stcynic
Posts by this author
March 29, 2005
You knew it had to happen, didn't you? You knew that Alan Keyes, the undisputed champion of self-righteous moralizing, couldn't keep his mouth shut about Terri Schiavo. You also knew that when he did see fit to fire up that heavily emotionalizing cannon that constitutes his brain, the output would…
March 29, 2005
One of the stories that Terri's family has been busily trying to push is that Michael may have abused Terri the night of her collapse, leading to her current problems. Bobby Schindler has been on TV repeatedly saying that they have "uncovered evidence" that "seems to suggest" that he may have…
March 29, 2005
Pastor Ray Mummert, in a report on the Dover, PA "intelligent design" lawsuit:
"Christians are a lot more bold under Bush's leadership, he speaks what a lot of us believe," said Mummert.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture," he said, adding that the school…
March 29, 2005
In reading the full report from Jay Wolfson, the Guardian Ad Litem appointed by Jeb Bush to review the entire history of the case and make recommendations, I came across this very disturbing passage. It concerns testimony from Terri's family in 2000 in one of the many appeals they've filed to…
March 29, 2005
Yes, that Roger Ebert. In the wake of the recent controversy over IMAX theaters, including museums, around the country deciding not to show movies that discuss evolution because of potential controversy among moviegoers, Ebert has written a column taking them to task for it. Along the way, he shows…
March 29, 2005
My friend Wesley Elsberry has received the always amusing Jomo challenge. Joseph Mastrapaolo is a cantankerous and endlessly ridiculous old academic associated with the Institute for Creation Research who plays Batman to Karl Priest's Robin. Priest sends out emails challenging evolution advocates…
March 28, 2005
The state trial judge in the Terry Schiavo case, George Greer, has shown incredible fortitude in the face of villification and even death threats. The FBI has arrested a man for putting out a $250,000 bounty on the head of Michael Schiavo and a $50,000 bounty on the head of Judge Greer. It's not…
March 28, 2005
Over the last few months, the state of Florida and the Schindlers have grown increasingly desperate to find anyone - anyone - with a medical degree who would say that Terri Schiavo is not in a persistent vegitative state (PVS). So far they've found two, the hilariously self-aggrandizing and…
March 28, 2005
Just how zealous is the religious right to make sure they have total control over the Republican party? Well this should answer that question. Remember their fevered efforts to have Arlen Specter drummed out of the party leadership after the election? The Christian Coalition's 2004 scorecard for…
March 26, 2005
Bert Brandenburg of Justice at Stake has a guest column on the American Constitution Society blog about the Schiavo case and recent instances of court-stripping legislation. Over the last few years, there have been many efforts to strip courts of jurisdiction in areas where they have issued rulings…
March 26, 2005
Man, I've written all these posts about the Terri Schiavo situation and I don't get a single email telling me what a horrible person I am. Sandefur writes one freaking post on the subject and he gets a deliciously irrational message. See his response here.
March 25, 2005
Timothy Sandefur returns from his temporary exile to write a long and thoughtful post about the Schiavo situation. And congratulations to him for closing on a new home with his lovely Erin. Jason Kuznicki, meanwhile, has also written a good post on the subject. He concludes with this:
For the…
March 25, 2005
Orin Kerr of the Volokh Conspiracy reports an interesting fact: every single judge appointed by either Reagan, Bush 41 or Bush 43 has voted against Terri's parents in this case. Judge Greer, the original trial judge who controls the case, is himself a fairly conservative Christian. Do you think the…
March 24, 2005
The good Dr. William Hammesfahr was on Hannity and Colmes the other day, and Sean Hannity made it a point to refer to him as a "Nobel Prize nominee" about, oh, 1400 times in a single hour (a world record, I believe). A few examples:
HANNITY: And we're going to talk to a doctor who spent 10 hours…
March 24, 2005
Another aspect of the Terri Schiavo situation that hasn't gotten enough attention is the physician they've been using to claim that Terri can get better. And they've got themselves a real doozy, William Hammesfahr. The man's webpage virtually drips with disingenuous self-promotion. I especially…
March 23, 2005
This is worth reading, for those who aren't completely sick of this entire situation. It's a PDF file of the entire report of the Guardian Ad Litem that Jeb Bush appointed to investigate the entire situation and recommend what the state should do in 2003. Amid the flurry of vicious charges that…
March 23, 2005
Today is the one year anniversary of the Panda's Thumb, the group science blog that I and a few friends started to address the evolution/creationism/intelligent design controversy. They grow up so fast, don't they? And you really should check out Ian Musgrave's brilliant dismantling of Michael Behe…
March 23, 2005
It's looking like the memo that I mentioned the other day in this post is, like the Dan Rather memos, fake. Josh Claybourn has a roundup of links on the subject here. I don't think it changes the truth of the claim that Republicans are exploiting the situation for political gain. Delay's comments…
March 23, 2005
One of the longtime Dispatches readers, Dave Snyder, sent me an email yesterday telling me that there was a panel discussion on evolution and ID in public schools at Central Michigan University, where he teaches. I decided to attend the discussion to do a little recruiting for Michigan Citizens for…
March 22, 2005
As cynical as I am about politics, and as convinced as I am that nearly all politicians think the world revolves around them, I'm still just astonished at the sheer chutzpah of what Rep. Tom Delay, the Republican leader, said to a prominent religious right group on Friday:
On Friday, as the…
March 22, 2005
Jason Kuznicki has written what he terms a respectful disagreement with my post yesterday advocating that we change the IRS rules to allow churches to endorse candidates without losing their tax exemption. All disagreements between the two of us, rare as they may be, will of course be respectful on…
March 21, 2005
This is probably going to come as a shock to my regular readers, but I'm going to agree with Pat Buchanan and the Worldnutdaily. In Pat's most recent column, he endorses a bill in front of Congress called the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act of 2005. The bill would change the Internal…
March 21, 2005
Sheldon Richman of the Future of Freedom foundation has an excellent article in the Chicago Sun-Times about the distinction between democracy and liberty, a point I make regularly and loudly on this blog. Richman writes:
But it would be a mistake to equate democratic procedures with freedom, which…
March 20, 2005
I've not said a word about the Terry Schiavo situation. Frankly, I'm sick to death of hearing about it. And after reading Radley Balko's take on it, I don't really have much to say. Balko nailed the situation completely, as far as I'm concerned. He makes several points, all of which I agree with…
March 20, 2005
A public elementary school teacher in North Carolina has triggered a lawsuit from parents who are, quite rightly, opposed to the Christian proselytizing she did in her classroom. And the lesson she was teaching is so ridiculous, you couldn't possibly make it up:
Scents Make Sense
"God's word tells…
March 20, 2005
Last night was the airing of the 2005 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I gave my thoughts on last year's ceremony and here are my thoughts on this year's festivities. Last night's show was interesting in that, for the first time since perhaps Aerosmith in 2001, the hall inducted a…
March 18, 2005
Have you ever had an issue that you thought you understood perfectly well, only to find out that what you thought you knew about it was totally wrong? It happened to me today regarding a Supreme Court case called Lamb's Chapel v Center Moriches School District. For several years I've thought that…
March 17, 2005
The ten commandments monument that Roy Moore famously refused to remove from the Alabama Supreme Court building continues its world tour, stopping this week in my home state. Like all good tours, the monument has an opening act, but the act changes at every stop as state and local politicians take…
March 16, 2005
Anyone who watches poker on TV knows that Phil Hellmuth is the ultimate sore loser. Those of us who followed poker before TV got ahold of it have known that for years, and we've also taken a good deal of delight in watching Paul Phillips make fun of Hellmuth. You can always amuse yourself by…
March 16, 2005
Julian Sanchez, the always incisive assistant editor at Reason magazine, has an interesting article about yesterday's California Superior Court ruling that struck down the state's ban on gay marriage as forbidden by that state's constitution. He points out something interesting about the judge's…