I'd thought I'd heard them all until I just heard this one.  It's 100% true.

I think it bears upon more topical subjects because it vividly demonstrates how far ignorance and fundamentalism can take people.  To me, it also bears upon the people like Michelle Bernard, who will fabricate outright lies like the heinous ones exposed for us on 1irritated mothers blog today (sorry the link works but I can't make it pretty)  about healthcare reform killing American women suffering from breast cancer http://open.salon.com/blog/1_irritated_mother/2009/09/02/dear_joan_-_a_question_on_msnbc_analyst_accountability"> .

My friend was having a conversation with her elderly mother about nutritional values of food, and Mom was reading the label ingredients to her over the phone.  She got to "no artificial colors" and claimed "that's the most important".  Why Mom?  "Because they make artificial colors from aborted fetus'"

My friend was flabbergasted and asked her where she'd heard that.  "From Madeline, and she's worked in a hospital for years".

Flabbergasted friend went into an entire litany of reasons why that could not possibly be true, but Mom refused to budge.  Mom has become increasingly rabidly anti-choice of late, and I asked my friend if perhaps it was some bit of dementia.  Friend does not see any signs of that in any other part of her life though.

Friend's Mom attends Mass every day. Her circle of friends is drawn from there.  Draw your own conclusions.  We did - and friend is a good pro-choice, pro-gay rights, mass-attending, practicing  Catholic. (Kinda like Teddy but she and Mom are in Texas.)

I dunno folks, if there are people out there who believe that the US government would allow food companies to make artificial food colors from aborted fetus',  is it at all surprising they can be convinced that healthcare reform will kill more senior citizens and women than those who suffer and die today without healthcare?

I honestly do not know how to combat the level of ignorance in the general population that allows conservatives to use fear and lies and intimidation to get their way. 

I also do not know how to combat the lying, cheating, stealing, and general lack of morality of the people that drove our economy into collapse, and now profit first from the merest hint of a recovery while the rest of us poor assholes still suffer mightily from their greed and corruption.

I just don't know what to do anymore, and moving to a different country or an island seems like the only way out of the morass.

I'd almost managed to ignore it all until it came home tonight when my friend told me her mother believes that they make artificial food coloring from aborted fetus'.  No joke.