Thursday, December 3, 2015

"Our Meaningless and Insipid Godly Platitudes are With You ...That Is All."



The Daily News is about as far from Left Wing or atheistic in their politics or philosophy as I've seen in a daily tabloid. And yet even a broken clock is right twice a day.  They nailed it with today's cover and headline.

In the wake of yet another mass murder, this time at the hands of home grown Muslim citizens of the USA, the GOP does what it always does best: Pray.  Period.

Oh...they'll go on to try and connect this to foreign born Muslims, probably invoking Syrian refugees in some bizarre and twisted logic, the only logic the the Right possesses. Trump can now reaffirm his plan to register all Muslims and make them carry papers ("Your papers, please, mein Herr.").  It's what the GOP does.

They'll go on to accuse Obama of politicizing the tragedy ... using this incident as a political ploy...an excuse to once again open the dialog on reasonable gun controls, or in their terms: "Justification for over-reach to confiscate guns and erase the 2nd Amendment."  It's what the GOP does.

Some of the most rabid Right Wing religionst GOP devotees will call this a "false flag" incident, devised and conducted by the government as a first step toward martial law. It's what the GOP does.

But the opportunity to invoke God and Prayer can never be missed. It's not only good politics it's virtually de rigueur if one wants to appeal to the Evangelical Christian base of the party.  For if you fail to wear your religion on your sleeve you are suspect. Are you really a "true Christian"?  Are you pious enough to be President? Obviously, the four scumbags depicted on the cover of the News qualify in their eyes.

So, what's next?  What can we expect?  I'll tell you what: Nothing.  Well, nothing meaningful anyway.  We will continue to see mass murder on a regular basis. We'll see the prayers of the faithful, the holding of hands, the floral and flame lit make shift monuments to the victims.  And the GOP will spout its usual platitudes invoking Faith and God and Prayer and Jesus and say: "This is the price we pay for being the freest and greatest God given nation on the planet."

Here's a hot flash: we long ago stopped being the greatest nation on the planet.  It stopped when we became the only industrialized nation besides Turkey that has a majority population believing in Creationism over evolutionary theory.  It stopped, when we became the only western nation that doesn't offer paid maternity leave, or universal healthcare.  It stopped when our infant mortality rate became the highest among the 27 wealthiest nations on the planet.  It stopped when we cut food coupon benefits to the poorest, and gave tax breaks to the wealthiest. It stopped when we casually committed our youth to wars costing $ Trillions and all its death and maiming...then claimed there is no money to help our homeless and disabled veterans to the degree they deserve.  It's what the GOP does.

As for our being the freest nation...that ended when gerrymandering became the way to manipulate election results and dilute the will of the people; and when we handed over the process for candidate selection for the office of President to the wealthiest individuals / companies in the nation and lobbyists ;and when the GOP first attempted, and continues to pursue, truncating voting rights of those demographics who tend to vote against them; or when we stopped opening our arms to those most in need of our national embrace.  It's what the GOP does. 


Look, I'm all about the 2nd Amendment.  I own more guns than probably a third of my readers combined.  But this insanity cannot continue to be accepted as the norm in this nation, as it rapidly is by the dulling of our outrage resulting from its frequency.  It cannot be made better by prayer to some imaginary  boogieman in the sky or public demonstrations of piety by the frauds, phonies and religiously afflicted.  Until that is realized we'll continue our spiral toward 3rd World status, and we'll deserve it. 

"Every nation gets the government it deserves" - Joseph de Maistre (1811)

14 comments:

  1. Riley the Atheist DogDecember 3, 2015 at 3:52 PM

    Hear hear! Well stated as usual, Hump.

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  2. I agree with EVERYTHING you said in your column and I'm sharing it on my FB page. There is, however, one slight spelling error that I caught. Marshall law instead of martial law. Just wanted to clear that up.
    Keep writing.
    Anne W. Smith

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  3. Thanks Riley, and thks Anne. All fixed ;)

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  4. What will we do about the latest massacre? Every single person that voted in the senate today to allow terrorists to purchase guns in the United States needs to be replaced. http://www.politicususa.com/2015/12/03/senate-republicans-vote-terrorists-legally-buy-guns.html

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  5. Irena..yes.
    Interesting and horrific coincidence that today the senate turned down closing the "no fly list but okay to purchase a gun" loophole, against all reason and logic.

    My fondest desire is that when the next massacre happens..and it will..that only family of GOP Senators fall victim to the perpetrator's violence. We'd then get to see how platitudinous words of prayer salve their pain. Perhaps then they would begin to grow a pair of balls and face down the NRA that pays for their election.

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  6. Ha! I wonder if, in fact, they (the politicians) really do pray--get down on their knees, bow their heads, and ask god to get with it, and do something for this good creationist nation. I don't think they do. Over and over, on my FB page, people share that something bad has happened, and guaranteed: "Prayers coming your way" or "Praying for you." I know damn good and well that that is the last most of them think of it. They go on with their own concerns, complacent and believing that this trite little easy to type phrase has done the work of comforting the sufferer and sending god's love and fix-it their way. I always wonder--why did this god inflict this situation on the good soul in the first place?

    These christians are so damned invasive with their pious verbal do-goodery. Today I was at a local shop, chatting with the owner, and bemoaning my injured rotator cuff. This woman (who had been listening to a conversation that was none of her business) steps up, introduces herself, wants to shake my hand, and adds, "God Bless you." I must not have reacted, for I do try to be polite most of the time. But then she added, "I will be praying for your recovery." This utter stranger imposes herself on me and thinks (that's the tragedy) that she can influence her god to heal me, now that she's advocating for me. My grimace must have been too obvious, for she did retreat.

    Yesterday I was heartsick over this latest insanity and evil; today I am angry. I made the mistake of voicing my thoughts on FB, never a good place for serious discussion. The stupidity of the arguments against gun control would send an intelligent 8th grader howling. But they don't see it. They are praying, after all, for guidance.

    Sorry Bart, I'm in a ranting mood.

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  7. Nathalia,
    Thanks for that. And, hey, don't apologize, that's the best rant I've read in a week.

    I understand the fb anti-gun control measure mentality you experienced...I used to share their same stunted thinking, and not so very long ago. I think the nation is ready to turn a corner. Intelligent control doesn't mean impairing ones freedoms..there are things we can do if enough thought and pressure is brought to bear.

    As for the god botherers in our daily lives...hey, let them pray for you, heck, let Jungle Jack Hanna and his wife in his Cosequin dog meds TV commercial wish us their platitudinous and clearly politically driven "Merry Christmas" and "God bless You". In the long run the battle against religious idiocy will be won by us. And the most astute among them know it.

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  8. Replace "prayers" with "farts" and "praying" with "farting." Same outcome. Helps me get through the assanine remarks after a tragedy.

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  9. jenny...
    sounds about right.
    I'll try it. ;)

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  10. I'm certain that this Sunday, many a sermon will be given refuting those headlines. Won't matter, because they are completely unable to show how prayer affects anything, and it doesn't. At best it's wishful thinking, and below that it's (DING!).... mentally ill. Besides, it is just an excuse for not actually doing something.

    What will it take to shame those walking shitstains?

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  11. Den!s,
    No doubt.
    I fear nothing will change...in our life time.

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PLEASE READ: Love it /hate it feel free to comment on it. Smart phone/ Iphones don't interface well with "blogspot", please..use your computer. Comments containing bad religious poems (they're all bad, trust me), your announcement of your engagement to Jesus (yeah,I've seen 'em), mindless religious babble, your made up version of Christian doctrine, and death threats are going to be laughed at and deleted. Thanks! Hump