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The Tim Russert Memorial General Election Thread
ElJeffe
Registered User, ClubPA regular
Registered User, ClubPA regular
I'm going more LOL than informative with this one.
Why we should be nice to Jindal and his heroic exorcism attempts.
Why we should be nice to Jindal and his heroic exorcism attempts.
Tests of Faith
Once again, religious belief is being used against a GOP up-and-comer.
By Kathryn Jean Lopez
A poisonous cloud has been circling the Republican presidential nomination this season. First it was “the Mormon question†raised about former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, which was used as a political weapon by one of his primary opponents. Now, it’s religious writing from the college days of Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. Can we please not go there again? Can we please not use religion against another candidate this cycle?
As buzz surrounds the recently elected Jindal as being a possible choice for John McCain’s running mate, a buzzkill arrives. In the Left blogosphere, an article Jindal wrote as a young convert to Catholicism has resurfaced, presumably to serve as disqualifying evidence.
As it happens, I don’t want McCain to pick Jindal for his ticket — but not because of this. Jindal is a young, bright light of the Republican party. He’s a whiz kid, an authentic conservative, and a man who loves his country, his family, and his God. Jindal has quite a job before him in Louisiana. As a fan of his, I want to see him do it. Then we can talk about higher office, after he’s proved himself by taking on the nigh impossible task of changing Louisiana politics, a job he is already working hard to do.
This is not the first time Jindal’s religious writings have surfaced. During his campaign for governor, Democrats tried to turn Protestant voters away from him, accusing him of being “anti-Protestant.†As it happened, the evidence for that accusation was a direct quote from John Calvin that Jindal used in one of his pieces. In defeat, I hope the Dems hold remedial-reading classes for their political consultants.
Now, the insinuation appears to be that Jindal is a weirdo. The article that is now circulating revolves around an “exorcism†Jindal experienced as an undergraduate at Brown University. While exorcisms should not be tried at home or in your dorm room, it is not breaking news that there is evil in the world. That a young man recognized this while in college is not a scandal.
Although calling the then-23-year-old’s story “bizarre,†Talking Points Memo concedes that it’s not a “blockbuster.†Writers there warn, “Jindal’s battle with the dark forces may become an issue should his Veep candidacy proceed. While it’s hardly a blockbuster revelation, it could provide fodder for bloggers and late-night comics to turn his candidacy into a media sideshow.â€
How lovely would have that have been if these liberal bloggers had added, “While all are free to do so, that, of course, would be antithetical to the spirit of our Founding.â€
As I said, I don’t think now is the time for Jindal to go national. But that these writings might be used against him in future leave me daydreaming about a Romney-Jindal ticket. Romney, of course, knows all too well that there is religious intolerance in this country.
As Romney said in his speech on “Faith in America†during the primary campaign last year: “It is important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America, we share a common creed of moral convictions. And where the affairs of our nation are concerned, it’s usually a sound rule to focus on the latter — on the great moral principles that urge us all on a common course. Whether it was the cause of abolition, or civil rights, or the right to life itself, no movement of conscience can succeed in America that cannot speak to the convictions of religious people.â€
He emphasized in a follow-up speech to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty this spring “that non-believers have just as great a stake as believers in defending religious liberty.â€
The freedom to believe or not to believe is a fundamental one. We all should recognize it and defend it. Democrats, Republican, religious, atheists, ought to stand united.
In his New Oxford Review piece on encountering the demonic in college, Jindal concluded, “I learned a lasting lesson in humility and the limits of human understanding. Was the purpose of that night served when so many individuals were inducted into the Church? Did I witness spiritual warfare? I do not have the answers, but I do believe in the reality of spirits, angels, and other related phenomena that I can neither touch nor see.â€
While we’re all likely to hear more details about what Jindal described in his “exorcism†piece, most stories will skip over the bottom line. Jindal knows there is good and evil in the world, and prays for the wisdom to know which is which and to stay away from the evil. That’s a confidence-inspiring moral compass. The essay in question demonstrates an impressive core to Jindal. If only more politicians had such humility — and Jindal had it before he was 25!
As George Washington put it, “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States.†Bring on the public servants who so believe and their defense of the right of others not to.
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ElJeffe on
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I think you're meaning MTVCDM?
If you want him go for it. That doesn't mean he isn't a nut job, or that we don't hope McCain is so foolish as to pick him.
Not that two wrongs make a right (especially if one of them isn't really a wrong), but for fuck's sake, the Republicans are the goddamn champions at doing shit that's "antithetical to the spirit of our Founding."
Yeah, one of you m-people. You all look the same to me.
mtv posted that last night.
I was more annoyed by this dumbass holding up Romney as the champion of religious freedom, when his entire pitch (that's cited no less) boils down to "Seriously, fuck atheists. I'm totally a Christian, and those guys suck."
It's like she thinks the objectionable part is that he tried an exorcism in a dorm room instead of leaving it to the professionals. As opposed to the part where he held a friend down and yelled in her face until the cancer-demons left.
Come on, werehippy, everybody knows the Christian minority is being oppressed by the evil atheist majority in this country.
Sounds awesome. Why not start with the candidate totally not mentioned in the article, Barack Hussein Secret Muslim Went To A Madrassa Jihad Kenya Odinga Reparations Hussein Reverend Wright Black Liberation Theology Hussein Osama Enslave Whitey Obama?
I like the jump in logic here. We went from "performed an exorcism" to "recognized there's evil in the world".
Plenty of people recognize there's evil in the world. Most of us don't chant in Latin and throw holy water at it.
I feel like I want to shake this woman until the stupid falls out.
Excellent choice for an OP article. We've had it lovey-dovey for to long and an occaional facepalm does us all good.
I'll have to try that at my next meeting with my supervisor.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Shit, if it works you could run for office, Jeffe.
Oh, so that explains why my wife's OB/GYN was squirting water up her hoo-ha.
I think the real question is whether or not the cancer demons are related to the demons of anal fissures.
Which why there is still evil in the world. You slackers.
'cism.
Some would say people should be doing that regardless.
Games: Ad Astra Per Phalla | Choose Your Own Phalla
Well, yeah, he's claimed several times that he'd close Guantanamo Bay. The better question is, what are his views to the methodology going on in Gitmo? Because he seems to be in favour of it, going off his voting record and response to the latest SCOTUS decision.
Jeffe's wife's vagina is evil?
Why are Clinton workers whose names I know getting jobs? Middling level people who didn't make shitty decisions I can understand, but come on.
I thought she was one of the undumb ones who were simply outvoted by the dumb.
McCain says he wants to close Guantanamo Bay, but he seems to support every single aspect of what's going on there, now that his completely meaningless "detainee protection" law has theoretically been applied (or more accurately, been ignored by Bush). So it's more like he wants to relocate Guantanamo Bay to Kansas.
My fiance also said that she's tired of hearing about Obama and has no interest in voting for him. Fuck.
No, she's the one who blew like 60 million in Clinton's last (uncontested) Senate race. And who completely botched the financial planning in the first part of Clinton's primary run.
Or at least that's what I remember. I might be thinking of someone else. Either way, isn't it kidn of weird to hire a chief of staff for your VP nominee before you know who that is?
I'm hoping MSNBC pays her less than the male pundits that shill for McCain.
That seems to be the case 9* times out of 10.
*Margin of error of +/- 1.
Well... so long as she's not put in charge of anything involving money...
*Points to the Hole*
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
You're right, now that I look her up.
Huh. Maybe just hired to help bring in the Clinton crowd?
Wasn't she partly responsible for hemoragging money and then wouldn't tell Clinton about it until the end of March when they needed a $5m loan?
It's cold in the hole urahonky.
So cold.