The Church Lady would be proud

September 28, 2006

We have Godwin’s Law to address political debates that invariably lead to Hitler comparisons, but I think we may soon need a new law to deal with comparisons to Satan.

Last week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez equated George W. Bush with Satan in an address before the United Nations General Assembly. (Speaking from the same podium, Chaves said he could “still smell the sulfur” from where the president stood.) A few days later, TV preacher Jerry Falwell equated Hillary Clinton with “Lucifer.”

Adding to the fun, Focus on the Family’s James Dobson had some satanic concerns of his own this week.

Dobson’s Focus on the Family aired a broadcast titled “Overcoming Satan’s Lies,” during which, according to Focus on the Family’s website, evangelical author “Kay Arthur challenge[d] women to examine the deceptive messages of the feminist movement.” Introducing the September 21 broadcast, Dobson asserted that Satan “uses many different means of communication,” including “university professors.”

So, to review, Bush, Clinton, feminists, and college professors are either the devil or under his influence. Got it.

Who needs Hitler comparisons when [tag]Satan[/tag] is apparently the trendy demon of choice?

As far as I’m concerned you can’t post that “smell the sulfur” line often enough. It’s Gold Jerry!

  • From a wire-service story in this morning’s LA Times:

    The front-runner in Ecuador’s presidential campaign said the devil should feel insulted by comparisons to President Bush.

    Rafael Correa referred to the U.N. speech last week by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who alluded to Bush as “the devil.”

    “Calling Bush the devil is offending the devil,” Correa said. He said that “the devil is evil, but intelligent.”

    “I believe Bush is a tremendously dimwitted president who has done great damage”….

  • This country is growing increasingly insane. Fifty years ago people like Falwell and the others were, properly, relegated to backwoods hillbilly radio, their audience nothing but snake-handler knuckle-draggers whose only hope was salvation through a grave on the green hillside. Now they dominate the news and politics. Just when the American public is finally coming to terms with the fact that it is possible for real-world terrorists to penetrate our Sweet Land of Liberty, along come the preachers pushing their even more ancient fear: demonic ill-wishers who can apparently only be overcome through donations to some church or other. What utter nonsense.

    Truth in advertising: I’m an emeritus professor, one of those devils Dobson outed.

  • I personally believe the Dobson is channeling Pluto -Roman god of the underworld. The only sad part is that people believe this crap. At least now the righties see why we kept calling Cheney evil. It’s fun and satisfying. The may be overusng it a little however.

  • I’m waiting for these knuckleheads to get to the point where they decide everyone is the devil, seek safety in their own assholes and don’t emerge.

    You know these freaks get off on descriptions of witch trials and burnings.

  • The Religious Reich is the Antichrist. Oh wait, the Antichrist is supposed to be a pleasant fellow, a uniter not a divider. These guys are just the Aholechrists.

  • lib4 (#5),

    The NPR story doesn’t say anything of the sort. 7-11 “sympathizes” with the “concern” voiced over Chavez’ comments. But the story points out the switch was set up a month before Chavez’ devil remark.

    7-Eleven’s supply switch was actually in the works long before President Chavez spoke last week. The company sought bids for a new supplier of gasoline in October of 2004, and lined up at least one replacement more than a month ago.

    It’s fairly clear in the text, and even clearer in the audio clip. How did you come to any other conclusion?

  • Much ado about nothing folks. Consider that W likes to ‘cut loose’ for a laugh, there probably was still a stench at the podium in the UN. I can’t imagine what the oval orrifice smells like.

    As for the Focus fools, ANYBODY that has a message apart from their own is by definition devil inspired. That’s why fundies will not negotiate, and why they should all be crucified, plus it’s good for the martyr complex!!!!!

  • I have come to notice , that even on these “left ” wing blogs, the supporters of the Democrats are very anti-Chavez. Is it that wrong to provide oil to poor people at a discount?
    One comedic, hyberbolic remark about someone he dislikes and nothing he does has any merit at all, before of after. That troll tried to drop a lie about Chavez and 7-11.Thanks Brainiac for exposing that liar! What else is the American Left(oxymoron, it seems we have no left in this country) saying and thinking about other, true Leftist leaders. I can smell the disdain thru the TV when John Stewart jokes about Castro and Chavez. Now even CB has lumped Chavez in with crackpot (and truly evil) Dobson et al. Marginalizing?? Hmmmm….
    Is this really all that Americans think about an alternate political system, one that respects all people for being created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain unailiable rights?
    We have met the enemy, and he is us.

  • Lets not forget the famous “Axis of Evil.” That is the problem with the evangelical movement. Everything to them is either good or evil, black or white, my way or the highway.

    They know their position doesn’t follow reason, so they demonize the intellectuals and dismiss fact as a matter of opinion (their own opinion).

  • Is CB dismissing Chavez? I think he’s just enjoying a funny bit of snark and not saying anything one way or the other about the Latino Don Rickles.

    Don’t know about the 7/11 Bidness, but a Boston City Councilor is trying to have the landmark Citgo Sign taken down b/c of the Diablo remarks. But then the City Council has long been a haven for all manner of kooks who couldn’t cut the mustard in Cambridge.

    Me, I’m just glad the National Dialogue is focused on the important stuff.

  • From a post written several months ago on my now defunct blog, but it echoes some sentiments written on this thread. I apoloze for the length.

    I had an epiphany the other night (according to my standards at least) at my neighbors while drinking some good bourbon. Having recently read an article on The Slate about the war on terror being viewed as a ‘clash of civilizations’, I thought to myself, which civilizations are actually clashing? Judging from what we are told by our leaders, indeed it would seem that the west and the Islamic middle east are in a clash of cultures; the west representing freedom of thought and human rights, the middle east Islamists representing the theocratic control of thought and human rights.

    But that is simply one manifestation of the real clash of civilizations happening right now in our own country between the forces of reason and the forces of religious dogma.

    There is a term for the period in history when religious dogma dominated the political landscape, and in turn peoples’ everyday lives: The Dark Ages. I fear this country is edging towards a similar period, where reason, science, secularism, freedom of thought and religion, are all being trumped by a small but powerful faction of American society that is dominating the political debate: The Religious Right. They seek to impose their particular brand of religion and morality (in their case biblical literalism) on the rest of us; they seek to turn back centuries of human progress and enlightenment; they seek to establish a religious theocracy in the United States based on their interpretation of the Bible (which in reality is an interpretation that draws heavily on 19th century American evangelicals who perverted Christianity – a religion of acceptance and love – into a faith of intolerance and religious subjugation (see Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God).

    It would be almost farcical to think that what I just described could happen in this country in this day and age, yet it is. The religious right has gained control of the Republican party, which now holds the power of all three branches of our government (as well as the Supreme Court, thanks to the two most recent appointees). They are working tirelessly to eradicate the separation of church and state in order to establish their vision of an American Christian nation. Their efforts have already produced disastrous results, first and foremost the so called “War on Terror”. They have taken a criminal terrorist act and propelled it to become the rallying cry for the final crusade against Islam. The religious right feels that we live in the “End Times” (I will leave that topic for another blog), and they see the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and potentially Iran, as a means to usher in Armageddon, hence the return of Christ and God’s kingdom on earth.

    It took a revolution of thinking called the Age of Reason to overcome the ignorance produced by the Dark Ages, and I believe the culmination of this age of reason is best represented by the American Founding Fathers. Their views on a participatory democratic republic, on inalienable rights, on the freedom of thought and practice of religion without persecution, were watershed events that changed the course of mankind. The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights and the Constitution, are to me documents that epitomize mankind’s thirst for justice, fairness, peace, and harmony.

    Contrast those ideals and the men who articulated them with our current president who says the Constitution is just a “Goddamned piece of paper”, whose administration governs as a monarchy – and you should fear for our country. It seems that the democratic republic created by our founding fathers is crumbling, slowly but surely, before our eyes. The clash of civilizations is not between the west and Islam, rather it is a clash between those whose actions are governed by reason, and those who choose willful ignorance.

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