Holiday Spirit?

Just in time for Thanksgiving we get some warm and fuzzies:

Does satire fail when it is no longer more absurd than reality?

Satire:

And editorial courtesy of The Onion:

I may be a Christian, but it's not like I'm one of those wacko "love your neighbor as yourself " types.

My faith in the Lord is about the pure, simple values: raising children right, saying grace at the table, strictly forbidding those who are Methodists or Presbyterians from receiving communion because their beliefs are heresies, and curing homosexuals. That's all. Just the core beliefs. You won't see me going on some frothy-mouthed tirade about being a comfort to the downtrodden.

I'm a normal Midwestern housewife. I believe in the basic teachings of the Bible and the church.... If a man lieth down with another man, they shall be taken out and killed. Things everybody can agree on.... You know, basic common sense stuff.

Reality:

An actual news item, courtesy of The Oregonian daily newspaper:

...three young women and a man from a Kansas church, here [in Silverton, Oregon] to register their disdain with the recent election of the nation's first openly transgender mayor, Stu Rasmussen.

...the signs offered assorted damnation -- "Barack Obama = Antichrist," "God Hates You," "You're Going to Hell" and "Fag Media Shame."

...it's our duty to come out here and preach to these people because they're so proud of having a transvestite mayor," Phelps said. "It's disgusting. And where was it? Was it Isaiah? Deuteronomy? About it being an abomination?"

How much damn money does this little piss-ant hate church have anyway? They jet all around the country doing fun stuff like protesting the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, and picketing Obama's grandma's funeral, and all because...America is tolerant of gays? Apart from being diabolically hateful, it doesn't even make sense.

I'm glad I live in a country where people are entitled to express their opinions, no matter how batshit crazy or ignorant or appalling. And I'm also very happy to live in Oregon, the same state as Stu Rasmussen, new Mayor of the lovely town of Silverton, and not Kansas, with Fred Phelps and his gang of human garbage.

This leaves a very sour taste in my mouth, so I'll probably need to do some happy blogging soon to wash it out. Maybe I'll write up the basketball game tomorrow night. Go Blazers!