Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Antonin Gregory Scalia the 76 year old Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, described as the intellectual anchor of the Court’s conservative wing, has been featured in an article by Cliff Schecter published on Aljazeera titled ‘The Republican party’s anger mismanagement’.  Schecter states “Praise be to Judge Antonin Scalia, for he sees what the rest of us do not. The man for whom nasty, brutish and short is not simply a political formulation, but a mirror image, can look at hundreds of years of slavery, 100 more of legalised segregation and another 50 of daily discrimination and see “racial entitlement” in the basic right to vote in America. I guess it’s kind of like the right-wing-clown entitlement enjoyed by our current Supreme Court. Scalia, of course, was a modern Republican (in a robe) before it was even cool. I mean that in the sense that it’s clear to anyone taking so much as a gander at what animates the GOP of 2013 – as well as Scalia’s immunity to legal reasoning – that it’s not any set of policy ideas, but simple emotion: all-consuming, blood-curdling, vein-bulging-out-of-the-forehead, Mel Gibson-watching-Fiddler-On-The-Roof ANGER.  Policy-wise, the GOP is an entity that literally lacks any new ideas, has no interest in governing and has rejected all of its own policy positions from as recently as early 2008 as “oh-my-God-we’re-all-doomed!” creeping Socialism (see: cap and trade, earned-income tax credit, individual healthcare mandate). Rejecting anything right wingers sneeringly see as created by them-there libruls is the secret handshake of modern conservatism. …Meanwhile, Antonin Scalia seems to size up any crowd he’s in and think to himself, what would a Morlock do? And then does it. That the guy’s an activist judge of the first order and his legal opinions on guns, campaign finance reform and the Commerce Clause imply he should be banned from operating heavy machinery, that’s only a sweetener to the Right.”

Inspired by Cliff Schecter , Aljazeera ow.ly/j4wrv Image source USA Govt ow.ly/j4wpv

Think twice about voting for a Mormon (April 19th 2012)

Willard Mitt Romney the 65 year old US businessman, politician and 2012 Republican Party presidential candidate and likely nominee has been profiled by Bob Abeshouse on Aljazeera on the likely effect of his being Mormon on his race for the White House. Abeshouse states, “…a significant minority say that they would think twice about voting for a Mormon as president. Evangelical Christians are especially concerned, with some believing that Mormonism is more a cult than a mainstream Christian creed. Others fear a Romney administration would be unduly influenced by the church’s attitude to such matters as polygamy, gay rights and abortion… Evangelical Christians in the US have had a long competition with Mormons for converts. Evangelicals regard the idea that humans can progress to godhood as blasphemous, and take issue with many Mormon practices and doctrines, such as so-called endowment rites. In these temple rituals Mormons pass between rooms representing different stages of the eternal progression they believe all humans participate in – from the Garden of Eden to the earthly world to celestial heaven… Romney has done his best to avoid all discussion of his Mormon faith in the 2012 race. …his Mormonism could be “the x-factor” that costs him the election in a tight race against Barack Obama for the White House in November.”

Inspired by Bob Abeshouse http://ow.ly/ahSNs image source Gage Skidmore http://ow.ly/ahSFr

Ronald Schiller the vice president of fundraising of the American not-for-profit organization NPR (National Public Radio) has become the victim of a sting set up by James O’Keefe a conservative activist. Schiller has been surreptitiously recorded on video criticizing the Republican Party and in particular the Tea Party as weird evangelical fundamental Christians. In the highly edited video Schiller stated that many high ranking Republicans believed this radical group of xenophobic white middle America gun-toting  racists, had hijacked the Republican Party, characterizing them as “Islamophobic”. O’Keefe conducted the undercover sting with activists claiming to be members of a wealthy Muslim education foundation founded by the Muslim Brotherhood offering financial support to NPR.

Inspired by Benjy Sarlin ow.ly/4eIx0 image source Realaspen ow.ly/4eIIz

Sarah Louise Palin the 46 year old former Governor of Alaska and former vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party and potential 2012 presidential nominee, has become the centre of attention in the aftermath of the Tucson shootings involving a political opponent Gabrielle Giffords. Palin used ‘crosshairs’ on a campaign poster during recent political campaigning to target Giffords district, with accusations now being made that she may have unwittingly inspired the shooter. Palin retaliated to the accusations describing them as a ‘blood libel’, a term referencing the persecution of European Jews through superstition that Jews needed the heathen blood for ritual sacrifices. Palin’s use of this term has resulted in even greater outrage.

Inspired by John Berman ow.ly/3Ie8y and Ishaan Tharoor ow.ly/3Ie90 Image source ow.ly/3IdM9