Stuck on Stupid

I loved this video, and a big hat tip to Defiant Infidel who emailed me a copy, which led me to Google Video for a convenient online version. It’s funny just on it’s own, and obviously has a good message about the health benefits of having a bit of exercise, but it’s also not a bad statement on how so many people live their lives. Including me, at times.

I recently got into a long, drawn out conversation at Hot Air with a someone who seemed to be a college kid, defending Jesse Jackson Al Sharpton Charlie Rangel’s statements that (to paraphrase) only poor minority kids with no good options ever join the military. Eventually he accused me of “projecting things that I didn’t say, and then me trying to clear that up instead of a debate” and while I think it’s fair to say I was picking some nits, I also think his own words did an excellent job of convicting him and that I wasn’t “projecting” anything. I think it was just pretty uncomfortable for it to be pointed out just exactly how his liberal outlook translates to normal English. The final example in the series - his response to my statement that anyone who didn’t know they had options besides the military to pay for college was too stupid to enlist.

They’re not “too stupid” to know other options…they just aren’t given those options, or at least not nearly as clearly as someone in a higher socio-economic position.

How does that not say that poor people are more stupid than rich people again? Needing to have something explained to you more “clearly” than it is explained to someone else? Well, nothing like being stuck on stupid, just like these folks are stuck in the video. Waiting to be rescued instead of acting on their own behalf. Waiting to be notified of college funding options instead of investigating. This is not restricted to the left. The right upholds Rick Warren in spite of the fact that he’s praising Syria, and including an abortion supporter in his AIDS conference. The left says the right is not compassionate - every election season there are accusations about the mean conservatives starving the poor - in spite of the fact that conservatives are more generous than liberals. It’s just that we like to spend our own money, and not everyone else’s. Except Trent “damn tired” Lott, that is, who we just elevated into another leadership position. He has taxpayer funds to spare. Far too many Christians are waiting for a political savior, when we know that one will never come. Far too many Americans are content to be fed enemy propaganda by the MSM instead of finding out the truth.

Of all the things there are a shortage of in the world, we do still have idiocy in abundance. So enjoy the video!

Gloria Allred Offends Me - She Should Pay

Gloria Allred should pay - and pay big. She’s representing the hecklers whom Michael Richards offended with his racist ranting. She’s insisting that Richards has not yet been punished. His career probably wasn’t worth much, but really, the loss of it shouldn’t go completely unacknowledged. And although she dances around with with “let the retired federal judge decide” the fact is she’s looking to squeeze him for some cash. She says that the “n-word” is hate speech. Well, her attack on free speech - and offensive speech is certainly protected, as the ACLU and pornographers just love to remind Christians - just offends the heck out of me. She needs to pay up.

On the other hand… how many rappers - and people loudly playing rap at traffic signals where I am forced to hear it - now owe me money? Hmmm… this could be quite lucrative. Oh, sure, I’m being ridiculous now. It’s all about context. Because when you chant the word in the context of calling a woman a whore who should be beaten and anally raped, it’s obviously completely different, and not at all hateful.

Hopefully I can cash in on this before civil rights (oh, the irony!) leader Jesse Jackson gets the word completely banned.

Iraq: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance

I have an extremely large family, but there are basically three career tracks the majoriy of us fit into - military/government, transportation, or computers. I have an extremely liberal aunt from the HS/State Department weenie side of the family who was fond of saying “Let’s not talk about reality, let’s talk about our feelings.” The first time I heard that, my jaw dropped. As a statement, it’s beyond stupid. I do understand that she meant well, and that she was trying to get to the heart of a problem between warring family members. Presumably she intended to get back to reality at some point. But looking at the state of the world, it’s quite depressing to see how many people apparently subscribe to that theory. Israel sheathes her claws in a cease-fire “marred” by Qassam rocket attacks (how again did the firing cease?) and we’re actually considering asking the Syria and Iran to “help” us out in Iraq. Given how much of the trouble they are contributing to, this is pretty hard to digest.

Most people are familiar with the five stages of grief. Many of us become familiar with them after a loss in the family, but they actually apply on a different scale to just about any traumatic event or tragedy. And I’ve noticed this recently regarding Iraq. The political HMO administrators (not the doctors, i.e. military) have notified us that it’s terminal. We denied it - we’re winning, see? but it’s useless arguing with people who buy ink by the barrel. The media won the propaganda war a long time ago. We’re angry - you’re cutting and running! We’re bargaining - this can still be salvaged if we lower the bar of what we call success. Peace with honor isn’t a loss, really. There’s been no shortage of depression; the media struggles to ensure that we learn nothing about this war that might encourage hope or pride. And then on Fox News today, which has been more equitable about this, although largely on board with the “we’re losing” meme - especially Shepard Smith and Bill O’Reilly, I saw acceptance of the idea that, Yes, we’re going to lose. This morning when my Senator, Mary Landrieu, was on Fox News she spoke quite openly and frankly about the fact that we’re going to be cutting and running from Iraq; even Republicans are getting on that bandwagon. Oh, she didn’t call it that. It was more the way it was accepted in the conversation as a foregone conclusion. As a nation, we’re reaching - and being led to - the acceptance stage.

Because we’re not talking about reality. We’ve been talking about our feelings.

Christian Zealot Roundup

No one is actually rounding up Christian zealots. But the term or at least the concept has come up a dozen times in the last couple of weeks. Evidently I’m not the only one who’s noticing, so here are a few links on the subject. I heard it last week at dinner in a restaurant. Another diner was complaining loudly and bitterly about politics and people like me and wishing something could be done. (Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?! Actually I think he just wants people like me silenced in the public arena. I gathered that he’ll suffer us to continue to live as long as we don’t vote or speak. We’re dangerous, you see.)

In Good Theocracy, Bad Theocracy, the Hatemonger’s Quarterly noted that according to some,

The Islamists who pine for an American caliphate and Sharia law are harmless, benighted fellows deserving our sympathy and aid. The Christians who don’t hunger for gay adoption are fascists who must be stopped at all costs.

And when I was catching up on Anchoress posts, I noticed this post which includes info and links on the Ann Althouse smackdown of professional hysterical Andrew Sullivan, a writer I once respected. Well, my respect and a buck-fifty will get you a cafe au lait and a beignet, but Sully has taken shark-jumping to new extremes in his anti-Christian zealotry.

On that topic, Althouse has a quote from Instapundit:

The problem with the term “Christianist” isn’t that it adds “ist” to the end of a religion. It’s that, by parallelling “Islamist,” it is a deliberate attempt at conflating people who oppose gay marriage — or, apparently, Madonna’s schlocky posturing — with people who blow up discos and mosques, and throw gay people off of walls. That’s the kind of execrable moral equivalence engaged in by the Soviets and their proxies, and it’s the sort of thing that Andrew Sullivan used to oppose eloquently, before he started to engage in it himself.

I don’t deny that the Phelps of the world exist. I’ve repudiated them and their brand of lunacy as strongly as I’m able, and they are marginalized by pretty much all Christians. We don’t like them, and we don’t want them associating with us. We’re completely different. When people like that start garnering the respect of say, John Piper or perhaps a following like the one this guy has, then I’ll know that all is lost.

I don’t know if things have been like this for a while and I’m just noticing, or if these are anomalies. But really, this surge of anti-Christian sentiment is quite surreal.

Updated: I’d forgotten all about this Rosie-ism noted by Mark Steyn along with some other interesting examples:

And at this point Rosie interrupted. “One second. Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have a separation of church and state.”

Headline o’ the Day: Cartoonist draws gun on paper

Cartoonist draws gun on paper

In spite of the headline, it’s not really a dog bites man story. And as always, the perpetrator was a model citizen, loved by all.

“He had a special wit, always with a joke,” she said. “He was a nice, affable guy, who would always bring his wife and child in when he brought in his cartoons.”

Is that because we pay so little attention to the people around us and see what we want, because people prone to flipping out like this are just inherently better at disguising their true feelings, or because any of us, when that final straw is placed on our back, is capable of physically threatening others?

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Post Thanksgiving Malaise

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. While you’re working on those leftovers, here are a couple of interesting discussions at Hot Air about the North American Union.

Tancredo: Bush planning to integrate U.S. into borderless North American superstate

Righty pundits scoff at Tancredo’s superstate paranoia

Most of the discussion is civil, but unfortunately a few people have been reduced to name-calling. Very disappointing. If you’re tired of politics, check out Game Tap. That’s not an affiliate link or anything, just something that The Man Of The House has gotten hooked on lately, and now The Daughter is playing too. I might jump in eventually. Back in 1981 we used to log into Digital Equipment Corp’s mainframe in Massachussets in the middle of the night - they had Zork installed, and I never did beat it. That’s always bothered me, but Gametap has Zork, so maybe I’ll finally do that. But not today. Right now, another pain pill or two and back to bed.

Next Time I Fly, I’m Dressing Like a Muslim

Next time I fly, I’m going to wear a niqab. And I think my husband might ostentatiously carry a copy of the Quran around. I’m serious. Well, partially serious. If Nancy Pelosi makes it worth my while, by making searches of Muslims or people perceived to be Muslim at airports illegal, I just might do it. Airport security is the new racism. Watch the video at Hot Air, where even the opposition point of view is apologetic, and the reporter serves the CAIR rep the Rosa Parks defense on a silver platter. Front Page has more background on the poor, abused victims of Flying While Muslim.

It drives me crazy when my mother gets searched. The woman is 5′0, weighs 100 pounds soaking wet, and has artificial hips. The only person she’s a threat to is me, because she can lay a guilt trip like you wouldn’t believe. It would be great to just zip through that line instead of having a total stranger put her hands under my boobs and dig through my carry-on so my personal items are in full view. If there is a way to avoid that kind of thing, maybe we should all get in on it.

Thanksgiving Recipe - Cranberry Relish

Cranberry relish may sound odd, but don’t think “pickle relish.” It’s not pickled or sour. It’s tart and sweet, and is a huge improvement over that nasty canned cranberry sauce.

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh cranberries
2 small red delicious apples
1 large can crushed pineapple
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sugar
2 small boxes of cranberry, raspberry or strawberry Jello
2 cups of hot or boiling water

To cut back on the sugar, you can use sugar free Jello, and Splenda or Nutrasweet instead of the cup of sugar the recipe calls for. It still has plenty of carbs because of the pineapple and apples, but it’s less of a cheat.

Use a food processor to grind the cranberries and apples. Mix in the crushed pineapple and pecans. In a separate bowl, mix the Jello mix, sugar, and hot water - stir until it dissolves. Then mix in the cranberry mix, put it in molds or bowls, and chill. When I put it in a shaped mold, I spray Pam in the mold first.

This is great on the plate the way cranberry sauce is normally served, but I also know people who use it as a spread on their turkey sandwich, and for a topping on vanilla ice cream.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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