The wages of our sin From a new study by Oil Change International on the greenhouse gas emissions and opportunity costs of the Iraq War.

Projected total US spending on the Iraq war could cover all of the global investments in renewable power generation that are needed between now and 2030 in order to halt current warming trends.

Insanity, isn’t it?  http://priceofoil.org/2008/03/19/ira...

Prepping the Pastor For Legal Battle

After reviewing their packet of online information for ministers, Melissa Rogers finds that the Alliance Defense Fund's "Pulpit Initiative" is more about mounting a legal challenge than it is about defending earnest religious expression.

http://www.bjconline.org/cgi-bin/200...

Is Obama the Anti-Christ?

Has everyone read Robert Novak's column from yesterday? Key graf:

Some U.S. Christians are not reconciled to McCain's candidacy but instead regard the prospective presidency of Barack Obama in the nature of a biblical plague visited upon a sinful people. These militants look at former Baptist preacher Huckabee as "God's candidate" for president in 2012. Whether they can be written off as merely a troublesome fringe group depends on Huckabee's course.

Now there appears to be know actual evidence that Huckabee, working in tandem with God Himself, is actually fighting to deliver the presidency to black nationalist muslim devil-man Barack Obama but Novak's got plenty of idle speculation.

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.c...

Historical Revisionism Jujitsu: Religious Right Celebrates End of Interracial Marriage Ban By "celebrating" liberal victories years after they're even remotely controversial, the religious right rewrites itself into history's good book while continuing to play to the worst elements in our contemporary culture. http://religiondispatches.org/Gui/Co...

Hagge: Oops!  My bad!  RCC no Ho after all
Did he suddenly discover that he'd misinterpreted the Book of Revelation?  Apparently so. Who says modern events can't be brought to bear on biblical exegesis? Writes Hagee:

I better understand that reference to the Roman Catholic Church as the "apostate church" and the "great whore" described in the Book of Revelation is a rhetorical device long employed in anti-Catholic literature and commentary. I hope you recognize that I have repeatedly stated that my interpretation of Revelation leads me to conclude that the "apostate church" and the "great whore" appear only during the seven years of tribulation after all true believers - Catholic and Protestant - have been taken up to heaven. Therefore, neither of these phrases can be synonymous with the Catholic Church.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/0...

When Conservatives Turn Revolutionary  The tragi-comic Napoleonic Era reveals eerie similarities to the Bush Doctrine  http://religiondispatches.org/Gui/Co...

Fact of the Night

In West Virginia, Obama did better with Catholics--white Catholics--(45 percent) than he did with any other demographic, secular or religious, including voters aged 18-24 (38 percent), and including those with no religion (34 percent). Figure that sucker out. (For the record, there are not enough African Americans in the state to register on an exit poll.)

http://egghead.cc.trincoll.edu/weblo...

On energy: Can't we do better than this?  Via Kevin Drum:

Over at The Corner, Iain Murray argues that the Consumer First Energy Act, introduced a few days ago by congressional Democrats, is a "terrible piece of legislation." Oddly enough, he seems to be right. Rolling back tax breaks for oil companies and promoting renewable energy tax credits instead is a sound idea, but the rest of the bill is mostly just a bunch of cheap political pandering: a windfall profits tax, some SOP griping about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a bit of anti-OPEC grandstanding, and some almost certainly useless provisions aimed at speculators and "price gougers."

http://corner.nationalreview.com/pos...

Let's go forward with our eyes open From Doug Henwood posting on the LBO-Talk listserv.

Obama has plenty of substance. He’s a very smart guy and a skilled politician. But his brains are all in service of the rehabilitation of U.S. capital and imperial power. Many of his followers have
convinced themselves otherwise.

I favor Obama, expect he’ll become president, and agree with Henwood. Let’s not have any illusions here. Obama will be a reformer and will presumably try to rein in the appalling grotesqueries of the past eight years. But this will be to make the current system "kinder and gentler", to rehabilitate the shattered image of the US, and not to make structural changes or question capitalism.  But still, hey, let’s end the sanctioned tortures by the US and reverse the current erosion of liberties. Then we can move on other things, and on other issues. First things first. Having a rational human as president will be a first step in the right direction.
http://polizeros.com/2008/05/12/no-i...

Justice Denied by the "Culture of Life"  A standard misconception of the religious right is to privilege sexual "sins" over the sin of, say, a lack of economic justice for women. A story from Genesis 38 retold. http://religiondispatches.org/Gui/Co...

Religion vs. Science: America's Perilous Fight  A Pulitzer Prize-winning author tangles with one of the most fraught questions of the day: "The danger for science is that, if forced to choose between God or evolution, most Americans will choose God."http://religiondispatches.org/Gui/Co...

Dumb, mendacious or both?

Democrats are taking unsurprising glee in rubbing GOP noses in the fact that the new campaign slogan chosen by House Republicans — "Change You Deserve" — turns out to also be the trademarked slogan of the antidepressant Effexor. That's prepackaged comedy gold for the late-night comic crowd. But I'm genuinely curious: how did this happen? Didn't Boehner & Co. even bother to Google the phrase to see if anyone else was using it? It shows up in a 10-second search, after all.

I dunno. Maybe they really are that dumb. And judging by this http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.c..., they're just flat-out liars too. Nice week you're having so far, guys.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/arc...

Dear God, why is Tweety on my TV? Hillary is "the Al Sharpton of white people"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hchan... He repeated later with another guest, too.  Does he stay up late thinking of how to be more stupid than last time, or does he leave it to a team of writers?

Democrats Snag MS House Seat http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/20...  Despite the Dem candidate wearing the silliest moustache in since you-know-who.

McCain's buddy: God as terrorist

...now that McCain backer John Hagee is trying to walk back his attacks on the Catholic Church, I'm curious whether he's going to have any follow up on what he claims is God's embrace of Islamic terrorists creating a "bloodbath" in the United States. As Hagee explains, it's not Iran or al Qaeda behind the Jihadists plotting mass casualty terrorist attacks against the US. It's God himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWMmV...

Minimum wage merry go 'round http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/e...

Food, oil and imperialism

The latest stage of imperialism, which has globalized neoliberal capitalism, has made it very difficult for people in the South to rebel against imperialism, for if they do so, imperialism can deny them an increasing variety of essential goods for survival for which they have come to depend on world markets — especially food, much of whose production and distribution it controls,

The article quotes sources showing that 70% of developing countries are net importers of food and 6 firms control 85% of the world grain trade, and makes the point that only those third world countries with substantial oil and gas are able to challenge First World hegemony. http://montages.blogspot.com/2008/05...

I don't know what to say.  John McCain is older than the chocolate chip cookie. Funny and frightening site: http://www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com, where we learn that McCain is older than Bugs Bunny, the polio vaccine, Alaska, AARP, and the ballpoint pen.

Obama's Jewish problem  Via Matt Y:

He doesn't actually seem to have one when pitted against John McCain. Rather, Jewish Americans like Clinton best, Obama second-best, and McCain least. Keep this in mind next time you read an argument that seems to assume that white working class Clinton supporters would prefer McCain to Obama -- it's perfectly possible for Obama to be someone's second-choice, just as Clinton is the second choice of millions of Obama voters.

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.c...

Lost Weekend: Religious Right Seeks Two-Day Ten Commandments Confab

Gas is inching up to $4 per gallon, rice has doubled in price, home foreclosures continue to spiral and more than 80 percent of Americans think the country is on the wrong track.   What’s to be done? According to the Religious Right, it’s time for a Ten Commandments Weekend!

http://blog.au.org/2008/05/13/lost-w...

The Lost Scopes Archive  A new book on the Scopes "Monkey Trial" reveals history through people, images, and good old soap-opera http://religiondispatches.org/Gui/Co...

Morons, When in Doubt, Blame the UN http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.c...

Obama's Appalachian problem

...if you're familiar with the history, it's really no surprise that Barack Obama would have a very hard time runni

ng in this region. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archive...  Tell me again: Why can't we have this sort of intelligent analysis from the talking heads on TV?

But now I'm listening to the MSNBCoids discussing the finer points of objective fact versus epistemological relativism, or, in this specific case, whether Sen. Clinton simply has a different, equally valid, opinion on the closeness of the race or whether she's living in her own separate reality. So I'm not really sure there's any point.

If we were serious....

According to the Energy Department, wind could supply 20 percent of America's electricity needs by 2030, enough to reduce reliance on natural gas by 50 percent and cut coal consumption by 18 percent. It would cost about $197 billion but be offset by $155 billion in fuel savings, not to mention various positive environmental externalities. In other words, it's one of many things we could simply do if we're indeed serious abut this global warming stuff.

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/e...

Dress codes trump Constitution? 9th Circuit Upholds School Dress Policy Against Speech and Religion Challengeshttp://religionclause.blogspot.com/2...

Sacrifice par none

What’s a Deciderer in Chief to do to when his troops are sacrificing life and limb, mental health and family integrity, for his war of choice?

Give up golf, of course. No sacrifice is too great for the troops. "I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

You go to war with the handicap you have...

http://thinkprogress.org/attackerman...

I’m sure it was strictly unintentional.... Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall (WV03) assures Chris Matthews that democracy is alive and well and that the process is working out as it should.

These primaries have been good for the Democratic Party.  It shows the diversity in our party.  It shows the strength that we can have a difference of opinion and yet unite, which I fully believe we’ll do. Not to have that Alfred Hitchcock scenario at the convention, Chris, but rather to go into that convention united as a party, ready to beat John McBush this fall, I mean, McCain.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/0...

Oops, sorry.  heh, heh... No hard feelings? Charges Dropped Against ‘Dangerous’ Detainee Who Was Tortured At Guantanamo.  http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/13/...

I'll bet Obama just cracks up over this From zik on Twitter.

So the Secret Service is "joking" about assasinating Rev Jackson. And peeps wonder why Blacks are suspicious of US govt?

 http://twitter.com/zik

Best election night comment (over at TPM.com)

Even with Hillary's blow-out win in West Virginia and the amazing Democratic victory in Mississippi, for me tonight's going to be about Terry McAuliffe's tour de force moment when he turned projectile nonsense into something approaching the sublime

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRDCb...

Didn't you see his flag pin the other day?

....because Obama is accused of lacking patriotism his every attempt to address the issue of what patriotism means is going to be seen as a tedious, elitist, lecture. How bo-ring these liberals are, always wanting to talk about shit when republicans and the media know that shit is for flinging.

http://tehipitetom.blogspot.com/

The Green McCain Myth http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?... and  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0...

Down the memory hole  If the media doesn't tell you that they were a conduit for government propaganda, did it really even happen?  http://mediamatters.org/items/200805...

Obama on guns

"We need sensible gun laws," said the Senator. "I just got back from Montana where just about everyone has guns. In that culture, fathers and sons bond over hunting. You can’t take that away from rural America. But the inner city is different.... The gun control people and the right to bear arms people are talking past each other about disconnected topics."

I think he's being generous.  I think the gun control people and the right to bear arms people deliberately talk past each other as a way of driving wedges between us, keeping us hyped up on fear of the other, and keeping out checks flowing into their accounts. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0...

Americans are more concerned about McCain and Bush than Obama and Wright http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/0...

Rebranding the GOP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4QAR... The Courage Campaign has teamed up with the California Nurses Association to create "Yacht Party 2″, the second in a series of TV ads designed to re-brand the California Republican Party. This spot is not your traditional political ad. In fact, it’s quite non-traditional. And it’s got a lot of people talking. In fact, the response to Arianna Huffington’s message announcing the ad to Courage Campaign members was so strong, we have already authorized an ad buy in Sacramento. See what you think.

Unfreakin' believable!  Edward Luttwak says Islam requires Obama's murder for the crime of apostasy. I'm no expert on Islamic law, but if this were any kind of real issue, shouldn't The New York Times be able to locate an actual Muslim who sees things this way? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/op...
Ali Eteraz points out that Edward Luttwak is full of sh*t in a good HuffPoPost. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-et...

Haunted by (recent) racist history  Via TPM.com:

The DCCC dropped a last minute mailer in Mississippi's 1st District (where they're holding an election today) claiming that Republican Greg Davis had offered up his town of Southaven, where he's mayor, as the new home for a statue of Confederate general and founder of the Klu Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest. The NRCC flipped out and sent out a press release claiming that the claim was a lie -- that it was a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, not Forrest. And their response got picked up in a piece in Roll Call.

But now with the help of TPM Reader AV, we've found a contemporary news account which appears to confirm the DCCC mailer's account.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archive...

Big Brother bumbles in US http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/arc...  If we measure by outcomes, it's a bust.

Repugs eating their own They're going all out in the Republican primary for the open seat of Democrat Darlene Hooley in Oregon. One of the GOP candidates says he had no choice but to publicize a two-year-old email accusing his opponent of paying for an abortion for a woman he impregnated. http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpoi...

Immigration and assimilation

Reading an article about how the current wave of immigrants is assimilating just fine thank you, Atrios remarks that "as someone who lives in a city which still has plenty of white ethnic enclaves I've long been puzzled by the widespread belief that today's immigrants are somehow 'different,' aside from the skin color of some of them."
One point is simply that a lot of people seem to have exaggerated ideas about past assimilation and simply don't realize that 100 years ago, just like today, major American cities had foreign language newspapers and things like Yiddish theater that were the equivalent of Univision. There never was a time when people got off the boat, immediately enrolled themselves in English-immersion classes, and gave birth to perfect little Anglo-Saxon children. It was always the case that linguistic, social, and economic integration was a complicated multigenerational process

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.c...