Is it true that Republicans now believe in real dragons whose origin goes back to the myths of the 13th Century?

“The Bible speaks about dragons,” and this book, we are told, “confirms biblical authority and demolishes the theory of evolution.”  (Darek Isaacs)

Can truthfully say that the Republicans have officially jumped the shark in trying to disprove evolution as they are now using the dragons mentioned in the Bible as their justification.  Think they forgot about the part that dragons are myths starting in the 13th Century.

Glad that God has big shoulders since Republicans like to say he is responsible for everything - guess God is causing global warming to punish us.  Pat Robertson blamed the tornadoes in Oklahoma that hit one of the communities in Oklahoma that has a church on a lot of corners as punishment from God.  There are probably a bigger percentage of Moore residents who go to church every Sunday then the rest of our communities that surround Moore combined if my neighborhood is an indication.

This latest about dragons has me laughing and saying I am so happy that I no longer support Republicans - like to believe I still have a functioning brain and am not willing follow some nitwit over the cliff when it comes to science.

Republicans Try To Disprove Evolution By Claiming that Dragons Really Existed 

By: Hrafnkell Haraldsson, Aug. 15th, 2013

Okay, let’s just cancel the 21st century. It is just not working out for some people and has obviously come to a screeching halt in any event. 

And yes, you can blame the Republicans for that. 

God caused global warming, says dimwitted Republican Congressman Jeff Miller of Florida. 

Yeah, 99 percent of climate scientists say anthropogenic global warming is real but it turns out it’s just God. 

Phew! For a minute, I thought we were goners.

(snip)

(See Politicususa for video of Miller speaking - it is hilarious -- where did Republicans find these people to run for office and win?)

“I will tell you this,” said Miller. “I will defund the E.P.A.” 

Cancelling EPA sounds like a Koch Bros deal to me since they want to be able to pollute at will with the manufacturing and oil and gas.  Koch's don't care about the environment, they care about buying politicians or I should say Republican politicians.  Looking more and more like I am a Teddy Roosevelt Republican who is no longer welcome in the GOP because I believe in taking care of the environment for future generations which seems to be 180 degrees from today's Koch run Republican Party.

Think some GOP Congressman have taken stupid pills when you read what Barton has to say: 

Besides, even though it gets hotter every year, with 2000 to 2009 being the warmest decade on record, David Barton says “Global warming occurs but we haven’t had it in sixteen years.”

Forgive me for not being able to stop laughing - we just had two summers with extremely high heat in 2011 and 2012.  Last summer we broke every record for high heat with days over 100 and some of those days over 110.  It was even hot in the shade here last year.  My garden was almost non-existent last year because of the heat - weeds still grew but not plants.  It is hard to believe there are people in Congress who talk like this.  

If Haraldsson from Politicususa wanted to make me laugh, he has succeeded with the following on Dinosaurs and Dragons

And man oh man, have I had it with dinosaurs and cave men palling around and floods forming Grand Canyons and now we’re being told dragons were honest-to-God for real. 

No kidding. 

Darek Isaacs has written a book about it: Dragons or Dinosaurs. “The Bible speaks about dragons,” and this book, we are told, “confirms biblical authority and demolishes the theory of evolution.” 

Yeah. Turns out we get our myths about dragons from – you guessed it – the caveman’s best friend: the dinosaur. How did science ever overlook that!

Isaacs is nuts with his theories but it has provided humor for my afternoon.  Sad part is that many evangelicals believe him:

Must see his trailer for his movie, Dragons or Dinosaurs, so you can have a laugh at the production.

Isaacs says: 

If dragons in fact were entirely mythological, if they were a figment of the imagination, and if they never ever did exist, then God just compared our adversary to a make-believe creature that never existed.

See? How hard was that you silly secularists, placing your trust in science and observable fact! Only Commies care about facts! 

Our authority — everything we do we have to measure by the word of God, that is what I believe. So, we have to go to the Bible, and the Bible speaks about dragons. 

And if you go to the website, you can even download a free study guide, “ideal for homeschooling or bible study groups.” 

What century are Republicans in today?  Used to think they went back to last century but now it seems more like the Dark Ages because enlightenment and Republicans of today cannot be used in the same sentence.  Is it because they actually believed The Flinstones reflected reality of a bygone era?

On second thought that doesn't work as they used a Dinosaur not a dragon but it fits those on the hard right who believe man roamed the earth with the dinosaurs.  After all Dino was a pet dinosaur to Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Is it true that hard right Republicans now believe in real dragons whose origin goes back to the myths of the 13th Century? 

The word dragon entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French dragon, which in turn comes from Latin draconem (nominative draco) meaning "huge serpent, dragon," from the Greek word δράκων, drakon (genitive drakontos, δράκοντος) "serpent, giant seafish". The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological, and this usage was also current in English up to the 18th century.

A dragon is a mythological representation of a reptile. In antiquity, dragons were mostly envisaged as serpents, but since the Middle Ages, it has become common to depict them with legs, resembling a lizard. 

Dragons are usually shown in modern times with a body like a huge lizard, or a snake with two pairs of lizard-type legs, and able to emit fire from their mouths. The European dragon has bat-like wings growing from its back. A dragon-like creature with wings but only a single pair of legs is known as a wyvern. 

"Dragon Family" in Varna, Bulgaria.

There is a widespread belief that earlier cartographers used the Latin phrase hic sunt dracones, i.e., "the dragons are here", or "here are dragons", to denote dangerous or unexplored territories, in imitation of the infrequent medieval practice of putting sea serpents and other mythological creatures in the blank areas of maps. However, the only known use of this exact phrase is in the Latin form "HC SVNT DRACONES" on the Lenox Globe (ca. 1503–07).[33] 

Another map that contains dragons is the one of Bishop Olaus Magnus's. The Carta Marina map of Scandinavia (1539) has many monsters in the northern sea, as well as a winged, bipedal, predatory land animal resembling a dragon in northern Lapland.

No wonder I have had the feeling the Republican Party left me as they are retreating backwards - started with the young earth theory of 5,000 -10,000 years old and now they believe in dragons?  What is scary is that all of this is part of a home schooling agenda as they seek to debunk actual science and replace it with their Bible.

It is so outlandish to me that all I can do is laugh at the stupidity until I think about what they are doing to young, impressionable students and then I get mad at the very idea of this group of Neanderthals being in charge of any type of education.   Never heard such crazy theories that are now coming out of the hard right who took over the Republican Party.

What's next?  The earth is flat?

Please make sure everyone you know is registered to vote in order to vote out these Neanderthals who want to substitute their version of the Bible for actual science.

Thanks to Hrafnkell Haraldsson from Politicususa for his article and humor - made my afternoon!

Republican House Ready to Pass Abortion Bill but Refusing to Consider Jobs Bills; SCOTUS Overturns AZ Voting ID Bill

Another abortion bill and repeal of Obamacare but no jobs bills coming out of hard right Republican House; Ted Cruz strikes again with an amendment to reinstate AZ law the SCOTUS just overruled.  Typical day in the land of the GOP in Congress who work a three-day week but want everyone else to work for cheap with no benefits especially if you are a woman or minority.

There is no better example that the hard right has taken over the Republican Party then the fact they are set to pass an abortion bill limiting abortions to less than 20 weeks but no jobs bills during their 3-day work week.  Trent Franks (R-AZ) is the sponsor of the bill but Boehner is trying to shut him up after his comments like Akins that pregnancy from rape are rare.  Glad to know they are all doctors.  Boehner and his cronies also put in the exceptions for rape and incest but where is 'life of the mother' which many Republicans have recognized for years.  A lot of women  wouldn't vote Republican if you paid us today.  With this example of their neanderthal thinking, there is zero chance that I will ever vote Republican again as long as the hard right pulls the strings and they are now entrenched in state after state so they are here to stay.

The Party of NO supports the unborn but they want to cut food stamps drastically for those already born - convoluted thinking but it comes from a party that has the common sense of a gnat.  They take parts of the Bible and try to relate in their own words to today.  They don't like women as equals, don't like minorities, and detest anyone who doesn't think like them.  Have seen the 'my way or no way' around on the net and in person for years with regular dust-ups with them.  The hard right went from being a small but loud minority in the party but now thanks to the Libertarian Koch Bros they now run the GOP through the Koch puppet Priebus.  He thinks the problem with the GOP is not the message but how they package the message which is Bravo Sierra.

Happy to see the White House put out that President Obama will veto this bill if it hits his desk.  Don't believe it will get through the Senate.  First thing Harry Reid needs to do is put it in File 13 (waste can) because that is where it belongs.  The Congress has no right to usurp the rights of a doctor and his patient if they decide to terminate the pregnancy for whatever reason.  It is none of their business.  Sick and tired of men pushing this when it is not their body.  These white males in charge of the GOP can shove it in my book with their thinking that women are only in the world to have their children.  Their Neanderthal thinking is that women are to stay home to raise their children and be dominated by their husband.  It is great to be able to stay home and raise your children, but it is the dominated part that is dead wrong as someone speaking from experience.  These white males of the GOP are fully out of touch with today's reality.  Voters need to send this whole group back to their states and get out of the business of telling women what to do.

From Politicususa (6/17/2013):

The White House responded to the likelihood that the House will pass the bill tomorrow with a veto threat. The Executive Office of the President put out a statement telling House Republicans that their abortion ban bill has zero chance of ever becoming law: 

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 1797, which would unacceptably restrict women’s health and reproductive rights and is an assault on a woman’s right to choose. Women should be able to make their own choices about their bodies and their health care, and Government should not inject itself into decisions best made between a woman and her doctor.

Forty years ago, the Supreme Court affirmed a woman’s constitutional right to privacy, including the right to choose. This bill is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade and shows contempt for women’s health and rights, the role doctors play in their patients’ health care decisions, and the Constitution. The Administration is continuing its efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies, expand access to contraception, support maternal and child health, and minimize the need for abortion. At the same time, the Administration is committed to the protection of women’s health and reproductive freedom and to supporting women and families in the choices they make. 

If the President were presented with this legislation, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto this bill. 

President Obama has the backs of women with his veto pen ready!

If the House abortion bill was not enough, then how about Sen Cruz's reaction below to the  Supreme Court ruling against requiring proof of citizenship to vote in AZ with an opinion by Justice Scalia against the AZ law that shocked many including me.

The Court’s opinion in this case, Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, also establishes an important doctrinal rule regarding the power of Congress to push back against state election laws. The Constitution permits duly enacted federal laws to trump state law, a process known as “preemption.” Normally, however, courts should apply a presumption against preemption and assume that Congress did not intend to invalidate state law if the matter is uncertain. Scalia’s opinion holds that this presumption does not apply with respect to federal laws regulating federal elections, a holding which suggests Congress’ power to sweep away state election laws is quite sweeping. 

As the Court points out, this broad view of the federal role in governing elections is consistent with the Constitution’s text, which provides that “[t]he times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.” So a future Congress more supportive of voting rights has the power to sweep away voter ID laws and other methods of voter suppression that have recently popped up mostly in conservative states. By contrast, a future Congress more keen to voter suppression may have significant authority to impose its will on the nation, although this power would be checked by constitutional safeguards against many forms of voter suppression.

Been having a hard time figuring out how states could make their own election laws when it came to federal elections with the Constitution is clear they are to be the same.  Hard right has been trying to limit voting with their voter suppression laws and limiting hours of voting aimed at minority voters.  If someone has been voting at the same precinct for over 50 years, why do they need to go pay for an ID?

Then there is the hard right Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, who basically gave the middle finger salute to SCOTUS immediately wanting an amendment passed to the Immigration bill putting the AZ law back in place even though the SCOTUS just ruled otherwise.  Another example of a Republican refusing to acknowledge the SCOTUS ruling is now the law.  Cruz and other hard right have no regard for the SCOTUS unless a ruling favors them like Citizens United.  Still believe they misinterpreted but who am I to question the GOP guru's like Rove who took the ruling and ran setting up dark money PACs and calling political PACs social not political.  This group of Republicans have the integrity of a gnat.

Today's Republican Party does not reflect the Party of Lincoln or Eisenhower but the party of the wealthy donors led by the Libertarian Koch Bros who want to do away with all regulations including minimum wage and hours.  They want to throw out safety and environmental regulations in order to do business with no rules.  In order to do that they have to own the White House, Senate, and House.  They tried with Romney but failed and also failed with the Senate.  In 2014, we have to ensure that they fail with the House and once again with the Senate.  This Country needs to move foward not backward.  Two more years of GOP led House would be two more years of nonsense bills and NONE to help the American people.  All the GOP cares about today is their special interest groups, wealthy donors, and the hard right base.

Time to say goodbye to the GOP - wish I could say it has been nice to know you but it has been a royal pain in the neck for years since President Reagan brought in the religious right which gave us social conservatives who now have taken over.   Discovering that those on the left have ideas and don't live in the past - also nicer and don't get so angry when you don't agree.  Guess you could say that I am 'free at last' from the 'my way or no way' crowd and it feels great!

Two for one today - enjoy the rest of your day.  If you get bored, join Twitter where you get the latest information of what is happening around the world in seconds.