The Devil's In The Details

Recently there has been quite the dust up in the national media regarding religious liberty and the separation of church and state. This most recent uproar started when religious employers, headed by the Catholic Church, balked at the Obama administration's policies requiring them to provide contraceptives to employees. They argued that their religious liberties were being infringed upon because the requirement was directly opposed to dogma of the Catholic Church regarding contraceptives. Despite the fact that 98% of Catholic women had admitted to using contraceptives and that many, if not most, of their employees do not practice Catholicism. The Obama administration then offered a compromise that religious employers would not have to offer free contraceptive to their employees, like every other employer in the nation that offers insurance plans to their employees. This should have been the end of the discussion, the Church had been accommodated and the rest of the world kept on ticking as usual, right? Unfortunately once Pandora's Box, especially on a wedge issue, has been opened in an election year it is extremely difficult to close.

Enter conservative talking heads and presidential candidates using the "controversy" as a platform form to attack the Obama administration and appeal to the base of their party. Mitt Romney at the most recent debate in Arizona quipped, "I don't think we've seen in the history of this country the kind of attack on religious conscience, religious freedom, religious tolerance that we've seen under Barack Obama". Newt Gingrich decried, “The Obama administration has declared war on religion". Not to be out done by his counter parts, Rick Santorum the pied piper of the party on the issue, used the moment to appeal to the evangelicals of the GOP and tout his views on the issue. One he had been outspoken on since spoke to students at Ava Marie University in 2008 where he commented, "This is not a political war at all. This is not a cultural war. This is a spiritual war,” Santorum warned the campus. “And the Father of Lies [Satan] has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country—the United States of America.” Recently in Ohio he stated, that Obama and other Democrats follow, "some phony theology, not a theology based on the Bible," However these pail in comparison to his most recent comments. Santorum when asked by ABC news about how his views contradicted with the last Catholic to hold the office of President, John F. Kennedy’s, stated "“I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.", he continued, "The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country, this is the First Amendment. The First Amendment says the free exercise of religion.” These remarks were offered in response to the views expressed by then candidate Kennedy who stated in a speech in 1960, after the public had questioned whether his loyalties would be to America or the Pope, said "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote. Where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him." Rick Santorum said that he had read those comments before and that he, "almost threw up" upon reading them.

Here we see the problem with Santorum's and the evangelical’s logic in their own words. They argue that there is a war on religion, they argue that their rights are being infringed upon by the “evil secular left”; they argue that the founders based this nation on Christian principles. However if one looks closely, you can see that their issue is not that at all, but rather in reality their upset because their religion is not given precedent and a special place in policy matters over the rest. How can those who claim to be a victim of a war on religion, on one hand say on the other, “I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute."? Unfortunately for them the devil is in the details, our founders understood that a free society is one where no religious institution holds a higher place in the pantheon of government than any other. They ensured through the establishment clause that anyone in this country is free to practice whatever religion they would like, that they were also free to not practice any religion at all. That is religious freedom, and the founders understood that. Rick Santorum and those in the GOP that share his view would have us follow their religion and have our national decisions be made based on the paradigm of that religion. That is not religious freedom in the least, it is theocracy veiled in doublespeak and talking points. I prefer to live in a society, like the one envisioned by the brave men and women who forged this country, where anyone is free to practice whatever they wish and where the government is free to do its business without a specific dogma. If Santorum and his supporters truly don't believe in an America "where the separation of church and state is absolute.”, I hear Iran is very nice this time of year.

*Originally posted on Inconvenient Reason

Cost of Living is High

When was the last time any of us have cracked our knuckles, fired up the ole' porn box, went to a travel site, and planned out a trip? Then, packed enough stuff for a week, found baby sitters for pets, kids, homes, and loaded up a vehicle or caught a cab to the airport and left our worries behind for a few days; well, when?

How about this, opposed to going to Walmart or Kroger to get groceries, we spend twice as much to get food that's good for you at a place like a farmer's market?
The point I'm making, is most of us make sacrifices. We can't run to the beach with beers in hand neglecting our responsibilities like we once did. Most of us are working to live. The simple cost of living has made the increase to pulverized the dream of yearly vacations, new cars, large homes, and other quality items for the majority of us.
College students reading this may scoff, and claim, 'I'll have a good job broke ass because I have a degree!'
That's nice. But I do too. I also have the experience employers want. But there's also something I want that employers don't offer like they once did; pay. Having a title and corner office is nice, but of you're making half as much as a person in a factory, not worth it.
Now I understand why people have coupon books and carry them into stores like a messiah. Automatic doors parting like a great sea, natural light piercing the eyes of the greeters of the store. All the while releasing the aroma of fresh air and sounds of the outside world.
My mother use to tell me the story of the ant and the grasshopper as a child. The grasshopper spent his summer days having fun, jumping, playing and ridiculing the ant. Why ridicule? Because the ant foraged and saved his food. Spending all his time working for the winter. When that time came the grasshopper was left in the cold with nothing. The story ends with the ant feeling pity. But the way it should end is the grasshopper freezing to death. Can only support one ya' jackass.
This may have been more o a poor man's rant but there's really nothing we can do when our opinion isn't even being heard by the people that can change these hardships.

Men, what happened?

I've worked with the public for a number of years now. During that time, a disturbing trend has made itself apparent to me. Men have become increasingly passive and a down right embarrassment to themselves. It seems the expectations for modern men have shifted towards a very romantic view. I don't mean romantic in that old paperback your mom used to read, I mean some idealized version of a modern man who is a combination of every stereotype found in Nicholas Sparks novel and/or Cosmo magazine.

Every day I work, I see men mumble, slouch away, and in most cases leave everything to their significant other. They cannot seem to handle money, place a simple order or even say it loud enough without repeating it. Men act more like children with their mothers than the rulers of their own domain. This leads me to a question. What happened? What happened along the way that has lead men to believe they should behave this way? How is desirable behavior? It seems as though a definitive answer can never be found.

My point is simple - men, act like a man. Be confident. Take charge. Decide what movie the two of you are going to see. Pick where to have dinner. Act like you give a shit, and you may be surprised when you get home -wink wink-.

          Be more like this guy.


  Or be cool like this dude.

   And just a bit like this gentleman.

The comic code should be ashamed of itself.

Do you know what the comic code is?

Well back in the 60's comic book writers were required to stick to something called "The Comic Code". Which was basically just a bunch of things you couldnt say or draw. These days, the code isnt nearly as strict as it used to be. There are horror comics and adult (not porn Luckyman, calm down) comics published by the likes of VERTIGO and IRONHORSE, which in my opinion are producing some of the best ongoing series' right now.

Anyway I was looking through some of my old books recently and I had a pretty decent laugh reading through some of the dialogue in these things. There is tons of awesome quotes that would be considered hilarious and dirty now. Its not that the writers were stupid by any means its that the context we would read this stuff in wasnt social norm back in the day.

Today, pretty much anything is allowed. However Marvel and DC have created additional brands under which more contreversial books are published. Its under VERTIGO that you will find your "Walking Dead" and "Preacher". The big two still like to be as family friendly as possible which is great. Kids should read comics. But, some of the funniest old school jokes are the ones that weren't meant to be jokes at all, and the majority of them were done by Marvel and DC, who were were strictest about the code! These are some of the best ones I've found..

Welcome

Welcome the newest member of the Hilton family, Skippy:

Skippy flew in on a plane from Missouri (yes you can freight dogs), and was welcomed into casa de' Hilton a week ago. Since settling in he has managed to hump once, piss on Chadles couch 4 times, our couch once, the floor multiple times, and some how hinge his under bite of an upper and lower jaw in his cage door. Yes this is Skippy, a Brussels Griffon that many of you may remember starring next to Jack Nicholson in "As Good As It Gets". They say puppies are harder to raise than babies, so we will see how it goes. This is my first posts in I would say four months and why not start it with a new addition. I am sure Mr. Skippy will be involved in a number of tales throughout the Goon Squad blog space, but for now I leave you with a stupid little dog wearing a stupid little hat.

Please don't be long...please don't you be very long, cause I may be asleep...

My fellow Goons... we've almost let February slip away without one single post! We had Valentine's Day to piss on or kiss on, we had President's Day in a land where we're in a horrible political situation and we've had about 18 other days so far that we've been quiet on. We are not a quiet group! Not one of us! I'm rallying you, calling you out...even if we're not entertaining anyone but ourselves, it is time to revive the Squad! I miss reading everyone else's posts and I really miss posting about all the nothingness in my brain. So, take off the damn invisibility cloaks and put down your beers...and blog you assholes!