The US Navy is training for a possible air war over Korea because that is apparently where we are now.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

The U.S. Navy has deployed special, radar-hunting warplanes to South Korea to train for a possible air war against North Korea. 

The five EA-18G Growlers have joined more than 200 American and South Korean planes and tens of thousands of military personnel for a five-day annual war game known as Vigilant Ace. 

The two-person crews of the twin-engine EA-18Gs are responsible for arguably the most dangerous mission in all of aerial warfare. Officially called “suppression of enemy air defenses,” the mission involves clearing a path through sophisticated air defenses so that other planes can safely strike their targets. 

The EA-18Gs carry sensors for detecting radars’ emissions, jammers for interfering with the sensors’ functions, and radar-homing missiles to destroy them. But to take out enemy air defenses, the Growler crews have to get close—and that puts them directly in harm’s way. In North Korea, the crews would face a growing arsenal of radars and surface-to-air missiles based on deadly Russian and Chinese designs. 

The Boeing-made Growlers arrived during the first week of December at Osan air base, around 50 miles from the border with North Korea. The EA-18Gs, from squadron VAQ-134 based in Washington State, were in the middle of a six-month training rotation with two squadrons of U.S. Air Force F-16s flying from an air base in Japan.

I think it is safe to say that the North Koreans have made more progress with their nuclear weapons program in the first year of the Trump presidency than they did in the last three administrations combined.

Nothing like having a thin skinned megalomaniac in office poking at another thin skinned megalomaniac to really speed up the production of weaponry, don't you think?

You know I keep thinking of all of those idiots who voted fro Jill Stein because they had been convinced, possibly by the Russians, that Hillary Clinton was going to take this country into another war.

Perhaps THEY should be the first ones drafted and sent to die in this one.

Donald Trump responds to news of a US Navy destroyer crash with a flippant "That's too bad." However Breitbart says that's not his fault.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Ten U.S. Navy sailors were missing and five were injured after the USS John S. McCain guided missile destroyer and an oil tanker more than three times its size collided near Singapore early Monday. 

American and Singaporean ships and helicopters launched a search-and-rescue mission after the pre-dawn collision at the entrance to one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Five injured and ten missing, but when Trump was asked about the incident, this was his response:  President Donald Trump’s initial reaction to the crash of the USS John McCain with a merchant ship east of Singapore that left five sailors injured and ten missing was: “That’s too bad.”

Later of course after the blowback Trump's advisers apparently got hold of his Twitter account and tweeted this:

Thoughts & prayers are w/ our @USNavy sailors aboard the #USSJohnSMcCain where search & rescue efforts are underway. https://t.co/DQU0zTRXNU

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2017

I think that is like the Hallmark card version of a presidential condolence.

"Sorry to hear your ship got smashed. Hope you get well soon."

Kind of makes you wonder if the fact that the ship was named after the guy whose vote spiked Trumpcare has anything to do with Trump's dismissive attitude?

No, don't be silly. According to Breitbart there is really a simply answer that deflects the blame away from Trump: 

A source with direct knowledge of these matters tells Breitbart News that the senior staff at the White House, including National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, did not brief President Donald Trump on the collision the Navy destroyer USS John McCain had with an oil tanker near Singapore before he originally seemingly dismissed the incident saying, “that’s too bad.”

Yes, it's not that Donald Trump is an insensitive POS, it's that the guy who Stephen Bannon just lost a power struggle with in the White House is incompetent at his job.

Seems perfectly clear.

Well Sarah Palin seems very excited about the prospect of war with China.

The ghostwritten post on Palin's website links to this article on the conservative Daily Caller:  

The U.S. Navy challenged China’s vast claims to the South China Sea on Thursday, Navy officials revealed. 

The U.S. Navy conducted the third freedom-of-navigation operation under President Donald Trump in the South China Sea on Thursday. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John McCain (DDG-56) sailed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Island chain, according to Fox News. 

A Navy P-8 reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft reportedly flew nearby.

Now these intermittent challenges to other countries by each other's military are fairly common, as demonstrated here in Alaska by Russian jets entering our air defense zone repeatedly over the last forty years or so.

Typically there is a little chest pounding, some diplomatic reminders of boundaries and sovereignty and everybody goes about their business.

But things are a little different right now.

For one thing we have an unhinged commander-in-chief who is not only comparing penis size with North Korea, but also bitching that China is not helping to keep them under control.

I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

...they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

You know, when you are trying to convince another country to aid you with a potentially dangerous adversary it does not seem to be in your best interests to troll them with your military.

Apparently it is Donald Trump's goal during his stay in the White House to alienate every country he possibly can before leaving office.

Except for Russia of course, because THEY are Donald Trump's only true friend.

That is why they gifted him with an election victory.

US Admiral says that he would launch a nuclear attack against China if Donald Trump commanded it. WTF?

Courtesy of NPR: 

At a security conference in Australia on Thursday, this scenario was posed to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet: If ordered to do so by President Trump, would he would launch a nuclear attack on China next week? His response: Yes. 

An academic in the audience posed this question to Adm. Scott Swift: "At risk of being blunt ... If, when you return to your command next week, you were to receive an order from the commander in chief, the president of the United States, to make a nuclear attack on China, would you do it?"

As the audience tittered at the premise, the admiral smiled and said, "So far, these were yes and no answers." 

"The answer would be yes," Swift went on. "Every member of the U.S. military has sworn an oath to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to obey the officers and the president of the United States as the commander in chief appointed over us."

"This is core to American democracy and any time you have a military that is moving away from a focus and an allegiance to civilian control, then we really have significant problems," Swift added.

Okay now I have never been a member of the armed services but isn't it the duty of the United States military to defy and order that they believe is dangerous to the country or that comes from a superior clearly suffering from an mental illness?

Attacking China would be suicide. This guy has to know that.

Right?

Jesus Christ, if anybody needs me I will be curled up in the fetal position under my bed.

Well I'll certainly never forget.

And the thing is this is not even the worst of Donald Trump's responses to tragedy.

The White House claimed that it was sending an aircraft carrier to the Sea of Japan as a message to North Korea. So why is it going in the opposite direction?

I am going to send our warships to North Korea as soon as somebody tells me where they are.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

As worries deepened last week about whether North Korea would conduct a missile test, the White House declared that ordering an American aircraft carrier into the Sea of Japan would send a powerful deterrent signal and give President Trump more options in responding to the North’s provocative behavior. 

The problem was, the carrier, the Carl Vinson, and the four other warships in its strike force were at that very moment sailing in the opposite direction, to take part in joint exercises with the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean, 3,500 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula.

White House officials said on Tuesday they were relying on guidance from the Defense Department. Officials there described a glitch-ridden sequence of events, from a premature announcement of the deployment by the military’s Pacific Command to an erroneous explanation by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis — all of which perpetuated the false narrative that an American armada was racing toward the waters off North Korea. 

By the time the White House was asked about the Carl Vinson on April 11, its imminent arrival had been emblazoned on front pages across East Asia, fanning fears that Mr. Trump was considering a pre-emptive military strike on North Korea. It was portrayed as further evidence of the president’s muscular style two days after he ordered a missile strike on Syria while he and President Xi Jinping of China were finishing dessert during a meeting in Florida.

OMGD!

So let me get this straight. The Trump White House announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier, to the local media and to the world, without first checking to see if one was even available?

Apparently the only reason we even found this out is because the Navy posted this picture and details of its actual deployment on their official site.

But no worries. We are now being told that the carrier has changed course and is definitely headed toward North Korea.

No, seriously! They mean it this time!

Remind me, have we EVER seen this level of incompetence? 

This is your president America.

Don't worry one of his handlers corrected it later on.

China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2016

Well it's a good thing that the entire world does not read his tweets and judge our country by them or anything.

Oh God, we are so screwed!

Donald Trump suggests that US destroyers should respond to ships with Iranians making obscene hand gestures by shooting them out of the water.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Donald Trump vowed Friday that if Iran inappropriately approached US ships, they would be "shot out of the water." 

"And by the way, with Iran, when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures that our people -- that they shouldn't be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water," he said at a rally here. 

Taking such action would have tremendous ramifications and would likely be considered an act of war. The comments, even given Trump's penchant for tough language, are unusual for a presidential candidate.

Yeah, well it would be unusual for a presidential candidate if that candidate were actually trying to win the election. 

The incident that Trump is referring to happened two weeks ago, and actually similar incidents have been happening for years.

And let's not forget that one of our Navy boats was captured after it went off course into Iranian waters.

These kinds of interactions are troubling, but in no way do they justify anybody being "shot out of the water."

Donald Trump's constant need to overcompensate for his obvious shortcomings becomes increasingly dangerous when the tools at his disposal include the United States Military. (Remember George W. Bush just wanted his mom to love him and to prove he was a batter man than his father. How many American and Iraqi deaths did that cause?)


I never thought the Republicans could put up a worse candidate for President than George W. Bush, but boy was I wrong!

Attack on US sailors by Turkish protestors may be connected to incident during Iraq War.

Courtesy of CNN:  

Three U.S. Navy sailors were assaulted and had bags placed over their heads during a stop in Istanbul, Turkey, according to U.S. military officials. 

The incident, captured on video, happened Wednesday when sailors from the USS Ross were attacked by members of the Turkish Youth Union, according to local Turkish press accounts. 

"US Navy officials are working with the embassy and NCIS to investigate the incident. The three sailors were unharmed and are safely back aboard. They did not require medical attention," Capt. Greg Hicks, a spokesman with U.S. European Command told CNN. 

The assailants appeared to be neo-nationalists shouting slogans like "Yankee Go Home," according to local press accounts. They did not appear to be tied to ISIS, which is based in neighboring Syria.

Like many of you I saw this video yesterday but was a little confused as to why Turkish protesters were so upset with American military members. I thought we were cool with Turkey.

So I did some digging around and found what might have been the trigger.

See for yourself:

The Hood event (Turkish: Çuval Olayı) was an incident on July 4, 2003 following the 2003 invasion of Iraq where a group of Turkish military personnel operating in northern Iraq were captured, led away with hoods over their heads, and interrogated by the United States military. The soldiers were released after sixty hours, after Turkey protested to the United States. 

Though neither side ever apologized, a US-Turkish commission set up to investigate the incident later issued a joint statement of regret. In addition, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressing sorrow over the incident. The Hood event damaged diplomatic relations between Turkey and the United States and marked a low point in US-Turkish relations. While the incident received comparatively little coverage in the United States, it was a major event in Turkey, many of whose citizens saw it as a deliberate insult and nicknamed it "The Hood event".

You know it may take decades for us to realize just how badly America's reputation has been damaged by the invasion of Iraq, and there is little doubt that more Americans will be hurt or possibly killed because of it, either in attacks overseas or terrorist attacks here at home.

I just know that the Right Wing will try to find some way to blame this on Obama, but if this incident was indeed the trigger, I think we all know where the fault lies. 

Hopefully the lessons we learn from this absolutely unnecessarily military action will not be forgotten, like the ones from Vietnam clearly were.

Navy cowardly backs off decision to ban Bibles in military hotel rooms.

Courtesy of Stars and Stripes:

Gideons Bibles are going back into Navy lodges. 

The Navy on Thursday ordered the Bibles returned to rooms and said it is reviewing a decision by the Navy Exchange to remove them from its worldwide network of military hotels. 

Atheists had cheered a victory after a complaint prompted the exchange to begin moving the Bibles to its lost-and-found bins this summer, but the Navy said the decision was made without consulting senior leadership. 

“That decision and our religious accommodation policies with regard to the placement of religious materials are under review,” Navy spokesman Cmdr. Ryan Perry wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes. “While that review is under way, religious materials removed from Navy Lodge rooms will be returned."

Yep they're going back in permanently, no doubt about it.

Dammit and I was so impressed with the Navy for showing some balls.

Fine put them back in, but I suggest that if that happens people need to start demanding equal time for other religious tomes such as the Koran, the Tao Te Ching, the Book of Mormon, the Hindu Vedas, and Dianetics just for a start.

After all if a government entity is forced to offer the opportunity for religious indoctrination in their hotel rooms for one religion, then it only seems fair to offer the same opportunity for religious indoctrination for ALL religions. 

Navy has instructed housekeeping to remove all Gideon Bibles from hotel rooms on their bases. Sarah Palin rant in 3..2..oh never mind it will be on her pay-per-bitch channel so we don't have to watch it.

Courtesy of Canada Free Press:  

The U.S. Navy has instructed housekeepers to remove Gideon-placed Bibles from every hotel room on its military bases after it received a letter from the atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). 

“We were told today, June 23, 2014, that due to a new policy by the CEO of NEXCOM, Rear Admiral Robert J. Bianchi, we were to remove the Bibles from the rooms,” a housekeeper told AFA in an email. “They told us to put them in boxes, where they would be taken to a donation center somewhere.” 

NEXCOM (Navy Exchange Service Command) issued the directive to bases offering hotel accommodations, ordering them to impound Bibles from 34 Navy Lodge locations and 24,000 Navy Gateway Inns & Suites guest rooms on Navy bases worldwide. 

The directive orders lodge managers to contact base commanders and Chaplains and facilitate removing the Bibles and other “religious material currently in the guest rooms.”

Apparently the Navy attempted this back in 2012, but after public outcry they caved and put them back.

So  let's see if we have progressed enough to make it stick this time.

My favorite story about bibles in hotel rooms is the one told by actor Ian McKellen who tears Leviticus 18:22 out of every bible he finds in his hotel room.

Good for him.

Same contractor that failed to vet Edward Snowden effectively also vetted the Navy Shipyard shooter. Anybody see a pattern?

Courtesy of the Washington Post:

USIS, the Falls Church government contractor that handled the background check for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, said Thursday that it also vetted Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis for his ­secret-level clearance in 2007. 

The company, which is under criminal investigation over whether it misled the government about the thoroughness of its background checks, said earlier this week that it had not handled Alexis’s case. 

USIS spokesman Ray Howell said the company got new information Thursday. 

“Today we were informed that in 2007, USIS conducted a background check of Aaron Alexis” for the Office of Personnel Management, Howell said in a statement. “We are contractually prohibited from retaining case information gathered as part of the background checks we conduct for OPM and therefore are unable to comment further on the nature or scope of this or any other background check.” 

USIS, which was spun off from the federal government in the 1990s, has become the largest private provider of government background checks. With 7,000 employees, the company handles about 45 percent of all background checks for the OPM, congressional staffers say. 

Despite the investigation, there was no indication that USIS did anything improper when it vetted Alexis. 

Seriously? But the guy had two different episodes where he misused a firearm, how could that NOT have raised red flags?

Government officials said this week that the 2007 background check uncovered an incident in which Alexis shot out the tires of a car. 

The 2004 incident was characterized as “malicious mischief.” Two other run-ins with law enforcement and reports of more serious mental-health issues occurred years after the initial background check.

You know if firing a weapon within city limits which results in property damage, but could have also resulted in the taking of life, is classified as "malicious mischief" I think that almost says more about our acceptance of gun violence than it does about the vetting provided by this agency.

However the fact that both Snowden and Alexis were vetted by the same contractor makes me think that this whole background check thing needs to be performed by government agencies and NOT a third party. Especially this third party.

However it is also impossible to give the Navy a pass since the incident in 2010, where he fired shots inside his apartment in response to noisy neighbors, and which resulted in his "honorable" discharge from the Navy, happened on their watch. As did the Newport police report that he was "hearing voices."

I don't know, perhaps the new criteria should be that if somebody demonstrates a tendency to fire a weapon indiscriminately when upset or angry, they DON'T get a job with the government.

I'm just saying.

Lawrence O'Donnell's interview with Chief Medical Officer Janet Orlowski, and more on the D.C. Navy Shipyard shooter.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I have to say that I was somewhat surprised that Dr. Orlowski used the word "evil" to describe the behavior of those who shoot others. In fact it is most likely that they are mentally ill, or temporarily overcome with such anger and emotion that they cannot think rationally.

The evil part is that they have easy access to such devastating weaponry.

A crazy person with a kitchen knife stabs one, two, or perhaps three people, he does not mow down a cafeteria full of innocent Navy Shipyard employees.

Speaking of the shooter, we have learned much more about him since yesterday. Here is MSNBC's update: 

Many questions about Monday's shooting deaths of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard remain unanswered and with the main suspect among the dead, some of the specifics may never be nailed down. 

After using a fingerprint to identify him, authorities said the gunman was Aaron Alexis, 34, a former naval petty officer. Initially authorities said they were actively seeking a possible second suspect: a 50-year-old black man with a rifle, wearing an olive drab military uniform, but then late Monday they said they were no longer looking for that individual. A third man who was initially a person of interest was eventually cleared. 

Investigators have revealed little of what they've found out, but here's what they're likely to be focusing on: 

After having been discharged from the Navy, Alexis served as a naval reservist and had been working as a civilian contractor for a division of Hewlett-Packard that was upgrading equipment used on the Navy/Marine Corps intranet, the company confirmed Monday. Investigators said he may have recently lost that job, giving him a grudge to nurse. 

Under a new support contract, all HP hardware at the Navy Yard was relocated to Denver last month — leaving few if any support jobs needed in Washington. It wasn't known whether Alexis' job was one that was moved to Colorado — and if so, whether he declined to move or was let go as part of the reorganization. HP wouldn't say Monday whether Alexis was still on its payroll. 

Or maybe it was something else. 

Court records show that Alexis was arrested in 2004 in Seattle for allegedly shooting a vehicle in what he told police was a "black-out fueled by anger." According to the original incident report, Alexis' father, who lived in New York, told police his son had "anger management problems" probably exacerbated by the stress of having been "an active participant in rescue attempts of September 11th, 2001."

The man had been involved in two separate gun incidents, one of which seems to have been the cause of his "separation" from the Navy, and yet he was still able to purchase a shotgun in Virginia. (The other two weapons, an AR-15 and a handgun, he seems to have taken off of victims at the facility. (So much for the idea that these shootings only happen in places that are "gun free.")

As of now it appears that Alexis was the only shooter, and that he acted independently.

Just a one armed man, with anger control problems, two incidents of gun related violence in his past, and an access card to a military complex.

Breaking news! Shooting at Navy shipyard in Washington. Four reported dead and multiple injuries. Update!

Courtesy of USA Today:

 Multiple people were killed and several more wounded when at least one gunman opened fire Monday at the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters, authorities said. 

The Navy said "several" people were killed at the Navy Yard. Ed Buclatin, the public affairs chief for the Navy Installations Command, tweeted "four killed and eight injured." He also tweeted that reports of more than one shooter had not been confirmed. 

Washington's Metropolitan Police Department reported that a suspect was in the building. The shooter was described as a black male with a dark complexion, approximately 5'10" to 6 feet tall, 170 pound with a black shirt and black hat. He is believed to be barricaded somewhere and have multiple guns.

This is still a very fluid situation and more information is coming in rapidly. As of right now they are not even certain exactly how many gunmen are involved.

I have also heard that one of the weapons might be an AR 15, but right now that is still speculative.

I will leave this as an open thread in order to facilitate any newer information as we receive it.

Update: Reports of a second shooting site with possibly a second gunman coming in from MSNBC.

Update 2: Confirmation of two shooters, with possibility of a third. (Correction on this update. They have walked it back and are now talking about a single shooter. Let's hope that is the case.)

Update 3: Shooter is now dead. As of right now he is reported as the ONLY shooter. (Unless of course you are listening to CNN who are reporting TWO shooters down. However after the Boston bombing I take what they say with a grain of salt.)

Update 4: Okay now the police spokesperson is saying that there is one shooter down and potentially two more shooters, one black one white, still at large. 

Update 5: New reports have the dead at twelve.

Okay Air Force, you KNOW you have a serious, and possibly epidemic, problem when the guy in charge of investigating sexual assaults is arrested for sexual assault.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinsk, looking pretty damn rapey in my opinion.

Courtesy of USA Today:  

The Air Force, which has been rocked by a sexual abuse scandal at its major training base, suffered another embarrassment Monday with the revelation that its chief sexual assault prevention officer was arrested over the weekend for allegedly groping a woman. 

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, was arrested and charged with sexual battery Sunday after he allegedly grabbed the woman's breasts and buttocks. When he attempted to grope her again, she fought him off and called police, according to the police report. The victim did not know Krusinski, said Dustin Sternbeck, an Arlington County Police spokesman. 

Krusinski is the chief of the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response branch at the Pentagon. 

Krusinski has been removed from his job while his case is being investigated, said Lt. Col. John Dorrian, an Air Force spokesman. He took the post in February.

Damn! I can only imagine how this guy treated the responsibilities of his job, if he  had so little respect for women that he felt it was okay to put his hands on one that clearly was not welcoming that kind of attention.

It makes me wonder just how many legitimate complaints were passed over due to this man's lack of empathy and understanding.

And don't be fooled into thinking this is not a systemic problem, even the brochure on preventing sexual assault in the Air Force places the sole reswponbility on the victim: 

An Air Force brochure on sexual assault advises potential victims not to fight off their attackers. 

“It may be advisable to submit [rather] than resist,” reads the brochure (.pdf), issued to airmen at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, where nearly 10,000 military and civilian personnel are assigned. “You have to make this decision based on circumstances. Be especially careful if the attacker has a weapon.” 

The brochure, acquired by Danger Room, issues a series of guidances on “risk reduction” for sexual assault. Among others, it advises people under sexual attack in parking lots to “consider rolling underneath a nearby auto and scream loud. It is difficult to force anyone out from under a car.” A public affairs officer at Shaw, Sgt. Alexandria Mosness, says she believes the brochure is current. 

While the brochure also explains that sexual assault is not always committed by people who “don’t look like a rapist” — attackers “tend to have hyper-masculine attitudes,” it advises — it does not offer instruction to servicemembers on not committing sexual assault. Prevention is treated as the responsibility of potential victims. 

Yeah ladies, if you cannot get away, or are in fear of injury, better just lie back and enjoy the assault.

You know that is EXACTLY the kind of advice that rapists really want their victims to receive. 

Just makes their job of raping you that much easier.

Jesus, I swear some of these organizations seem to be run by knuckle dragging Neanderthals who still think of women as toys or possessions and simply have little, if any, respect for them as human beings.

Possibly the best response of the debate!

Courtesy of Politico:  

When he noted that Romney has said there are fewer ships now than decades ago, Obama said that it's because that's the way a modern military works, with changing technology: "We also have fewer horses and bayonets ... We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them.…it’s not a game of Battleship."

God I loved that!

According to former Navy Chaplain homosexuality is the result of "gay demons" which can also possess animals. Oh, well that explains...wait what?

Former Navy Chaplain, Gordon Klingenschmitt, who founded lobbying group The Pray In Jesus Name Project, appeared on a progressive talk show this week to criticize President Barack Obama’s endorsement of same sex marriage.

This is the rather startling exchange he had with the host David Pakman:  

“The problem is, nobody’s born a homosexual,” he said, explaining that all gay people are converted via “marketing” because the LGBT community “has an agenda” to “repopulate their population by recruiting the children of heterosexuals.” 

Klingenschmitt added that “anyone who’s studied” genetics knows that homosexuality is not an inherent trait, simply because LGBT people aren’t capable of reproducing and passing that genetic trait along. Though Pacman didn’t immediately challenge it, that’s a claim as bizarre as it is untrue, as scientists have long known homosexuality can be attributed to genetic traits and many LGBT people have reproduced thanks to the help of platonic opposite sex partners. 

“That’s what this whole marketing scheme for pro-homosexual movement is all about,” 

Klingenschmitt insisted, reiterating his point about repopulating the LGBT community. 

That’s when Pacman hit him with the science on homosexuality in the animal kingdom. 

“Let’s step back for a second, Gordon, and say okay, let’s assume you’re right that homosexuality among humans is only because of marketing,” Pacman countered. “What about in the 4,000 other species that have homosexuality? Because, as far as I know, they don’t have TV. They don’t have advertising. They don’t have the iTunes store to recruit people. How is it that humans are gay sometimes because of marketing, but 4,000 other species… Why? Is it something else?” 

“It is entirely possible — we know from the Bible, for example, when Jesus cast the devil out of Legion, he went into a herd of pigs,” Klingenschmitt said. “So, it is possible for demons or the devil to inhabit or invade animals just the same way they invade humans, and that causes the sin of lust.” 

Picture of gay demon. For you skeptics out there.

“So, what you’re saying is, in humans it’s marketing that makes people gay; in animals, it’s the souls of gay humans who have invaded the animals,” Pacman replied. “That makes them gay?” 

Klingenschmitt laughed and scratched his temple. “Well, I think you twisted what I’m saying there,” he said. 

“No, I don’t think I did,” Pacman responded. 

Backpedaling, Klingenschmitt explained that he believes marketing to be “related to the demonic, because the devil wants to recruit people into sin.” He added that even Pacman himself was being used by the devil to promote “the homosexual agenda.” 

“I don’t promote homosexuality any more than I promote being tall,” Pacman deadpanned.

Man there is SO much stupid in this exchange that I almost don't know where to start.

Essentially there is literally NO way to reason with a person who views social change, biology, and sexuality through the prism of Biblical superstition.

No matter which carefully researched, and scientifically sound facts you were to introduce, this individual would simply discount them because he sees the world as a child sees the world, broken up into simple categories of bad vs good, evil vs non-evil, and satanic vs godly.

With those definitions in place, especially as this person clearly sees himself as an instrument for for spreading the message of good, there is no way to communicate the ridiculousness of their argument.

Now Klingenschmitt is clearly a nutjob, but the rationale he uses to justify his seemingly insane world view is not THAT dissimilar from the one used by a large number of devout Christians to view the subject of homosexuality.

Take a look at this Facebook rant from a Kansas middle school social studies teacher:

"All this talk in the news about gay marriage recently has finally driven me to write. Gay marriage is wrong because homosexuality is wrong. The Bible clearly states it is sin. Now I do not claim it to be a sin any worse than other sins. It ranks in God's eyes the same as murder, lying, stealing, or cheating. His standards are perfect and ALL have sinned and fallen short of His glory. Sin is sin and we all deserve hell. Only those who accept Christ as Lord and daily with the help of the Spirit do their best to turn from sin will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There aren't multiple ways to get to Heaven. There is one. To many this may seem close minded and antagonistic, but it doesn't make it any less true. Folks I am willing to admit that my depravity is just as great as anyone else's, and without Christ I'd be destined for hell, if not for the undeserved grace of God. I'm not condemning gay marriage because I hate gay people. I am doing it because those who embrace it will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And I desire that for no one."

In other words homosexuality is just as much of a sin as murder. Now keep in mind that this is a man who teaches in the PUBLIC SCHOOL system, not a Christian school, and who has influence over the developing young minds of prepubescent children that have no idea how illogical his point of view is, or how out of touch it is with the way the world is changing.

And undoubtedly SOME of the people he has influence over are just now becoming aware that THEY themselves might be gay. Imagine how quickly those kids will stuff themselves back into the closet, and slam the door, when surrounded by this kind of insane homophobia!

I know that I sometimes take heat for challenging the Bible, or taking Christianity to task, but considering that it is where these people find their"facts" to support their disgusting point of view and their inspiration to attack people who do not fit their interpretation of normal, what choice do I really have?

I mean gay demons possessing animals, really?

Navy to name combat ship after Gabrielle Giffords. In my opinion that will make it virtually unsinkable!

In other news Giffords was on hand as President Obama signed her last piece of legislation into law.

Courtesy of the Navy Times:

In yet another break with tradition, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Friday that a new Littoral Combat Ship would be named for Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman who survived a January 2011 assassination attempt. 

“The selection of Gabrielle Giffords, designated LCS 10, honors the former Congresswoman from Tucson, Arizona, who is known for supporting the military and veterans, advocating for renewable energy and championing border security,” the Navy said in a statement accompanying the announcement. 

Roxanna Green, whose 9-year-old daughter Christina-Taylor Green was killed in the shooting, was named sponsor of the ship. 

“Giffords and the ship’s sponsor, Roxanna Green, are sources of great inspiration and represent the Navy and Marine Corps qualities of overcoming, adapting and coming out victorious despite great challenges," Mabus said. 

The future Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) will be an Independence LCS 2-class ship. Funded in the 2012 budget, its construction contract is expected to be awarded in the first half of this year to Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.

Okay that is just awesome!