Pope Benedict: Native Americans "longing for Christianity"

What century is the Pope living in?

In a speech to Latin American and Caribbean bishops at the end of a visit to Brazil, the Pope said the Church had not imposed itself on the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

They had welcomed the arrival of European priests at the time of the conquest as they were "silently longing" for Christianity, he said.

Millions of tribal Indians are believed to have died as a result of European colonization backed by the Church since Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, through slaughter, disease or enslavement.

Yeah, silently longing. Then we killed them. Read the rest of this post...

GOP Debate Open Thread

Yes, there's another one on right now on the GOP propaganda organ network. That would be FOX.

Tancredo is modeling his presidential run after a fictional TV character known for breaking the law. Nice.

McCain is talking about how he's opposed to torture. Uh huh. And what you have done about it? He agreed to a law that had no bite, Bush did one of his signing statements saying he didn't even have to obey McCain's law and McCain didn't do squat about it.

Oh God, Hannity is making this all American Idol - text now for your favorite candidate! Newsflash, Hannity - probably not a lot of debate watchers have a clue how to text. I'm not sure if that's a cute idea, or just way too American Idol for something as serious as our presidency.

OH MY, MCCAIN IS STUTTERING. It's about the confederate flag. He's all over the place, and stuttering. The debate is in South Carolina.

Romney just said he's for kicking the illegal immigrants out, sending them home, but at the same time he's for giving them a chance to apply for citizenship. Huh?

Romney keeps mentioning his (Mormon) religion. But hey, don't YOU mention Romney's (Mormon) religion because then you're bringing up a topic that should never be discussed, namely, a candidate using his religion as a reason you should elect him, a candidate who wants to jam his religion down your throats once he's in office.

Romeny is now telling us that it was really hard work being governor of such a blue state as Massachusetts. Yeah, it must have been hard, Mitt. Then why did you move there and run for governor of such a horrible state?

Okay, this is just sad. John McCain just told the same "drunken sailor" joke he told during the last debate.

Romney: "Washington is broken." Your party has been in charge of Washington for the past six years. Perhaps your party is broken.

Wow, they're all beating up on George Bush now. Last debate they refused to even mention him. This time they're blasting him. Joe just said to me: "The theme of the first part of the debate, without really saying it is: George Bush is a complete failure at foreign policy."

Why is FOX News so interested in Romney's religion?



John McCain is spewing talking points. The terrorists will follow us home. He just told us three times in one sentence.

Romney is talking about radical jihadists. At least someone is paying homage to Jerry Falwell. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

There are a few swear words in this video - just a heads up, for those who don't like such things.

Read the rest of this post...

This Just In... Reid pulls interesting procedural move on Iraq war supplemental vote

UPDATE: The Senate will STILL vote on the Feingold and Levin Iraq war proposals tomorrow. This agreement doesn't change that fact. And the result of those votes could influence the House-Senate conference.

McJoan, over at Daily Kos, just explained it thusly:

Thus, a very strong vote for Feingold-Reid, as strong as the vote for the McGovern amendment in the House last week, could help shape and strengthen what comes out of the conference on the supplemental.

Okay, now for what just happened. Senators Reid and McConnell, the Senate Democratic and Republican leaders, have just jointly introduced a placeholder Iraq war supplemental bill that will likely be voted on Thursday. In essence, the plan is to pass a generic shell of a bill in the Senate so that we can expedite the process and move the negotations to the House-Senate conference. As you may know, the way a bill becomes a law is that the House and Senate each pass a bill, then a group of House and Senate members get together and reconcile the differences in the House and Senate bills, merging them into one bill that then goes back to the House and Senate for one final vote. If that conference report passes the House and Senate one more time, it then goes to the president for his signature or veto. The trick is this: The House and Senate don't just merge the two different bills, they negotiate back and forth and craft a combined bill based on their consensus.

So, what happened here is that Reid and McConnell, I think, both realize that there is going to have to be a negoatiation with the House, Senate, Democrats, Republicans and the White House in order to get a bill passed. And why waste time having a Senate negotiation only to repeat the entire thing when you get to the House-Senate conference. This way, the Senate passes a shell of a bill, as I call it, and we leapfrog to the conference with the House where the real negotiations begin.

Not sure what I think of this, but it's interesting.

Just got the following statement from Senator Reid's office:

REID: SENATE LEADERS AGREE ON PATH TO EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL CONFERENCE
Conference Goal Remains to Fully Fund Troops and Change Course in Iraq

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today:

“Democrats in Congress remain committed to changing course in Iraq and it will remain at the forefront of our agenda until the President and his Republican allies in Congress finally heed the will of the American people and work with us to bring the war to a successful and responsible end.

“On Thursday, the Senate will vote on a resolution that expresses our continuing support for our troops and will serve as a bipartisan vehicle that will allow us to move to conference. The details of the final emergency supplemental bill will be negotiated in the House-Senate conference. It is imperative that we get to conference as quickly as possible, which this resolution allows us to do.

“The American people deserve to know that Democrats will remain committed in conference to the goals of fully funding our troops and changing course in Iraq. That is why we will also have two additional Iraq votes on Wednesday, separate from the supplemental. Those measures, authored by Senators Levin and Feingold, are important to our overall debate. They will provide strong guidance to our conferees and help shape the conference negotiations we have ahead of us.”

Another update: Reid and Pelosi are threatening to keep Congress in town during the Memorial Day recess if the Republicans aren't willing to negotiate in good faith:

Washington, DC— Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi today issued the following statement:

“Democrats are committed to fully funding our troops and changing course in Iraq. In the coming days, we will work to send the President a bill that does just that. We hope the President and Congressional Republicans will negotiate in good faith so that we can provide our troops the funding they need and an effective strategy by next week. If they do not, we are prepared to work through the Memorial Day district work period to accomplish our goals.

Read the rest of this post...

CNN: Just last week, Falwell reiterated his belief that gays caused September 11

The man was a hateful pig.

Click To Play

He told CNN just one week before his death that he still believes that gays, pro-choicers and other liberals caused September 11. So much for his apology.

Read the rest of this post...

McCain telling supporters to spam conservative blogs

Wow. CNN's Jackie Schechner just reported that John McCain's presidential campaign Web site is urging supporters to spam conservative blogs tonight with pro-McCain comments in order to make it look like McCain won the debate. This, from McCain's site:

Make your voice heard on other blogs. Click here for our blog roll and visit other blogs before, during and after the debate to make your voice heard and talking up your support of John McCain. Many of these site will be querying their audiences about who won the debate - help us promote John McCain.

Only problem? Few top conservative blogs accept comments from readers - most of the top liberal blogs do accept such comments.

I'm not sure if this is smart, or too smart by half, of McCain. If it were my blog, I'd be ticked that some candidate was telling his minions to flood us with astro-turf (i.e., concocted) support for a certain candidate. Having said that, it's not a dumb idea to have your supporters talking you up. But still, something feels fake about McCain's appeal. Curious what others think. Read the rest of this post...

Largest gay civil rights group, Human Rights Campaign, weighs in on Falwell death

WASHINGTON – Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign, issued the following statement today in regards to the news about the death of Reverend Jerry Falwell:

“Reverend Falwell’s death today causes my thoughts to turn toward the members of our community who have at great personal sacrifice contended with the Reverend’s work and teachings. As I remember Reverend Falwell’s life, I also remember all of the families of people who have died of AIDS,” said Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign. “Reverend Falwell’s legacy is not about the tenets of Jesus’ ministry such as healing the sick and standing with the disenfranchised but about shunning and ridiculing those who have suffered and died of AIDS and their families. Many faith leaders today are moving away from his divisive approach and toward the compassion and inclusiveness that Jesus modeled every day of his ministry.” Read the rest of this post...

Jerry Falwell was a hateful bigot. I'll be curious to see if our presidential candidates, on each side of the aisle, agree

Yes, no one likes speaking ill of the dead. But we don't whitewash a life of bigotry and intolerance simply because the man is now gone. Al Sharpton (not a presidential candidate, but still) has already praised Falwell - that's absurd. Falwell supported apartheid, Mr. Sharpton. Falwell accused you and me of having caused September 11. Dead or alive, that is not the kind of man who deserves our praise. Jerry Falwell wasn't afraid of being a bigot in life, we shouldn't be afraid of calling him one in death.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force weighs in, quite appropriately:

Statement by Matt Foreman, Executive Director
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

“The death of a family member or friend is always a sad occasion and we express our condolences to all those who were close to the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Unfortunately, we will always remember him as a founder and leader of America’s anti-gay industry, someone who exacerbated the nation’s appalling response to the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic, someone who demonized and vilified us for political gain and someone who used religion to divide rather than unite our nation.”

Read the rest of this post...

Falwell is dead

Per CNN Read the rest of this post...

Breaking News: Anti-gay bigot & religious right leader Jerry Falwell found unconscious

CNN reports that anti-gay bigot Jerry Falwell was found unconscious in his office this morning. His condition is reportedly "gravely ill."

Falwell is a nasty man. He is one of the worst anti-gay bigots of the religious right. I don't like speaking ill of someone who may be dying, but there is no way to discuss this incredibly offensive religious extremist without discussing the hate that made up so much of his life. Let's look back at Falwell's rather hate-filled, bigoted life:

Supporter of Apartheid

In the 1980s Jerry Falwell was an outspoken supporter of the Apartheid regime in South Africa. When president PW Botha was elected President by the White South African minority, Reverend Falwell went to South Africa and made statements supporting the government there and urging American Christians to buy Krugerrands, a coin issued by the South African Government[17]. He drew the ire of many when he called Nobel Peace Prize winner and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu a phony. He later apologized for that remark and claimed that he had misspoken

The anti-Christ will be a Jew

Falwell has asserted that when The Antichrist ("The Beast") comes, he "must be, of necessity, a Jewish male."

Gays, prolifers and feminists caused September 11

After the September 11, 2001, attacks Falwell said on the 700 Club, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'" (a sentiment with which Robertson concurred).

AIDS is the wrath of God

"AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals."

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the National Organization of Witches.

God doesn't listen to Jews

After Southern Baptist Convention President Bailey Smith tells a Dallas Religious Right gathering that "God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew," Falwell gives a similar view. "I do not believe," he told reporters, "that God answers the prayer of any unredeemed Gentile or Jew."

And here are a few more from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State:

February 1993: The Internal Revenue Service determines that funds from Falwell's Old Time Gospel Hour program were illegally funneled to a political action committee. The IRS forced Falwell to pay $50,000 and retroactively revoked the Old Time Gospel Hour's tax-exempt status for 1986-87.

March 1993: Despite his promise to Jewish groups to stop referring to America as a "Christian nation," Falwell gives a sermon saying, "We must never allow our children to forget that this is a Christian nation. We must take back what is rightfully ours."

1994-1995: Falwell is criticized for using his "Old Time Gospel Hour" to hawk a scurrilous video called "The Clinton Chronicles" that makes a number of unsubstantiated charges against President Bill Clinton--among them that he is a drug addict and that he arranged the murders of political enemies in Arkansas. Despite claims he had no ties to the project, evidence surfaced that Falwell helped bankroll the venture with $200,000 paid to a group called Citizens for Honest Government (CHG). CHG's Pat Matrisciana later admitted that Falwell and he staged an infomercial interview promoting the video in which a silhouetted reporter said his life was in danger for investigating Clinton. (Matrisciana himself posed as the reporter.) "That was Jerry's idea to do that," Matrisciana recalled. "He thought that would be dramatic."

November 1997: Falwell accepts $3.5 million from a front group representing controversial Korean evangelist Sun Myung Moon to ease Liberty University's financial woes. The donation, and several Falwell appearances at Moon conferences, raised eyebrows because Moon claims to be the messiah sent to complete the failed mission of Jesus Christ, a doctrine sharply at odds with Falwell's fundamentalist Christian theology. (In 1978, before the Moon money started flowing, Falwell told Esquire magazine, "Reverend Sun Myung Moon is like the plague: he exploits boys and girls, and he should be exported.")

Gays are "moral perverts."

"God hates homosexuality" (I saw this video of Falwell myself.)

And who can forget our favorite Falwellism: Tinky Winky is gay. Read the rest of this post...

Bush admin. says Wolfowitz should stay

Hey, it's not like he lied about a war this time. He just lied about getting his girlfriend a new job and a pay raise. That's "just" an ethics violation. Kid's stuff for the Bush crowd. Bush isn't going to let the rest of the world tell him what to do. No way. The Bush team is sticking with their guy, Wolfowitz:

At the White House, spokesman Tony Snow said he did not think Wolfowitz has done anything to warrant his resignation.

Snow said that President Bush continues to support Wolfowitz, who had served as the No. 2 official at the Pentagon and played a lead role in mapping out the U.S.-led war in Iraq before taking over the bank nearly two years ago.

"What we've said is, yeah, he made mistakes," Snow said. "That pretty much is obvious. On the other hand, it's not a firing offense."

The White House believes that the campaign against Wolfowitz is rooted not as much in what he did, but in his role as a key architect of the Iraq war. This proxy fight has made the president more determined to stand behind Wolfowitz, unless the facts made it absolutely clear that his behavior was egregious, a senior administration official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and thus spoke only on the condition of anonymity.

Of course, the Bush administration has a very high standard for "egregious."

NOTE FROM JOHN: I guess the Bush White House has no problem with out-of-wedlock sex partners helping each other get cushy jobs at the public expense. Funny position for an abstinence-only defense-of-marriage morals crowd to be advocating. Read the rest of this post...

As Iraq parliament prepares for 2-month vacation, they're getting nothing done

From National Public Radio:

"Every month we work two weeks," Othman said. "That's another point people should know about ... we are working half the time. So it's two-to-three hours a day, two weeks a month and then there is a holiday. So it's sort of a disaster."

Lawmaker Shatha al-Moussawi says U.S. objections to the vacation schedule here have only made matters worse, saying it sends a message that Iraqis "don't have any control" of their own country and "receive orders from America."

You don't, and you do.

We'll be lucky if we ever leave. Read the rest of this post...

Palestinians again hurt their own cause

I'm sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, I truly am. Which is why it's so disappointing when they prove their critics right. If it weren't so sad and destructive, it would be comical: the highly-touted, Egyptian-sponsored cease-fire between Hamas and Fatah collapsed literally the same night that it began. The agreement began at 1 a.m. on Monday and didn't even last until morning.

The gun battle (or "dispute," if you prefer) was over the Cabinet position of Interior Minister, as Interior ostensibly controls the territories' security forces. Of course, security force loyalty is generally to either Hamas or Fatah specifically, rather than the people as a whole, so the party with the Interior file has "legitimate" control over security, such as it is.

I'm definitely not in the "Arabs can't self-govern" camp, nor the "Muslims can't handle democracy" crew. I think Palestinians should have their own state, and I think Israel's position on the territories is tremendously problematic in many ways. I also know that there would be much more international support for Palestinians if they stopped shooting each other all the time.

I understand there are internal pressures and conflicts, and I even understand that U.S. support for the corrupt Arafat/Fatah governments have helped created the situation. But. The de-facto civil war among Palestinians definitely isn't helping their cause. Read the rest of this post...

Anti-abortion extremist taunts victims from prison

But hey, he says he's killing for Jesus, and as the religious right always likes to tell us, so long as they say that they're doing it for their religion, we have no right to criticize them. More from AP. Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

That McNulty resignation could make things really interesting. What was it David Iglesias, the fired U.S. Attorney from New Mexico, said last week? Oh yeah, he said, "I think all roads lead to Rove." We do, too.

What do you know? Read the rest of this post...

Romney boldly listens to the direction of blowing winds

Is there an issue that he hasn't flip flopped on during this run? The latest is immigration, which was "reasonable" last year but now that he's in the running as the leading conservative candidate, he keeps sliding back and forth, hoping that he says what the hard right wants to hear.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who just a year ago characterized the bipartisan efforts as "reasonable proposals," now derides the plans being negotiated in Congress as "amnesty" for illegal immigration.

Predictable. Read the rest of this post...

Sarkozy to tap Socialist as Foreign Minister

Bernard Kouchner is known as one of the founders of Doctors without Borders but also has extensive experience in foreign affairs. With so many people nervous about what they think may happen under a Sarkozy government, this is a pretty good start. Now the difficult internal politics of filling out the rest of his team and fulfilling his promise of delivering a cabinet that is divided equally between men and women. The Socialists missed an enormous opportunity during the Mitterrand years to build an all inclusive team of the future, instead offering the same old all-white, boys club with very few exceptions which was (and is) in striking contrast to the general population.

More to come, but a very positive sign during an otherwise tense period. Read the rest of this post...