LOL... Bush says Kerry will ban Bibles. NEW LOW.

[Preechr]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040917/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_mail_2

I would like Ronnie to respond to this, if possible. Seriously... Is this in ANY way defensible?

[Preechr]

...defendable...

"Error deleting post?" Why can't we edit posts?

C'mon... editing is free! If database queries still cost I-mockery money, it should really change hosts... Seriously...

[conus]

I had the same problem last week. Tried to edit and it triple posted.

[FS]

Editing function is still broke. :(

I don't know whether to laugh or slam my head into the keyboard over this. I guess it'd be funnier if it seemed like Bush was losing and this was an act of desperation. Now it just seems like the umpteenth dirty attack meant to stir up the idiotic fanatic Christian camp.

I wonder if, near the end, there'll be a campaign ad that starts with "A world under Kerry..." and then shows an apocalyptic battlefield filled with baby's arms and gore.

[AChimp]

I have a friend who thinks exactly like this. Well... we've sort of drifted a part over the years because he thinks that a good time is playing Snakes & Ladders competitively.

He thinks that if gays are allowed to marry, the Bible will be declared hate literature soon after. The courts decided a few days ago to let gays marry in Manitoba. End of the world! :rolleyes

[Immortal Goat]

That truly is disgusting, but it has nothing to do with anything that Bush said. I don't like the man, but if he wasn't the guy to actually say it, then don't make it out like it was. That's how a flame war erupts.

[Emu]

Editing function is still broke. :(

I don't know whether to laugh or slam my head into the keyboard over this. I guess it'd be funnier if it seemed like Bush was losing and this was an act of desperation. Now it just seems like the umpteenth dirty attack meant to stir up the idiotic fanatic Christian camp.

I wonder if, near the end, there'll be a campaign ad that starts with "A world under Kerry..." and then shows an apocalyptic battlefield filled with baby's arms and gore.

And all the churches of the country will be turned into abortion clinics where they use the fetuses in cannons to fire at enemy nations. :(

[Mr. Vagiclean]

FIRE

[Brandon]

"There is a line drawn in America today," one ad says. "On one side are the radicals trying to uproot our traditional values and our culture. They're fighting to hijack the institution of marriage, plotting to legalize partial birth abortion, and working to take God out of the pledge of allegiance and force the worst of Hollywood on the rest of America."
THIS IS A DISTRACTION. REPEAT: THIS IS A DISTRACTION. PAY NO ATTENTION TO IRAQ. REPEAT: PAY NO ATTENTION TO IRAQ.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to save Ronnie a knee-jerk Republican cheerleading reaction here.

"Sometimes the truth hurts."

[Preechr]

That truly is disgusting, but it has nothing to do with anything that Bush said. I don't like the man, but if he wasn't the guy to actually say it, then don't make it out like it was. That's how a flame war erupts.

Link to a copy of the mailer (http://www.steveclemons.com/GOPMailer.htm), only this one indicates these are being distributed in Arkansas as well... I'm sorry, but this thing might as well have "I'm George W Bush, and I approve of this message!" on the bottom of it. Dubya is the highest ranking member of the RNC, and this thing has HIS return address on it. If it's not him saying it, who is it?

[Immortal Goat]

Now that I have actually seen the evidence that it was, in fact, paid for by the Bush administration, and not some crazed psycho-Christian right wing propagandea machine, I can agree with you. I just didn't see the evidence in the other article.

[Preechr]

So NOW the main-stream press picks up on it...

RNC APPROVED (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/politics/campaign/24bible.html)

Still no support of this from Mr. Raygun?

[Anonymous]

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[Preechr]

SORRY!

September 24, 2004
Republicans Admit Mailing Campaign Literature Saying Liberals Will Ban the Bible
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

he Republican Party acknowledged yesterday sending mass mailings to residents of two states warning that "liberals" seek to ban the Bible. It said the mailings were part of its effort to mobilize religious voters for President Bush.

The mailings include images of the Bible labeled "banned" and of a gay marriage proposal labeled "allowed." A mailing to Arkansas residents warns: "This will be Arkansas if you don't vote." A similar mailing was sent to West Virginians.

A liberal religious group, the Interfaith Alliance, circulated a copy of the Arkansas mailing to reporters yesterday to publicize it. "What they are doing is despicable,'' said Don Parker, a spokesman for the alliance. "They are playing on people's fears and emotions."

In an e-mail message, Christine Iverson, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, confirmed that the party had sent the mailings.

"When the Massachusetts Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage and people in other states realized they could be compelled to recognize those laws, same-sex marriage became an issue,'' Ms. Iverson said. "These same activist judges also want to remove the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance."

The mailing is the latest evidence of the emphasis Republicans are putting on motivating conservative Christian voters to vote this fall. But as the appeals become public, they also risk alienating moderate and swing voters.

An editorial on Sept. 22 in The Charleston Gazette in West Virginia, for example, asked, "Holy Moley! Who concocts this gibberish?"

"Most Americans see morality more complexly," the editorial said. "Many think a higher morality is found in Christ's command to help the needy, prevent war and pursue other humanitarian goals. Churchgoers of this sort aren't likely to believe childish allegations that Democrats want to ban the Bible."

In statement, Senator John Edwards, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, said President Bush "should condemn the practice immediately and tell everyone associated with the campaign to never use tactics like this again."

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called the mailings an ugly contrast to Mr. Bush's public statements. Although the president has called for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, he often emphasizes the need for tolerance as well.

"The president takes more or less the high road and his henchman and allies on the right have been let loose to conduct these ugly, divisive smear campaigns," Mr. Foreman said. "It is wedge politics at its worst."

In any event, the Bush campaign appears confident about its religious appeal.

The mailing seeks to appeal to conservative evangelical Protestant pastors and political leaders who say they worry that legal rights for same-sex couples could lead to hate-crimes laws that could be applied against sermons of Bible passages criticizing homosexuality.

Conservative Christian political commentators often cite the case of Ake Green, a minister in Sweden who was jailed in June for a month for a sermon denouncing gays as sinful.

Mr. Parker, of the Interfaith Alliance, said, "I think it is laughable to think that someone could be arrested for reading out loud from the Bible.''

But Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, argued, "We have the First Amendment in this country which should protect churches, but there is no question that this is where some people want to go, that reading from the Bible could be hate speech."

Still, Mr. Land questioned the assertion that Democrats might ban the whole Bible. "I wouldn't say it," he said. "I would think that is probably stretching it a bit far."



Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[Brandon]

Notice how nobody from the GOP has apologized just yet, though.

[conus]

[/quote]Notice how nobody from the GOP has apologized just yet, though.


But they will. They always do. After the damage is done.

[conus]

Wish this edit function worked.

[Rongi]

when i read the title of this thread i thought it said "LOL... Bush says Kerry will ban Babies. NEW LOW."

[Jeanette X]

Conservative Christian political commentators often cite the case of Ake Green, a minister in Sweden who was jailed in June for a month for a sermon denouncing gays as sinful.

That was in Sweden. SWEDEN!

[Brandon]

But Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, argued, "We have the First Amendment in this country which should protect churches, but there is no question that this is where some people want to go, that reading from the Bible could be hate speech."
Apparently "some people" = John Kerry, a Roman Catholic.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Well that doesn't mean a damn thing, us Catholics aren't even real Christians, right Ronnie....?

[Ant10708]

Yeah us Catholics just burn in hell with the rest of the heathens.