The theocrackpots are whining yet again

“Waa. Waa.” - Bill Donohue

On multiple occasions I have noted that those who most fervently claim belief in a ubiquitous and all-powerful deity tend to be those most easily disconcerted by perceived affronts to that deity’s honor (see here and here). One would think that a truly robust faith in the veracity of the underlying precepts would obviate the compulsion to lash out at instances of blasphemy.

But clearly this is not the case.

The most recent example of theocratic encroachment on free society involves a favorite target of religionists: a “controversial” work of art housed in a publicly funded museum. This time the piece in question was a four-minute video assembled by the late avant-garde artist David Wojnarowicz, who died of AIDS in 1992. The video came into existence with no public funding whatsoever and the exhibit itself at the National Portrait Gallery—a branch of the Smithsonian Institution—was privately funded. I say was because the theocrackpots succeeded in imposing their religious agenda and the display was removed.

What exactly is so horrifying about the artwork, “A Fire in My Belly,” that has some Christians foaming at the mouth? You may watch the full video here, but it sufficeth to say that the main offense is the portrayal of Jesus on a crucifix covered in ants. Far be it from me to point out that Christians seem to revel in describing the tremendous suffering Jesus experienced, and that having ants walk all over him would have been kinder and less deadly fate than the one he actually endured.

Naturally, Catholic League president and serial whiner Bill Donohue led the charge by citing that the Gallery and its staff are publicly maintained:

“This is not the first time the Smithsonian has offended us,” he said. “I’m going to cast my net much wider. Why should the government pay for this? ... How dare they take our money to fund attacks on (our religion).”

It seems there is nary a time when Bill Donohue is not indignant at someone or something that dares to treat his beloved religion with any hint of irreverence. Five hundred years ago, a scoundrel with his level of fanaticism and blind loyalty to the Vatican would have made for a highly esteemed Grand Inquisitor with near dictatorial powers. I suspect that the sheer number of screams a medieval Donohue would have elicited from the tortured throats of his heretical victims could have put Torquemada to shame. Today, however, such men are reduced to canting at public officials via email and telephone to say how much their feelings have been hurt by some offense to their Christian faith.

Sadly, Donohue’s inevitable involvement is not the most grotesque part of this story. Indeed, it is bad enough that the National Portrait Gallery capitulated to his theocratic whims, but the situation becomes even more absurd now the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives has involved itself in the matter:

GOP leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor spoke out against the display Tuesday, an exposition entitled “Hide/Seek.” The video in question was created by AIDS victim and late artist David Wojnarowicz.

“Smithsonian officials should either acknowledge the mistake and correct it, or be prepared to face tough scrutiny beginning in January when the new majority in the House moves [in],” Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith said.

Cantor also demanded its replacement, and called it “an obvious attempt to offend Christians during the Christmas season.”

For his part, Georgia congressman Jack Kingston was given an expectedly amiable audience in the form of Fox & Friends, a show whose hosts assume a childlike innocence that always morphs into shocked disbelief when they are “presented” the latest Beckian conspiracy theory centered on the nefarious machinations of liberals. On the show, Kingston wailed,

“This is a museum that gets $5.8 million in taxpayer dollars and in the middle of a high deficit, 15 million unemployed Americans, they decide to have money to spend like this. This is a museum that, by the way, has next to it a display of the American presidents, on the other side, Elvis, and then you go through this—which is really perverted, sick stuff—ashes of an AIDS victim, in a self-portrait, eating himself. Male nudity, Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her own breast - lots of really kinky and really questionable kind of art.”

The line about deficits and the museum’s funding are completely disingenuous because both the artwork and the exhibit of which it was a part were privately funded. This pretense is simply a backdoor way of passing judgment on an individual work of art that Kingston et al. either do not like personally or because they think it offends their respective constituencies. Kingston himself is gunning for the chairmanship of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and it would not surprise me if Kingston were simply grandstanding in this fashion in an attempt to garner support to that end.

The religious fascists have won this round thanks to the cowardice of the National Portrait Gallery in the face of relatively light opposition. People have the right to feel offended when viewing a work of art they find obscene, but they do not have a right to dictate the terms on which that art may be displayed. The right to take offense at art both begins and ends in the mind and speech of the individual. Any action that goes beyond is censorship.

- Max

John Boehner And Co. Demonstrate How Fake Their Patriotism Really Is

“I’m not a Constitutional expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.”

For a group that’s always wrapping itself in the American flag while shamelessly invoking the ghosts of the country’s founders for a variety of batshit purposes, Republicans today demonstrated a comical ignorance of the sort generally seen on “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?”

Congressional Republicans held a rally in Washington DC today at which they derided the Democratic health care reform proposal—even displaying thousands of pages of legislation for theatrical effect. I guess their point was, if a bill is long—like a book—it must be bad (unless it’s the Bible). Rather than discuss the substance of their arguments yet again on this site, I’m just going to point out two transcendently ironic and funny things that happened at this rally:

1. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) declaring, “I’m going to stand with you and all freedom-loving Americans against this bill. [Holds up a pocket-sized edition of the U.S. Constitution] This is my copy, this is my copy of the Constitution. And I’m going to stand here with our Founding Fathers [Dramatic pause] who wrote in the preamble, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.’ So join us and say ‘no’ to a government takeover of healthcare.”

First of all, Boehner was quoting from the Declaration of Independence, and not the Constitution, which to reiterate, he was holding in his hand. Second of all, what the fuck does the Declaration of Independence have to do with health care reform? Unless King George III had a hand in writing this legislation, the answer is nothing.

2. Missouri Representative Todd Akin, after a two-minute, one-man bull session about how awesome the Pledge of Allegiance is, in which he declared that its recitation “drives liberals crazy,” leading the crowd in the Pledge. Problem is, he left out the word, “indivisible,” as in, “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

What does this profound ignorance tell us about the GOP leadership? It tells us that for all their rhetorical Founding Father-Fucking, their knowledge of this stuff is extremely shallow. And by extension, that patriotism they’re always throwing in our faces to show us how what great Americans they are, is total bullshit. What this indicates to me is that Mr. Akin hasn’t said the Pledge of Allegiance in quite some time. Not that I care, but if you’re going to trash others for allegedly hating the pledge, you’d better make sure you at least know the fucking thing. Otherwise you look like an asshole. And Todd Akin sure did.

As for Boehner’s boner, well, that’s unconscionable. Here’s the leader of the GOP in Congress—a man who, if the Republicans were suddenly to become the majority in Congress, would be Speaker of the House. And yet, he doesn’t know that the most famous line in American history, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” is actually from the Declaration of Independence, and not the Constitution, written eleven years later.

Today, the right’s faux patriotism was on overt display for all to see; but despite this, the fact is that probably over three-fourths of the wingnuts in attendance didn’t even know Boehner had fucked up. And even if they did, it wouldn’t matter to them. He’s singing their tune. These people really don’t give a shit about what Thomas Jefferson said or what James Madison wrote. These long-dead intellectual icons merely serve as justification for whatever it is the rally-goers are pushing. In fact, if Jefferson and Madison were around today advocating policies at odds with the GOP (and they certainly would on several fronts), they’d be dismissed as eggheads by the very people who right now claim to be upholding their principles. Furthermore, I doubt that very many in attendance today have ever actually read any of these and other Founders’ writings. After all, the Founders were accustomed to writing lengthy essays which often contained big words, kind of like a health care bill.

- Max