From Dana Milbank at POST OPINIONS at The Washington Post:
Yes, [Rick] Perry is passionately anti-government, or at least anti-this-government. But the man who suddenly tops the Republican presidential polls is no libertarian. Rick Perry is a theocrat.
And he’s not the only one. I’m lookin’ at you Botox Batshit Michele Bachmann and Princess Sarah Palin!
Original DVD cover
By his own account, he is a cultural warrior, seeking to save marriage, Christmas and the Boy Scouts from liberals, gay people and moral relativism. His latest treatise, the Tea-Party-inspired “Fed Up!,” touches only briefly on matters such as abortion and gay marriage. For an eyeful of the full Perry, crack his 2008 book, “On My Honor.” While the rest of the political world was reading Cheney’s attacks on Colin Powell, I read about Perry’s attacks on gay scoutmasters.
In the book’s most talked-about passage, he likens homosexuality to alcoholism. “Even if an alcoholic is powerless over alcohol once it enters his body, he still makes a choice to drink,” Perry writes. “And, even if someone is attracted to a person of the same sex, he or she will makes a choice to engage in sexual activity with someone of the same gender.”
…snip…
Perry’s politics are religious in a way not seen before in modern-day mainstream presidential candidates. “Either faith in Christ can cleanse all people of their sin, or none, but not some,” he writes. “The truth of Christ’s death, resurrection, and power over sin is absolute. . . . What we believe about it does not determine its truthfulness.”
Perry has no use for those who “want to recognize Jesus as a good teacher, but nothing more.” Of those non-Christians, Perry asks, “why call him good if he has lied about his claims of deity and misled two millennia of followers?”
The governor forecasts divine punishment for those who hold different political views. “Shall they stand before God and brag that they fought to scrub His glorious name from the nation’s pledge?” he asks. “Shall they seek His approval for attacking private organizations merely because these organizations proclaim His existence?”
So it all comes back to the Boy Scouts.
…snip…
My problem with Perry’s zeal is one of my problems with the Tea Party generally: Though it claims to be libertarian, it is remixing the religious right’s greatest hits.
In a series of hoary bromides, the supposedly libertarian Perry condemns the “litigious advocates of licentious behavior” (that’s the ACLU) and informs us that “Sometimes the rules must protect society at large at the expense of individual expression when that expression is deemed harmful to others and society at large.”
Among the things Perry “deems” harmful: universities (students “have been taught that corporations are evil, religion is the opiate of the masses, and morality is relative”); human rights commissions (“often nothing more than a front for attacking institutions that teach traditional values”); and evolution (he says “the weight of evidence” supports intelligent design). Perry polishes the old “war on Christmas” chestnut and finds a way to cast Mitt Romney (now his rival for the nomination) as a defender of gay scoutmasters.
Though he speaks now as a small-government conservative, Perry argues in his book: “We are close to a tipping point in American society. If you believe there is right and wrong, that there are acceptable standards of behavior . . . then you have a stake in this war. If the attackers win many more victories . . . the culture war may be lost before we know it. If that happens, we will find ourselves living in a world where moral relativism reigns and individualism runs amok. Now is the time to enlist in this effort, to stand up and be counted.”
Onward, libertarian soldiers?
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
I guess with his nuveau theocratism, he forgot the root word of “libertarian” is LIBERTY. kinda hard to have liberty if you have everything you do scrutinised for its’ “religiousity”. (I forget who uses that word, but I love it!)
religiosity is a real word. i think you’re thinking of religulous, coined by bill maher and the title of his movie.
Right on! Thank you.
Religulous…my favourite documentary of all time.
i haven’t seen it yet. i’m waiting for it to get to cable.
Sarah and Michelle, a pair of crazy church mice!
I just realized that I misspelled Madame Representative’s name. Then I realized that you could have those two and Pam Geller, and you’d have everything you need for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer cover–Sarah, Michele, Geller! I don’t know whether to feel proud or ashamed for thinking of that. Either way, as Captain Jack Sparrow would say, I should drink more rum.
i actually used a buffy poster a long time ago. it was for another bimbo.
Oh, her. I’m glad she’s not doing her dirty work in the Dept. of Justice.
On another subject, I used this poster to illustrate my most recent entry on Crazy Eddie’s Motie News.
Kunstler thinks the Left is ignoring Dominionism; I tell him we’re not
It turned out to be perfect for the job.
i was just over at the big orange thanking you for finding such good use for the poster. thanks, too, for making the stats explode here at the raisin! when i got online, i looked at the stats and couldn’t figure out the sudden spike. i love when that happens! 😀
I saw your thank you at the Big Orange. Glad to return the favor by driving traffic to you.
you’re a sweetheart! i saw that you retweeted the raisin links. thank you so much. i have absolutely no idea what i’m doing in twitter. i am definitely not making full use of the technology.
Methinks he doth protest too much.
It gets very crowded in that closet.
i was thinking the same thing. why do they always seem to wring their hankies over everything gay? why don’t they ever focus their attention on other stuff in the bible, like tending to the poor and loving thy neighbor?
Hmm. If they tended to the poor and loved their neighbor, they would have less money for themselves. They are really just selfish bastards. I don’t know how you find these covers/posters nonnie, but you sure are clever.
besides, feeding the poor and loving your neighbor is so gay!
i just happened upon this movie, maggiejean. i did a search for ‘theo’ on amazon to see if there was a movie by that name. this one popped up, and i thought i could work with it. i started it last night, and i wasn’t thrilled with it, but when i worked in it today, i suddenly got inspired and had all kindsa fun with it.
“How to prey” and a Glam gun …
Very clever.
Sure, he could try to help take care of the poor (which Jesus commanded), but that would take away from his time ranting about gay folks (which Jesus never mentioned), school prayer (which Jesus arguably forbade), and the Pledge of Allegiance (which Jesus unambiguously banned).
But, really, what did Jesus know about being a Christian? I mean, He was a Jewish guy and he’d never even been to Texas!
thanks for noticing and for not saying that i misspelled pray! i’ve used the glam gun before in princess sarah’s barbie pix.
in my younger days, when i felt like arguing with religious fanatics, i would listen to their spiel, and then i’d say that i was more like jesus than they are. when they questioned how, i would say that i was jewish. that usually shut them up.
Now, THAT is a great comeback!
And, no, it didn’t cross my mind that you’d just misspelled “pray.” It’s a great pun, though. I believe you about the Glam gun, but I don’t remember it. Then again, I have decided to try to block out most memories that relate to the fact that I’ve known about Sarah Palin for three long years now.
You’re Jewish, and also give a damn about the poor. And oppose capital punishment, think war is generally a bad idea, and that people should pay their taxes. If we’re going to turn Christianity into a bunch of political positions like the nutjobs do, then your credentials are a lot better than theirs.
If, you know, we actually use Jesus as the model.
these people calling themselves christian is like putting designer labels on counterfeit goods. at first glance, you might be fooled into thinking you’ve got the real thing, but wait a little while, and the seams will start to come apart, and you’ll realize your were duped.
I thought the use of prey was intentional, like when I use it. And they do prey on peoples sensibilities and play the real believers for suckers. Love that bearwoman (ratwoman?) image. The media has decided it’s time to stick a fork in her. Her only big event coming up is that Korean brainy contest where she will display her gnawledge.
gnawledge! 😆
i know the raisinettes “get” me, and they’ll know that prey was intentional, but i wonder how many passersby will think i don’t know how to spell. this is the second time that bearwoman has been a rodent in the past month or so, jerry. i think it suits her well.
I find this quite appalling (on so many levels)…really had no idea how deeply entrenched was Perry’s religiosity and how astonishingly ignorant he is on basic scientific principles. I’m afraid he does not have the intellectual wherewithal to be a Fifth Horseman (good gawd, he is not even fit to serve them water!). Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins responded brilliantly to Rick Perry recently in this not to be missed Washington Post article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/attention-governor-perry-evolution-is-a-fact/2011/08/23/gIQAuIFUYJ_blog.html), stating “…a politician’s attitude to evolution, however peripheral it might seem, is a surprisingly apposite litmus test of more general inadequacy.” Excellent post nonnie, and a real eye-opener.
P.S. I do agree with Perry’s statement: “Sometimes the rules must protect society at large at the expense of individual expression when that expression is deemed harmful to others and society at large” (as long as he is not talking about gay scoutmasters or ‘blue laws!’).
Bill Maher is back in town. I would pay TRIPLE the full ticket price to hear him go one-on-one with Rick Perry. I would forgo a year of Cirque du Soleil to see that show!!
that was an awesome response by dawkins. i hope all the raisinettes read it. thanks for linking over to it, elizabeth.
The word “theory” is one that I wish people understood better.
Yes, evolution is a theory. Kind of like germ theory, gravitational theory, and lots of other things that all well-adjusted people accept as reality.
Exactly. I wish they would rename it something else so the scientifically illiterate could better appreciate/accept ‘fact.’
If Perry is so Jeesusy & Biblical, I have to wonder where this piece of… legislation comes from??
Wiki quote:
On February 2, 2007, Perry issued an executive order mandating that Texas girls receive HPV vaccine that protects against some strains of the human papilloma virus, a contributing factor to some forms of cervical cancer. The order provided vaccination free of charge to those who were not covered by insurance, and included an opt-out provision for parents. At the time of the order, Gardasil, a newly approved drug manufactured by Merck, was the only HPV vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The move made national headlines, and apparent financial connections between Merck and Perry were reported by news outlets, such as a $6,000 campaign contribution and Merck’s hiring of former Perry Chief of Staff Mike Toomey to handle its Texas lobbying work and Perry’s “current chief of staff’s mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne White Delisi [as] state director for Women in Government”.
Wouldn’t a fundie, evangelical jeesusy zealot be going for the (known to not work), just say no, be a virgin, abstain from sin-n-sex route?
This is a sexually transmitted disease we are talking about.
Bachmann is on Perry’s case about this issue.
Their next debate should have a who is more christian showdown.
Perry’s decision was criticized by some social conservatives and parents due to concerns about possible moral implications of the vaccine and safety concerns. On February 22, 2007, a group of families sued in an attempt to block Perry’s executive order.
In May 2007, the Texas Legislature passed a bill to undo Perry’s executive order. Perry did not veto it, saying the Legislature would have sufficient time and votes to override his veto.
In true form, forget that biblical mandate to *do unto others*….
Perry embraces the guns.
Gun ownership
Perry has an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association. He possesses a Concealed Handgun License (THIS BRINGS NEW MEANING TO A PRESIDENT AND OR TEXAN “SHOOTING FROM THE HIP”)
and in 2005, he signed a number of bills that, among other things, reduced CHL fees for military veterans and senior citizens, reduced the CHL age requirement from 21 to 18 for members of the military, exempted military veterans from taking the range portion of the CHL licensing process (if they had been weapons certified in the military within the past five years), and extended the renewal period for a CHL from four to five years. In 2007, Perry signed castle doctrine legislation, enhancing a person’s legal right to use deadly force in self defense against an intruder within one’s place of residence.
Just what America needs a gun totin’, gay hatin’ president, who promotes the use of deadly force @ home. Oh and legislating mandates for ladies and their reproductive parts. Or else?
like i’ve said before, this debate is going to be a barn burner. botox batshit bachmann and gov little ricky goodhair dueling with crosses at 10 paces. meanwhile, mittsie is shitting in his magic undies, hoping that nobody asks him about religion.
i hope that one of the moderators asks them all–after herman cain disses all career politicians and the others agree with him–how they can diss political insiders when they have all been on the government teat for decades.
I can’t imagine a worse state of affairs than having Perry as President. I hope my prayers are heard over his. I can’t believe that the Republican party would endorse this lunatic. He would set back this country a hundred or more years. We’d be witnessing de-evolution. At this point, I’d take Huntsman over him.
i can’t either, sds. a perry administration would be even worse than chimpy’s was. of all the rethuglican candidates, the one that would scare me the least is huntsman.
none of these people are religious or spiritual – they are simply meglomaniacs using religion to advance their own power structure. just like when Mao got rid of the book of confuscious and replaced it with the book of mao – which was exactly the same thing.
when you live in an uneducated society that is governed and motivated by one thing – FEAR – you get rick perry – hitler youth embodied in a nice suit, good haircut and a prune face.
they’ve taken a page out of the televangelist book and tweaked it for politics. they aren’t religious. they might tell themselves that they are, but it’s just an excuse so they can live with their megalomania without guilt.
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They are religious that’s the problem; being religious and being Christlike are two entirely different matters. Religion is all outward; biblical Christianity is loving God and loving your neighbor as you do yourself.
hello ginowan777,
welcome to the raisin! 😀
i am not religious by any measure, but i agree with your assessment. thanks for visiting.