Garrison Keillor talks torture at Bush's church

While gathering material for a more detailed diary on a related topic, I came across a blog about Garrison Keillor’s visit to Highland Park Methodist Church, the President’s home church. I had to share it with you.

“I got some insight last week into who supports torture when I went down to Dallas to speak at Highland Park Methodist Church,” Mr. Keillor wrote. “It was spooky. I walked in, was met by two burly security men with walkie-talkies, and within 10 minutes was told by three people that this was the Bushes’ church and that it would be better if I didn’t talk about politics. I was there on a book tour for “Homegrown Democrat,” but they thought it better if I didn’t mention it. So I tried to make light of it: I told the audience, “I don’t need to talk politics. I have no need even to be interested in politics — I’m a citizen, I have plenty of money and my grandsons are at least 12 years away from being eligible for military service.” And the audience applauded! Those were their sentiments exactly. We’ve got ours, and who cares?
The Methodists of Dallas can be fairly sure that none of them will be snatched off the streets, flown to Guantanamo, stripped naked, forced to stand for 48 hours in a freezing room with deafening noise, so why should they worry? It’s only the Jews who are in danger, and the homosexuals and gypsies. The Christians are doing just fine. If you can’t trust a Methodist with absolute power to arrest people and not have to say why, then whom can you trust?”

Scott Parks in the Dallas Morning News blog

I have included only the Keillor quote as reported by Parks. Parks’ disparaging comments can be found at the link.
Note: Keillor is not known for political commentary, but since the 2000 election fiasco, he has become more openly and angrily critical of the Right and the Bush administration.

5 Comments

Second Nature on September 30, 2006 at 5:38 pm

As in “We’re not in Lake Wobegon anymore” my favorite of Keillor’s political writings leading up to the 2004 election. Click here for full essay

One of many pearls from Garrison:

The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk. Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we’re deaf, dumb and dangerous.

Rich ironies abound! Lies pop up like toadstools in the forest! Wild swine crowd round the public trough! Outrageous gerrymandering! Pocket lining on a massive scale! Paid lobbyists sit in committee rooms and write legislation to alleviate the suffering of billionaires! Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight! O Mark Twain, where art thou at this hour? Arise and behold the Gilded Age reincarnated gaudier than ever, upholding great wealth as the sure sign of Divine Grace.

Teach313 on September 30, 2006 at 7:06 pm

Thanks for the example.

jawbone on October 1, 2006 at 2:40 pm

Did you cache it anywhere?

Thanx

Teach313 on October 1, 2006 at 4:36 pm

Sorry, I didn’t think to cache it. I was working a longer diary when I found it. The only thing I left off was a snarky comment by the author.
To paraphrase from memory: The people only applauded to be polite to Keillor. He should be called a “humorlessist.”
I’ll see if I can run down the entry and correct my link.
Teach313 on October 1, 2006 at 4:43 pm

Try this: go to link and delete the “%5D%5B” from the address line. That should do it.

Second Nature on September 30, 2006 at 5:38 pm

As in “We’re not in Lake Wobegon anymore” my favorite of Keillor’s political writings leading up to the 2004 election. Click here for full essay

One of many pearls from Garrison:

The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk. Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we’re deaf, dumb and dangerous.

Rich ironies abound! Lies pop up like toadstools in the forest! Wild swine crowd round the public trough! Outrageous gerrymandering! Pocket lining on a massive scale! Paid lobbyists sit in committee rooms and write legislation to alleviate the suffering of billionaires! Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight! O Mark Twain, where art thou at this hour? Arise and behold the Gilded Age reincarnated gaudier than ever, upholding great wealth as the sure sign of Divine Grace.
Teach313 on September 30, 2006 at 7:06 pm

Thanks for the example.
jawbone on October 1, 2006 at 2:40 pm

Did you cache it anywhere?

Thanx
- Teach313 on October 1, 2006 at 4:36 pm
  
  Sorry, I didn’t think to cache it. I was working a longer diary when I found it. The only thing I left off was a snarky comment by the author.
  To paraphrase from memory: The people only applauded to be polite to Keillor. He should be called a “humorlessist.”
  I’ll see if I can run down the entry and correct my link.
- Teach313 on October 1, 2006 at 4:43 pm
  
  Try this: go to link and delete the “%5D%5B” from the address line. That should do it.

Garrison Keillor talks torture at Bush’s church

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