A great deal has been said by many and so I’ll let all that pass. There is no need to rake over what you already have most probably overdosed on … except for these two. Two of my favourite guys managed to swing a pass to sit in the courtroom.
So the guys got to go inside the courtroom and watch things on the day that Stormy took the stand …
… and here is their take on it all. It is, weirdly, some of the best court-reporting I’ve seen on it.
I can really picture it, for the first time …
Did anything else happen this past week?
Well yes, once again below you will find my usual selection of some truly bizarre and extreme claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary.
With my usual hat tip to my various sources, let’s once again dive into this very murky pool of pure unadulterated absurdity and raw unashamed stupidity.
Christian Nationalism
MAGA pastor Mark Burns, who is running for Congress in South Carolina, vows that if he’s elected, he will use “the word of God to push back any laws that are contrary to his word”: “I don’t care if they call it Christian nationalism.”
- For a bit of context, Mr Burns made the above comments while appearing on “The Stew Peters Show.” Peters is a virulent antisemite who has called Adolf Hitler “a hero.”
- He will not be elected. This is the same guy who was famously interviewed by CNN in his own church. They revealed that his entire biography was fiction, so he promptly stormed out of his own church leaving them there. Clip of that 7 min interview is here.
- His actual career is this: After working at a McDonald’s, he founded his tiny church in Easley, South Carolina, then got into televangelism to make money. No training, nothing, he simply declared himself to be a pastor. He then tapped into the Trump train, hence his fame.
Christian nationalist Doug Wilson says that Thanksgiving is a “national holiday thanking God for this white privilege”: “We should thank God for the white privilege we know about and include in the prayer all the white privilege we don’t know about.”
- (*makes notes*) – Avoid Doug’s house during thanksgiving.
Christian nationalist Pastor Joel Webbon declares that Americans are “degenerates” and therefore the Constitution doesn’t work anymore. As such, this nation needs a Caesar-like dictator who “Constitution be dammed, just rules with an iron fist.”
- It would appear that the entire reason for the American Revolution has somehow totally eluded this guy.
- Webbon’s call for fascism is being cheered on by other Christian nationalists like Andrew Torba and Ben Zeisloft.
Here is a bit of further reading on what some have been focusing on …
Lies, Damn Lies, and David Barton
Christian nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton claims that Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington, and John Adams “all pointed to Jeremiah 17:9 as the reason we have the separation of powers in the Constitution.”
- You really don’t need a history degree to work out that he is as usual lying because it is of course, not true.
- Reminder: Barton’s history book “The Jefferson Lies” was voted “the least credible history book in print“. When his Christian publisher discovered it was full of lies, they pulled the book and cut all ties with Barton. (Perhaps they should have realised that the title of his book contained a hint regarding the content).
The key thing to know about David Barton is not just that he spreads Christian nationalist disinformation, but that he keeps spreading it even after it’s been debunked. Back in 2022, Right Wing Watch exposed his false claim that public schools in New Jersey used to require students to memorize the Bible, yet it remains a standard part of his presentations.
- If his cash flow isn’t endangered then there’s no motivation for him to be honest.
- Dishonesty is the defining trait of Christian Nationalism.
The Cult of Trump
Religious-right publisher, podcaster, and commentator Stephen Strang urges Christians to pray for former President Donald Trump during the Stormy Daniels hush money trial, assuring his audience that “[Trump] told me personally that he had not done anything with Stormy Daniels.”
- But of course he has “done nothing with Stormy Daniels“, that’s why he paid her $130,000, it was to do nothing. If you do believe this then please contact me because my good friend Mr Parker has a bridge for sale that you really might be interested in buying.
Joseph Farah says (Via an article on WND) that Trump is the only one who can save America: “The Democratic Party is now the existential threat we face. It truly encompasses all our worst enemies and diabolical foes.”
- The basis for his claim is the robustly disproven “Stolen Election” lie.
- If you are wondering who this guy is, he is the guy who created and runs World Net Daily, a whacky right-wing website better known to many as WingNut Daily because of all the blatantly false, and deeply weird conspiracies it has promoted over the years.
- The actual “existential threat” here is the financial one faced by the rapid decline of his “news” site.
It really is a cult that will give him a free pass for literally anything …
Christian “Love”
So this utterly bizarre gem popped up …
- I can’t be sure, but I think what Locke is referencing is that Sadiq Khan was elected as Mayor of London for a third term. In Mr Locke’s eyes, Mr Khan’s “crime” is that he is apparently guilty of being a socially liberal Muslim.
- I also suspect Locke is vastly over estimating the actual power of the Mayor of London. If the goal of this Mayor of London was to actually cause “horribly dark days“, then the best he could actually do would be to cut power to the street-lights and also screw up the bus and tube timetables.
Gaza Updates
My only objection to the observation below is that Locke has not recently gone nuts, he has always been nuts …
How the MIT admin is wholly underestimating their entire client base in one easy lesson …
Homophobia on Steroids
Preacher John Amanchukwu warns via the Christian Post that if the Republican Party removes language opposing marriage equality from its platform, “then it is all but guaranteed that our Republican representation becomes even weaker in defending off the Democrat’s side to turn all of America into Sodom and Gomorrah.”
- He might think he knows what he is on about, but he really does not. Various Hebrew prophets named the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah as adultery,[48] pridefulness,[19] and uncharitableness.[49] Being gay does not make the list.
- The Anti-LGBTQ stance that he is using that reference for is highly dubious and does not withstand scrutiny
- Another way to view it is this – when it comes to today’s GOP and their nominee, then yes, lots of big ticks for Adultery, Pridefulness, and Uncharitableness
- The essence of his full fanatical extremist post is that his wet-dream involves his deep desire to impose his specific bigotry upon everybody by force.
- Side Note: This is the guy who roughly about a year ago famously recorded himself storming into a Lego toy store and then proceeded to have a temper tantrum because staff were wearing Pride pins. He got tossed out by security. When he posted it, he got roasted.
Elijah Schaffer thinks that “homophobia is good! More people need to toughen up.”
- The confirmation that he is a homophobic bigot is not the surprise here, but rather the realisation that he is proud of this stance and actually thinks he is being virtuous.
- Reminder: He is not a good guy. He famously got fired by Glenn Beck from The Blaze for sexually assaulting his colleagues.
For the following story the essence of it is this: High School student creates art to express how it feels when faced with Bigoted Christians, and then the High School board decides to confirm it all by going into full religious-fanatic mode.
- FFRF stepped into this – FFRF defends free speech after Va. school board targets student expression. Their lawyer has written to the school board … “As public school board members, you have a responsibility to uphold the First Amendment rights of all August County Public Schools students, regardless of your personal beliefs,” – You can read the full FFRF letter here.
Nick Fuentes
Now that his Twitter account has been restored, white nationalist Nick Fuentes declares himself to be “the unofficial leader of the right-wing in America” and boasts that his followers are “going to take over the entire right wing.”
- Yes, the delusion is strong with this one.
This past week, when accused of racism, he asserted that “what I mean is what I said” and resents his own followers for trying to do damage control by insisting that he’s not actually racist: “What if I am? Is that a problem?”
- Reminder: This is the guy Trump had around for dinner on thanksgiving last year and was apparently impressed with.
- As Maya Angelou, the writer, poet, and civil rights activist once famously said … “when people show you who they are, why don’t you believe them? Why must you be shown 29 times before you can see who they really are? Why can’t you get it the first time?”
- Such clarity means that there can be no ambiguity whatsoever regarding those that opt to hang out with him such as Trump and …
GOP Priorities
Weird
Elijah Schaffer appears to think people are “upset” when his weird postings are flagged up.
- I’m really not sure he fully grasps that people are not upset, they are instead laughing at his raw stupidity.
Former Trump administration official Cliff Sims tells Christians that they must vote Republican because the GOP is the only party that allows for “the true pursuit of happiness … which starts with a relationship with the living God.”
- Is this by any chance the same Cliff Sims who wrote “Team of Vipers“, a book that portrayed the Trump White House as a nest of infighting, backstabbing, and intrigue. It would appear that he is eager to write the sequel and have more of the same “godly happiness” that he described within his book.
- To put it another way, you also can toss all your values under the bus by voting for a vulgar, greedy, racist, sexual assaulter, and thus find “true happiness“.
It is deeply ironic for Chip Roy to express concerns about religious rules being imposed upon all …
- For context, it has been his party that has been vigorously banning books, and denying healthcare to women for religious reasons. In other words, evangelical sharia law.
Right-wing pastor Jack Hibbs issues a warning about congressional investigations into UFOs: “I believe that we’re not looking at little creatures from other worlds; I believe that we’re looking at demonic, satanic deception.”
- Yep, yet another item to add to the very long list of things that are “demonic”. What you will eventually discover is that anything and everything that does not conform to their religious beliefs is “demonic”. It’s the ultimate case of projection.
Guess who
Can you possibly guess which house member that the US Rep for IL-06 is referring to within this tweet?
(Yep, you nailed it in one)
The False Profit$
“Apostle” Ché Ahn takes credit for issuing an “apostolic decree” that resulted in the removal of California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003.
- It was a recall election. Davis started out well with strong support, but voters then turned on him and blamed him for the California electricity crisis, the California budget crisis that followed the bursting of the dot-com bubble, and the car tax – No “apostolic decree” needed.
- For a deeper insight into the recall, here is a paper by David G. Lawrence, Professor of Political Science – California’s Crazy Recall
Self-proclaimed “prophet” Chris Reed says that a nation must have a “common religion” and therefore you cannot “be a practicing Muslim and be an American.“
- Which specific variation of Christianity does he have in mind for his religious dictatorship?
- Meanwhile the constitution enters stage left to announce that he is being a dumbass.
- Side Note: This guy has a reputation for being totally nuts. Here he is explaining that he had a dream where he was taken to a cave in Turkey and was shown that the Disciple John is still alive. He uses his whacky dream to present this claim as a fact.
Noam Update
- When Newsmax, Fox, and OAN are raking you over the coals, then she most probably realised that CNN isn’t likely going to be a soft landing. To put it all another way she has finally accepted that political self immolation performed repeatedly during TV interviews is not a great way to advance a political career.
- The again perhaps she was double booked and had to go to a very important meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jung Un.
Statistic of the week
SBC is still in decline …