Michele Bachmann listed Francis Schaeffer as one of her most important influences.. His son, Frank Schaeffer, explains why that should terrify you.

From AlterNet:

As presidential candidate Michele Bachmann chews up scenery in the GOP primaries, the mainstream media is finally digging into her extremist beliefs in a serious way. In a profile published earlier this week, the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza talked about Bachmann's radical right-wing influences, which include the most extremist figures in the history of the religious right movement. 

One of these was my evangelical leader father, Francis Schaeffer. Bachmann says in the New Yorker article that she got into politics because she watched a film series I directed called “How Should We Then Live,” written by and featuring my dad. 

What the New Yorker article doesn’t do is explain why people like Bachmann, Sarah Palin, et al. turned to the hard reactionary anti-government right. I explain this in my book Sex, Mom and God. I think it’s important to understand this. So let me add what the New Yorker left out.

Frank Schaeffer then proceeds to take his readers on an out of control carnival ride with frights that include Theocratic beliefs, abject hatred toward homosexuals, and a complete distrust for government. 

I urge you to read it with a hot comforting beverage to sip and all of the lights on to chase away the darkness.

Things you did not know about Michele Bachmann, and some you will probably wish you had never learned.

Courtesy of NPR:

While at Oral Roberts, Bachmann worked as a research assistant for one of the professors, John Eidsmoe. She has brought up his influence on the campaign trail, telling one audience in Iowa this year that he "taught me so many aspects of our godly heritage." 

Eidsmoe's 1987 book, Christianity and the Constitution, tells Christians that "they need to get politically active and they need to get involved with the legal system and they need to make sure American law is more biblically based," says Lizza. "That's what the book ends on, a clarion call for his students to get involved. ... Eidsmoe is someone who believes American law should be based on the Bible. He believes that the United States is a Christian nation, should remain a Christian nation and that our politics and our law should be permeated by one's Christian faith." 

"For a number of years, Michele Bachmann's personal website had a list of books she recommended people read. It was called 'Michelle's must-read list.' I was looking over the list and noticed this biography of Lee by Wilkins. [I had] never heard of Wilkins and started looking at who he was. And frankly couldn't believe that she was recommending this book.""Wilkins has combined a Christian conservatism with neo-confederate views and developed what is known as the theological war thesis. 

This is an idea that says the best way to understand the Civil War is to see it in religious terms, and [that] the South was an Orthodox Christian nation attacked by the godless North and that what was really lost after the Civil War was one of the pinnacles of Christian society. This insane view of the Civil War has been successfully injected into some of the Christian home-schooling movement curriculums with the help of [Wilkins]. My guess is this is how she encountered the guy at some point. ... She recommended this book on her website for a number of years. It is an objectively pro-slavery book and one of the most startling things I learned about her in this piece." 

Wow! And here I thought Sarah Palin was the craziest bat in the belfry!

There is more in that NPR link and I encourage you all to read it.

I have to admit that the part about the South being a Christian bastion against the godless North left me slack jawed. But do you know what?  That is exactly the same kind of language that we are now seeing coming out of the Teabaggers, so I guess it does make some kind of batshit crazy sense.

There really are two Americas and I will never, and I mean NEVER, relate to this one!

But I do have to say that there are several members of my family who would feel right at home listening to that prayer and watching those cars drive around, and around, and around, and around, and....well you get the idea.

Are you prepared for spiritual warfare in the United States? Well perhaps you are not, but many others are more than ready.

Courtesy of Aljazeera:

Prior to 9/11, the Taliban government in Afghanistan did not register very much on American radar screens, with one notable exception: when it blew up two colossal images of the Buddha in Bamiyan province in early 2001. But destruction of treasured artifacts isn't just limited to the Taliban.

There's a right-wing politico-religious presence centred in the US, but with a global reach, engaging in similar practises, destroying religious and cultural artifacts as a key aspect of its ideology of "strategic level spiritual warfare" (SLSW).

Until recently a fringe evangelical movement, warned against as deviant, "spiritual warfare" is rapidly positioning itself within America's mainstream political right. It's well past time for political journalists to start covering what this movement is up to.

As an example, leaders have bragged online about the destruction of Native American religious artifacts, which their twisted ideology somehow sees as a liberating act, promoting "reconciliation" between estranged groups of people. Critics, however, see it as reflecting an eliminationist mindset, while traditional conservative evangelicals have denounced the ideology as un-biblical. Some even claim it is actually a form of pagan practice dressed up in Christian clothes, according such artifacts a spiritual power that the Bible itself denies. 

The ultimate goal is to replace secular democracy, both in America and around the world, with a Christian theocracy, an ideology known as "dominionism". The supposed purpose is to "purify" the world for Christ's return - again, strikingly similar to what the Taliban believe, but also significantly at odds with more common, long-standing Christian beliefs about the "end times", as well as the nature and purpose of prayer, and the roles of human and divine power. 

This is a VERY informative article which touches on many of the same frightening themes that fans of Leah Burton, and God's Own Party,  are probably already aware. The piece explores the New Apostolic Reformation, the Seven Mountains Mandate, the influence of Sarah Palin, and also lays out the three levels of Spiritual Warfare.

Ground level spiritual warfare is casting out demons from individuals. Occult level spiritual warfare is a confrontation with demons operating through witchcraft and esoteric philosophies (examples are Freemasonry and Tibetan Buddhism). Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare is the highest level, dealing with confrontation of territorial principalities that control entire communities, ethnic groups, religions, and nations.

Like I said the article is quite informative, however it is also a chilling read that might cause you one or two sleepless night.  So take care.  

Teabaggers let the cat out of the bag concerning ultimate goal for our public schools.

Courtesy of Think Progress:

In a series of e-mails and interviews, Teri Adams, the president of the Idependence Hall Tea Party Association, explains that her organization is involved in its voucher advocacy because it believes “public schools should go away.” Adams said that their ultimate goal is to “shut down public schools and have private schools only“:

“We think public schools should go away,’’ says Teri Adams, the head of the Independence Hall Tea Party and a leading advocate — both in New Jersey and Pennsylvania — of passage of school voucher bills. The tea party operates in those two states and Delaware. They should “go away,” she says, because “they are hurting our children.’’ [...] Adams says the current voucher program “discriminates” against wealthier students by providing public subsidies only to inner-city children in allegedly failing schools. Her group’s e-mails pushing vouchers caught the attention of James Kovalcin of South Brunswick, a retired public school teacher who asked Adams for clarification. She responded via email: “Our ultimate goal is to shut down public schools and have private schools only, eventually returning responsibility for payment to parents and private charities. It’s going to happen piecemeal and not overnight. It took us years to get into this mess and it’s going to take years to get out of it.”

Well there you go, any questions about the motives of the radical right wing now?


These people are willing to completely dismantle the American public school system, which has leveled the playing field to allow those who come from humble beginnings to rise to the top through hard work and access to a good education, in exchange for ONLY providing an adequate education for those that can afford it.

Essentially they are trying to gut the very foundation of the American dream, and attempting to impose a class system in this country, where only those who are born with means can achieve success. That is certainly NOT what the founders envisioned for this country:

After the Declaration of Independence, 14 states had their own constitutions by 1791, and out of the 14, 7 states had specific provisions for education. Jefferson believed that education should be under the control of the government, free from religious biases, and available to all people irrespective of their status in society. Others who vouched for public education around the same time were Benjamin Rush, Noah Webster, Robert Coram and George Washington.

And these Teabaggers dare to call themselves "patriots?"

Frank Schaeffer reveals how Fundamentalist religions are destroying the world. They're playing my song baby!

Courtesy of Alternet:

The deluded religious belief that any people or nation or church is a "chosen" people is the root of almost all our troubles. So is the lunacy of believing in "Truth" revealed through one special prophet to one special peoples and/or tribe, be they Jews, Muslims or American Evangelical Christians, or conservative Roman Catholics who believe in the special primacy of their popes.

Eliminate willful self-serving tribal religious delusion from the globe and there might be hope for the survival of the human race. Combine tribalism and religious conviction with nukes and the "right" to exploit the earth and disaster looms.

It's no accident that the most dangerous cultures today are also the most religiously observant societies. The ultra-religiously observant USA embraces perpetual war as a way of life. With our notion of "exceptionalism," we fear the "other" who might challenge our notion of having been chosen by God for some special task.

This is a great article and I urge you to spend the time to read all of it.  However I will let you know that this next part is my favorite portion.

Someday these "special" and "chosen" countries will cease to exist as will all nation states. Someday they will not even be remembered because all things pass from time into oblivion, nor will their "holy" books and "holy" places exist forever, simple geology will take care of that. What makes them dangerous today is their shared religious delusion that they are somehow essential and eternal.

I know that for religious people this is a very difficult concept to grasp, that their nation, and even their religion, may someday disappear into the mists of time, but anybody who has studied even junior high school history cannot deny the reality of that statement.

I remember once making a born again Christian hopping mad at me for referring to his religion as a mythology.

"No it is not!" he said.

"You're right." I replied. "It's not a mythology, today. But someday it WILL be, unless of course it is not remembered at all."

I was kind of a jerk in those days, and loved to rattle people's cages concerning their sacred cows.  I am much more mellow, and less combative, these days but the truth of my prediction is no less valid.

What has to be remembered is that thousands of years ago armies of "chosen" warriors marched to war after giving offerings to,and receiving the blessing from, Gods that you and I have never even heard of.  Yet they had complete faith that these long forgotten deities would keep them safe, or provide a place for their spirit to reside if they were felled in battle.

Millions have died under the swords of armies who believed that their gods had given  them license to destroy those who dared to worship at "sacrilegious" altars. And that faith allowed them to do so without even a hint of guilt at the wholesale murder of entire civilizations.

Now be honest, from that time to this, has mankind REALLY evolved that much?  And if not, why not?

Michele Bachmann is "Hot for Jesus." Jesus might want to look into getting a restraining order.

I find it absolutely hysterical that these people believe that they are in the "real" reality.  They are so far removed form reality it is not even funny.

"The one thing that I knew, that I knew, that I knew." This is the same phrase that Sarah Palin used to say.  What in the hell does it even mean?

I do NOT think that Bachmann understands what he word "hot" actually means.

Apparently God order this wingnut to marry a man who is clearly a closeted, deeply in denial, gay man, and to attend the the most pathetic "law school" in the country.

So the question is "Why does God hate Michele Bachmann so much?"

The reason for Palin's belt buckle crucifix REVEALED!

Seeing the picture below really bothered me the other day.

I mean of all of the places to wear a crucifix, who puts one right above their naughty bits?

But then I read this...

A Crucifix, considered in Christian tradition as a defense against demons, as the holy sign of Christ's victory over every evil.

...and I was confused no more.

So the crucifix is the symbol of Christ's victory over evil.

And Palin wears it right above, what I imagine must be, the gates of hell.

Well that makes sense. And here I thought it was just decorative.

(By the way, weren't crucifixes also used to keep evil contained?)

Leah Burton explores the Seven Mountains Mandate. You might want to read this with the lights on.

From Politicususa:

Last week I wrote an article here at PoliticusUSA introducing the Christian Dominionist Movement. First, let me say that I was tremendously encouraged by the responses and that so many of you are taking this seriously. Please click here to read a more in-depth compilation of writing and research defining Christian Dominionism. It is a challenging task to write and speak out about this extremism due to the very fact that they have crawled under the skirts of legitimacy of what once was the Republican Party while invoking Christianity as their moral spring board.

To write or speak out against this very well organized sect attracts defensive postures from all sides, from Dominionists themselves, to the mainline Christians in America who are not yet aware that they need to be distancing themselves from this extremist fundamentalist sect, one that is attempting to drag them along for the ride back into the days of pre-Enlightenment.

This is a creeping cancer, a malignant growth if left unchecked, that desires total dominion over all secular institutions in America, establishing this country firmly with arrogant supremacy as a Christian Nation. One of those very well laid out plans is something they call the 7 Mountains Mandate.

This is VERY difficult to process, but I assure you that this is the driving force behind much of what we see happening on the surface among the Right Wing Fundamentalist Republicans.

Leah and I used to have long talks about these issues, about a year ago, and some of the things she would tell me (And by the way I am somebody who felt he was pretty knowledgeable about Christian cults), would make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

Leah is probably one of only a handful of people who have studied this subject in any real comprehensive fashion, so I always defer to her superior knowledge on Dominionists and Evangelicals.

Journalist Sarah Jones bravely delves into the world of the "Quiverfull Movement."

Vyckie Garrison ex-Quiverfull member

Courtesy of Politicususa:

Sarah Jones: Can you define “Quiverfull movement” and what you’ve identified as the patriarchal beliefs behind it?

Vyckie Garrison: I like to define Quiverfull as a very powerful head trip. It’s an all-encompassing vision of a big, happy family which infects the mind and affects every aspect of a Believer’s life. The term “Quiverfull” comes from a reference in Psalm 127 which likens children to “arrows” in the hands of a mighty man, “blessed is the man who has his quiver full of them.”

Quiverfull Believers eschew all forms of birth control in favor of “trusting the Lord” with their family planning. The Quiverfull ideal embraces a “biblical” model (read, fundamentalist) of the traditional family which insists that the husband is the head of the household and the wife is the submissive “helpmeet.”

Sarah Jones: How do those beliefs manifest for wives and female children? Can you give us some examples of expectations of wives and daughters that might surprise our readers?

Vyckie Garrison: In practice, the Quiverfull ideals often result in larger-than-average families (think, Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar of TLCs “19 & Counting” fame) in which the woman stays at home having babies, homeschooling, homesteading, dressing “modestly,” and most importantly, serving and submitting to her “lord,” i.e., her patriarchal husband.

The Quiverfull lifestyle is extremely demanding and the only way a woman can hope to succeed is to rely heavily on her older daughters. It is expected that a Quiverfull daughter will be fully capable of running the household, including all meal-preparation, laundry duties, child care and homeschooling of younger siblings by the age of twelve. Many girls are doing all this by the time they’re eight or ten because their mothers are so consumed with birthing more and more “arrows” to fill the quivers of their husbands.

A Quiverfull daughter is taught from a young age that her purpose in life is to serve the man whom God has placed in authority over her. She serves her father while she lives at home (she does this primarily by assisting her mother in domestic duties and child care). She absolutely must remain a virgin and is taught to expect to meet and marry her future husband through a father-led match-making process called “courtship.” Her education is geared toward developing domestic skills ~ college is generally considered unnecessary and even dangerous for her spiritual well-being.

Sarah Jones: Do Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann (both of whom share a belief in the bible replacing the constitution; i.e., a theocratic takeover of the American government) represent the beliefs you were taught and if so, how? If not, why?

Vyckie Garrison: When I was a fully-convinced Quiverfull believer, I did question how Sarah Palin could justify her political activities so long as she had children still living at home. I also thought it ironic that, according to the ideals she espouses, women should not hold authority over men, or even be allowed to vote for that matter.

Still, I supported Palin because she understands and promotes conservative Christian “family values.” I was especially impressed by her convictions with regard to “taking back America for God” — in my Quiverfull-colored opinion, Sarah Palin “got it.” Meaning, of course, that she has a decent understanding of Dominionist principles and she has a plan to lead America toward a “truly Biblical” (read, theocratic) society.

This philosophy of breeding for God is as old as religion itself. Older even.

It dates back to a time when the only hope that a community had of survival was to have more warriors, and more people working to support those warriors, than their enemies had at their disposal.

One of the main fears that Christians, even today, have is that the Muslims are out breeding them, and that ultimately they will lose their religious dominance and power structure. By the way that is the same fear that the White Power people have concerning Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans. And yes, the two ARE tied together.

I am still constantly amazed how Sarah Palin is able to gain the support from these hyper Fundamentalists when her entire lifestyle is an affront to the tenets of their belief system. It seems that essentially these people are bred to accept the lies told to them by their leaders, and therefore give her a free pass.

Please do click the link at the top and read this entire interview.  Though it is very troubling, it provides important information to help us understand where the Republican party keeps finding their supporters.

Personally I think this is the best way to learn about Mormonism.

I am sort of fascinated with the judgemental attitude, and out right rejection, or Mormonism by other Christian denominations. Especially in light of the fact that we may have two Presidential candidates who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

You know as it turns out I actually do know quite a bit about Mormonism, as I spent my youth studying various religions, philosophies, and their impact on the world.

Essentially I do not place ANY religious belief above another, yet Mormonism has always seemed to expect an even more profound suspension of disbelief than have other western religions, since it is so much newer and somewhat more radical in its interpretation of Christianity.

In my opinion only Scientology requires an even more profound denial of contradictory evidence.

So perhaps for that reason I have always been a little fascinated with the Mormon religion.

Especially since other Christians often treat it as ridiculous and unbelievable. Which I always considered odd since their own faith requires a suppression of critical thinking and the complete acceptance of things which an ancient book that has been translated hundreds of times, and updated and modified over and over again throughout the centuries, tells them is a factual account of events that happened many thousands of years ago.

Which begs the eternal question.  Why is YOUR belief worthy of your unquestioning faith, yet others are deemed unworthy, or even loony?

And on that note why is 22% of the country hesitant to vote for a candidate solely because they are Mormon? For someone like me, that just seems hypocritical.

Leah Burton explains truth behind the Dominionists view of Israel and how that relates to our current GOP candidates.

Courtesy of Politicususa:

So, my fellow moderates, now it is time for us to acquaint ourselves with our very own homegrown version of radical Christian fundamentalists. Do not confuse them with the majority of Christians in America who are mainline Christians. Mainline Christians are those who actually follow the teachings of Christ that promote kindness, compassion and love thy neighbor; don’t judge lest ye be judged; let them know you by your good deeds; and it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. THOSE Christians.

Christian Dominionists on the other hand believe that we are in the End Times and that they must proactively make the way for the 2nd coming of Christ. They ignore passages from the Bible written that Jesus said “you will not know the day, the hour…I will come like a thief in the night”. Instead they have a laundry list of duties that they must implement before Christ can return. Some of these include fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28: 16-20 ) which they interpret to mean that they are to go forth and aggressively hound the people of the world into conversion, “harvesting as many souls” as possible. (Their words not mine).

Additionally, they are to prepare Israel for the return of all the Jews from around the globe – hence their pro-Israel rhetoric and schizophrenic “love the country – not the Jew” policies. (We have all witnessed how they apply that, the “love the sinner – not the sin” when they try to mask their homophobia). So, in order to have room for all these Jews who they see making their way to Israel soon, as was pointed out by Sarah Palin, there is no land to spare! Palestine just doesn’t fit into this plan, so negotiating a two-State solution is just out of the question.

It makes no difference that they discriminate horribly against the Jews otherwise, calling them “Jesus-killer”, “anti-Christian”, “the Yiddish are coming!”, and a plethora of hate-filled name-calling all in the name of God. Remember, they love the country – they are just not so fond of the inhabitants

Among the current Republicans running for President almost ALL of them are, either embracing dominionist views, or are full blown dominionists themselves.

These include Rick Perry, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, and Newt Gingrich (Though I really think Newt is faking it.)

Sarah Palin, who has not yet declared and probably never will, is DEFINITELY a dominionist!  In fact that may be the ONLY authentic thing about her.

I would suggest that Mitt Romeny, Jon Huntsman, and Ron Paul do NOT embrace the dominionist beliefs, which is why ultimately it will be VERY difficult for either of them to get the Evangelical support they desperately need in order to have any chance in the general election. (McCain overcame that obstacle by plucking Sarah Palin out of the wilds of Wasilla and unleashing her like a pestilence throughout the rest of America.)

By the way Leah Burton is my go to expert on all things dominionist or fundamentalist in nature.  She is one of the most well respected experts in the country and we have had several long and fascinating discussions on numerous topics in the past.  To learn more about her work, I suggest that you visit her site God's Own Party.

Bill Maher: "Republicanism has become a religion." I have to say that makes perfect sense to me.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

HBO’s Bill Maher told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Tuesday that “as a sane person,” it was tough to watch the Republican presidential candidates debate.

“Republicanism has — it’s really become a religion,” he noted. “And when I say religion, I mean they just have a series of baseless assertions that they cleave to, you know, and it’s like, if there was just one sane person in that room to give perspective, but there wasn’t.”

You know thinking about the Republican party in this way suddenly makes every crazy thing they do make sense.

This is why the Republicans are constantly talking about faith and values.  They are not talking about Christian faith and values, they are talking about the Church of Republicanism's faith and values.

Which apparently simply refers to an ability to suspend intellectual thought, ignore the suffering of the less fortunate, put the needs of the unborn before the needs of the living, and embrace a level of hypocrisy that would make Jesus weep.

I would imagine that the deity they worship is no longer the God of the Old Testament, but rather a mythologized version of Ronald Reagan.

Michele Bachmann the living embodiment of everything Sarah Palin pretends to be.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Now take note, I am about to do something I will likely NEVER do again. And that is to give Michele Bachmann a compliment.

The fact that she took in twenty three foster children is exceedingly admirable in my opinion, since that is one of the most difficult jobs in the world.

My only caveat to this is if she did such a thing to indoctrinate these children into her religious belief, then I take it all back.  I have seen PLENTY of Evangelical types take foster children into their homes and then swiftly impose their own stringent moral demands on them until the kids either run away, and end up back in the system, or buckle under and learn to suppress their individuality in exchange for a warm place to sleep and clothes on their backs.

Now I have no evidence that Bachmann was this kind of foster parent, but from what I know of her, I would not be terribly surprised. (By the way, I am in NO way suggesting that all religious people who become foster parents force their beliefs on the children they bring into their homes. In fact the majority of them take great pains to respect the religious customs that the children they take in already observe. I am speaking of a very small, but very aggressive, group of foster parents who feel that they are called by God to bring new souls to Jesus, and have found foster care a very useful tool for achieving that end.)

But leaving the possibility that there is something admirable about Michele Bachmann aside, I have to say that EVERYTHING else about her should scare the hell out of anybody who thinks she might have a real shot of making it to the White House. 

Which she doesn't by the way.

The Voice of God, the Artifice of Sarah Palin. Update!

Many bloggers, and news organizations, have written about a certain letter found in the Sarah Palin e-mails which she composed eleven days before the "birth" of her son, and then sent out immediately after Trig's birth to friends and family.  Most have characterized the letter as demonstrating Palin's true love and commitment to her as yet unborn son, Trig Paxson Van Palin. 

But for me it told an entirely different story.

Here is the letter.

From: Sarah Palin
Date: Mon, 7 Apr zoos 14:17:11
To gov . sarah@yahoo . com
Cc gov . palinoyahoo . com

Subject Baby

To the Sisters, Brother. Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Friends of Trig Paxson Van Palin (or whatever you end up naming him!):

I am blessing you with this surprise baby because I only want the best for you. I've heard your prayers that this baby will be happy and healthy, and I've answered them because I only want the best for you!

I heard your heart when you hinted that another boy would fit best in the Palin family, to round it out and complete that starting five line-up. Though another girl would be so nice, you didn't think you could ask for what you REALLY wanted, but I knew, so I gave you a boy because I only want the best for you!

Then, I put the idea in your hearts that his name should be "Trig", because it's so fitting, with two Norse meanings: *True' and "Brave Victory'. You also have a Bristol Bay relative with that name, so I knew it would be best for you!

Then, I let Trig's mom have an exceptionally comfortable pregnancy so she could enjoy every minute of it, and I even seemed to rush it along so she could wait until near the end to surprise you with the news - that way Piper wouldn't have so long to wait and count down so many days - just like Christmastime when you have to wait, impatiently, for that special day to finally open your gift? (Or the way the Palins look forward to birthday celebrations that go on for three, four day.. you all really like cake.) I know you, I knew you'd be better off with just a short time to wait!

Then, finally, I let Trig's mom and dad find out before he was born that this little boy will truly be a GIFT. They were told in early tests that Trig may provide more challenges, and more joy, than what they ever may have imagined or ever asked for. At first the news seemed unreal and sad and confusing. But I gave Trig's mom and dad lots of time to think about it because they needed lots of time to understand that everything will be OK, in fact, everything will be great, because I only want the best for you!

I've given Trig's mom and dad peace and joy as they wait to meet their new son. I gave them a happy anticipation because they asked me for that. I'll give all of you the same happy anticipation and strength to deal with Trig's challenges, but I won't impose on you.. I just need to know you want to receive my offer to be with all of you and help you everyday to make Trig's life a great one.

This new person in your life can help everyone put things in perspective and bind us together and get everyone focused on what really matters. The baby will expand your world and let you see and feel things you haven't experienced yet. He'll show you what 'true, brave victory" really means as those who love him will think less about self and focus less on what the world tells you is 'normal' or "perfect'. You will grow and be blessed with greater understanding that will be born along with Trig.

Trig will be his dad's little buddy and he'll wear Carhartts while he learns to tinker in the garage. He'll love to be read to, he'll want to play goalie, and he'll steal his mom's heart just like Track, Bristol, Willow and Piper did, And Trig will be the cuddly, innocent, mischievous, dependent little brother that his siblings have been waiting for..in fact Trig will - in some diagnostic ways - always be a mischievous, dependent little brother, because I created him a bit different than a lot of babies born into this world today .

Every child is created special, with awesome purpose and amazing potential. Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed up world you live in down there on earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome. Doctors call it "Down's and Downs kids have challenges, but can bring you much delight and more love than you can ever imaginel Just wait and see, let me prove this, because I only want the best for you!

Some of the rest of the world may not want him, but take comfort in that because the world will not compete for him. Take care of him and he will always be yours! Trig's mom and dad don't want people to focus on the baby's extra chromosome. They're human, so they haven't known how to explain this to people who are so caring and are interested in this new little Alaskan. Sarah and Todd want people to share in the joy of this gift I'm giving to the Palin family, and the greater Alaska family. Many people won't understand..and I understand that. Some will think Trig should not he allowed to be born because they fear a Downs child won't be considered "perfect" in your world. (But tell me, what do you earthlings consider "perfect" or even "normal" anyway? Have you peeked down any grocery store isle, or school hallway, or into your office lunchroom lately? Or considered the odd celebrities you celebrate as "perfect" on Have you noticed I make 'em all shapes and sizes? Believe me, there is no 'perfect"!)

Many people will express sympathy, but you don't want or need that, because Trig will be a joy. You will have to trust me on this. I know it will take time to grasp this and come to accept that I only Want the best for you, and I only give my best. Remember though: "My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your for as the heavens are higher than the earth, my ways are higher than yours!"

I wrote that all down for you in the Good Book! Look it up! You claim that you believe me - now it's time to live out that belief!

Please look to me as this new challenge and chapter of life unfolds in front of you. I promise to equip you. I won't give you anything you can't handle. I am answering your prayers. Trig can't wait to meet you. I'm giving you ONLY THE BEST!

Love,
Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father

Through the more than two and a half years we've been writing about and thinking about the baby story, the phrases "Smoking Gun" and "Nail in the Coffin" have been used more than once. Each time, unfortunately, it doesn't seem to clinch it. In spite of evidence that I (and others) have considered irrefutable, somehow it's ignored, minimized, or explained away with absurd arguments.

I'm not going to use either phrase now because I've learned not to take anything for granted. But I believe we've now seen an email that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sarah Palin's pregnancy was not as reported.

On Monday, April 7th, Sarah Palin sent this letter from her official government account to her yahoo accounts. It was the draft of the letter she eventually sent to friends and family after Trig was "born" on April 18th, eleven days later. We've known about this letter for years, as quotes from it were released to the press within three days after Trig's delivery. It had gained considerable notice because Sarah Palin wrote the letter in the name of Trig's Creator (i.e, God) But, of course, no one knew that she'd actually written it more than a week earlier.

This letter has already appeared in a number of media reports since the emails were released. Most of them take the position of the U.K Daily Mail, that this is a "touching" and "extraordinary" letter which should prove once and for all that Trig is really Sarah's.

Not so fast.

This letter was written when Sarah Palin was supposedly thirty-four weeks pregnant. Six weeks away from her announced delivery date of May 18th.

How can you possibly explain her writing a letter which thanks God for giving her an exceptionally easy pregnancy ("Then, I let Trig's mom have an exceptionally comfortable pregnancy so she could enjoy every minute of it,") when she should have been six LONG weeks away from the end? Still facing the weeks that any woman will tell you are going to be the most uncomfortable, weeks where, my female friends who have been pregnant tell me, you can't hardly find a comfortable position to sleep, your back hurts constantly, you have to run to the bathroom hourly, and sometimes the baby kicks so hard you cry.

How could Sarah know for sure that her birth would be easy and free of complications or that her baby would be, except for the Down Syndrome, healthy? I asked a friend who has had multiple home births if she could imagine writing a letter like this six weeks before her babies were born, when she still could not know the outcome, and she said, "No. You always worry. Even when you know you've had healthy babies before and you know your body and your midwife, you always worry."

And what about this sentence? "and I even seemed to rush it along..." I believe this is a clear reference to the fact that Trig came early. But how could Sarah possibly have known, on April 7th, that that was going to happen?

This letter, like so much of Sarah's life, is a chaos. Some parts reference how they are still waiting for the baby, but most of it reads 100% down the line like it's being written by someone who already knows the outcome, and knows that that outcome is a whole lot closer than six weeks away.

I see two explanations for this.

Maybe God did really write it and just put it in Sarah's head.

Or

Maybe Trig was already born when Sarah wrote this. She could speak in the voice of a god who knew what was going to happen - because she did.

Update: It looks like Andrew Sullivan, also finds this very suspicious.

Update 2: It looks like the Business Insider has taken notice of this post as well.

Ken Morris, co-author of "Blind Allegiance," provides a little more insight into Sarah Palin's bizarre religious convictions.

Author Ken Morris

Courtesy of Truthout:

From the very beginning, Sarah had a plan that God would answer her Jabez-like prayers. And while none of us (Frank, me, and third co-author Jeanne Devon) believe God played any part, amazingly her dream for riches came true; the three of us decided that she’d have been wiser to pray for happiness.

Well documented in Blind Allegiance, Sarah came to relate to yet another Biblical figure, Queen Esther, going so far as to borrow the one-time savior of the Jewish people’s most famous line on several occasions: “If I die, I die.” In our book, we document several emails where the governor (who said repeatedly, “I hate this damn job”) marveled at how God chose her, above all others, for divine purpose. And while Frank was blindly allegiant to a woman he once truly believed was Ronald Reagan in a dress, Sarah was no less blind in her own faith in herself. She became convinced that she had Reagan’s so-called steely spine. She swore publicly that her skin was rhino thick, even to the point of lecturing Hilary Clinton to buck up and adopt Sarah’s ability to take the heat in the political kitchen. Frank and the others who knew the backbone filleted, thin-skinned truth, choked at the words despite continuing to believe in her mission. Not everyone in this world, they rationalized, is self-aware. If this were her only fault, they could live with that.

Unfortunately, this was the least of the character flaws that made her, in Frank’s words, “…not only ill-suited to head a political party or occupy national office, but would lead to a disaster of, well, biblical proportions.”

Sarah was, at best, an Old Testament Christian (an oxymoron since Christianity began with the birth of Christ and the creation of the New Testament). And she was a revisionist at that. An eye for an eye became two eyes for an eye. Eventually she translated that into the belief that any perceived slight deserved nothing less than personal destruction. Even in the case of a man of God, who championed what Sarah claimed was her most cherished principal - the preservation of unborn life - when causing her public embarrassment suffered her wrath. After one of her famous last-minute charity event cancellations (so that she could finish her lacquered biography in time for Christmas sales) even he became a target. She ordered Frank Bailey to do opposition research on this man, searching through sex offender and criminal files, telling Frank, “Find something. He must have something on him that we can use.”

After returning to Alaska from the McCain/Palin defeat, as Blind Allegiance so shockingly documents, Sarah did virtually nothing but attack enemies and work the national media for attention. She pledged to go only on Fox News because they were the only fair and balanced network. Even this week, when Frank Bailey courageously went on Sean Hannity’s show, Fox demonstrated how "fair and balanced" they were when Hannity, in a pique of his own defensiveness, asked Frank, "Okay, what would you ask Sarah if you were me?" Frank said, "Ask her why she broke campaign finance law and illegally coordinated with the Republican Governors Association during the campaign," an event painstakingly documented in our book. Not only did she illegally coordinate we prove, but she blatantly misrepresented that truth in her public statements. What did Sean Hannity do with this little exchange? He edited it out of the interview, and did not tell his viewers they were watching an edited tape he advertised on his website as “Sean battles Frank Bailey over his controversial book about Sarah Palin.” Yeah, Sean Hannity cut it clean out, but left his otherwise nonstop attacks, not allowing Frank to complete his sentences. Is this what journalism has become? Is that what Fox means when they claim to be fair and balanced? For what it is worth, Frank reported to me this morning that he may still be a Fox News conservative, but he is no longer a Sean Hannity conservative. That's progress.

I have long known that Palin's "religious conviction" was only truly felt when she was looking to God for some heavenly support, but at other times used simply to manipulate true believers into supporting her cause. She used her Wasilla congregation to trash opponent John Stein while running for the Mayor of Wasilla, manipulated the religious pro-life proponents to help her shoehorn her way onto the McCain ticket, and often calls on "prayer warriors" to seek divine protection on her behalf from media blow back that results from her ridiculous public statements.

However from everything I have heard about Frank Bailey, he truly IS a very religious person, and it was that shortcut into his heart that Palin used to seduce him into her camp. (Yes, her looks definitely played a part in that seduction as well. But I am not sure that Bailey was aware how much it did until much later on.)

And now poor Bailey is seeing first hand the kind of duplicitous behavior embraced by yet ANOTHER idol of his, Sean Hannity.  I have a feeling that due to these media experiences Frank is undergoing quite the "coming to Jesus moment" right before our eyes.

Which brings me to some good news.

I received confirmation yesterday that Frank IS willing to do an interview with me, and I hope to do that interview sometime next week.

Now before you all get your hopes up, let me tell you that I will NOT be asking if Bailey's opinion on babygate has changed.  As you all know if he were to suggest that his mind had been changed, and that Sarah did not give birth to Trig, it could very well damage his credibility and negatively impact his book sales.

However there are a number of questions about some of his observations that might give us a few more clues.  And there are also some behind the scenes stories that both Frank and I know that will lead to some very interesting new facts being revealed which might make this interview quite juicy indeed.

Anyhow that is currently planned for sometime next week.  If plans change, or for some reason Frank decides to bail, I will let you know.  But I have to say, after the brutal attack he suffered at the hands of Sean Hannity, he cannot be too worried about what I will do.

After all, I'm a nice guy. Right?

Frank Bailey on Martin Bashir.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Okay now THAT was much better!

Did you have an enjoyable Rapture Day? Well here are some who certainly did not!

"What? Who thought people would actually believeme? 

I think those of us who tend to think, rather than believe, had little difficulty having a relaxing, and sometimes comical, Rapture Day.  However there are those who spent the day in complete disbelief as they had their "gullibility hymen" ruptured, and their innocence ripped away from them.

Courtesy of the LA Times:

Keith Bauer, a 38-year-old tractor-trailer driver from Westminster, Md., took last week off from work, packed his wife, young son and a relative in their SUV and crossed the country.

If it was his last week on Earth, he wanted to see parts of it he'd always heard about but missed, such as the Grand Canyon. With maxed-out credit cards and a growing mountain of bills, he said, the rapture would have been a relief.

On Saturday morning, Bauer was parked in front of the Oakland headquarters of Camping's Family Radio empire, half expecting to see an angry mob of disenchanted believers howling for the preacher's head. The office was closed, and the street was mostly deserted save for journalists.

Bauer said he was not bitter. "Worst-case scenario for me, I got to see the country," he said. "If I should be angry at anybody, it should be me."

Tom Evans, who acted as Camping's PR aide in recent months, took his family to Ohio to await the rapture. Early next week, he said, he would be returning to California.

"You can imagine we're pretty disappointed, but the word of God is still true," he said. "We obviously went too far, and that's something we need to learn from."

Despite the failure of Camping's prediction, however, he said he might continue working for him.
"As bad as it appears—and there's no getting around it, it is bad, flat-out—I have not found anything close to the faithfulness of Family Radio," he said.

Others had risked a lot more on Camping's prediction, quitting jobs, abandoning relationships, volunteering months of their time to spread the word. Matt Tuter, the longtime producer of Camping's radio and television call-in show, said Saturday that he expected there to be "a lot of angry people" as reality proved Camping wrong.

Tuter said Family Radio's AM station in Sacramento had been "severely vandalized" Friday night or Saturday morning, with air conditioning units yanked out and $25,000 worth of copper stripped from the equipment. He thinks it must have been an angry listener. He was off Saturday but planned to drive past the headquarters "and make sure nothing's burning."

Camping himself, who has given innumerable interviews in recent months, was staying out of sight Saturday. No one answered the door at his Alameda home, though neighbors said he was there.

You know I want to be sympathetic, but I just can't. These people were clearly born to be taken advantage of. As a matter of fact, one has to wonder just how many of THESE people are also SarahPAC contributors?

But the group that I CAN feel sympathy for are the children of these brain damaged imbeciles. I mean there are actual human beings who rely on these apparently lobotomized morons for food, and shelter, and guidance.  I think that the local child protective services should go to their houses and take these children into state's custody before their parents convince them to do something even dumber, like get all of their information from Fox News, or go on DWTS while pregnant, or support Donald Trump's 2016 Presidential bid.

All in all the entire thing is ripe for parody. And fortunately we have the Taiwanese animators to do that very thing.



Yes, that is about the level of seriousness this whole thing deserved. If even that.