h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Pastor Bush"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1320764,00.html

"Why do so many Americans dismiss the evidence that the occupation of Iraq has gone disastrously wrong? Because the US has a long tradition of putting faith before facts. Jonathan Raban on George Bush's debt to the Puritans"

"The Puritans live! And the shrewd men of the Bush administration have expertly hotwired the president to the galvanic energy-source of Puritan tradition. It's as if America, since 9/11, has been reconstituted as a colonial New England village: walled-in behind a stockade to keep out Indians (who were seen as in thrall to the devil); centred on its meeting house in whose elevated pulpit stands Bush, the plain-spun preacher, a figure of nearly totalitarian authority in the community of saints. The brave young men of the village are out in the wilderness, doing the Lord's work, fighting wicked spirits who would otherwise be inside the stockade, burning down Main Street and the meeting house."

"In Bush's Puritan theology, to change one's mind in the face of overwhelming evidence is tantamount to denying the very God who rules your "heart of hearts". How can my belief be wrong if He placed it there?"


Is this any way to run a country?

azahar

From a presidents point of veiw, yes.

think we shall have to ban you from reading the Grauniad az, it makes you far to upset. Perhaps you might be able to get Fox News via satelite or something? I'm sure that would make you much happier

p.s. bl**dy scary ain't it? Especially the way the poor lads father had been brainwashed into accepting his own sons death. Never underestimate the power of religion.

No, no! Don't take my Grauniad away!

Meanwhile, yes, it is bl**dy scary. Bush thinks he has a direct line to the Big Guy in the Sky and is using religion to back up his crimes against humanity. Even against his own countrymen by instigating stuff like the absurd 'war on terrorism' and the ironically-named PATRIOT ACT, which is removing basic constitutional rights of US citizens.

I came across this quote the other day, which I found rather poignant:

"It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of national defence, we would sanction the subversion of one of those liberties which make the defence of our nation worthwhile." -Earl Warren, jurist (1891-1974)


az

that's a damn good quote, thanks for posting it!

And here is a damn good cartoon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1328195,00.html


az

I've always found religion pretty scary, especially the way it prevents rational thought. To think that the most powerfull man on the planet has suffers from such a degree of delusion.

They say there is a god-shaped hole in our psyche, I say fill it up with silicone and be done with it.

"Faith against reason"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/comment/story/0,14259,1331359,00.html

"George Bush is a born-again Christian, one of the 42% of Americans who describe themselves that way. Other presidents were religious, but Bush seems to have created something new - what even some of his allies call "the faith-based presidency".

"This instinct he's always talking about is this sort of weird, Messianic idea of what he thinks God has told him to do," Bruce Bartlett, a Republican and former official in Bush's father's administration, tells the magazine. At a recent campaign event, one voter told Bush he truly believed God was now in the White House: the president did not argue."


az

Oh, unlucky us to be part of the "reality-based community".

It would be realy funny if they were kidding, sadly they are not. I feel a Dark Age coming on.

I feel the same dark age coming. Absolutely everything about this news story scares the bloody bejeezus out of me. Frankly it sounds like something you'd hear coming out of a cave in Tora Bora. It certainly indicates to me that Ossama and George are absolutely perfectly suited to each other. And they are gleefully dancing us all toward the plain of Meggido. Although to this point their tactics have been slightly different, their motivation is identical and their potential for inconcievable evil is also identical.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLI...0/19/robertson.bush.iraq/index.html

That link didn't work for me. This is the one:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/19/robertson.bush.iraq/index.html

Shocking stuff though. I can't believe Bush ever thought he could have this war without casualties. Or rather, I can't believe anyone other than Bush would think this.
Maybe this is what happens when his spin doctors haven't prepped him enough. Like that time he said the war on terrorism couldn't be won.

Whats wrong with this site? Is the adress too long? Just put the next two lines together.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/
10/19/robertson.bush.iraq/index.html

the link in post 11 works for me. It didn't work in my initial post because I had cut and pasted from another post and instead of copying the actual link my computer only copied what was displayed on the screen. In short, the address was too long.

But the link you posted works.

yes, it seems to be working now. Oh well.

Personally I think it's great that Pat Robertson has come out as saying this - I mean a good Christian like himself wouldn't lie, would he?

How can *anyone* going into a war say that they don't expect any casualties???




az

I've just found a few things which might be of interest to others. First, from John Cleese's new webpage:

'How many Bush administration officials does it take to change a light bulb?

None. There’s nothing wrong with that light bulb. There is no need to change anything. We made the right decision and nothing has happened to change our minds. People who criticize this light bulb now, just because it doesn’t work anymore, supported us when we first screwed it in, and when these flip-floppers insist on saying that it is burned out, they are merely giving aid and encouragement to the Forces of Darkness.'

http://www.thejohncleese.com/

Second, a little something to watch over the coming weeks:

VoteWatch 2004 http://vote2004.eriposte.com/

And third, has anybody seen this story?

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2004/local/10/18/ballots.html

I've seen scans of the ballots: it wasn't just a slip, like something got stuck in the printer for a moment. The space where Kerry's and Edwards' names were supposed to go were filled with the words "Candidate Removed".

Jeeze, nothing like a fair fight, eh?


az

ps
loved the John Cleese thingy!

I can't get that one to open. Probably a good thing - I'm scared enough already, having seen first-hand the lengths fundamentalist christians can psyche themselves up to.
You realise of course that even if it came down to pressing that button it would all be God's plan and the Righteous would have nothing to worry about since they're destined for heaven?
After all it was foretold in the Bible that the Apocalypse would would be a rain of fire and some infallible old goat like Il Papa(or was it Nostrawhatsit?) said WWIII is destined to start in the Middle East.

I don't understand this whole voter registration thing. What is the point of registering someone a republican if he/she is going to vote democrat? What is the reason for this registration?
When there is an election over here I just get a card in my mail that says please vote there and then. And I go and press a button. No registration or nothing.
BTW I don't understand why technologically advanced countries still vote on paper. The Australians are still counting.

The problem with the link was that you somehow hard-returned in the middle. Here it is: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/19/robertson.bush.iraq/index.html

Here is a list of stories grom Google News about voter fraud in the upcoming election: http://news.google.ca/news?hl=en&ned=ca&q=voter+registration+fraud