Mad Mikey's Blog

|| « SDPW Arrives, CodePink Wets Themselves || Main || 'Freedom Fighters' Redux » ||

September 06, 2005

It Hurts My Ears!

Oh my God - what a fracking moron:

Atheists: No prayer for disaster victims

The American Atheists organization says President Bush should stop urging prayer for Hurricane Katrina victims because it violates the Constitution.

Ellen Johnson, president of the group said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Bush "should not be violating the Constitution by telling people to pray for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It's unconstitutional for government officials to be promoting religion; and besides, judging from the speed of some relief efforts, officials should be busy working instead of preaching."

In urging her own flock to support disaster relief efforts, Johnson said: "Contrary to some, charity and mutual aid are not the monopoly of religious organizations."

Does the notion of someone asking others to pray really offend these nimrods that much!?! Are they seriously about to power honk over the notion that not everyone 'dances to their tune'? It must be causing their ears to bleed...

I have yet to see President Bush (or any other religious person) instruct people on how to pray or to do it to a distinct religious sect, community, or a specific religion for that matter.

I'm no religious scholar - not by a long-shot - but I do believe that every religion on the planet invokes some sort of 'prayer' in their observance of whatever faith they're following. I bet if President Bush had said to not pray that he'd be getting a ration of crap from a lot of people.

Am I wrong?

If I am, I'm betting that if there is some religion that does not invoke the act of 'prayer' that there are probably fewer that 100 followers of that religion here in the United States. And if that's the case, this dim-witted broad Ellen Johnson can count on those particular people to not have been the intended audience when President Bush (or anyone else for that matter) said 'pray for the victims'.

|| , 11:01 AM || Permalink || Comments (6) || Add your comment || TrackBacks (2) ||

Trackback Information for It Hurts My Ears!

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blog2.mu.nu/cgi/trackback.cgi/112584
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'It Hurts My Ears!'.

» Kilabe's Hive links with: Ya'll Ain't gonna......, on September 06, 2005, 07:42 PM
Excerpt: believe this crap!

» Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator links with: Senate Holds Hearing on Gas Price Gouging, on September 06, 2005, 08:51 PM
Excerpt: Senators, both Republicans and Democrats, said Tuesday that they suspect price gouging as gasoline c

Comments on It Hurts My Ears!

perhaps instead of urging prayer (which hasn't seemed to work very well in this situation) he should instead urge people to donate whatever they can. Instead of urging people to pary, he should have gotten off of his ass in crawford a few days sooner, he should have ste up a war room, somewhere, to figure out a response in case the worst happned (which it did) and evacuate those who could not leave by their own means (or is that asking too much of our government - I guess those people should havge gotten those wonderful paying jobs at burger king to help them buy some train tickets out of there).

|| Posted by nunya, September 6, 2005 03:49 PM ||

Nunya doesn't seem to really know how things work...and certainly can't spell! The Federal Government is not allowed to step up to help until asked to do so by the Governor and Local Government of the state affected. The Louisiana officials are still saying that they are not at fault but they were told after 9/11 to set up Emergency Procedures and have them ready. Apparently Louisiana didn't do as asked and therefore wasn't prepared....and that's not Bush's fault! It was Louisiana's responsibility to get the people out and they failed. Now the feds are having to go in and clean up the mess because Louisiana was too proud to ask for help before it became such a bad situation. As for the prayer request....if you don't want to pray for them, then don't! It is an act of compassion. Bush is a religious man. If the athiest people don't want to be prayed for I'm sure God will keep any positive affects resulting from prayer from helping them in any way.

|| Posted by Amy, September 6, 2005 03:59 PM ||

perhaps instead of urging prayer (which hasn't seemed to work very well in this situation) he should instead urge people to donate whatever they can

I think he did this already and it was one of the first things out of his mouth about it.

Instead of urging people to [pray], he should have gotten off of his ass in [Crawford] a few days sooner, he should have [set] up a war room, somewhere, to figure out a response in case the worst happned (which it did) and evacuate those who could not leave by their own means

Leaving Crawford would have been a good idea. I will say this: someone is gonna get their ass kicked for this PR screwup.

(or is that asking too much of our government - I guess those people should [have] gotten those wonderful paying jobs at burger king to help them buy some train tickets out of there).

Dunno if it's too much to ask of the Federal government. I work for the Feds and sometimes it is scary just how S-L-O-W they can move on things - especially when there's an urgency. (Now consider for a moment that this government is placed in charge of a some sort of national healthcare system....)

Amy nailed it: had President Bush sent in troops before requested there would be people screaming about 'states rights' and 'how dare he militarize this disaster'. It has been my experience that the federal government waits for the states to request assistance - that's IMO why FEMA dragged their feet on some parts of this.

I've tried to say this at other blogs, but apparently my words cut too close - there's plenty of blame to go around. Certainly the federal government could have/should have/would have done things differntly - hindsight has a way of making mistake crystal clear - but Amy said it: after 9/11, the states were asked to create some sort of OH SHIT emergency plan. Louisiana and New Orleans didn't have their plan(s) in place or ready to implement.

SIDENOTE: Now Nunya, see how I didn't delete your stuff? I told you if you're civil that anyone can comment here.

|| Posted by Mad Mikey, September 6, 2005 05:37 PM ||

"I think he did this already and it was one of the first things out of his mouth about it."

Actually, nobody heard in the public heard shit from him. The brush on his ranch was more important until after the fact the storm hit.

"Leaving Crawford would have been a good idea. I will say this: someone is gonna get their ass kicked for this PR screwup."

Yes, because God forbid Bush act like a real leader and think for himself and realize "Hmm, maybe I should go to DC or Baton Rouge to stand by to respond immediately" - Instead, he only wants to play president when he feels like it.

"Dunno if it's too much to ask of the Federal government. I work for the Feds and sometimes it is scary just how S-L-O-W they can move on things - especially when there's an urgency."

I remember when congress called an immediate emergency session when Brother Jeb wanted oms eaction taken not to remove Shciavo's feeding tube. The government has every means available for them to move yesterday if they feel like it.

"Amy nailed it: had President Bush sent in troops before requested there would be people screaming about 'states rights' and 'how dare he militarize this disaster'."

Oh please Mikey. Save the rhetoric for the judicial hearings. This is a national tragedy. If you really think people would have cared about that, than you need to put down the crack pipe. People needed help, immediately and would have taken it from any place they could have gotten it. You know it and everyone else does. So save it.

"It has been my experience that the federal government waits for the states to request assistance - that's IMO why FEMA dragged their feet on some parts of this."

And FEMA answers to the joke that is called The Department of Homeland Security headed up by Michael Jerkoff - I mean Chertoff. Who in turn, answers to Bush. So ultimately, it came down to one person who had the power to order all that was needed to help and he didn't do it.

"after 9/11, the states were asked to create some sort of OH SHIT emergency plan. Louisiana and New Orleans didn't have their plan(s) in place or ready to implement."

Come off of it already. In a true national disaster, do you really think bearucratic bullshit would come into play? Of course not - but you are only using this as a way to sidestep accountability. Why are you so loyal to this administration to where you cannot admitt that THIS time, they really fucked up? What have they done for you that is so good that you cannot put aside your radical views and say "yep, they screwed up." Shit, even the most conservative GOP'ers know BushCo was caught with their pants around the ankles, DHS is a joke, and hell needs to be paid.

Paint it any color you want Mikey, but your team severely fucked up on this one.

|| Posted by nunya, September 6, 2005 07:43 PM ||

Posse Comitatus Act of 1878

From and after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States, as a posse comitatus, or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress; and no money appropriated by this act shall be used to pay any of the expenses incurred in the employment of any troops in violation of this section

This might be saying the same thing, but it seems a bit more clear:

The Posse Comitatus Act and Homeland Security

Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

-Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1385

What this bascially says is that it is forbidden to deploy federal troops within the states unless there's a huge disaster happening.

Is this a 'huge' disaster? I believe so, but my initial thought on this stands: those left-of-center would be howling mad if the 82nd Airborne was sent in without the approval of the state's governor.

The same goes for the National Guard. the Guard isn't under direct control of the federal govenment - it is the state's 'militia' and is only used by the federal government when any unit of the Guard is 'federalized'.

More and more I'm seeing that while the PR image of President Bush wasn't/isn't the best it could have been for this situation, the 'blame' for the fiascos must and will start with local government. That is what I was attempting to point out to Maria before she went bezerk.

The big arguments I've been hearing is that on one hand there are those that think that the federal government should have been in there before the hurricane has even cleared the area and yet they're the same segment of the population that are paranoid about this nation becoming a 'police state'.

Quite frankly, you cannot have it both ways. ANYONE responding to this disaster will require some amount of time to get geared up, sent in, set up, and start working. No one other than local authorities and the local police & EMTs can move that fast.

The big juggernaut that is the federal government won't be appearing there in a nanosecond - a big relief effort moves slowly at first....probably too slowly for those waiting for food or assistance.

|| Posted by Mad Mikey, September 7, 2005 10:31 AM ||

Apparently these atheists forgot that the constitution prohibits government establishment of "religion," not encouraging "religious acts" from the faithful of any religion. Which religion is estabished by asking for prayer in this situation? Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists all pray, albeit in different ways. You can only establish something if you first specify what it is you want to establish.

Another thought - Atheism is a belief system (often secular humanism) that takes upon itself the burden to explain the nature of the human being, just as any other religion does. When they demand that religious references not be used by government officials, they are tacitly demanding that their own personal views take precendence. Why do they think that their belief system is any more deserving of establishment under the constitution?

|| Posted by J-P, September 8, 2005 01:55 PM ||

Groups and Such

MuNuviana

Licensing

Powered By

September 06, 2005

It Hurts My Ears!

Trackback Information for It Hurts My Ears!

Comments on It Hurts My Ears!

Administrative Stuff

Search This Site

About Me

Recent Entries

Recent Comments

Blogroll

Web Links

Counters and stuff

Archives