It’s Wednesday, February 13th, 2019…but before we begin, two quick thoughts.  First, for those in any sort of relationship, let alone married, tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day.

Second, based on what came to light last week, Lieawatha…

…now meets Phil Sheridan’s definition of a “good Indian“…at least in a political sense.

Now, here’s The Gouge!

First up, courtesy of Slate, Ruth Graham notes The Red Queen’s dogged determination to rewrite Scripture:

Nancy Pelosi Keeps Quoting Her Favorite Bible Verse. The Mystery: It’s Not Actually in the Bible.

“Nancy Pelosi addressed a gathering of presidents of Christian colleges (we can only assume they’re “Christian” in name only!) this week in Washington, where she thanked the evangelical community for its leadership on immigration and refugee policy reform. To this end, the speaker of the House quoted a favorite bit of biblical wisdom in her opening statement: “To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.”

OK, actually, she said, it might not technically be from the Bible. “I can’t find it in the Bible, but I quote it all the time,” Pelosi said as she introduced the quote. “I keep reading and reading the Bible—I know it’s there someplace. It’s supposed to be in Isaiah. I heard a bishop say, ‘To minister to the needs of God’s creation … ’ ”

To clarify: It is not “there someplace.”

…It’s easy to see why the line is useful for a politician. It suggests that to do any kind of earthly good—“to minister to the needs of God’s creation”—is a holy act. The quote is a dollop of ancient wisdom on top of a dry discussion of policy. It’s the next best thing to the Prophet Isaiah himself appearing on the House floor to, say, oppose a particular iteration of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (“to ignore those needs, as this bill does, is to dishonor the God who made us”).

Pelosi has faced surprisingly little pushback over the years for her repeated citation of a nonexistent Bible verse. There was a flurry of harrumphing…

…on conservative websites in 2008, after one site called around to some Bible scholars to confirm that the line didn’t come from the Bible. But she kept on using it, and there’s been little objection from the left or the right in the decade since. That may be because of the fact that politicians mangle quotes and their sources constantly. And Pelosi’s hemming and hawing in her speech this week suggests that she’s aware by now that she has it wrong…”

Though Pelosi claims to “keep reading and reading” her Bible, she obviously hasn’t remotely skimmed Revelation 22:18: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.”

Let alone Proverbs 30: 5,6: “Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar. Every word of God is tested…”

Oops!

Since we’re on the subject of the Forces of Darkness seeking to destroy the Children of Light, FOX News dutifully duplicates this report from the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News:

Hundreds of Southern Baptist leaders, volunteers accused of sexual misconduct in bombshell investigation

Now, the REST of the story!

First, in the interest of full disclosure, we’re a card-carrying member of a Southern Baptist church.

Second, we urge you to do the math: though even one is too many, in a denomination with an “estimated 47,000 churches” comprised of some 15 million members, “about” 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers facing “credible accusations of sexual misconduct”, of which “roughly 220 were convicted of sex crimes or received plea deals”…over a 20-year period…is hardly the Crime of the Century.

Assuming only 1 pastor and 1 volunteer per church (a figure which is ludicrously low), that’s a less-than-earth-shattering .234%.  Considering, at least according to Huffington Post, someone is sexually assaulted in this country once every 98 seconds, the Southern Baptist Convention hardly seems a hotbed of moral depravity.

More importantly, with all due respect to the quality of the reporting and sources (which is very little!), unlike the Catholic Church, there is no administrative body or organization in the SBC which moves personnel from one church to another.  Such decisions are always made at the individual church level.

This is not to denigrate either the Catholic Church or its processes.  Anyone who’s read The Gouge for any length of time knows we’re second to none in our support of Roman Catholicism as a moral institution…our doubts about its current leader notwithstanding.  It’s the reporting which is suspect!

Still, here’s the juice: just as fallible Cardinals elected a Socialist Pope, imperfect people on pulpit committees who fail to exercise proper due diligence sometimes…sometimes…allow the occasional bad Southern Baptist apple to continue to spoil the barrel.

Still, though it’s with a frequency hardly worth mentioning, that won’t prevent the MSM from portraying it as a pandemic.

Next up, as FOX News reports in this forward from George Lawlor…

California to pull plug on billion-dollar bullet train, cites ballooning costs

“California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday he is pulling the plug on the state’s massive high-speed rail project from Los Angeles to San Francisco that was more than a decade behind schedule and billions in the red. “Let’s be real,” Newsom said in his first State of the State address. “The current project, as planned, would cost too much and respectfully take too long. There’s been too little oversight and not enough transparency.”

Newsom added that while California has the capacity to complete a high-speed rail link between Merced and Bakersfield, there simply isn’t a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A...”

Though inquiring minds are left scratching their heads as to precisely who will be interested in high-speed rail travel between Merced and Bakersfield?

Okay, who would be interested at a fare which would make the run profitable?!?

Speaking of Progressive pet projects which continue to yield negative returns, courtesy of Bill Meisen, PJ Media wonders… 

Is ‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett’s Story Falling Apart?

Do Liberals come any other way?!?

Meanwhile, having sown the wind, Progressives are poised to reap the whirlwind, in what NRO‘s Rich Lowry describes as…

“…Virginia is an indication of an inflamed and unforgiving Democratic mood that will define the party’s battle for the 2020 presidential nomination.

Democrats are about to embark on the first “woke” primary, a gantlet of political correctness that will routinely wring abject apologies out of candidates and find fault in even the most sure-footed. The passage of time will be no defense. Nor the best of intentions. Nor anything else.

Any lapses will be interpreted through the most hostile lens, made all the more brutal by the competition of a large field of candidates vying for the approval of a radicalized base. The Democrat nomination battle might as well be fought on the campus of Oberlin College and officiated by the director of the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion…”

Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side:

Then there’s these memes highlighting both Progressives’ hypocrisy and insanity, brought to us by Jim Crilley, Robert Mark and Balls Cotton:

Yeah…REALLY!!!

Finally, we’ll call it a day with another titillating tale torn from the pages of The Crime Blotter, as we learn how a…

Pregnant woman, upset over lack of beef patties, smashes New York restaurant’s windows with bat

We’re of the opinion her pregnancy is only mentioned to provide an excuse for her otherwise inexcusable actions, which are the inevitable manifestation of the entitlement mentality Progressives have purposefully promoted for over 50 years.

Magoo