Many people assume Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a carbon copy of George W. Bush. Well, he isn’t . . . the Aggie, had neither Bush’s parents nor Yale or Harvard . . . While both are men of genuine faith, Perry (life-long evangelical) is going to be more overtly Christian in his faith statements than the former president . . . Perry is more conservative than Bush
. . . The USA is not Texas, but large chunks are similar. Perry’s appeal increases the farther you go from either the east or left coast.
Read more . . .

Fuck 9/11! Get Over It Already!

Posted on 09.15.2011 by AlwaysQuestionAuthority

Taking The Gloves Off…When Diplomacy Fails, It’s Time To Fight

Posted on 09.14.2011 by AlwaysQuestionAuthority

Intolerance toward beliefs and doctrines that serve only to promote hatred, bigotry and discrimination should be lauded, as should extremist points of view toward the eradication of these beliefs and doctrines . . . Bigotry, discrimination, hatred, coercion, terrorism, slavery, misogyny and everything else that is part and parcel of fundamental Christianity and radical Islam should not be tolerated, and when any of these rear their ugly heads outside of the context of religion they are not . . . Hold up a Westboro Baptist Church style sign without being connected to a religion and you will likely be arrested, tried and convicted of a hate crime. Add God and it becomes an issue of tolerating a religious belief. Read more . . .

Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson Blame 9/11 on Organizations Like People For the American Way

Posted on 09.14.2011 by AlwaysQuestionAuthority

How to Beat Terrorism: Refuse to Be Terrorized

Posted on 09.13.2011 by AlwaysQuestionAuthority

The U.S. has to embrace the reality that terrorism is not anything remotely like the existential threat we make it out to be. We can honor those 2,996 without being permanently haunted by them . . . The culture of fear: It’s a bipartisan race to the bottom. And it’s why the National Security State constructed by the George W. Bush administration has found a diligent steward in President Obama . . . The Bush administration never had an endgame for the war on terrorism, preferring to conceive of a “Long War” that amounted to an epochal, generation-spanning struggle . . . Only when citizens make it acceptable for politicians to recognize that the threat of terrorism isn’t so significant can the country finally get what it really needs, 10 years later: closure. Read more . . .

Paul Krugman, “The Years of Shame”

Posted on 09.13.2011 by AlwaysQuestionAuthority

September 11, 2011, 8:41 AM

Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?

Actually, I don’t think it’s me, and it’s not really that odd.

What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.

A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?

The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.

I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.