The Muslims are Coming! Comedy Tour

Update: Despite several attempts, I never did get a reply to my RSVP request for tickets to the free show but showed up anyway and was able to attend. Yes, the venue did serve alcohol. Other than some of the comedy being about Muslim stereotyping and the experience of growing up Muslim in America, the comedy was not much different from any other contemporary stand-up comedy. The comics were vulgar, profane, and sacrilegious just like most other comics.  I had some good laughs and generally enjoyed the show, but to tell you the truth, I don’t really care that much for stand-up comedy. 

The room was full with people standing and sitting on the floor. We were lucky. Louella and I were standing against a wall and a hostess came and got us and set us at a table which had previously been reserved. We had some of the best seats in the house. 

I was surprised at the diversity of the crowd with people form several different Muslim countries in attendance.

"The Muslims are Coming!" stand up comedy show, featuring some of today's top Muslim-American comedians, is heading out on its first ever tour. And after winding their way through the South, the comics will be stopping in Nashville, TN on August 14 for a night of ridiculous, free laughs!

Sunday, August 14th, 2011 - 8:00pm - Mercy Lounge

RSVP by email to vaguelyqualifiedproductions@gmail.com 

I am planning on going. I wonder if they will be serving adult beverages? I hope so. Stand up comics are much, much funnier after a couple drinks. If I can't have my adult beverage, I probably won't stay long. I would bet they will serve alcohol. I will do an update and let you know.

Muslims are supposed to be teetotalers, you know,  just like Baptist are supposed to be teetotalers, but how will Mercy's Lounge make any money if it is a dry event? Anyway, times are changing; just like Baptist, Muslims will speak to each other in the liquor store. Just like there are a lot of secular Baptist, there are a lot of secular Muslims. (You know why Baptist don't have sex standing up don't you? Somebody might think they are dancing.)

This is a free event. Who is footing the bill? That is the big question. That is what I want to know. Probably the Muslim Brotherhood. Is this part of the plot to get us to put our guard down so they can impose Sharia Law while we are laughing? Those damn Muslims are sneaky: First they get a good Muslim girl to pose as a busty, scantily-clad, curvaceous hot babe to win the Miss USA Pageant, and now comedy! There is no level to which those sneaky bastards will not stoop!

I have requested my free tickets and if I get them, I am going to go. I know those in The-Only-good-Muslim-is-a-Dead-Muslim movement are not going to go, but to those who are not part of that movement, come on out, if you can still get tickets. This might be fun. There may be more to Muslims than the stereotype. If Blacks and gays can be funny, why not Muslims?

These Muslim comics were recently interviewed by the Scene and they seem to be a fairly secular bunch of Muslims. You probably won't be beheaded if you go. Here is a couple excepts from The Scene:

Asked how religious he is, Obeidallah replies, "On a scale of what? Zero to jihadist?" He explains that he identifies as both a Muslim American and Christian American — his father was born in the 1930s in Palestine, and his mother is an Italian-American and practicing Catholic. The family celebrated both Christmas and Ramadan. "I didn't find that to be inconsistent," he says. "In Islam, Jesus is a prophet." Furthermore, Obeidallah says that he is like a typical secular person of any religion, as was his father.

Farsad, who is of Persian descent, also describes herself as secular. "We asked the comedians on the tour to rate themselves on a scale from 1 to Muslim," she says. "I'd definitely be at the '1' end. I grew up culturally Muslim, but I don't think about the religious strictures that often, or ever."

I know those in The-Only-good-Muslim-is-a-Dead-Muslim movement do not believe there is any such a thing as a secular Muslim, but I tend to think there are, just as there are secular Catholics, Jews and Baptist. A lot of people have an identity with there faith but don't take it all that seriously. Anyway, if you can still get a free ticket, Go! See if Muslims can be funny.

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Donelson-Hermitage Summit this Saturday: Rep. Jim Gotto

DCRP-Davidson County Republican Party Donelson-Hermitage Eggs & Bacon Summit Saturday, August 13, 2011

meeting at  Ryan's Steakhouse  3435 Lebanon Pike, Hermitage  Dutch treat Breakfast is at 8:30  Meeting begins at 9 am (sharp)

SPECIAL GUEST   Representative Jim Gotto Come listen what really went on during the last General Assembly and what we can expect in 2012   Event Chairmen - Ken Marrero Rod Williams, DCRP Summit Coordinator

Join our Party!!!!! www.Davidsoncountygop.org/Party  2012 will be a busy year, we need your help.. please sign up!!

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Ann Coulter to Serve as Honorary Chair of GOProud’s Advisory Council

August 9, 2011

Christopher R. Barron, Chairman of the GOProud Board – “Ann Coulter is a brilliant and fearless leader of the conservative movement, we are honored to have her as part of GOProud’s leadership.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, GOProud, the only national organization of gay conservatives and their allies, announced that Ann Coulter was joining the organization’s Advisory Council as Honorary Chair. Coulter’s official title will be “Gay Icon.” “Ann Coulter is a brilliant and fearless leader of the conservative movement, we are honored to have her as part of GOProud’s leadership,” said Christopher Barron, Chairman of GOProud’s Board. “Ann helped put our organization on the map. Politics is full of the meek, the compromising and the apologists – Ann, like GOProud, is the exact opposite of all of those things. We need more Ann Coulters.”

“I am honored to serve in this capacity on GOProud’s Advisory Council, and look forward to being the Queen of Fabulous,” said Coulter.

What? I am not sure what to make of this. I welcome gays to the Republican Party. I am pleased GoProud honored her by naming her Honorary Chair and "Gay Icon" and I am glad she accepted but it makes me wonder: Maybe the rumors about Ann Coulter are true.

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Lt. Gov. Ramsey encourages Rick Perry to run for President

(Nashville) – Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R-Tennessee) today issued a strong statement of support for Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) after attending a private meeting with the governor in San Antonio. Gov. Perry is widely believed to be exploring a run for President with an announcement likely in the next few weeks.

“With the stakes this high, I don’t think any of us have the luxury of standing on the sidelines in the upcoming election,” said Lt. Gov. Ramsey. “Our country is at the edge of a precipice. We can either allow President Obama to drive us into the abyss or we can stand our ground and take our country back. I believe Gov. Perry to be the man best suited to lead this fight. If the governor sees fit to make the decision many expect him to, I let him know today that I’ll be there to support him in any way I can.”

Lt. Gov. Ramsey cited not only Perry’s strong support for the 10th Amendment but also his stunning record of economic success as the reasons for his early and enthusiastic support.

“Even Gov. Perry’s detractors concede that the economic success of Texas throughout the Obama Recession has been nothing short of miraculous,” stated Ramsey. “Slice the numbers anyway you like, Gov. Perry’s record in Texas doesn’t lie. I’m eager to see Gov Perry’s Texas recipe for economic growth served up to the entire nation.”

“I think Gov. Perry understands the stakes in this election and welcomes the challenge. He has a long and proven track record of winning elections while at the same time sticking to his principles. His leadership in Texas has been the embodiment of constitutional conservative governance in action. I’m proud to stand behind him.”

Lt. Gov. Ramsey was also candid in dismissing criticism, leveled by potential rival campaigns, that Gov. Perry is unfit to carry the conservative banner because of his involvement in the 1988 Presidential campaign of Al Gore.

“That’s just silly. The Al Gore of 1988 wasn’t the Al Gore of today or even the Al Gore of 2000. Al Gore is a political chameleon and back in the eighties he was doing every thing he could to convince conservatives that he was their representative in the Democratic Party.”

“The true conservatives in the Democratic Party were the first to see Al Gore was a fraud and came to terms with the fact that that the Democratic Party of their fathers was no more. Rick Perry was one of those Democrats.”

“Let’s remember, Ronald Reagan was a Democrat once upon a time. Now he’s a conservative hero to millions of Republicans. Look at Gov. Perry’s record since 1990. Is it more Al Gore or more Ronald Reagan? The man’s record speaks for itself.”

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, the first GOP Senate Speaker in Tennessee in 140 years, has been named “The Best Lawmaker for Business in Tennessee” by Business Tennessee magazine for his success in passing pro-growth policy to improve the state’s business climate.

In the 2008 elections, which saw Republicans suffer major losses across the country, Ramsey led Tennessee’s Republicans to a gain of three Senate seats and a solid five seat majority. Lt. Governor Ramsey became the longest-serving Republican Senate Speaker in Tennessee history in 2009 and was elected to a third term as Speaker in 2011.

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The Lesson from Wisconsin? If We Don’t Surrender, Democrats Lose!

This is an excellent analysis of the Wisconsin recall election from The Blue Collar Muse. 


Last night’s recall votes in Wisconsin were both historic and profound. Historic in that Progressives redefined yet another political feature; the recall. Now it is a club with which to savage politicians for a vote you don’t like. Profound in its implications for the 2012 elections.

The record is clear in Wisconsin. For decades, public sector unions have enjoyed collective bargaining resulting, as always, in increased costs to taxpayers. The overall damage to Wisconsin was ignored until voters woke up and elected a Republican Governor who promised fiscal reform and specifically campaigned on these sorts of issues for years. Scott Walker was elected and Democrats lost.(link)

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Wisconsin Holds the Line

I was worried about the Wisconsin recall election. Last night I flipped channels looking for a report of what was happening. The election was not covered on Fox or CNN. MSNBC carried it live with cheering unionist in the background. Not trusting the MSNBC spin, I anxiously awaited news from Wisconsin. A loss in Wisconsin would have been a major reversal for the tea party movement. The failure to feature the Wisconsin election as an important event, I took for a bad omen. Failure to cover the story by Fox, I took as an indication it must not be going well. I was relieved to learn this morning that we held Wisconsin. The counter revolution failed! I am reproducing this report from The Hermitage Foundation.

The liberal political machine was in full throttle. Millions of dollars in campaign ads streamed on TV. An army of union workers descended on the state in a massive grassroots voter mobilization effort. But when the dust settled, the smoke cleared, and the votes were counted, the conservative majority that swept into Wisconsin last November remained intact last night despite an unprecedented recall effort designed to bring an end to Governor Scott Walker's reforms.

Yesterday in Wisconsin, Democrats tried to recall six GOP senators in an attempt to gain a foothold in the state's legislature—they lost in four of the races, failing to regain a majority in the state senate. Those losses came despite a $14 million effort waged by unions and liberal groups from across the country, including the AFL-CIO, UAW, AFSCME, MoveOn.org, Teamsters, UFCW, NEA, SEIU, and People for the American Way.

The recalls marked the latest battle in the war between liberals and conservatives being waged in the birthplace of American progressivism, and once again, progressivism lost. And it's no wonder.

In last November's election, the Tea Party surge brought new conservative voices to Wisconsin's state government, and under the leadership of Governor Walker, a new way of thinking took hold in the state's capital. Wisconsin faced the fourth highest tax burden in the country, the state carried a $3 billion structural deficit, and unions had a monopoly on power. In June, Heritage's James Sherk explained just how sweet of a deal the state's unions had:

Government employees in Wisconsin paid just 6 percent of their health care premiums and next to nothing for generous pensions, and the average teacher in Milwaukee makes $101,000 a year. Government union contracts also require layoffs to occur on the basis of seniority. Long-time government employees can rest assured that they will never get laid off.

Enter Governor Walker's sweeping reforms, including a new budget and a new collective bargaining law restraining the unions' power. His proposals woke the unions from their sated slumber, spurring massive protests that shut down the state's capitol, and14 Wisconsin senate Democrats fled to Illinois where they hid out for more than three weeks in an attempt to block the law. Ultimately, the reforms passed, they survived legal challenges, and now the state is reaping the benefits.

As America continues to struggle with unemployment, Wisconsin added a net of 9,500 new jobs in June — more than half the 18,000 created nationwide. Meanwhile, neighboring Illinois lost 7,200 jobs in June--and the state's government is pursuing the well-worn liberal path of drastically higher taxes in order to combat crippling deficits. Heritage's Rob Bluey reports on Wisconsin's new-found success:

Wisconsin’s resurgence comes after three years of job losses — more than 150,000 jobs were lost in the three years before Walker became governor. Since he took office in January, the state has added 39,300 private-sector jobs. That puts Walker on pace to exceed his goal of 250,000 new jobs in four years.

In Wisconsin, the voters took notice. In a state that Barack Obama won handily in 2008, where unions have a historical stronghold, and where millions were spent to halt the tide of conservatism, the movement toward reform continues. Last night's recall elections show that the Tea Party wave, even in the bluest of states, is no fluke.

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Doorbell

In simple fashion, this video brings home the significance of the federal debt crisis and the impact of the debt on the next generation.

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"The First Latino Elected to Public Office in Davidson County"

John Arriola

In today's Tennessean, newly elected Council member Fabian Bedne was referred to as the "first Latino elected to public office in Davidson County." I do not believe that is correct. I think that distinction goes to embattled County Court Clerk John Arriola. I have done a thorough Google search and cannot confirm this but somehow, I seem to recall that Arriola's parents were from Cuba.

In 1990 Arriola was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 55th District where he served for twelve years. John was elected as the Davidson County Clerk in 2006.

John is a native and lifetime resident of Nashville. He does not have an accent but "Arriola" is a Spanish name and John looks ethnic. John’s mother and father are Norman and Viola. They manage a restaurant owned by John Arriola, called Norma Couser's Country Kitchen. It is good meat and three located across from the zoo. They serve great cat fish. Normal Counser had been in the restaurant business since 1948. In August 1987 he married Viola Arriola.

I know this is not terribly important but when I see an assertion that I think is not true, I want to set the record straight. I have emailed John Arriola and asked him if he is of Cuban extraction and his ancestry. If I get a reply from John or confirmation from other sources I will update this post. I have also emailed the writer of The Tennessean article, Michael Cass, asking him to fact check his story.

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