Too stupid to breathe: Shirley Nagel

Once again, I'm not entirely sure whether this falls under the category of "stupid" or merely malicious. But either way, Shirley Nagel of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., is a nasty, pathetic individual.

Nagel, a supporter of Huggy Bear, declared that only certain children -- namely, those whose parents shared her limited, closed-minded ideology -- would get Halloween candy at her home last Friday night:

Fox 2 News says a sign posted outside Nagel's house, about 12 miles west of Detroit, served notice to all trick-or-treaters. It read: "No handouts for Obama supporters, liars, tricksters or kids of supporters."

Nagel tells WJBK-TV that "Obama's scary." When asked about children who'd been turned away empty-handed and crying, she said: "Oh well. Everybody has a choice."

Okay. It's one thing, say, if you jokingly -- or not -- refuse to let Obama supporters park in your parking lot. But to send children away crying without candy? How much of a black, smoldering mass do you have where your heart should be, Shirley?

I'm sorry. Say what you will about my candidate ... hell, say what you will about me ... but leave my kids out of it. And that goes for every child in Grosse Pointe Farms who had the misfortune of encountering Shirley Nagel, the Wicked Witch of Wayne County, on Friday night.

Halloween brings out the wingnuts

Four years ago, I told you about an old friend of mine from college, who, somewhere between 1987, when I last was acquainted with her, and 2004 went completely off the deep end. I mean, big time fundamentalist batshit crazy, especially with Y2K.

Now a columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, my classmate Shaunti Feldhahn, right (far right), continues to write some really unbelievable stuff, as my blogfather Wes at Walk In Brain reveals. This time, Shaunti takes on Halloween -- you know, that horrible Satanic/Pagan/Wiccan holiday:

One of the biggest misconceptions about Halloween is that it is “nothing but innocent fun.” Now, children getting excited about trick-or-treating is innocent and fun, and a blast - which is why my husband and I allow our children to participate. But we are also very aware of a dark side to the holiday that is anything but innocent, and are very careful about steering clear of it. For us that includes no scary costumes and no haunted houses. But many parents prefer to avoid Halloween altogether.

[...]

[Many have] continued to celebrate Halloween for dark purposes. Today, that has translated directly into very real, very evil Oct. 31 witchcraft and Satanic ceremonies, which I have heard something about from two friends who were raised by Satanist parents. As Steve Russo, author of “Halloween: What’s a Christian to Do?,” described in an interview: “There is a danger to being desensitized to evil. And Halloween is one of the eight high holy days for Satan worshippers and those that practice Wicca. So that means that there are all kind of things that go on unbeknownst to the average person. I am not anti-Halloween or pro-Halloween, but I do want to provide answers for parents.”

First of all, equating Satanism with Wicca is the height of irresponsibility and ignorance. I have Wiccan friends whose religion is, to be perfectly honest, pretty alien to me -- nevertheless, even a neophyte like me knows that it has nothing to do with Satan.

Besides, as a commenter on that AJC column pointed out:

you know, there are some people who use dinner parties to practice partner swapping, so does that taint all dinner parties?

there are some people who use New Year’s Eve to practice debauchery and drinking (NO! say it isn’t so!!), so does that taint all NYE celebrations?

criminey, not letting children participate in what is a fun rite of childhood just because of what a small number of people do - and which doesn’t involve the children in question - is not just silly, it’s downright asinine.

Fundamentalists have this annoying tendency to extrapolate to the point of absurdity, and clearly my old friend is no exception. One of the great joys of the imminent Obama presidency for me will be not having fundies in and around the White House anymore, at least not in a decisionmaking capacity.

Meanwhile, enjoy your Halloween, everyone. And don't let the fundies spook you ...

Happy Halloween thoughts

According to the Death Clock, I have 1,003,754,515 seconds left to live.

1,003,754,514 ...
1,003,754,513 ...
1,003,754,512 ...

That takes me up to August 23, 2039. I'll be 73 years old. My parents both already are older than that ...

And if I can hold on for two days longer, I'll make it to my son's 40th birthday. I'll keep my fingers crossed ...

(h/t ::matthew)