Civil Commotion

I swear, the smug ignorance of the Evangelical Right is downright painful at times. Here’s a bunch of them explaining that Scott Pruitt is a wonderful choice to run the Environmental Protection Agency because he is a good Christian.

Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has drawn praise from Southern Baptists despite charges by secular media outlets, environmentalists and theologically liberal clergy that his leadership could harm the environment.

Y’all need to know that, so far as the resolutely ignorant are concerned, ‘secularists,’ ‘environmentalists,’ and ‘theologically liberal clergy’ are imprecations.

Albert the Prious steps forward to explain the problem:

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Pruitt is a trustee, said The Washington Post’s critique appears to stem from an ideological framework that contradicts the Christian worldview.

The Post’s editorial board, Mohler said Dec. 13 in his podcast The Briefing, apparently regards the views of some contemporary scientists as “the ultimate authority not to be questioned.” In reality, it is “an ideological framework to which they are committed … advertised to the public as settled science.”

We are so screwed.

This is interesting: Albert the Pious upholds in todays radio broadcast something that I’ve insisted for years — Inerrancy is an all-or-nothing claim.

He [Thomas Jefferson] referred to the biblical teaching concerning the virgin birth of Christ as “artificial scaffolding” and that argument has been picked up over and over again. We have to consider the consequences of that argument. If Jesus was not born of the virgin then the Bible cannot be trusted when it comes to telling us the story of Jesus, and that mistrust cannot be limited to how he came to us in terms of the incarnation. The fact is that biblical Christianity and ultimately the gospel of Christ cannot survive the denial of the virgin birth.

What do you know? Even a stopped clock et cetera et cetera …

Marketing lies inevitably fail, and ‘inerrancy,’ establishing the priests’ authority interpreting incomprehensible nonsense, is probably the greatest marketing lie of all time — and it has failed. Science has so constricted the field of operation of The Almighty that he is now no more than a bothersome carnival barker. Good riddance. The interesting question is, what Eternal Truth is going to replace Christianity’s preposterous claims?

Donald Trump is “a poor person’s idea of a rich person,” Fran Lebowitz recently observed …

Vanity Fair

Which earned this tweet from The Leader Of The Free World:

Yeah, well … ho-hum.

Here is what I found interesting: The Trumps were referenced relentlessly as the waiter discussed the menu and took their orders. Apparently, the official serving script aims to canonize them as diners.

• “Trump gets the taco bowl and the lasagna and baked ziti,” he said.

• Our table nevertheless ordered the Ivanka’s Salad, a chopped approximation of a Greek salad, smothered in melting goat cheese and dressing and missing the promised olives …

• Our waiter eventually noted that Don Jr. gets the filet mignon cooked medium-rare, with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

I dunno. The idea of eating to emulate the Trumps makes me queasy.

Salon reports that Electors are hearing from the Trump campaign that there will be reprisals if they decide not to vote for him on December 19^th:

“We have gotten reports from multiple people,” the elector said, “that the Donald Trump campaign is putting pressure on Republican electors to vote for him based on . . . future political outcomes based on whether they vote for Donald Trump or not.” The elector emphasized that these reports had come straight from the Republican electors themselves, with the threats steering clear of violence but instead focusing on “career pressure.”

Unhappily, Salon’s source — supposedly an Elector — demanded anonymity. I don’t have any difficulty believing it, though.

Esquire’s Charles Pearce goes further:

Given what we already know about the predilections of hackers from the land of the Rus, I’m wondering if there aren’t other forms of pressure available to the Trump forces beyond the ability to disinvite people from the Mason County Republican Pig Roast next summer. At this point, nothing really would surprise me.

Stolen photo- and financial-files to keep everyone in line? I guess I wouldn’t be surprised, either.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio resurfaces investigation into Obama citizenship