The Watering Hole: March 10 – Jean Calas

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Jean Calas was a French merchant living in Toulouse, France, famous for having been the victim of a biased trial due to his being a Protestant. In France, he is a symbol of Christian religious intolerance. His sole sin was trying to mask the suicide of his son, Marc-Antoine, as a murder. He was charged with the murder and died on March 10, 1762 on the wheel. Voltaire was successful in exonerating Jean Calas (posthumously ) of all charges. His family was paid 36,000 Francs by the king in compensation.

Jean Calas tortured for nothing more than his religious beliefs

Religion was specifically excluded from government in the Constitution. What disturbs me is that the Republican Party is trying to foist religious values into American law. This can not be condoned for any reason.

Could religious dogma endanger the rights of Americans? The “War on Women” offers one step towards this slippery slope! I often wonder if any Republican actually has a mother.

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to offer a counter argument. You can also spill your guts.

84 thoughts on “The Watering Hole: March 10 – Jean Calas”

  2. In one of her typical elaborations, Rachel was explaining the diagram of her show schedule on a white board:
    “You see in the ‘C’ block there? Ts means tease, which means I’m supposed to right now be telling you what is coming up in the last segment of the show tonight, before we go to prison.”

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  3. Contempt of science and logic coupled with blind obedient faith are the badge of courage the republicans so eagerly wear.
    Why?
    Sheeple are easy to control when their high on religion and hopped up on hating anyone that doesn’t believe exactly as they do.
    We are headed for the dark ages until the Santorums, Huckabees and Bachmanns are called out for what they really are.

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  5. I’m reminded by today’s post of something attributed to Voltaire who, as usual, put it quite succinctly:

    In one pamphlet called The Questions of Zapata, a candidate for the priesthood; Zapata, asks innocently:

    How shall we proceed to show that the Jews, whom we burn by the hundred, were for four thousand years the chosen people of God?

    When two Councils anathematize each other, as has often happened, which of them is infallible?

    Zapata, receiving no answer, took to preaching God in all simplicity. He announced to men the common Father, the rewarder, the punisher, and pardoner. He extricated the truth from the lies, and separated religion from fanaticism; he taught and practised virtue. He was gentle, kindly, and modest; and he was burned at Valladolid in the year of grace 1631.

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  7. The religious leaders (during the dark ages, Catholic bishops and priests) and the royalty were part of the 1% and they needed to keep the masses (99%) under control and the best way to do that was through fear. With the advent of available guns for anyone, it becomes more difficult to control the masses. Did you notice how the Richmond police brought the SWAT team to remove some unarmed, peaceful protestors from the steps of the capitol building? Just like the 1% feared the uprising of peasants, today’s 1% remains fearful of the 99%.

    Great post, Walt. You do a wonderful job researching history.

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  8. My internet is finally fixed. I’ve missed you guys.
    The small town near my home is currently caught up in another miscarriage of justice, a federal judge has overturned a young man’s murder conviction after determining that the sheriff’s office and the commonwealth’s attorney manufactured evidence and allowed what they knew was false testimony to be presented to the jury.

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    • Hey Outstanding! How was your internet broken?

      Also, are there charges pending for the sheriff and prosecutor?

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      • Moisture built up in a cover over the receiver stuff on the dish. No charges yet, but a healthy recall movement has begun.

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  9. I find this interesting. it’s exactly my interpretation of the man. I had planned to hold onto a post like this for post-nomination.

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      • On his radio show yesterday, Ed Schultz asked his listeners what job they thought Mittens would have, if they simply saw a picture of him and had to guess.

        There some excellent answers! Circus ringmaster, funeral home director, minor golf pro, country club director, game show host, Ken doll, etc.

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    • I had just read that. He would have a hard time to be President, he’d have to change a lot to be up for the job. Won’t happen.

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    • RMoney’s inner CEO just can’t figure out a way to cotton to the ‘ordinary’, the legislators…let alone the, (ugh), ‘little people’…

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  10. LA Times money quoteon Game Change:

    “It is impossible, and superfluous, to attempt a letter-perfect chronicle of almost any historical event, especially a political campaign, and no doubt Palin and others depicted here will argue that the script takes liberty with the facts, if only in the selection of which events or conversations are presented and which are not.

    But the overall atmosphere of the film is surprisingly kind to all, much more fatalistic than hypercritical and certainly not derisive. Palin’s rise and fall is depicted as series of bad decisions made in relatively good faith that lead up to a hideous car crash.”

    http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-game-change-20120309,0,5717749.story

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  11. Daily Kos Hatemail. The first one points out that IT’S RON PAUL ALL THE WAY! FREEDOM AT LAST!! NO MORE NAZIS! Lucky us.

    Listen up you douchebag homo pedophile! Theres a story on your front page making fun of Congressman Paul. Do you think mocking the ONLY principled politican in America is clever?? You fucking asshole you dont know shit! Ron Paul Is more intelligent and honest than you could ever hope tobe!!! Ron Paul has served in the Congress for decades WITH ABSOLUTE INTERGITY YOU COCKSUCKING FASCIST MORON!!! Has Ron Paul ever been acused of corruption? No t once. The only member of the congress who is COMPLETELY HONEST! The “funny” thing is that while you take money from your fasicst bosses and mock Ron Paul he is working rounf the clock TO PROTECT YOUR FREEDOM!! ungrateful little cunts like you should be tarred and fethered and set on fire! Ron Paul is an american Hero and you are a nutless coward! Do you think we are scared of your Obama-Romney socialist machine? Doyou think we are going to vote for one your fascist candidates? ObaNAZI? Nope. RomNAZI? Nope. I will vote for Ron Paul and if you wont give me a ballot I will fucking write my vote on a piece of my own skin! ONLY ONE POLITICIAN CARES ABOUT FREEDOM AND HE IS RON PAUL!!! Fuck you Moultisas! You have two options, either you take down your anti-Paul nazi story OR I will personally kick your faggot ass the next time I see you at a Ron Paul rally. I wont ask any questions I will simply walk over to you and deck you. I’ll gladly spend the night in jail for the chance to fight a nazi thug like you! And tell your boss Obama-Romney that THE AMERICAN PEOPLE REJECT THEIR FASCIST NAZI REGIME AND WILL VOTE IN RON PAUL THE DEFENDER OF HUMAN FREEDOM AND A FAITHFUL SERVANT OF GOD!!!

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    • I was just reading the hate mail! Thanks for putting up the link, frugal. That’s my favorite letter of the day.

      Dittoheads and Paulbots certainly do get awfully protective of their “gods,” don’t they? Hilarious!

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  13. Hi, gang. I’ve got the new model airplane ready to go but it’s been just a bit too windy for a maiden flight so I’ve been doing a lot of pacing around and chewing my fingernails.

    Checking around the blogs it looks like Reich-radio is taking a big hit. The whole “avoiding controversial content” has me a bit worried though. That sounds like advertisers are poised to pull funding from progressives too in the interest of “fairness”. Sigh… There was nothing controversial about Lushbo’s disgusting attacks but one just knows that the masters of false equivalency will probably do the wrong thing. Still, I could live without Mike Malloy if I knew that Lushbo was relegated to odd time slots on second and third tier stations.

    http://thinkprogress.org/media/2012/03/10/442048/breaking-98-major-advertisers-dump-rush-limbaugh/

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  14. I live about 10 miles west of a major railroad line. This line moves products west to east and east to west across Pennsylvania and it is one very busy line. Today, as I was waiting for the train to pass, I noticed that there were about 100 train cars loaded with cars from west of Pennsylvania. I took that as a good sign.

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    • Didn’t take much time to falsely imprison this young man..
      then the wheels of “justice” ground to a near halt.
      Shame and pity.

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  18. Better day today for Danica at Las Vegas, she started 12th and finished 12th, on the lead lap, running as high as 6th, but had understeer after the last stop. Nineteen year old Johanna Long started 15th and finished 19th, down two laps. Jennifer Jo Cobb finished 36th, retiring the car after 72 laps. Next week it’s BRISTOL!

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  19. Don’t recall if this was posted:

    REPORT: SOME PAPERS WON’T BE RUNNING NEXT WEEK’S ‘DOONESBURY’ STRIPS

    Here’s what’s in the strips

    [from the descriptive rundown the strip is spot on. Odd how these newspapers have no trouble writing about the shaming procedures the legislature introduces yet find the comic strip telling the same – offensive]

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  20. Results for Kansas Republican Caucus (U.S. Presidential Primary)
    Mar 10, 2012 (100% of precincts reporting)
    Rick Santorum—15,290—-51.2%
    Mitt Romney——-6,250—-20.9%
    Newt Gingrich—–4,298—-14.4%
    Ron Paul———–3,767—-12.6%
    Other—————–252——0.8%

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    • Tying into the theme of today’s Watering Hole is the film Goya’s Ghosts. About the painter Francisco Goya in the late 1700’s. Before watching this film I had not known that the Spanish Inquisition had dragged on so long .

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  24. Laying over in Moab for a couple of days, waiting for my unemployment check to catch up with me. The price of gas and headwinds across eastern Oregon wreaked havoc with my finances. Up early in the morning to catch the shadow play in Arches National Park, I bid you all good evening.

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