It would make for an interesting study to determine in which nations a professed practice of religion is a requirement for the highest office or offices. I suspect the bulk would be classed theocracies or developing. Most of the developed, 'western' democracies certainly place much less emphasis on religion's role in the State, putting in practice one of Democracy's necessary tenets, that there be a clear separation.

The US is warped in this regard. I mean, the WH hosts 'prayer breakfasts'. And in a really twisted conjoining, Trump had that whackadoodle, Paula White, as the Administration's 'spiritual advisor.' A goddamned clown show, this backwards, primitive, and ultimately hypocritical adherence to a Sky Daddy they claim is shepherding the anointed Chosen among nations, to placate the decidedly non-Christian 'Christians' who chafe for Gilead.

Umm, Australia has an unspoken rule that leading politicians cannot be irreligious, or the "wrong" religion. Protestant is best, although Catholic is acceptable. But anything else, especially the religion of "being female" and being non-white and being atheist, is a no-no. Our first female prime minister found this out. She is atheist and progressive as well, and so was the target of particularly nasty invective from our recalcitrant right-wing scumbags of all stripes.

The UK has made progress on this, I'm glad to see. They allow subcontinental fascists into positions of power now.

Marj introduced a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.

She was quickly reminded she voted AGAINST the bill to award the medal to the Congressional Police Officers who defended the Capitol on Jan 6.

https://news.yahoo.com/marjorie-tayl...103943383.html

Not that I particularly care, but these people are going to kill that kid, or end him up in jail. They'll turn his head with all his instant fame and he'll do something stupid, not handle it well, maybe even shoot someone else (if he does it in DC during his "internship", I'd expect a very different result at trial). If his parents had any sense (and they don't), they'd keep him away from all of this and try to slowly go back to some degree of normalcy for him.

She's an idiot and troll.

I cannot find anything to disagree with in this post.

I could I don’t like Insulting Trolls she is more hazardous Nuclear Waste.
Maybe from a Jewish Space Laser accidentally hitting a Nuclear power plant.

Well, after I posted this I thought I might've implied that she could be safely ignored, but I don't think that's true. She's an idiot, a troll, and a festering menace.

http://www.internationalskeptics.com...ff820d4a23.jpg

Yet another piece of performance art from MTG. She knows exactly what she's doing with this, ie. anger her opponents while her supporters cheer her on.

She's as desperate for attention...negative or positive...as Trump.

She is failing at the prime purpose: She isn't angering anyone. Everyone now expects these pathetic attention-grabbing stunts, and all eyes roll upwards and people just sigh when she does. I don't think there are many supporters left cheering her on outside the last few Q-crazies. Even her congressional stablemates seem to be avoiding her.

Everyone is now Laughing at her no one is angered by this stupidity.

I disagree, she's raising money like crazy and isn't damaging her re-election prospects one tiny bit.

Her views mirror those of Donald Trump, the man who is currently the owner/operator of the Republican Party so IMO those views are the accepted, mainstream, views of the current day GOP not the beliefs of a crazy Q-Anon fringe.

I suspect we are both right.

Given the thousands of Qanon nutters STILL in Dallas awaiting JFK's return, that is the same base of cranks she is getting donations from. And while she may be echoing Donny, plenty of other wingnuts are also. She just happens to be among the loudest, dumbest wingnuts vying for TV presence. Look at Mike Pillow! MTG has an uphill battle now retaining relevance. Half trick pony.

As long as she retains the support of her local party and as long as she's happy to continue running for election in her home state then she can continue in politics for as long as she chooses.

Her views have become mainstream GOP views in the Trump Republican era. By the standards of her party (which has the support of 40%+ of the US electorate) she's a mainstream candidate with mainstream views. :(

MTG's co-conspirator in stupidity, Boebert, insulted Rep. Ilhan Omar by suggesting she was a jihadist terrorist:

Boebert later apologized but I doubt anyone thinks she's sincere. I know I don't.

So why did you say it, fool?

I just read an article about this and I was surprised that I was surprised. "Wow, she actually said that. Of course she said that."

The problem with people like Boebert and MTG is that they start to lose their ability to be shocking after a while so have to ratchet it up a peg or two. There comes a point where even that doesn't shock or surprise anymore.

The more shocking the show the deadlier it becomes.
Excuse my toes.

I am stuck with this one. Scheming witch or total airhead?

The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

They're certainly not idiots, and likely more educated and intelligent than an average Kardashian... and look how dangerously influential* they can be. [emoji15]


.

* I half kid, but I honestly don't condone the continuing trend toward entitlement behavior and being "famous for being famous" (see Paris Hilton).
But then again... I don't do Tiktok challenges. [emoji1]

That alone makes you more intelligent than many people.

If I never heard the name "Kardashian" again, it would be too soon.

As often, I beg to differ a little here. I think that we're know by what we do, and education and apparent brains notwithstanding, a person who sacrifices sense and decency for the adulation and votes of the gullible is an idiot. More complex, perhaps, that a Forrest Gump, but ultimately both stupider and more dangerous, and with no excuse.

You're using idiot colloquially and that's fine in context.
I think we agree they (Bobert, MTG, etc.) are actually dangerous for the current trends they represent. Despite any shift from concern to laughter, or the laughter dying out.... they're still dangerous.
IMO, of course.
Now .. may I interest anyone in our lovely Pod charcuterie? [emoji1]

I meant "idiot" in its true meaning. You can be educated and not know anything worth knowing, you can be holy without being good, and you can be clever without being intelligent. You can be just as dumb in a tuxedo as in a tee shirt, and if it takes a generation to realize how stupid you were, it doesn't make you formerly smart.

Addressing the idiocy might save us from discussing possible meanings of "idiot".

Boebert in that one speech said several offensive things that would normally be completely out of bounds for a member of the House:

• Joe Biden was "this piece of crap in the White House."
• Ilhan Omar was part of the "jihad squad."
• The elevator / backpack story (which could get any one of us regular citizens detained in an airport or government building)
• Pete Buttigieg was trying to "chestfeed" his twins.
• “God bless Kyle Rittenhouse.”
• Black Lives Matter are "domestic terrorists."

I fear that our society is losing tact.

Low quality attention whore. VERY low quality. If it weren't for the cameras, she would be an irrelevant hillbilly loudmouth nobody from nowhere.

Total scheming airhead witch. ;)
Indeed.

There's such a thing as the cunning of the stupid. I understand that as an ability to navigate situations by being ignorant of or bypassing (usually unwritten) social or organisational rules. That does not necessarily equate to intelligence, just ignorance. Perhaps pigeon chess is an example, or Donny's golf cheating.

In the case of MTG, her ignorance revolves around decorum and honesty. The job of an elected member should be based on both of these unwritten rules. Decorum on the job and towards the electorate, and honesty in all public and private dealings. It goes towards being a valuable and contributing representative.

MTG has neither decorum nor honesty. It's her "brand"; she is not the only one. While she calls it "telling it like it is", her lack of honesty cost her the committee positions and relevance even inside her own party. Not even Mitch wants to work with her. Now she is being found to be involved in the 6-Jan insurrection, a situation most senior experienced Republicans would dearly like to see in the rear-view mirror but know that they are saddled with it while Trumpism holds sway. She can't get much more dishonest than to be involved, then lie that she was not, and then to be found out.

With no political skills beyond self-aggrandisement, MTG's continued indecorous attempts at public notoriety are rapidly costing her attention from the media. She's gotten boring. Even her outbursts in public are worthy of only a few chuckles. "Oh yeah. Her again. Boring."

There was a time when the party leaders/senior members would never have put up with this kind of behavior, especially from loudmouthed, attention-seeking newbies. But now? Not only do they do or say nothing about it, when other members do call them out, the party leaders run to the fools' defense.

Just when I think the GOP couldn't get any more crazy and disgusting, they keep stepping it up to another level.

What is offensive about her comment on Rittenhouse?

What did Rittenhouse do that is particularly praiseworthy?

What is offensive about her comment on Rittenhouse?

Rittenhouse did nothing Heroic worthy of Recognition, he didn't go to the protest to protect Human Life and If he hadn't been there two people would still be Alive.

I don't find her comment offensive at all. I don't want to get too far into the Rittenhouse case, but he was found not guilty of all charges. And a Christian saying "God bless him" is really no big deal.

Certainly there is plenty of legitimate criticism to lob at her, but this isn't one of those cases, imo.

That sounds a lot like blaming the victim. If.he wasn't lawfully there he wouldn't have been attacked?

Earlier this week, you whined about posters who said they wouldn't mourn if someone died of natural causes.

Now you are defending someone who is praising a person who killed others.

We all know tour duplicity, but at some point, you may see it yourself.

Were you there the Law does not allow for deadly force to be used to Protect Property the fact he was found not Guilty in Criminal Court only means the Prosecution wasn't able to prove it wasn't self defense. A Jury in a Civil Lawsuit isn't held to such High standards and might find him responsible based on the same evidence and Ruin his life forever with q multimillion dollar verdict.
Either way he wasn't there to protect Life just Property.
Sad state of affairs when that becomes the values of Christians.