Here Comes Another Rant Against The Forced-Birth Movement

Various thoughts I left at various sites dealing with what, at first glance, seems to be a big win for the anti-choicers in this country

The forced pregnancy and forced birth movement got a big win today, which is too bad for the poor women unable to procure a medically necessary late term abortion to save their lives and health

Unlike those women of the legislators who approved this sham bill signed into law by a clueless President, women who can afford to save their lives and health if an abortion of this type is medically necessary can travel to locations where the procedure is still allowed, while poor women are being told their lives and health don't count for anything

The claim that this type of abortion-and it's called late term abortion, as the description "partial birth abortion" does NOT appear in any reputable medical journals-is never medically necessary is complete BS

But hey, if the GOP wants more nails to pound in it's coffin come election day 2008, I'm all for it, as abortion has been one issue the GOP has never really wanted to end, it brings in far too much in terms of campaign contributions for other forced-birth & forced pregnancy candidates

The bad part is that the GOP knows that if it riles up enough freedom-loving people about abortion, it's screwed at the polls

When those in the forced birth & forced pregnancy movement start caring about a life after it's out of the womb, maybe then they'll have some credibility on this issue, but if past precedent still holds, the only time so many of those who favor forced birth squawk about life after the womb is in backing the death penalty

That's why I'll use the terms "forced birth" and "forced pregnancy", because if they favor the Death Penalty, then they are NOT "pro life"



Ooops, let's shoot down that "Never medically necessary" BS about late-term abortions

Over 95% of induced abortions in the second trimester are performed using the D&E method. The alternatives to D&E in the second trimester are abdominal surgery or induction abortion. Doctors rarely perform an abortion by abdominal surgery because doing so entails far greater risks to the woman. The induction method imposes serious risks to women with certain medical conditions and is entirely contraindicated for others.

The intact variant of D&E offers significant safety advantages over the non-intact method, including a reduced risk of catastrophic hemorrhage and life-threatening infection. These safety advantages are widely recognized by experts in the field of women's health, authoritative medical texts, peer-reviewed studies, and the nation's leading medical schools. ACOG has thus concluded that an intact D&E "may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of the woman, and only the doctor in consultation with the patient, based on the woman's particular circumstances can make that decision."

If it was us guys who could get pregnant, there’d be no debate or fuss about this issue, we’d get paid counseling, time off from work and a Govt subsidy if we were too poor to afford an abortion otherwise

There’d be no stupid attempts to stop us pregnant males from going through an abortion, especially no “24 hour waiting periods” for those of us who had to travel hours to get to the clinic, only to be told we have to wait another 24 hours

Since the woman carries the fetus, it’s completely her choice regarding abortion, and that means at any time, for any reason

But there’s a very simple solution to this, and it relates to “adopt the fetus”

A poor woman will be provided with full, pre-natal care, with all costs provided by forced-pregnancy/forced-birth advocates, and all expenses of the baby covered until the age of 18, even if the birth mother doesn’t want her child to know or meet it’s anti-choice financier

Women who are against abortion, and are of child-bearing age should offer to have the fetus transferred from the mother considering abortion and transplanted into the anti-choicer’s womb, with the knowledge that if the original, biological mother decides she wants the child after all, she gets it back, even after the surrogate has given birth, and still have all child-related expenses paid for by those of the forced-pregnancy/forced-birth mindset until the child hits 18

Sure, these would be hard principles for the anti-choicers to live by, but we’d sure learn real quick if their wallets matched their rhetoric

BTW-there's all sorts of kids in foster care, children & teens with mental and emotional problems, babies with serious medical conditions, healthy non-white infants, and all are just waiting to be adopted, so when I see the forced-breeders start to clear up this backlog, then I'll seriously consider what they have to say


At one forum, I quoted one poster who said

After reading some of these posts, I'm wondering if any of these posters opposing the ban have even read the Supreme Court's decision. It appears some of you believe this is a ban on all late term abortions instead of only partial birth abortions of a living fetus (baby). Get the facts.

To which I replied


I've got the facts just fine, dispute my interpretation if you think otherwise

And if any woman dies, or her health/ability to bear future children is compromised because she couldn't terminate her pregnancy in the safest possible way, that's a Hell of a price to pay for others to blather about morality and "sanctity of life"

Lets get this clear, as I doubt there's any real, independently verifiable cases of the following to prove me wrong:

I have yet to see, hear, or read about any late term-abortions done because the woman has suddenly decided-through sheer vanity that didn't show itself until well into the pregnancy-that she no longer wants to carry the fetus to term, treating a late-term abortion like it's some entry on a "to do" list

Dentist appointment: Check
Get late-term abortion: Check
Get BMW painted a new color: Check
Mail bill payments: Check

Women who get late term abortions do so because, to save their lives or preserve their health, including the ability to bear children in the future, it's the most efficient, safe way to end a hazardous pregnancy

This issue is clearly a sham, but a sham that is going to affect real women who don't wield the political clout necessary to keep the forced-birthers at bay

But you're right that this applies only to a form of late term abortion, Bush Jr is clearly hoping the far-right wing of the GOP base won't start agitating to outright repeal Roe Vs Wade, as the last thing he needs with a Congress whose bills W is going to veto constantly is to try and get another far right voice confirmed for Supreme Court service through an angry Senate majority

Since the GOP is adamant enough about abortion to overturn it as a party policy, then why doesn't it go all out and be ethically consistent in how abhorrent it finds abortion, or is this nothing more than political pandering in the extreme?

Why doesn't the GOP have it's members propose bills that would lock up & execute doctors who provide abortions and women who have them?

Seems that's the only logical choices the GOP leaves itself by pushing an anti-abortion/pro forced-breeding viewpoint in blathering about overturning Roe Vs Wade

Of course, the GOP does NOT push those proposals in spite of how fiercely they agitate against a woman's right to choose, because the party knows, especially after how badly it got smacked down by the overwhelming majority of the US public regarding the GOP's meddling in the Terri Schiavo case, just how badly it's future political success-already on the "Dismal" side-would be damaged

If a person does not have complete control over any and all medical procedures they are willing to undergo, then the very concept of freedom is empty

This applies to any society that would also force women to have abortions, which just shows the strange bedfellows of US social conservatives and Chinese communists that a shared ideological mindset-of total control and complete mistrust of women-brings about

If the GOP is NOT going to placate it's far right base and try to overturn Roe VS Wade, then it's obviously a message no one else should respect or take seriously either, and it's one the party should just jettison now, as the last thing the GOP needs going into the 2008 elections is even more angry voters aiming their ire at it

Easy way to see how this Administration plays the most socially conservative of it's backers as saps and morons, is see which group W sides with when he has to choose between his business & corporate base VS his socially conservative base

W goes with the money, the group he referred to as his base of "the haves and the have-mores", just look at the backgrounds of Alito & Roberts, they're more corporatist than conservative

Maybe W's more theological supporters should press him as to why he's not actively pushing the GOP to overturn Roe VS Wade, and blast him for putting political success over "doing what's right" in their eyes

I sense a political snare for the GOP, the success in shooting down the late term abortion procedure is going to lead the far right into pushing for overturning Roe, a position that is not shared by the majority of the voters

This decision today will have a blowback against whoever gets the GOP nomination, they'll have to pander hard about repealing Roe in order to win the nomination, which will only make it harder to win the Presidential election for the actual GOP candidate

As much as I blasted Slick Clinton for all his Dick Morris scripted "triangulation", I have to give him credit on about the one liberal stand Clinton actually held firm about, vetoing each and every attempt to ban late term abortions when the bills reached his desk, and never apologizing for those vetos either

When every child and teen in foster care is adopted into good and loving families, when every non-white infant, when every child with severe mental, physical or emotional problems is adopted into a loving family, when all that backlog is cleared out, then, MAYBE, we'll talk if there's a backlog of adoptive families willing to take in children and adults, no matter their physical, mental or emotional infirmities

In other words, an impossible reality would actually have to come about before I'd ever say a woman doesn't have the ultimate right to decide her own fate

Oh yeah, you supposed "moderates" and "liberal" organizations, this isn't just the GOP Wingnuts fault this decision occurred, you swine bear much of the blame as well

The Ugly Truths Of Babylon's Media Whore, Bill Donohue

Every time I swear I can’t get any more riled up by hypocritical religious bigots, I'm always proven wrong by underestimating the sheer willful ignorance, the yearning for media whoredom by nasty fucktards intent on forcing non-believing others to acknowledge the supposed “supremacy & truth” of the theological bully’s particular faith

And very few of these Taliban wannabe's are worth excoriating and insulting as much as Catholic League President Bill Donohue

Donohue's an incredibly aggressive, angry rodomontade, a loudmouth who sees himself as A Dog Of War, when in actuality, he's a hypocritical muckworm of the most easily debunked type

But what really burned me hardest about Donohue was that back in February, in conjunction with ill-tempered lunatic Michelle Malkin, launched a vicious (and completely hypocritical) media campaign against two bloggers who'd been recently hired by the John Edwards campaign, Amanda Marcotte & Melissa McEwan

I’ve blogged about Blathering Bill Donohue‘s extreme lunacy before, most notably The Totally Non-Existent War On Christmas nonsense & tosh that the more pathetic & weak-faithed try to convince themselves they’re persecuted about

But I’m irate for a different reason from so many of the other bloggers who have raised the most Holy of Hell about this fiasco

While they rightly look at this as the rightwing spin machine doing everything it can to marginalize liberal bloggers from hooking up with positive and successful political candidates, I look at this far more personally

I’ve never communicated personally with Melissa McEwan other than some e-mails and comments left on her site, but every time I have communicated with her, she’s been unhesitating and positive-minded with any query

But McEwan went far and above when it came to helping organize the Katrina Blogswarm to mark the first anniversary of one of the most appalling failures of Govt at all levels

I came up with the bare-bones idea, but Melissa did the heavy lifting, putting out the call on her site and helping make the blogswarm a success

Look at all the sites that she helped round up for this mass remembrance, she was busy adding more links to the list that day, a sure sign of the big heart she possesses

Thanks to Donohue’s deranged outrage, both bloggers are no longer officially associated with the Edwards campaign, they felt they were hurting his campaign via the vicious smears from Donohue & gang and resigned, showing they know more about Christian values than Donohue ever could

Here are Marcotte’s and McEwan’s take on this whole sorry spectacle, in particular, the absolute rage shown in posts and e-mails aimed at Marcotte should absolutely disprove the notion that these are “Christians” who heed Donohue’s sick calls, at least not in any sense Jesus would recognize

So, when someone so positive that I’ve been lucky enough to deal with is slimed by a cretin like Bill Donohue, a self-aggrandizing media whore who can’t spread his legs fast enough for the first available camera and open mic, I remember the bullies I’ve had to deal with throughout my life

I remember the only language bullies understand is a good swift crack across the mouth

And since I did the readings at my Catholic Church for almost 10 years, I’m just as qualified to argue Catholic dogma with Donohue even though I left the church almost 20 years ago

Where to even begin to catalog the misery-loving, hate-spewing assclown named Bill Donohue, a tomato so rotten that he even has fellow hardliners distancing themselves from his obvious bigotries

One rhetorical stunt Donohue likes to pull repeatedly is that of, "well, imagine if we do this, and say this about (fill in the blank) instead, see how offensive these statements are"

And since I'm different than Billyboi, I freely admit that I'm going to put the worst possible spin on anything Donohue says and does, so, I'm going to post one portion of a long transcript, not put it in context and then just make all sorts of leaps of faith to make as damaging point against Donohue as possible

In other words, I'm going to argue a point as Donohue does

DONAHUE: Yes.

Obviously, he‘s concerned about secularists. I‘m talking about secularists in Hollywood. They‘re not Rastafarians. They‘re Jews. Just pick up any copy of the Jewish...

(CROSSTALK)

What were the unknown words after “pick up any copy of the Jewish....”, perhaps the words found on This Book’s Cover And Pages?

The anti-semitism spills over to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as well, regarding the "War On Christmas" nonsense, and Donohue's logic is so tortured that one conservative takes it completely apart

Besides being an anti-semite and a homophobe, Donohue's a self-hating Caucasian to boot, ranting that Whites just don’t hate gays with the same passion minorities do-Thanks to Pam for this find, she's one of the best at gathering this revolting swill so willingly quaffed by the moral and ethical bottomfeeders that Donohue or his repulsive ilk resemble so often

Donohue's racist, anti-Semitic AND homophobic, quite the troglodyte trifecta indeed

Bill you ignorant slut, you’d have more-actually ANY-legitimacy bashing gays if you didn’t use their taxes to help subsidize The Catholic League’s Tax-Deductible Status while belittling and demeaning them at the same time you picked their pockets to spread your hatred of homosexuals

Seems to me that if God really does buy into this bs, that if God really considers God’s own homosexual creations as somehow less deserving of happiness and legal protections than God’s heterosexual creations, then God is probably not too damn pleased that God’s heterosexual creations are spreading God’s words using the dirty money of those the Old Testament Fetishists call “abominations”

I defy Donohue to point out anywhere in the New Testament where Jesus sided with Pharisees and Scribes in shunning an already socially-stigmatized group or individual, such as homosexuals or women who have had abortions

It was clearly unChristian bastards like Donohue who Jesus was referring to in-and BTW for Donohue's enlightenment, just like in most bibles, in this next passage, Jesus words are also in red

Matthew 23

1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:

3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Desolate, a good term for Donohue's heart

And that's not hyperbole, in Donohue's case, he absolutely has not time or use for those abused by molesting priests and their clerical higher-ups who'd transfer them from diocese to diocese in an ultimately futile effort to keep this scandal as quiet as possible

CATHOLIC CHURCH NEEDS TO PLAY HARDBALL

Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on two developments: a) an article in the September edition of San Francisco magazine attacking former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada and b) a ruling by a federal bankruptcy judge on August 26 that says all church assets belonging to the Spokane diocese are eligible for liquidation in claims made by the victims of sexual abuse. Donohue’s remarks are as follows:

“The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is no longer about the alleged victims—they have had their day in court—it is about the victimization of the Catholic Church. The time has come for the Catholic Church to put the vultures in their place.

******************************

“The situation in Spokane is even more outrageous. At a minimum, separation of church and state means that sitting judges have no right to make determinations regarding the organizational chart of the Catholic Church. But that is exactly what’s being done. By declaring all diocesan assets fair game for every steeple-chasing lawyer, a green light has been given to plunder the resources of the Catholic Church. This has gone too far. Bishops would do well not to listen to those who always want to settle and start playing hardball. It’s time to countersue.

“No amount of wrongdoing by some priests can ever justify attempts to subvert the Catholic Church, whether by the media or by the courts.”

Referring to sexual abuse victims as "vultures", and claiming that damage to the Catholic church is greater from the abused, as opposed to the abusers and their enabling superiors, two good reasons Donohue needs to be publicly smacked down as publicly and as hard as possible

Just one problem with Donohue's outrage, he conveniently neglects to mention that it was the Church which sought out the courts, thereby further invalidating Donohue's already-blatant spin of "violates Separation of church & state " regarding this legal ruling

D'OH!!!

And then, Double D'OH!!! Indeed, especially with a mocking press release the Catholic League soon thereafter yanked from its site, thankfully, someone saved a copy before the big delete button in the sky claimed yet another web page

"Effective today, the Catholic League has a new requirement for all future employees: all candidates must show proof of being immaculately conceived, that is, they must demonstrate that they were conceived without sin. We fully understand that we have raised the bar very high, but in light of the revelation that the National Catholic Reporter decided to expose a sexual harassment charge against Deal Hudson-- one that was made almost a decade ago by a drunken female he met in a bar-- we at the Catholic League are not prepared to take any chances. Unfortunately, we will not be able to make our new requirement retroactive, for to do so would mean the Catholic League would have to shut down. You see, unlike the puritans at the NCR, we at the Catholic League are sinners. "

Maybe mocking sexual trauma victims by invoking the Virgin Mary really isn't the best way to show outrage about alleged "Catholic Bashing", eh, Bill?

But surely, the clever observer may intone, there are good, noble causes the Catholic League could agitate in favor of, the CL does NOT have to come off as whining, overly-sensitive hypocrites ALL the time

Unfortunately, actually living up to Christ's admonitions of helping the poor isn't any part of the Catholic League's mission, neither is actually speaking out in favor of an undeniable-at times-progressive catholic vision, such as that shown with the church's stance on the Death Penalty, the Iraq Occupation and providing social services for the poor and undocumented

From the CL's FAQ's

The league may also be criticized at times for using the term Catholic in its title and in its talk. The league does not intend to speak for the hierarchy or for the whole Church, any more than the National Catholic Reporter, or The Wanderer, or Call to Action, or the Catholic Lawyers Guild speak for all Catholics (or for all Catholic lawyers).

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights affirms its existence and role in fighting anti-Catholic bias and Catholic bashing in our civil society by those means which prudence and courage dictate.

Which means good causes like those that follow don't get the CL's Seal Of Approval, because the Catholic League doesn't believe in appealing to the better angels of our nature. Instead, it runs on fear, willful ignorance and flat-out bigotry, just look at its Board of Advisors and Board of Directors, lots of well known neocons and rightwingers listed (scroll to the bottom of the page)


Say, here's about as Catholic a cause as one can get, haven't read word one about it at the Catholic League site

Ranger rosaries in short supply for U.S. soldiers

Ms. Evans knows there aren’t enough of the time-honored Catholic prayer beads being shipped because she has coordinated a rosary- making guild at St. Mary in Annapolis for nearly four years that has produced 70,000 military-style “ranger rosaries” - an impressive number, but nowhere near what military chaplains tell her is needed.

“From the letters I receive from military chaplains, I could probably send a thousand rosaries (every week),” said Ms. Evans, noting that it costs about $1 to make and ship each rosary.

“We only have a budget of $20,000, so we just can’t do it,” she said. “We need more people to help us.”

Nope, no help for those putting the Ranger Rosaries together, even though it's clearly spiritual comfort they're trying to provide those seeking such in a hostile environment

Also, no room to be bothered with a group REALLY doing some good work here on the temporal plane

Covenant House

In addition to food, shelter, clothing and crisis care, Covenant House provides a variety of services to homeless youth including health care, education, vocational preparation, drug abuse treatment and prevention programs, legal services, recreation, mother/child programs, transitional living programs, street outreach and aftercare.

Covenant House provided residential and non-residential services to over 76,000 youth last year. Over 14,500 young people came into Covenant House Crisis Shelters and Rights of Passage Programs. Another 27,000 received help in Community Service Centers or in aftercare and prevention services. Our outreach workers served an additional 35,000 youth on the street.

Finally, the Covenant House Nineline (1-800-999-9999) received 51,000 crisis calls from youngsters all over the United States who needed immediate help and had nowhere else to turn

Both are clearly Catholic operations, yet nary a word or peep from the CL for these groups

Not a surprise really, Donohue doesn't gravitate towards the enlightenment Christ offered, he instead fancies himself a moral arbiter, with the "hypocritical" aspect of Donohue's hate-laced, logic-free screeds being too blatant to ignore

Such as this exchange between Donohue and Cosimo Cavallaro, artist of a chocolate Jesus that caused Bully Billy to go into meltdown mode

The Daily Donohue: The Violent Rantings of a lunatic bully over a Chocolate Jesus

Really, Donohue comes off as a complete lunatic in this encounter, which took place not long after Cavallaro's exhibit was cancelled

Donohue's self-serving bs and faux outrage over a nude, chocolate Jesus helped result in enough other fucktards of the Deranged Donohue ilk going into such a tizzy that they got the Chocolate Jesus exhibit's sponsors to cancel the show

The hotel and the gallery were overrun Thursday with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. [Gallery creative director Matt] Semler said the calls included death threats over the work of artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who was described as disappointed by the decision to cancel the display.

“In this situation, the hotel couldn’t continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety,'’ Semler** said.

And all because Donohue, willfully ignorant of his own church's history, is one of those types who apparently swoon in shock at the mere sight of nude figures, be they marble, stone or chocolate

Donohue, good brownshirt that he is, issues his own intensely-frightened call for Holy War on the nonbelievers

“As I’ve said many times before, Lent is the season for non-believers to sow seeds of doubt about Jesus. What’s scheduled to go on at the Roger Smith Hotel, however, is of a different genre: this is hate speech. And choosing Holy Week—the display opens on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday—makes it a direct in-your-face assault on Christians.

“All those involved are lucky that angry Christians don’t react the way extremist Muslims do when they’re offended—otherwise they may have more than their heads cut off. James Knowles, President and CEO of the Roger Smith Hotel (interestingly, he also calls himself Artist-in-Residence), should be especially grateful. And if he tries to spin this as reverential, then he should substitute Muhammad for Jesus and display him during Ramadan.

I'll say it again, I defy Donohue to point out ANYWHERE in the Gospels-which are in the New Testament, not one of the parts of the bible he actually likes, the Old Testament-where Christ would support his attitude regarding the attacks Donohue orchestrates

Christ doesn't support Donohue, a complete abomination in the eyes of the deity Donohue claims to worship

You, Catholic League President Bill Donohue, are not just a symptom of a larger problem, you ARE the larger problem for mainstream Catholicism, you spew far more bile and hatred than anyone you condemn for spewing bile and hatred

You go so publicly insane, over the most stupid crap, because you know your time with any real political or social power is imperiled as more mainstream Catholics become repulsed by the hideousness of you, Catholic League President Bill Donohue, a boorish barbarian, claiming to speak on their behalf

See, most mainstream Catholics are far more comfortable in their own observance of Christmas, a positive counterpoint to his irrational fear and hatred of those who don't believe the EXACT same way Bill D does, what word other than "irrational" fits with Donohue's self-perceived inadequacies so on display here?

PC on Earth? Not if one man gets his way

An example: Inspired by a Zogby poll that showed 95 percent of Americans were not offended by hearing the phrase "Merry Christmas" while shopping, Donohue immediately set out to identify the 5 percent who took umbrage.

Ladies and gentlemen, the "Why I Hate Christmas Contest."

Donohue may want to convince himself that he’s a gadfly tormenting what he sees as a secular power structure, but in reality, he comes across as so obsessed with his own spiritual weaknesses that the only validation Donohue can find when it comes to faith is to force all non-believing others, no matter how tiny a percentage of the population they make up, to acknowledge Donohue’s own weak faith as superior to the non-believers own most personal beliefs

Frankly, Donohue's obvious worry about adherence to his own beliefs is erratic when it seeks to assuage itself by humiliating others for the most petty and outlandish of reasons, and soothing Donohue’s furrowed brow of ire is absolutely NO justification for his anti-Christian power grabs

Donohue would have been the first to scourge Christ, would have been the first to bind Jesus flesh to wood with spikes of iron, enthusiastically mocking him, would have been the first to pierce Christ’s side, all the while proclaiming his moral superiority over the deity whose human identity lay dying on the cross

Donohue’s attention to detail mainly consists of raising as many unhinged conflicts as possible, all the while hoping not to get called on his obvious instability via previous deranged outrages of the most faux type, all the more ironic considering how quiet Donohue and the Catholic League get when it comes to condemning clearly wrong behavior of molesting priests and their enabling superiors who’d transfer them to other dioceses in an effort to keep as much of the scandal as quiet as possible for as long as possible


E Pluribus Umbrage

The sexual abuse scandal of 2002 is arguably the gravest crisis in the history of the American Catholic Church. Sexual dysfunction, hypocrisy, institutional self-regard, Soviet-style secrecy, pathological hostility to plain dealing -- even the infamous 19th-century nativist fable The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk couldn't support so many anti-Catholic stereotypes.

In the midst of this emergency, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the nation's most prominent Catholic advocacy organization, alerted its 300,000 members to a grave threat to the faith: a King of the Hill episode in which cartoon housewife Peggy Hill impersonates a nun. Even for the perpetually outraged Catholic League, this was minor stuff. But it's the kind of distorted controversy found in a strange and often lucrative segment of the political economy. Because, clearly, outrage is more appropriate towards a cartoon than it is to any real injustices going on-more on that in a bit, a nuance Donohue likes to bring up, but is unwilling to recognize when he shows the same mindset as other religious bullies and fanatics outraged about cartoons


MEDIA TO MUSLIMS:

YOU’RE NOT LIKE THE REST OF US

“The subtext of these statements is that Muslims are not like the rest of us. After all, can anyone imagine Jews getting angry because the pope made the sign of the cross while in Israel? Moreover, why is it that the sheer mention of religious liberty is likely to offend? What kind of people are they, anyway? And who, other than Muslims, would actually get angry if the leader of some other religion were to say that killing in the name of God is wrong? What does this say about their religion?

The stupendous gall & hypocrisy of those questions being asked by a shrieking wingnut like Donohue is so immense as to qualify for “staggering” status

And yes, there is the cartoon kicker in the sting as well

“If this is all it takes to anger Muslims—along with cartoons they don’t like—then we’re all in big trouble. It’s time we started asking the tough questions.”

Substitute Bill Donohue and Catholic League for every “Muslim” mention in the above screed, might as well, it makes just as much sense as Donohue’s bigotry

And what does the following say about the absolute overarching sense of unentitled anger churning so deeply at the Catholic League that causes the organization to ask the following: Hint, if you said “irrational rage over a media outlet asking it’s readers and viewers if Priests should be allowed to marry”, you’re dead-on target

CATHOLIC LEAGUE POLL:

SHOULD ORTHODOX JEWS BE ALLOWED TO EAT HAM SANDWICHES?

SHOULD MUSLIM WOMEN BE ALLOWED TO WEAR MINI SKIRTS?

Ah, the true irony of complaining about being offended by being as offensive as possible, the whiney hypocrisy of Donohue's decrying strong opinions brought about by his own strong opinions is a true indicator of Donohue’s perfectly miserable little world

Clearly, Donohue and his Catholic League lemmings see no hypocrisy in bashing others to decry what they feel was deliberately done to insult them, and just as clearly, they’re fucking aggravating due to their lack of a logical and ethical basis for their already off-key caterwauling

And count the following as an infuriating example of that logically-inconsistent, arrogant anger

DENVER ARCHDIOCESE HIT BY WITCH HUNT

Yesterday, five organizations, including Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and Voice of the Faithful, held a news conference in Denver demanding that the Denver Archdiocese release “all church documents relating to clergy sex abuse.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue issued these remarks today:

“Those making this absurd demand have blown their credibility and should be dismissed as witch hunters. To begin with, it is absurd for any institution to simply dump confidential personnel files on the lap of strangers. To take but one industry—the media—there is not a single newspaper (beginning with the Denver Post), magazine, television network or radio station that would hand its personnel files over to me. Ergo, what’s good for the media is good for the Catholic Church.

Well, Bill, it’s interesting that you’re claiming to present the Church’s side of things, it’s interesting that at the bottom of every page at your site, there’s this statement

The Catholic League is the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends individual Catholics and the institutional Church from defamation and discrimination.

And yet, Donohue and the Catholic League are VERY selective of which part of the official Dogma is worth defending and which is worth mocking

Which brings forth the question, just why doesn’t Donohue think the following examples are as worthy of his and his group’s outrage, other than the fact that Donohue’s either a complete hypocrite, or that he won’t bash far-right allies and their mouthpiece websites no matter their provocation

San Fran. Archbishop “very happy” about plan regarding homosexual adoptions

Lots of slams & Catholic bashing from the Freepi, yet apparently, Donohue doesn’t have a problem with Catholic bashing of actual clergy if it’s part of a package deal that includes gay-bashing

It’s obvious that, for Donohue, espousing personal hatred is a more important indulgence than ethical consistency, especially when pointing out these particular examples of Catholic bashing were made by someone Donohue’s enthusiastically shared a stage with, literally, Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

First, the blatant Catholic bashing

Justice Sunday Preachers

Justice Sunday also featured a token Catholic, William Donohue, who heads the nation's largest "Catholic civil rights organization," the Catholic League. In the battle to confirm far-right judicial nominees like William Pryor, who happens to be Catholic, Donohue has become a key asset for the Christian right's evangelical faction. He has argued that Democratic senators opposing Pryor and others are motivated by anti-Catholicism. "There isn't de jure discrimination against Catholics in the Senate," Donohue claimed on Sunday. "There is de facto discrimination. They've set the bar so high with the abortion issue, we can't get any real Catholics over it."

But for all his concern with anti-Catholicism, Donohue had no qualms about sharing the stage with Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Dr. Albert Mohler. "As an evangelical, I believe that the Roman Catholic Church is a false church," Mohler remarked during a 2000 TV interview. "It teaches a false gospel. And the Pope himself holds a false and unbiblical office." Donohue, who has protested against Democrats who have made no such comments about Catholics, was silent about Mohler. In fact, the site of Justice Sunday, Highview Baptist Church, in Louisville, Kentucky, is Mohler's home church.

"We're fed up and we're on the same side," Donohue declared. "And if the secular left is worried, they should be worried."

Worried?

No, Donohue, you self-loathing prig, “worry” doesn’t describe my sheer loathing for you and everything you represent, a complete perversion of everything good that can come from a spiritual journey

You, Bill Donohue, do your media shtick ONLY for the sheer rush you get from launching attacks on those in your disfavor, you NEVER attack those who go after the poor, the politically powerless or any other group Jesus stood for

You, Bill Donohue, are a theological thug whose only validation comes from discrediting and attacking others for the most petty of reasons, while ignoring those who actually DO Catholic Bash, even calling them allies

Such as Albert Mohler, the guy YOU, Catholic League President Bill Donohue, shared a stage with at the first of the misnamed “Justice Sunday” freak shows, and just in case Donohue wasn’t aware of Mohler’s Catholic-Bashing until now, Mohler confirmed his anti-Catholic remarks while hypocritically taking offense from a Catholic US Senator's offense at Mohler’s anti-Catholic remarks

U.S. Sen. Salazar Launches an Attack on Me

The battle is joined. Sen. Salazar is asking Dr. Dobson to repudiate me for "anti-Catholic" statements. Well, I stand by my comments, made a few years ago on "Larry King Live." My statements reflect nothing more than classic evangelical theology. What educated person is unaware of the great theological divide that separates evangelical theology from Roman Catholicism? The official teaching of the Catholic church--as articulated, for example, by the newly-elected Pope Benedict XVI--makes the same point from the Catholic position [see the Vatican statement, "Dominus Iesus"]. At the same time, Sen. Salazar knows that I, along with millions of other evangelicals, agree with the Catholic church on issues like abortion, euthanasia, and the integrity of marriage. The real anti-Catholicism at stake here is the use of code language by senators who oppose President Bush's nominees. When former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor is opposed because of his "deeply held personal beliefs," that is authentic anti-Catholicism. Mr. Pryor simply believes what his church teaches--something that assuredly cannot be said of several liberal U.S. senators. Sen. Salazar's statements about me are evidence of political panic. His 'divide-and-conquer' tactic will not succeed. His claims are evidence of either gross manipulation or abysmal ignorance. Only he knows which is the case. Feel free to tell him what you think, by writing his senate office.

As far as I know at this point, neither Donohue nor the Catholic League has seen fit to blast Mohler's anti-Catholic bias or his call against Sen. Salazar

By appearing on the same stage with Catholic Basher Albert Mohler, by not repudiating Mohler and attacking him as fervently as they later did Cosimo Cavallaro, Donohue and the Catholic League showed their true hypocrisy and phony outrage, with a complete, unconscionable silence when dealing with a REAL anti-Catholic agenda like the one pushed by Mohler

And if Donohue wants to ignore the above, then there’s also Mohler’s more subtle anti-Catholic bias to bring up

Pope Benedict XVI--What Should We Think?

Evangelicals rightly point to the papacy as an unbiblical office that, by its very nature, compromises the integrity of Scripture and invests an unbiblical authority in an earthly ecclesiastical monarch. Claims of papal succession, papal authority, and papal infallibility do nothing but widen the breach between evangelicals and the Roman Catholic Church. The conservatism that leads Ratzinger to defend historic Catholic positions on abortion, euthanasia, and a host of other issues go hand-in-hand with his defense of the papacy, magisterial authority, and the evolving body of Catholic doctrine.

TRANSLATION:

Sure, even though the Pope is right on a few issues, us REAL believers can’t possibly condone unrighteous Catholic beliefs, or treat it as a real faith

Also interesting about Mohler’s backhanded Papal compliment, not one word about Christ or his teachings, just bad-mouthing the Catholic Church and-by implication, IE “the evolving body of Catholic doctrine”-it’s pursuit of at least some truly Christian principles, namely, looking out for the least amongst us, tending to those sick in spirit, the homeless, prisoners, poor, the hungry and the politically powerless

That Donohue NEVER stresses those aspects of the Catholic Church is telling indeed about just how much he ignores what the Church claims as it’s main tenet of faith, the glory and hope of Christ

Every time he launches yet another unChristian tirade, Donohue tromps around like a Strutting Popinjay, overly enchanted by the sound of his own voice, yet unwilling to take a stand in a way that’s actually positive, in a way that could actually lead to a better life for a people who are brutalized beyond belief in an area of the world that represents one of the Church’s major areas for growth

The easiest aspect of Donohue to tear down is the one most obvious with a bully, namely, that of physical courage, or lack of such in Donohue’s case

I’m sorry Bill, but there’s absolutely NO physical courage involved in issuing threats to artists who create using chocolate or bloggers you can’t whip up enough hatred towards with the merest flick of your forked tongue

And as it turns out, there is a place where, if Donohue and the Catholic League were to really apply their principles on behalf of fellow Catholics actually under real, physical assault, it could make a real, positive difference

But expecting actual support for Catholics in real peril is expecting the most unlikely of of miracles or empathy from Donohue and the Catholic League

There’s an absolute crisis going on in Zimbabwe, one that now has gotten the Catholic Church officially involved in an undeniable social-justice aspect not seen since John Paul II helped the Solidarity union eventually overthrow-peacefully-their Communist system

Zimbabwe is rapidly spiraling towards Hell, the suffering Mugabe’s inflicting on his own citizens is truly appalling, suffering made more vile because of how Mugabe’s making the life of the poor infinitely more miserable than thought possible

From 2005, Operation “Clean The Filth”

Orphaned in the 80s, persecuted today: Mugabe's victims twice over

Physical courage, a quality lacking with Donohue’s silly sense of outrage, and the silence from Donohue & the Catholic League regarding the atrocities the Catholic Church itself has denounced in Zimbabwe is truly deafening indeed

Corrupt, greedy and violent: Mugabe attacked by Catholic bishops after years of silence

Zimbabwe's influential Roman Catholic bishops have abandoned a long-standing reticence to criticise Robert Mugabe, damning his government as "racist, corrupt and lawless" and likening the struggle against it to the country's liberation war against white rule.

The pastoral letter, read out in churches yesterday, denounces "overtly corrupt" leaders for using "ever harsher oppression through arrests, detentions, banning orders, beatings and torture", days after Mr Mugabe said that his opponents deserved to be "bashed".

******************

"It is the same conflict between those who possess power and wealth in abundance, and those who do not; between those who are determined to maintain their privileges of power and wealth at any cost, even at the cost of bloodshed, and those who demand their democratic rights and a share in the fruits of independence; between those who continue to benefit from the present system of inequality and injustice, because it favours them and enables them to maintain an exceptionally high standard of living, and those who go to bed hungry at night and wake up in the morning to another day without work and without income; between those who only know the language of violence and intimidation, and those who feel they have nothing more to lose because their constitutional rights have been abrogated and their votes rigged," the letter says.

The bishops back calls for a new constitution "that will guide a democratic leadership chosen in free and fair elections".

And Pope Benedict XVI, no friend of “liberation theology” has very publicly backed the Bishops in Zimbabwe

Pope decries world 'suffering' in Easter message

"Zimbabwe is in the grip of a grievous crisis, and for this reason the bishops of that country in a recent document indicated prayer and a shared commitment for the common good as the only way forward," he said.

Since the Pope issued this statement recently, I checked the Catholic League site to see if they took any notice of the carnage the Church is protesting in Zimbabwe, yet not a single mention of the troubles Mugabe’s wreaking on the citizens-Catholic Parishioners-is to be found on the Catholic League site

Bill Donohue, remember what's at the bottom of every page at the Catholic League?

The Catholic League is the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends individual Catholics and the institutional Church from defamation and discrimination.

The "institutional Church" is leading the charge in Zimbabwe, the Pope thought that suffering was important enough to mention, specifically, on Easter Sunday, yet, Donohue and the Catholic League are somehow stricken by the most selective of laryngitis

Donohue's clear cowardice, and the CL's refusal to stick up for their Catholic brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe, can't be spun in any positive attempts or fashion.

The refusal of Donohue and the CL to agitate for the betterment of others, especially Catholics under actual, physical assault, only makes the pettiness , absurdity and stupidity spouted by Donohue and the CL even more glaring

How typical of the group and Donohue, invent supposedly anti-Catholic controversies, while outright ignoring real examples of true Catholic Bashing

Donohue badly wants to be a modern day Father Coughlin, but he also understands that hatreds like those spouted by Coughlin and Donohue are increasingly out of place in a society that’s not only more secular, but more religiously diverse as well

No doubt Donohue’s too smitten with his own anti-elitist elitism to want to actually do something positive for his faith, but on the off chance that miracles can happen, I offer the following suggestion to Bill Donohue

Give up the media whoring, if you and the Catholic League are interested in actually trying to defend the Church, then avail yourselves of this Catholic group

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE

On the other hand, if Donohue and the Catholic League don’t wish to make a positive contribution to both the Catholic Church and our larger US society, then I think the following is definitely the best advice for Donohue and the Catholic League to live by





Somehow, "Think" & "Donohue" don't make any sense together, whereas "Stupid" and "Donohue", now THERE'S a perfect pairing