DNC Day 3 Highlights

See Politifacts for fact-checking of statements made by Walz and others
at last night's convention.

Hope and joy are here again!  It was a great night for speaking and cheering at the Democratic convention in Chicago.  PBS provides a short recap of the evening:

 

CBS News Face the Nation provides full speeches by handsome Hakeem Jeffries (he's gay, really?!!), Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah Winfrey, my man Pete Buttigieg (looking and sounding very presidential), and Coach Tim Walz:

Ya know, fellas, this is the most fun we Democrats have had in years.  What a blast!  We should do this more often.

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Oprah a Victim of Racism? Not Necessarily

I suppose you boys have heard about the shop clerk in Zurich who refused to let Oprah see a handbag:




Oprah, naturally enough, thinks the clerk was prejudiced against her race, but your Head Trucker (who, by the way, is the same age as La Winfrey) is here to tell you that it ain't necessarily so.

When I was 21, on my one and only visit to Paris in the hot, dry month of August thirty-seven years ago right now, one day on the Boulevard Haussmann I wandered into some fancy store selling ladies' goods, thinking I might pick up a little bottle of parfum to take home to my mother as a gift. There was a long glass counter case full of paints and powders and such, and shelves behind full of every brand and variety of smell-um-good, in all sizes from tiny to enormous.

I saw some small bottle with an intriguing name - perhaps Bal à Versailles - and asked the youngish clerk behind the counter, Pardon, Mademoiselle, combien ce coute? She seemed to be following the conversation between another clerk and customer six feet away, but otherwise she was just standing there, doing nothing. With an admonitory look, she turned to me and said, Oh, c'est très cher. And turned away from me, just like that.

And I thought - you nasty little bitch. I was clean, well groomed, presentably dressed, and even used my best schoolroom French; there was no reason for her to brush me off that way. Granted, I was young, but for all she knew, I might have been J. B. Gotrocks the IVth, and loaded with dough enough to buy the whole goddamn store. Snotty little shit of a girl, being snooty just because she could.

Well, maybe someone else gave her a comeuppance sometime or other - I certainly hope so. The other shop clerks I dealt with in Paris were all perfectly nice, and I did eventually get Mama a little flask of her favorite cologne, at Galeries Lafayette, I think it was. But this is exactly the same thing that happened to Oprah, and there was no racism involved - just sheer snobbery and arrogance.

It occurs to your Head Trucker that the same kind of thing probably happens in New York and Los Angeles too, in the tonier shops, but I've never been to those places - have any of you fellas experienced such a thing in these United States?

Rick Perry's Army of God

Oprah Winfrey is the Antichrist - or at least his BFF: you can tell by all the good deeds she does. Japan is cursed because the present Emperor is banging a sun goddess. The Statue of Liberty is a demonic symbol. And only certain Christians have a right to rule America.

And all this is coming soon to a holy nation near you, if Rick Perry has anything to do with it.

Its 14 minutes, but you really should watch this excellent presentation Rachel does on the raving Dominionist preachers who are lined up as the main demagogues for that prayer rally in Houston next month that Butthead Rick Perry, our governor, is heavily promoting:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And the District of Columbia has been renamed the "District of Christ" by this loon, who says, "I have more authority than the Congress does."



And this peckerwood says man-woman marriage is going to be outlawed now that gay marriage is here, and straight from hell:



And forget about Magna Carta and Parliament and a thousand years of British legal history: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States all came straight out of the Bible. Don't you remember from civics class?



It's not just a few isolated wingnuts. Texas and other red states are loaded with them, go read this excellent exposé in the progressive magazine Texas Observer. Excerpt:

On September 28, 2009, at 1:40 p.m., God’s messengers visited Rick Perry. . . . The two Texas pastors . . . told Perry of God’s grand plan for Texas. A chain of powerful prophecies had proclaimed that Texas was “The Prophet State,” anointed by God to lead the United States into revival and Godly government. And the governor would have a special role. . . .

At the end of their meeting, Perry asked the two pastors to pray over him. As the pastors would later recount, the Lord spoke prophetically as Schlueter laid his hands on Perry, their heads bowed before a painting of the Battle of the Alamo. Schlueter “declared over [Perry] that there was a leadership role beyond Texas and that Texas had a role beyond what people understand,” Long later told his congregation.

So you have to wonder: Is Rick Perry God’s man for president? . . .

The movement’s top prophets and apostles believe they have a direct line to God. Through them, they say, He communicates specific instructions and warnings. When mankind fails to heed the prophecies, the results can be catastrophic: earthquakes in Japan, terrorist attacks in New York, and economic collapse. On the other hand, they believe their God-given decrees have ended mad cow disease in Germany and produced rain in drought-stricken Texas.

Their beliefs can tend toward the bizarre. Some consider Freemasonry a “demonic stronghold” tantamount to witchcraft. The Democratic Party, one prominent member believes, is controlled by Jezebel and three lesser demons. Some prophets even claim to have seen demons at public meetings. They’ve taken biblical literalism to an extreme. In Texas, they engage in elaborate ceremonies involving branding irons, plumb lines and stakes inscribed with biblical passages driven into the earth of every Texas county.

If they simply professed unusual beliefs, movement leaders wouldn’t be remarkable. But what makes the New Apostolic Reformation movement so potent is its growing fascination with infiltrating politics and government. The new prophets and apostles believe Christians—certain Christians—are destined to not just take “dominion” over government, but stealthily climb to the commanding heights of what they term the “Seven Mountains” of society, including the media and the arts and entertainment world. They believe they’re intended to lord over it all. As a first step, they’re leading an “army of God” to commandeer civilian government.

In Rick Perry, they may have found their vessel. And the interest appears to be mutual.

Honk to Right Wing Watch.

Sunday Drive: Chely Wright

The first major country-music star to come out.

But only after years of hiding, lying, and inner torment caused in large part by her religious upbringing, which led her in 2006 to put a gun in her mouth:  "layers and layers of betrayal of myself, of lying to myself."  Which I know a lot of my Truckbuddies, like me, can relate to.

Listen to her moving story, and send this on to those good country people you know and love who haven't quite gotten the point about the gay thing yet.  Maybe this will help.







Chely's official website here.

To order an autographed copy of Like Me, her autobiography released last week, click here.

OMG: It's Him!

According to a new Harris Poll:

Majorities of Republicans believe that President Obama:

--Is a socialist (67%)

--Wants to take away Americans' right to own guns (61%)

--Is a Muslim (57%)

--Wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government (51%); and

--Has done many things that are unconstitutional (55%).

Also, large numbers of Republicans also believe that President Obama:

--Resents America's heritage (47%)

--Does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do (40%)

--Was not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president (45%)

--Is the "domestic enemy that the U.S. Constitution speaks of" (45%)

--Is a racist (42%)

--Want to use an economic collapse or terrorist attack as an excuse to take dictatorial powers (41%)

--Is doing many of the things that Hitler did (38%).

Even more remarkable perhaps, fully 24% of Republicans believe that "he may be the Anti-Christ" and 22% believe "he wants the terrorists to win."

While few Democrats believe any of these things, the proportions of Independents who do so are close to the national averages.

Did you get that, guys?  One out of four of your Republican neighbors thinks Obama might be the Antichrist.  How utterly, ludicrously, ignorantly absurd.

Everyone knows it's Oprah.

Presidential Grade: B+?

President Obama, in a "Christmas at the White House" special with Oprah, gave himself a B+ on his first year in office:

Obama: Good solid B-plus. I think that we have inherited the biggest set of challenges of any president since Frankiln Delano Roosevelt. We stabilized the economy, prevented the possibilities of a great depression, or a significant financial meltdown. The economy is growing again, we are on our way out of Iraq, I think we've got the best possible plan for Afghanistan, we have reset our image around the world, we have achieved an international consensus around the need for Iran and North Korea to disable their nuclear weapons, and I think that we're gonna pass the most significant piece of social legislation since social security and that's health insurance for every American.

Oprah: So B-plus--what could you have done better?

Obama: Well, B-plus because of the things that are undone. Health care is not yet signed. If I get health care passed, we tip into A-minus.

What grade would you give him, guys?

BTW - Michelle looked fabulous in purple and pearls.  She just keeps getting more beautiful all the time, I think; and she seems more comfortable in her role as First Lady now.  Here's the First Couple talking about approval ratings, family traditions, and chimney arrangements for Santa's White House visit: