Once again I am left virtually speechless but the sheer blind rage in this election. The moral leaders of the Church in the Valley in Leakey, Texas felt that it was appropriate to post this sign reading: “Vote for the Mormon, not the Muslim! The capitalist, not the communist!” Putting aside the violation of its tax-exempt status, church leaders thought nothing of the lesson given their children in making such false and prejudicial statements. It shows the dangerously thin line that separates the faithful from the hateful in our society.
Of course, in addition to repeating the false statement about President Obama’s religion, the sign adds the common and equally ridiculous mantra about his being a communist. A term that, when pressed, seems beyond definition for some of these protesters.
The Church in the Valley headed by Pastor Ray Miller (who came up with the idea of the sign) sees nothing wrong is defining people primarily by their alleged faith — whether it is falsely Obama as a Muslim or Romney as a Mormon.
Equally disgusting is the response of a least one local businessman who insist that the controversy will be good for business. Damon White is quoted as saying “I love it. Even if it’s bad attention, bring it on. Come to town, see what it’s about.” Well, Mr. White, we certainly now know what you are about. It does not matter if it is unfair, prejudicial, and disrespectful, it is good for business. Now there is a lesson for the children of Leakey, Texas.
Notably, on its website, the Church proclaims “We believe our faith should be visible in concrete forms and models of personal and social behavior.” That model appears to include insulting and prejudicial statements about people with whom you disagree as well as use of false claims to achieve your political ends. I don’t recall the passage where Jesus Christ led the smear campaign against Pontius Pilatus. Indeed, I seem to recall something out “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Perhaps but it does not sum up Paster Miller or the good people of the Church of the Valley.
Source: KENS as first seen on Reddit.
Ariel,
Although I am hardly a slave to PC language, I’d like to know what is so particularly offensive about the term Eskimo. You are the first person I’ve ever heard complain about it. Then again, I only know one person from Alaska and he’s whiter than I am. My understanding is that it is a generic term to cover the related cultures of the Yupik and Inuit. No one gets upset by the term Northeasterners although the culture of Maine is slightly different from the culture of New Jersey. So really. If you can explain why the term is considered insulting, I’d like to know.
Ariel:
what are you saying? I think gbk has a valid point.
What I think you are asking is if gbk is a moral relativist who does not believe in absolutes but I am not sure.
Slavery is wrong but I am not so sure you can hold savages accountable for slavery since the idea of individual rights is a fairly recent concept. I think we can hold some of our founders accountable because most knew better.
Seems to me this case of voter fraud has been handled appropriately and within the law.
“But a source close to the case against Small says the young field worker missed the deadline to return eight voter forms, and then, panicking, appears to have thrown those eight forms in the trash.
According to the source, Small would have gotten fired for missing that deadline.”
“While Harrisonburg swung slightly Democratic in the 2008 election, Small’s job was to follow up with voters who were potential Republicans. In all likelihood, the forms he allegedly threw in the dumpster would have belonged to Republican voters.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/10/19/colin-small-may-have-thrown-out-voter-forms-because-he-made-a-mistake
“Twenty-three-year-old Colin Small is facing 13 felony and misdemeanor counts all related to alleged voter fraud. Small was contracted by the Republican Party of Virginia to register voters, but was spotted allegedly tossing a trash bag containing eight forms in a dumpster just ahead of the Oct. 15 registration deadline.
Small, a Pennsylvania resident, is charged with four counts of destruction of voter registration applications, eight counts of disclosure of voter registration applications, and one count of obstruction of justice.
Officials say there is no indication that this was a widespread incident, or that it was politically motivated.”
http://wtvr.com/2012/10/19/man-arrested-for-dumping-virginia-voter-registrations/
Hi, gbk,
“What question, the one in your mind that you neglected to ask?
Ask it, frame it.” I did frame it, it was the one Enoch asked, and I framed it as follows: “while Enoch asked a question about moral absolutes and applying temporally, drawing obviously from the present.” I furthermore framed it this way “I doubt gbk would endorse the change. I am not picking on you gbk whatsoever. I don’t like applying morality backwards either. But the question (Enoch’s) shouldn’t be dismissed either.” Now there was a lot in between, all of it framing, so I don’t think I kept it hidden, and therefore I didn’t neglect to ask it.
You stated a very, irrefutable, historical fact, but you couched it with “morally acceptable”. Was I making too great a leap in assuming that you didn’t mean “morally right”? Enoch was just arguing that it shouldn’t be considered morally right, whatever the time period, whatever acceptable for the time. I don’t care what “ism” he draws it from whatsoever, that’s for ideological purists. I really don’t think you disagree on the point, but feel free to make the argument that it was morally right because it was morally acceptable.
I dwelt longer on what you wrote only because you gave me more to work with by your phrasing. No insult intended, and no intent to single you out other than what I had to work with.
Now, because I’ve tried to be nice I’ve built up some Internet Snark Bile, while there are no medical studies yet, from my own observation of others as well my own internal reactions, it must be released or it leads to extreme rants.
Gene H., Eskimo? Really, Eskimo? That was a discarded, even insulting, word when I was in Alaska, along the Aleutians, and on the Pribolofs (OK, they think of themselves as more Russian, but I was on a run) in the mid-70s. It’s Inuit, man, INUIT. Not Eskimo. IN-U-IT.
I feel so much better.
Virginia Code § 24.2-104
Virginia Code 24.2-104 – Requesting assistance for attorney for the Commonwealth; investigative committees
Virginia Code > Title 24.2 > Chapter 1 > § 24.2-104 – Requesting assistance for attorney for the Commonwealth; investigative committees
Current as of: 2011
Check for updates
2008 version
§ 24.2-104. Requesting assistance for attorney for the Commonwealth; investigative committees.
When the State Board is of the opinion that the public interest will be served, it may request the Attorney General, or other attorney designated by the Governor for the purpose, to assist the attorney for the Commonwealth of any jurisdiction in which election laws have been violated. The Attorney General, or the other attorney designated by the Governor, shall have full authority to do whatever is necessary or appropriate to enforce the election laws or prosecute violations thereof. When the State Board makes its request pursuant to a unanimous vote of all members, the Attorney General or other attorney designated by the Governor shall exercise the authority granted by this section to conduct an investigation, prosecute a violation, assure the enforcement of the elections laws, and report the results of the investigation to the State Board.
The attorney for the Commonwealth or a member of the electoral board of any county or city may make a request, in writing, that the Attorney General appoint a committee to make an immediate investigation of the election practices in that city or county, accompanied by a statement under oath that substantial violations of this title have allegedly occurred which may alter or have altered the outcome of an election. On receipt of the request and statement, the Attorney General shall forthwith appoint a committee of two or more persons qualified to make the investigation. Members, officers, and employees of the Board, local electoral boards, and registrars’ offices shall not serve on the committee but may provide assistance to the committee.
The Attorney General shall direct the committee to observe, investigate or supervise the election if supervision appears necessary. The committee shall make a preliminary report to the Attorney General within five days of its appointment. If its report shows that violations of this title have occurred, the Attorney General may, notwithstanding any other provision of law, authorize the prosecution of those responsible for the violations.
http://www.lawserver.com/law/state/virginia/va-code/virginia_code_24-2-104
October 22,2012
900 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
804-786-2071
FAX 804-786-1991
Virginia Relay Services
800-828-1120
7-1-1
Dear Senator McEachin:
Over the past few days, I have read reports in the news media regarding your request for my
office to investigate the alleged dumping of voter registration forms in Harrisonburg. An investigation into this matter is absolutely warranted, and the local authorities are currently conducting one. Tampering with voter forms is a serious crime, and I believe that this allegation should be thoroughly investigated.
As a state lawmaker who serves on the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee and as someone who ran for attorney general, you undoubtedly know that my office does not have the authority to investigate election matters unless explicitly requested to do so,by the State Board of
Elections, a local commonwealth’s attorney, or a local electoral board member (see Virginia Code § 24.2-104). No such request has been made to date; and, therefore, by law, I do not have the authority to undertake the investigation you have suggested. My hands are tied in this matter.
However, regarding future election matters, I would be happy to support a legislative effort by you in the next General Assembly session to provide investigative authority to the Office of the Attorney General in relation to vote tampering and voter fraud. As you know, then — and only then — would my office be able to fulfill your request to investigate such matters without a formal request from the State Board of Elections, a local commonwealth’s attorney, or a local electoral board member.
Thus, I agree with the sentiment reflected in your statements that the Office of the Attorney General should have concurrent authority with commonwealth’s attorneys to investigate and prosecute violations of our election laws, such as the destruction of voter registration forms. The current system is cumbersome and less effective than it would be if the prosecutors of the Office of the Attorney General could work across all of our local jurisdictions to punish violators.
I appreciate you focusing attention on this shortcoming in our election laws, and 1look forward to working with you to improve the protections in Virginia law for the right to vote — one of our most important and precious rights.
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
OS:
I would like to know the whole story and Cuccinelli’s limitations.
If it is as you say, Colin Small is possibly in need of company.
nick,
I’m afraid what you think about honor let alone manliness is absolutely meaningless to me but especially in the face of contrary facts. Paraphrases don’t require cites. That you’re ignorant of grammar and style in the use of language is hardly a surprise so if you want to take your own advice? You put down your shovel.
Or continue to show your own fears of intellectual inadequacy by making a meaningless and factually inaccurate point repeatedly as if you’d won the Olympics.
It’s funny.
Again, not so much in the “Ha-ha!” sense as in the “Awwwww” sense.
Bron, stastically, it would be bizarre if it were not both. However, that misses the point. He had been registering potential voters in a heavily Democratic area. That means that more Democrats than Republicans were probably disenfranchised. That beggars the question. NEITHER should be thrown away. When a potential voter fills out that registration form in good faith, the damn form should be turned in.
In a just world, Colin Small would be in the dock facing at least 13 charges of fraud on the voting system. He will not face any charges, not even a slap on the wrist. Why? Because he was a paid GOP operative with the assignment of voter suppression in a GOP controlled legal system.
I wrote about honor earlier today. I know, you know, God knows, and some folks here know you just got caught and your faulty ego won’t allow you to just man up. Join Nixon and all though many egomaniacs who never learned it’s not the offense..it’s the cover up. A smart person would have just admitted the failure to attribute and it would have been done. I see your love for Shakespeare is deeply rooted. The first rule for getting out of a hole is to stop digging.
OS:
as with most all things like this there are 2 sides to the story and in the article you provided someone was quoted as saying there were both repub and demo registrations.
nick,
paraphrase /ˈparəfreɪz/, n.,
:a rewording of something written or spoken
The quote you refer to:
Walter Sobchak: Nihilists! F$*k me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.
What I said:
“Not all beliefs are equally worthy of respect. The Nazis had a very definite ethos no matter what else you can say about them. Most would agree that their ethic is certainly not worthy of respect.”
This is not a direct quote. It is a paraphrase.
In writing, the grammatical and stylistic convention is to identify and attribute direct quotes by quotation marks and sometimes a direct cite depending on circumstances. This is not so with paraphrasing. I wasn’t “busted” nor am I concerned about your evaluation that following a grammatical and stylistic convention properly is a need for me to “man up”.
However, if your lack of proper understanding of the English language makes you feel like you accomplished something of value?
Good for you!
You get a gold star and an extra snack before nap time.
Enoch, I’m sorry but this is specious “Properly speaking, then, one is only a “slave” whose condition of those Slavs from which the word derives.” No, because the root of a word doesn’t enslave the meaning of the word to the root. IIRC, root in Arabic for slave is “black” or some similar meaning term, which doesn’t mean that whites taken into slavery by Arabs (estimated at 1.5 to 3 million) weren’t slaves. Now as far Juda, really by far more enlightened than most, that there was a hierarchy to being a slave doesn’t mean that the word slave doesn’t apply.
I’ll grant that English, language and derived culture, doesn’t make as many distinctions as others, but in our language “slave” is slave. Want to argue Russian serfdom wasn’t a form of slavery? Granted, they were Slavs.
Bron, nice try, but the article I read said he had been registering college students, in an area known to have heavily liberal/Democratic leanings. Even if that were not true, if we use the same yardstick as the hue and cry over supposed mistakes by ACORN, the guy would get a loooooong sentence. Instead, they are not even bothering with him.
Ariel,
“But the question shouldn’t be dismissed either.”
What question, the one in your mind that you neglected to ask?
Ask it, frame it.
IIRC, Britain abolished slavery, de jure, on its mainland while practicing it, de facto, in its colonies and protectorates and so-forthies.
I know I’m one to talk, but ever look for agreement rather than what you (plural) imagine or know are the underpinnings of the others arguments? In this case, enoch’s and gbk’s back and forth (I’m not singling you two out other than on one thing that struck me as odd).
Looking back at Gene H.’s good essay on Ethical Relativism (and its natural cousin) and drew this quote, which he argues against, “whether an action is right or wrong depends on the ethical and moral norms of the society in which it is practiced” which I believe should also have a temporal component. Gene H. did allude to that with human sacrifice (widely practiced in Mexico, with evidence that it was also practiced in South America). Next quote from that essay: “it is possible to acknowledge cultural differences and still find that some of these practices and beliefs are wrong.” I hope I’m keeping them to his context, easy enough for him to resolve.
So Enoch asks ““Did slavery become wrong, or did law and society finally catch up with the notion that they had always been wrong? Were Jim Crow laws ever right?” and gbk responds “One cannot ignore the fact that slavery was morally acceptable and legally permissible for much of human history and encompassed many times and cultures.” I don’t see a reason for this to be a point of contention, partly because I’m ignoring all the isms, and any past history on this blog, that we hold to by drawing from Gene H.’s essay.
Bear with me (if you’ve read this far you obviously are), gbk stated an unarguable, obvious historical fact, while Enoch asked a question about moral absolutes and applying temporally, drawing obviously from the present. I noticed that gbk used “morally acceptable” for an obvious reason, he couldn’t bring himself to use “morally right”. If tomorrow the world went insane and made slavery morally acceptable and legally permissible (for the USA, the Reconstruction Amendments are repealed) I doubt gbk would endorse the change. I am not picking on you gbk whatsoever. I don’t like applying morality backwards either. But the question shouldn’t be dismissed either.
We, meaning Western Societies, aren’t that far from slavery. Next year will be the 180th anniversary of Britain, the first IIRC, ending slavery.