66 Comments

The response to the bishop is harrowing. Somewhat predictable, given that she's a woman and evangelicalism hates women in leadership, BUT STILL. Asking for mercy is woke? Lord have mercy.

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Espousing Christian values in a Christian house of worship is [checks notes] worthy of deportation. WWJD? Deport that bitch!

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honestly, the mind boggles.

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I see what you did there!

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This is an amazing Dingus of the Week and so, so perfect. It says everything I have been trying to say to myself and my kids, but better. Lyz - I am so grateful for the way you can take the true terror of the moment and still get a smile out of people. I hope, over the next four years, we have more Bishops and less of the people who condemned her.

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This was perfect. I sent the good bishop a postcard telling her how much I appreciated her speech. This is the address:

The Rt Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde

Episcopal Church House

Mount St Alban

Washington, DC 20016-5094

USA

I recommend postcards since the text is immediately visible so no one has to worry about what’s in an envelope.

Has Matt Walsh been Dingus of the Week yet? It seems like his jersey should have been retired from winning so often.

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thanks, karen, good suggestion. i thought about all the hate mail she's probably getting and wondered if sending a card in an envelope might be problematic.

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I have made a resolution to post suggestions for all of us to take action against the Orange Darkness. They want us to feel helpless, so I will provide help.

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excellent. keep those suggestions coming!

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This is a spectacular idea!!

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"Trolligarchy"!!!!!!!!!!!! Incredible work!

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As someone who is awkward and autistic – it was a fucking Nazi salute.

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I miss who I was before learning about embalmed beef. Why would you and Wikipedia do that to me when I have shown you both nothing but appreciation and also money?

Now is probably as good a time as any to go vegetarian.

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I am so sorry. I got carried away with my McKinley knowledge and forgot to realize the implications!!!

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Yes, but I for one can't wait to tell my college kid, who wrote a paper about Czolgosz and how the socialists thought he was a plant. Also Assassins is a killer musical!

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I made a point of NOT looking that up. I knew no good would come of that.

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That’s wise. I am, once again, the victim of my own curiosity.

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Thank you both for the chuckle!!

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I found it heartening to see a few gentle words of mercy could [still] be so threatening to Empire.

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Republicans seem to like their Christianity the same as they like the Constitution, where they get to pick and choose the parts they like and denounce any that they don't. God Bless Bishop Budde, who actually has read, and understood, the teachings of Christ.

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“Forget about the rules. Forget about norms. Forget about decency.” PREACH.

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When I served in church leadership, I was silenced for speaking in defense of two children who were sexually abused by a member--also a white male. This triggers my memories of being called out for daring to speak, excluded by people I thought had been friends. I left and joined another church, but it's still an old boys club. Thank you Lyz, for pointing out that what we saw happen to the Bishop is a "reminder that you can be good, you can follow the rules, you can have all the knowledge, talent, and skill, you can be a real asset to the organization, but the moment you step out of line, you will be tossed out. Goodness is not a virtue; it is a trap. It’s designed to keep you always trying to prove your worth. But you can’t be good enough for an administration that wants to take away the rights of everyone who isn’t white and male."

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Three judges pushed back against Trump's pardons. Tanya Chutkan: "Dismissal of the cases,,,,cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake. And it cannot repair the jagged breach in America’s sacred tradition of peacefully transitioning power.”

Judge Beryl Howell: “No ‘process of national reconciliation’ can begin when poor losers, whose preferred candidate loses an election, are glorified for disrupting a constitutionally mandated proceeding in Congress and doing so with impunity,” Howell wrote on Wednesday. “No ‘national injustice’ occurred here, just as no outcome-determinative election fraud occurred in the 2020 presidential election.”

Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly: “Dismissal of charges, pardons after convictions, and commutations of sentences will not change the truth of what happened on January 6, 2021,”

Two Republican Senators voted against Hegseth, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.

All women.

Where are the men? This is just more evidence that we need more women in positions of leadership and power, because it appears that their integrity and ethics are not so easily compromised.

Oh yeah, Budde belongs with this group, too.

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I think unfortunately the political incentives matter too. Collins is from a blue state, the only Republican senator from a state that voted for Harris. Murkowski can get re-elected in Alaska because of their top four system; otherwise she'd lose a Republican primary and whoever won that primary would almost certainly win the general. Whereas someone like Joni Ernst, who expressed skepticism about Hegseth, ultimately fell in line because otherwise she might have lost her primary for her seat which is up next year. The problem for the Senate is that 24 of our 50 states voted for Trump by double digits, so there's almost no room for error.

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No doubt political calculations were as important as integrity/ethics. But it is sad how craven all these Republican Senators are. Aren't there any men who are so old that they don't intend to run again (Grassley, McConnell). Why don't those guys step up for the country?

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What’s in it for them? I mean, clearly self respect and decency are not something they understand.

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The Bishop's book How We Learn to be Brave is inspirational and available as an audio book read by the author. Also, even your footnotes are funny. Thanks for DOTW.

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The first footnote made me laugh out loud.

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i hate to think how rabbi jesus would be treated if he came and spoke directly to trump. (which he kinda did, ya know.)

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I think it is time we stop using the term "sitting congressman" as a term that is supposed to hold some weight or level of respect or decorum. Now it's pretty much is the same as "area man" or "Florida man".

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"...it’s a trolligarcy — a government of the trolls, by the trolls, and for the trolls."

I'm in awe. I bask in your glory.

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This might be your best DOTW ever. Also, I refuse to click on the embalmed beef link. To quote Bush1, “Not gonna do it…”

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