Angry Black Man

Or maybe that should be Angry AT Black Man. Whatever. The point is that the right wing nutosphere has characterized President Obama's performance at the final debate as "angry black man." So I thought I'd show a picture to prove the point.

Speaking of getting everything wrong, the screamers are screaming about Obama's bayonet and horses comment. Doesn't he know the military still has them? Shocking. Insulting to bayonets and horses (not kidding.) So here's the thing: our president said we have fewer of them. Fewer. Not none. Fewer.

I guess, in politics, perception is everything; at least to teabaggers, to whom substance is nothing. But really: isn't this getting to the point of being laughable, even given the stakes? Is the Fox audience really as stupid as Fox thinks they are?

[Image from Reuters]

Who Is This Guy?

For months, years, Mitt Romney has campaigned as someone else entirely. Then the debates roll around and suddenly it's -- what to call it? -- Etch-a-Sketch. And, by golly, people are just peachy fine with it. I'd call it cynicism except that it's obviously the right call regarding the American voter. Don't care. Don't give a shit. Don't stop and think, not for a moment. Not the ones he's aiming at, anyway.

That he could well win the election having so blatantly lied about himself and his opponent, so obviously considered the electorate stupid, so selfishly said whatever he thought would get him elected, no matter how it contradicted what he'd just said, so clearly abandoned any pretense of moral center .... well, it's so far beyond depressing that I have no more words.

If he wins, who deserves more scorn? Mitt Romney, or those who, seeing what he's done, voted for him anyway?

Rape Babies

These are the guys itching for full control over our government: the men who say rape babies are gifts from god, that it's all part of god's plan.

Much as he tried, you can't walk that back. If the pregnancy is god's plan, then so is the rape. Because god doesn't say, oops, sorry, wasn't paying attention. If all life is precious, right from the zygote stage, then why is it that god is, by FAR, the most prolific abortionist of all? You can't reconcile that sort of absolutist belief in any way other than that rape is part of god's plan. So, do you think he likes to watch? He didn't stop it; in fact, he made it happen. People who believe in the kind of god that allows rape and babies that come from it need to answer a few questions.

Mitt Romney, true to form, because he has no backbone and an absent core, refuses to withdraw support from the idiot; on the other hand, teabaggRs are rushing to defend the guy. (Credit John McCain for regaining a modicum of self-respect and not joining in.)* And so it is, and always will be. A vote for Mitt Romney is a vote to empower the most extremist among us, those that seek to make biblical law the law of the land, in no way different from those they (insanely) claim plan a Sharia takeover. And whereas the latter is impossible by any calculation, the former is already underway.

Elected to national office, in increasing numbers (while claiming Christianity is under attack.) Because Mitt Romney has no standards, and won't stand up to anyone who might vote for him, if he's elected this is our future. If it didn't signal the end of our democracy, I suppose it could be considered fascinating on some level.

[Added: well, well. That lasted all of, what, twelve hours?]

[Image source]

Presidential Politics, Social Media and Mitt Romney's Icy Golf Adventure

Ice Can be Awesome        photo credit: Kyle May via photopin cc

In many social media neighborhoods, tensions are running high this week.

With the US Presidential election down to the wire and polls indicating an ultra-close race, it's becoming increasingly difficult to stay above of the political fray.

Maintaining  a neutral stance can be particularly important for of those of us who use Twitter for business purposes.  However, strive as we may to refrain from commenting on politics, at this very visceral stage, such restraint can be difficult to practice

Live televised events... like golf tournaments, for example... are certainly more compelling when one watches with a group; exchanging ideas and opinions as the action unfolds. Twitter has proven a very effective platform for this kind of collective viewing... to the extent that each of the Presidential debates generated tens of millions of tweets as it aired.    So it should come as no surprise that numerous micro-blogging blunders  occurred when excessive zeal met bombastic bluster and some users seemed to forgot they were tweeting under the identity of their employer.

Thus far I've pretty much managed to keep my own political persuasions off of the social networks, and I fully intend to remain on the sidelines when it comes to online political opinionating.  However... there is a rather whimsical rumor involving one of the Presidential candidates that I'm admittedly curious about.   It has to do with Mitt Romney, a golf course and a big block of ice... and it may or may not include an arrest record.
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The Charles De Koninck Project

Philosopher Charles De Koninck (1906 - 1965) was one of the leading figures in the Laval or River Forest tradition within 20^th century Thomism.  (Need a scorecard to keep track of the different strands of Thomism?  Go hereand here.)  De Koninck was the author of several important works on the relationship between the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition and modern science, as well as important works in political philosophy, Catholic theology, and other topics.  The late Ralph McInerny edited a series of De Koninck’s collected works titled The Writings of Charles De Koninck, of which only Volume 1 and Volume 2 appeared before McInerny’s death.  Now The Charles De Koninck Project has been inaugurated with the aim of making all of De Koninck’s works available online.  Take a look at the website and while you’re there consider donating to this worthy enterprise.