White House Just Laughing At Religious Right Rubes
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As well they should. I honestly have no sympathy for the wackiest of the right-wing getting taken in by the Bush administration’s 
confidence game. Anyone who thinks that only prayer can work as a deterrent towards teenage sex deserves to have a whole pile of stupid poured all over them.
“Tempting Faith’s” author is David Kuo, who served as special assistant to the president from 2001 to 2003. A self-described conservative Christian, Kuo’s previous experience includes work for prominent conservatives including former Education Secretary and federal drug czar Bill Bennett and former Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Kuo, who has complained publicly in the past about the funding shortfalls, goes several steps further in his new book.
He says some of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as “the nuts.”
“National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ‘ridiculous,’ ‘out of control,’ and just plain ‘goofy,’” Kuo writes.
More seriously, Kuo alleges that then-White House political affairs director Ken Mehlman knowingly participated in a scheme to use the office, and taxpayer funds, to mount ostensibly “nonpartisan” events that were, in reality, designed with the intent of mobilizing religious voters in 20 targeted races.
According to Kuo, “Ken loved the idea and gave us our marching orders.”
I’m sure sometime soon that Kuo will be derided as just another agent of the “Democrat” Party (By the way, does anyone in the press have the balls to ask Bush why he goes to such great pains to mispronounce the name of the opposing party? I didn’t think so.)
Come election day, the Republicans will promise the religious right that this time they’re really, really, really going to outlaw abortion and gay marriage and the jackasses will show up at the polls… and the Republicans will lose their phone numbers the morning after. They’re just not that into you.
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Rove has been playing them for saps for 20 years. But I don’t think the religious right will abandon the GOP yet. If you’re faith-based, you’re not basing your decisions on what you see.
Another Oval Office insider who speaks ill of the Cabinet? Time for the wingnuts to spring into action and go Full Paul O’Neil on his ass!!
By the way, does anyone in the press have the balls to ask Bush why he goes to such great pains to mispronounce the name of the opposing party? I didn’t think so.
This is way funny. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about this. Only people wound so tight as Democrats would consider ‘Democrat Party’ a slur.
I suppose those on the left have some of idea of where they’re coming from though, seeing as how we’re played as dupes by a party we expect to stand up against torture and infinite detention.
Nice strawman, Jay. It’s not a slur, it’s just really annoying and stupid, and kind of subliminally enforcing a disorganised view of the party.
Jay | Oct 12, 2006 9:26:29 AM
“This is way funny. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about this. Only people wound so tight as Democrats would consider ‘Democrat Party’ a slur.”
On the other hand, it’s very comforting to know that not only can The Decider, in his 6th year of presidency, barely utter a complete sentence that includes a noun and verb, he invents words to try and convey his thoughts. It fills me full of confidence and makes me proud.
This is way funny. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about this. Only people wound so tight as Democrats would consider ‘Democrat Party’ a slur.
Well, let’s take a page from our colleague Mr. Dugger, shall we?
Let’s talk intent.
Why do Publicans…oops RE-publicans take such great pains to say “Democrat” instead of “Democratic,” Jay?
Yes, I know, we can’t read minds and know their intent for sure. But let’s guess. Is it because they don’t know any better? Is it because they’re all misspeaking? Maybe it’s all a plot by the liberal MSM to make them look bad.
No, Jay, I don’t think any of those are the reasons why so many conservatives refer to it as the “Democrat Party.”
I’m out of ideas. Your turn.
Anytime you have conservative on the lunatic fringe, you find the use of ‘Democrat’ as an adjective. Right wing talk radio, John Birchers, white supremicists, ATF-fearing black helicopter types, Joe McCarthy, and these days, the Malkin/Coulter/Freeper right, all love to use it. It’s a tipoff that the person using it is a nutball, so frankly, it’s pretty useful. Thanks, Jay!
William F. Buckley on this peculiarly conservative Orwellianism:
“I have an aversion to ‘Democrat’ as an adjective. Dear Joe McCarthy used to do that, and received a rebuke from this at-the-time 24-year-old. It has the effect of injecting politics into language, and that should be avoided.”
There was a lot of talk about it not too long ago, when Bush started using it. Not long after, he started using “islamic fascism,” so the Malkinization of the highest levels of the Bush administration seems pretty clear. No wonder he’s the most unpopular president since Nixon.
Here’s the New Yorker article about it that I got the Buckely quote from.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060807ta_talk_hertzberg
“Only people wound so tight as Democrats would consider ‘Democrat Party’ a slur.”
Why am I not surprised that someone such as Jay who prefers euphemisms to describe torture would write something as ignorant of language and history as this. You are truly brain dead, Jay.
Ah the BS that comes from Keith’s lips.
While we’re on the subject, and actually, I don’t disagree with a lot of what Oliver said, but similarly, has John Kerry been to a black church since October of 2004?
Actually, the term ‘Democrat Party’ is simply political language. It is no different than Democrats saying they want to “invest” money rather than telling people they want to “spend” because they know people react more negatively to “We’re going to spend your money” than to “We’re going to invest your money.”
Democrats don’t “raise taxes.” They are merely “rolling back tax cuts.”
The “estate tax” is a “death tax.”
And so on and so forth. So, please people. Get a frigging grip.
Why am I not surprised that someone such as Jay who prefers euphemisms to describe torture would write something as ignorant of language and history as this. You are truly brain dead, Jay.
Only somebody that is brain dead would equate a slap or a grab with ‘torture.’
Parents, don’t ever spank your kids! According to Frame, you’re torturing them!!
If you’re going to bitch about language Frame, then heal yourself. If ‘Democrat’ is a noun, then torture is described as, “the act of inflicting excruciating pain.”
On ‘torture,’ we agree. Freezing is ‘painful.’ Stress positions are ‘painful.’ Beatings are ‘painful.’ And you are a ‘Stalinist,’ and no kind of ‘American’ or even a ‘man,’ Jay.
Actually it’s the Republicans that have tried to rebrand the estate tax as the “death tax”.
“…then torture is described as, ‘the act of inflicting excruciating pain.’”
Um, Jay, torture has been defined by decades of case law on human rights and crimes against humanity. In accordance with these precedents, waterboarding, extreme temperatures, extended periods of physucal duress are all torture. It’s typical of those who attempt to distort and obfuscate that you would only mention the slapping and the more extreme torture techniques that have been approved by the Bush administration.
Then again, in your attempt to wipe off the stupid after you attacked Dems for being wound too tight, you’ve essentially accepted the Orwellian distortion of language for ideological ends as a-okay.
Judging from your list of examples it’s clear to see that “Democrat Party” is not a euphemism, such as “invest” but it is clearly in line with such intentionly negative appellations such as “death tax.” So you’ve pretty much admitted that conservatives use the term “Democrat party” as a negative term, like a slur. Slur defined: “3. to cast aspersions on; calumniate; disparage; depreciate.” Depreciate, hmmmm.
So to recap you believe that it’s okay to use slurs like “Democrat Party” but then get all righteous when Democrats actually get upsept about it.
Forgive me if I don’t accept your embrace of euphemism: You’re an idiot.
sorry,
“rather than the more extreme …”
The interesting thing about Oliver’s post is that if you change around a few issues, and change Republican to Democratic (or Democrat, if you like) and change right-wing Christians to black, and the point would still stand.
I live in one of the bluest wards in the bluest city in a blue state, and I notice that the mailers that come out every year at this time, showing nooses, or “whites only” water fountains, are starting to show up under my door and in the mail.
“This is way funny. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about this. Only people wound so tight as Democrats would consider ‘Democrat Party’ a slur.”
So the infantile misuse of a word intended to provoke a reaction is not the problem, it’s the reaction? Please clarify.
And Democratic is not a “noun” it’s a proper noun. One is either correct or incorrect in the use of a proper noun. When I call Dugger “Duggwhore” I am incorrect and juvenile. That kind of inanity has no place in respectful discourse at the highest levels of government.
Actually it’s the Republicans that have tried to rebrand the estate tax as the “death tax”.
I know. I was giving a GOP example of that kind of talk.
Then again, in your attempt to wipe off the stupid after you attacked Dems for being wound too tight, you’ve essentially accepted the Orwellian distortion of language for ideological ends as a-okay.
No, I just said it was a fact of political life. Merely accepting something as commonplace in everyday society does not mean approval. For some reason, you cannot seem to graps the distinction. Why is that? Oh that’s right. Because you’re not as smart as you try to appear to be. Which means you’re nowhere near being smart enough to read minds.
So to recap you believe that it’s okay to use slurs like “Democrat Party” but then get all righteous when Democrats actually get upsept about it.
Actually, no. Dipshit. See above for explanation.
On ‘torture,’ we agree. Freezing is ‘painful.’ Stress positions are ‘painful.’ Beatings are ‘painful.’ And you are a ‘Stalinist,’ and no kind of ‘American’ or even a ‘man,’ Jay.
Oh it makes me so warm and fuzzy when people make proclamations about another person’s manhood from behind the safety of a computer monitor.
I am not a Stalinist doc. I am a realist. You on the other hand, are a terrorist sympathizer and your views are a danger to our country and our citizens. Why? Because people like you and Frame would rather see innocent Americans die as the result of a terrorist attack, than take more extreme measures against scum like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in order to prevent such attacks.
You go ahead. You round up 500 people, put them on one side. On the other side, a picture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Tell the 500 (or how about 3000? The number of people that work daily at what was formerly known as The Library Tower in LA) that you would rather see them die than have Khalid Shaikh Mohammed slapped, grabbed, made to stand for a long time or made to sit in the cold. So how they’d react Doc. Call them all ‘Stalinists’ when they tell you to go take a flying leap.
Can Jay be the new ‘Torture Czar’?
Look at the crazy MSM. They’re trying to say that
this is “torture.”
God, when will they get it right? As far as I can tell, this 9 year-old was in no “excruciating pain” for three years. Why, his dad isn’t even accused of beating him with a belt or anything!
How can those latte-sucking libruls call this abuse?! It’s barely even a fratboy prank!
[/sarcasm]
Identifying torture is like the famous description of identifying porn–”you know it when you see it.”
So I can only assume that Jay, et al, are willfully refusing to “see” it.
Jay -
False choices, again, as always, when Republicans talk about Americans torturing prisoners. We don’t yet have a “ticking bomb” scenario where torture made the difference between lives lost and saved. Instead, what we have are a myriad of instances where low-level prisoners swept up in Iraq and Afghanistan were tortured, and a number killed, because it was believed they might have information of note. What if you were on the other end of that?
Republican supporters of this Administration have forgotten something pretty basic about the U.S. We’re the good guys. The good guys don’t torture indiscriminately, don’t listen in on phone conversations, don’t suspend habeus corpus. We’re the good guys. We have won wars, convicted terrorists and prevented attacks WITHOUT torture. There’s no need, jusification or moral right to it. By doing so, we pollute our very essence. This really isn’t very tough.
Let’s ask 20 of Jay’s neighbors if they’d like to be dragged away in the middle of the night and waterboarded for ten months in a secret prison in Eastern Europe so Jay can feel safe.
Jay hates American values, mainly because he never had the brain to understand them or the moral sense to appreciate them. I’m glad you’re around to show us why conservatism is so dangerous to America, Jay.
Peter, it is not a question of false choices. The example of the Libary Tower plot is a perfect example of an attack that was thwarted because these tactics were used on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Check out the reporting Brian Ross of ABC did on this. Even those in the CIA who were opposed to these tactics (for legal reasons), have verified their effectiveness and confirmed the reliable and correct information received as a result.
Let’s ask 20 of Jay’s neighbors if they’d like to be dragged away in the middle of the night and waterboarded for ten months in a secret prison in Eastern Europe so Jay can feel safe.
Nice strawman. But we’re not talking about rendition.
Doc hates American values and hates Americans. He’d rather see innocent Americans die at the hands of terrorists than use more aggressive techniques to interrogate people like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. I’m glad you’re around to show us why liberalism is so dangerous to America.
The adjectival form of Democrat is “Democratic”. I think the best thing we Democrats could do is to start referring to Republicans as “Republics”. Turnabout is fair play.
I prefer the term Regressive.
And I strongly disagree that anyone here would prefer to see Americans die in a terrorist attack and it is repugnant to say so. We are a nation supposedly united. We would prefer to hang on to a shred of our collective humanity and not stoop to the level of those we ascribe to be better than.
Nice strawman. But we’re not talking about rendition.
Where do you supposed these people are renditioned to? Club Med, where they sit in the sun with pina coladas all day?
The terrorists have already beaten people like Jay; people who are so hide-under-the-bed afraid of being killed by terrorists that they will sacrifice anything, anything at all, just to know that they can stay alive.
And he was shouting frantically, over and over.
“Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!”
Of course, it’s all a big joke to Jay, torturing brown people, but Jose Padilla is a U.S. citizen who was locked up and tortured for three years without ever being charged. This is what Jay and the rest of the lunatic fringe is for.
Indefinite detentions and torture of U.S. citizens, with no recourse to the courts. And it’s not a temporary measure — this program is meant to go on for ever.
This is why you are no kind of American, Jay. You subvert our values because you too chickenshit to imagine doing otherwise. What a disgrace you and your movement are to this country.
The Democratic party actually delivered on its promises to minority Americans to fight for racial equality – it was a Dem who signed the Civil Rights Act, it’s been Dems who appoint Supreme Court Justices who believe in Civil Rights, its Democrats who support time and time again the cause of racial equality. They don’t kick the can like the right does with the rubes.
Although fighting keyboarders like Ian and Jay would not be able to grasp this, it is incorrect to use “Democrat Party” with the capitalization to refer to the Democratic Party. My Republican brother-in-law’s use of the misnomer is not just an honest mistake. He uses it to disparage, and it is the same with most others who use it.
Face it Oliver, black voters are the Democratic parties late-night booty call. When they need them late in a close election, that’s when they’re there. Hell, you essentially said so yourself in a post of your own about three weeks ago when you were ripping into that dope from MYDD.
And I’m sure the people living in Norht Philly and West Philly and now Southwest Philly that have been under Democratic mayors and Democratic city Councils for sixty years but yet have seen their neighborhoods go to shit appreciate what Lyndon Johnson did forty years ago (much to the chagrin of Al Gore, Sr), but voting Democratic isn’t getting them anything. You’d know that if you actually went into these neighborhoods instead of just hopping the Metro from the suburbs to Media Matters HQ.
And I strongly disagree that anyone here would prefer to see Americans die in a terrorist attack and it is repugnant to say so.
Oh well. What’s good for the goose…
Of course, it’s all a big joke to Jay, torturing brown people, but Jose Padilla is a U.S. citizen who was locked up and tortured for three years without ever being charged. This is what Jay and the rest of the lunatic fringe is for.
Jose Padilla was not tortured. And no idiot, I was not supportive of what the government did with Padilla because he was an American citizen.
So you’ve joined the list as another in a long line of morons that assumes to know what I support and what I don’t support.
The adjectival form of Democrat is “Democratic”. I think the best thing we Democrats could do is to start referring to Republicans as “Republics”. Turnabout is fair play.
There are some who find “Republitards” to be useful when referring to certain individuals, say Jeff Gannon or Brownie, Foley or Inhofe.
Republitards, Repugs, Rethuglicans, Repukes….
I miss any?
Oh and just so we’re clear, I did not support the notion of labeling Padilla an ‘enenmy combatant’ in order to strip away constitutional protections that citizens enjoy.
Fine, Jay, but that doesn’t explain why you nightly masturbate to the thought of Americans being tortured and themselves torturing other people in a great daisy chain of torture for freedom, does it?
jay, I see in your linked blog that you specialize in “pithy commentary.” Do you have a lithp?
There’s a world of difference between Democratic campaigns taking the black vote for granted versus if Dems actually fight for civil rights when they’re in office. Because both are true.
Oliver, what about gay rights? Democrats get nearly 80% of the gay vote. With nothing to show for it.
Fine, Jay, but that doesn’t explain why you nightly masturbate to the thought of Americans being tortured
Hey Doc, let’s leave your fantasies out of this ok? Don’t go Foley on us now.
I’d certainly agree that Dems aren’t pushing the ball on gay rights, but frankly when one party is all about de-valuing the citizenship of gay Americans, the Democrats get bonus points for just not being evil.
But then, unlike the Republicans and the religious right we are not promising gay people the world (There’s no “vote for us and we’ll legalize gay marriage” push).
So Paul (Frameone) says:
“these precedents, waterboarding, extreme temperatures, extended periods of physucal duress are all torture.”
Now I will excuse your ignorance (again) because you have never served your country. You see there is this thing called “Boot Camp”. heard of it? It involves “extended periods of physical duress” as well as extreme temperatures”. Should the International Court in the Hague come and arrest all the DI’s Paul (thats Drill Instructors for the militarily challenged leftists here). Not severe enough for you?
Have you heard of SERE school kids? Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape school is a training program for pilots and often spec ops guys. First, they drop you out in the wilderness for a few days (it might be cold Paul! Maybe hot! Damned uncomfortable too…), then, they round you up in a “POW” camp where you are locked in a small cage. During the night, they shine bright lights at you, and yell at you over an intercom so you can’t sleep. Then, they interrogate you…guess how? WATERBOARDING, (at least at some of the camps, others you get the “schmoke” which is a whole other thing…) And this occurs in the good ol’e US of A, to our own men. You ready to round up the entire pentagon and send them to the Hague paul?
Idiot….
Actually, all things considered, Democrats have been more successful on the gay rights front than conservatives have been on getting prayer back into the schools and getting Roe v. Wade repealed.
How’s that “Defense” of Marriage amendment coming along?
As for your bitter listing of the names Republicans get called on Oliver’s blog, I wonder why you can’t see the difference between a bunch of powerless blog commenters deliberately mispronouncing the name of your party and the POTUS deliberately mispronouncing the name of the opposition.
Pedro, tell me, is there a difference between volunteering for the military and being apprehended and shipped off against your will?
Do the men and women in SERE training have a reasonable expectation that at some point in the simulation they might actually be killed?
Do you pro-torture folks simply assume that there is no mental component at all in torture?
Peed’, you’re confused again.
You’re saying that just because some of our people willingly submit to harsh treatment (with the option to say “I quit” at any time) in preparation for the harsh treatment they might receive at the hands of an unknown enemy, we should have the right to treat others the same way?
You’ve outdone yourself.
Actually, all things considered, Democrats have been more successful on the gay rights front than conservatives have been on getting prayer back into the schools and getting Roe v. Wade repealed.
Is that so? ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ and the ‘The Defense of Marriage Act’ is what gays have received from Democrats in the way of legislation. The rest of what they get is lip service.
Lip service is what unions get as well.
How’s that “Defense” of Marriage amendment coming along?
Who cares? I don’t support it.
As for your bitter listing of the names Republicans get called on Oliver’s blog, I wonder why you can’t see the difference between a bunch of powerless blog commenters deliberately mispronouncing the name of your party and the POTUS deliberately mispronouncing the name of the opposition.
I was just adding to Buma’s list. Childish crap like ‘Repugs’ doesn’t bother me.
Actually both “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the “DoMA”–total mistakes–were created by a Republican Congress.
I do not absolve Clinton’s weakness in signing such legislation into law. But to say that this is what gays have gotten from Democrats is to somehow pretend that Republicans weren’t driving that bus.
We can be frank, however, and say that gay rights still have a long way to go in this country, regardless of who is in charge. But most gays understand that they have a better chance standing with the Democrats, instead of the party that readily courts the “God Hates Fags” contingent.
So you agree then that when people like Michael Savage and Rush and the President of the United friggin’ States say “Democrat Party”, they are being childish, right?
Sorry BD, can you point out to me where paul referenced torture as a mental issue?
No one has ever died getting a “pink belly”….BD, ever.
The treasonous scum on the left would like to make it clear to all terrorist,or other irregular soldiers who wear no uniform and follow no set of rules, that no matter what, we don’t want you to be uncomfortable or under any mental duress. We would like you to have ALL the constitutional protections of a CITIZEN of the united states or a uniformed member of the military. We don’t require that you follow the International Rules of War or the Geneva Conventions. We just want you to know that your biggest risk on being captured as an enemy combatant is that of weight gain and it’s possible negative health effects due to the extremely rich and abundant diet you will be fed during your stay with us….
“The treasonous scum on the left …”
Wow. Pedro, just wow.
“Childish crap like ‘Repugs’ doesn’t bother me.”
Great. Can we start calling you the Treasonous Scum Party?
The treasonous scum on the left would like to make it clear to all terrorist,or other irregular soldiers who wear no uniform and follow no set of rules, that no matter what, we don’t want you to be uncomfortable or under any mental duress.
Backwards again, Peed’.
We scum on the left want innocent people to believe that the U.S. won’t beat ‘em up on the basis of a faint suspicion they might be terrorists.
Torture is a lousy way to figure who’s really one of the bad guys.
“And this occurs in the good ol’e US of A, to our own men. ”
Pedro seems not understand the concepts of voluntary and involuntary.
So you agree then that when people like Michael Savage and Rush and the President of the United friggin’ States say “Democrat Party”, they are being childish, right?
Childish? Probably not. If they were saying the ‘Dumbocrats’ or ‘Dipstickcrats’ or something silly like that, then yes. Otherwise it is merely a subtle speech trick. I just don’t see why it is a big deal.
BD, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ took place when a Democrat was in the White House and when Democrats controlled Congress.
Great. Can we start calling you the Treasonous Scum Party?
Whatever floats your boat.
Good info, Oliver. It looks like Goldwater’s kooks have turned out to be mere tools instead of real power politicians.
My error. Still a mistake, no matter who signed off on it. And I stand by the rest of that post–gays are safer under Democratic values than they are under those of Republicans.
So I’m glad we agree that “Defeatocrats” was childish.
“Otherwise it is merely a subtle speech trick. I just don’t see why it is a big deal.”
Oh, so it’s subtlety you prize in your childishness. That’s awesome, Jay. How intellectual of you.
Shorter Jay: Subtle? Moi?
Strauss (the architect of Neo-conservatism) expounded on the need to appeal to groups such as these in order to obtain (and maintain) power. It’s sad that these people are voting for people who really don’t express their views, but just make the right (but ultimately empty) noises.
I always thought the reason that the Republicans insist on using “Democrat” is because they don’t want to call their opponents “Democratic.”
Because, of course, they’re not. They don’t believe in being democcratIC. They are “treasonous scum.”
Sad to see pedro hasn’t changed. Still projecting.
I just don’t see why it is a big deal.
Some people certainly make a big deal out of saying it. Why is that?
Did I read wrong, or did Pedro imply earlier on that it’s not torture if they survive?
Frame: Pedro seems not understand the concepts of voluntary and involuntary.
That sounds about right.
Hey Pedro, do you think there’s a difference between consentual sex and rape? They’re the same physical act, so in your world, they must be the same.
Right?
Check out out! It looks like Hillary Clinton is a Stalinist!
Still going to vote for her Doc?
Of course you are.
Nimrod:
I think that was the operating definition that the current Attorney General had for torture: it only counts if it causes severe physical agony, organ failure, or death.
And to think there was a massive brouhaha over the meaning of “is.”
August New Yorker:
…”among those of the Republican persuasion,” the use of ” ‘Democrat Party’ is now nearly universal” thanks to “Newt Gingrich, the nominal author of the notorious 1990 memo ‘Language: A Key Mechanism of Control’ and his Contract with America pollster, Frank Luntz.” While Hertzberg noted that Luntz “road-tested the adjectival use of ‘Democrat’ with a focus group in 2001″ and “concluded that the only people who really dislike it are highly partisan adherents of the … Democratic Party,” he also wrote that Luntz had told him recently that “those two letters ['ic'] actually do matter.”
So the intent is there, thus leaving Jay full of shit.