It Must be My Fault, For She is Without Fault

Tags

gorgeous men, MLK, patriarchy, stupid men

For those following Downton Abbey, these words were uttered by Mr. Bates, valet to Lord Crawley about his wife Anna who has suddenly turned cold to him. Anna was raped by a visiting valet to another Lord, and is sure Mr. Bates would kill the man and be executed by the Crown, thus she refuses to divulge her secret, but now considers herself unworthy of her husband’s affections.

When Lord Crawley senses some sadness in Mr. Bates, he inquires if all is right in his marriage, to which Mr. Bates replies that it is not, but that he has no clue what he has done wrong. Crawley suggests perhaps it is not his fault to which Bates replies, “It must be my fault, for she is without fault.”

I think that’s the truth. Women are without fault.

Men should realize that. It would make the world a happier place.

Which all goes to say that I find men strange at times. Especially those who cling to patriarchal notions that women should behave in a certain way, normally so as not to impinge on the superior notions that some men have of themselves. You know the type, men who snicker with each other about who has the best “trophy” and brag about their wives “still looking as young as they day we married” rather than bragging of her talents in her profession or hobby or so forth.

As a woman who practiced in a field still tilted toward maleness, I’m only too aware of being told I was “pushy”, “opinionated”, a “ball-buster” and so forth over the years, usually by men who had lost an argument to me or were in that process. I’ve become adept at spotting these types and avoid them as soon as I do so. This recently led to the he-man in question accounting himself the “winner” of a debate that never began, because my refusal to participate could surely only mean that I had no argument to make that I could back up with facts. They call it shooting blanks I believe.

Such men try to set the parameters of a debate at the start to favor their “evidence”. In this case, a self-proclaimed atheist demanded that there could be no evidence of the death of Jesus outside of the actual words of the Bible, a book, I might add, that he suggested could be understood by the most basic average intellect. He claimed as his background, “study in philosophy and linguistics” although his Facebook page turned out to admit that he was “self-taught” because formal education was nothing but “brainwashing”.  I refused to participate.  He shall continue to believe that Jesus was murdered by the Jews, and I shall continue to know better. He will continue to believe that I am “a con, a humorless bully who talks much and proves nothing”, and I will continue to yawn at silly men who flex muscles in the hopes that this will substitute for a brain.

Speaking of brains, most of the extreme Right is still without one functioning one. Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, should you have forgotten.

The picture at the right is one of my favorite, and a larger version of it hung in the courtroom of a dear judge and even dearer friend of mine from Detroit.

As you probably know,  the Extreme Right is fond of re-writing history to conform to their notions of freedom and so forth. Given their lily-white composition, they are always searching for suitable Negroes to deflect the charge that they are what they are: seriously infested with a multitude of racists.

They find a few here and there, men and women who wish to shortcut the climb to national importance by becoming the trained monkey for the Extreme Right. They do and say the right things, as the Master expects, all to gain that fame and hopefully fortune that they don’t wish to really work hard for legitimately.

That is bad enough, but when they attempt to take as their own a hero of the Left, well, it is absurd and well, downright immoral.

The litany as regards MLK, from the crazy Right’s point of view is that MLK was a Republican. Period. Yes, they think that says it all. They of course do point out, rather self-importantly, that the Dixiecrats were the ones who opposed civil rights. As a second offering, they regurgitate about the only phrase they have been taught: “Someday all God’s children will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

And as we all know, good character is not dwelling on that past in which white people lynched black people, and it certainly doesn’t remind people that racism is still rather rampant in America today.

Of course they never learned neglect to remember that King died while marching with union members demanding fair wages and working conditions, and that he often spoke of the inequality in the distribution of income in this country, both of which are anathema to the average tea-guzzler. And of course they conveniently forget that all those Dixiecrats, after the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of the mid 60’s, all did what they said they would never do, they voted Republican and then (shock and horror) BECAME Republicans, as the only party in the South who was sympathetic to their “whites only” melancholia.

And if you would like to take a trip down memory lane with REAL facts, read this history lesson from Salon which takes us along that dark road of “how do we stop this crap from happening to our lily-white land?”

And as much as I love Las Cruces, it is not a hot bed of liberality regarding the Catholic Church. Our own Cathedral church, Immaculate Heart of Mary, just saw fit through Father Bill to fire the pianist who had first of all the audacity to be gay, but second to marry legally in the state of New Mexico. Father Bill operates not in the spirit of our new Pope Francis it seems, and that sickens me, and makes me quite ashamed. And I do believe that the Church would do things much differently regarding this and other “sex” issues, were more women involved in running things.

So, that about sums up my week of thoughts. Except that thug-bully Chris Christie may be getting what is due him, and that’s all good.

And if it seems that I’m down on men in this post, well, you would be right, except for the Contrarian who continues to be the best husband/person I know, and Johnny Depp who continues to be the best eye candy ever invented by a loving God.

And so it goes.

 

Nobody Knows Just How Crazy Some Folks Are

Tags

abortion, Adam West, Africa, contraception, GOP, Jim DeMint, media wackos, MLK, Qaddafi, Rick Santorum, teabaggers, Women's issues

We woke up today to the news that Moammar Qaddafi is reportedly dead, killed most likely by rebel forces. There are reports that he was found in a drainage pipe, and shouted, “don’t shoot” when discovered.

Of course, that was ignored, and it is widely believed that he was executed on the spot.

That seems the way of dealing with unsavory dictators. We have always done so historically, although I guess at times we have resorted to mock trials before the rope or firing squad was used.

It seems we make no progress. That Qaddafi was the author of much horror in the world is undoubtedly true. One would think however that taking satisfaction that he resided in a small cell for whatever time he has left would have been preferable. No more hair dye, no more fine wines or big screen television. The pound of flesh could have been savored one would think much more enjoyably rather than this quick dispatch.

But that is now how we function as humans. . .yet.

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Yes, I know, I changed the blog again. And before you ask, I don’t redecorate my house. I am not addicted to every passing fashion in shoes or clothes.  WordPress has this pesky problem of introducing new themes every time one turns around (literally every week), and well I was never that happy with the last one. I thought the sidebar was unattractive. I rather liked the header, but I have to tell you a secret. If you noticed the date (September 9, 2009) you would realize that the picture was of a teabagger rally in Washington. I never realized it until later, and I just didn’t have the time to find another.

The header up now is of the Return to Sanity rally run by Jon Stewart, et al.

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You might well have missed this important notice. It seems that Marines in Afghanistan were formally advised that they should cease and desist farting in the country. It seems it is considered a serious rudeness among Afghans.

I must tell you that the Contrarian is making it very sure that he is not drafted by the Marines. Just in case any are lurking outside our house waiting to scurry him off to a recruiting center. No sir, he is unfit. He farts as often as possible throughout the day and night, just to be sure they are aware.

And you still doubt my application for sainthood?

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Did you hear that Pat Buchanan has a new book out? You should no doubt skip it. As one person said yesterday, Pat gets away with some pretty obvious racism in the name of “analysis.”

The idiot claims that somehow we were all much happier in the 50’s when we were united as “one people” with similar goals. Now we have that pesky “African-American” thing and well, all those people from the South (America that is) with their “otherness”.

Buchanan basically bemoans the demise of whiteness in America. Read about it at Angry Black Lady Chronicles.

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I watched a bit of the festivities at the King Memorial this past weekend. I distinctly recall his children speaking. They rightly pointed out that their father would have supported the OWS movement. After all, he was assassinated while supporting union sanitation workers. Dr. King certainly understood the build in inequality of wealth distribution in this country. It is wildly worse now than it was in his day.

Yet, Adam West, (R-FL) all-around idiot, says nay. He claims that King would never have supported such detris as the OWS crowd. No, King was “divinely inspired” and wouldn’t be a part of such things.

Professor Chauncey de Vega weighs in on the continuing attempts by the crazy right to turn Dr. King into their pet hero.

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I like to report on Ricky (Don’t Google me!) Santorum. He’s amusing as a little circus monkey. He has not a chance of securing the nomination, and no doubt he knows that, but he is bored, and he likes the free food offered along the campaign trail.

So Ricky, ever in the hopes of finding somebody to listen, decided to appeal to the tiniest tiniest segment of the Catholic church. Contraception! Ricky will have none of THAT in his administration (the one in his head, where he is grand pupah president). Because THAT leads to, you know, THAT, and we can’t have any of THAT now can we?

And unicorns will graze in meadows, and butterflies will bring you faery dust at bed time.

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Some folks need a time out, a brain roto-rootering, and a sedative. One of them is Jim DeMint. He’s an idiot.  I think there is a certified letter to that effect.

He takes the collective IQ of South Carolina down a whole 17 points all by himself.

This super TeaNutz® has introduced an amendment to an utterly unrelated bill, that would make it illegal for a woman to have a video conference with her doctor if the subject was abortion.

I swear he did that.

I swear he needs to be committed for his own sake.

I swear a lot when Jim DeMint’s name comes up.

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What’s on the stove? Ribs, mac and cheese (a new recipe I’m trying out, so stay tuned), and broccoli slaw.

Related articles

• Qaddafi Dead as Troops Seize Stronghold, Officials Say – New York Times (news.google.com)
• Pat Buchanan Isn’t Racist, but… (slog.thestranger.com)
• Pat Buchanan: America is Disintegrating Because White America is an Endangered Species (crooksandliars.com)
• Pat Buchanan’s Latest Screed Full Of Racism, Not Worth Even $1.99 (dekerivers.wordpress.com)
• Marines Not Allowed To Fart In Afghanistan! (perezhilton.com)
• Marines Not Allowed To Fart In Afghanistan! (lukewilliamss.wordpress.com)

Everything I Say is a Lie. . . .I’m lying

Tags

atheists, civil rights, creationism, Darwinism, David Barton, Dawkins, evolution, MLK, Obama, renewed Darwinism, Rick Perry, rightwing nuttery, teabaggers

Note that the cartoon pictured at left carries the “Answers in Genesis” website. I believe that these are the same people who bring you the “Creation Museum” in Kentucky and are building the Noah’s Ark as their next “reality” project.

I am generally not a big fan of atheists, at least the mocking types. It’s all well and good to conclude that there is no proof of God and that you are content to let it be, living your life by perfectly good standards of conduct, without resort to any religious faith. I tend to be in agreement with atheists who take on the fundamentalists, because they don’t represent any kind of believing that I can understand nor accept and their actions are damaging for the most part.

I do tend to get rather pissy with atheists who lump all believers, of ANY faith into the same basket and make fun of them, such as referring to their belief in “faeries” and boogie men. It tends to belie your own faith in your own beliefs of “there is no God” when you are so insecure as that.

So, I’m not, generally speaking, a great fan of Richard Dawkins, though I certainly have no quarrel with his evolutionary statements. I find them compelling and utterly credible, as the entire field of evolution seem to be to me. But recently, Dawkins had some words for our new pal Ricky Perry and the field of GOPers who adhere to the “safe” haven of “it’s ONLY a theory.” (By the war, Al Gore points out in An Inconvenient Truth, that “it’s only a theory” is the intentional plan of attack of those who wish to confuse any issue, be it global warming or evolution.)

My thanks to Joe.My.God for the quote:

There is nothing unusual about Governor Rick Perry. Uneducated fools can be found in every country and every period of history, and they are not unknown in high office. What is unusual about today’s Republican party (I disavow the ridiculous ‘GOP’ nickname, because the party of Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt has lately forfeited all claim to be considered ‘grand’) is this: In any other party and in any other country, an individual may occasionally rise to the top in spite of being an uneducated ignoramus. In today’s Republican Party ‘in spite of’ is not the phrase we need. Ignorance and lack of education are positive qualifications, bordering on obligatory. Intellect, knowledge and linguistic mastery are mistrusted by Republican voters, who, when choosing a president, would apparently prefer someone like themselves over someone actually qualified for the job.” – Famed atheist Richard Dawkins, responding to Rick Perry’s denouncement of evolution.

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Speaking of evolution, there is a rather fascinating book published in 2010 about what the author calls RD or “renewed Darwinism“. Paul Lawrence area of expertise is in business, and he was near retirement from the Harvard Business School when he became dissatisfied with the “agency model” of business leadership, finding that it seemed to relate only to making stockholders happy. He began to investigate other fields and found in Darwin his answer.

Lawrence posits that man is evolutionarily driven to four things: acquisition, bonding, defense, and comprehension. We are, he suggests, constantly engaged in the activity of balancing these four things. He claims that things appear out of whack now because a “few bad apples with an outsized drive to acquire and no moral conscience” have prevailed, because they have no apparent need to bond.

So far, studies looking at Lawrence’s model of leadership tend to confirm it. Those companies who exhibit a healthy balance of all four things, tend to show good results, those that don’t, don’t.

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I must say I’m good. I read this headline in my reader: “Perry retreat co-host MLK deserved no credit on civil rights.” Well, I knew it could be none other than our ubiquitous TeaNutz® faux historian David Barton. Yes, Perry continues to double down in his unity with all things wingnut crazy, alienating all non-Christians and not a few Christians, and now African-Americans.

It seems that Barton is of the belief, that while MLK is a deserves a “place” in history, “Only majorities can expand political rights in America’s constitutional society.” Barton is almost too stupid to attack. I mean, dude, seriously, your “analysis” is childish.

Barton and others have done their level best to rewrite history books for Texas schools, seeking to minimize such folks as Thurgood Marshall and César Chávez. This all in an attempt to glorify white Christians, to the exclusion of all others in the history of the US.

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Ya know, Jebby Bush warned ’em when he was last interviewed on Faux Noise. He said, it’s fine to criticize the President’s policies, but hey, lay off challenging his motives. But of course, no, that would not be cool would it? The National Review, long since sunk in a cesspool of what else? poo, has decided that the President’s VACATION READING FARE is not appropriate! Angry Black Lady Chronicles has the story (Not sure if they got it from Think Progress?) 

 

Related articles

• It’s a Theory That’s Out There (sydiot.com)
• The strength of Dawkins, and the murk of accommodationism (scienceblogs.com)
• Attention Governor Perry: Evolution is a fact (chasdarwin.wordpress.com)