Filosofa Is Grrrrrrrrowling

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, religion, Social commentary

Some days, you look at the news and you just want to punch something.  The ‘grrrrrrrrrr’ started this morning when I read that we the taxpayers are paying $3,000 per month for the Secret Service people protecting Ivanka and Jared to rent a bathroom in the house next door, because Jared & Ivanka don’t want them dirtying their house!  My first thought was that then they don’t deserve the protection of the Secret Service … and they don’t, for they are a couple of entitled snobs.  And then, the ‘grrrrrrrrrrr’ got louder as the day progressed.

Has he learned nothing?

rittenhouse-3You remember Kyle Rittenhouse, right?  He’s the young white supremacist punk who killed two and wounded a third with a gun at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  As I wrote a while back, some influential people with more money than sense posted Rittenhouse’s $2 million bail last November.  Rittenhouse was arraigned January 5th on two felony charges of homicide in the deaths of two men and a felony attempted homicide charge in the wounding of another man.  Pretty serious stuff, yes?  You’d think a 17-year-old kid would be on his best behaviour, quaking in his boots at the thought of what could happen to him.  But not Kyle!

rittenhouse-2

Just 90 minutes after leaving the arraignment, Kyle and his mother were seen in a bar where he was drinking beer (the legal age limit in his home state of Illinois is 21) and flashing white supremacist hand signals to other people in the bar. What kind of mother takes her underage kid who has murdered two people to a damn bar???  Prosecutors have asked the Kenosha County Circuit Court to modify Rittenhouse’s bond conditions. 

rittenhouse-1The office is requesting that Rittenhouse be prohibited from possessing or consuming alcohol or being in any establishment that serves it; be prohibited from making any public display of any “white power” or “white supremacy” signs, symbols, or hand gestures; and not have any contact with any known militia members or members of any violent white power/white supremacist groups including the group identified as the “Proud Boys.”

This kid needs to be locked up for life, and his mother along with him!  And yet, to some he is considered a ‘hero’ … oh yeah, folks, don’t tell me racism isn’t alive and well in the United States … you need look no further than this little punk and those who applaud him.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Franklin Graham once again proves his lunacy

More than a few times, I have criticized (that’s putting it mildly) various evangelical leaders, and Franklin Graham is the one who seems to cross my radar most often.  Now, let me state in advance that I am not a Christian, not religious at all, however I respect other people’s right to their beliefs as long as they don’t try to inflict them on others.  Franklin Graham is an idiot extraordinaire, and once again he seems intent on proving my point.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Graham wrote, in part …

graham“Shame, shame on the ten Republicans who joined with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in impeaching President Trump yesterday. After all that he has done for our country, you would turn your back and betray him so quickly? We have never had a president like him in my lifetime. He gave us lower taxes, a strong economy, and low unemployment. He made NATO take notice and pay their own way. He had the guts to take on North Korea and meet with their leader personally. He didn’t let China walk all over us. Just his Mideast peace initiatives in the last couple of months deserve a Nobel Peace Prize. He has defended religious liberty like no president before him, and that matters to all people of faith. He has worked to bring prison reform and secured our southern border. He defeated the ISIS caliphate in Syria, and he strengthened our military. He was also the most pro-life president we have ever had. But the House Democrats impeached him because they hate him and want to do as much damage as they can. And these ten, from his own party, joined in the feeding frenzy. It makes you wonder what the thirty pieces of silver were that Speaker Pelosi promised for this betrayal.”

Well, I wonder if Mr. Franklin has been living in some alternative universe?  The hell of it is, though, that with over 9.5 million followers on Facebook, some will undoubtedly buy into his trash talk and some will no doubt join the planned insurrection next week, fully believing that they are doing ‘god’s work’.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

And speaking of religious freaks …

brandon-burdonBrandon Burdon, pastor of Kingdom Life church in Frisco, Texas is less well-known that Franklin Graham, but no less a lunatic.

During a long rambling sermon just days after the Capitol coup, he told his (maskless) congregation to stock up on weapons, celebrated a God-ordained siege of Washington, spoke in tongues to give his statements added oomph, claimed Apple would create a national blackout, railed against FOX News and Mitch McConnell for not being conservative enough, urged everyone to stock up on generators and food, and said with absolutely certainty that Donald Trump would be president for eight straight years.

“We are locked and loaded at the Burden house.  We have an executive order — not from Congress or D.C., but from the desk of the CEO of heaven, the boss of the planet. He said from his desk in heaven, this is my will; Trump will be in for eight years.”

Is it any wonder that I often say religion is the cause of most wars and most hatred in the world?  I wonder how many people from Frisco, Texas will be among the gun-toting nuts planning to converge on D.C. next week?

32 thoughts on “Filosofa Is Grrrrrrrrowling”

  1. Little punk is right. Privileged little punk, actually. How about his mother? Didn’t she actually drop him off at that protest? Her ass ought to be in jail on charges of child endangerment and accessory to murder. I just don’t get this Jill. What a country we’ve become. The outrage gets worse and worse.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yep, his mother knew that he had a gun, drove him to Kenosha … what the hell kind of mother would do that??? I fully agree … she is guilty of child endangerment, accessory before and after the fact, and whatever other charges can be leveled against her. Yes, my friend … what a country we’ve become. The rest of the world looks on in horror, wondering what toxic substance is in the drinking water here. Sigh. I have a fear of next week, dear Jeff.

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  4. There are many memorable and well known quotes to be found in a book that I had first read in 1965, have reread numerous times over the years, and am presently rereading yet again. That book is “Strength to Love” written in 1963 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15,1929 – April 4,1968). Two quotes in particular seem quite fitting here : 1) “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” 2) The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” Thank-you!

    Liked by 3 people

    • Such perfect quotes, my dear friend! I haven’t read that book, but coincidentally am currently reading MLK’s autobiography! Good to see you back in the saddle, Ellen! And thanks for those two perfect quotes.

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  6. Speaking in tongues….I suffered through that nightmare of a scam as. Pre teen when my family followed a Jim Jones style rogue pastor who split the church we had attended for years. That lasted a short while until he mistakenly condemned any member of the new flock who did not succumb to the power of the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. WHATever. Religion is just that-religion. Most unworthy leaders use the ‘word of God’ for their own agendas, bending and stretching, molding and flexing as needed to always be on top. My spiritual life is my own business and is, in fact, not a business, which is something no modern day Evangelical or Catholic institution can say. Praise God and fill the coffers! Listen to my words and follow me into the golden gates of gloooory! Yeah, been there, done that. I will sadly go so far as to say many, many people who live in the South are not even cognizant of the fact that they are, indeed, racist. Again I have to add that among the sheeple there remain those who are truly devout and have done much to help their fellow humans. I just rarely meet them in real life. They are out there, like the Loch Ness Monster….

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    • Though I try to steer clear of religious opinions or discussion, I have to opine here that most religions are naught more than a cult that is created by individuals or governments looking for a means of controlling a population. I think Marx hit the nail on the head when he said that religion is the opiate of the masses. That so many people put their lives in the hands of greedy, self-serving religious ‘leaders’ is a sad testament to the lack of human intelligence. I once had a friend who was going through a number of problems, and when I asked her how she was coping, she told me that she had “put it all in god’s hands”. A year later, she was serving a 10-year prison sentence … I guess that was god’s answer to her.

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  7. Jill, I agggrrreee with you on all those points. I am especially agggrrrrieved over the final two stories regarding “evangelicals.” Stories like those you cited make me Gggrrrumpy. All joking aside, despite the fact that Franklin Ggrrraham’s relief organization, Samaritan’s Purse, has provided basic physical necessities to poor and desperate people around the world, his cultish, unwavering support of a monster in the White House is inexcusable. Graham declares shame upon the 10 Republicans “who joined with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in impeaching President Trump.” Graham is the one who should be ashamed. He should be ashamed for the truckload of b.s. that he spewed. Actually, he’s correct when he says, “We have never had a president like him [Trump] in my lifetime.” Indeed, and may we never have one like him again.
    Then Graham says, “He gave us lower taxes, a strong economy, and low unemployment.” (“Us” means rich folks, like Graham. “A strong economy and low unemployment”? A 6.7% unemployment rate does not reveal a strong economy. Graham and Trump can blame COVID, but that then points to Trump’s hideous failures in “leading” the fight against the nasty virus.)
    “He had the guts to take on North Korea and meet with their leader personally,” Graham states. (And what did that accomplish? Nothing, absolutely nothing.)
    “He didn’t let China walk all over us.” (Really? Provide some evidence of that, Franklin.)
    “Just his Mideast peace initiatives in the last couple of months deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.” (Good grief. Trump was little more than a figurehead in those Mideast agreements. And the agreements were between countries that were not at war with each other. He made no progress on the real Middle East issue: hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians. In fact, he inflamed them by participating in the ceremonial move of Israel’s capital to Jerusalem.)
    “He has defended religious liberty like no president before him, and that matters to all people of faith.” (No, he didn’t. He promoted a perverted version of white Christian evangelicalism like no president before him.)
    “He has worked to bring prison reform and secured our southern border.” (Prison reform? Again, mostly ceremonial. Little tangible. Secured the southern border? Sure, the nonexistent border wall for which Mexico paid not one peso.)
    “He defeated Isis.” (“Will Todman, an associate fellow in the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that although ISIS is significantly weaker than it once was, it hasn’t been defeated and probably never will be.”)
    “He was also the most pro-life [referring to reducing abortions] president we have ever had.” (Really? Statistics show that the most precipitous drop in U.S. abortions occurred during the Obama years, not under Trump’s watch.)
    Lies, lies, lies. But 99 percent of his followers will accept them as gospel and never examine their legitimacy. I know this well from experience. Just last week, following the riot at the Capitol, I asked a dear friend if the tragic events had finally altered her adoring view of Trump. She responded with almost exactly the same drivel Graham proclaimed. I thought about refuting all those points, as I did here. But then I knew doing so would be futile. Cultists are not moved by facts.

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    • First off, Jerry … thank you! You made me laugh tonight, when I thought all my laughter had died!

      Your point-by-point assessment is spot on and I could not have said it better myself! Graham’s assessment is a biased, coloured, view of events. I cannot think of a single thing Trump has done that improved lives in this country, but given a day, I could name at least 100 destructive policies he has put forth, most of which pandered to the right-wing and the evangelicals who seem to think they know what is best for all of us. A cult? Oh yes indeed! Thanks again for your clear and insightful assessment, my friend. I cannot argue with a single point!

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  8. Jill, I have a suggestion for your sanity. If you see articles that have titles referencing what inane Trump, Graham, the other Graham, Conway, Jordan said, ignore it. They have proven themselves to be more untruthful and hypocritical than not. So, don’t waste your energy or anger. There are many good things about Trump no longer being president. One is we do not have to listen to what he says. Keith

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    • PS – I must confess, I did later see Franklin Graham’s headline and could not resist sending the following letter to the editor, given that his deceased father’s ministry is based here, so it may get published. By the way, I have called each of the ten Republican congress people thanking them for their political courage. Keith

      “As an Independent and former Republican voter, as well as a Christian, I am appalled that Franklin Graham would compare the ten Republican congress people to Judas Iscariot for voting to impeach the outgoing president. He must read a different bible than I do, as I see ten people who showed political courage in the face of pushback and death threats to vote their conscience and remember their oath to the constitution. What the two-time impeached president did last week was unforgivable, as five people died and he put his own followers in jeopardy. It builds on his planned and staged fraudulent claims of wide-spread voter fraud that he and his followers have been unable to prove in 59 out of 60 court cases and in several recounts. I applaud these ten Republicans and wonder why others did not join them.”

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    • I’ve tried, my friend, but like flies to a pile of manure, I am somehow drawn in, and once there, my ire rises until it bubbles over. Yes, Trump is soon to become irrelevant, but I fear the ‘cult of Trump’ will not leave anytime soon. Sigh.

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  10. Evangelists and religious zealots have of course “been living in some alternative universe” in which evolution, climate change and solid science are all fictions, whereas god(s), heaven and hell are real.

    Now Trump is their new messiah who is going to lead them to glory on Earth and the promised land!

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    • How nice it must be to shut out that which one doesn’t wish to see/hear, to simply ignore or deny those things that might make life inconvenient in some way. Sigh. For my money, Trump can take them all with him on a trip to … some other planet!

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  11. Franklin Graham is deluded. He reads Trump’s successes as Trump has told them, not as reality shows them. Kyle Rittenhouse should never see the light of day again but his other should surely be charged with encouraging the murderous little rat.
    Lastly but certainly not least, Pastor Brandon Burdon.I want to check his phone bill to see where he actually spoke to G*d and whrther of them reversed the charges. I’ll have a word with g*d and tell him if he can’t do a better job looking after the innocent, it’s time to retire and let the younger generation have a go. In the meantime, since we still live by man’s laws Brandon Burdon should be arrested on a charge of sedition and put away for a very long time. Maybe he can give lessons to the other cons (I use that word advisedly) in the speaking of voices. Beggar me, perhaps it’s my age but I never understand a word they’re saying.
    Cwtch.

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    • I have to agree that Kyle Rittenhouse and his mum should both be put away somewhere and never let out to see the light of day, to threaten humanity again. As for Franklin Graham .. his brand of ‘religion’ belongs in the fantasy fiction rack at Barnes & Noble. He has his followers on a short leash, guiding them this way, then that way, as he sees fit to fill his coffers that are currently estimated at some $10 million. Brandon Burdon is what we used to call an opportunist, and a rabble-rouser. I hope that if any of his ‘flock’ follow his advice, he is held accountable, but we both know that won’t happen. Sigh. Religion … the game of manipulation.
      Cwtch

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