Romney Clueless on Secularism

Mitt Romney Steve Pearce event 057 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mitt Romney:

“I think there is a desire to establish a religion in America known as secularism.”

My guess is Romney has no idea what secularism is.  

sec·u·lar·ism (from Dictionary.com)

 [sek-yuh-luh-riz-uhm] 

noun

1.

secular  spirit or tendency, especially a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship.

2.

the view that public education and other matters of civil policy should be conducted without the introduction of a religious element.

  Secularism is the absence of religion. The first Amendment of the US Constitution declares that:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

That sounds as a clear an endorsement of secularism as I've ever seen.  We all know how clueless and awkward Romney has been on the campaign trail, but this level of ignorance by a presidential candidate would have been unprecedented, but, of course, we had Sarah Palin in 2008.  

Related articles

• More See "Too Much" Religious Talk by Politicians - Santorum Voters Disagree - - - The Pew Forum on Religion & Public LIfe (richarddawkins.net)
• Romney: Obama Hopes To Establish 'Secularism' As An Official Religion (thinkprogress.org)
• Secular Values are American Values (secularnewsdaily.com)

Martin Bashir and Alaska's Sanitation Departments

Martin Bashir, photo from MSNBC

I'd never heard of Martin Bashir until he came to MSNBC hosting an interesting and informative show at 12:00 PM Pacific.  He speaks with a warm British accent and is simply a likeable, calm and easygoing individual.  Mr. Bashir doesn't rant or rave but you can tell when something has gotten under his skin.  You can click the link and hear Martin deliver "clear the air" or just read it. 

Clear the Air

It’s now time to clear the air and towards the end of last week, almost by coincidence, given that the movie “Game Change,” was about to be released, Sarah Palin, in praising the Republican candidates, went back to that tired of chestnut about the president not having been properly vetted.
Sarah Palin: “I do appreciate that these men are continuing to duke it out in the arena of ideas and are allowing themselves to be vetted. So, thank you, gentlemen, who are running on the GOP tickets, staying in there, allowing yourself to be vetted by the media because they didn’t do it when Barack Obama ran.”

Now, I don’t know very much about Alaska’s Street Cleaning or Sanitation Departments. I really don’t know if it is an entirely privatized service or whether it’s administered through a public-private partnership.

But then, I’m not seeking to run as the governor of that great state. If I were, then I would take personal responsibility for understanding how waste disposal operates in Alaska.

Now consider that Sarah Palin was on the ticket for the most important position on the planet. And Here’s just one devastating example of why Mrs. Palin wasn’t vetted at all. She’s being asked, in the movie, about strains in the relationship between Britain and the United States over the issue of Iraq. Her response is incredible.

Sarah Palin: “I think the United States has always maintained a great relationship with the Queen. And John McCain will continue to have open dialogue with her."

Steve Schmidt:"Govenor, the queen is not the head of government in England, she’s the head of state."

Sarah Palin: "Well, then who’s the head of government."

Steve Schmidt: "The Prime Minister … heh."

That scene has been confirmed as accurate by the man who was questioning Sarah Palin. He recalls the sheer horror of learning that Sarah Palin knew absolutely nothing about one of America’s most important and historic allies. A nation that stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States during WWI, WWII, the Gulf War and the Iraq War and in Afghanistan.

Where one of the most important figures of 20th century history was Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. But according to Sarah Palin, it was the Queen who governed the United Kingdom.

And she says that the president wasn’t properly vetted?

As I said earlier, I know nothing about the disposal of bodily waste in Alaska, but I do know crap when I hear it. And when Sarah Palin talks about vetting – you can flush that down the nearest toilet, along with any claim she might have had for the office of president.

Related articles

• Ed Schultz And Guest Blame Sarah Palin's 'Manifest Unintelligence' For 'Bigoted Attacks' On Obama (mediaite.com)
• Ex-McCain Strategist: Palin Presidency 'Frightens Me' (huffingtonpost.com)
• Former McCain Strategist Steve Schmidt On Game Change: Notion Of Palin Being President Frightens Me (mediaite.com)
• 'Game Change' tells core truth about Sarah Palin and US politics - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

Famous Republican Lies, part 2 Ex-1/2term Governor Sarah Palin (R)

August 2009  Sarah posts this on facebook
"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of healthcare. Such a system is downright evil."

I count 6 distinct lies in this statement.  House Bill H.R. 3962 download it here. (pdf) contains nothing even remotely like her statement.  Let me repeat House Bill H.R. 3962 does not include anything remotely similar to her statement.

Obama's "death panel"Image by elycefeliz via Flickr

 There was no death panel and Obama certainly would never be part of one

bureaucrats can decide

 A large part of this bill was taking "decisions" away from health care companies that would "decide" that people had pre-existing conditions and therefore they didn't have to pay for treatment. 

 subjective judgment 

 She is just making this up, there are no subjective judgements in the bill

"level of productivity in society"

 You can do a word search on the 1990 page healthcare bill and no where does it mention "level of productivity in society"

worthy of healthcare

 Likewise, no where in the healthcare bill does it ask if anyone is"worthy of "healthcare"

Such a system is downright evil."
you could say such a system would be evil if it existed.  But there is no such system in the U.S. now or in any of the pending health care bills that democrats have introduced.

 This is what Sarah Palin should have said instead:
 The America I know and love is not one in which ex-half-term governors with "terrorist" asperger's syndrome will stand in front of Fox's "yes, dear", panels so Fox bureaucrats can decide in a subjective judgement of fairness based on " low levels of taxation on society" whether they are worthy of political office.  Such a system is downright evil"