The Reverend's Rants: The Oslo Terror Attack

This is the face of a terrorist.

Today I talk about the horrible attacks in Oslo and Utoya. This is the perfect example of the dangers of extremism in any form.



My sympathy goes to all the victims of this attack, it truly is heart breaking. Please feel free to email me with questions, comments, or concerns at askthereverend@yahoo.com.
/rant

Amy Winehouse is dead and it's all Obama's fault!

An impression of the IQ of the general public

• Amy Winehouse died because Obama wanted to tax her so badly that she killed herself to avoid socialisms.
• I had bad diarria last night you know why?????? Obama!
• Don't raise the debt ceiling! I'm fed up with the federal guverment spending all of my money! They should just abolish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Student Loans, Foreign assistance, and any other guverment spending and let the corporate powers have complete and utter rule over us all! Then and only then, will we truly be free?
• This Norway guy was such a jerk! I'm sure it's some how because of Obama that he done did do it!
• It took forever to get to work today! It's because the Guverment can't keep it's guverment hands of my freeway system!!!!
• KILL WHITEY!!!!
• What's on E network tonight?
• The Obama recession started the second Obama walked into the oval office and declared himself sharia law or somethin
• Glenn Beck for pres!!!!! He's a real 'merican!
• No football, no basketball? Those damn unions ruin everything! it's all Obama's fault!
• BACON!
• Vote 'em all out of office! Except for the Republicans!
• Cut spending! Except on the rich! They really need a few thousand more dollars!
• Obamacare is a job killer! Letting the U.S. default on it's debts is a job creater!
• Did you see Gossip Girl last night? OMG, she is such a little whore!

BATMAN!

FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER BATMAN HAS BEEN A STAPLE OF MY LIFE. I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD WATCHING THE OLD ADAM WEST SHOW ON CABLE WITH MY BROTHER AND SISTER, WE ALL LOVED IT. THE PENGUIN, CATWOMAN, RIDDLER, BOOKWORM, EGGPLANT, AND OF COURSE, THE JOKER WERE ALL SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH FOR US KIDS. THE WAY THAT OLD 1960'S SERIES PLAYED WAS VERY KID FRIENDLY, WATCHING IT NOW MAKES ME REALIZE HOW RIDICULOUS IT WAS BUT AT THE TIME, THERE WAS NOTHING BETTER!

I REMEMBER FOR CHRISTMAS WE ALL GOT BATMAN BATHING TOWELS AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF BATMAN TOYS! TO THIS DAY I REMEMBER THE EXCITEMENT! THEN THE 1989 TIM BURTON MOVIE CAME OUT. IT WAS HARD FOR ME INITIALLY TO GET USED TO THE MORE DARK, REALISTIC VERSION SINCE I WAS SO USED TO THE SWASHBUCKLER TV VERSION. BUT THE MOVIE WAS AWESOME AND IT ONLY SOLIDIFIED MY LOVE FOR THE CAPED CRUSADER EVEN MORE. MICHAEL KEATON AND JACK NICKLESON WERE SO FUN IN THEIR PERFORMANCES AND I TOTALLY HAD THE HOTS FOR VICKIE VALE PLAYED BY KIM BASINGER! LETS JUST SAY THAT'S THE MOMENT IN MY LIFE THAT I NEW I WAS A HETEROSEXUAL! 

AFTER THAT IT WAS BATMAN RETURNS, WITCH I LOVED, BATMAN FOREVER WHICH AT THE TIME I LOVED(NOW NOT SO MUCH). BUT DURING THESE YEARS I WAS ACTUALLY MORE ENAMORED WITH THE BATMAN CARTOON SERIES! IT WAS ON RIGHT AFTER SCHOOL AND I USUALLY DIDN'T MISS IT! I LOVED IT!

 THEN CAME THE ABOMINATION! THE GOD AWFUL MOVIE, QUITE POSSIBLY THE WORST MOVIE EVER MADE IN HISTORY, "BATMAN AND ROBIN". THIS MOVIE WAS SO BAD IT NEARLY KILLED THE BATMAN FRANCHISE FOREVER. IN FACT, FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS FOLLOWING THIS MOVIE BATMAN WAS A JOKE. I CALL THIS PERIOD OF TIME, THE DARK DAYS FOR THE DARK KNIGHT. JUST WATCH THESE CLIPS AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN....

FROM 1997 TO 2002 BATMAN WAS DEAD AFTER THIS MOVIE! THE WORLD TURNED ON BATMAN, EVEN ME! THEN IN 2003 RISING STAR CHRISTOPHER NOLAN SIGNED ON TO REVAMP THE ALMOST DEAD FRANCHISE ON LIFE SUPPORT. AT THAT TIME I HAD NO FAITH IN THIS DIRECTORS ABILITIES AND NEVER THOUGHT THE NEW"BATMAN BEGINS" MOVIE WOULD COME EVEN CLOSE THE THE 1989 TIM BURTON MOVIE. I WENT WITH MY WIFE TO GO SEE IT, AND WE WERE BOTH BLOWN AWAY! THE MOVIE HAD DEPTH, HEART, SOUL, ACTION, DRAMA, COMEDY, ROMANCE, TRAGEDY, AND TRIUMPH! 


2005 MARKED THE GLORIOUS RETURN OF BATMAN BEING A RESPECTABLE HOUSEHOLD NAME ONCE AGAIN. I LOVE BATMAN BEGINS, IT IS MY SECOND FAVORITE BATMAN MOVIE EVER(RIGHT NOW). IT HAS MY FAVORITE QUOTE FROM ANY MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN TO DATE....

THIS MOVIE TRULY IS AMAZING AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT A BIG SUPER HERO MOVIE BUFF! THIS MOVIE IS MORE ABOUT BRUCE WAYNE'S STRUGGLE TO OVERCOME HIS FEAR, ANGER, AND LOSS FROM THE DEATH OF HIS PARENTS THEN IT IS ABOUT BATMAN KICKING SOME BADDIES ASSES!(ALTHOUGH THERE IS PLENTY OF THAT TOO). YOU'LL LOVE IT, I PROMISE!


THEN CAME THE MOST LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE EVER! 2008 "THE DARK KNIGHT" TOPPED BATMAN BEGINS AND THAT IS SAYING A LOT! IT HAD EVERYTHING IT'S PREDECESSOR HAD PLUS THE GREATEST MOVIE VILLAIN OF ALL TIME. MARK MY WORDS, NOBODY WILL EVER TOP HEATH LEDGERS AWE INSPIRING PERFORMANCE AS JOKER, PERIOD!

EVERY VILLAIN IN EVERY MOVIE YOU'VE EVER SEEN HAS SOME SORT OF WEAKNESS OR ALTERNATIVE MOTIVE. WHETHER IT BE JEALOUSY, FEAR, BETRAYAL, MONEY, SPOUSE, OFFSPRING, ETC. NOT JOKER! "HE CAN'T BE BULLIED, RATIONED, OR REASONED WITH, SOME MEN JUST WANT TO WATCH THE WORLD BURN." -ALFRED  THAT IS JOKER TO THE T. NOTHING BATMAN SAYS OR DOES WHETHER IT BE PHYSICALLY OR PSYCHOLOGICALLY CAN DETER JOKER. JOKER EVEN WANTS BATMAN TO KILL HIM JUST TO PROVE THAT HE GOT BATMAN TO BREAK HIS NO KILLING RULE.

NOW EXACTLY ONE YEAR FROM TODAY, NOLAN WILL RELEASE HIS FINAL BATMAN MOVIE"THE DARK KNIGHT RISES" IT WILL BE HIS LAST MOVIE AND I'M SO EXCITED YET BUMMED THAT IT'LL BE HIS LAST! NOLAN SAVED BATMAN! HE MADE THE FRANCHISE INTO A HOUSEHOLD NAME AND BATMAN TRULY IS IN HIS RIGHTFUL SPOT. THE GREATEST OF ALL SUPERHEROS! NOT BECAUSE OF HIS POWERS OR ABILITIES. BUT BECAUSE HE HAS NO SUPER POWERS, HE IS A MORTAL MAN WHO GIVES HIS ALL TO PROTECT THE CITY HE LOVES AND STRIKE FEAR ON THOSE WHO PREY UPON THE FEARFUL. I NOW LEAVE YOU WITH THE TRAILER TO THE NEXT MOVIE......

LONG LIVE THE BAT!!!!!!!

The Reverend's Rants: Heavy Rain

Today's episode is about the video game and interactive drama, Heavy Rain. I thought we could use a more lighthearted (I'm not sure that's an appropriate descriptor, Heavy Rain is quite the sad game.) rant today.



I wanted to also share some pics of the characters in the game.

Ethan Mars. He lost one son to a car accident, and his other son has been taken by the Origami Killer.

Scott Shelby. Private detective hired by the Origami Killer's previous victim's families to track the killer down.

Norman Jayden. FBI agent with addiction problems brought in to help solve the case of the Origami Killer.

Madison Paige. Journalist and insomniac, she is trying to put her fears to rest and track down the killer.

Thanks for listening. Please feel free to email me with questions, comments, or concerns at askthereverendrtb@yahoo.com.
/rant

The Reverend's Rants: A Religious Education

In today's rant I talk about giving our students an education in religion.



Please feel free to email me with questions, comments, or concerns at askthereverendrtb@yahoo.com. Thanks for listening!
/rant

Between Barack and a tard place!

You gotta feel for John Boehner at least a little bit. Here is a staunch conservative, a true blue(or red I should say) Republican. Who has worked his whole life to get to where he is now. Do I agree with his policies or politics? No! Do I respect him, honestly, I do! I believe he is a good man who is doing what he believes is right. And he is being held hostage by his fanatical base in the republican party.

In soooooo many ways he deserves this. If you campaign during an election season on outright lies, fear, hate, and deception. If you let your party succumb to the whims of talk radio and cable news, this is what you get! Here you have your political opponent reaching out to you in good faith, more than wanting to work together with you to govern this country in a bipartisan way. But the very people who swept you into office are demanding you to stop it or else!

The GOP is once again proving that they are amazing at political campaigns but are horrible at actual governance! The republican party is constantly shouting at the country how shitty and terrible the government is and then prove it once they get involved with it!

The debt ceiling "negotiations" Have taken a turn for the worse for Boehner! He had Obama pissing off his liberal base by saying he was willing to take on the Democratic sacred cows

And all Obama asked in return was for the Republicans to take on their sacred cow(s)

But instead of asking the super rich to chip in on the sacrifice so the Middle class and working poor don't have to shoulder all the burden of deficit reduction, the Republicant's instead have said they'd rather just give Obama absolute power in raising the debt ceiling. All they want in return is the ability to vote no and score political points from Obama's willingness to make tough decisions.

Either way Obama has reminded the country why he was elected in the first place. The guy picks his battles cautiously. But when he fights them, he is like a masterful chess artist! I know a lot of liberals wished he fought every battle guns a blazen' but that's just not his governing style. He isn't Michael Jackson. He doesn't swoop around making impressive crowd pleasing moves. He doesn't grab his crotch and shout"ouw!" He's more like

Hans Zimmer, making brilliant, well thought out music but you have to be patient in order to enjoy it and the more patient you are, the more you love it......

In contrast this is a very good example of the GOP governing style, a few nut jobs like it. But to most of us it's just a funny side show.......

We Bleeding Hearts

Liberals. We all know the stereotypes. To the Right Wingers, and even Moderates, we are seen as pansies, wusses, politically correct hippies, and other such things. They seem to have a point. There are plenty of us who worry about offending people. Who worry about being overly 'politically correct'. So why would anyone be a Liberal? Who wants to be 'weak'?

That's easy. I'm a Liberal, and I'm a Liberal because I have empathy. Empathy is not a weakness. Being able to see how people in other situations feel is a strength. Being able to relate to your fellow human beings who aren't like you is a strength. Wanting the same rights for all human beings, regardless of race, creed, orientation, gender, ability, class, etc., is not weak. There is nothing wrong with asking people to stop saying hate words. Racial slurs don't help keep us united. Racial slurs keep us divided into cliques. They make it 'us' and 'them'. Asking others to be tolerant does not make us pansies. It makes us the bigger people. How is asking people to not say those things, or to treat everyone as humans and equals, weakness?

The Right Wing calls us weak and wusses so they can try to justify their bigotry. They say we are all too worried about being politically correct so they can keep saying what they want. By declaring Liberals weak, they make it so they can denigrate anyone who isn't like them. It's the tactic of bullies. Make your opposition look weak, and anything they say seem like it's sissy, and the public will think you are strong. You can then get away with saying any horrible thing you want. Hell, we have the Tea Party going on about how they are racists, and proud! How can they get away with it? Because they make us out to be weak. We say all people deserve respect, they say that only wimps think that, and this is 'Merica! (They use a double whammy of bullying and patriotism.) It's sickening.

Liberals need to show we are not the weaklings they think we are. We aren't weak, and we never were. We have to show them that caring for everyone, even those not just like us, is the right thing to do. We need to spread the message that equal rights is just that, equal rights, and all people deserve them. We bleeding hearts need to show that empathy is not our weakness, it's what makes us strong.

Michele Bachmann Is A Nutjob

This is Michele Bachmann, and she is a nutjob. She recently signed a pledge from THE FAMiLY LEADER, and let me tell you, it's pretty messed up.

The pledge states that,

• 1 million children in the U.S. suffer from their parents getting divorced. (Because the parents need to live in misery, apparently, to protect the delicate child. More on that in a moment.)
• The taxpayer is out over 112 billion dollars because of divorce.
• Social protections for women and children are evaporating.
• And for this one, I'm going to quote the document directly. 

"Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."

After it states these thing, it gets to the vows. The signer vows...

• Fidelity to their spouse.
• Respect for others marriages (As long as they are straight marriages).
• Fidelity to the Constitution.
• "Vigorous  Opposition" to changing the definition of marriage from "one man and one woman".
• Support marriage law reform to remove "quickie divorces".
• Support legal defenses for the Defense Of Marriage Act.
• "Steadfast Embrace" to add an amendment to the Constitution to define marriage as "one man and one woman".
• Protecting women and children by removing prostitution, human trafficking, abortion, pornography, and promiscuity.
• Making it so women the military are not allowed into any kind of combat role, to protect them, of course.
• "Rejection of Sharia Islam and all other anti-woman, anti-human rights forms of totalitarian control".
• Recognizing that women need to make lots of babies for the good of the U.S.A.
• Fierce defense of the First Amendment, as long as no one is using it to offend the faithful.

I read all of this document, and holy shit, it's crazy. I'm going to break down the biggest problems I see with the entire thing.

First is the fact that they make a big deal that people get divorced. They pull out the old favorite, "Think of the children!" Because when parents get divorced, children might be subject to the real world. I'm sure that there is damage done when there is a divorce, but there is always more damage when people stay together "for the children". If parents aren't happy together, there is no reason to stay together. Period. A pursuit of happiness is part of our Declaration of Independence.

Second, yes national protections for women and children are evaporating. They are evaporating because of groups like this one!

Next is the the whole slavery thing. What the fuck? Are they seriously suggesting that an African-American child was better off in slavery? Are they really forgetting how slavery broke apart families? Are they trying to say that Obama is somehow responsible for any of it? For fuck's sake!

The vows are equally stupid.

Vowing to respect other people's marriage, so long as they are straight marriages? Did she not before? Why can't we respect gay marriages? This is ridiculous.

Opposition to changing the definition of marriage? Why would that be a good thing? Homosexuals are people too, and they are citizens (A fact that I rank lower than being a person). They deserve equal rights and protections under the law. Their marriage will not disrupt yours. If you don't like gay marriage, don't have one!

Removing the ability for people to have "quickie divorces" would make so many problems. Some people get married on a whim, or without much thought, or too young. These people may find that they aren't compatible, or that they weren't ready. Why should we force them to be anchored to each other? This would only help to promote unhappiness and misery.

She also vows to remove anything that may taint the innocence of children. Up to, and including; abortion, pornography, and promiscuity. First, pornography is not a social evil. I've said as much before. Second, promiscuity is not a social evil. If people like to have sex, let them! As long as it's consenting adults, then the number of partners they have is no ones business, and it won't effect anyone else. Third, abortion. They claim that women's rights are evaporating, and to help renew them we need to remove more. Reproductive rights are essential to equal rights for women. If we start forcing to women to have children we become monsters.

Making it so women in the military can't be in any kind of combat position, for "protection", does not help to grant them equal rights. These women joined the military, went through all the training, and have earned their positions. How dare you vow to take that away from them?

This next part is, personally, the most hilarious/disgusting. They say they want to make sure Sharia law is never in place, so women's rights and other human rights won't be violated. So, Christian Dominionism is all about equal rights for all? They have already shown to be completely unwilling to grant equal rights, how utterly ironic to say that they don't want someone else to come take your rights away. What they are really saying is that they don't want Islam to do it when Christianity is completely capable.

The more I read this thing and the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Michele Bachmann has, by signing this Presidential Pledge, proven that she is a complete nutjob. She has shown that she hates; homosexuals, non-Christians, African-Americans, women, equality, and pretty much anyone who isn't just like her. She isn't fit to lead this country, and I find it sickening that she even has a chance to get into the Presidential race. She hates other people's freedoms. She will never look out for anyone who isn't a white fundamentalist Christian. Michele Bachmann will never be able to be the leader of this whole country, because she doesn't care about the whole country. She cares about Michele Bachmann, and those like her. We need a President that is able to empathize with other human beings. We don't need Michele eroding our freedoms, and preventing other citizens from getting theirs.

Would you like jam with that toast??

YES WE CAN!

This is somewhat of a sequel to my Obama's toast, enjoy him while you can! post.

BE BADLY DEFEATED IN 2012!

Today was the final nail in the coffin! To all Obama supporters, he's done, finished, gone! Accept it. The American people are too obsessed with tabloids and fluff to have the knowledge required to realize that this bad economy is not his fault.

No doubt the top CEO's of corporations and their hedge fund managers were all giving each other high fives when the unemployment numbers came out today. Only 18,000 jobs created(100,000 was expected) and the unemployment rate jumped up to 9.2 percent.

Obama will not be re-elected! His own liberal base hates him(many have said they will not support him), the republican voters will turn out in droves to defeat him regardless of who the republican nominee is, corporations will be able to influence the general public into voting for their republican puppets, unions have been weakened state to state, and the independent voter is too busy watching "American Idol" and "Gossip Girl" to know what the hell is going on!

So we need to realize that the REAL presidential election is going on right now. The republican primary, whoever wins will be the next president! One of these next three people will be the next President...

1. Mitt Romney

Hi, I'm Troy I mean

Mitt Romney!

The similarities between Mitt and Troy are truly strange........

2. Michelle Bachmann

Michelle "Wont someone please think

The uppity snooty wife of the preacher, sounds like Bachmann to me!

of the children!" Bachmann!

3. Rick Perry

Governor Rick"Yeehaaw!"

Perry!

So their you have it. Mark my words, one of those three will be the next president! In my opinion this country doesn't deserve Obama. The old saying is"You reap what you sow." We Americans are a spoiled, fickle, unruly bunch, all of us! We are reaping what we sow.

People on the right hate him because he's a communist, socialist, terrorist, Muslim, black man!

People on the left hate him because he's a traitor, pussy, weak, DINO, wimpy guy!

People in the middle hate him because he "hasn't made the economy good again yet!?"

We deserve any one of those three republicans, they represent us all far better than Obama does! Now where did I put my Canada map?

The Reverend's Rants: Speak English!

Please don't ever have this attitude.

Today I talk about English as the official language and Spanish speakers.



Thanks for listening! Please feel free to email me with questions, comments, or concerns at askthereverendrtb@yahoo.com.
/rant

Virgil's July 4th celebration!

It was recently reported that democrats don't enjoy July 4th celebrations as much a republicans do. That's nonsense! Watch how much fun I was having surrounded by my Tea Bagging Mormon neighbors in Utah at the Independence Day celebrations!!!!

See!?! We democrats love to be among Red Neck conservatives! If that didn't convince you enough check out how much crazy fun I was having later that day!!!!!!!

I think I can speak for all liberals in attendance that day(all seven of us) when I say that's how much fun we all had! God bless America!

The Reverend's Rants: American Jingoism

The only way this could be more patriotic is if it had an eagle screech every 5 seconds.

Today I talk about American's view of patriotism.



Thanks for listening! Feel free to email me with questions, comments, or concerns at askthereverendrtb@yahoo.com.
/rant

Changing Our Look!

We here at Red Town Blues are dedicated to bringing you exciting posts. We are also dedicated to making it look good while we do it, and so we have begun a redesigning of the blog. We are hoping to make it more unique, more 'Red Town Blues' if you will. The changes are, for the most part, aesthetic. We have added a few new pages (About, Guest Authors) and we will be changing more things as we go, so look forward to a few more design changes in the near future. Hopefully this fixes the cluster we had going, makes things easier to navigate, and doesn't assault the optic nerves. Let us know if we have failed to make it look sleeker, and instead have made a mockery of design principles!

The Reverend's Rants: Mormon Cursing

Here is the long awaited late episode! It's a short one, but it's something that truly irks the shit out of me.



Bonus episode coming sometime before Tuesday! Thanks for listening!
/rant

The end of three eras.

Virgil's epic return! This song is already a classic, but I also loved the video. Plus this song sums up my feelings on people who look down on me.

Yesterday marked the end of three eras!

1. Bob Gates retires and received the medal of honor from President Obama. Back when Gates arrived in 2006 after the mid term thumpin as Bush put it. Rummsfeild was fired retired and Bush nominated Bob Gates as his successor. Like everyone else at that time I was fed up and outraged at the War in Iraq and the reckless disregard Donald Rummsfeild showed for human life both American and Iraqi. I assumed Gates would be no different and automatically hated him when he arrived.

          I now know how wrong I was. I believe he was a good man, a good Defense Secretary, and fine public servant. Now before you all cry foul and decry my non liberal conformity let me say I didn't always agree with him and so forth. But I believe he did so many great things that you simply can't ignore it. He inherited a disaster from Rummy. He made the Secretary of Defense a respectable position again. Hopefully Panetta can pick up the baton and run with it from there.

              2.  Bye bye Beck! Good riddance to one of the most hate filled fucktards in the country. I know he's just leaving Fox but still, one less awful, angry, fear mongering, evil shows on TV! Just a reminder of what we'll all be missing.........

              3. Mark Halperin's smug, egocentric, asshole ways are being exposed finally! I've hated this fucker for a long time now and he finally is himself in the hot seat after calling President Obama a "dick" live on the air. I've never liked this asshole! In fact my shut the fffff....heck up post was in reference to a god awfully stupid piece of shit article that Halperin wrote on the death of Bin Laden. I'm glad this prick is finally being recognized as the shithead that he is!

  This pretty much sums up the REAL media! If media hacks like this guy and these people say things like this about the president on the air it makes you wonder what they say off the air! What a bunch of losers we have in the American press! All of them! They're all a bunch of cynical, self important, smug assholes!

If Obama said anything like this about Mark Halperin the media would be all over it! In fact I bet there would be calls for his immediate resignation! But the media has double standards. Whenever politicians, celebrities, or other well known figures slip up and say something dumb the press immediately points their cameras in the faces of "whoever done it". It would be shoved down our throats for weeks until the ADHD media found another story to expose and sensationalize! But the second a media hack does it........