PAT'S BACKHANDED MEA CULPA: Pat Robertson decided to...ummm...apologize for suggesting the US government assassinate the president of Venezuela.

"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him."

Of course, he blames the AP for "misquoting" him, which they did not. Every newscast in the world has shown Patty Cakes making his ludicrous statements on the 700 Club this past Monday. Let's not forget Robertson was the big moron who suggested a small nuclear bomb be dropped on the State Department to shake things up, a meteor would strike Disney World for hosting "gay day" and that feminism causes women to kill their children, practice witchcraft and become lesbians.

Pat...really...just die.

Speaking of morons, Dubya was in Idaho today beating his chest about how "we'll win the war" in Iraq. It was more of the same shit: "stay the course," "honor their sacrifice," "democracy is onthe march." God, give us a fucking break will ya? Cindy Sheehan's anti-war protest has put some nasty mojo on Dubya, but I bet you a dollar that when 2006 rolls around, our troops will be leaving quickly so as not to affect congressional elections and the 2008 presidential election. We'll stay the course as long as it's convenient. Can we load Pat and Dubya onto a rocket and shoot them into the center of the sun?

Comments

David Herrle said…
I understand why folks are upset. But, as usual, I've a different take.

Yesterday I chatted with an elderly friend I haven't seen in a few weeks. She asked me what I thought about "that nut" Pat's recent Chavez crack.

I'll paraphrase what I said:

"First of all, if Pat's a nut and a turd, etc., what should we care? And should we care about what Howard Stern has said/says (like wishing cancer on Don Imus)? And where does freedom of speech begin and end, despite indecency and so on?

"Second, what if Pat had talked about rubbing a Klan leader out - or the slayers of Matthew Shepard years back, or an abortion-clinic bomber?

"Third, why the odd (mostly implicit) defense of a charlatan thug, collectivist hypocrite bastard like Chavez? Aside from whatever conservatives might rant about him and his ilk, really consider it. Monsters are repeatedly overlooked or excused and goofballs and turds like Pat are treated like Hitler/Stalin/Mao rolled into one.

"I think we need to prioritize our outrage.

"Now, the valid blast into Pat is this: His alleged Christian foundation contrasting his call for assassination. Okay. I can see the beef there, although it's a useful lesson that we are all fallible, prone to frustration and sticking our feet in our mouths, and we have a savage streak that is constantly countered by humaneness, morality, and laws.

"Pat just happens to specialize at F-ing up. (So do I, for that matter. Heh.) Collin rightly brought up the meteor on Disney World comment, etc.

"BUT," I said, "If Pat or anybody else is to be blasted as a hypocrite on such grounds - for diverging from his professed faith and moral code - then those who JUDGE him as a hypocrite DO SO THROUGH a moral code that defines hypocrisy as divergence from a professed faith and moral code.

"Stronger language and imagery than Pat's have been used to bash other modes of thinking/lifestyles, too, we must admit. So if the apology game is to be played, it must be played thoroughly. (Me? I don't give a shit most of the time. Sticks and stones are what I'm primarily worried about.)

"In other words, in order to blast someone for being 'self-righteous' and a preacher of absolutes, the critics and/or mockers must *borrow from* or downright *use* a standpoint based on Right and Wrong (capitalized). Otherwise THEIR assessment is purely arbitrary and Pat needn't be held to any standard or measured up against any scale of genuine righteousness and hypocrisy.

"That being said, I don't endorse Pat Robertson or the 700 Club. Any rich-ass organization makes my skin crawl, so those folks are up there with that goof Benni Hinn and secular fatcat clubs, as well."

Geese and ganders, as I always say. What's good for the goose is...well, you know the rest.

Put it this way: Ignore losers like Pat, like that spoiled racist creep Harry Belafonte, like racist slug David Duke, like foot-sucker Santorum or fatcat pretender Kerry or whoever. They stir things up because folks give them the time of day.

I'm TRYING to do so, but it's not easy. :)

As for Chavez, he's another one like that pop-culture icon Che Guevera. Folks get sucked into his theatrics and don't see or ignore his ruthless criminal policy. Hell, folks wear T-shirt with Che on them! Redford made that acclaimed movie and left out the cold-blooded slaughter parts, etc., etc.

[TRIVIA FREEBIE: Here's a telling quote from the REAL Che Guevera (about his notorious execution Wall):

"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary...These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail. This is a revolution! And a revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate. We must create the pedagogy of the The Wall!"]

HE sells T-shirts and WWJD is mocked? I want to design a T-shirt with a smoking gun, a blood stain, and dead child (yes, he liked to kill children): WHAT WOULD CHE DO?

But I digress. Sorry. :)

Chavez, for me, is beside the point. Pat made a big boo-boo and nobody should be surprised or even care. Let idiots choke on their own vomit, I say. And that goes for Castro, Chavez, and any other creep.
David Herrle said…
P.S.:

I'm more worried about Bush's "PERPETUAL WAR" domino kick. WTF? I HOPE a pullout happens for slimy election reasons. Any way to cease this idiocy!

But I doubt it will happen even for that. I think this will spread: next and next and next.

1984. Unending war and unidentifiable "terrorism." It's here, Georgy (Orwell). Good call.
Collin Kelley said…
I'm not saying Hugo Chavez is a saint, nor is his style of government something I would support. HOWEVER, Chavez was democratically elected by the people and international monitors watching the election said it was all above board. The US should not be in the business of toppling governments just because it doesn't vibe with our "democracy on the march" propaganda. China is a communist country and we have a trade agreement with them. The hypocrisy is damning. Funny how Venezuela has all that oil...the US always seems to be interested in invading countries that have large oil supplies.
David Herrle said…
On that I agree. And Pat's comments COULD have caused a molehill to become a mountain geopolitically, I must admit.

If anything, this foolish incident only adds to the religious tension in current events, fuelling misconceptions that religions should be in the business of killing.

Good point.
David Herrle said…
I want to say something in defense of Cindy Sheehan.

Though I may lean toward her family's criticism that she's veered away from grief and regret and into all-out political agitation...

I'm damn glad she's doing what she's doing. It's so easy to slam her for being a "nut" or a "tool" - without considering the blessed evidence of liberty that we STILL have here in the U.S.

In many regimes, someone with such strang rips on a leader would be at least shut up, jailed, or even erased for good.

And by the looks of jolly ole England these days, such folks might be deported or shot "because they ran" in some Big Brother cop sweep.

So I applaud the opportunity to speak out and petition and grieve and rant (provided it doesn't infringe on others' rights).

Instead of wasting time by slamming Sheehan 24 hours a day, folks should remove themselves from particular iodeologies and politics - and even from apparent lunacy or counterproductivity - and cheer for the general capacity, the thankfully still intact exercise of thought, dissent, criticism, approval, praise, etc.

I don't consider Sheehan a heroine or an inspiration, mind you. I simply find her to be consolation that we haven't lost liberty altogether - yet.

Rip, roar, and rant if you must, Americans! The goons at the top shouldn't have more worth or padding than any of us have!
David Herrle said…
typo: "strang" was meant to be "strong"

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