Remarks such as these make me furious (and they should you, as well). These are chauvinistic, neathanderthal-like utterances which have no place in our society. If these "representatives" believe that this is acceptable language to be used in this debate, then their fitness to continue serving should be put under careful and very critical scrutiny. These men spew a particularly distasteful form of malevoent and self-serving filth.
Think Progress: "Inhofe worries that Sotomayor may allow 'undue influence from her own personal race, gender.'"> Check out this post on Think Progress:>>
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/26/sotomayor-inhofe/>> "Inhofe worries that Sotomayor may allow 'undue influence from her own > personal race, gender.'">
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
I am astounded...and you should be, too
I strongly fear that the legislative branch of our federal government may be terminally mentally ill. The current popularly elected members just sent a bill to the President, for his signature, which deals (not very effectively) with credit card use and abuse, and deception and dubious, usurous lending practices. This legislation claims to have a direct and beneficial effect upon almost anyone in the United States who uses a credit card. Many say it is too little too late, many say it is less than worthwhile and some even say it is yet another concession to Wall Street, the banking industry and credit card companies.
Be that as it may, this legislation bears some curious amendments, one of which allows anyone who has a gun license to carry a loaded weapon into a national recreational park just because. These two legislative actions should NEVER have been considered together, never been disussed in the same breath and never been used as competitive pawns in a game of financial life and death for American consumers. The United States is in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and the debate about the many measures that may be necessary to "fix" it, has been polluted and corrupted by a curious discussion: it concerns the highly unlikely circumstance that might "require" someone to shoot a black bear. Brilliant. Genius. Astoundingly stupid. Crazy,even.
The members of the legislature who wrote and attached this amendment to the credit card reform bill should be examined very soon by a psychiatrist. Their essential thinking and logic is deeply flawed. House of Representatives and Senate members who voted for this and/or failed to object strenuously enough to prevent and avoid this sheer lunacy should be immensely ashamed of their behavior and their lack of intestinal fortitude. Their moral fabric and their personal integrity have been severely marginalized.
Put another way, these legislators fondled and had foreplay with our credit cards, and then they had unprotected sex with national gun control, in the back of an FWD SUV in Yellowstone Park, all without kissing us first.
If you are able to provide me with the the name of even one member of this once august body, who can say with a straight face that they collaborated in this act of NRA-sponsored idiocy (and moral carelessness) in good faith, and who can swear that they really and honestly believe they have participated in this travesty because they really and honestly thought it was good, in anyway whatsoever, for the American people, I will give you a medal. Good luck with that.
But these guys and gals are sick, and you (and I) elected them. You may think I am wrong. But just think about whether or not you really want to wear protective body armor on your next hike through Glacier National Park.
Be that as it may, this legislation bears some curious amendments, one of which allows anyone who has a gun license to carry a loaded weapon into a national recreational park just because. These two legislative actions should NEVER have been considered together, never been disussed in the same breath and never been used as competitive pawns in a game of financial life and death for American consumers. The United States is in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and the debate about the many measures that may be necessary to "fix" it, has been polluted and corrupted by a curious discussion: it concerns the highly unlikely circumstance that might "require" someone to shoot a black bear. Brilliant. Genius. Astoundingly stupid. Crazy,even.
The members of the legislature who wrote and attached this amendment to the credit card reform bill should be examined very soon by a psychiatrist. Their essential thinking and logic is deeply flawed. House of Representatives and Senate members who voted for this and/or failed to object strenuously enough to prevent and avoid this sheer lunacy should be immensely ashamed of their behavior and their lack of intestinal fortitude. Their moral fabric and their personal integrity have been severely marginalized.
Put another way, these legislators fondled and had foreplay with our credit cards, and then they had unprotected sex with national gun control, in the back of an FWD SUV in Yellowstone Park, all without kissing us first.
If you are able to provide me with the the name of even one member of this once august body, who can say with a straight face that they collaborated in this act of NRA-sponsored idiocy (and moral carelessness) in good faith, and who can swear that they really and honestly believe they have participated in this travesty because they really and honestly thought it was good, in anyway whatsoever, for the American people, I will give you a medal. Good luck with that.
But these guys and gals are sick, and you (and I) elected them. You may think I am wrong. But just think about whether or not you really want to wear protective body armor on your next hike through Glacier National Park.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Don't Believe EverythingYou Read in the papers
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Who Turned Out The Lights?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30700262/
I am so interminably grateful that we have Ms. silicone-implant,opposite sex marriage, semi-nude photograph California and an extended Donald Trump press conference to keep us away from the silly news stories about wars, torture, the Green Zone, single-payer health care, hold-ups to Presidential appointments, the Taliban, rape in the military, withheld money for Katrina victims, Texas charging women for rape kits, inflammatory "insights" from Sen. Sessions and infant mortality rates in Alabama. It leaves almost no time to consider the merits of Sen. Vitter running for re-election on family values, Newt Gingrich re-emerging as a tyranosaurus "ex" and Michael Steele as missing the whole point that he is a token black man for the RNC. Little things like that.
MSNBC spent at least 90 minutes on little miss tempest in a c-cup this morning, while no one is following the hideous immorality of US soldiers shoving Bibles at Afghanis so that they can "murder for Jesus."
Who shifted our priorities and shut off our moral compass?
I am so interminably grateful that we have Ms. silicone-implant,opposite sex marriage, semi-nude photograph California and an extended Donald Trump press conference to keep us away from the silly news stories about wars, torture, the Green Zone, single-payer health care, hold-ups to Presidential appointments, the Taliban, rape in the military, withheld money for Katrina victims, Texas charging women for rape kits, inflammatory "insights" from Sen. Sessions and infant mortality rates in Alabama. It leaves almost no time to consider the merits of Sen. Vitter running for re-election on family values, Newt Gingrich re-emerging as a tyranosaurus "ex" and Michael Steele as missing the whole point that he is a token black man for the RNC. Little things like that.
MSNBC spent at least 90 minutes on little miss tempest in a c-cup this morning, while no one is following the hideous immorality of US soldiers shoving Bibles at Afghanis so that they can "murder for Jesus."
Who shifted our priorities and shut off our moral compass?
Friday, May 8, 2009
Not necessarily the news
The Good Times as We Knew it Aren't Coming Back, So Now What?
> http://www.alternet.org/workplace/139895
>
I am aware that many readers will accuse this author of being a utopian/liberal/socialist/pinko/commy, but the notion that we could actually have a government that was a facilitator, a government "of the people, by the people and for the people", instead of one that is an impediment to human progress, an overlord or a source of endles frustration, should not be a new figgin idea. .
It will keep the politicians and the bankers awake at night, but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!
> http://www.alternet.org/workplace/139895
>
I am aware that many readers will accuse this author of being a utopian/liberal/socialist/pinko/commy, but the notion that we could actually have a government that was a facilitator, a government "of the people, by the people and for the people", instead of one that is an impediment to human progress, an overlord or a source of endles frustration, should not be a new figgin idea. .
It will keep the politicians and the bankers awake at night, but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
A Bonfire of the Profanities
Gird yourself, brace yourself, temporarily mute your sensibilities, and read this article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/04/soldiers-hunt-for-jesus/
"Al Jazeera report: U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan have Pashto Bibles, told to 'hunt people for Jesus.'"
Good. Now that you have done that, peel yourself down from the ceiling and read on.
I read this article twice, after which I had to pick my jaw up from the floor (it had missed the desk top completely, on the way down), subdue my feelings of rage, indignation and horror, and remind myself I was indeed living in 2009 and not in the midst of the Crusades, lopping off the heads of infidels, in search of the Holy Grail. Jeebus Asparagus! Can this be real? Is this even remotely possible I an “enlightened” age? I kept hoping that Lt. Col. Hensely was a fictional character.
As is my nature, I sent the story out and about, among my circle of friends, detractors, and critics, and my email screen lit up like (pardon the expression) a friggin Christmas tree. An infuriated Buddhist reminded me that the Dali Lama has said that “Buddhism is not for everyone”, the implication being that cramming your religion down another’s throat does not work. Even worse, using religion at cross purposes with itself is both counter-intuitive and heretical (In this case, it amounts to, “Excuse me. But I want to kill you in the name of my lord and savior”).
A Coptic Christian Arab fired back that he would tell these antagonists “Get this stuff out of my lands”.
A non-Christian, non-Jew, non-Arab “plain white American” added that he would not want this “stuff” in his lands either.
All were shocked, offended and as mortified by the gall and moral turpitude as I was.
Clearly we have a chain of idiots responsible for this bonfire: the first is the one who thought this perversion up( lit the match), in the first place. The second is the officer who approved it(put wood on the fire). The third is the procurement officer (or officers) who authorized the materials preparation(poured on the gasoline), and the fourth is the person who outlined and presented the procedural guidelines(fanned the flames). The chaplains involved (“This is general order #1”?) and who attempted to disguise the proselytizing as “gift giving”, should be summarily dismissed, disenfranchised, disgraced and de-frocked. These boys have got their Bible-learnin’ all wrong.
The nearly unthinkable and wholly inconceivable notion that a set of widely-held religious beliefs, the accompanying morals and the humanitarian foundations that accompany them, might be wrapped around the military goals of murder, death and destruction, like a putrefied pork rind, is disgusting. I do not know what else to call it. Using the misinterpreted tenets of any form of theism as a guise for hideous behavior is simply anti-theistic.
Evangelical Christians should be stunned at the audacity of it all.
Christians of any ilk should be shamed and embarrassed.
Christian leaders, east and west, religious thinkers and theological luminaries should be roiling with anger and resentment.
Any Muslim believer or practitioner should be enraged, affronted and infuriated (is it any wonder that so many are willing to take up arms or strap on a bomb?).
John the Baptist, beheaded as he was, should be acting now as the [headless] horseman of the apocolypse, railing against such despicable goings-on (we could use his waterboarding skills, now).
Even practitioners of the dreaded protestant “Jesusology” should be horrified in the manner in which their core beliefs have been maligned, misused and misrepresented.
And any Jew who smirks at this should be reprimanded and labeled as a fraud.
Indeed, the core of any serious belief in the humanity of man should be seen as marginalized and contorted beyond recognition by this action. It is heretical, profane and blasphemous.
This is a brain-dead and bone-headed activity which should be ceased immediately. It makes us barbarians at the gate.
If you claim to be Christian, you might ask yourself, now, “What would Jesus do?” Well, he sure as hell would not do THIS.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/04/soldiers-hunt-for-jesus/
"Al Jazeera report: U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan have Pashto Bibles, told to 'hunt people for Jesus.'"
Good. Now that you have done that, peel yourself down from the ceiling and read on.
I read this article twice, after which I had to pick my jaw up from the floor (it had missed the desk top completely, on the way down), subdue my feelings of rage, indignation and horror, and remind myself I was indeed living in 2009 and not in the midst of the Crusades, lopping off the heads of infidels, in search of the Holy Grail. Jeebus Asparagus! Can this be real? Is this even remotely possible I an “enlightened” age? I kept hoping that Lt. Col. Hensely was a fictional character.
As is my nature, I sent the story out and about, among my circle of friends, detractors, and critics, and my email screen lit up like (pardon the expression) a friggin Christmas tree. An infuriated Buddhist reminded me that the Dali Lama has said that “Buddhism is not for everyone”, the implication being that cramming your religion down another’s throat does not work. Even worse, using religion at cross purposes with itself is both counter-intuitive and heretical (In this case, it amounts to, “Excuse me. But I want to kill you in the name of my lord and savior”).
A Coptic Christian Arab fired back that he would tell these antagonists “Get this stuff out of my lands”.
A non-Christian, non-Jew, non-Arab “plain white American” added that he would not want this “stuff” in his lands either.
All were shocked, offended and as mortified by the gall and moral turpitude as I was.
Clearly we have a chain of idiots responsible for this bonfire: the first is the one who thought this perversion up( lit the match), in the first place. The second is the officer who approved it(put wood on the fire). The third is the procurement officer (or officers) who authorized the materials preparation(poured on the gasoline), and the fourth is the person who outlined and presented the procedural guidelines(fanned the flames). The chaplains involved (“This is general order #1”?) and who attempted to disguise the proselytizing as “gift giving”, should be summarily dismissed, disenfranchised, disgraced and de-frocked. These boys have got their Bible-learnin’ all wrong.
The nearly unthinkable and wholly inconceivable notion that a set of widely-held religious beliefs, the accompanying morals and the humanitarian foundations that accompany them, might be wrapped around the military goals of murder, death and destruction, like a putrefied pork rind, is disgusting. I do not know what else to call it. Using the misinterpreted tenets of any form of theism as a guise for hideous behavior is simply anti-theistic.
Evangelical Christians should be stunned at the audacity of it all.
Christians of any ilk should be shamed and embarrassed.
Christian leaders, east and west, religious thinkers and theological luminaries should be roiling with anger and resentment.
Any Muslim believer or practitioner should be enraged, affronted and infuriated (is it any wonder that so many are willing to take up arms or strap on a bomb?).
John the Baptist, beheaded as he was, should be acting now as the [headless] horseman of the apocolypse, railing against such despicable goings-on (we could use his waterboarding skills, now).
Even practitioners of the dreaded protestant “Jesusology” should be horrified in the manner in which their core beliefs have been maligned, misused and misrepresented.
And any Jew who smirks at this should be reprimanded and labeled as a fraud.
Indeed, the core of any serious belief in the humanity of man should be seen as marginalized and contorted beyond recognition by this action. It is heretical, profane and blasphemous.
This is a brain-dead and bone-headed activity which should be ceased immediately. It makes us barbarians at the gate.
If you claim to be Christian, you might ask yourself, now, “What would Jesus do?” Well, he sure as hell would not do THIS.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Specter of Things.
Senator Arlen Specter has never been a conservative, nor a liberal, nor a moderate, nor an independent. He is a trimmer -- a sailor who trims his sails to meet any incoming political breeze.
-------Rabbi Arthur Waskow 6711 Lincoln Drive Philadelphia PA
This is part of a comment made almost immediately, on an article by Chris Hayes at The Nation.
I could not have said it better myself. I have been counting the days since the last election for Specter (and perhaps others like him) to change colors, post new flags and switch parties. He was, however, on the top of my list of “usual suspects” that one might expect to work out a way to make political hay from the recent demise of moderate conservatism around the country.
Although the dear Senator professes to represent the people of PA, he continues in his current role as representing only himself, his lobbyist supporters, his paychecks and his extensive numerous benefits as a congressman. He has already vowed to vote against the EFCA and will no doubt vote in favor of his generous industrial/hospital healthcare supporters to fight against any effective national health care plan. This will not, of course, impede or alter the contribution-free health care plan he receives as partial compensation for his office.
Faced with certain failure if he had attempted to get re-elected as a Republican, in a state where the red voters have been increasingly over-run by the pink and blue ones, he took the most expedient route and simply changed party affiliations.
This is Washington street theatre, a few prominent Democrats will hail this as “monumental change” and the intellectual fondlers of the new majority will linguistically soil themselves in public for a day or two. Then the stage will be cleared and the props put away, and it will be business as usual. We will still have swine flu scares, Wall Street pecuniary obscenities and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And human slavery and child pornography and massive job losses and multitudinous home foreclosures.
And as for Specter and his sudden acts of political clarity and charity? I don’t care. And in all honesty, you probably don’t either.
-------Rabbi Arthur Waskow 6711 Lincoln Drive Philadelphia PA
This is part of a comment made almost immediately, on an article by Chris Hayes at The Nation.
I could not have said it better myself. I have been counting the days since the last election for Specter (and perhaps others like him) to change colors, post new flags and switch parties. He was, however, on the top of my list of “usual suspects” that one might expect to work out a way to make political hay from the recent demise of moderate conservatism around the country.
Although the dear Senator professes to represent the people of PA, he continues in his current role as representing only himself, his lobbyist supporters, his paychecks and his extensive numerous benefits as a congressman. He has already vowed to vote against the EFCA and will no doubt vote in favor of his generous industrial/hospital healthcare supporters to fight against any effective national health care plan. This will not, of course, impede or alter the contribution-free health care plan he receives as partial compensation for his office.
Faced with certain failure if he had attempted to get re-elected as a Republican, in a state where the red voters have been increasingly over-run by the pink and blue ones, he took the most expedient route and simply changed party affiliations.
This is Washington street theatre, a few prominent Democrats will hail this as “monumental change” and the intellectual fondlers of the new majority will linguistically soil themselves in public for a day or two. Then the stage will be cleared and the props put away, and it will be business as usual. We will still have swine flu scares, Wall Street pecuniary obscenities and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And human slavery and child pornography and massive job losses and multitudinous home foreclosures.
And as for Specter and his sudden acts of political clarity and charity? I don’t care. And in all honesty, you probably don’t either.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
