Sharia law in Tennessee?

That’s Tenn. GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Ramsey’s defense for opposing a new Islamic Center in Murfreesboro, where such a facility already exists. As is the case with the so-called Ground Zero mosque, there’s been no evidence presented linking the Murfreesboro mosque to radical Islam.

Now, I’m all about freedom of religion. I obey the first amendment as much as I obey the second amendment, as much as I obey the tenth amendment, and on and on and on. But you crossed a line when they start trying to bring Sharia Law into the state of Tennessee — into the United States. We live under our Constitution. …

You could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion or is it a nationality, way of life, or cult, whatever you want to call it. But we do protect our religions, but this is something we’re going to have to face.

You’re more likely to hear “Rocky Top” in Syria than see Sharia law imposed Tennessee, but with an election upcoming, scaring voters takes precedence. Do Republicans really want to keep flirting with such outright religious bigotry?

A white liberal scolds a black president for being too white

(link)

That sentence alone should indicate we’ve made substantial progress on race, though, as fearful whites scurry to play to victim, we’ve got a long way to go. But not as far as either side wants us to believe.

Matt Tabbi, surprisingly, cuts through the bullshit:

Your average person doesn’t spending hours a day pondering his racial victimhood like this – not unless he enjoys it, and if he enjoys it, he’s an asshole! (Especially if he’s white. If he’s white, the scale of his assholedom is almost incalculable). The Tea Partiers and the Glenn Becks of the world are bad in this respect, but they obviously have some dance partners on the other side now. There’s the NAACP passing a resolution like the Tea Party’s white-whining epidemic is a national emergency, and now there is all this criticism of Obama for being silent on race, as if spending one’s time dealing with the Gulf disaster, two wars, and a financial collapse instead of validating some Fox-generated suburban angst is somehow political malpractice.

Maybe I’m wrong and we do need a national “dialogue on race,” but my guess is that if Barack Obama figures out a way to turn the economy around and create some real paying jobs, a lot of this racial angst will disappear pretty quick. If you tune out the hottest parts of the Tea Party rhetoric and just focus on who these people are, what you’ll basically see are a bunch of middle-aged white people who spent their teens listening to Eddie Murphy albums and deep down are a lot more worried about their credit card debt than they are about ACORN taking over the government. Add a little more disposable income to that crowd and this whole debate will recede to tolerable levels. Or maybe not — but we can all hope, I guess. Is anyone else dreading 2012?

Woody Allen, Mary Hartman and Howard Cosell sharing a bed

Three 70s icons collide:

When Harry met Silly

Item: Meg Ryan had canceled a scheduled appearance at a film festival in Jerusalem to protest Israeli policy.

Meg Ryan still makes movies?

Point being?

A Sunday profile, on Snooki? Really?

Time to take your nose out of the air, New York Times.

Oliver Stone’s next conspiracy: Israel killed Neda

Hugo’s lickspittle (my new favorite word) unleashed:

Referring to the alleged influence of the powerful Jewish lobby on U.S. foreign policy, Stone said that Israel had distorted “United States foreign policy for years,” adding he felt U.S. policy toward Iran was “horrible.”

“Iran isn’t necessarily the good guy,” Stone said, insisting that Americans did not “know the full story.”

Stone’s comments to the Sunday times echo pervious remarks by the Hollywood director, regarding what he conceives as the distorted view of figures such as Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin in U.S. media.

Earlier this year, Stone, speaking at the at the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour in Pasadena said that “Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it’s been used cheaply.”