Ernest J. Pagels is a politician who is not just satisfied with balancing the budget. He is campaigning on a promise to “outlaw” homosexuality as well as abortion and pornography. You may think he is running for Kandahar city council on the Taliban ticket, but he is one of the candidates vying for the GOP slot to challenge Russ Feingold in the Senate.
Here is Pagels’ pitch:
Hi my name is Ernest J. Pagels Jr., I’m a born again Christian, a U.S. veteran and a very conservative Republican. I’m running for U.S. Senate from the state of Wisconsin and if elected I will initiate a bill to outlaw homosexuality, abortion, and all forms of pornography. I think these are three ills that are plaguing our nation and bringing it down. And if elected, I will also initiate a bill for a Constitutional amendment which prohibits Congress and the President from spending more money than they bring in. My name is Ernest J. Pagels, Jr. and I hope you vote for me on September 14.
The campaign commercial is followed by a quotation from Matthew 28:17:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Pagels will apparently teach all of us “to obey everything” commanded by the Bible. The problem it appears is runaway freedoms. Algernon observed the same thing in the The Importance of Being Ernest”: “Oh, it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn’t. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read.”Algernon, Act 1.
I saw a show, recently, on how science examined the existence of God. It put forth a few theories on what God might be and how He might be explained, but the only one that made much sense is that the belief in God is a brain malfunction that makes you feel a presence. This explains so much, especially in the case of this man. And I, for one, do not want mentally ill people in my government, having the responsibility for making rules and passing laws for how all Americans should live their lives.
Thank God for newsmen and women like you, Rachel Maddow, etc. That’s all I can say.
Perhaps this idiot should FIRST READ THE CONSTITUTION. You know you have to swear to uphold it as a Senator, right? Seems you missed the last news cycle where being gay is a constitutional right and gay marriage is too! hahahahah You are a fool believe any person in their right mind would vote for someone who doesn’t understand the law of the land (no, we are not a theocracy Mr. Pagel)
Blouise,
I apologize for not reading this right away. Thanks for letting me know what happened. It’s really interesting that you had the experience from two such different groups. That book draws so many things together: economics, politics, manipulation of the public and religion so I can see why it took several times to discuss it. I am impressed that you got the pleasure reading group to read it in the first place and additionally, how you brought in all the information to back up the startling claims in the book. Rachal Maddow had some clips of the founder “preaching” about killin’ and all. It’s was so creeeeppppyyyy!!! I appreciate learning of your experience. Thank you!
He looks drunk and sounds drunk to me.
Jill,
I belong to two.
The first, and oldest, started as a “Great Books” seminar and continued from there. Naturally, the books chosen are in the vein of the Great Books format and the membership of 20 has remained constant involving both sexes and all political persuasions. There are many “professions” (shut-up AY) represented, but mainly lawyers and university Profs. Although none had read the book before our taking it up, many had heard about it. I’ll not report on the group’s opinion of the author’s writing style but as to the subject matter, the consensus was surprise but not shock. Several members decided to do some research of their own and were satisfied that the author reported matters truthfully. The discussions veered off onto many different avenues, as you can well imagine, and in the end, our schedule was modified to add a few more weeks. A few conservative’s eyes were opened and the consensus was that the book was most helpful and should be recommended to friends and family.
The second club is also a mixed group but this is a purely pleasure bunch for the books are all “mystery” genre. It was a harder sell to get the book accepted but all were glad we made the “exception”. Here there was more shock and more initial disbelief … thankfully I had all of the research from the first club to present. Here also there was more overall disgust and anger than in the first, dare I say, more sophisticated group. Nevertheless, in the end all felt the same … both groups agreed that this organization needed to be watched very closely and those affiliated with it should not be in public office.
Other book clubs have tackled the book and completed it but I don’t know their opinions. Suffice it to say that the book became popular in book club circles in this area.
Mission accomplished … so to speak.
anon nurse,
I’ve been following that story as well. It’s a natural outcropping of both the NSA’s ongoing Eschelon and Carnivore programs (phone and e-mail intercepts respectively). But natural doesn’t mean right or Constitutional.
The one consolation is that past a certain point no amount of intelligence will keep citizens from rising up and eating the politicians and their corporatist paymasters. True, it’s grim consolation because a lot of people will die, but consolation nonetheless.
Report: Raytheon Hired for NSA Surveillance of Infrastructure Hacking
And the Wall Street Journal has revealed the National Security Agency has launched a new domestic surveillance program to detect cyber assaults on critical U.S. infrastructure. The program, dubbed “Perfect Citizen”, would rely on sensors to track unusual activity in the computer networks behind infrastructure such as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants. The military contractor Raytheon has been awarded a contract worth up to $100 million dollars for the program’s initial stage. The expansive program has raised concerns about the NSA potentially intruding on domestic affairs as well as privacy rights. An internal Raytheon email even says of the program: “Perfect Citizen is Big Brother.”
The above is from democracynow.org
Guess this is old news, but it’s part of something much bigger. Eventually the whole story will be known, hopefully. Yep,”Perfect Citizen is Big Brother”, but it’s much worse than this story would lead one to believe.
Perfect Citizen: secret NSA surveillance program revealed by WSJ
By Thomas Ricker posted Jul 8th 2010 4:28AM
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/08/perfect-citizen-confidential-nsa-surveillance-program-revealed/
I stumbled on the above article. Still reading about it…
Nancy and anon nurse I agree with you both about Feingold. This is what I wrote yesterday at 1:08 p.m., “…I don’t know if Feingold is a member. He doesn’t seem to vote their way.”
In a later post, I affirmed this statement to Elaine saying, “As I said, I don’t think Feingold is a member of The Family.” In the past I’ve sent money for his campaign. If I did think he belonged to The Family, that would never have happened!!!
Blouise,
That is so interesting about your book club. I’d like to hear what they thought if you have time to write a few things they discussed.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/tea-party-20-new-site-seeks-to-turn-tea-partiers-into-grassroots-organizers.php?ref=fpc
Congratulations, Elaine M. If I were within striking distance, I’d have to crash the reception for the food :-).
I agree with Nancy. I’d be very surprised to learn of links between Feingold and “The Family.”
(American Fascists by Chris Hedges is worth the read — it’s about the rise of the radical Christian right.)
Jill-I don’t know for a fact that Feingold isn’t a member of the family. I guess I could send him an email and ask him, but I am also pretty sure because of his votes, statements, political positions and religious beliefs that he doesn’t hang with “The Family.” I don’t think he’d be very welcome there.