“We Only Have a Few Hours To Save Makwan’s Life”

A few weeks ago many were surprised to learn that an Iranian judge had suspended the death sentence against Makwan Moloudzadeh (charged with homosexuality). I guess it was naive to expect sanity from Neanderthal thugs — the case has been re-examined by a higher court and the sentence upheld.

“There is a need for immediate international protest action from the Italian Goverment, the European Parliament and civilized society. We have to make Iran listen to our request for Marwan to be spared. Marwan is innocent, he has been sentenced to death for his homosexuality”. This is the appeal launched by Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro and Dario Picciau, the leaders of the EveryOne Group, which recently fought this year to prevent the deportation from Great Britain of the Iranian lesbian Pegah Emambakhsh. “We hoped Iran would show some compassion for Marwan” they continue “but the campaign for Makwan’s life carried out by thousands of GLBT activists all over the world has been ignored. We are also amazed at how some people, even in the international press, defined Makwan a “child offender”, when he was only a child himself when he loved a boy of the same age.”

“Makwan’s family are distraught” says Ahmad Rafat of EveryOne. “Any day now could be Makwan’s last, because the Iranian judges only notify the time and place of the prisoner’s execution the night before it takes place.”

I’d encourage you to speak out, but I’m afraid it’s too late.

Huckabee Does What Jesus Would Do

Might this cause Christian fundamentalists to reconsider their support for the former Arkansas governor?

After the Iowa poll showed that Republican voters like him but found him much less "presidential" and "electable" than Romney, Huckabee sought to build his foreign policy credentials, meeting with a group of retired generals who are in Des Moines to urge the 2008 candidates to commit to opposing torture. After the meeting, Huckabee joined Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in declaring his opposition to the interrogation procedure known as "waterboarding," and said he would support closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a contrast with the other leading Republicans.

If I had to vote for a Biblical literalist, I’d vote for Huckabee.

“The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want”

Classic films, classic scenes:

I lose it every time I watch John Merrick recite the 23rd Psalm (from "The Elephant Man," directed by David Lynch and produced by Mel Brooks).

How Dare He

Believe it or not, I have, on rare occasion, wondered whether my disdain for the Clintons has become too rabid. Then I read something like this and become even more convinced she must be defeated:

And other Democrats in Washington report encountering the same when speaking with Clinton campaign people. "They really, really hate Obama," one Democratic operative unaffiliated with any campaign, tells me. "They can’t stand him. They talk about him as if he’s worse than Bush." What do they hate about him? After all, there aren’t a lot of deep policy differences between the two, and he hasn’t gone for the jugular during the campaign. "It’s his presumptuousness," this operative says. "That he thinks he can deny her the nomination. Who is he to try to do that?" You mean, he’s, uh, uppity? "Yes." A senior House Democratic aide notes, "The Clinton people are going nuts in how much they hate him. But the problem is their narrative has gone beyond the plausible."

Might as well call him an uppity you-know-what. As for Hillbot, well, it rhymes with ditch.

How Dare He

Believe it or not, I have, on rare occasion, wondered whether my disdain for the Clintons has become too rabid. Then I read something like this and become even more convinced she must be defeated:

And other Democrats in Washington report encountering the same when speaking with Clinton campaign people. "They really, really hate Obama," one Democratic operative unaffiliated with any campaign, tells me. "They can’t stand him. They talk about him as if he’s worse than Bush." What do they hate about him? After all, there aren’t a lot of deep policy differences between the two, and he hasn’t gone for the jugular during the campaign. "It’s his presumptuousness," this operative says. "That he thinks he can deny her the nomination. Who is he to try to do that?" You mean, he’s, uh, uppity? "Yes." A senior House Democratic aide notes, "The Clinton people are going nuts in how much they hate him. But the problem is their narrative has gone beyond the plausible."

Might as well call him an uppity you-know-what. As for Hillbot, well, it rhymes with ditch.

What’s an Islamic Apologist To Do?

You’re a typical European establishment leftist. You insist on tolerating radical Muslims, yet also view homosexuals as the most victimized of citizens.

So how do you reconcile a surge of Muslim attacks against gay men? If you’re Amsterdam, you commission a study to find out why so many Muslim men commit violence against homosexuals. Smart thinking, since judging them by their own words and deeds would be much cheaper and more effective. Of course that wouldn’t allow the effete elites to reach such a benign conclusion:

Researchers believe they felt stigmatized by society and responded by attacking people they felt were lower on the social ladder. Another working theory is that the attackers may be struggling with their own sexual identity.

That’s so much nicer than the truth, as James Kirchick writes:

That the cultures from which the attackers were reared in might be culturally backward and approving of violence towards openly gay people does not seem to factor into polite European discussions of this topic.

She Knows When You’ve Been Sleeping, She Knows When You’re Awake

She even knows the topic of your kindergarten essay. Hillbot’s opposition research came in handy the other day when Obama said “I have not been planning to run for President for however number of years some of the other candidates have been planning for.”

In third grade, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled ‘I Want To Be a President.’ His third grade teacher: Fermina Katarina Sinaga “asked her class to write an essay titled ‘My dream: What I want to be in the future.’ Senator Obama wrote ‘I want to be a President,’ she said.” [The Los Angeles Times, 3/15/07]
In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled ‘I Want to Become President.’ “Iis Darmawan, 63, Senator Obama’s kindergarten teacher, remembers him as an exceptionally tall and curly haired child who quickly picked up the local language and had sharp math skills. He wrote an essay titled, ‘I Want To Become President,’ the teacher said.”

If I were Obama I would cop to crapping his pants while on that second grade field trip.

She’s Great At Covering Up Stuff

Whiny bitches rub me the wrong way, hence my distaste for Bill Clinton. Now he’s complaining about how the press covers his wife.

During a campaign stop on behalf of his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former president said he can’t understand why so much of the media coverage of the campaign ignores her experience—and, without naming him, the relative lack of experience of her closest Democratic rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

"One percent of the press coverage was devoted to their record in public life. No wonder people think experience is irrelevant. A lot of the people covering the race think it is (irrelevant)," Clinton said to students at Keene State College.

Does a marriage of political convenience count as experience? Hillbot seems to think so.

What’s an Islamic Apologist To Do?

You’re a typical European establishment leftist. You insist on tolerating radical Muslims, yet also view homosexuals as the most victimized of citizens.

So how do you reconcile a surge of Muslim attacks against gay men? If you’re Amsterdam, you commission a study to find out why so many Muslim men commit violence against homosexuals. Smart thinking, since judging them by their own words and deeds would be much cheaper and more effective. Of course that wouldn’t allow the effete elites to reach such a benign conclusion:

Researchers believe they felt stigmatized by society and responded by attacking people they felt were lower on the social ladder. Another working theory is that the attackers may be struggling with their own sexual identity.

That’s so much nicer than the truth, as James Kirchick writes:

That the cultures from which the attackers were reared in might be culturally backward and approving of violence towards openly gay people does not seem to factor into polite European discussions of this topic.

She Knows When You’ve Been Sleeping, She Knows When You’re Awake

She even knows the topic of your kindergarten essay. Hillbot’s opposition research came in handy the other day when Obama said “I have not been planning to run for President for however number of years some of the other candidates have been planning for.”

In third grade, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled ‘I Want To Be a President.’ His third grade teacher: Fermina Katarina Sinaga “asked her class to write an essay titled ‘My dream: What I want to be in the future.’ Senator Obama wrote ‘I want to be a President,’ she said.” [The Los Angeles Times, 3/15/07]
In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled ‘I Want to Become President.’ “Iis Darmawan, 63, Senator Obama’s kindergarten teacher, remembers him as an exceptionally tall and curly haired child who quickly picked up the local language and had sharp math skills. He wrote an essay titled, ‘I Want To Become President,’ the teacher said.”

If I were Obama I would cop to crapping his pants while on that second grade field trip.

I Am a Racist

So says a “consciousness-raising program” at the University of Delaware used to train resident assistants:

A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e. people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture, or sexuality.

As opposed to Merriam-Webster, which defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

Of course no one is born a bigot. Racism is learned, and programs like the one at UD — thankfully terminated — will do nothing but create more intolerance, not less.