Smart Bombs: Critics losing their religion
Do conservatives claim there’s a war on religion? Is the pope Catholic? Why, yes, he is, and quite religious from what I understand.
And yet, some conservatives have been sharply criticizing the pope on issues such as global warming, wealth inequality, thawing relations with Cuba and the downside of humans “breeding like rabbits.” When he said, “Inequality is the root of social evil,” he was blasted. But is it so hard to imagine Jesus saying the same? Seems His Holiness is only infallible if they agree with him; and when they attack, it isn’t combat.
For them, a better example of the war is saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” The horror!
Pray tell. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issues a call to protect gay, lesbian and transgendered citizens against discrimination, and an Idaho bill that would end bias in housing and hiring fails on a party-line vote.
Lesson: While religion may be important, party affiliation is a sacred trust. Unless, of course, the reasons for Mormon lawmakers to vote no were purely secular. If so, please elaborate.
Diners Club. Jan Quintrall, who just resigned from City Hall, took some employees to lunch at the Spokane Club. She defended this by saying, “These are things that are done on a regular basis in the private sector.”
She’s right, largely because the government allows businesses to deduct some of the costs. And why is it that government favors business lunches over regular ones? Beats me. Oh, there are some specific rationales, but few that don’t induce indigestion.
“This is how business is conducted.” In other words, “We’ve always done it this way.” Sure, why wouldn’t you? I’d leave my brown bag at home, too. But are we to believe that commerce would grind to a halt if Uncle Sam didn’t tip the tax scales (along with the server)?
The restaurant industry is a staunch supporter of this deduction, but a dollar spent with them is a dollar unspent elsewhere in the economy. And here’s a twist on that excuse: The high tech industry is famous for offering free food and beverages “on-campus” so workers won’t waste time dining out. So cool, right? Well, some of those businesses take the employee meal deduction, although the Internal Revenue Service is reportedly cracking down. But, really, what greater claim does the more traditional business lunch have?
Close the loophole entirely. Capitalism can survive without free lunches, and public officials won’t have bad practices to emulate when they run government like a business.
Wheel of Torture. “I’m here so I won’t get fined,” said Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, at the opening of Media Day at the Super Bowl. Lynch goes from Beast Mode to Least Mode when a microphone is thrust in his direction. Why this is a problem deserving of sanction is beyond me, but the National Football League was threatening to lighten his wallet by $500,000. Guess it was inevitable that a sports league would place a dollar value on clichés.
This is no different from politicians who scoot to the nearest microphone to regurgitate talking points. They aren’t fined if they don’t play, but they might lose some party donations if they’re too quiet. This pretense of uttering of news and insight is why I stopped watching shows like “Meet the Press,” which has become “Defeat the Press.” If politicians get a sense the host won’t play along, they merely decline the invitation and find one who will.
I think what Lynch should do is add a game-show prop to the experience. When a question is asked, he spins a wheel and spouts whatever cliché the needle lands on. This would make his interviews substantively equivalent to the rest, while adding an air of suspense.
Oh, Vanna!