Why Conservatives Can't Be Allowed to Govern

Read this diary at Daily Kos first

That diary I have linked above gives the reason the mainstream media has failed the American public so miserably in the past few decades. It has allowed the fanatical rantings of pundits from the far right (Yes, I'm looking directly at you, Faux News) to become the main points of "debate" in the media. This is false, wrong debate based on false equivalencies, such as the idiotic debate between "creation science" and "evolution" - There are no points of contention. If you want to look at things from a scientific perspective, you go with Evolution. If you want ultimate answers to the meaning of life, you'll have to go with religion or philosophy.

Bill Maher, with whom I disagree quite a bit on some things obviously, had a great segment recently (NSFW language alert!) in which he asserted that we have too many false debates. There are no two perfectly defined sides to every issue or event in the news. We need to stop pretending that people like the birthers have a real point. We need to stop pretending that the truth is up for debate and can be discovered only through proper polling. Case in point, most people seem to be under the delusion that the Arizona immigration law is a good idea. It's not. It WILL lead to racial profiling and the detention of US citizens. There is no debate needed. The truth needs to be told, no matter what the public thinks. The media is supposed to inform the public, not reassure the public that everything they believe is really OK. In this way, the public actually has the ability to decide based on the truth, not based on distortions of interpretations or "misrememberings."

Something that is demonstrably true: Conservatives will drive the economy into the ground with run away spending if they are allowed to govern. This is not a debate:

The Deficit You're Freaking Out About is Bush's Fault

There is also another chart that demonstrates how the US under President Obama is actually on the road to recovery - this is also known as the "bikini graph," which just makes Rachel Maddow blush:

Both charts together directly contradict the narrative being pushed by the massive conservative media machine that the economy is in some kind of nose dive. No, the economy WAS in a nose dive under Bush and Obama pulled the plane out of the nose dive just like James Bond did at the beginning of Goldeneye. Furthermore, what was happening under Bush is exactly what results in the free wheeling, unregulated economy that conservatives are always screaming for.

Please, please educate yourself on what the economy has gone through in reality before voting in November.

Why We Need Separation of Church and State

This video of the beginning of the Anti-Historical Texas State Board of Education demostrates why the founding fathers wanted this separation.  This "prayer" is full of lies and historical untruths regarding the USA:



I'm actually appalled that a governmental body like this is allowed to open in prayer at all.  At one point in the past, having a little opening prayer was non-partisan, but this prayer is so obviously skewed and demonstrates the warped agenda of the Anti-Christian "Christian" Right that this kind of thing needs to be banned completely.  Just like the Day of Prayer has been hijacked by the religio-political interests of the Dobsonites, the idea of prayer during any goverment event needs to questioned and, perhaps, eliminated.

Democratic Triumph in Maine!!

Well, I hope that's what this means. Otherwise it means the first step into fascist-ville courtesy of the teabaggers.

The idiot teabaggers of Maine have released a platform that would open the floodgates to a theocratic nightmare (The comments in brackets are from "Bill in Portland Maine," author at the daily kos link) :

Reassert the principle that "Freedom of Religion" does not mean "freedom from religion".
[What part of "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" do you not understand?]

We recognize the sanctity of life, which includes the unborn.
[But later they say in their platform that "Healthcare is not a right" but a "service." I'm confyoozed. I guess if you're gonna be born you better come out rich.]

Discard political correctness, make public the declaration of war (Jihad), made against the US on 23 Feb 1998, and fight the war against the United States by radical Islam to win.
[And we will only accept their unconditional surrender on the deck of a battleship!]

Espouse and follow the principle: It is immoral to steal the property rightfully earned by one person, and give it to another who has no claim or right to its benefits.
[Translation: Gimme back my lawnmower, Herb!]

[The] government takeover of healthcare is not only unconstitutional, but detrimental to the entire healthcare system. Only market based solutions will solve the problems.
[Yes, the insurance industry has done such a STELLAR job solving the problems. Although, to be fair, they did solve the problem of how to increase profits by finding new and exciting ways to deny coverage to sick people.]

Defeat Cap and Trade, investigate collusion between government and industry in the global warming myth, and prosecute any illegal collusion.
[No comment---pretty much speaks for the whole document.]

Seal the border and protect US citizens along the border and everywhere, as is the prime directive of the Federal Government.
[Yes, but which border, Mr. Spock? Which...border...must...be sealed? Mexico? Canada? So...many...borders and we're just one...small...starship! Lost! In a nebula of...uncertainty and...confusion.]

Cut spending, balance the budget, and institute a plan for paying down debt. Proclaim that generational debt shifting is immoral and unconscionable and will not be tolerated!
[Disclaimer: Except when Republicans are in the majority, in which case such generational debt shifting will be relabeled "freedom investing."]

Restore a vigorous grounding in the history and precepts of liberty, freedom, and the constitution to the educational process. As Thomas Jefferson said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
[Ahem---that pot-smoking liberal hack Jefferson was written out of the history books, remember? You'll need to find a more suitable quote by St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin or Ayn Rand. With sloppiness like this, how can we be expected to take the Maine GOP seriously?]

And then, for their grand finale, a swan dive into a Dixie cup of cuckoo:

Repeal and prohibit any participation in efforts to create a one world government.
[Twitch Twitch]

How unrealistic can a platform be? This further demonstrates how completely out of touch this tea party movement actually is with political (and constitutional) reality.

The big question that everyone should really have is: Why are the Republicans even listening to these idiots?

Why Tea Partiers are idiots...

I am shamelessly reposting this from the comment section at this link:

How many of you have seen this:

You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.

You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy com­pany offi­cials to dic­tate energy policy.

You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA oper­a­tive got outed.

You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.

You didn’t get mad when we ille­gally invaded a coun­try that posed no threat to us.

You didn’t get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and count­ing) on said ille­gal war.

You didn’t get mad when over 10 bil­lion dol­lars just dis­ap­peared in Iraq.

You didn’t get mad when you saw the Abu Grahib photos.

You didn’t get mad when you found out we were tor­tur­ing people.

You didn’t get mad when the gov­ern­ment was ille­gally wire­tap­ping Americans.

You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden.

You didn’t get mad when you saw the hor­ri­ble con­di­tions at Wal­ter Reed.

You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city drown.

You didn’t get mad when the deficit hit the tril­lion dol­lar mark.

You finally got mad when.. when… wait for it… when the gov­ern­ment decided that peo­ple in Amer­ica deserved the right to see a doc­tor if they are sick.

(From poster named Stock)

This corporate funded astroturf movement deserves all the disdain and namecalling that the left can throw at them.

Manhattan Declaration: Why I Cannot Sign It

I'm really struggling with this Manhattan Declaration. I cannot condone the legislation of morality and still believe in a country that is truly free.

Basically, the MD has three principles that it elaborates upon:

1.the sanctity of human life
2.the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3.the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

I will probably take days to elaborate and work through this in my head, but I must remain true to what I believe is the specific teachings of Jesus Christ. In some ways, I think the MD is right on, but in others, it doesn't go far enough. For example, if the sanctity of human life is such an issue: Why aren't Christians as a group crying out about the death penalty? Or condeming the Bush administration's throwing away of American and Iraqi lives in Iraq?

It says that the declaration is not partisan, which I don't believe for a minute.

If we believe in religious freedom and have extended that to believe in freedom and equality for all, why the obsession with marriage? Even if a group believes that an act is sinful, does that mean that it needs to be legislated as sinful?

Religious freedom implies freedom to not be religous. The document does not really endorse a free lifestyle, but a severely restricted one. I do believe that sex outside of marriage is not right, but I don't want it legislated to be illegal to have sex outside of marriage. I can't understand how allowing gay marriages will destroy society like a bad disaster movie.

I also am puzzled by the lack of "standing up" for important Christian values like grace and truth.

Where is the condemnation from Christians over the out and out lies being perpetrated by supposed Christians like Sarah Palin or the pretend Christians on Fox Noise? When are Christians going to condemn the name of Christ being peddled in the US as an exlusively right wing Republican product?

As I read the gospels, I see very little about sex and marriage from Christ. The only real statement that Jesus makes about government may be found in the often quoted "Give to Caesar what is Caesar, and to God what is God's". He even acknowledges the corrupt Roman governor, Pilate, as being appointed by God:

8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"

11Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

12From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar."

from John 19

What am I trying to say here? Christianity should have nothing to do with politics. The church I grew up in may have been fundamentalist in some ways, but I can't recall being told that to be a Christian, I had to be a Republican.

I'm pissed off about the Catholic bishops putting conditions on their charity work, which is not Christian at all. Grace, a central tenant of Christianity is being ignored by the majority of Christians and it must be reasserted.

Love, Grace and Truth: That's what's missing in the Manhattan Declaration.

Opposites

If you haven't noticed - I've been BUSY with many things. Among them, writing papers for the graduate courses I finished a month ago. Although, don't feel sorry for me - I'm still loving every minute of it!

I'm down to my last two papers. One is on censorship (just about finished) and the last one is about free will (read a lot - haven't started yet...). It just occured to me only yesterday that I'm writing about opposites. I wanted to write this note about two books I've read recently and how they relate to my writing.


The first book is by Al Gore and it is a devastating critique of the Bush administration. It is all about censorship, it turns out. Bush/Cheyney had a vision: invade Iraq - they had it right from day 1 and September 11 was just the excuse they needed. There was,and is, no connection between Saddam and 9/11. Afghanastan is left for Canada to sort out, even though the US did nothing about finishing the job. If even half of what Gore says is right - George Bush should be put on trial for crimes against humanity. The Department of Homeland Security is a waste of taxpayer money - the administration knew all they needed before 9/11 and just didn't act on the information they were given. All the extra security measures in the airport - having gone through that joke this summer - was not even needed. Our intelligence system before 9/11 worked just fine, thank you very much. If the executive branch had listened to their own intelligence, there could have been prevention. They knew all the hijakers before the flight. They knew they were training to fly commercial jets! Bush and Cheyney & co. were so set on Iraq, they blinded themselves, and continue to blind themselves to reality. It's amazing there aren't more protests. It's also amazing that Gore isn't running for president, because this book would make a good platform. Here's hoping Hilary reads it (how could she not?)



**WARNING:SPOILERS TO THE 7TH HARRY POTTER BOOK AHEAD!!

The other book to deal with censorship is the book than many have been screaming to ban from school libraries: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Please note that I've given the link for the far superior Canadian edition. I have never forgiven the USA publishers for ruining the title of the first book. The title in the rest of the world is: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone! Another form of censorship in the US. It's amazing that this book has been so condemned by fundamentalist Christians, especially considering, as stated by Jack Zipes (He's an expert on children's literature) - That Harry Potter, despite being formulaic and sexist (I really don't agree with him on the second), is a "Christian knight". In fact, interviews with followers of Wicca say that Harry Potter bears more resemblance to Christianity than to the Wiccan religion! Does anyone listen, though? I guess not. Here is a hero, who is singled out and hunted down by evil. Evil knows he will triumph and evil also knows that only he or Harry must survive via the other's death. So, what is the final solution? Harry puts his life on the line, not only for the wizarding world, but for the muggle world. Harry dies to save the world. He then is able to return to life. Does that story sound vaguely familiar to ANYONE???