469 Comments

This goes beyond ludicrous. Certainly the bible as a literary text has value, because so much of our language, phrases, sayings, and stories come out of it. But to use it in this way as what amounts to a mechanism of indoctrination goes so far over the line that said line might as well be a light-year behind Texas. Shall we also mention that such usage amounts to a blatant violation of State / Church separation?

That this offer of state materials has its own hidden agenda is obvious. That it should be fought and an alternative found just as obvious.

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Upvote. Republicans pander to the preachers, and view human decency as a character flaw.

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They sure love to hate. They get it from following some asshole that killed a fig tree for not bearing fruit out of season.

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Jesus was hangry and did not give a fig about a tree. The other trees saw how horrifically knotty he was and plotted their revenge: Jesus came to his end as low hanging fruit dangling from dead wood.

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Especially the fact that it requires outside reading in the bible to write answers... More Dominionist Wak-A-Mole. And, you just know when this makes its way before this SCOTUS, they will give it the green light. (edit to change 'War' to 'Wak'. The creator of spellcheck had better hope he is never in the same room with me.)

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A SKKKOTUS every bit as corrupt and crooked as its patron saint tRump.

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I've had this sort of english lit conversation with my 13-year-old bible ignorant kid multiple times:

Kid: "Dad, what is this reference?"

Me: "Oh, that's from a bible story. The point of the story..."

Kid [interrupting]: "Dad, I get the point. I just didn't get the reference."

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I took a bible as literature class in college. Great teacher who really taught it as it was meant to be taught. One religious nut job started arguing with the teacher on day one. The teacher kicked him out. I don’t remember if the rest of us applauded but we should have.

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When I took Eng 101 recently, I was introduced to the C.R.A.A.P. test. I still find it funny the Christian Bible doesn't pass.*

*https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/craap-test/

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Lol, we always called it “vetting one’s sources” but did apply these principles. I like CRAAP better because we sure ran into enough of it

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Ha. Never heard of the C.R.A.A.P. Test until you mentioned it. Should go without saying that the bible doesn't have a PRAYER of passing it! 😏

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My wife was a religion major at her university. Religion majors were very distinct from theology students, who looked at them with disapproval and disdain because they studied religious thought, not religious dogma.

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Go ahead and tell it that way, it is much more enjoyable !

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If I were the Devil:

I woke up this morning with an understanding that if I were Lucifer, God’s favorite angel, how would I do God’s request and test humanity.

I would recognize that Jesus warned his followers against my temptations to lead them astray. Thus, I would not tempt them with riches and power. Instead I would start in a Socratic Method of asking softball questions about their faith. Softball because I want these faithful to defend their position which would slowly but inexorably make them more entrenched into their faith.

Slowly, by asking about inconsistencies between science and faith I’d start turning up the heat to further entrench them. Then I would show them the inconsistencies between the Gospels and how sadistic their god was. Eventually, these believers would be driven into more ridiculous positions which would create extreme cognitive dissonance to where they would become very defensive and start acting out irrationally.

Once totally irrational and behaving with hate, malice and control, I would report back to god and state: the more devoted the people become worshipping you the more they are driven away from the teachings of your son. Therefore humanity has failed as they were easily manipulated into evil.

Then god can reflect and blame his wife for this failure.

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In other words, you'd pull a "Peter Boghossian" on 'em! 😁

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I understand your reference, somewhat as I have never done a deep dive into Peter’s philosophy. However, I would just let humanity watch the horrible behavior of the true believers and let them form their own conclusions. Not hopeful that humanity will redeem itself.

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Peter's method is essentially Socratic in nature, which means it takes a lot of time and a lot of patience.

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Mind raping christains at it again.

By the authority of me I sentence them to death by cheese grater.

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Cheeses Christ, Our Grate Lord!

What a friend we have in cheeses!

For no food more subtly pleases,

Nor plays so grand a gastronomic part;

Cheese imported — not domestic —

For we all get indigestic

From the pasteurizer's Kraft and sodden art.

No poem we shall ever see is

Quite as lovely as a Brie is,

For " the queen of cheese " is what they call the Brie;

If you pay sufficient money

You will get one nice and runny,

And you'll understand what foods these morsels be!

How we covet all the skills it

Takes in making Chevre or Tilset,

But if getting basic Pot Cheese is your aim,

Take some simple curds and wheys, a

Bit of rennet — Lo! you've Käse!

(Which is what, in German, is a cheese's name.)

Good lasagna, it's a-gotta

Mozzarella and Ricotta

And a lotta freshly grated Parmesan;

With the latter any pasta

Will be eaten up much faster,

For with Parmesan an added charm is on.

Ask Ignacio Silone

What he thinks of Provolone,

And the very word will set his eyes a flame;

Then go ask the bounteous Gina

Her reaction to Fontina —

If you'll raise your eyes you'll see she feels the same.

A Pont-l'Evêque au point! What ho!

How our juices all will flow!

But don't touch a Pont-l'Evêque beyond that stage,

For what you'll have, you'll surely find

Is just an over-fragrant rind —

There's no benefit to this fromage from age.

Claret, dear, not Coca Cola,

When you're having Gorgonzola —

Be particular to serve the proper wines;

Likewise pick a Beaune, not Coke for

Pointing up a Bleu or Roquefort —

Bless the products of the bovines and the vines!

Ave Gouda! Ave Boursault!

Ave Oka even more so!

Ave Neufchâtel, Saluto lut!

And another thing with cheeses —

Every allied prospect pleases —

Ah cheese blintzes! Ah Welsh rabbit! Ah fondue!

And we all know that " Say cheese " is

How a cameraman unfreezes

A subject in a stiff, or shy, or dour way;

There's no other food so useful,

So bring on a whole cabooseful

Of the stuff of life! The cheeses of the gourmet!

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You munster a livarot yet pecorino set of verses here.

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Is this the Wisconsin State song?

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Make America grate again. (so sorry)

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What a pair of cheese balls.

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Vote for Dolt 45 and make America gag again.

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This reminds me that a friend and I used to sing, as we drove along, "What a friend we have in Jeeesus, Christ almighty what a pal!"

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Cheese is sliced!

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https://youtu.be/_S0oKaNBBdk

WOOHOO!!! Over 5k views.

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See what you have started. I hope you are proud of yourself.

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Sound the alarm. Ring the babybels

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The Shroud of Turin is all the Christ stain I can handle.

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The Bible spawned the most factionalized religion on the planet, so what the magic book actually means isn't exactly clear. Attempting to sort out who was, or was not, a TRUE Christian soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries. In spite of this history Christian apologists keep pushing the Bible as the solution to all the world's problems. Almost every problem the world faces has either religion or a profit motive at its root, and they are not mutually exclusive. Christian obsession with indoctrinating children before they've reached the age of reason speaks to just how weak their message ultimately is.

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I just have to repeat my favorite cartoon, showing St Peter and an angel looking out over the gates to heaven. There were two, one bore the sign "Right Religion," the other "Wrong Religion." There were multitudes at the Right entrance; no one at the Wrong entrance, although both led into Heaven. St Peter says to the angel, "They never get the joke."

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The comedian Emo Philips has a well-known joke about religion that may explain some of the decline in membership...

"Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"

Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over."

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Brilliant!

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They have nothing of value to offer, so they have to prey on children who are too young to critically think about things and trust the adult authority figures in their lives.

As I recall, Dr. King's letter excoriated these white Evangelicals for their constant criticisms of him for pushing things too far and too fast. I'm guessing they don't mention that. I'm also guessing that they don't mention that their fathers and grandfathers were the ones who opposed King and his mission, called him a communist adulterer and false Christian. Or beat marchers, blasted them with fire hoses, burned down Black churches killing little girls, sicced dogs on them, and lynched them. All the while, preachers screamed about the Curse of Cain and used the Bible to justify violence and segregation and white supremacy.

Dear God, the chutzpah and hypocrisy is stunning.

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And they refuse to see it, because it would mean having to face it.

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Do you mean the "Curse of Ham?"

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(Curse of ham, Aria's version. Thou shalt not give me ham from a package opened more than two days ago.)

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Of course they're being deceitful. Their religion is one of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated on humanity. It defines them. Christians simply cannot compete on a level playing field, so they engage in jiggery-pokery to tilt things in their favor.

And they have the monumental gall to project and call atheists immoral.

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Yes.....religion is the most insidious of all things perpetrated on humanity. It will be the death of everything including the planet. Since the zealots are convinced their messiah is coming in 25 years where they will then go live in their gold mansions in the sky..... they also think that humanity can't kill our environment and the planet, only their god can.......thats why they reject climate change. Their interpretation of the (man-made) bible gives them a built-in EXCUSE for everything.

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I've got news for them. Their Jesus told his followers that he would return within their lifetimes.

Oops.

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American Christians like these Texas Rethuglikkkan kkklowns hate the Constitution. They loathe our secular form of government. They despise Democrats and even Republicans who aren't sufficiently reichwing enough. They have long since shown themselves to be a clear and present danger to this republic.

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Let's just call it what it is: Christwashing.

Out of all of MLK's reasons for being the person he was, for leading the movement he led, the only one that can be allowed to matter is that he was a Christian. A Reverend! See? Nothing else about him mattered. Certainly not a life spent under the oppression of systemic racism! No, he was just a Good Christian (nevermind all the Christians opposing him). The biblical references in his famous letter must be the key to understanding its whole contents, absent all other context (don't pay attention to all that other stuff he wrote; it doesn't matter).

And on and on it goes: the constant deluge of bullshit about our "Judeo-Christian" heritage, our laws only exist because of the Ten Commandments, the Founding Fathers were all Christians- etc, etc, etc. Christwashing- laying all the credit for history (but none of the blame) before what far more often than not stood in its way.

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Assume I gave this a zillion upvotes.

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Given his penchant for adultery, he wasn't a particularly good Christian. :) Although having said that, the number of religious leaders who have committed adultery ... Maybe it means he was.

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Doesn't their book say not to covet thy neighbors ass?

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🎯🎯🎯🎯Comments like this are how I found this substack, I liked one of your comments.

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Hey Kids in Texas,

Today, we will learn the three S's. Sit down, shut up and submit. Any question? And remember, if I see a raised hand, you will be punished.

Holytape.

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Physical punishment introduces a fourth S: Sadism.

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This is Texas. It's asking a lot to get to a fourth S. Especially, when most of the republicans are used to just 2 S's.

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They can't count that high, since their educations begin and end with the Trinity.

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So true.

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It's beyond four that's the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ccGjar4Es

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You forgot "I will slap your knuckles with a ruler"

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Bribing your content into curriculum is so honest, it makes me wish I could be a good Christian. But then I think about all the sinning I could do and I choose to continue to be atheist.

It is really sad that this was designed so that the poorest districts, those that are already struggling to provide a quality education to their struggling students, are, in some ways, forced into this program that keeps the students ignorant. These students need that money for providing their basic educational needs and it could also go toward basic human needs so they are able to absorb the education at all. Better teacher pay to incentify better teachers to teach in the state, facility maintenance, classroom supplies provided by the districts rather than individual underpaid teachers, funds for field trips to provide practical education, and other considerations should have all been higher priority over Sunday school nonsense. I have yet to see any Sunday school, or Christian based learning curriculum, or teaching program that is comprehensive or effective. It's always about rote memorization and shallow, surface level comprehension. The pages long explanation of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego doesn't delve into what that passage really means to anyone's lived experiences, why MLK Jr. chose to include it in his letter, or asks the children to think critically about the implications, it is simply a chance to repeat the story as though it is settled, confirmed history and offer the student a way to repeat it so that it gets settled into the brain. Sunday school has always been a way to memorize the bible in a happy, feel good, cultish way. The way the highlighted passages read do not feel like actual educational material, just the unthinking, smiling, dead eyed Sunday school teacher reading from a script. Even at the elementary school level, the language is too simple, it is really insulting. This type of material only serves to stagnate learning, and the districts that are incentivised the most to use it can least afford to use it. Their students are already behind the curve.

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It's decades long congame of rethugliCons and their enablers, the oligarchs. The best formula to keep people down and to control, is the religion. They don't want the low-income, middle class, probably POC, kids to have good, even adequate education. They want the continuous supply of cheap labor and for that need to keep masses un/undereducated, so then with minimum skills leading to poor job prospects & then struggling financially to support a family and children, (future cheap labor force), forced on the women due to no rights and thus evercontinuing cycle for generations while oligarchs keep and increase their wealth.

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Exactly, if the serfs are too busy trying to make ends meet, they're to busy to fight for better situations. If the serfs are not educated, they don't know any better, so they don't fight for better.

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Until they do and heads start to roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMHCw3RqulY

(Yeah, Yeah, I know I post it a lot, but I think it's funny but not far from truth)

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Thom Hartmann wrote about this:

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 "𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧" 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚'𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐝

https://hartmannreport.com/p/why-the-reagan-revolution-scheme

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That's right. Keep 'em poor and uneducated and they will be too busy trying to survive that they will be docile. After all, in Russia it wasn't the serfs who brought about the revolution; it was the intellectuals.

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"Maslow's Hierarchy of needs" If you can't get the basic needs met, you can't think of anything else.

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Exactly

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Create more poor people for cannon fodder for future wars.......

Kill all Unions...

and, "who the fuck is going to serve my fatass a Big Mac......why don't kids want to work at McD anymore......we better force more poor people to have kids so my Big Mac service is never in jeopardy"

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I am an optimist. I think there will be a lot of conservative Texas fundie tops blowing when they get feedback on the program that shows teachers are taking this money and using it to actually educate poor hispanic kids. As Spence notes, this is going to run face first into conservative opposition to spending any money on any public good, especially for 'those' people.

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Let us hope so.

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I thought some of their texts smacked of Sunday school. And that's where they belong. And you are so right in saying that filling young minds with this misinformation is harming their development.

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OT

Boy, step away from the keyboard for a few hours and it's like some former President got an ACME anvil dropped on him while I was away. ;)

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That would be better even.

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I can see Trump cowering under a tiny umbrella before it hits.

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It’s not a “no”.

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OOh Want!

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For a moment, allow me to narrow this down a bit and discuss education as I experienced it in a Christian fundamentalist household. Quick background is that I attended a Christian church for the first 18 years of my life thanks to parental insistence. Christianity is not by any means healthy for young women in particular, being a religion by, about and for men with precious few examples of morally upright women other than mothers and wives. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘, 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐. The Christian outlook does not regard women or girls to be of any importance because in that outlook, anyone born without male genitals is not a person. This outlook does horrible things to both boys and girls during primary education that I will leave to individuals with more knowledge than I personally have to explain in detail. What I can say of my personal experience is that this situation completely undermined the idea that I could have done anything I wanted to as a young woman; I honestly believed the only thing I was any good for was cleaning house and making babies and I didn't want kids.

Christians and education are not two great tastes that taste good together, they are at cross purposes with one another. The Christian establishment wants obedience, and has shown repeatedly it's willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get it; education is fundamentally a roadblock to that very establishment getting its way all the time. That's why so often once people actually read the Christian Bible and study it they leave the Christian fold; they now understand what that faith is all about. Texas isn't just trying to push Christianity here, it's trying to force a specific mindset on future generations.

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"Balls" said the queen. "If I had 2 I'd be king!"

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Christians sound like they're grooming. That thing they falsely accuse others of doing.

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It's not just grooming. Considering that we're talking about whole classrooms of kids, this is MASS GROOMING.

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Beau of the Fifth Column on Chump being a convicted felon (nope, typing that is 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 getting old): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3iKY4gbL0w

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There's a question if Trump's going off the rails. Isn't that a given?

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We've been watching his ongoing (and accelerating) mental deterioration for months.

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Protocall question. Does 'convicted felon' go before or after 'ex-president'?

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I vote for “replaces”.

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We really just need to hire a herald for him at this point, to read all of his titles whenever he walks into a room:

"𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘈𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘺-𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘍𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘹-𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘦, 𝘖𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘝𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴!"

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May I steal this for FB?

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Meme away! The more shame heaped on the Orange Bastard, the better.

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Father of lies

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Don't forget "Flag Humper".

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Nothing wrong with classes in Comparative Mythology. Somehow I don't think that's what they're going for.........

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Oh, LOTS of mythology. "Comparative?" Not so much.

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Always a good time to watch the "lock her up!" crowd whine about the evils of prosecuting a political opponent.

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They hounded her for over 3 decades and they came up empty. Because she didn't break the law.

Compare and contrast with a now-convicted felon who's facing even more charges and more trials.

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Hillary literally didn't do anything and they insist she's guilty.

Trump was caught literally 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑜 and they insist he's innocent.

They are in serious need of psychological reconditioning. Preferably with sledgehammers.

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The hammers would break.

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Well, naturally. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 was guilty of being a Democrat- and, worse, an 𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯! Chump, on the other hand, is a rich white Christian (alleged) man! Clearly, we can see which party is more deserving of punishment! (/s)

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And being a vagina American! Quelle horror!

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I'm old enough to remember Republicans not having a problem at all with Republican Ken Starr prosecuting Jim and Susan McDougal, both Democrats.

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Starr, that "sanctimonious Panty-sniffer".

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