And Then There Were Four

[Sean]

Let's not let the silly bitch derail this one guys.

Fair point, in fact I've got a plan...

[loCAtek]

~Heh

[Lord Jim]

I see that Herman Cain has now endorsed Leroy....

I guess that helps solidify the philanderer vote....

Actually though, I expect the impact of this on the race to be exactly zero. Cain's supporters long ago shifted to other candidates, and he never had any real, loyal hardcore following anyway. In fact none of the candidates who contended for the GOP nomination does, (except for Paul, and his support isn't transferable; Paul's views are about as antithetical to those of most Republicans in the same way that George Wallace's views were to other Democrats in 1972) which is why the polls have been so volatile.

[Gob]

More questions are being raised about presidential candidate Mitt Romney's religion after it was revealed that he helped baptise his adamantly atheist father-in-law years after the man had died.

Edward Roderick Davies was Ann Romney's father and died in 1992 after living as a staunch atheist all his life.

Recently-discovered records show that, in keeping with their controversial tradition of posthumously baptising non-Mormons, a ceremony was held to invite Mr Davies into the Church of Latter Day Saints one year after he died.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1ksokrjKV

The billionaire casino mogul who has breathed new life into Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign with millions of dollars in donations is facing a federal investigation over whether his company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits bribing foreign officials.

The investigation stems from a lawsuit filed by a former executive at the Sands Macau in China, the company has said. Steven C. Jacobs claims he was told the keep quiet about investigations of local officials and the possible presence of the triads - Chinese organized crime - in the casino.

Sheldon Adelson, who founded and runs Las Vegas Sands Corp -- one of the largest casino and resort companies in the world, has denied the allegations in the lawsuit and said the company is cooperating with federal investigators.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1kspEIaDS

[Lord Jim]

I'll see if I can arrange a nice post mortum baptism for you Strop, when the time comes....

the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits bribing foreign officials.

I read about this, and frankly that seems like a pretty silly and counter productive law....

There are countries in the world where you can't do business at all without bribing local officials...

It's just expected...it's a cost of doing business....

Requiring that our businesses not engage in bribery will put us at a huge competitive disadvantage....

You think the French worry about this?

[Gob]

in keeping with their controversial tradition of posthumously baptising non-Mormons,

Isn't THAT an isnane enough belief to prevent him becoming president? Do you have no standards at all?

[BoSoxGal]

Is this the first you've heard of that, Gob?

Mormons have been offending Jews for years - by posthumously baptizing the victims of the Holocaust.

[dgs49]

What, exactly, is the difference whether they were victims of the Holocaust?

Mormons baptize their ancestors. Since it is a relatively new religion, essentially all of their ancestors need to be baptized (in their eyes), whether they were atheists, Catholics, Jews, or Rastafarians. If they baptize a 19th century rabbi or someone who died at Auschwitz, why would a Holocaust victim be more offensive to a contemporary jew, and why?

Is it offensive that every Christian on the planet believes (by definition) that the ancestors of today's jews killed the person sent by God to redeem them - and for 2,000 years they have persisted in failing to recognize the Messiah? Or that jews can't be "saved" or get to "heaven" (whatever that is)? We talk nice, but that's what we believe.

If I took offense at everyone who believed something different than I do, I'd be one Offended Son of a Bitch.

[Liberty1]

Is it offensive that every Christian on the planet believes (by definition) that the ancestors of today's jews killed the person sent by God to redeem them

I don't "blame" the Jews for this, I would thank them. It was how God's plan was realized.

[Scooter]

Well, first, perhaps you could explain how, if this "baptism" is supposed to be done for one's ancestors, how it came to be that Holocaust victims came to have Mormon descendents...if you scan the IGI you will find the names of many famous Holocaust victims such as Anne Frank who clearly could not have produced a line of descendents, much less any that became Mormons.

Second, the Mormon hierarchy, insofar as they twice entered into formal agreements to stop it, have acknowledged that the wholesale baptism of Holocaust victims and any other Jews is inappropriate unless all of the direct descendants of same can be identified and give their consent. However, those agreements to desist appear to be routinely violated by those Mormons who are unaware of them (because the hierarchy has failed in its express duty to publicize them throughout the church) or who simply don't care.

The baptism of Holocaust victims is particularly egregious in two respects: one, because it is clear that someone had to be scouring the meticulously kept Nazi records in order to accomplish it, which bears the same sort of ethical taint as using the "research" conducted by Dr. Mengele and others of his kind, and two, because by engaging in a wholesale Christianization of Holocaust victims, Mormons are completing the physical genocide of the Jewish race conducted by the Nazis by conducting a spiritual genocide of their own, attempting to obliterate their Jewish identity by purporting them to become members of the Christian church.

As to the charge of deicide against the Jewish people as a whole which for centuries was levied against them by most Christian faiths, and since renounced by most of them, it was a similar obscenity which bore a direct relationship to its natural conclusion in the Holocaust. The consequences of such blind hatred hold a lesson that bears repeating, since many seem intent on forgetting it.

[Gob]

Not forgetting the fundamental insanity of the "baptising the dead" idea per se.

[dgs49]

I'm not really sure why Mormons were (or are) baptising Holocaust victims who are not their ancestors, but still...

If some tribe of Inuit wants to baptize my dead grandfather so that he can buy a condo in their Happy Hunting Ground, so what? How does that harm me? Why would I be offended? It might give me a warm, fuzzy feeling that someone actually cares about the Old Bastard's wellbeing in the afterlife. Mormons are baptizing dead jews because they want them to be "exalted." That's a GOOD thing.

And I don't "blame" contemporary jews for killing Jesus any more than I blame Cortez for giving the Aztecs cooties. All I'm saying is that we Christians believe that jews are theologically, tragically misguided. The point being, WGAS? Unless the person or group with the wild beliefs have some influence over your world, it should make no difference. Baptizing dead jews is a non-event. No reason to take offense.

[Scooter]

If someone were to claim that a Holocaust victim had been a Nazi collaborator, I would imagine people would see the need to be offended if it were not true. Why should the denial of their basic identity as Jews be seen as any less offensive?

And clearly even the Church of LDS believed there to be something wrong with it, because they agreed to put a stop to it, but the practice went on regardless, probably because the policy that no Jews should be baptized unless they were direct ancestors of Mormons was not adequately communicated throughout the church as promised.

[Scooter]

One must never forget that Barry consistently loses to a "generic Republican."

Isn't it funny how people insist on seeing what they want to see, even when it is completely at odds with reality.

Latest polling shows Obama exactly even with a generic Republican - one poll shows them tied, one has Obama up 5 points and one has Obama trailing by 5 points.

And, of course, more to the point, he would completely trounce three of the candidates who are actually running, and would still edge out the fourth, although more recent polls suggest even that spread is widening.

[BoSoxGal]

Busy with law & motion day today; thank you, Scooter, for articulating the argument better than I ever could anyway!

FYI, dgs, Mormons don't just baptize their own dead ancestors; their mission is to baptize everyone who ever lived on Earth, as I understand it.

[Gob]

Eye of the Newt?

The composer of the hit song Eye of the Tiger has sued Newt Gingrich to stop the Republican presidential candidate from using the Rocky III anthem at campaign events.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the US federal court in Chicago by Rude Music Inc., the Palatine, Ill-based music publishing company owned by Frank Sullivan, who composed the song and copyrighted it in 1982. The lawsuit states that as early as 2009, Gingrich has entered rallies and public events to the pulsing guitar riffs of the song, which was the background track to Rocky Balboa's training montages in the film and became a No. 1 hit.

The suit lists appearances by Gingrich at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and numerous stops in Iowa among events at which the candidate has used the song without Sullivan's permission, the lawsuit says, as well as internet videos featuring Gingrich that have been posted by American Conservative Union. The Washington-based conservative group and Gingrich's campaign organisation, Newt 2012, also are named as defendants.

In a lengthy section of the five-page complaint, Rude's lawyers point out that Gingrich is well aware of copyright laws, noting he is listed as author or co-author of more than 40 published works and has earned between $US500,000 ($473,597) to $US1 million from Gingrich Productions, a company that sells his written work, documentaries and audio books.

It also notes Gingrich's criticism of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" during a recent debate in South Carolina, where Gingrich suggested the law was unnecessary because "We have a patent office; we have copyright law. If a company finds it has genuinely been infringed upon, it has the right to sue".

The suit asks for an injunction to prevent Gingrich from using the song, as well as damages and lawyers' fees to be determined by the court.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/composer-su ... z1l0RXgy73

[Sue U]

Re Mormon baptism of the dead: I can certainly see why some Jews would be offended, since it smacks of forced conversion, and historically we have had quite enough of that, thankyouverymuch. But for me, it's just silliness; it doesn't actually affect anyone, and who really cares what odd rituals are practced by that church? Religions pretty much by definition engage in all kinds of strange things. If you really want to talk about "controversial practices," why doesn't someone question Gingrich or Santorum on the Roman Catholic rite of praying for the conversion of the "faithless (formerly 'perfidious') Jews?"

[Sue U]

Eye of the Newt?

He's in for some toil and trouble; double double, I would think.

[Gob]

Obama wins by a mile....

[dgs49]

I suppose the point is that someone who is determined to be offended will be offended, regardless.

Is this not the driving force behind the existence of the ACLU?

I'm not really concerned about today's polling numbers. The Only Real Poll comes next November, and the media has been saturated lately with stories of the shortcomings of the top two R's - largely fed by their respective campaigns. Anyone just reading headlines would be inclined to hate all of them. But this is an artificial and temporary situation.

Our Beloved President has enjoyed, pretty much, three years of a Criticism Holiday, as can easily be documented. Once the Republican candidate emerges, and the President's comprehensively disastrous record is laid out for the voters, we will see what happens.

Eight months is an eternity, politically speaking.