Bizarre, Media

Bill Maher Celebrates The Death of David Koch And Hopes That He Died In Pain

In what may be the single most vicious commentary that I have read in recent memory, HBO host Bill Maher said Friday that he is “glad” billionaire  David Koch, a conservative activist, is dead and added that he hoped “the end was painful.” I strongly disagreed with Koch’s view of climate change and his anti-environmental stances. However, I cannot imagine saying such a thing about someone because I disagree with his heart-felt convictions. Koch was committed to a set of principles that Maher can disagree with but to celebrate a painful death is truly breathtaking.

I have previously written about the sense of a license among some to be uncivil and hateful as well as the unbalanced coverage of such commentary.

Maher stated on air: “Yesterday David Koch, of the zillionaire Koch brothers, died of prostate cancer. I guess I’m going to have to re-evaluate my low opinion of prostate cancer . . . He was 79, but his family says they wish he could live longer, but at least he lived long enough to see the Amazon catch fire.” He added “Condolences poured in from all the politicians he owned, and mourners have been asked in lieu of flowers to just leave their car engines running. As for his remains, he’s been asked to be cremated and have his ashes blown into a child’s lungs.”

I do not object to the latter part of that statement about car engines and his remains as fair game for a comedian. Koch was a polarizing public figure. However, it takes an utter lack of humanity and decency to celebrate someone’s cancer. Imagine if a conservative celebrated the return of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s cancer. Would the response be equally muted in the media?

240 thoughts on “Bill Maher Celebrates The Death of David Koch And Hopes That He Died In Pain”

  1. So for you few pukes here, compare what you have done with your fortune with this person:
    In interviews with The Wall Street Journal, he said he had a preference of donating his money rather than “use it on buying a bigger house or a $150 million painting.
    I really want to put my money to work making the world a better place.”

    $185 million – Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    $150 million – Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. It was the largest single gift the center received. The money went to build an outpatient medical facility.

    $100 million – New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Koch sent the nine-figure donation to help build an ambulatory care center in his honor. Another $28 million went to other needs for the hospital.

    $100 million – New York State Theater at Lincoln Center.

    $66.7 million – Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This donation went to assist the center with additional research funds.

    $65 million – The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
    $566.7 MILLION donated. And that’s not even all of his donations.

    So, how much money have all you liberal pukes donated to Health, Science, Technology, the Arts?

    Like I said, liberal pukes!

    David H. Koch to the Wall Street Journal

    1. “Miser Madison? Madison Gymnasium? Madison Picnic
      Park? Madison Hospital? That miser Madison?
      – Exactly, and who did he think he was anyway?
      H: Well I should say, showoff. Gave the town the library too didn’t he?”

    2. Koch Bro:

      I’m reminded again of a story I read in a newspaper for years ago about all these Charitable Foundations.

      Just think about it. We are but alive this one time now, maybe later in another dimension?, this generation & all that we can earn/taxed, but these Charities many of them have been adding assets together from donners for 100’s of years Tax Free.

      Just think of what kind of evil Robber Barron Bast*rds that run the Rockefellow Foundation, Ford F, Mellon F, Carnegie F, etc… Today

      Who are these permanent manages that have a clear advantage at controlling our govt to weaponize it against those of us alive?

      look at the control of old money these big religions, colleges, etc.., have over us all.

      Where is that Koch Bro’s 50 Bil going to? More spoiled Freak azzhole kids like Anderson Cooper, Jane & Peter Fonda, etc.,?

      That money is raw power.

      A few years back I seen another story that claimed these Total Corrupt Foundations, think Clinton Foundation, that they employ 11% of all US employees.

      Now think, if your livelihood or your election to public office depends on money from these corrupt foundations are you really going do or demand they stop their criminal, Anti-human behaviour?

    3. He was worth $45B, $567M is a drop in the bucket for him though glad he gave it. I would prefer he paid his fair share of rates rather than these guilty conscience gifts.

  2. Maher will have a bad day at the Pearly Gates when he croaks and his time for an interview comes around. The person standing in for the interviewer will be a Cocaine brother.

  3. I can only pray that George Soros will die soon and painfully. And that his fortune will be vaporized.

  4. Bill Maher felt confident his vicious remarks would be well received because Democrats have been dehumanizing their opponents for decades. After a while, people start believing it. After all, it is impossible to wrong someone evil.

    The Amazon fires likely started due to deforestation. Farmers and cattle ranchers slash and burn the jungle to make room. Grasses grow up extremely rapidly when space is opened up. You can almost see it growing, and a trail will noticeably overgrown within just a few days. There have been trails where I had to get down on the ground to determine where the grass was a little lower, just to find where the trail was supposed to be. The rainforest has always seemed limitless and unending to them. That is how they have always farmed. However, cattle ranching now accounts for up to 80% of deforestation in the Amazon. Once enough trees are removed, it affects the local climate. Tree respiration not only sequesters carbon, but it also releases moisture into the air, and banks it under ground. Remove enough trees, and the air loses humidity. That dries out remaining forest, leaving them more vulnerable to fire, which means the next time a rancher burns land, the ensuing fire causes even more damage.

    Other sources of deforestation in the rainforest are palm oil plantations and biofuel. The former is responsible for the decimataion of orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra, and the latter is driven by the green renewable resources movement.

    I have been passionate about the deforestation and devegetation, as well as the threat to marine phytoplankton, plants, and algae. They are the lungs, as they convert carbon to oxygen. They are the kidneys, as they filter out waste. Many are keystone species, integral to the marine food web. They drive our climate, as they contribute to the moisture in our air. We seem to be in a race to see who can pollute the ocean the fastest, where most of our oxygen is produced. It is madness not to care for the greenery of our planet.

    Mankind in California infested difficult to burn native chaparral with invasive alien species of grasses and brush that go up like tinder. Native Chaparral holds on to every drop of rain that falls. There should be virtually no runoff at the base of old growth. That was ruined by invasive, the removal of most chaparral in the state, and grading. They graded the landscape to maximize runoff, because engineers for some reason seem to treat every area like boggy England. That further dried out the atmosphere and interfered with underground aquifer recharge. Chaparral is difficult to fire, but once it does get going, it is a hellish beast to put out. All of the above changes ensured that we would have more fires in the chaparral, which burned longer. Add to that the fact that virtually all fires in California are man made. Unless there was dry lightening in a state known for virtually no rain outside of winter, then a fire was started by human activity, whether accidental or on purpose. It can be arson, a car accident, sparking power line, sun reflecting off of polished metal, campfire, drug lab, doing some kinds of drugs, cigarettes, parking a car over brush, or any number of other human causes.

    The same is true in Brazil. Unless there was dry lightening, the cause was from humans. The severity is likely due to the result of massive deforestation drying out the region.

    And yet, my complaint is that anthropogenic climate change gets all the cache and money. Comparatively little goes towards the causes of deforestation and de-vegetation. In fact, the fight against climate change has produced biofuel fields that are one of the causes of deforestation. The US exports tons of wood pellets via ships burning fossil fuels to the UK, so they can burn it and get credit for using green renewable resources.

    And yet, the SJWs of the world want to blame the Koch brothers for forest fires. They will pour more treasure and activism into climate change, without significantly addressing one of its causes.

    The Koch brothers donated to causes they believed in. One of those causes was cancer research, into which they poured hundreds of millions of dollars.

    1. FY Karen. “Democrats” did not cause Mahar,s words anymore than the GOP caused the hideous words by righted today on this board. There are jerks in both parties and on all sides of politics looking to weaponry every event for partisan advantage, and you are one of them.

      1. The race baiters that have traction within a political party and numbers that follow and listen are mostly on the left. Just think of Al Sharpton whose ring is being kissed by most if not all of the Democrats running for the Presidency.

      2. It’s not that “Democrats” caused his words. If you look at what I wrote, the problem is the decades long dehumanization of their opponents. The rhetoric has been discussed at length on the blog. There are routinely posts about the politicization, hard Left, of academics. This is also the case in K-12. Kids are growing up believing that conservatives are evil, and are trained to go straight to ad hominem in a political disagreement. If you don’t agree with X policy, then you want poor kids to die, etc. There is no common sense.

        While there are those who troll on all sides of the aisle, it is not equal, because Democrats control K-grad school, Hollywood, the mainstream media, and Big Tech. All of our Google searches flow through algorithms designed to benefit the Democrat party. This has been admitted to. YouTube targets conservatives. So does Twitter. Even the NFL has fallen prey to the anti-police Democrat rhetoric.

        I firmly believe that many Democrats vote that way because they truly believe they are helping people. Where are they going to hear about the downside and negative consequences to Democrat policies? They have been told for so long that Republicans are evil, they actually believe that half the country is evil. They are unaware that the United States is statistically one of the least racist countries in the world, because of the politicized rhetoric they are fed from myriad sources.

        This is bad. It will never improve as long as voters are blind to it. Only Democrats themselves can agitate for change in their own party. It’s not like the party is going to respond to calls for improvement from Republicans.

        1. “…anti-police Democrat rhetoric.”

          the good cops need to root out the bad ones

          1. There are processes in place to deal with bad apples in the police force.

            However, politicians’ rhetoric have been blanket statements against police, with the common rush to judgement that they are racist. Even the majority black Baltimore police force was accused of racism.

            What happened to the party of “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?” Or the merit based Kennedy Airlifts?

            The hate is so overwhelming and ubiquitous that students are afraid to voice their conservative opinions, and everyone is afraid of wearing conservative political clothing or a MAGA hat. When an executive at Disney fantasizes about feeding teenagers screaming, MAGA hats first, into a wood chipper, it’s time to address the problem.

            A lot of Democrats are good people that truly believe they are helping people by voting this way. I keep hoping they will see what is happening, and do something about it. But when all the information they get is tailor made to benefit the DNC, what hope is there for them? There’s the #WalkAway movement, and a general discontent with the unrelenting anti-Trump anti-Republican coverage, but is it enough to affect voting behavior?

            How do you fight the Goliaths of YouTube, Google, Facebook, the public education system, and universities, all propagandizing? It’s going to take the alienation of voters for the DNC to change course, but there is little hope at this point for moderates retaking the party.

            1. “There are processes in place to deal with bad apples in the police force.”

              Sure there are.

              You really need to get out more.

  5. The Democrats have become the party of vile rhetoric and evil beliefs and actions – drugs, lawlessness, abortion til birth,. I don’t know why you’d be so surprised to hear another fascist Democrat say such things…this has been their MO for the last 40 years. Their smear campaigns and their attempts to crush civil discourse have changed America. In concert with the media, they have caused destruction of community and the American spirit. Fortunately, there’s time to save it if people recognize their Trojan Horse emotions for the war vehicle they really are. Let’s reject their 5 word signs, their chants of hate, and their candidates that blame Americans for the fakery that it is.

    1. THe Democrats have nothing on the GOP and Trump when it comes to vile outbursts. In fact, they don’t even come close. Trump is a master of the vile. Of course, outbursts aren’t the only place where the GOP excels in vileness….their policies are anti human. I’d say that’s vile.

      1. Don’t come close?

        Severed bloody head? Fantasizing about assassination or blowing up the White House? Assassination making its way into music videos? Kids go screaming, MAGA hats first, into the wood chipper?

        You are willfully blind.

        “their policies are anti human. I’d say that’s vile.” Thank you, Justice Holmes, for demonstrating the systematic dehumanizing of conservatives that so many deny exists.

        1. more nonsense; more stirring of the pot

          “systematic dehumanizing of conservatives”

          …which isn’t the case…

        2. Karen, talk about willful blindness! I said nothing about the humans who are claim they are conservatives but rather their polices. I guess that distinction was shrouded in your willful blindness.

          1. JH:

            “the GOP excels in vileness….their policies are anti human. I’d say that’s vile.” Revisit what you wrote, and really think about it. This behavior has got to stop. It has gone on for decades. The fever pitch of hatred towards Trump and Republicans today was the inevitable result of that long and steady trend. You really think almost half the country “excels in vileness?”

            1. Justice Holmes wrote:

              “the GOP excels in vileness….their policies are anti human. I’d say that’s vile.”

              He’s right.

                1. Well at least you know your limitations; now if you would only curb your behavior accordingly.

  7. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Bill Maher was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was cured in a hospital built by the Koch brothers?

  8. And they wonder why some gun owners are unwilling to give an inch? These people don’t just disagree with us, they want to exterminate us.

    1. Koch was apparently more of a “Libertarian” than a “Conservative.”

  10. KOCH’S SPENT $20 MILLION PROMOTING TRUMP’S TAX CUT

    WHICH SAVED THEM $1 BILLION

    $127 MILLION SPENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL

    By Greenpeace’s reckoning, in the 20 years to 2017, the Kochs ploughed about $127m into 92 groups that were involved in rebuffing climate crisis solutions.

    Koch’s similarly self-interested desire to drive government out of the US economy by undermining regulations and slashing corporate taxes started to firm up in 1980, when he stood as the Libertarian party’s vice-presidential candidate. By then, many of his other passions were also taking form, including abolishing social security and rolling back welfare benefits for low-income Americans.

    In 1977 he supported Charles in founding and funding the libertarian Cato Institute. But it was not until 2004 that the true embodiment of the brothers’ desire to reshape the country was born: Americans for Prosperity. “AFP was the vehicle for their dreams of channeling their politics into what would become almost a shadow Republican party,” Graves said.

    Through AFP, the Kochs spawned a nationwide web of impassioned conservative volunteers, empowered by the new voter technology they supported through the political data firm i360. Among the key targets of their campaigning: the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which brought healthcare to millions of Americans but which the Kochs saw as big government interference. But it also took on climate crisis regulations, public education and taxes and championed the nascent 2010 Tea Party movement.

    There has been much discussion in recent months about the very public spat between the president and the Koch brothers, with the Kochs calling Trump’s trade tariffs “detrimental” and Trump lashing back that the billionaires were “a total joke”.

    With the exception of trade policy, which is anathema to the free market Koch view of the world, the truth about Trump, though, is that he has adopted many of the rightwing postures the Kochs have long espoused.

    Take Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which cost $1.5tn to the benefit of the rich above all others. The cuts follow a script very similar to the plan put forward by the Koch brothers – which helps explain why they went on to spend more than $20m promoting the legislation.

    But then, in the calculation of Americans for Tax Fairness, David Koch and Charles would have saved more than $1bn themselves in income tax.

    Edited from: “The Kochtopus: Sprawling Network Keeps David Koch’s Legacy Thriving”

    The Guardian, 8/23/19

    1. Hill,
      I can tell that you have never had enough money to get into a business – even buying rental properties. So your comments about some entity taking advantage of what is available is just plain IGNORANTLY STUPID. AS IS YOUR uneducated opinion on climate change. Actually, and accordingly, in 1989, the UN predicted global disaster by 2000. Also, as the warming melts polar icecaps, ocean levels will rise by 3 feet. Well any intelligent person knows that water expands when it is frozen. So how did you come to believe that a simple law of physics would be so wrong? See, I said your DUMB.

      1. Bob, about 90% of all Climate Scientists think Climate Change and Global Warming are real. How can they all be mistaken when garden variety conservatives like you can just reel-off so-called facts debunking them? Perhaps you should post some peer reviewed articles from science journals bolstering your case. But I suspect you won’t find any such articles.

      1. Anonymous, since your identity is secret, your yawn means nothing here. You are literally an anonymous bore feigning indifference to one of the world’s most pressing issues.

        Like we should be ‘moved’ by your indifference? Like readers are going to react by thinking, “Oh sh*t, Anonymous is yawning at Hill. That really takes guts”.

    4. Suppose the US suddenly and magically lowered its 15% of the world’s carbon foot print to 0%. Is lowering the world’s carbon foot print 15% worth whatever it would cost for the US to achieve 0 carbon foot print?

      The other 85% of the world’s current carbon foot print is positively beyond the USA’s absolute control. China, the world’s biggest polluter, is a military dictatorship that does not give a rat’s behind what the world thinks it should do to lower its carbon foot print.

      The biggest obstacle for those who “demand” less US carbon foot print is that their biggest and loudest spokespersons, like Bernie Sanders, AOC, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Al Gore, fly around on private jets and have carbon foot prints multiples greater than the average American. One private jet flight equals the carbon foot print of the average American for an entire year. Bill DiBlasio drives a gas guzzling SUV bigger than the average Hong Kong apartment all the way across town every day to visit the gym. Gore has three homes, and his biggest in TN has 20x larger carbon foot print than the average American. DiCaprio flew his private jet to Europe to receive an award for his climate change “awareness.”

      Maybe one of the above lying, hypocritical power grabbers should promote the end of private jets and planting more trees, instead of the government taking control of all power generation.

      “Good for thee, but not for me.”

      2. A huge percentage of the goods we buy in the US from US companies are Made in China. If all those companies started manufacturing domestically again, China’s carbon footprint would become mouse-sized.

      3. Fossil fuels took the place of people cutting down trees to burn, and burning dung and peat.

        It allowed people to refrigerate food, and survive the freezing winter and hot summer. It allowed people to find work farther away than they could walk. It kept people from getting frost bite or dying of hypothermia walking to work in winter.

        Alternative energy is not capable yet of replacing fossil fuels. Solar panels work when the sun is shining. Wind turbines only work when the wind blows, and they decimate migratory bird and bat populations. Plus, they thump or chop the air. I’ve ridden by them, and they are hellishly annoying. All of the above are manufactured, shipped, and replacement parts shipped using fossil fuels. There are no solar powered tractor trailers. Produce is harvested using fossil fuels. It’s shipped using fossil fuels. Every item you buy is produced and shipped using fossil fuels. We are nowhere near ready to replace it yet.

        Surprisingly, the fuel I’ve hated the most is the cleanest – nuclear energy. They have made great strides towards improving safety, as well as reusing spent fuel. Yet, environmentalists hate it.

        Should fossil fuels be banned tomorrow, then forests would promptly be denuded to be burned to cook food and heat homes. We’d go back to lamp oil and candles for light. People would start burning wood, dung, biofuel, peat, and coal, which would result in massive pollution, as well as the removal of the trees that sequester carbon and release oxygen. There would be constant blackouts as alternative energy is neither reliable nor affordable yet.

        Such a well meaning measure would create an exponentially worse effect. People have got to be smarter than this. They cannot just snap their fingers, abolish fossil fuels and air travel, and then assume it would all work out for the better.

        We should be exploring nuclear energy, and I cannot believe I’m saying this. I’ve always dreaded nuclear waste, but tremendous strides have been taken.

        Here is another example: Greta Thunberg sailed to New York to protest Climate Change, and show that air travel is not required. The trip will take 2 weeks, on a solar equipped luxury yacht. 6 people have to fly to New York to sail the ship back, which means that her carbon footprint is multiples worse than if she had simply flown. In addition, most people do not have 2 weeks to travel one way, or millions of dollars to buy a luxury solar yacht.

        In addition, Greta suffers from a laundry list of mental disorders – Aspergers, anxiety, depression, OCD, and eating disorders, among others. Her politicized school and media convinced her that everyone was going to die within 12 years. The poor girl stopped eating for 2 months, and dropped significant weight. She became obsessed with climate change, and lived in a state of continual terror. That is why this poor girl is speaking to governments all over the world, and sailing across the ocean. She suffers from anxiety and compulsive disorders. Instead of de-escalating the intense anxiety, the world has nodded along with her, reinforcing the message that, yep, she’s going to die in less than a dozen years. That is why she uses rhetoric like, “act like the house is on fire” and “I want you to panic.” This is what happens when activists frighten children, who do not know that the same group has predicted imminent apocalypse for twenty years.

        This is not helpful. Trying to get everyone to abolish fossil fuels so everyone goes back to burning trees will not help the environment. (See my earlier posted comments on the existential crisis of deforestation and de-vegetation.)

        Biofuels contribute to deforestation. Shipping wood pellets for UK to burn “green renewable resources” contributes to deforestation. Ranching and farming in the rain forest contributes to deforestation.

        What are the various accords, commitments, policies, carbon taxes, and massive spending of dizzying amounts of treasure doing to contrite to nuclear energy? How much commitment do we have to re-greening the planet, or dealing with the crisis of pouring toxins into the marine algae, phytoplankton, and plants that generate our oxygen? Very little. But it does make for great slogans, T-shirts, and self congratulation.

        https://youtu.be/fA5sGtj7QKQ

  11. Speaking of climate change……..According to liberals, the oceans are rising, and soon ( 10 years.) the coastline will be under water,.
    So, why did Obama just pay $15 million for a 7,000 sq ft mansion on the coast, adjacent to the beach, on Martha’s Vineyard?
    Deplorable minds want to know.

    1. Cindy, you’re saying wealthy Blacks don’t deserve mansions? Or they can only have mansions far away from coasts?

      Feel free to post an environmental assessment report noting that Martha’s Vineyard faces an imminent threat from Climate Change.

      1. Actually what Cindy is saying is why live in a place subject to being under water in 12 years? What an oaf.

          1. Cindy, is there a chapter in some Ann Coulter book advising conservatives to question the ‘reading comprehension’ skills of liberals?

            I’ve noticed in online forms that Trumpers use this lame rebuttal so frequently it’s almost like an emoji of a term.

            2. “advising conservatives to question the ‘reading comprehension’ skills of liberals?”

              Peter, there is good reason for that. You are a prime example of one that lacks reading skills or is intentionally throwing out BS.

              1. Alan, you have used this cliche 937 times in the year and a half I’ve been commenting here. And I have seen this ‘reading comprehension’ cliche 5,000 times on Facebook.

                Tell me, Alan, when do cliches get old? Or this cliche a classic that retains amazing freshness?

                1. It no longer is a cliche when it is applied to you. When you stop with replies that indicate a lack of reading comprehension I will stop making that comment. You renew my license to do so almost every time you open your mouth.

                    1. Oh, this must be that ‘manly’ anonymous. The nerdy weasel who is fearless under cloak of anonymity.

                      ‘Yes’, even little wimps can terrorize with homophobic taunts. As long as they’re online no one can fight back.

                3. Mr. Hill,
                  Please list the dates and times for the 937 uses of the cliche.
                  That number seems high.

              2. Allan your cliches are the bomb. Please post more of them as they are on point

            3. Hill,
              You deliberately twisted her meaning. You insinuated that she is criticizing President Obama because he is black.

              Criticizing your reading comprehension skills is generous. Either you did not comprehend what she wrote or you deliberately twisted it. I do not think you have poor reading comprehension.

              1. Prairie Rose,
                Hill’s generous editing and ESP allows him to tell people “what they really meant”, and what they “really said”.

              2. Rose, Obama was never the ‘leftist’ conservatives made him out to be. Obama was so moderate that Bernie Bros regarded him as a tool of the establishment.

                So this idea that Obama is now a hypocrite for buying a mansion is just a knee jerk reaction. To begin with ex-presidents have security concerns. So having a larger house, with room for Secret Service details, makes perfect sense.

                1. Hill,
                  You still twisted her words to insinuate she is against blacks having mansions or being wealthy.

                  If Obama has championed fighting climate change to prevent the rise of sea levels, among other things, yet buys a mansion overlooking the sea, people are going to comment. It has nothing to do with his race.

                  Their need for Secret Service is unquestioned. However, as public servants, living in luxury and then championing a cause that is ostensibly at odds with luxury is disingenuous. Walk the talk, don’t just pay to pretend you’re off-setting your carbon footprint, if they do as other rich people do who want to have their cake and eat it, too.

                  1. “Their need for Secret Service is unquestioned.”

                    Hehllllllll no!

                    just say no to gunz. Let Michelle and Barack meet their critics mano a mano. He is from Chicago!

                  2. Rose, during his years as President, conservatives attacked Obama for almost everything he did.

                    The truth never mattered much. Obama was born in Kenya whether it made any sense or not. Then Obama was compared to ‘Hitler’, of all people, while labeled a ‘communist’.

                    Michelle Obama was attacked with such frequency one would have thought she was a firebrand. She wasn’t. Michelle, in fact, went out of her way to be as benign as possible. Still she became the subject of vicious memes.

                    When Obama was president, Republicans kept claiming the deficit had soared to dangerous levels. ‘Obama was debasing the currency’, we were told over and over. Yet Trump’s tax cut of 2017, the one for billionaires, is taking the deficit far beyond Obama’s. Republicans, however, are scarcely concerned.

                    Mitch McConnell made sure Obama was short-changed on judicial appointments. McConnell flatly refused Obama’s rightful pick for Scalia’s seat. That wasn’t racist, though. Oh no. It was just Mitch McConnell ‘standing up for conservatives’. Never mind that Merrick Garland was a moderate well-regarded by the legal community.

                    So now we’re supposed to think that Obama has no right whatsoever to own a coastal property. Because there’s some rule in rightwing media that liberals are supposed to take an oath of poverty. And no one recognizing Climate Change can live within 50 miles of a beach. None of this makes any sense of course. But that’s par for course in the Trump era.

                    1. Hill,
                      You still twisted her words to insinuate she is against blacks having mansions or being wealthy. That is not fair and does not promote effective discussion. You wouldn’t like it if someone mischaracterized what you said.

                      I am willing to discuss what you wrote nonetheless.

                      “during his years as President, conservatives attacked Obama for almost everything he did.”

                      That should not surprise you. He is liberal and they conservative. His solutions are going to be at odds with theirs. I saw very little desire by anyone to meet halfway on anything. (However, Obama did support vouchers, which, to an extent, I think can help families in school districts that are a complete basket-case.)

                      “The truth never mattered much.”
                      Still doesn’t, and didn’t as long back as Clinton and before. I want it to matter, as I think you do, too.

                      “Obama was born in Kenya whether it made any sense or not.”
                      (Was he born in Kenya? That seems to be the argument.) 😉

                      While Obama is an American, I do have concerns about someone who did not spend potentially enough of his formative years stateside. To be President, to represent the whole United States, a person should live daily as an American. Yes, overseas experience is important to develop perspective, appreciation, and discernment, but the overall experience should be stateside and immersed in day-to-day living within the values of our society.

                      “Then Obama was compared to ‘Hitler’, of all people, while labeled a ‘communist’.

                      I do not recall Obama ever being compared to Hitler. That is not to say no one ever did, but it certainly was not a common occurrence. Imperial president? Yes. Neither was he a communist. If anything, he was closer to being a statist.

                      “Still she became the subject of vicious memes.”

                      Yes, unfortunately. People on both sides of the aisle can be completely obnoxious. I rather liked her organic garden.

                      “When Obama was president, Republicans kept claiming the deficit had soared to dangerous levels. ‘Obama was debasing the currency’, we were told over and over. Yet Trump’s tax cut of 2017, the one for billionaires, is taking the deficit far beyond Obama’s. Republicans, however, are scarcely concerned.”

                      That annoys me, too. If the deficit was at dangerous levels then, then it is at dangerous levels now. Neither side is concerned, really. Democrats got mad when there was discussion of decreasing the rate of increase. Not decreasing spending, but decreasing the rate of increase in spending. Still spending more, but spending more at a lower rate. So, neither side is being fiscally responsible. I cannot take either side seriously.

                      “Never mind that Merrick Garland was a moderate well-regarded by the legal community.”

                      I try to keep up on the news, but I know so little about this issue or about Merrick Garland’s background/qualifications, that I cannot respond to this. Sorry.

                      “So now we’re supposed to think that Obama has no right whatsoever to own a coastal property.”

                      Of course he has a right. How did you get to that conclusion?

                      “there’s some rule in rightwing media that liberals are supposed to take an oath of poverty.”

                      How so?

                      What I think people have a problem with is those who say: do this, but then do not do so themselves. Rather like former representative Tim Murphy, preaching family values and who declared he was against abortion, yet told his mistress to have one. Yikes. People should embody their values. Walk the talk. Anyone who expresses concern for the environment, who wants to slow or reverse climate change (or for the poor, animal welfare, family values, etc.), should be living such that their values are reflected. $15 million on a house is a bit much for someone who seems to say he is concerned about climate change and the downtrodden.

                      “And no one recognizing Climate Change can live within 50 miles of a beach.”

                      If sea levels are going to rise in 10 years, then buying seaside property would be problematic. So, apparently the Obamas disagree with that prediction. They are free to disagree, but if they have presented themselves as in agreement, then that is not reflecting their actual concerns.

                      Poking fun at that is less of a problem than the ad hominems that are being lobbed back and forth on the internet. Pointing out a hypocrisy (depending upon how it’s done) could help people reflect on how well their actions align with their values, leading to positive recalibration.

                      “But that’s par for course in the Trump era.”

                      It has been par for the course since the 90s at least. I’d say it really started getting bad following September 11th, worse still at the close of Bush’s presidency and the start of Obama’s (and it just keeps getting more charged). This does not really seem to be tied to any presidents or their administrations, though. I think it follows the rise of identity politics and political correctness.

                    2. Prairie Rose – that was a great post. I hope Hill reads it with an open mind.

                    3. Thank you, Karen. You are very kind.

                      I was hoping to continue conversing with Hill, too, on this.

      2. What the Obama mansion demonstrates is that this country is racially, religiously and ethnically is very diverse contrary to the rantings of the left that uses race as one of its main fictitious reasons for the Democratic Party to exist.

        The outlier of the American people was Obama himself:

        “They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

        “… .. The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn’t. But she is a typical white person who, uh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn’t know there’s a reaction that’s been been bred into our experiences that don’t go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way and that’s just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it…”

        Do you need more.

      3. Spoken like a true spinner. Now turning the words around to become racist. You’re busted boy! As far as an environmental assessment, how about a carbon footprint of the property? Hmmmm? Oh, and for al gore’s properties and private jet as long as we are inquiring minds are inquiring? Can’t always have what you want#

        1. I sure hope the Obamas use goats to ‘mow’ their grass. That ought to lessen their carbon footprint at least a little!

          1. Prairie Rose……………or maybe Michelle could just graze in the front yard, and not bite off more than she can chew.
            She’s probably a vegan by now, anyway. 😎

            1. Cindy,
              I disagreed with most of President Obama’s policies, though I did like their organic garden. Michelle Obama is not a cow or a goat. Even if she is vegan, she cannot eat grass as we really do not have the right GI tracts for it. I’d rather stick to discussing policies and positions than skate anywhere near ad hominems.

              1. Prairie….I do not think Michelle is a cow….My thought was that she eats her gardens, like at the WH. That is what I wzs referring to…..which clearly is not an ad hominum attack; however, accusing me of poor taste is.
                In other words, please lighten up. You’re a very intelligent person.

                2. Sorry, Cindy, I completely misunderstood. It did seem out of character, so I should have figured I was not getting something. I apologize.

              2. P.S. Some people could have twisted what you said about the Obamas having goats on their front lawn to mean that they’re a bunch of “black trash hicks”………but I didn’t.

                1. You are right. And, yes, you also do not twist what people say.

                  Having a straightforward conversation is far more enjoyable. Even then misunderstandings can happen. Again, sorry to have been a bonehead.

                  1. Prairie Rose…..Thank you……you are very kind, and I appreciate it.
                    And I really have been impressed with your intellect.
                    I am quite sure you have something other than a Bachelor of Music Degree, as I do….LOL.
                    Hope you have a nice Sunday……….and beyond.

                    1. You, too, are kind Cindy.

                      I have a Bachelor’s of Science, somewhat oddly in English (I have quite a few science classes under my belt since I switched majors several times).

                      How neat you have a music degree! Is it vocal or instrumental? I never sufficiently exercised enough self-discipline to really learn an instrument, including my voice. I enjoyed the regular choir through college, but that’s it. I can blend in fine but I am not good enough to solo. I always admired those who could play or sing beautifully.

                      Yes, enjoy this lovely Sunday!

                  2. Prairie……oh, I’ll bet you have a nice voice… Hubby’s degree was in Eng Lit and that has served him well as an attorney, believe it or not.
                    I had a double major….voice and violin, (music education was part of my degree) I taught public school music K–12…..loved the kids but always wanted to be on Broadway! Fortunately for B’Way, I never made it..LOL

                    1. English Lit and lawyers go well together, if one considers John Grisham (especially the closing argument in A Time to Kill).

                      Love the violin; it is very versatile. My daughter is learning to play violin.

                      What are some of your favorite pieces to play or listen to?

                      Did you study Dr. Suzuki, too?

                  3. Prairie Rose….how wonderful for your daughter…….Violin opened up the world to me because I was in Symphony Orchestra in my teens. andbwe traveled. Your daughter might, too! One favorite piece is Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in e minor. If you find it online..Itzhak Perlman’s is good. At about the 3 minute mark in 1st movement is a glorious gorgeous passage (that is repeated later?)
                    Suzuki was way after my time…my violin teacher was an old Hungarian man, with tomato sauce always on his shirt, and a thick accent. Our daughter took Suzuki violin 40 yrs ago at age 3. It was so cute!
                    Also Bach concerto for 2 violins is a good one.. And one of the best Symphonies ever, imo, is Dvorak’s #8 in G…but it features the celli…..just gorgeous…..I preferred symphony violin not solo violin…hated practicing like most kids.
                    I was very average, really, but had fun.That’s important!

                    1. Cindy,
                      “Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in e minor”
                      Thank you for the recommendation. It was beautiful, very expressive.

                      “my violin teacher was an old Hungarian man, with tomato sauce always on his shirt, and a thick accent.”

                      I can picture him! lol

                      “Dvorak’s #8 in G”
                      I like how it went from being very bold, to then almost inquisitive in tone (around 6-8 minutes in), and then contemplative at 11 minutes, continuing on with the tension, strong then gentle, for the rest of the piece. ‘Where words fail, music speaks.’ comes to mind.

                      Dvorak spent some time hanging out in Iowa, which I think was pretty cool (but I’m biased).

                      I am rather partial to Vivaldi’s violin concertos. I also enjoy movie soundtracks featuring violins (like Red Violin, The Last of the Mohicans). I just discovered Black Violin on youtube (“Showoff” and “A Flat” are two I like); they have a really interesting sound.

                      “but had fun.That’s important!”

                      Especially for a music teacher! It translates to the students, who will then learn to love, or at least appreciate, their instruments and the music.

                    2. Cindy Bragg – saw a great concert Thursday night of 9 kids 8-15 years old called the Red River Fiddlers. If you look them up, part of the concert they did is on their site. Their teacher is a graduate of ASU (who beat WSU today, take that David Benson) and she had all her former violin teachers in the audience. Excellent concert and the price was right ……. free, 😉

                  4. Prairie Rose…..thank you…And I really enjoyed Black Violin….those guys are great, with a very Mid-Eastern sound.
                    Love that genre. And yes, the Vivaldi concerti are very fine.(love Corelli, too. BTW if you listen to Corelli’s fugue for four voices, you’ll hear a theme from Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus……which Handel stole from Corelli! He was famous for “borrowing”)
                    Glad you enjoyed the Dvorak…..it’s a thrilling symphony to play. His slavonic dances are wonderful….right on par with Brahms slavonic dances. I remembered Dvorak had traveled the country. Your Iowans were good for him!
                    But, my favorite instrument has been and will always be piano, even though I only play by ear.
                    Best to your little girl, and to you. You’re a well-rounded music “aficionado”.

                    1. “But, my favorite instrument has been and will always be piano, even though I only play by ear.”

                      Cindy, it must be awfully hard to play an octave.😀

                    2. Cindy,
                      Wow! By ear! That is more impressive than reading notes, I think. You and Dr. Suzuki are kindred spirits.

                      Thank you for the additional recommendations!

                  5. Prairie….thank you….that’s so sweet.
                    Also, if your daughter continues violin, one piece that every Jr High/High School violinist has to learn for UIL contests is Massenet’s “Meditation on Thais” It’s beautiful, and easy to learn and to play. ( which I liked!).
                    But it is a staple in high school solo music….or it used to be….I keep forgetting that was 55 years ago!!!. LOL

                2. Cindy Bragg – I have a friend who I have tried to get to either buy or rent a goat to take care of her 2 acre yard. It would save her a ton of work.

        1. Foxtrot Foxtrot Sierra says: August 24, 2019 at 2:52 PM:

          “When you can’t defend your position, pull the race card.”

          Said like a person lacking experience and real wisdom; said by FFS.

      6. Hill, both Obama and Al Gore have bought mansions near the beach. This indicates they must not believe their own dire predictions that such properties will be under water within less than a dozen years.

        Cindy is pointing out either the hypocrisy. Her comment had nothing whatsoever to do with Obama being black.

        This is another example of inserting racism accusations where none are warranted, in order to escape from debating. Very apropos to what we’ve been discussing.

        1. Karen, if they’re buying mansions on high ground, I don’t see the problem. As long as the Federal government isn’t subsidizing hurricane insurance. If that ‘was’ the case then I’d admit hypocrisy was in play.

          Not all coastal regions are threatened at the moment. And houses can be built on high piles. My cousin built a beach house outside New York City on land that was leveled by Hurricane Sandy. Her house, however, is built so high that the main floor is about three stories up. So there’s a good chance the house that Obama is supposedly buying was designed with hurricanes and flooding in mind.

          Regarding David Koch, and today’s column by Professor Turley, I’m seeing denial of Climate Change coupled with denial that the Koch Bros orchestrated the denial effort. In other words, there’s a denial of the denial while denying the issue. But at the same time there’s this stupid false equivalency that Climate Change isn’t real because ‘Obama is a hypocrite’. This mentality is par for the course with conservatives in the Trump era. Every issue becomes hostage to the Culture Wars with mindless ‘What abouts?’.

          1. Hill,

            “false equivalency that Climate Change isn’t real because ‘Obama is a hypocrite’.”

            It is not necessarily an argument against Climate Change as a whole. Is Climate Change the looming catastrophe it is painted to be? And, shouldn’t those expressing a great deal of concern about the environment, and wanting all of us to change our lifestyles and change how we buy things, shouldn’t they lead by example?

            2. Rose, adapting to Climate Change doesn’t have to be a net negative. Billions in new wealth can be created. The technology for solar power is now totally feasible. Electric cars are becoming increasingly feasible. The only people who stand to lose are the fossil fuels industries.

              Coal is almost completely obsolete. Only Trump wants to save coal for reasons that make no sense to even the power industry. Oil is probably entering its last generation. There’s no need to keep raping virgin eco-systems for oil. We can easily move on.

              Right now it would make sense to rebuild old cities of the northeast and midwest. Cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo could become increasingly desirable locations as Global Warming plays out. On the other hand, continued development of hot cities like Dallas and Phoenix may not be that logical.

              There is much to consider in adapting to Climate Change. But again, it shouldn’t be thought of as a net-negative. There will be losers and winners.

              1. Hill,
                “adapting to Climate Change doesn’t have to be a net negative.”
                In the grand scheme of things, I agree. However, like any diet or lifestyle change, there is going to be discomfort.

                “Billions in new wealth can be created.”
                This seems very optimistic. There are a lot of moving parts.

                “The technology for solar power is now totally feasible.”
                Where I live, solar power would have to improve considerably. I live in one of the top ten cloudiest regions in the country. Pretty much everybody is vitamin D insufficient/deficient. Solar is not going to replace coal, oil or natural gas here any time soon. Wind turbines aren’t such a great solution here either as they, too, cannot produce enough for the cost that goes into them. (Not to mention the birds they kill.)

                “Electric cars are becoming increasingly feasible.”
                Perhaps. How is the electricity produced? Are they safe for first responders? Would using switchgrass as an alternative fuel be more efficient overall than building and fueling electric cars?

                “The only people who stand to lose are the fossil fuels industries.”
                Whom does the fossil fuel employ? Those are well-paying jobs for people who do not have a great deal of education.

                “Coal is almost completely obsolete. Only Trump wants to save coal for reasons that make no sense to even the power industry.”
                Citations, please. I’d like to read what you have read on this issue.

                “Oil is probably entering its last generation.”
                Why do you say that?

                “There’s no need to keep raping virgin eco-systems for oil.”
                That is really charged language. What are you thinking about when you say this?

                “We can easily move on.”
                I think you overestimate the ease of moving on. What is the path that would make this easy?

                “Right now it would make sense to rebuild old cities of the northeast and midwest. Cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo could become increasingly desirable locations as Global Warming plays out. On the other hand, continued development of hot cities like Dallas and Phoenix may not be that logical.”

                What undergirds these assertions? And, what is your timeframe? I agree Phoenix might not be the most logical (sorry, Paul).

                “There is much to consider in adapting to Climate Change.”

                This is important. The main focus of your argument focuses on fossil fuels. That barely scratches the surface of the problem.

                Reducing fossil fuels is very likely akin to telling an obese smoker to stop smoking. Might help some, but is only a fraction of the wider problem (lousy diet, lousy exercise, terrible sleep habits, SNPs, hormone imbalances, stress, micronutrient deficiencies, toxin overload, etc.). It requires a systems approach, which is far more complicated, and requires a degree of serious inquiry and respect that mostly isn’t even attempted.

                How does chemical pollution from pesticides and herbicides contribute to climate change?
                What effect does a changing soil and water microbiome have on the climate?
                Can man-made fertilizers negatively affect soil and water microbiomes? (include concentrated animal waste in this question, too)
                Do grass-fed vs grain-fed cows affect climate differently?
                How does the draining of wetlands contribute?
                Why does it seem there is an increase in fungal infections across many species? (e.g., olive trees, cicadas) What does this increase (if there is one) indicate?
                Can high-accuracy fishing negatively affect the climate?
                Does the changing magnetic pole have anything to do with climate change? If so, is it changing to a greater degree in the past 50 years? And, if it is, why?
                To what degree does solar activity contribute?
                How does the kind of growth economies are built upon contribute to climate change?

                “But again, it shouldn’t be thought of as a net-negative. There will be losers and winners.”

                True, as in anything. Yet, I do not really see anyone taking this conversation seriously at all. Insulting those who are not yet on board with climate change sure won’t entice them to consider it, even if they might, maybe have concerns about conservation, pollution, and animal husbandry. There is not bridge-building at present, just ugly catapults of mutual insult-throwing.

                Who should the winners and losers be? The poor or lower class because they cannot afford to pay to “off-set their carbon footprint”? What is the best way forward, then, that has the least detrimental outcome?

                  1. Hill,
                    Thank you for the links. Natural gas comes with its own environmental concerns, though, too.

                    I am curious about your perspective regarding the questions I posed. For example:

                    “There is much to consider in adapting to Climate Change.”

                    Such as? What are some things you think ought to be considered?

                    1. Rose, getting away from fossil fuels would be # 1 in adapting to Climate Change. And even if Climate Change weren’t occurring, getting away from fossil fuels would still be a good idea. Oil is in constant danger of spilling or burning while coal produces toxic ash.

                      Adapting to Climate Change might also include the building sea walls for low lying cities like New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Hurricane Sandy showed how vulnerable New York is. Sea walls could pay for themselves by preventing massive clean-up costs.

                      As I noted earlier, hot, dry cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas have to be reconsidered. Metro Phoenix has about 5 million people living on a desert. One has to ask if federal subsidies should aid the continued development of desert cities.

                      Land use is another issue. Should huge amounts of land, food and water enable the industrialized production of meat? This question applies to the world at large. The continued growth of livestock production is generally unsustainable. Land and water are running short while crops raised for livestock feed could be used to feed humans.

                      Unless we start planning, natural disasters from Climate Change could overwhelm our ability to recover before this century ends. This is no time to dicker while arguing if the weather is getting hotter.

                    3. Paul,
                      Phoenix is actually a fairly bike-friendly city, not leastwise because it is flat. A tad hot for biking some parts of the year, but my husband often biked to work when we lived in Tempe.

                      Where we live now is decidedly not bicycle-friendly: hills, no shoulders on the roads, few bike lanes or paths.

                    4. Prairie Rose – you think Phoenix is flat until you start biking a lot and realize you are always going slightly uphill or downhill. 😉

                    5. Hill,
                      “getting away from fossil fuels would be # 1 in adapting to Climate Change.”

                      Why is that your focus?

                      I see that fossil fuels used for vehicle transportation accounts for about 70% of the US fossil fuel use (California and Texas both represent 11% each of the total US use).
                      https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=oil_use

                      We can discuss the use of alternate fuels, better public transportation (including bike trails and pedestrian-friendly city planning), etc.

                      That said, I am not as concerned about CO2, the main greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels.
                      According to NASA, methane and nitrous oxide (also produced by fossil fuel combustion) are far more potent. CO2 can also aid plant growth.

                      “Methane. A hydrocarbon gas produced both through natural sources and human activities, including the decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, and especially rice cultivation, as well as ruminant digestion and manure management associated with domestic livestock. On a molecule-for-molecule basis, methane is a far more active greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but also one which is much less abundant in the atmosphere.

                      Nitrous oxide. A powerful greenhouse gas produced by soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass burning.”
                      https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/

                      These both are concerns from the agriculture sector (and, therefore, the soil and water microbiome). The soil microbiome contributes a great deal to carbon dioxide sequestration. If it is changing such that it is less effective at sequestration, due to the pesticides, herbicides, man-made fertilizers, and plowing, then there will be more CO2.

                      Also, CAFOs add to the problem. The animal husbandry issue (animals standing in or above their own waste, etc.) is not the only problem. Cows are not built to eat corn, soybeans (or skittles and gummy worms, which is also often ground into their feed); such foods are detrimental to cows’ digestion. The concentrated manure is also disengaged from a natural cycle of decomposition since it is so concentrated (rather than dropped here and there over wide swaths of ground).

                      “And even if Climate Change weren’t occurring, getting away from fossil fuels would still be a good idea. Oil is in constant danger of spilling or burning while coal produces toxic ash.”

                      Any fuel is going to burn, that’s what makes it a good source of energy. The toxicity is the greater concern.

                      “Sea walls could pay for themselves by preventing massive clean-up costs.”

                      Sure, so long as the wisdom of the Dutch is applied to the building and corruption is held at bay. Hurricane Katrina laid bare what short-sighted planning and corruption create.

                      “One has to ask if federal subsidies should aid the continued development of desert cities.”

                      What federal subsidies are aiding this?

                      “Should huge amounts of land, food and water enable the industrialized production of meat?”

                      I agree that CAFOs are a problem. Huge amounts of land go to the creation of corn biofuel, though, too, which is not an efficient biofuel.

                      “The continued growth of livestock production is generally unsustainable.”

                      Joel Salatin would disagree. Grass-fed livestock production managed as Salatin does reflects more natural cycles of grazing and the spread of manure.

                      “crops raised for livestock feed could be used to feed humans.”

                      Corn is not that great as a food source. It depletes B vitamins and is not micronutrient-dense. Soybeans may have properties that are endocrine disruptors (and tofu is not that yummy). Both require a great deal of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. Not to mention the nice fattening qualities both seem to have.

                      “Unless we start planning, natural disasters from Climate Change could overwhelm our ability to recover before this century ends. This is no time to dicker while arguing if the weather is getting hotter.”

                      Overwhelm our ability to recover? Really? Humans are really, really adaptable. What do you mean when you say this? Do you mean life ‘as we know it’–cheap products, easy transportation, etc? Are you concerned that it is the status quo that is going to collapse or something else?

                      I guess I do not see it as so much of an emergency. Urgency, but urgency in the sense that maintaining one’s health (and the Earth has ‘health’, in a way) should be consistently and near-constantly considered and addressed.

                      It becomes more urgent when that balance tips too far one way or another. Yet, for people, if we dip too far toward hypothermia, our bodies burn more energy and then we feel compelled to add layers of clothing. If we dip too far towards hyperthermia, we try to release more energy through sweating and we remove layers of clothing and try to stay hydrated. The solutions are different when the balance shifts one way or another.

                      Perhaps decreasing our use of fossil fuels for transportation, in particular, will help solve either problem–too hot or too cold. It will certainly help decrease pollution, most of which we have shipped overseas.

                    6. Paul,
                      Having grown up in Iowa, which is not dead flat either, I found Tempe to be a very pleasant place to bike compared to where I am now that is, for all intents and purposes, nothing but hills! 🙂 My gears get used a great deal here. Happy biking to you!

    2. The Left live by the Dictatorship of Relativism.

      Why else would the Left, (eg. Bill Maher, an atheist, Peter Shill, paid troll on this forum, et al ) celebrate triumphantly the death of anyone, while feigning concern about El Paso, Dayton, Parkland shootings all the while defending the decapitation of newborn babies under the guise of “women’s right to choose”?

      They are a morally bankrupt people

      Good news:

      JD Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, was received into the Catholic Church mid-August. Outstanding!

      J.D. Vance Becomes Catholic

      Why Catholicism? Why now?

      I became persuaded over time that Catholicism was true. I was raised Christian, but never had a super-strong attachment to any denomination, and was never baptized. When I became more interested in faith, I started out with a clean slate, and looked at the church that appealed most to me intellectually.

      But it’s too easy to intellectualize this. When I looked at the people who meant the most to me, they were Catholic. My uncle by marriage is a Catholic. Rene Girard is someone I only know by reading him, and he was Catholic. I’ve been reading and studying about it for three years, or even longer. It was time.

      It probably would have happened sooner if the sex abuse crisis, or the newest version of it, hadn’t made a lot of headlines. It forced me to process the church as a divine and a human institution, and what it would mean for my two year old son. But I never really questioned over the past few years that I would become Catholic.

      You chose St. Augustine as your patron saint. Why?

      A couple of reasons. One, I was pretty moved by the Confessions. I’ve probably read it in bits and pieces twice over the past 15 or so years. There’s a chapter from The City of God that’s incredibly relevant now that I’m thinking about policy. There’s just a way that Augustine is an incredibly powerful advocate for the things that the Church believes.

      And one of the subtexts about my return to Christianity is that I had come from a world that wasn’t super-intellectual about the Christian faith. I spend a lot of my time these days among a lot of intellectual people who aren’t Christian. Augustine gave me a way to understand Christian faith in a strongly intellectual way. I also went through an angry atheist phase. As someone who spent a lot of his life buying into the lie that you had to be stupid to be a Christian, Augustine really demonstrated in a moving way that that’s not true.

      https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/j-d-vance-becomes-catholic/

    3. Cindy, fear depresses prices so knowingly or unknowingly Obama has profited off the fear he helped promote.

      While the left pushes the emolument clause in its usual banal fashion the richest gather abroad to discuss global warming. They arrive in their private jets and some in their own “luxury liners” 400 foot pleasure craft staffed to the hilt whose staff are then flown back from where they came.

      The demands of the Obama’s and those rich climate change promoters is that everyone give up their lifestyles to protect the planet. They pay their carbon taxes that amounts to an insignificant amount of money while they live like Kings. Mom and her children have to give up on the SUV and traveling anywhere because they don’t have the money to pay the tax credits. The Democratic Party should be named
      dooH niboR because they have reversed the common theme of the legendary outlaw and created a new one, steal from the poor to give to the rich.

  12. Northam appointee made anti-Catholic jokes and derogatory attacks on social media

    https://www.dailyprogress.com/news/politics/northam-appointee-made-anti-catholic-jokes-and-derogatory-attacks-on/article_46217428-3d61-5847-a62e-9e884bf91497.html

    RICHMOND — One of Gov. Ralph Northam’s new appointees to a state council that advises him on women’s issues has a history of making derogatory attacks on Twitter, including telling author Cornel West to “f— off and die,” and making jokes about Catholics and Catholic priests and pedophilia.

    Northam’s office announced Aug. 16 that Gail Gordon Donegan, a Democratic activist from Alexandria, was among new appointees to the Virginia Council on Women. The 18-member council advises the governor and General Assembly on women’s issues, awards scholarships and develops programming.

    Northam in January issued a proclamation recognizing 2019 as a year of reconciliation and civility in Virginia. Asked if the governor still believes Donegan is the most qualified person for the appointment, Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky did not answer.

    Donegan “has spent years advocating on behalf of issues important to women across the Commonwealth,” Yarmosky responded by email, adding: “The governor certainly does not condone this language.”

    Donegan, a corporate lawyer, regularly tweets pictures of herself at political events and rallies with Democratic elected officials, including Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe. She tweets under the handle “Satirical Alexandria – Rated Fx by the NRA” and her account has a picture of herself on the profile.

    In a phone call on Thursday, Donegan defended her social media posts.

    “Psychological studies show that people who swear make better friends,” she said. “… And they’re smarter.”

    In a phone call on Friday, she said: “I will say for the record that my father was severely beaten in Catholic foster homes and I am an atheist. My father was orphaned at age 4, sent to live in Catholic foster homes and severely beaten until he ran away at age 14.”

    She added: “My husband is an ex-Catholic and he’s not offended by my tweets.”

    She declined further comment.

    After reviewing some of Donegan’s Twitter posts, the Catholic Diocese of Arlington issued a statement of disappointment in Northam.

    “Governor Northam’s appointment of Gail Gordon Donegan to the Virginia Council on Women is disappointing, particularly given her documented use of social media to offend members of the Catholic faith,” Billy Atwell, chief communications officer for the diocese, said in the statement.

    “Ms. Gordon Donegan has a record of ridiculing Catholic beliefs and practices and trafficking in stereotypes that would disqualify her from this role had they targeted any other category of persons. Her statements are offensive to human dignity and fail to reflect the depth of character one would expect of a leader in our Commonwealth.”

    Deborah Cox, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, issued a statement saying the postings “are extremely offensive to Catholics and the Catholic faith. … We would expect anyone appointed to a council or commission for the Commonwealth to be respectful of all faith groups and civil in his or her public comments — including social media — given their status as a representative of the Commonwealth, appointed by the governor.”

    Among public postings on Twitter going back to 2009, Donegan:

    In 2016 tweeted to West and in 2017 to then Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-10th, calling them “s—head.”
    Tweeted “F— YOU!” at Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., in 2010.
    Referred to state Sen. Glen Sturtevant, R-Chesterfield, last year as “Glen Turd Event.” In 2018, Donegan wrote: “Richard ‘Dick’ Black is the actual name of a State Senator from Ashburn. Glen is State Senator Glen Sturtevant. I dubbed him ‘Turd Event.'”
    In 2017 tweeted to Radkiha Jones, the editor in chief of Vanity Fair, and told her to “F— off, eat s—, and crawl back to hell.”
    Made jokes about Catholic priests being pedophiles. In 2010, Donegan wrote: “Abortion is morally indefensible to Catholic priests bcuz it results in fewer children to rape.”
    “Go tell a Catholic they have dirt on their forehead,” she wrote in 2011, with the hashtag #waystooffend.
    Donegan wrote in 2010: “Saw a bumper sticker: ‘You can’t be both Catholic & Pro-Choice.’ Add: You can be a pedophile though!”
    Donegan retweeted a tweet in 2010 that said Christmas is “the one time of year the Catholic Church is allowed to focus on a little boy.”
    In response to a 2011 news story about Catholics in New York being subjected to Hepatitis A by taking Communion on Christmas, Donegan wrote “LOLz.”
    Tweeted a joke in 2013 to John Whitbeck, then chairman of the 10th District Republican Committee and to Ken Cuccinelli, then the Republican nominee for governor: “Dr, lawyer & priest on Titantic (sic). Doc: save the children! lawyer: f— the children! Priest: Is there time?”
    Donegan made that same joke again on Twitter in 2018 and called it “my fave joke.”
    Referred to the Boy Scouts in 2017 as “p—y snowflakes.”
    Regularly told supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to “f— off.” In 2018, Donegan wrote: “Bernie Sanders and his s—head followers need to f— the f— off.”
    In 2011 called then-U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican, a “dumb b—-.”
    Donegan’s appointment was announced Aug. 16 in what was a weekly batch of appointments announced by the governor’s office, which names about 900 people annually to state boards and commissions.

    The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website says serving on a state board or commission is an honor and a privilege, but applicants should be aware that “in an open and democratic government, the activities of boards and commissions are subject to public and press scrutiny.”

    1. My husband is

      Nancy Astor: “Winston, If I were your wife, I’d put poison in your coffee”

      Winston Churchill, “If I were your husband, Nancy, I would drink it!”

      Broad is the Democratic Party’s id.

      Northam’s continued tenure is another indication, in case you needed one, that the media are Democratic operatives with bylines. As soon as the media realized their contrived sh!tstorms might cost the Democratic Party the Governor’s chair (because all three statewide officers had #metoo or #aljolson scandals) suddenly the scandals went away.

  13. Liberals are just mean and they get away with it. Conservatives mocking anyone’s death would be crucified in the press. But no one cares what Bill Maher says.

  14. We may all on occasion privately wish for the death of someone, but hopefully we keep it to ourselves, unless the person is a known murderer, rapist, or otherwise capital offender. Koch was none of those. Mahar crossed an obvious and generally observed line that is important in civilized behavior. Those of us who are civilized hopefully can agree on that.

    PS The same can be said concerning condemnation for those who go to the streets seeking violence, whether Antifa, Nazi’s, or Proud Boys.

  15. So R
    what do you say about that poor excuse for a human being George Soros? He is doing what the Koch brothers have done. You really are diarrhea.

  16. R
    I don’t know if there is a Heaven or Hell, but if there is, may you find your special place in hell and slowly roast – enough to heat your body temp to about 150 degrees and just let the pain set in. But maybe that is too good for you, but a slow pain filled way is saved just for you.

  17. You should die when young, so your gene pool ends; but a gruesomely painful death. How about a car crash on a hot desert highway where your wounded skin will burn from the overheated asphalt while you slowly bleed to death?

  18. If you can justify any of those remarks, you are wrong. Publicly when you don’t agree with someone who dies, just say bless the family or something. I got to very vehemently disagree with John McCain, but when he died I felt for his family. Social media and comedy doesn’t give you a pass to be non-human.

    2. Unfortunately, the auto censor forbids how I’d really like to say this, because dung like you aren’t worthy of courtesy – that you are a very special kind of fecal material.

    3. R…….You’re saying that for the shock value, only……like a Lenny Bruce-type mouth, only you’re not funny and probably not talented.
      You just want the attention.

    4. R, I think I recognize you. Weren’t you the guy holding the KILL BUSH sign at a rally years ago?

      Thank goodness for stupid people or the more intelligent ones might have to push the mops.

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