Here are some of the things that caught my attention this morning.
As part of an egocentric four-day marathon television programme devoted entirely to himself, Venezuelan de facto dictator Hugo Chávez challenged liberal author Mario Vargas Llosa to a live debate. My friend in Caracas tells me that rumours has it that the “president” decided to cancel the final day of programming to avoid humiliation. I’m not surprised—Chávez is a big-mouthed coward who only manages monologues.
(Leaving South American politics for Arianna Huffington’s cyber empire.)
Rob Thomas says, “straight people must stand up and be a voice for gay people”. I like that and think he is right. He also says that if he believed in the devil, Pat Robertson might be it. I think Thomas might be right on this one, too. Mr Robertson is as evil as he is stupid. His hostility and hatred of humankind is well documented. But as a satirist of Christian conservatism, he has some proven qualities, as this example shows:
“Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It’s no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history.”
Not exactly fair and balanced.
Speaking of religious men who lack even the slightest conception of what homosexuality is about, here’s the latest deep thought from Rabbi Norman Lamm:
“But I am opposed to saying publicly that homosexuals are welcome or accepting people who are openly gay and who campaign for a gay lifestyle, just as I would oppose someone who openly campaigns to desecrate Shabbat or to speak slanderously.”
That is like comparing blindness to laziness.
(Moving on to Swedish politics.)
The latest polls suggest the Moderate Party is losing support. With only a week to election day, 22.6 per cent of Swedes say they will vote for a Moderate candidate to the European Parliament. I really shouldn’t say this, but I understand why people don’t feel very enthusiastic about the Moderate Party in this election. I don’t like it, but I completely understand if people concerned about our civil liberties vote for the Pirate Party.