Attackerman

Collective Guilt for Thee, But Not For Me

So this is how I spent my noontime: covering a press conference by a group that claims to have a database of 6000 American members of the nefarious Muslim Brotherhood, which it's ready to give to law enforcement at any time. I asked, and you don't have to have been accused of any crime to be on the list. You just have to be in some sense "associated" with the Muslim Brotherhood by these guys.

As you might imagine, a bunch of audience members, none too sympathetic for the Florida-based "Citizens for National Security," challenged the group's Peter Leitner on sharing the same motivations as Anders Breivik, if not Breivik's violent intent. And as you might further imagine, Leitner was shocked and offended that anyone might try to associate his conspiracies with Breivik's. (Money quote: "You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to understand there really are conspiracies in the world.") That was too serious and absurd an accusation, an attempt to silence debate with guilt by association.

Then he went back to accusing thousands of his fellow citizens of being a fifth column bent on "undermin[ing] the United States as a secular government, as a Judeo-Christian society." At one point he said one of the benefits of the connections he drew would be to "free the mainstream Muslim community in the U.S. from the influence, intimidation and taint of the Muslim Brotherhood." An "influence, intimidation and taint" that he, of course, was bringing to the attention of the public and the feds.

Remember: It's The Guy Who Calls Out The Homophobic Bigot Who's Hateful

Great piece at TPM by Evan McMorris-Santoro on the resumption of hostilities between Rick "Jizz, Lube and Shit" Santorum and Dan Savage. Savage goes on Bill Maher's show and jokes that sometimes he's guilty of lusting in his heart for his old foil. Santorum retorts:

"That's Dan Savage. You know, it's, it's the lowest, you know, debasement of public discourse," he said, adding, "The bottom line is I stand and I wear it as a badge of honor that someone as vulgar and as, and as disgusting and as hate-filled as Dan Savage sees me as public enemy number one. To me, that tells me I must be doing something right."

Santorum said that gay marriage was a step toward bestiality. Bestiality. Two people of the same gender who wish to codify their relationship in a manner equal to that of their straight friends are functionally indistinct from people who sexually abuse animals. 

And it's Dan Savage, for the temerity of objecting to his dehumanization, who's "disgusting and hate filled." There are not enough vulgarities in the English language to describe Rick Santorum, this preening pile of shit and grease and semen who's so convinced of his superior virtue. If anyone said anything remotely comperable about Santorum's humanity -- about his family -- Savage would appear a model of restraint in comparison. 

Remember how this works, as it applies to so many contexts. You want to practice your religion, as guaranteed by the Constitution? You're a threat to the separation of church and state.