Looks like I got back in the saddle here at least for a little bit, I saw a Lawrence Odonnell (Host of The Last Word) segment the other night that really caught my attention. First I have to say I am a big fan of the show, and absolutely love Rachael Maddow who precedes Lawrence on MSNBC, weekdays.

The discussion was about the Trump administrations use of the bible to justify recent atrocities committed by the administration in their immigration policy. Perhaps you have heard the kerfuffle concerning the separating of children from their parents?. Anyway the WH acolytes used the bible of all things as justification, the panel on the show was disussing a response to the administration with a couple of guest religious advoates, a Bishop Michael Curry and a Father James Martin.

A lead in by Lawrence:

“In a country that enshrines separation of church and state in
the constitution, we never need to use religion to justifying a government
policy. But American politicians love to do it. And the Trump administration
is doing it to justify their policy of child abuse at the southern border.

Attorney general Jeff Sessions has cited what he calls biblical
justification using a bible passage that was frequently used to justify
slavery. And now Kellyanne Conway has come along and pulled Catholicism
into this bite. At the same time that the Pope and the catholic bishops
and catholic priests have objected to what the President is doing to
children at the southern border.”

Kellyanne Conways remark from a few days back is the topic: “As a mother, as a Catholic, as somebody who has got a conscience and wouldn’t say the junk that somebody, said, apparently, allegedly, I will tell you that nobody likes this policy. ”

And Father James Martin replied thusly: “Well, I think
what she is saying absurd. I believe she has a conscience obviously, but I
think most people who see what’s going on in the border realize that their
conscience is telling them this is outrageous and it’s sinful. There’s a
reason why we are so outraged. It’s because God moves through our
consciences and tries to move us through action. So it’s sinful.”

Then the Bishop Michael Curry had his turn, saying basically that the bible tells us to love thy neighbor, and this policy is not doing that. Then Lawrence said this:

“To the people in our audience who are not religious, have no
religion, to atheists, they can come to the conclusion that this is an
immoral act without any religious guidance whatsoever. And morality can be
found in certain positions without any religious guidance whatsoever or any
religious belief.”

And to that I say Halleluja! Just wanted to bring this to your attention, it caught me by surprise, and I just wanted to share. My admiration for Lawrence Odonnell grew a little more that evening.

Oh, FWIW our asshole in chief signed an executive order just a little while ago canceling the policy THEY put in place, which separates children from their parents at the border. I suppose he will trumpet about acting like it wasn’t under his goddamn guidance in the first place and what a really nice guy he is. Disgusting piece of shit.

The transcript of the Lawrence Odonnell show from which I gathered my quotes, look for it a fair way down the page (look for “Begin Video Clip” followed by “Kellyanne Conway, White House Counselor”) is here:

http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/the-last-word/2018-06-18

EDIT: I have been looking in vain for the video to accompany this post. MSNBC appears to have the wrong video in the 6/18/18 slot, and I cant get a youtube vid to load, says unavailable. So, Im going to let it go, I still have a life lol. If anyone finds the video in your travels, please drop a line and let me know. I figured I might not be able to post the video due to copyright issues, but was hoping I could at least point to the time stamp.