Outside the Beltway

Follow-up Tabs

Links related to various recent posts.

Steven L. Taylor
14

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BTW, I agree with JVL’s assessment of this:

No reasonable person could doubt Robinson’s intention. He was doing a Hitler salute, but cloaked under the veil of irony, as a way of signaling to the audience that people who object to Hitler salutes are bad.

Or, to put it another way: He’s trying to use mainstream objections about Hitler salutes to launder the Hitler salute and make it an acceptable in-group identity marker.

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14 responses to “Follow-up Tabs”

  1. Roger Avatar
    Roger

    Jack Danforth is the last Republican I voted for, but I’ve never really forgiven him for helping to foist Clarence Thomas and Josh Hawley on us. A modest defense of Bishop Budde is way too little, way too late to make me regain the respect I used to have for him.

    3
  2. Jay L Gischer Avatar
    Jay L Gischer

    John Danforth appears to be a species of a dying breed: A politician who understands that differences of opinion don’t make someone an enemy of America.

    6
  3. Matt Bernius Avatar
    Matt Bernius

    Via Newsweek: Priest Mimics Elon Musk’s Salute at Anti-Abortion Rally. Protip: if you do something that requires to say, “I am not a Nazi” then maybe you shouldn’t have done the thing.

    Steven, in cas you missed it, there was a “find out” aspect to this fuck around story:
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/30/michigan-priest-salute

    On that note:

    From Brian Taylor at A Public Witness: John Danforth, Former GOP Senator & Episcopal Priest, Calls Bishop Budde ‘Prophetic’.

    I was assured that she chose an inappropriate venue that diminished her.

    “What she did was preach biblical truth to power,” Danforth told me. “Now, it fell on deaf ears as far as Trump is concerned. But even falling on deaf ears, I mean, that’s Isaiah 6. So that’s what the prophetic ministry does. It speaks from the standpoint of what the understanding of the speaker is of the word of God to the world at large, and particularly in Washington to politics.”

    2
  4. reid Avatar
    reid

    @Roger: Maybe I’m inventing this, but I thought I heard that he had at least expressed regret about Hawley? If so, then he gets partial credit for seeing the error of his ways. It’s difficult to see actions from another era through the lens of today, too. (I only say this because it’s so sadly rare for anyone to show even a bit of regret, remorse, etc.)

  5. Roger Avatar
    Roger

    @reid: You’re right, after January 6 Danforth walked back a little on Hawley. If I had a more generous spirit I might give him some credit for that, but Hawley so clearly was despicable at the time Danforth endorsed him that I have trouble giving him credit for anything.

  6. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    @Roger: Ah, I didn’t realize you were a Missouri person! Jack Danforth seems like the last of his kind from MO. Sigh.

    1
  7. Roger Avatar
    Roger

    @Jen: born and bred. Back in the day I was proud to claim the state and many of its politicians. It’s tough to say that now. And, not that anybody cares, after I posted this I realized that my actual last Republican vote was for Bob Dole in ‘96 based on concerns I had about Clinton’s character. How quaint that seems now.

    3
  8. Rob1 Avatar
    Rob1

    About that ACC priest who channeled Elon Musk:

    Michigan priest defrocked after making apparent Nazi salute at anti-abortion summit

    According to a statement on the Anglican Catholic church’s website, Robinson’s license in the church was subsequently revoked and he will no longer serve as a priest.

    “We believe that those who mimic the Nazi salute, even as a joke or an attempt to troll their opponents, trivialize the horror of the Holocaust and diminish the sacrifice of those who fought against its perpetrators,” the statement reads. “Such actions are harmful, divisive, and contrary to the tenets of Christian charity.”

    Robinson posted a statement on his Facebook page on Wednesday defending the gesture as “a joke” in “mockery of the hysterical ‘liberals’ who called Elon Musk a Nazi for quite clearly showing the audience his heart was with them”.

    “For the record, in case it needs saying: I am not a Nazi,” he wrote.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/30/michigan-priest-salute

    Except his Wiki profiles suggests he has a lot in common.

    1
  9. Rob1 Avatar
    Rob1

    Father Calvin Robinson finished his remarks at the National Pro-Life Summit by throwing an Elon Musk salute, much to the delight of the of the crowd.

    To the delight of the crowd. Not appalled, not outraged, they were thrilled.

    But rainbow flags and D.E.I. policy, that’s what really sets them off.

    How soon before the locusts set their sights on the ADA and its access regulation?

    3
  10. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @Jen: SLPR headline:

    Former Missouri U.S. Sen. John Danforth wants the GOP to move away from Trump

    To which the GoP suggested that Danforth could pry them away from Trump when his short-fingered, pathetically tiny and dead hands lost their grip. Still in all, he can have props from me for making the suggestion (but Roger doesn’t have to agree if he doesn’t want to).

    1
  11. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @Rob1: Mark this day. This may be the only day during the next four years that a splinter denomination or evangelical group finds that there is a line that it won’t cross for earthly/worldly power.

    I John 2:15-17. (Anyone interested may look it up for themselves and draw their own conclusions. Cracker respects everyone’s free will.)

    4
  12. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    @Rob1:

    How soon before the locusts set their sights on the ADA and its access regulation?

    I cannot fully express how hard I will laugh when they do that. Omg that would be glorious. Trump and co would never know what hit them. The disability rights activists DO NOT FUCK AROUND. They have not forgotten and they are not going back.

    Omg that’s such a beautiful vision.

    3
  13. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    @Beth: I have to believe the ADA is in their sights. The conservatives I know absolutely detest ADA requirements, because it requires spending public money on things they view as “low use.” We had a public building in town that needed to replace its accessibility elevator. A conservative on the budget committee kept asking how much use it got. Finally, our building inspector had to interject that it didn’t MATTER how frequently it was used, it is a requirement to have a working one.

    1
  14. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    @Roger: I lived and worked there for about a decade (in Jeff City and STL). I still have friends there, but cannot believe how sideways the politics have gone.

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