This Week In Stupid- "There's A Little Bit of Hitler And Stalin In All Of Us"

What Christianity needs is more people willing to strap bombs to their chests...wait, what???

Kent Christmas Claims' Evil People’ Took His Shocking Sermon ‘Out of Context’:

I don’t know about you, but when a Christian pastor begins using language reminiscent of radical Islamist terrorists, that tends to get my attention for all the wrong reasons. And Kent Christmas is not known for preaching the Gospel of love, tolerance, inclusion, acceptance, and understanding. So for those who take their Christianity seriously, you might find this somewhat… disturbing.

No, he’s said- more than once- that he’s quite literally willing to die for his faith, which seems a bit extreme. But what do I know? I’m just a clueless atheist wishing that we could all somehow find a way to get along.

Christmas is a Trump–loving pastor and conspiracy theorist who has repeatedly declared that God will soon start killing “wicked” elected officials[.]

“I am at war with evil!” Christmas ranted. “This is one preacher that is not backing down. I can tell you this: I will give my life for the Gospel.”

“You want to know why the Muslim faith has had its advancements?” he continued. “It’s because the Muslims were willing to die for their beliefs. They were willing to strap bombs to their chest. They believed in the afterlife.”

“God, give us some men and women that will get a hold of some passion in their spirit and say, ‘I will lay down my life for the Gospel!’” he said. “This thing was born in blood.”

Yeah, precisely what Jesus would do, eh?

I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to posit that Pastor Christmas is a frickin’ wackjob who, if he isn’t already on the Department of Homeland Security’s watch list, should be. If the man’s a Bible-believing, God-fearing, humanity-loving Christian, I’m the reincarnation of Hannibal Lecter.

Those willing to die for their religion through acts of senseless, murderous violence are in no way acting on behalf of their faith. They’re terrorists- and Kent Christmas is advocating for terrorism.

And people wonder why I’m good without God.

Religious Right Activists Cheer Trump, Calls for ‘Spiritual Civil War’ at ‘Road to Majority’ Conference A sensible man once told me that if someone is selling you religion with a side of spiritual (or actual) warfare, what they’re pushing on you isn’t religion. It’s tyranny using theology as a framework for autocracy. Those who advocate for “spiritual warfare” know nothing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and what they’re after is the opportunity to force their narrow, fear-based ideology on the masses.

So it is at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual circle jerk, which is little more than a yearly opportunity to whip the American Taliban into a frenzy of lunacy and lust for religious tyranny.

Former President Donald Trump received a rapturous hero’s welcome Saturday night as he delivered the closing keynote address to a room packed with religious-right activists in Washington, D.C. for the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual Road to Majority conference.

Trump knew his audience. “We are warriors in a righteous crusade to stop the arsonists, atheists, globalists, and the Marxists, and we will restore our republic as one nation under God with liberty and justice for all,” Trump said. As part of his typically long and rambling speech, he denounced his recent indictments, bragged about his administration’s accomplishments–including his Supreme Court justices cementing the right-wing majority to overturn Roe v. Wade—and declared that Democrats have become “monsters.”

Trump thrilled the crowd with promises about what he would do as the 47th president, saying, “When I get back in the Oval Office, I will totally obliterate the Deep State.” And he vowed to push “school choice” plans—which divert public education dollars into private and religious schools and homeschooling—and, oddly, called for public school principals to be chosen by direct election by parents….

Earlier in the conference, Christian nationalist and anti-LGBTQ North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson drew cheers when he declared, “This nation is at war, and we need a warrior at the helm,” and endorsed Trump’s bid to return to the White House. Robinson noted his own campaign for governor, and compared himself to the Union soldiers at Gettysburg, the Marines on Iwo Jima, and civil rights marchers, and insisted that he only looks “crazy” to people who are “insane.”

Because if you’re not willing to kill for Jesus, you ain’t shit….

When they talk about spiritual warfare, they fail to understand that it has nothing to do with actual weaponry. The Jesus Christ they claim to revere would never have taken up arms.

But when you’re willing to cherry-pick Scripture for Jesus, you can make it up as you go, eh?

Ron DeSatan Says No To $5 Million To KILL YOUR GAS STOVE, Loses $346 Million More:

Gov. Ron DeSatan (R-FL) surfing into your heart (Pic: Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons License 2.0)

Floriduh Gov. Ron DeSatan loves to burnish his Conservative bona fides as an anti-Big Guv’mint warrior. Nope, the feds aren’t going to throw wasteful programs at the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind State- not while he’s Governor.

So, when Gov. DeSatan said “HELL, NO!!” to a $5 million grant that ended up costing Floriduh $346 million in additional federal money…well, that’s a fine example of some exemplary leadership, eh?

Yes, it most certainly is.

Republican presidential candidate and part-time Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pulled a truly genius move earlier this month when he used his line-item veto power to reject a couple of smallish federal grants that would have provided $29 million to Florida's budget, presumably because federal money is bad and who needs Washington, yay fiscal conservatism! He wasn't about to let Florida be oppressed by that relative pittance from Joe Biden's woke big spending agenda, so the hell with it.

DeSantis may or may not have been aware, however, that rejecting one of the block grants — for $5 million — actually led to Florida's withdrawal from a federal program that would have provided another $346 million to provide tax rebates to Florida residents who upgraded to energy efficient appliances, smart thermostats, and the like.

What's not clear yet is whether he was ignorant of those consequences, or knew exactly what he was doing and was willing to prevent Floridians from getting in on energy-saving home upgrades for the sake of pretending he's fighting woke green policy or something. When he signed off on the state budget on June 15, DeSantis didn't mention any of the $510 million in items he vetoed, much less those two line items, so we'll assume he didn't know. After all, when he's deliberately being a dick, he tends to make noise about it.

Sure, just because Floriduh is a peninsula, and thus surrounded by water and prone to being impacted by global climate change, that doesn’t mean federal money will be used to help Floriduh deal with the impacts of climate change. Or even help mitigate the effects. No, Floriduh residents will keep eating away at the ozone layer just as they have for generations.

Because, as any good, God-fearing, White Conservative Christian heterosexual patriot KNOWS in their heart of hearts, global climate change is a Liberal plot to force Conservatives to give up their guns.

HOO-RAH!!!

If it was good enough for Granddad, it’s good enough for this generation! So what if the Keys are flooded; that doesn’t mean Mankind is responsible for it…right?? Maybe it’s just bad plumbing.

Besides, energy-efficient appliances and smart thermostats are for losers and Liberals.

Whatever DeSantis's motives — performative dickishness is always a safe baseline assumption — his efforts to sidestep any mention of climate change aren't likely to play well beyond his rightwing base. (For that matter, even wingnuts like saving money on utility bills.) And no matter what he may say, Ron DeSantis knows climate change is real; remember, he has an entire program aimed at mitigating "sea level rise and flooding" in Florida, even if he won't say out loud the reason that infrastructure needs to be made resilient.

“Performative dickishness” should probably be the title of DeSatan’s unauthorized biography. Yeah, he knows global climate change is real; there’s no way he can avoid it. Every time he goes anywhere on the Floriduh Coast, he’s confronted with the impact of it.

And who doesn’t like to save money on their utility bills? Even redneck MAGA Conservatives who love to show off the gun racks in the F-350s love to save money.

Yeah, it defies credibility to think that DeSatan honestly believes that “performative dickishness” will pave his road to the White House. I’m not sure it will pave his road to an outhouse, but DeSatan appears to be fixated on his belief that he’s the most intelligent and competent person in any room he occupies.

I’m not sure he’s the most intelligent and competent person in a room when he’s alone in that room.

‘What on Earth Is He Talking About?’ Ali Velshi Reacts to GOP Presidential Candidate Ranting About' Wokism’ and ‘Covidism’:

Are you ready to give yourself over to the “religion of ‘woke’?” Do you believe that loving and caring for those in need are signs of weakness and will inevitably lead to (GASP!!!) SOCIALISM!?!?!?!???!!!

Fear not, my fellow Americans, for Republicans have a cure for what’s ailing this country…and it’s a freakishly long laundry list.

Man, we’re so f****d.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy railing against “wokism, transgenderism, climatism,” and “Covidism.”

Filling in for Joy Reid on MSNBC’s The ReidOut, Velshi played a compilation of clips from the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual conference, which included a clip of Ramaswamy’s speech.

“That is when the poison fills the void,” Ramaswamy said. “Wokism, transgenderism, climatism, Covidism, globalism, depression, anxiety, drug usage, suicide…”

What is it about Republicans that leads them to think that we’re sliding on our collective asses down the ice at breakneck speed on the expressway to Hell? They'd wonder where the holes were if they had a box of doughnuts. If Steph Curry scored 60 points in a game, they’d be disappointed he didn’t rack up 70.

America may have problems, but it’s not the festering pustule that Ramaswamy and the rest of the GOP appear to believe it is.

“What on Earth is he talking about?” questioned Velshi. “I’m a little stunned. Vivek Ramaswamy continues to impress me with his ability to come up with new stuff all the time.”

He continued, “Climatism, never heard of that. I’m very concerned about the climate, does that make me a climatist? Covidism, I was concerned about Covid, I wore a mask, I guess I’m a covidist. Uh, I don’t know where he threw in pornography into this whole thing.”

Responding to Ramaswamy’s mention of multiculturalism, Velshi said, “Canada has more people for the first time than maple trees as a direct result of its engagement of multiculturalism, of immigration, and of seeking out the world’s refugees to populate it. All of these things that he’s talking about, a lot of Americans wear as a badge of honor.”

What is Ramaswamy talking about? Who knows? And, frankly, who cares? Republicans have no fundamental ideas about how to move America forward. All they have is fear-mongering, racism, homophobia, and the belief that America is speeding down the express lane to Hell. “Wokism, transgenderism, climatism, Covidism, globalism, depression, anxiety, drug usage, suicide….”

What, no pornography or rants about the Green Bay Packers? Clearly, then, we have to assume Ramaswamy isn’t serious. Or, at the very least, that he’s not paying attention.

Maybe he’s gone off his meds…or he’s trying to set himself apart from the rest of the GOP field by out-crazying them.

Rosanne Barr Says ‘Nobody Died in The Holocaust’ in Utterly Unhinged RCertain red lines exist her meds?

There are certain red lines that exist in our society, lines that shouldn’t be crossed, even by comedians trying to shock or offend. One of those lines involves the Holocaust. I don’t know; maybe the idea of six million people being slaughtered simply because of their Jewish identity puts the subject beyond the pale, yeah? Maybe it’s the millions more who lost loved ones. Mass slaughter is one of those things that just isn’t funny.

Most rational, reasonable understand this. They know that given the vast number of people impacted by the losses of, in some cases, entire families, there’s nothing funny about the Holocaust. It’s no laughing matter. End of story. Game, set, match. Good night. Game over. Drive home safely.

There’s no humor to be found in the Holocaust. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Bupkis.

Yet there was Roseanne Barr, playing the crank and denying that anyone died during the Holocaust. Or was it an act?

Comedian Roseanne Barr made some utterly bizarre remarks about the Holocaust in a recent podcast appearance.

On the June 14 edition of This Past Weekend, a podcast hosted by fellow comedian Theo Von, Barr appeared as a guest to discuss her career and world views. At one point during their discussion, Barr began talking about the 2020 election and regulations on truth in America.

“Nobody wants to hear the real truth. They’re horrified of it, rather go with bullshit. It’s easier,” Barr said.

The real truth? Nobody wants to hear the REAL truth? Roseanne Barr is a comedian, not a historian, and as such, is hardly qualified to hold forth on the integrity of the historical record surrounding the Holocaust.

What makes her an expert on “the real truth?” Is she somehow tapped into the source of knowledge that’s allowed her to crack the mysteries of the universe? Or is she just a crank with an axe to grind?

I’ll take Door #2, Bob….

“Like for the real truth that, you know, and I’m glad that they did set up all these guidelines so that we only are allowed to speak the truth. And the truth is that Biden got 81 million votes by winning 36 counties. And that is just incredible. It really is,” she added sarcastically.

“Of these 81 million supporters who gave him more votes than any president has ever gotten before — it came with a mandate from these 81 million voters. I’m just glad that they were very careful to make sure that nobody could detract from that proven truth,” Barr said. “They mandated that that was the truth and that nobody could say, ‘Well what about’ — No.”

Von appeared to be confused by Barr’s claim that it was a “mandated” fact.

Barr reiterated sarcastically, “You can’t say that like, you know, the election was rigged. That’s all a lie. The election was not rigged. 36 counties can give you 81 million votes. Right. That’s a fact.”

“That’s the truth and don’t you dare say anything against it or you’ll be off YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and all the other ones because there’s such a thing as the truth and facts and we have to stick to it,” Barr said.

So who are the mysterious “they” who “set up these guidelines so that we are only allowed to speak the truth?” At no point does she identify the mysterious “they” who appear to control all knowledge, wisdom, power…and Presidential elections.

Are they Freemasons? Illuminati? Russian oligarchs? Green Bay Packers fans? Israeli bus drivers? If Barr knows who “they” are, why not tell us? Or is she just foaming at the mouth?

Or…even worse…is this just a horrible act, and we’re all expected to recognize that “This was part of a satirical rant?”

Bullshit.

This may have been a comedy podcast, and Theo Von may have been attempting to cover his tracks, but his explanation is total crap. There was nothing funny about it, and if you’re joking about the Holocaust, all I have to say about you is that you’re so low that you need to look up to see the bottom.

This is a pathetic attempt to evade responsibility for some abysmal choices in subject matter. Roseanne Barr has descended to a depth I’d not thought her capable of…and I’d long ago given up on her as both a human being and a comedian of any merit.

I’m all for pushing boundaries and tweaking tender sensibilities, but the Holocaust should, by its very nature, be off-limits. SIX MILLION PEOPLE DIED, y’all. What sort of monster could manage to find humor in such unimaginable suffering?

I don’t care if Barr’s remarks were part of a more extensive unhinged comedic rant. Finding humor in the Holocaust should be and must remain beyond the pale. There’s no humor to be found in the extermination of six million innocent people.

If we can’t agree on that, something is very wrong with humanity.