Harper to attend rally hosted by Rob Ford.

That about says everything that needs to be said.

Goodbye, FOX News North!

No further comment necessary.

Bachmann, Wallace, & FOX NEWS continue to illustrate contemporary conservative "news" expectations.

Wallace asks the obvious question that's on most rational people's minds:

The aftermath: Wingnuts go apoplectic that Bachmann wasn't given an even gentler soft-ball interview and Wallace ends up having to broadcast an apology.

I've said it here before: The simplistic, binary "If it's not positive propaganda for us, it's biased against us" thinking of today's conservatives might even make Nixon queasy and ashamed.

Sunday Conservapedia*

^{*Because reality has a "liberal bias"}

Age Of The Earth

"The Age of the Earth has been a matter of interest to humans for millennia, and today still causes debate, particularly between young-Earth scientists, who see much evidence that the Earth is only about 6 thousand or so years old; and liberals, atheists and other misguided individuals who insist that Earth is somehow 4.5 billion years old. "

Gotta love the apparently "conservative" dichotomy between Young-Earth "scientists" and "misguided individuals"!

Saturday Sarah: Revisionist Revere and The Nuclear Threshold.

Half-term governor turned facebookin' an' tweetin' an' reality teevee-in' star Sarah Palin once again found herself being set up by the "lamestream media" when some reporter asked her (I shit you not) the "gotcha question" of what she learnedhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif during her visit to Paul Revere's house.

What the "librul state-run-media" apparently just does not get is that Palin is so brilliant, she's actually ahead of the curve, understanding history in such rich detail that even wikipedia needs Palin's fans to help revise it to keep up with her unparalleled brilliance.

And in additional you-betcha-darned-tootin' news, I find myself in the uncomfortable position of having been echoed by (of all people) George Will on "Meet The Press" a few weeks ago. I've long pointed to Palin's threat assessment skills (remember when David Letterman constituted a real, physical, pedophilic threat to her daughter?) as one of the reasons why she should be kept as far away as possible from having control of nuclear weapons. Surprise, surprise... even hardcore conservatives like George Will have a difficult time swallowing the idea of Palin being in command of the greatest nuclear arsenal on the planet.

Freeper Friday*:

"Behold the next Holocaust brought to you by Obama, Pelsoi, Reid and the DemoRAT party. Their camps will be hospices where you will be remanded to for your “end of life” care courtesy of Big Bro and Big Sis.

Welcome to 1930’s Germany. Obama “shovel ready” jobs will be those that come for you via their Gestapo or union goons to haul you off. Think not? Think Again! Always remember, the political class will ensure that they get the best health care available via We The People’s tax dollars. You, on the other hand, are expendable for the good of the state."

For a group of self-described "rugged individualists", they sure seem quick to collectively head for their fainting couches.

*Many thanks to the fine conservative commentators over at FreeRepublic.com for providing an never-ending source of entertainment!

'Assholery for me...

...but not for thee'!

For the record, I'm not a big fan of disrupting parliament with protest signs. In the long run, I think antics like that are counterproductive. That said, it's a long way from malicious defamation.

Long live the conservative aptitude for self-awareness & shamelessness!

"Moran" Monday*: More Pam Geller tea-bagger insanity.

America's "Muslim Presidency", brought to you by last week's teabagging moran, Pam "Atlas Shrugs" Geller.

*We're devoting space each Monday to documenting Teabagger idiocy. Stay tuned for more head-slappingly idiotic antics from America's incoherent, but conservative fledgling political movement!

Sunday Conservapedia*

^{*Because reality has a "liberal bias"}

Sudden Jihad Syndrome

"Sudden Jihad Syndrome is a term coined by Daniel Pipes to describe Muslims that suddenly or unexpectedly turn against civilized, Western society and engage in acts of terror. Pipes has argued that due to this phenomenon all Muslims must be considered potential terrorists.

Examples include:
- John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo, the so-called Washington snipers. John Allen Muhammad was a Muslim convert, but some people allege that his motivations may not have been religious.
- Ali Hassan Abu Kamal, a Palestinian school teacher who engaged in a shooting rampage on top of the Empire State Building. He killed one and wounded six before taking his own life.
- Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, an American Muslim born in Tehran who ran over students at the University of North Carolina to punish the United States. Taheri-azar was the first terrorist to be explicitly called an example of Sudden Jihad Syndrome by Daniel Pipes.
- Mujtaba Rabbani Jabbar who shot up a movie theater in Baltimore.
- Rashid Baz, a Lebanese can driver living in New York City who shot at a van full of Orthodox Jews. In a burst of political correctness, the FBI initially refused to label this act a terrorist act.
- Sulejman Talovic, a Bosnian Muslim, opened fire in a Salt Lake City mall, killing five poeple before being shot dead by police.

In another example of bias in Wikipedia, Wikipedia has refused to allow any article on this topic and even refused to let an editor work on a draft for a rewrite of the article."

I think that last line said it all; According to Conservapedia the "bias" that was the foundation for its creation is evidenced by things like Wikipedia's failure to have a "Sudden Jihad Syndrome" entry.

Gotta love the conservative aptitude for self-inflicted injury.

Religious bigotry is just like fighting the Nazis!

So sayeth conservative televangelist/ fundie wingnut favorite Pat Robertson:

As I've said multiple times before, I think everyone espousing the whole clash-of-civilizations concept should be put on some sort of isolated, rocky island to sort it out for themselves, leaving the rest of us to live free from the violent consequences of their never-ending circle of eliminationist efforts.

Anglican Same-Sex Blessings.

Anglican churches in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. will now apparently have the individual autonomy to choose to bless same-sex marriages.

A tiny step to be certain, but at least it's one in the right direction.

Twitter Tuesday: Doubling-down on Santorum's "Man-on-dog" slippery slope.

The blogger previously known as ALL-CAPS SUZANNE FORTIN (but who you cannot refer to by name now, lest she throw a twitter tantrum over it) has once again unwittingly illustrated the conservative tendency to reject reason and logic as relevant to morals.

Echoing the Catholic Church's ridiculous efforts to blame its problems with abuse on TEH GAYZ, Ms. Fortin brilliantly argues that if one "loses the sense of sin for some sins", that it leads to "losing it for a wider range of sins". She uses this to support her rejection of "tolerance" for homosexuality and abortion.

What SUZY ALL-CAPS doesn't seem to realize is, just like Santorum's infamous man-on-dog slippery slope, this kind of thing shows yet again how many conservatives reject having logic and reason inform their morality in favor of a childish "what does my handbook say" approach to ethics.

The slippery-slope is considered logically fallacious for a reason, and it's been employed by conservatives laughingly throughout history to oppose non-arranged marriages, interfaith marriages and interracial marriages. Of course un-arranged marriages and interracial marriages didn't lead to man-on-dog marriages, as acceptance of homosexuality didn't lead to Catholic authorities sexually abusing children. And yet despite this dismal track record of being on the wrong side of history and enlightenment, conservatives like Suzanne Fortin and Rick Santorum unabashedly trot out the same nonsensical argument to justify their current ethical positions.

Moral frameworks and ethical conclusions that are, by design, uninformed by reason and logic are by definition illogical and irrational. Plato did a good job of pointing out this problem with Divine Command as a ethical framework in his "Euthyphro" dialogue. But one doesn't need to be a consumer of Plato or a student of ethical theory to understand the problem with moral decisions that are insulated from reason and logic. Yet this approach to morality continues to ironically be the basis for conservative ethical position after position.

"Moran" Monday*: Pam Geller just can't let go of birtherism.

Obama is an illegitimate child, which disqualifies him to be president. Who knew?

...Teabagger brilliance, in all it's rabid, racist, xenophobic glory.


*We're devoting space each Monday to documenting Teabagger idiocy. Stay tuned for more head-slappingly idiotic antics from America's incoherent, but conservative fledgling political movement!

Sunday Conservapedia*

^{*Because reality has a "liberal bias"}

Sets

"There is the set of unborn children who were aborted, about which striking conclusions can be drawn. Given the large and diverse number of elements of this set, it would likely include many who could surpass existing athletic and intellectual achievements. Indeed, many of the world records and Nobel Prize achievements recognized today would have been outdone by members of this set. "

The "potential people" argument has got to be one of the dumber propositions that the anti-abortion crowd clings to, yet they bring it up with surprising regularity as though they find it some sort of brilliant bit of reasoning. How revealing.

One wonders how many "world records and Nobel Prize achievements recognized today" would have been "outdone by members of the set" of "people" that Andy Schlafly has denied existence to by spending time writing idiotic Conservapedia entries that he could have spent reproducing. Probably none, given the Andy's displayed aptitudes, but the thought exercise is amusing nonetheless.

Saturday Sarah: Palin's making a movie.

In yet another illustration of extreme conservative self-unawareness, The Quittah From Wasilla is makin' a movie about... herself you betcha darn tootin! What could go wrong, given the incredible success of her self-promotin' outdoor-adventurin' "Sarah Palin's Alaska"?

John Cole at "Balloon Juice" has a thread up documenting some pretty hilarious title suggestions. My fav: "John McCain's A Series of Unfortunate Events". Be sure to also read through the comment thread!

Where's the best place in Saskatoon to enjoy a post-Rapture drink?

Some conservative religious group from the US is apparently putting up billboards all over (including Saskatoon) proclaiming that the "Rapture" is going to occur on May 21st, removing all of "the saved" from the planet and leaving the rest of us to enjoy the universe fundie-free for 5 months before God finally destroys the earth along with the rest of the universe.

We'll try our best to live-blog the carnage, starting with midnight coverage of the rapture/celebrations.

Small silver-lining for Election 41.

Sure, Saskatoon-Humbolt was willing to re-elect a radical fundie whose social views are even too extreme for PM Harper to endorse, but at least it said "No Thank you, Pankiw"!

Sunday Conservapedia*

^{*Because reality has a "liberal bias"}

Conservative Humour and Satire

I really don't think anything additional needs saying.

Election thoughts.

I haven't yet seen the popular vote counts, but my initial impressions from last night are:

-It is possible to attract progressive voters to the polls.

-It is possible to find success running as the anti-Harper.

-Ignatieff wasn't able to shepherd the left's "herd of cats". Layton now has 4 years to try to do that.

-Much of the disbelief about "the Orange crush" turned out to be wrong. The numbers held.

-Vote splitting still hurts the left and helps the right. Something's got to be done about this or we're going to continue to see Conservative governments.

-Now we're going to see Harper's true colors. Will he be the moderate he and many of his supporters profess him to have become, or will he treat this as a mandate for a hard-right policy push?

I'm happy for Layton and the NDP's success and for what looks like a fade in Quebec separatist sentiment. But I'm also not a partisan, and as such, am disappointed in the Canadian political left being unable to turn a contempt of parliament and Responsible Governance into an issue that Canadians cared enough to whole-scale hold their leaders accountable for.

As Jackson's character in Jurassic Park so wisely put things, "Hold on to yer butts!".

"SUN gives Jack a happy ending"

The Rev. Paperboy gives the latest bit of election nonsense the best roundup I've read yet.