guns isn't going to do it, bashing the NRA isn't going to do it."

If this sounds more than a little incoherent, well, when you're trying to deflect blame away from the ones who are holding your leash and you have absolutely no case, that's about par: just bury it in word salad.

The post at Joe.My.God. is about Marion Le Pen speaking at CPAC:

Jaws dropped on Twitter this afternoon when CPAC published the full agenda for this week’s convention, revealing that French fascist Marion Le Pen will speak from the main stage immediately after Mike Pence.

Marion, you may recall, is the even worse niece of National Front leader Marine Le Pen and in 2012 at age 22 became the youngest person ever elected to the French Parliament.

You may or may not know that France's National Front was founded by Nazi collaborators.

This is today's GOP.

Footnote: On the other side of the coin, the conspiracy theorists are on it. The ever-reliable Alex Jones:

“Their whole globalist system is falling apart. The left’s been caught running Antifa that’s cop-killing. They’ve been caught in their own documents that came out a month ago—George Soros’ son funding movements trying to get national riots going when Obama was in in 2015 to be able to trigger civil war,” Jones said.

He continued, “You can see exactly what they’re saying. And then someone that fits, not the profile of a nihilist like we were thinking, but someone who is completely mentally ill, autistic, totally suggestable, will do whatever he’s told, on psychotropic drugs, who doesn’t have parents—it’s in the news—magically is there and all the eyewitnesses are saying multiple shooters.”

If it sounds unhinged and incoherent -- well, that's Alex Jones.

And Fox is right on this one:

According to Fox News scumbag Todd Starnes, the surviving students of the massacre in Parkland, Florida are organizing against future massacres because they’ve been brainwashed by the “government-funded indoctrination camps” that non-scumbag Americans call public schools.

This afternoon Starnes also posted this on Facebook: “The Mainstream Media is using survivors of the Florida school shooting as propaganda pawns to attack President Trump, the NRA and the Second Amendment. They are literally using children as human shields in their bloodthirsty attempt to take down the president.”

And of course, they're coming to take your guns.

The really awful thing about this is that people actually believe this bullshit.

It Just Gets Worse

This is not really the time to leave no stone unturned -- I mean, when you consider what's hiding under them. From Right Wing Watch:

Mark Taylor, the “firefighter prophet” and right-wing conspiracy theorist who claims that God told him that Donald Trump would become president years ago, appeared on Greg Hunter’s “USAWatchdog” program last weekend, where he revealed that God told him that two of the five former presidents will soon die and the other three will face jail time as divine retribution for criticizing President Trump.

Taylor said that when he saw all five former presidents gathered at an event to raise money for hurricane relief, he received a word from the Lord that “two will be taken, three will be shaken.”

“They were doing this Hurricane Harvey relief effort,” Taylor said. “They were trying to raise money for Hurricane Harvey, but we all know that is a bunch of lies. These guys could care less about people, it’s about their agenda. They disguised it as a relief effort for Hurricane Harvey victims and they go in there and they trash Donald Trump.”

“The Bible says, ‘Do not touch my anointed, but especially my prophets,'” he continued. “These guys have now touched God’s anointed, Donald Trump. They used it as a platform to go in there and attack.”

As far as I recall from the reports on that event, Trump's name wasn't mentioned. I guess, to some people, that constitutes an attack.

The really scary part is that this guy is not that far out of the mainstream -- for wingnuts.

Via Joe.My.God.

Today in "Real Christians"

This sort of beggars belief -- but it doesn't:

A woman charged with beating a fellow church member to “expel homosexual demons” has admitted to “starting” the mass assault in court.

Sarah Anderson is one of five people on trial for the assault on Matthew Fenner, who was beaten in his church.

30 people reportedly attacked Fenner in 2013 at the Word of Faith church in North Carolina.

Anderson has testified that she told others leaders in the church that she believed the man to be “unclean and sinful”.

After this, the minister of the church, Brooke Covington, allegedly started the two-hour long attack by screaming at Fenner and slapping him after a service.

This church sounds like something out of a dystopian science fiction novel:

The church, which was founded in 1979, has been exposed for having strict regulations and control over its members.

The Associated Press reported that the Protestant, non-denominal church had the deciding choice over who could marry who and which couples were allowed to have children.

Those who failed to obey the church faced “humiliating” or “physical” punishment.

The AP also revealed from a series of interview with former members that “sinners” regularly faced the same type of attack that Fenner faced with punching, choking and beating being an accepted way of “expelling demons”.

I have to wonder what kind of person willingly hands himself over to that kind of treatment -- I mean, the potential is always there, especially if you leave it up to someone else to decide whether you're "possessed."

And of course, they're claiming persecution -- because if you insist on a "real Christian" adhering to civilized modes of behavior, that's discrimination.

Today in Trump's America

In Georgia. The only surprise is that it's not in Alabama. From Raw Story:

A meeting about whether to lift a moratorium on the construction of a mosque in an Atlanta suburb was canceled on Tuesday after a video made by right-wing militia members led to fears of armed violence.

According to NBC News, officials in Covington, GA canceled a city planning meeting dedicated to voting on whether to proceed with the construction of a new mosque and Muslim cemetery in the town.

Chris Hill — leader of local militia group the Three Percent Security Force — told reporters that he made the video during a weekend protest against the mosque.

“I was just shooting from the hip is what I was doing, and saying, ‘Right over there, this is going to be a future ISIS training group. This is where you’re going to see terrorism taking hold in Newton County.’ It’s tied to terrorism, everything from 9/11 to Boston bombings to the Fort Hood shooting, to the coup in Turkey. It’s all connected,” said Hill, who goes by the name “Blood Agent” in his videos.

This is one of those "real Americans" who can't find his ass with both hands and a map. He must get dizzy from all the buzzwords flying around in his head.

And this is choice:

On Tuesday, armed militiamen protested outside the site of the proposed meeting, some carry assault weapons, others with sidearms. One man walked in circles shouting through a megaphone.

Hill, a Marine veteran, said that at no point has his group made violent threats against city officials, but Newton County administrators took the video seriously enough to postpone the planning meeting.

Umm -- you don't think armed idiots parading around with assault rifles constitutes a threat?

Brace yourselves -- it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Today's Must-Read: "The Election's Gonna Be Rigged"

I've been thinking that Trump is pushing this one because he's sure he's going to lose, but I maybe haven't taken it far enough:

Josh Marshall (correctly, in my opinion) surmises that Trump the narcissistic con man is setting the table for a claim that the election was stolen from him:

It may not seem terribly important right now with all the stories roiling the campaign. But I think there's a good chance it's the most important. Over the last 48 hours Trump's allies, surrogates and now Trump himself have forcibly injected the topic of voter fraud or 'election rigging' into the election. Longtime TPM Readers know this topic has probably been the publication's single greatest and most consistent focus over fifteen years. The subject has been investigated countless times. And it is clear that voter fraud and especially voter impersonation fraud is extremely rare - rare almost to the point of non-existence, though there have been a handful of isolated cases.

Via Digby, whose own comment is germane:

But the big problem is that we seem to be in a period of inane conspiracy theorizing and paranoia in the system at large, with anyone who disagrees being assumed to be corrupt or dishonest and the assumption being that the entire system is "rigged." It's not a partisan problem. It's a logic problem and it's getting worse with social media.

As Marshall points out in his piece, this could lead to something very dangerous in terms of Trump since many of his followers are already gun-toting extremists with a very thin grasp of democratic norms. It could be ugly.

I can see this getting to the point where the whole system just implodes -- and I don't mean our system of elections, but our whole system. Start with neo-fascist Trump and his supporters, add in the "sovereign citizens" a la the Bundys and their pocket constitutions that they don't read and don't understand, the "religious" right aiming for a theocracy, and you have a pretty poisonous mixture.

I Saw Goody Two-Shoes With the Devil!

That's a line one of the cast came up with during a long rehearsal for Arthur Miller's The Crucible way back when -- the scene where the girls are accusing everyone and anyone of consorting with Satan. Somehow, it just seems to fit this latest "news":

How in the world could the death of a Supreme Court justice on a remote ranch in Texas be linked to Hillary? Well . . . because of her own words and campaign desperation.

Just weeks ago, on January 26th, an enthusiastic supporter in Ohio publicly asked Hillary if she would be willing to name Barack Obama to the Supreme Court. Her response? Hillary responded with, “What a great idea . . . he is brilliant and he can set forth an argument and he was a law professor. He has got all of the credentials.”

Clinton has been running against her socialist opponent, Bernie Sanders, as a continuation of the Obama legacy. What better way to continue to give voice and power to the Obamas than to place the two-term president on the highest court in the land?

Clinton’s and Obama’s supporters went nuts over the concept of “Justice Obama,” lighting up Twitter and Facebook. The “Supreme Idea” was a winner. But like all evil plans, someone has to die to get the ball rolling. Enter Antonin Scalia.

If this were a political crime thriller, it would be too unbelievable to sell. But in the world of the Clintons they somehow have managed to get away with murder and more for decades.

The story got one thing right: it's too unbelievable to sell as a crime thriller, but in the world of wingnut conspiracy theories, it's a perfect fit.

The Great Oregon Wildlife Refuge Standoff

I'm sure you're as heartily sick of the Bundy clan's latest adventure in armed insurrection as I am. The only redeeming feature is that it's kicked Donald Trump off the headlines for a couple of days.

Reading through some of the coverage, it occurs to me that the right wing is, quite correctly, seeing this little episode as toxic: these guys look like the fools they are, at least to a national audience, and the powers that be in the Republican party are very well aware of the optics.

Just one indicator: Megyn Kelly interviewed Ammon Bundy and wasn't really giving him a pass:

After Bundy defended his decision to lead a small militia to take over a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, Kelly challenged him.

"You know the argument on the other side, which is, these ranchers — whom you support but are not directly involved — had their day in court. And they were found guilty, and it went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied their appeal. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work in our country when it comes to the rule of law?" she asked.

"Yeah, well let me ask you — and I’m sure you know the answer, but who was the plaintiff?" Bundy asked in response.

After a pause, Kelly told Bundy to "keep going."

And when Bundy asked the same question again, Kelly took another brief pause.

"I’m waiting for you to make your point. Generally I don’t answer the questions on my show; I ask them," she said.

This is Fox News, where the likes of Tony Perkins regularly get tongue baths from the likes of Megyn Kelly. (And you're probably protesting that Perkins is a different order than the Bundys. Well, yes: the Bundys are honest.)

Even more revealing is this:

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Monday called for armed protesters who occupied a federal building in Oregon to "stand down peaceably."

"Every one of us has a constitutional right to protest, to speak our minds," Cruz told reporters in Iowa. "But we don't have a constitutional right to use force and violence and to threaten force and violence against others. So it is our hope that the protesters there will stand down peaceably, that there will not be a violent confrontation."

And from Marco Rubio:

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also addressed the issue Monday, telling an Iowa radio station "you cannot be lawless."

Rubio said during an interview with KBUR that he agrees "that there is too much federal control over land especially out in the western part of the United States."

"We should fix it, but no one should be doing it in a way that's outside the law," he added.

These were people who were falling all over themselves to support Kim Davis, another right-wing law breaker.

And from the moderate wing:

John Weaver, a senior aide for GOP candidate John Kasich, said in a tweet: "I know a good federal compound for Bundy and his gang: a U.S. penitentiary."

So far, I haven't seen a reaction from the Donald.

Small indicators, but they're there.

Bread and Circuses

That's what Congress has become -- well, except for the bread, which the teabagger caucus seems to want to keep for themselves.

Now that Clinton cut them off at the knees on Benghazi!!1!, it's time for another witch hunt:

Speaker John Boehner announced on Friday that Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) will lead the House Select Committee On Planned Parenthood, along with seven other anti-choice Republicans. the outgoing Republican noted the group will be called the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s new Select Investigative Panel, and "will focus on the grisly practices of big abortion providers."

"Recent videos exposing the abortion-for-baby parts business have shocked the nation, and demanded action. At my request, three House committees have been investigating the abortion business, but we still don't have the full truth," Speaker Boehner said in a statement. "Chairman Blackburn and our members will have the resources and the subpoena power to get to the bottom of these horrific practices, and build on our work to protect the sanctity of all human life."

Notice the statesmanlike language. Note to Speaker Boehner: you don't have to placate the teabaggers any more. You quit, remember? What are they doing to do -- fire you?

What they should be investigating is the Center for Medical Progress, which released the heavily edited videos as an attack on Planned Parenthood.

Idiots.

Guess What Didn't Happen Yesterday

The world was not annihilated. Which it was supposed to be:

While our planet may have survived September’s “blood moon”, it will be permanently destroyed on Wednesday, 7 October, a Christian organization has warned.

The eBible Fellowship, an online affiliation headquartered near Philadelphia, has based its prediction of an October obliteration on a previous claim that the world would end on 21 May 2011. While that claim proved to be false, the organization is confident it has the correct date this time.

“According to what the Bible is presenting it does appear that 7 October will be the day that God has spoken of: in which, the world will pass away,” said Chris McCann, the leader and founder of the fellowship, an online gathering of Christians headquartered in Philadelphia.

“It’ll be gone forever. Annihilated.”

McCann said that, according to his interpretation of the Bible, the world will be obliterated “with fire”.

They keep hoping.

My only reaction when I read this story was "Did they specify a time?"

Well, It's Finally Happening

The notorious Jade Helm 15, Obama's nefarious plot to take over a group of southern and western states, begins this week. Of course, the conspiracy theories are off the charts.

The "unconventional warfare" exercise is scheduled to begin Wednesday and run until Sept. 15. Training is planned for certain areas of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. California, Colorado and Nevada had originally been listed as areas where the training was to take place but have since been left out.

Conspiracy theory websites and InfoWars' Alex Jones suggested that the operation could be a cover for the implementation of martial law. One site even alleged that troops were converting shuttered Wal-Mart stores into covert military bases. But the paranoia surrounding "Jade Helm 15" really became headline news in May, after enough concerned Texans convinced Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to take action to protect their civil liberties. Abbott requested that the State Guard monitor the training exercise, asserting that the move was only meant to facilitate communication between the military and residents of the Lone Star state.

It's hard to pick a favorite, although, of course, the "Christians" have to get their plug in:

Right Wing Watch recently flagged a segment from an outlet called TruNews Christian radio in which host Rick Wiles said he believed that the government would go as far as deploying an "EMP" attack -- an electromagnetic pulse generated by the detonation of a nuclear weapon in orbit -- against states that resist the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

I don't quite know how to break it to Mr. Wiles (who, according to all reports, is really out there), but you can't direct an electromagnetic pulse from an atomic weapon against specific targets.

The prize, however, goes to this commenter at an article in the Houston Chronicle about Tropical Storm Allison, which someone quoted in the comments to the Jade Helm article:

Its no secret that the military can control the weather. Its called the HAARP project and its operated out of secret military bases. There is one in alaska that no one is permitted to go to. They use giant ionizing columns to change the ionosphere that then influence cloud formation, the jet stream and hurricanes.

There is no doubt obama is using this to punish Texas for standing up to him. Governor Perry was an honest leader who stood up to Obama. But Obama being the person he is, used secret army tech such as Brain Controling Microwave to derail the governors presidency bid. What else could be the explanation to how he lost memory when he was on the tv debates. I expect this to happen again this time.

There is no doubt that since Obama Texas has been on the receiving end of so many weather problems. First the hurricanes, then the tornadoes, then the drought, now flooding. Its a cover up for more governement control and take over of second amendment rights and our guns.

I am very suspicious about floods

Not directed at Jade Helm, but you get a good idea of the mindset. It's worth reading the whole article, just for a summary of how nutso the reaction to a routine military training exercise has been. The scary part is not only do these people exist -- they always have, under some rock or other -- but now they have access to the Internet and the airwaves. And of course, there are politicians who will milk it for all it's worth.

And after Jade Helm is over, we're still going to be stuck with Texas.

Today in Right-Wing Hysteria (Update)

Wow -- as "Decision Day" draws closer (and I'm hoping the decision comes down Friday -- our Pride Parade is this coming Sunday), the usual suspects are in danger of losing it. No -- not in danger: they've lost it.

From Pastor/Governor Mike Huckabee, who still hasn't learned the difference, but who presumes to speak for all Christians:

"For many of us, civil disobedience, when we believe the civil government has acted outside of nature and nature’s God, outside of the bounds of the law, outside of the bounds of the Constitution," Huckabee told Fox News religion reporter Todd Starnes, adding that Christians believe civil disobedience is "the right and moral thing to do."

I have to admit, I'm sort of puzzled as to what form this "civil disobedience" is going to take. Are they going to refuse to marry someone of the same sex? And on the historical side, yes, Christians have often stood against injustice. I find it puzzling that they would even consider standing against justice finally being served.

Rick Scarborough, an evangelical preacher from Texas, is calling for extreme measures:

"We are not going to bow. We are not going to bend, and if necessary we will burn," Scarborough said — suggesting that he'd self-immolate in protest of a forthcoming marriage equality ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Most of the commentators who have covered this story, like the writer here, assume he's threatening to self-immolate, but if you look at it, of course that's not the case: he's a fairly sucessful grifter, and he's not about to give that up. What he's actually doing is calling on others to burn themselves.

I guess that has more impact than stamping your feet and holding your breath.

Speaking of Texas (and how can we not, in this context?), some of the state legislators are almost foaming at the mouth.

“It’ll be a sad day for American values,” the Pampa Republican said. “It’s a sad day when the court decides to meddle into religious affairs and destroy marriage, destroy the foundation of family life.”

Chisum, who represented House District 88 from 1989 until 2013, has plenty of company.

That's just the beginning. I really can't do this one justice -- read the whole article for a catalogue of things they've never heard of in Texas, including separation of church and state and the inviolability of fundamental rights.

And this is just what I've run across so far. There may be additions as I continue my morning surfing.

Footnote: This is all happening because just about everyone is assuming that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of marriage equality. I'm generally reluctant to try to predict the Court (especially this one: who could have foreseen Citizens United or Hobby Lobby based on accepted legal principles?). Here's Rachel Maddow with a caution, and some reassurance from Dahlia Lithwick (and if you don't know who she is, you should: start with "Supreme Court reporter extraordinaire"). The relevant portion begins at about the 34:30 minute mark:

Update: Here's the cherry on top:

Two of the [Republican] field, Huckabee and Santorum, have signed an anti-gay pledge authored by Texas pastor Rick Scarborough – who has threatened to set himself on fire if gay couples are allowed to marry.

The pledge states: “Conferring a moral and legal equivalency to any relationship other than marriage between a man and a woman, by legislative or judicial fiat, sends the message that children do not need a mother and a father.

“As a policy matter, such unions convey the message that mums and dads are completely irrelevant to the well-being of children.

“Such a policy statement is unconscionable and destructive. Authorizing the legal equivalency of marriage to same-sex couples undermines the fundamental rights of children and threatens their security, stability, and future.”

It continues: “A decision purporting to redefine marriage flies in the face of the Constitution and is contrary to the natural created order.

I like that "mums and dads" part. How folksy.

As for the "redefining marriage" part -- well, none of this has anything to do with "redefining" marriage, and frankly, when it comes to interpreting the Constitution, who would you rely on -- Rick Scarborough, or the Supreme Court?

Over the Top

This takes batshit crazy to a whole new order of magnitude. From one of the most unhinged figures of Anti-Gay, Inc., Scott Lively (who is facing trial for crimes against humanity):

Regardless of where one stands on Ukraine or Vladimir Putin, just for a moment consider where the pro-family movement would be if it hadn’t been for the Ukraine coup. Russia would still be (relatively speaking) a respected member of the international community offering an alternative, genuinely pro-family model for social policy. There would likely be at least a half-dozen nations which would have adopted the anti-propaganda law for themselves (with many more considering it) and there would be a healthy international debate raging on pro-family vs LGBT visions for the future. I believe the tide would probably have begun to turn in our favor, at least on the global scene, if not yet in the US or EU. Is it really so far-fetched to believe that morally wicked, Imperialistic, Alinsky-ite Obama (credibly alleged to be a homosexual himself) started the Ukrainian civil war to punish Russia for opposing the 'core value' of America, the priority of his State Department? Or (more importantly to the 'gays') to prevent the Russians from leading a pro-family counter-revolution in the world?

If you have any awareness at all of current events, I don't even have to parse this for you.

Via Joe.My.God.

I Must Be Doing Something Right

I just discovered I've been blocked from commenting on WND, also known as "WingnNut Daily."

I guess the echo chamber gets confused when you introduce facts into the discussion.

Jaw-Dropper du Jour

They're not only running around loose, they're holding public office:

 

She says her comment was taken "out of context."

Via TPM.

Breaking: FRC Lies!

As if that's news. Alvin McEwen has dissected the FRC's latest assault on the military over at Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters.

The Family Research Council is clearly implying that it is the Obama Administration's supposed attack on religious liberty and the decision to allow gays to serve openly which led to the survey's negative responses.

That is a lie.

Neither article linked by the Family Research Council (one from Military.com and the other from The Washington Times) mentions anything regarding "religious liberty" or gays serving openly in the military as reasons for the negative responses to the Navy survey.

Yeah, the FRC slander links to articles that don't support its assertions. Guess they're counting on the laziness of their readers. And when even The Washington Times doesn't support an anti-Obama, anti-gay rant, you know you've left reality far, far behind.

A New Definition

of persecution, from none other than professional conspiracy theorist Jerry Boykin:

Family Research Council executive vice president Jerry Boykin said in an interview on “Washington Watch” yesterday that people like himself who believe in discredited conspiracy theories surrounding the 2012 Benghazi attacks are facing “persecution” because no one believes them and dares to think there are political motivations behind their accusations.

Short form: If people see through the bullshit and call you on it, they're persecuting you.

Side note: Yes, of course Boykin is working for the Family Research Council. Where else? Except maybe Fox News.

Via Crooks and Liars, which has an audio clip of the rant.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

From Raw Story:

A group of heavily-armed militia surrounded and confronted a group of people near the U.S.-Mexico border who they thought were illegal migrants or smugglers, but who turned out to be a group of conservationists conducting a wildlife population survey.

According to Tucson News Now, the standoff took place on the night of Aug. 23 in Gardner Canyon area near Sonoita, Arizona, where members of a small group of biologists were counting bats.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada told TNN that the militia men — who are civilian volunteers and not actual federal border patrol agents — were riding ATVs, wearing camouflage and brandishing weapons when they came upon the group of scientists.

“Obviously, they mistook them for smugglers or illegal entrants,” said Estrada.

Obviously? What, did they have calves like cantaloupes?

And get this:

"These people that are completely out of their environment. They really don’t know the area. They don’t know the terrain. They have little knowledge of the dynamics of the border. So it can be a real problem,” he said. “We really don’t want them here.”

Nonetheless, indignation among U.S. nativists and other conservatives about the recent influx of unaccompanied minors arriving at the border has sent new waves of self-appointed guardians to the U.S. border, often packing high-powered weapons. The militia group in this incident was composed of out-of-towners who live in Colorado. . . .

As they rushed to confront the bat-counting scientists, the militiamen called Border Patrol agents to the area, pulling them off of areas that actually need surveillance, thereby compromising security efforts.

(Emphasis added.)

These morons don't know what they're doing. And they're interfering with the people who do.