"No Religious Test Shall Ever Be Required..."

Article VI paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the United States:

3: The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

I've heard a lot of preaching and ranting from the Tea Party about the CONSTITUTION and how our President has somehow violated it. I still don't know how. Neither do they. They just know they don't like Barack Obama, so ergo, he must have violated that confounded document they hold so sacred. Blah blah blah.

Those screaming the loudest about the Constitution are treating it the same way they treat the Bible. Here's what I mean.

They say: Gays are unnatural, sinful, and they should not be allowed to marry because of the Bible. But you don't see them protesting legal divorce. Or starting a foundation to end the weaving of wool with linen. They pick and choose the parts of the Bible they think are important, and simply discard - or ignore - the rest. And they do the same with the Constitution.

Obama has been called a Muslim, a secret Muslim, an atheist, an atheist Muslim, a secularist, and has been attacked because of things his former Pastor, Rev. Wright has said. All this despite the Constitutional mandate that

[N]o religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

So, whack jobs ranting about imagined interfaith political rumbles, clearly you do not abide by or support the Constitution of the United States. Should we try you for treason?

How about you, Mittens? Here's a link to Mitt Romney questioning Obama's religion and accusing him of considering the establishment of a new religion. A completely fabricated allegation and an UNCONSTITUTIONAL religious test.

Mitt was asked why he thought Obama wanted to require insurance to cover birth control. The obvious answer to any sane person: So that women can have better and more affordable access to birth control. Duh. Mitt's answer: Scary Barry is trying to destroy real religion and force us to practice secularism. (Paraphrased obviously)

And then, when Lawrence O'Donnell says some bad things about Mitt's Mormon religion, the National Review jumps to Mitt's defense. You can begin to see the wisdom of our founding fathers as this attack and counter-attack spirals into utter stupidity.

The Salt Lake Tribune's headline today is "MORMON MOMENT" with a picture of Mitt Romney. Here's a link to the article online. It has a different headline than the printed version. But, NO, it's not a Mormon Moment. It's not a Mormon Moment any more than Kennedy's election was a Catholic Moment or Nixon's election was a Quaker Moment. It's a political moment. That is all.

By the same token, the idea of NOT voting for someone because of their religion - or lack of religion - is about as unAmerican as anything you can put on a list. It is a fundamental principal dating back to our country's founding that our elected officials not be subject to a religious test. Period.

Politics are nasty. And they are made even more nasty by the moral positioning and God-claiming that candidates engage in. Morality and politics are about as foreign to each other as integrity and politics.

Religion and politics? They have been shacking up and fornicating in this country for far too long, despite the Constitutional prohibitions. Look at the bastard candidates that relationship has produced! Sadly, I see no end in sight to this corruption of our elections. The Constitution only has the power we give it, and it only has the authority we submit to. Until the theocrats get out of politics - or are forced out by Americans who truly respect and honor our Constitution - we will never get Above Our Raisin'.

So Many Embarassements, So Little Time to Blog

Since work got back to normal, my blogging has been lagging. Sorry. I'm re-committing to get back to pointing out people cavemanliness and moronitudes.

So, to catch up, here's who should be embarassed for not getting above their raisin' in recent weeks and months.

Mitt Romney - It might be more accurate to say he needs to get "beyond his raisin'." He is so hopelessly clueless, uncomfortably stiff, and shockingly dishonest that he is truly re-defining American politics. Someone should let Mittens know that everything he is saying is being recorded and much of it is on YouTube. Some nice Democrats have put this video together. Yes, they have an agenda, but the video is still shocking, and includes some FoxNews peeps calling him a flip-flopper. Check it here. Character? He is a character, but I doubt he has any character. Is there nothing he believes in with conviction? He seems to be a man of faith, but refuses to answer questions about that at all. His plan for winning seems to be that he is not Barack Obama. But his approval numbers are actually lower that POTUS's right now.

Sanford Police Department and George Zimmerman - Whatever delusions of posse-style grandeur Zimmerman may have been suffering from, Zimmerman's pursuit, confrontation, and killing of Trayvon Martin is inexcusable and shocking. Only slightly more disturbing is the apparent cover-up and complicity of the Sanford City Police. It is never OK for an armed man to pursue, confront and shoot someone who was doing nothing illegal. NEVER. There is no explanation, excuse, defense or dumb-ass law that makes this OK. Period.

Justice Scalia - His questions at oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act were from the Tea Party website, ie broccoli and cell phones. It's not like I'm a fan of Justice Alito or Chief Justice Roberts, but at least they act like they once went to law school, instead of mocking and snorting like some petulant redneck. And he laughed outright at the very idea that either he or his clerks would be expected to read the law in question. It is 2700 pages long. I get it. But you know what? They get paid a load of money, they cannot be fired, they get government health care and pensions, and they only rule on 75-80 cases per year. With the help of law clerks. Yes, we do expect our Supreme Court justices to read the laws they are reviewing. By the way - not one mention of broccoli, cell phones, or the corn husker kickback (it was taken out before passage) is in the law, Justice Scalia.

Men, both political and religious, trying to prevent insurance coverage of birth control. IT WAS NEVER GOING TO BE FREE. That's just a lie. The ACA provision required that birth control be in the definition of "preventive care" so that it would be available without co-pay from our private insurance carriers. We pay for it WHEN WE PAY OUR HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS! There was no provision requiring tax dollars to pay for anyone's birth control. Ignorance makes us susceptible to any lie. This was a notorious one. The fact that health insurance was not required to cover birth control before now is a scandal. The fact that supposedly celibate bishops had a hissy-fit because insurance coverage of birth control meant some employers would have some tangential relationship to their employees getting "the pill" is also a scandal. Re-igniting the debate about the safety and propriety of women even having access to birth control is a scandal of unimaginable size and scope. WTH? Did I just step out of a time machine? Listen, all you small government Ayn Randian wonks, and you theocratic moral policemen, who have no real clue that for a woman, freedom requires the ability to determine when we get pregnant: Get your policy and your theology out of my veehayhay. It's none of your business.

The New Orleans Saints - They put a bounty on the opposition, rewarding players who injured opposing players. This is not Thunderdome (or for a more modern reference, the Hunger Games) you neanderthals. It's freaking FOOTBALL. It's a GAME. Played for fun and entertainment. Treating it like it's life or death is not only stupid, it's barbaric. No penalty is too big for you.

Tea Bagging Alabama Fan - An Alabama fan, apparently drunk in celebration hours after Alabama won the BCS National Championship in January, took advantage of a passed out LSU fan at a Krystal restaurant in New Orleans when he dropped trou and tea bagged the unconscious tiger supporter's face. It was filmed on a smart phone and posted on YouTube. Charges have been filed. I'm a Tide fan myself, but this was appalling. Is it the same as rape? No. But it is in the neighborhood.

Rush Limbaugh - On general principal, but also because he (1) told big fat whopping lies about the birth control provision of the ACA and (2) vilified a Georgetown Law School student who advocated for insurance coverage of The Pill. Slut. Whore. The usual misogyny from Rush. Advertisers fled but he's like a cockroach. He will not go away.

People who anonymously post the most hateful garbage imaginable in the comment sections on the internet - The concept of wishing people harm or death because they are a different race, political persuasion or sexual orientation is completely lost on me. I don't understand this any more than I understand vandalism. It is pointless, harmful, and destructive.

Do I ever have violent or derogatory thoughts when I get angry? Sure. But what separates me from the animals is that my lizard-brain is controlled by my walking-erect brain. Most of us are able to push down the angry 2001 Space Odyssy bone-weilding primate inside us and let other's be - whatever and however that want to be. People who view anyone different as a threat, and lash out at them with violence or hatred, are still being controlled by their lizard brains, and are doomed to never get above their raisin'.

At Least 46% of Republican Mississippi Primary Voters Polled Are Racist. Are You Shocked?

This is remarkable to me in 2011, but in a recent poll of usual Republican Mississippi Primary voters, 46% said that interracial marriage should be illegal. 40% said it should be legal. The other 14% were undecided. (How does one not have an opinion about this? Are they not sure if they are racist or not?)

Mitt Romney, a Mormon, also did not fare very well in the poll (only 48% approval), although serial adulterer Newt Gingrich did OK (58% approval).

And we wonder why the GOP keeps nominating and electing idiots. Your candidates are only as good as your voters!

In Mississippi, it's better to be a professional politician and adulterer than a successful Mormon businessman who is faithful to his wife. Also, best not to date outside your race since the extreme-right-trending political climate in red states might mean your wooing efforts are in vain.

The one good sign? They apparently don't know who Michele Bachman is. That's a relief!