Republicans behaving badly

[Frater I*I]

"Steinfeld, party of 4!"

Anytime I take my friend's family out to dinner and the restaurant has a wait, I use the name Donner...

[neonzx]

"Steinfeld, party of 4!"

Anytime I take my friend's family out to dinner and the restaurant has a wait, I use the name Donner...

Dahmer might be more clever.

[bill_g]

He wants to hear "DONNER PARTY" called out.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Even better (and I've successfully set this up) is when you get them to call out "DONNER, PARTY OF 6" and you call back "IT TOOK A BIT, THERE'S ONLY 5 OF US NOW"

[Ben-Prime]

Off Topic

See, I just put my name down as Spartacus just to see who tries to claim my spot. But y'all do you.

[johnpcapitalist]

On a first date, a classic is to give the name "Wild." They then call for "Wild party of two."

Those damned vibrating pagers have ruined an avenue of mirth for the shy people of America.

[Foggy]

Oh yeah, in a restaurant, if I hear the name Spartacus I instantly yell "I am Spartacus!"

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[Dr. Ken]

On a first date, a classic is to give the name "Wild." They then call for "Wild party of two."

Those damned vibrating pagers have ruined an avenue of mirth for the shy people of America.

Starbucks order a coffee under bueller then walk away

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Can a girl yell, “I am Spartacus”? Of course she can!!!

[much ado]

Even better (and I've successfully set this up) is when you get them to call out "DONNER, PARTY OF 6" and you call back "IT TOOK A BIT, THERE'S ONLY 5 OF US NOW"

"AND BILLY WAS REALLY TOUGH!"

[bill_g]

Starbucks order a coffee under bueller then walk away

Ooooo ... that would be fun to hear at least once. Do it in a shopping center or grocery coffee shop so there is a crowd to melt into.

[Slim Cognito]

I know this is off-topic but once, when wandering a Wal-Mart, over the loud speaker I heard "Would Allison Chains please report to Customer Service?"

[raison de arizona]

Republican Candidate Charged With Child Porn Offenses Hours Before Election

A Texas Republican city council candidate is facing felony child pornography charges after being arrested just hours before the elections.

Brad Benson, a candidate for Place #4 on the city council of Granbury, located just southwest of Fort Worth, was arrested on November 6. "I can confirm he was arrested by the District Attorney's Office yesterday and charged with two felony child pornography charges, he should have a bond set today," Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds told Newsweek.

The Republican Party of Hood County (RPHC) withdrew its support for Benson after more details about the charges emerged.

"Crimes of this degree tear at the heart and soul of society, and we condemn them in the strongest terms," an RPHC spokesperson said in a November 6 statement. "The Republican Party stands for the conservative, family values and the protection of children. These heinous acts are antithetical to what Republicans stand for."

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-republic ... on-1841474

[Slim Cognito]

Anybody know a rough ratio of R v D candidates/operatives/political office holders who have been arrested on child exploitation charges? Yaknow, cuz we're the deviants and all.

[Volkonski]

Granbury is a small city of about 11,000 residents in a rural area about 30 miles from Fort Worth. It is growing quickly due to migration from DFW which it serves as a bedroom community.

[northland10]

Anybody know a rough ratio of R v D candidates/operatives/political office holders who have been arrested on child exploitation charges? Yaknow, cuz we're the deviants and all.

Democrats ain't arrested because Biden and the deep state protect them while making up charges against the innocent America patriots.

[johnpcapitalist]

Anybody know a rough ratio of R v D candidates/operatives/political office holders who have been arrested on child exploitation charges? Yaknow, cuz we're the deviants and all.

No idea. But the number of clergy from traditionally more conservative Christian denominations arrested for child sexual abuse (typically at least one a day on Reddit's /r/pastorarrested forum) far outnumbers the number from more left-leaning denominations like Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Unitarians or Congregationalists. I haven't done an actual tabulation, but an eyeball glance at the articles over the last couple of months suggests that the evangelical crowd has displaced the Catholics at the top of the charts for arrests.

Before anyone reads the above thinking I'm picking on Catholics, please recall my numerous comments over the years on the old site about how the incidence of abuse in Protestant congregations will turn out to be greater than or equal to the incidence of abuse among Catholic clergy. The only reason it's not bigger today is that the decentralized nature of most protestant denominations makes it hard to root out and fix the problem.

[poplove]

LMPD arrests man at polling location for alleged interference

https://www.wave3.com/2023/11/07/lmpd-a ... erference/

[Dave from down under]

Meet the next GOP senator..

[bill_g]

Oh yeah. He's a kind and lovely soul. I can tell.

[chancery]

No idea. But the number of clergy from traditionally more conservative Christian denominations arrested for child sexual abuse (typically at least one a day on Reddit's /r/pastorarrested forum) far outnumbers the number from more left-leaning denominations like Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Unitarians or Congregationalists. I haven't done an actual tabulation, but an eyeball glance at the articles over the last couple of months suggests that the evangelical crowd has displaced the Catholics at the top of the charts for arrests.

Of course you need to adjust the percentages for the shrinking size of the traditional denominations. I'm speaking as an Episcopalian and a choir school graduate. I'd like to think that my church's child sexual abuse problem is not huge, but I don't really know.

[johnpcapitalist]

No idea. But the number of clergy from traditionally more conservative Christian denominations arrested for child sexual abuse (typically at least one a day on Reddit's /r/pastorarrested forum) far outnumbers the number from more left-leaning denominations like Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Unitarians or Congregationalists. I haven't done an actual tabulation, but an eyeball glance at the articles over the last couple of months suggests that the evangelical crowd has displaced the Catholics at the top of the charts for arrests.

Of course you need to adjust the percentages for the shrinking size of the traditional denominations. I'm speaking as an Episcopalian and a choir school graduate. I'd like to think that my church's child sexual abuse problem is not huge, but I don't really know.

I'm aware that the Episcopal church is shrinking in the US. It's currently at about 1.7 million, down by half in the last 50 years. (I was baptized Episcopalian so I can make the joke about how it's probably still got the highest wealth per capita of any US religious group, as well as the best golf scores and biggest yachts.)

I feel quite confident that when looking at any metrics that normalize for different population sizes and measure incidence per 10,000 people that mainstream denominations will be far lower than hard-right evangelical denominations.

[northland10]

No idea. But the number of clergy from traditionally more conservative Christian denominations arrested for child sexual abuse (typically at least one a day on Reddit's /r/pastorarrested forum) far outnumbers the number from more left-leaning denominations like Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Unitarians or Congregationalists. I haven't done an actual tabulation, but an eyeball glance at the articles over the last couple of months suggests that the evangelical crowd has displaced the Catholics at the top of the charts for arrests.

Of course you need to adjust the percentages for the shrinking size of the traditional denominations. I'm speaking as an Episcopalian and a choir school graduate. I'd like to think that my church's child sexual abuse problem is not huge, but I don't really know.

The shrinking size would be a consideration. I would also like to think that the work we have done you "Keeping God's People Safe" is helping reduce the incidents and even the opportunity (I speak for the Episcopal world but other mainlines are likely the same).

In my position, I am required to take the courses, I think every two years now, and also go through background checks which I just redid about a year ago.

Our training and work now has some key elements:

1. Our church must always be a safe place. We have established rules for some folks based on actions that while not necessarily abuse, crossed the line on a safe space so we needed to provide boundaries to keep it a safe space.

2. Victims (or even) have to feel it is safe to talk to parents and church leaders without being made to feel that it is their fault. Their story must be listened to and investigated with intention and care. The listening also includes others, even in cases outside of abuse (DEI walks closely with protecting God's people because it is about making it a safe, inclusive space where all matter).

3. We must be vigilant to recognize signs and prevent opportunities for abuse (and ensure folks protect themselves from accidentally creating what looks like an opportunity). It is not the LGBTQ+ or cross-dressing folks that are the risk but opportunities for somebody who "seems fine" to groom their target.

4. Basically, I am not allowed to have any sort of romantic relationship with others in the parish, or at minimum, those involved in choir and liturgy. By the nature of my role, I have a pastoral position and thus, a position of power (the power is not good or bad; it just is), so any relationship is not an equal but one where I hold the power. Thus, it is an inappropriate relationship in the church.

There are many other things too numerous to list here.

Having followed some conservative church issues with abuse in the church, I have noticed that they do not seem to have any policies regarding protecting the people and children of their congregation. It is probably made worse by an "I am in charge" philosophy that applies to the pastoral relationship and even the relationship in the family. Those who are not "in charge" (often women and children) are to do what they are told by the authority of the church or family. We have also seen that with charismatic leaders, followers develop very large blind spots (and leaders fall into the trap of protecting their position or their institution and not their flock).

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Oh yeah. He's a kind and lovely soul. I can tell.

Love your avatar! Did you paint it?