Excellent clip from the Colbert Report! Women aren’t persons, but corporations are … at least in the eyes of one Supreme Court justice.

60 Minutes does a report on the non-mosque that isn’t at Ground Zero. Shows a nice contrast between the sane people involved with the community center and the insane people who oppose it. Worth watching.

A new school year means a new speech by President Obama to the students returning to school. A Presidential pep rally. This year there wasn’t quite the same level of hysteria about it, though Beck and all the usual Fox talking heads were going on and on about “indoctrination” in our schools. Ugh.

On the Wednesday night, Stephen Colbert had a bit about this year’s speech by the President. In the bit was a clip about a school in Leander requiring permission slips to watch the speech. Yes, permission slips required to listen to the President of the United States! Utterly insane. Though Colbert didn’t mention which Leander where in the USA, Lin and I both knew immediately it was our Leander. The one just up the road on the other side of Cedar Park. How? A Fox Channel 7, an 83º temp listed in the corner, and the accent of the moron talking to the camera about how they’d decided requiring permission to watch the President’s speech was a good idea. Yup … Texas. We were not at all surprised.

Fox News bleating on and on about the injustice of a President daring to speak to children and OMG!!! telling them to do good in school, because a good education is important to later happiness and prosperity doesn’t surprise me either, sadly. No, I fully expect Fox to lose their minds about something Obama has said or done (or not said or done) every minute of every day, because that network is insane in the membrane and outrageous behavior does bring in the eyeballs and advertisers (and therefore the money). But for schools to require permission slips to hear a Presidential speech of any kind? That’s just so far into the realm of ridiculous, I can’t even find words to describe it.

When I was a kid and all the while I was growing up, when a President of the United States spoke, we all listened. He was our President. The leader of our country. Kids not only didn’t require a permission slip to hear a President give a speech telling them to stay in school and study hard, it was required that we watch it … if not by our parents then required by the school. It’s complete madness now that anyone can selectively decide to ignore the leader of their country, or even worse, determine that whatever he might say during a freaking back-to-school pep rally could be so damaging to the precious minds of their offspring as to require a permission slip to hear. I guess I should be thankful Leander allowed any students to watch the speech this year, seeing as last year they didn’t allow it at all.

Seriously, America (as well as Fox News and Leander, Texas), what the hell is wrong with you people?!

Here’s the Colbert clip. It’s funny, in that sad sort of way most things political are funny these days.

Last night, The Daily Show covered Glenn Beck’s upcoming rally on Martin Luther King Day by showing clips of Beck at his finest contradicting himself and being an egotistical ass. Definitely must-see TV.

And tomorrow should be an interesting day in Washington, D.C. don’t you think? I can’t wait to see what happens at Beck’s rally.

The Daily Show has saved me from having to write a thousand word post griping about the idiocy surrounding the building of a mosque. No, not THAT one –the non-mosque mosque in NYC– but one in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The anti-Islam woman interviewed in the clip –Laurie Cardoza-Moore– is for real, by the way. She’s not an actress or comedian putting on an skit or reading a script. She actually believes the ridiculous things coming out of her mouth. For that alone, it’s worth watching. It’s important to see hatred and stupidity on display … and to point and laugh at it.

A prime example:

Cardoza-Moore: “You believe that the Jews and Christians are the infidels and they are, according to the Koranic teachings, supposed to be killed.”

This is, in fact, one of the HUGE lies being told by Anti-Islam morons. Unlike in Christianity, where anyone who is not an actual Christian is an infidel, Islam recognizes both Christians and Jews as Brothers of the Book … since they do, in fact, all worship the same god (the god of Abraham). Infidel in Islam means someone who doesn’t believe in god (i.e. agnostics and atheists). So, no plans to kill all the Christians and Jews. The argument that is usually shot back after I make a statement like that is that radical Islamist terrorists think anyone who isn’t Muslim is an infidel, but I’d counter that just like many crazy fundamental Christians, these radical followers of Islam are not following the tenets of their religion.

If there was just one thing I could pound into the heads of the anti-Islam Christians, it’s that Islam isn’t out to kill you. You aren’t an infidel. You are all brothers (and sisters). But alas, too many Christians just want to hate someone … like anyone who isn’t Christian (or even anyone who isn’t their particular flavor of Christian).

Another laugh riot from the mouth of Laurie:

Cardoza-Moore: “Pork is not served on any entree.”

This would make them evil why exactly? She does know Jews don’t eat pork either, right?

Anyway, the clip must be watched for her interview, because it’s not even just what she was saying, it was how she was saying it. Such haughty smugness … while sitting there talking to Aasif Mandvi who is an actual Muslim. I mean, I’d be embarrassed to say the things she was saying directly to someone of that faith, but not her! She’s got the righteousness of Jesus behind her! Facts be damned!

What a disgusting, small-minded, and ignorant human being.

Fox & Friends: “The Kingdom Foundation, which has been a funder of Imam Rauf in the past … The Kingdom Foundation, so you know, is this Saudi organization headed up by this guy who tried to give Rudi Guliani ten million dollars after 9/11 that was sent back … he funds radical madrassas all over the world … and he funds this Imam.”

Jon Stewart: “The terror funder is Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp partner! That’s right, the guy they’re painting as a sinister money force owns part of Fox News. If we want to cut off funding to the terror-mosque, we must –together as a nation– stop watching Fox. Using their reasoning, it’s the only way to cut off the revenue stream to these ‘bad dudes.’ Here’s the most curious part of this entire report. Fox tells us the terrible thing about this Kingdom Foundation is what they funded. He’s a very bad guy, but they never mention this guy’s name, and they never showed this fellow’s picture, and they certainly never mentioned that this fellow they are talking about is part owner of their company. Did the gang at Fox and Friends genuinely not know the head of The Kingdom Foundation’s name and the fact that he is one of their part owners, or were they purposely covering it up their fear-driven narrative?”

The entire video is very informative and entertaining in that sad way modern political comedy is, because the truth they are exposing and the lies they are skewering are indeed truly, truly sad.

It’s hard to laugh about it.

Anderson Cooper: “You told my producer pregnant women are coming here as tourists, having babies, and then going back home ‘with the nefarious purpose of turning them into little terrorists, who will then come back to the U.S. to do us harm.’ You said it’s part of an organized terrorist element and could cost us lives. Where did you hear that?”

Debbie Riddle^†: “That is information that is coming to my office from former FBI officials.”

Cooper then asks what evidence she has this is happening, and, no surprise, she “doesn’t have the hard evidence” right in front of her. Then she launches into her talking points diatribe about “anchor babies.” Finally, he presses her again for any evidence she has of terrorist anchor babies:

Cooper: “Have they given your office actual facts … or proof?”

Riddle: “That information we are still gathering.”

It’s actually an interesting interview, if only because Cooper does keep trying to get her to show she has some kind of actual evidence for the somewhat crazy things she says, and Rafael Anchia^††, state representative from the Dallas Area, appears to be pleasantly sane.

She never really answers any questions. Most of the people saying outrageous things and making crazy claims rarely do. She does seem to have a bee in her bonnet over illegal immigrants though, and she’s got her talking points down to a flawless performance … almost as flawless as her 61 year old wrinkle-free and apparently immovable facial skin.

I guess pregnant women are now the new enemy. Awesome! Someone else to be afraid of!

1. † Texas House of Representatives, Republican, HD150 [↩]
2. †† Texas House of Representatives, Democrat, HD103 [↩]

The Daily Show on the Islamic cultural center being built in New York:

The Colbert Report on Constitution-loving Republicans wanting to ditch the 14th Amendment: