In Iraq, they somehow managed to make millions of dollars in cash disappear.  Now that's what I call true wizardry.... especially since they seemed unable to explain how the trick was done. It's a mystery....

Keith Olbermann speaks for me.

"wizardry".  What a bunch of fucking thickwits.

John Mccain Called his wife WHAT??

~~~THIS SPACE FOR RENT~~~

If you believe that the toothpick disappeared and then discovered that it was a trick... THEN believing that somebody in a book turned water into wine or raised the dead could also be called into question.  What if it is all tricks and lies?  Once the questions start, the assault upon delusion begins.  Absolute authority (because I SAID SO) rests on very shaky ground, so authoritarians must firmly repel any questionable matters.

After all, if a parent (the most trusted authority) would lie about tooth-fairies, then why wouldn't they lie about angels?  If a parent would lie, with nothing at stake, then a preacher or pope who is out there gathering money and power would certainly lie and embellish those lies.

The Bible is full of stories about men turning sticks into snakes, water into blood or wine, making rocks weep, and other such visual tricks.  Stories.

Ignorant and fearful people in the swampland of Florida and marble halls of Washington cling desperately to the reality of those stories.

VERY DESPERATELY.

Oh, that's right. It's Florida. Nevermind.

Give me liberty or give me a gun.

What can you say about America's religious spectrum? Officially there's no Ministry of Religion, no Cabinet seat called the Department of Christianity, but....

Administration Yields on Wiccan Symbol: Pentacle to Be Permitted on Tombstones in U.S. Military Burial Grounds

During his first campaign for president, then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush told ABC's "Good Morning America" in 1999 that he was opposed to Wiccan soldiers practicing their faith at Fort Hood, Tex. "I don't think witchcraft is a religion, and I wish the military would take another look at this and decide against it," he said.

Lynn, of Americans United, said references to Bush's remarks appeared in memos and e-mails within the VA.

"One of the saddest things is to learn that this wasn't just a bureaucratic nightmare, there was a certain amount of bigotry," he said. "The president's wishes were interpreted at a pretty high level. . . . It became a political judgment, not a constitutional judgment."

An American Tragedy: Pat Tillman's Uncertain Death

In an interview with ESPN.com, Kauzlarich said: "When you die, I mean, there is supposedly a better life, right? Well, if you are an atheist and you don't believe in anything, if you die, what is there to go to? Nothing. You are worm dirt. So for their son to die for nothing, and now he is no more -- that is pretty hard to get your head around that. So I don't know how an atheist thinks. I can only imagine that that would be pretty tough."

Asked by ESPN.com whether the Tillmans' religious beliefs are a factor in the ongoing investigation, Kauzlarich said, "I think so. There is not a whole lot of trust in the system or faith in the system [by the Tillmans]. So that is my personal opinion, knowing what I know."

Asked what might finally placate the family, Kauzlarich said, "You know what? I don't think anything will make them happy, quite honestly. I don't know. Maybe they want to see somebody's head on a platter. But will that really make them happy? No, because they can't bring their son back."

Kauzlarich, now 40, was the Ranger regiment executive officer in Afghanistan, who played a role in writing the recommendation for Tillman's posthumous Silver Star. And finally, with his fingerprints already all over many of the hot-button issues, including the question of who ordered the platoon to be split as it dragged a disabled Humvee through the mountains, Kauzlarich conducted the first official Army investigation into Tillman's death.

That investigation is among the inquiries that didn't satisfy the Tillman family.

"Well, this guy makes disparaging remarks about the fact that we're not Christians, and the reason that we can't put Pat to rest is because we're not Christians," Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, said in an interview with ESPN.com. Mary Tillman casts the family as spiritual, though she said it does not believe in many of the fundamental aspects of organized religion.

"Oh, it has nothing to do with the fact that this whole thing is shady," she said sarcastically, "But it is because we are not Christians."

But then he did do a really scary thing.

HE TURNED ME INTO A NEWT !!

(I got better,though.......)

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"