Am I in Bizarro-World???
Americans United for Separation of Church and State today commended President George W. Bush for his apology to a Wiccan war widow who was excluded from a private meeting with veterans and their deceased family members in Nevada earlier this week. Roberta Stewart, whose husband Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in combat in Afghanistan, was not invited to meet with Bush and other family members of soldiers who have died in combat. Other members of Sgt. Stewart?s family were invited to the meeting. Stewart told local media that she was concerned that her exclusion was an intentional snub for her leadership in an Americans United-sponsored lawsuit that forced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to allow the Wiccan symbol of faith on government-issued grave markers. Today, Bush called Stewart and apologized for failing to invite her to the meeting with veterans? families. He also said he does not believe the Wiccan faith should be discriminated against.
david
i bet Religious Right loves this.
*passes out
Well that was very unexpected.
Is it 1 April today?
More good news from Bizzaro World. Rural Polk Co., Iowa legalises gay marriage:
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48591.asp
Sorry, I don’t get it.
Maybe it’s the earliness of the hour but I don’t see anything wrong with this. Sure it’s about RELIGION but apart from that it kinda sounds like (possibly) an innocent oversight that was duly apologized for.
I’m no Bush fan either.
I would give Bush credit, but even a broken clock is right two times a day.
This is just another sign that the ship is sinking. I have no evidence that the omission of this family member was intentional. I suspect it is but that is not the same. Maybe Bush took a tutored course in American law and is attempting to actually be an American. He will do anything he can to raise his rating with the public. Apologizing to a non-christian previously was not an option for him. He does not see Wiccans, Atheist and many others as Americans at all. He does not even see them as human. He has fought freedom of religion at every turn since he was Texas’ king. I hope he has not been tutored, it will only make him aware of the evidence he must destroy before leaving the white house. I would rather scholars find the evidence and make it part of American history. We need to learn from this period.
“Those that would sacrifice freedom, to gain security, deserve neither.”
Ben Franklin
I’m thinking bodysnatchers, there’s no way this could be anything but Bizarro Bush.
Or perhaps it’s just ulterior motives. But one can hope that he genuinely did this for the reasons he claims…
Well, really, Polk County IA is NOT rural. I know, I’ve lived here over 20 years. Most of it is urban, nearly a half a million people. You don’t go very far west to find REALLY rural, though. I don’t expect the gay marriage ruling to hold, though, even though I wish it would – I know one of the plantiffs in the court case. Too many in this state buy into the xian mindset. The entire western half of Iowa is it’s own congressional district and has elected that idiot Steve King, who thinks America’s problems will be solved by building a one thousand mile fence and forcing people to speak English at gunpoint. The registration out there is 3:1 republican. Last election, the loser repug for governor got 90% of the vote in one county, and it’s nearly entirely Dutch Reformed. Anybody wonder why we couldn’t keep the American Atheist chapter going?
Dave
Bush’s behavior leads to the deaths of 100s of thousands of Iraqis, the displacemnet of millions of Iraqis from their homes, and it all costs us 100s of billions of dollars and counting. Now he apologizes for a relatively insignificant slight in the scheme of what this monster has done and you actually bother to stop and applaud him. What the f***?
Dave
OK. To be fair you didn’t actaully “applaud him” but you gave the monster an inch.
So, does that mean that Wiccans are to be accepted, or tolerated? I’m willing to bet he meant the latter, in which case it isn’t much of an apology after all.
Come on! He only did it to cover his ass. If Shrub had his way, she would’ve been tossed into a cauldron of boiling of water. Can’t you recognize PC?
It might not solve all of our problems but it’s a good start (except the gunpoint thing). We need to put our interests ahead of those of Mexico if we want to keep our country.
atheistmike–
. Most of my family is still up there – mostly in the Keokuk area.
You’re living in Polk County, IA? I was born in Des Moines, and lived in Iowa until I was 12 (approx. 100 years ago
We lived all over the state: Montrose, Emmetsburg, Ruthven, Runnells, Carroll . . .
Nice place, Iowa, but too cold for me – I’m a Florida girl now!
atheistmike:
I have to echo pixel. Except that I’m a boy!
Iowa is a nice place to be from and Florida is about the right distance from it in the winter.
Bush is under extreme pressure to do anything he can to reverse the GOP’s demise in political strength. An empty-handed apology costs nothing and makes him look humble, a “family values” virtue.
Besides, he’s not running in 2008, Fred Thompson is, and it’ll be Fred that has to answer to the Religious Right, not George.
Bush’s apology is symbolic only. Utterly meaningless otherwise.
Iowa is a nice place to be from and Florida is about the right distance from it in the winter.
earlwarner, that’s exactly right. Someday I might find out what the right distance is.
pixel, I was actually born in Fort Dodge, and lived in Cedar Falls (college days), then Chicago and back to Des Moines. My mom’s family was in Ruthven and Eburg (she was born in Curlew). As long as you’re in the city, Iowa is fine -just too many sanctimonious repug presidential candidates.
Another rat jumps ship:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20531733/
I’m sure he did it only under duress.
i am glad he did it.i hope that as the neocons bail out of the white house that bush will change.if he had been the president he promised as a candidate in 2000 this country would be so much better off.
atheistmike:
The rigt distance thing is easy. Load the U-Haul and put a snow shovel in the back seat of your car.
Start driving south.
At some point, you will come out of the restaurant and see a crowd gathered around your car asking what the hell that thing in the back seat is.
Start looking for a place to live.
What is this snow shovel of which you speak?
alexatheist – a snow shovel is something that you can use a lot around any speaking minister of the gospel or politician or office holder in the government of these united states.
earlwarner – I suppose the resturaunt I’ll come out of is a Bob Evans or that other breakfast type place – what’s it called? We don’t even have Denny’s within 200 miles of here.
DEfinitely off topic, but looks like we’re going to get a look at heaven one of these days. Seems that after many strokes and shortly before his death, Carl Perkins (wrote “Blue Suede Shoes” and other songs), described to his daughter what heaven was like. She says he “talked about seeing his heavenly father and even described what He was wearing.”
Of course the daughter felt compelled to write about it and if all goes well they’re gonna make a movie for us. (Well, probably not for US.)
http://jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070901/NEWS01/709010305
“At some point, you will come out of the restaurant and see a crowd gathered around your car asking what the hell that thing in the back seat is.”
earlwarner,
Or what the hell the plug hanging out from your engine is for, right?
LOL
in tx “sorry” doesn’t mean I apologize and I was wrong. I’ve Learned it means oh well but I’ll say sorry because that’s what you want to hear.