More Fred Phelps Insanity

Terrific:

Five women sang and danced as they held up signs saying "thank God for dead soldiers" at the funeral of an army sergeant who was killed by an Iraqi bomb.

For them, it was the perfect way to spread God's word: America was being punished for tolerating homosexuality.

...

[Fred Phelps' Westboro cult] have since picketed the funerals of Frank Sinatra and Bill Clinton's mother, celebrated the terrorist attacks of September 11 as an act of God's wrath, and have even targeted Santa Claus and the Ku Klux Klan.

I'd be curious why they targeted the KKK. Insufficiently homophobic, I imagine. Trouble is, the KKK puts Jews on top of the hate-list (followed by niggras, of course), leaving faggots in a distant third.

But it was the callousness and cruelty of harassing the grieving families of soldiers at dozens of funerals across the country that has sparked a grassroots movement of bikers determined to drown out the jeers and taunts.

In Flushing, Michigan they turned their leather-clad backs to the five women and held flags and tarps up so that mourners walking past wouldn't see the signs saying "God hates fags," "fag vets" and "America is doomed."

Many found it hard to hide their anger when Margie Phelps, the daughter of Westboro's founder, called out "All this for little old us? Oh, you shouldn't have. I feel so special," before she started singing "the Pope, the Pope, the Pope is on fire. He don't get no water let the heretics burn" in front of a Catholic church.

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While Westboro's congregation remains stable at around 100 people - most of whom are the extended family of founder Fred Phelps - the ranks of the Patriot Guard Riders has swelled to more than 16,000 in just a few months.

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Four states have enacted legislation barring protests at funerals and a dozen more are in the process of introducing bans. But it is unlikely that the bans will stand up to legal challenge.

The group is careful to protest in public spaces and is well aware of its constitutional rights - 11 of Phelps' 13 children are lawyers.

"This nation is poised to trash the first amendment just to stop my preaching," Fred Phelps said in a telephone interview. "I'm kind of honored."

Phelps said he and his congregants are targeting the funerals because God's way of punishing an "evil nation" of "fags and fag enablers" is to "pick off its children."

"I don't have any sympathy for these parents. They're all going to hell," Phelps said. "The family's in pain because they haven't obeyed the Lord God."

What the hell have the parents done to disobey God's supposed law? Even if one assumes the soldiers are "guilty" of "fag-enabling," what the hell are the parents supposed to do to keep them from joining the military? They are adults. The only way to prevent them from joining the military is to have them deemed mentally incompetent by a judge and confined to an asylum.

I agree with this, and I've said so before:

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Phelps' virulence and frequently graphic condemnations of anal sex could mask a deeper issue than a radically literal interpretation of the Bible, Potok speculated.

"This man probably thinks more about gay sex than any other person in the United States of America and one can only guess at what that means," he said. "Many of the most homophobic people are deeply afraid that they might be gay."

You just can't be that obsessed over something extrinsic to you.

I've got an idea-- why doesn't Phelps' crew go protest in Iraq?

"It is impossible to describe our daily lives and surroundings without touching on homosexuality. In Iraq, and throughout the Arab world, a puritanical lifestyle reigns supreme, based in part on the clear segregation of men and women. The severe restrictions on having anything to do with contact between the sexes has produced a special way of life ... The atmosphere was one of unceasing desire and curiosity; it is no wonder that Arabic poetry is suffused with sadness, fantasy and yearning ... This way of life also increased the incidence of homosexual behaviour in the Baghdad I knew: Boys and adults molested children and some deviants even sought sexual release with animals. Quite a few women became lesbians, perhaps because their confinement in their homes and their limited access to men led to boredom and the search for emotional release," - Mordechai Ben-Porat (a Baghdad-born Jew who became a member of the Israeli Knesset) in his book, "To Baghdad and Back."

That last bit quoted at Andrew Sullivan.

Lot of homos in Muslim extremist circles. Why doesn't Fred Phelps go preach to them? I think it would be win-win for all concerned.

I never advocate political violence, but I don't think it would constitute "political violence" for a few nice-sized bricks to be thrown at these insufferable, ineffable thugs. There are limits to how people are permitted to behave before inciting some somewhat-justified violence. I can't walk up to a black man and call him a "dirty n----r" without expecting to have a punch flying at my mouth.

And, of course, I'd deserve it.

And I similarly thinking taunting the families of soldiers killed just days before also constitutes fighting words.

The law doesn't permit you to take a swing at someone just because they insult you. But juries and judges know that the law is sometimes an ass.

These little gay-panic cultists are going to be looking for their teeth three blocks north of Queer Street pretty soon, and there isn't a jury in the world who will convict the "perpetrators" of the violence.

We'll see what Phelps' 11 lawyer-cocksucker children can do about that.

Yeah... file a civil lawsuit. You'll be awarded $1 plus $3 in punitive damages.

I like those patriotic bikers trying to screen out these bastards from the funerals.

I just have one question for them:

Sometimes, in your heart of hearts, don't you miss the excitement and notoriety of Altamont?

Good times, good times. Back when bikers really had some genuine outlaw credibility.

Not saying you guys are slipping, but really, dealing a little meth isn't really that "rebel" anymore. I see a bunch of shirtless jagoffs doing that on Cops every week, right before they try to hide under the overturned dingy in their cluttered backyard.

(Apparently the meth-dealer's union 1) forbids shirts and 2) requires an overturned boat in your backyard with a big hole in the bottom. Sort of an aquatic Camaro on cinderblocks.)

So the meth isn't really cutting it. To be really rebellious requires a little head-busting action.

Just sayin'. Just one guy's opinion. Do as you will.

Old But Still Fun Flashback: Buzz Aldrin knows how to deal with gutless punks who taunt with insane theories.

posted by Ace at 04:13 PM

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