Cult of Conservative Christian GOPers

By Stephen Webster, Raw Story. ALTERNET: Posted November 30, 2009.

The African nation of Uganda is weighing a bill that would impose the death penalty on HIV positive men who have committed what it calls "aggravated homosexuality."

As if that were not shocking enough, a U.S. author is claiming that a secretive group of American politicians appear to be a driving force in seeing the proposal become law.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, heavily supported by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, was first read in October, triggering a wave of condemnation. According to the gay blog Queerty, Joann Lockard, public affairs officer at the Kampala, Uganda embassy, said the law would "constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda."

She added: "We urge states to take all necessary measures to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests, or detention."

While that condemnation by a U.S. official would seem reflexive, others in U.S. political circles are providing financial and political support for the bill's sponsors, according to author Jeff Sharlet.

Sharlet's book "The Family" is an investigative look at a secretive group of fundamentalist Christian lawmakers in Washington, D.C. In a recent interview with NPR's Terry Gross, he broke the news that The Family's influence in Uganda is rife.

"[The] legislator that introduced the bill, a guy named David Bahati, is a member of The Family," he said. "He appears to be a core member of The Family. He works, he organizes their Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast and oversees a African sort of student leadership program designed to create future leaders for Africa, into which The Family has poured millions of dollars working through a very convoluted chain of linkages passing the money over to Uganda."

And how did Sharlet discover the connection? "You follow [the] money," he said. You look at their archives. You do interviews where you can. It's not so invisible anymore. So that's how working with some research colleagues we discovered that David Bahati, the man behind this legislation, is really deeply, deeply involved in The Family's work in Uganda, that the ethics minister of Uganda, Museveni's kind of right-hand man, a guy named Nsaba Buturo, is also helping to organize The Family's National Prayer Breakfast. And here's a guy who has been the main force for this Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda's executive office and has been very vocal about what he's doing, in a rather extreme and hateful way. But these guys are not so much under the influence of The Family. They are, in Uganda, The Family."

Under current Ugandan law, homosexuality is a crime punishable by life in prison. The proposed law would not just condemn HIV positive gay men and "repeat offenders" to death, it would also jail for three years anyone who knows a gay man but refuses to report them to authorities. Further, anyone who defends in public the rights of gays and lesbians would be subjected to a seven year prison term.

In his NPR interview, Sharlet said the bill would "very likely" pass and become Ugandan law. He added that the nation's president, whom he called a "dictator," has long been in The Family's fold.

"The Family identified [Museveni] back in 1986 as a key man for Africa," he said. "They wanted to steer him away from neutrality or leftist sympathies and bring him into conservative American alliances, and they were able to do so. They've since promoted Uganda as this bright spot - as I say, as this bright spot for African democracy, despite the fact that under their tutelage, Museveni has slowly shifted away from any even veneer of democracy: imprisoning journalists, tampering with elections, supporting - strongly supporting this Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009."

Canada and the U.K. have been leading the international charge against the proposed law, with both prime ministers Gordon Brown and Stephen Harper condemning it.

"Addressing the Commonwealth People’s Forum, Stephen Lewis, the former UN envoy on Aids in Africa, said that the Bill made a mockery of Commonwealth principles," the Times Online reported. "Nothing is as stark, punitive and redolent of hate as the Bill in Uganda," Lewis said.

"We needn't tell you: The implications are dire," opined Queerty. "It's not abnormal for foreign heads of state, like Museveni, to have ties to American politicos. But he's deeply routed in a secretive organization that promotes hatred under the guise of loving Jesus. And the very people — America's elected officials who believe in human rights — we would expect to pressure Uganda's lawmakers not to make such a bill law are turning out to be its biggest supporters."

'hatred under the guise of loving Jesus'. Yes it's true, conservative religious fanatics, THE FAMILY, are supporting a law to murder innocents. People unlike themselves are not worthy to live on this earth? I said it before and it caused a firestorm, but I will say it again..... these right-wing religious fanatics are not walking in Jesus' footsteps, but they are wrapped in the arms of Satan.....

Tell President Obama NO!!

Obama's about to decide whether to send more troops. Tell the President: DON'T.

You've probably heard that President Obama is about to decide whether to send a lot more troops to Afghanistan.¹

And since you're an activist, you also know that there are a ton of reasons this would be a mistake: Hundreds more troops will be killed along with countless civilians. And we could get stuck in an Iraq-style quagmire for decades, while terrorism experts say this isn't even a good way to fight Al Qaeda.

Well, here's one more reason: The war will bankrupt our economy and divert funds we urgently need for health care, education and jobs.

Afghanistan is just about the most remote, difficult-to-access part of the world there is. Sending a gallon of gas there costs $400; keeping a soldier armed, fed and cared for costs almost $1 million a year!²

Tell President Obama -- with the economy in shambles, we just can't afford any more war. It's time to stop sending troops, and create a clear timetable to bring everyone home from Afghanistan.

http://act.truemajorityaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=44

We have nearly 70,000 troops already in Afghanistan,³ yet over the last few months, things have consistently gone from bad to worse despite our engagement. So it's no surprise that most Americans are now opposed to the war.⁴

Despite Afghanistan's problems and lack of public support, some people inside the beltway want to send a huge number of additional troops into harms way -- with no timeline for their return and no clear mission to gauge progress by.⁵

It's the same mistake that got us trapped in Iraq, and which President Obama has promised to avoid with a new foreign policy.

Don't let us go down the same path again - tell Obama not to send more troops.

Is President Obama really going to tell us tomorrow thousands of our troops are going to Afghanistan?? I'm sorry but I can not support the president on this decision, no matter how long and hard it was for him. I don't see an end to these quagmires. I'm so thankful I have no family or friends fighting in these wars or I don't know how I would handle this horrible news! Cindy Sheehan is my hero, here is some of the latest news about her....

In August, 2009, Sheehan protested at Martha's Vineyard during President Barack Obama's stay there. According to ABC News: "Sheehan invoked Sen. Ted Kennedy's passing as part of her message, noting that he was firmly anti-war and how he said his proudest vote as a senator was his 2002 vote against the Iraq war."^[84]

On October 5 Sheehan was arrested with sixty others at the White House protesting President Obama's continuation of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She told CNN: "I think the mood of the country and the mood of our movement is getting a little bit more desperate, and (that) this will be the time to be able to translate our tireless activism and work for peace."^[85]

^{Please sign the petition!}

New Advent blog post...

... about waiting... (click the picture)

Why I Prefer Preterism

I meant what I said when I wrote that I don’t want my blog to be excessively negative. The last post, on my frustrations with dispensational futurism, was quite deconstructive. In this post, I’ll be positive instead. I will explain why I prefer preterism.

I realize that many people reading this have probably never heard of preterism. It is fairly new to me too. Briefly put, preterism is the view that many of the prophecies in Revelation and the Olivet discourse were fulfilled by the end of the first century. More information can be found a The Preterist Site or you can listen to the Preterist Podcast if you (like the Podcast's author) are a Mac loyalist, or at least own an iPod.

As a caveat, I reiterate that I am relatively new to preterism. I missed the “Biblical Apocalyptic” class at Azusa Pacific. Eschatology in general is not my area of expertise. Additionally, I would like to make it clear that I support orthodox preterism. What this means is that I reject the kind of preterism that denies a future bodily resurrection among other essentials to the Christian faith. I find that there are those who automatically equate preterism with heresy. I hope that those reading this won’t have such a knee jerk reaction.

Here goes:

Preterism understands literal and temporal context well. If there is one fundamental reason why I like preterism, it is the fact that I never scratch my head and wonder why preterists believe what they believe. Preterists know what their hermeneutic is and they understand how it is distinct from actually interpreting the bible. N.T. Wright, who is often invoked by pretestists, spends a whole four-hundred page volume explaining his method before he proceeds to exegete the Gospels in later works. I know his assumptions, he knows his assumptions, and consequently I understand him when he gets into the story of Christ’s ministry.

Preterists, when commenting on things like the Olivet discourse or revelation are upfront with their hermeneutic and I see that. For instance, when reading through Jesus’ words at Olivet they rightly point out that condemnation of the Jewish Apostates was a major theme in Matthew, and they understand Olivet in that light. Preterists then, look to the surrounding literally context of a passage to get to an understanding of what that passage is talking about.

Preterists also get deep into the time period of when a passage is written. First, they rightly assume that when Jesus was talking about things happening “soon” and when he refers to “this generation” they ought to be understood as if they were written to another audience, in another time, and in another place –because they were (in fact!) written to another audience, in another time, and in another place.

Literal and temporal context are imminently basic to any hermeneutic of anything. Yet it seems to me the preterists are the only ones applying it to scripture.

Preterism is consistent when it comes to cultural idiom and genre. Idiom and genre are other important aspects of interpretation that preterists have a firm grasp on. Most people agree that there are plenty of idioms in the Bible. When Jesus says in Luke 14:26 that the disciples must hate their family and their own lives, most people will agree that Jesus did not want us to be hateful, but recognize that Jesus was using a cultural idiom for choosing between two alternatives. (“I love this, and I hate that.” Was a way of saying “I choose this.”). Likewise, genre is something that nobody wants to ignore. The parables of Jesus are understood in the way they are because we know their genre. We know this, and how they were understood, because lots of other people in that era spoke in parables. So we come to understand genre by comparing what the Bible contains with similar literature from the era the Bible was written in.

When preterists read phrases like “the moon will not shed its light” and “coming on the clouds” and even “[violence/tribulation] never to be equaled again” they are fully aware of the idioms and hyperbole of Jesus or whoever else might be speaking. Likewise, when looking at Ezekiel, Daniel, or Revelation I have noticed that preterists are also aware of the genre of apocalyptic literature, which they glean from other sources just like the non-biblical parables. From this, they learn to look at Revelation in a way the author likely intended.

Preterism makes the Good News sound like “Good News.” There is another thing that I’ve noticed about preterism, that may not be essential to it, but often goes hand and hand: the idea that the Kingdom of God was initiated with the coming of Jesus and continues to this day.

This is some serious good news! The idea that the Kingdom of God is a way of life, a political order, and/or liberation of the oppressed etc deserves an entire blog. Preterists take it as a given and often articulate that God has been growing the Kingdom of God like a muster seed since its inception in the time of Jesus. There is also an assumption that waiting for Christ’s coming is preparing the world for him to come. This is like how you would clean up your house for an honored guest. The Church, then, works in the world to make the world better. When preterists say, “The Kingdom of God is at hand” they mean things like “We intend to liberate slaves” rather than “Christians are going to disappear and the planet will pretty much literally go to hell.”

All Hail Dee Dee Warren!

I think that those three reasons are only the beginning of why I am attracted to preterism. It really boils down to one thing; even before I knew there was something besides dispensational futurism (yes, I was eye-ball deep in a church that believes it), I learned the basics of hermerneutics. When I listen to the preterists, I hear them appealing to, understanding, and applying the principles I learned. Because of this, I simply trust them a lot more than others. Additionally, the idea of end times being about regenerating and providing hope for the world is an eschatology I am instinctively drawn to.

So color me an Orthodox preterist. It was inevitable after leaving Azusa Pacific anyway.

Advent Sunday - on Five Minutes Space, and Advent blog

Sermon here

Why I am Frustrated with Futurism

While it was never my intention to be overly negative or deconstructive when it comes to this blog, I think I finally need to comment on Dispensational Futurism, otherwise known as “end times” by the popular evangelicalism. Dispensational Futurism, for those of here who may not be familiar with it, is a specific understanding of the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24, Revelation, Daniel and such. It represents the popular dogmas like the rapture (when Christians disappear) the coming tribulation, black helicopters, and a world government of the Anti-Christ. It was popularized by the Left Behind series, which is a whole different blog entirely.

At this time, I not only think that Dispensational Futurism is off track, I think that dispensationalism faces quite a bit of problems; problems that I think are not easily overcome. Here are some of the reasons why I am frustrated with futurism.

Dispensational Futurism is not a “conservative” view. Dispensational Futurism is often taught in evangelical churches, and especially charismatic and very fundamentalist churches, “what the Bible teaches.” Deviations from futurism are often taught as “liberal” viewpoints to be viewed with suspicion. Dispensationalism is right because it is conservative.

The strange thing is, dispensational futurism is far from conservative. It began in the 1800s –very late by Church History standards- and it was incredibly novel of an idea even then. Most Christians, including the big names in Protestantism like Luther, Calvin, and Wesley, never knew of futurism like we know it today and would not endorse it if they knew of it now. Furthermore, when futurists first came on the scene, they snubbed ministers who they considered to intellectual (and were consequently the actual conservatives) as not having anything worth saying.

Dispensational Futurism is a liberal view. In fact, if one considers how futurists approach scripture, the positions might actually be radical. This leads me to the second point…

Dispensational Futurists are hermeneutically challenged. While I am sure that there are futurists out there who are very conscious and aware of their interpretative methods, I am beginning to think that many futurists not only do not know their own hermeneutic, but do not even know what a “hermeneutic” is.

The more I talk to futurists, the more I am convinced that they do not know the difference between an interpretive method (a hermeneutic) and the act of interpreting. Furthermore, some of the most basic principles of interpretation are outright doubly ignored, such as reading a passage in its literally context or according to the time period it was written.

I believe that the conclusions of futurism are matters of presumption, and it is a presumption they are not aware of. The parable of the Purple Cow exemplifies this problem.

Dispensational Futurism has made Too Many False Prophecies. One can pick up a book at a Christian bookstore entitled “Charting the End Times” but chances are you aren’t going to find “88 Reasons why Jesus is coming in 1988.” Most books that talked about the end of the world around the year 2000 are less than likely to available for purchase too. I also doubt anyone is reading “the Late Great Planet Earth.” Why? Because these books prophesied about then current events that turned out not to be true.

There is a serious problem with consistency here. Many Christians rightly denounce the latter day prophets of Mormonism and the Jehovah Witnesses for their failed visions of the end of the world. Rightly, people invoke the test of a false prophet in Deuteronomy 18.

For even one false prophecy made by the founders of Mormonism, your average evangelical will rightly say “away with them and their theological projects.” Why then do we tolerate the failed predictions of dispensational futurism? Is it because names keep changing every ten years or so? Failed prophecies are failed prophecies. This should be enough to make at least reevaluate futurism if not dump it completely. Sadly, people seem to have a short memory about these things.

Dispensational Futurism encourages a “fire escape” Gospel I almost entitled this section as “Dispensational Futurism has a suspicious genesis.” But I think it suffices to say this, Dispensational Futurism, since its inception, has taught that the W.A.S.P.’s are alienated people, losing control in their society, and thus will eventually be sucked away from world because they’re just that special. In other words, get on board, and get out. Many articles, like those found at the preteristsite.com and the slacktivisit have already noted this same attitude in the Left Behind series, and I need not expound on them here.

I do not believe the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, and such is about escape planet earth and letting all God’s creation burn. The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that starts small and then grows into something huge within the soil it was planted in. It is not like a soldier in a foxhole waiting for helicopter evac. Christians should not be looking to things like the rapture index to see how horrible the world is getting and looking foreward to our escape with self-satisfactory smugness, rather we should be doing the work of God in the world and preparing it for his coming.

So there it is: Four reasons why I am frustrated with futurism. It is a liberal view supported by poor interpretation. It has a bad track record when it comes to predicting the future and encourages, if only implicitly, that Christians need not care about the condition of the world around them. This is something I have been frustrated with for years.

So suck it, LaHaye.

INSANE Americans heart Sarah......

This is one of the most bizarre videos of American insanity I have ever seen! It's actually scary we have people like these living in our neighborhoods, our kids are playing with their kids, they are working side by side with us!! Good Lord, this is what we have to listen to for the next 3 years?? I say 3 years because after that Palin will be long forgotten, in fact it's her own rethug party that will destroy her, thank God!!

One idiot man said... "I think you'll see crowds like this wherever she goes"
Yes sir, idiots JUST LIKE YOU....

I hope you listen to this whole video, it's amazing!!

US says no to landmine ban

Help us understand this RZ!

U.S. won't join landmine ban, administration decides

From Charley Keyes, CNN Senior Producer

November 24, 2009 6:05 p.m. EST

Washington (CNN) -- The United States won't join its NATO allies and many other countries in formally banning landmines, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said during his midday briefing Tuesday.

"This administration undertook a policy review and we decided our landmine policy remains in effect," Kelly said in response to a question. "We made our policy review and we determined that we would not be able to meet our national defense needs nor our security commitments to our friends and allies if we sign this convention."

Opponents of the U.S. landmine policy said they were surprised.

"It is a disturbing development," said Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch. "The administration never said a policy review was under way."

Goose said the decision to leave the policy in place is at odds with the administration's professed commitments to international agreements and humanitarian issues.

"The international treaty against landmines has made a a huge difference and it is a very strong deterrent," Goose said. "It has to have been a very fast and cursory review."

The United States will attend an international conference on landmines next week in Cartagena, Colombia, sending an inter-agency delegation from the State and Defense departments as observers.

Kelly said the United States continues to work with governments as well as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to help remove landmines.

"The U.S. is proud to be the world's single largest supporter of humanitarian mine action," Kelly said. "Since 1993 the U.S. has provided more than $1.5 billion worldwide dedicated to building new partnerships with more than 50 post-conflict countries and supporting efforts by dozens of NGOs to promote stability and set the stage for recovery and development through mine clearance and conventional-weapons destruction programs."

The United States is the only member of NATO that will not sign the landmine treaty, Goose said. Russia and China also have not joined the 156 nations that have endorsed the ban, he said.

I am feeling increasingly uneasy about this administration and President Obama. Now don't get me wrong, I don't plan on badmouthing him, or jumping ship. I just want to see a more forceful president when it comes to progressive issues. He has disapointed me with the stance on Afghanistan, and his laid back style with the HC reform is so annoying. I am growing impatient and I don't want to. I'm always the optimist remember??

On my bloglist you will see Annette has a video up , there is an event coming up in January, a rally in Washington that we hope will put any 'ole teabagging groupie to shame! This is a rally to support the president and his agenda. We need a massive amout of people there so check out the video and write down the date! We dems have to show the rightwing nutjobs what a real rally looks like, plus I need to get my half empty glass half full again!! I need this bad!

The Word as a Wordle

Here is Advent Sunday's (29th November) Gospel from Luke 21:25-26 as a seaonally coloured Wordle.

Hope it proves inspirational!

Go into all the [virtual world] and make disciples - why I use social networking sites...

Many of you will be aware that whilst I like to blog, I am also a regular user of social networking sites, especially Twitter and Facebook. Now I could perfectly well see why some of you might think that they are a waste of time, as the relationships forged on them are as virtual as the internet driven world itself. Some of you might also be thinking, hasn't he got enough to do? Is he just a lazy priest, swanning around on the internet all day, and not visiting the lonely, the housebound and generally spreading the word?

My response could be, in a way... fair point. But, I do believe that the use of these new media are essential to us as Christians, and to me as a pastor and priest, essential tools in the ministry which God has given me to exercise in His name.

My entry into the social networking world began out of necessity. When our church put on a special service or a special event our activity we were reaching a certain group of people - the 'regulars' we shall call them. Advertising these events is tricky, physically. Our church noticeboard is of the 'drive-past-able' variety. Some of the local shop keepers were willing put up the odd poster or two occasionally. This seemed effective only to a point. Was there a way of reaching others locally?

I decided to sign up to Facebook to see if there were others locally who had some contact with the church, perhaps through an occasional office, that might come back to something else that we were doing, as I was sure that people were sometimes not coming to these things because they did not know that they were on.

Very quickly I discovered there were many people that I knew locally, that I could invite to things, pray for, and do some pastoral support through this excellent tool. Now we have a church Facebook page, with a growing number of members who are both regular and occasional attenders at Sunday worship.

Facebook has also given us another spin off. In having to RSVP to an event that we might advertise, we also have a good idea of the number of people who will attend, and you can see straight away why that might be helpful.

Facebook has also been the entry point into pastoral care, prayer, and support too for the local community and I am thankful for it, as it gives an insight (however mundane or facile) lives. But, at times, it has provided the beginnings of real support - leading to prayer or a visit. A personal example is when son #3 had swine flu and we were able to post updates on Facebook and we were supported in prayer all over the world.

I also blog, and you wouldn't be reading this if you did not know that. I blog for a number of reasons:

• It is my diary - a place to record thoughts and experiences primarily for me
• It is a repository of sermons and sermon prep - I post past sermons for your delectation and delight, and workings on current ones too. With the introduction of my Word as a Wordle - which I hope helps give a new take on (usually) the Gospel reading for the week. It certainly helps me to prepare, and to have some notes as 'work in progress I find helpful. If they inspire others too - result.
• I use this blog - Rectory Musings - to also highlight the existence of my other blog Five Minutes Space and other assorted web based bits that might prove helpful - other blogs I read, Daily Prayer from the CofE etc...

I also feed my blog entries onto Facebook to ensure that the people I tried to reach out to locally have some sources of spiritual inspiration from their local church too - and the feedback I have from parents of football playing children for whom SUnday worship is an occasional thing - it is a good thing. It is a God thing...

Relatively recently, I have learned to 'tweet' and now use Twitter regularly. Twitter is not a social networking tool like Facebook, but a micro-blogging site. It allows the user to record, in 140 characters, what is going on for them. It has taken me a long time to 'get' Twitter. But now, with the right software (Tweetdeck is my personal fave) I have found it to be an invaluable tool.

Twitter is very immediate. There are some contacts I have there, who I also have on Facebook. There are some there, who I know personally. Many of my Twitter 'friends' I have never met and perhaps I am never likely to meet, and yet, there is some sort of community there.

There are a number of Anglican clerics who Tweet and we have been grouped together with other 'tweeting' Bishops as the Twurch of England. This network, for me, has been a network of shared interest, support, prayer and encouragement. A couple of weeks ago I tweeted that I was off to do, what could have been a tricky visit and I asked for prayer. Almost instantly, tweets came back from others in other places assuring me that I was held in prayer. I felt supported by The Church and by God through prayer.

In to the midest of all this positivity comes the Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, who recently caused a bit of stir in the blogsphere with comments about social networking and blogging which you can be found here.

I take his point.

The other main reason that I use Facebook, tweet, or blog is about accountability. It can be clearly tracked what it is I have done and when. You can see the progress that I am making on a sermon etc. As church, you have some sense of what your cleric is up to. Sure that is open to abuse, but so was the banking systems that are the backbone of global business and look what happened when that was abused - global recession.

I accept that blogging, Facebook and Twitter may not be for you, but I am clear that they are part of the tools of my trade - making known the love of Christ - and that God uses them to reveal His coming Kingdom in the [virtual] world.

What more Advent?

Wow! I am really getting into the swing of this again, but I am supposed to be hoovering! Anyway, I have just added something else Advent blog which I got from a friend on Twitter. It is a a few minutes of utter genius... Enjoy!

A divided left-wing

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Why is it republicans stood behind a joke of a president like Bush, but when the majority of the country elects a democrat, a very popular democrat, the left can't make up its mind what it stands for? How can we sit by and let 3 or 4 obstructionist dems(yes I said obstructionist dems, not rethugs, we all know rethugs are irrelevant) take down the president and this very important reform that will shape his presidency!

Harry Reid I have one word and one word only... RECONCILIATION!!!!! Do Not take us back to 1994!

Five Minutes Space 2009

I have just spruced up my Advent blog - Five Minutes Space - for Advent 2009.

I hope that you might read it and perhaps even find it inspirational. I will be updating it daily.

I will link the blog here for your delectation and delight...

Monday Funny!

We could use a good laugh, besides this reminds me of the repubs from the deep south, in a red state of course. You choose which state! :-)))

I got this today in my inbox......


Dearest Redneck Son,

I'm writing this slow because I know you can't read fast. We don't live where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen within 20 miles of your home, so we moved. I won't be able to send you the address because the last family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so they wouldn't have to change their address.

This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure about it. I put a load of clothes in and pulled the chain. We haven't seen them since.

The weather isn't bad here. It only rained twice last week; the first time for three days and the second time for four days.

About that coat you wanted me to send; your Uncle Billy Bob said it wouldbe too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.

Bubba locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out.

Your sister had a baby this morning, but I haven't found out what it is yet so I don't know if you are an aunt or uncle.

Uncle Bobby Ray fell into a whiskey vat last week. Some men tried to pull him out but he fought them off and drowned. We had him cremated, he burned for three days.

Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pickup truck. Butch was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your other two friends were in the back. They drowned because they couldn't get the tailgate down!

There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much out of the normal has happened.

Your Favorite Aunt,

Mom

RETHUGS, THE PARTY OF NO! Did you expect anything more??

Well, the vote is in, Democrats vote to proceed with debate. Rethugs vote NO. Fuckers are nothing but obstructionist pigs. They deserve nothing from the citizens of this country. They are irrelevent!! If you think for one minute these rethugs are voting NO because they care about you, or they care about deficit numbers, you are mistaken. They care only about destroying President Obama!! FUCK YOU REPUBLICAN PARTY OF NO!!!

The Ed Show talks, yes it's HC and rethug obstruction

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

This clip of the Ed Show is a long one I'm sorry. but at 3:20 in you will see Debbie Stabenow talking about the HC bill. At 7:30 in they talk about this bill helping small business which rethugs are AGAINST. Yea you heard me, AGAINST. Republicans are liars, they are not interested in helping small business and Main St. Do yourself a favor, listen to this video, it's a good one.

Tomorrow night is the vote, picture this, I'll be in my flannels, I'll have my bowl of popcorn and a large Pepsi, I believe word on the street is all 60 will vote yes to proceed!

Presidential material, you betcha!!

Oh yea baby, you got yourselves a smart one this time.....lol

HC in a nutshell

For those who don't have time to read the 2,074 pages of the HCB, here's a rundown. Courtesy of Think Progress:

The Details Of The New Merged Senate Bill

Moments ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) released the merged Senate health care bill. According to preliminary CBO analysis, the Senate bill costs $849 billion over 10 years and reduces the deficit by $127 billion over 10 years. The legislation could further reduce the deficit by up to $650 billion cut over the following decade, the budget office says.

The bill –which includes a national public health insurance plan with the option for states to pass a law and opt-out — reduces the uninsured by 31 million Americans and covers 98% of Americans by 2019.

The bill increases the threshold for the so-called Cadillac tax, raises the payroll tax by 0.5% on individuals who earn more than $200,000 and families earning more than $250,000 a year, and cuts waste from Medicare. The payroll tax increase would only apply to employees (not employers) and generate $54 billion.

Did you get that rethugs? It WILL NOT increase taxes on small business and kill jobs like you love to wish it did!

The bill maintains the Senate Finance Committee’s immigration language and preserves much of the more moderate Capps-abortion compromise. Federal dollars can only be used to pay for abortions when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother or results from rape or incest; private premiums must be used to pay for any other type of abortion, including those for health reasons. Each plan in Exchange will decide whether to cover additional abortion services and at least one plan in each market must offer abortion services and one plan must not. In the public option, the Secretary can cover abortion only if the procedure is financed with private funds.

Since the Exchanges don’t open open until 2014, the bill offers immediate insurance reforms for Americans purchasing coverage in the individual market. Insurers will no longer be allowed to rescind coverage or impose life-time or annual limits and will be required to meet a medical-loss ratio of 85 percent. Americans who are denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition would participate in a national high-risk pool program until the Exchanges are established. Young Americans can stay on their parents’ policies until they turn 26. Small businesses will receive a tax credit.

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Tom says...

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I've always said I trust Tom Harkin, and I still do! I wish my fellow dems wouldn't be so pessimistic and show some support for our congressmen and president......

More thoughts on Christ the King

Here is the basis for what I intend saying on Sunday. it will be changed between now and then. I might make reference to soemthing I saw on the news last night as the illustration. Either way, what follows are some reflections on what it means for Jesus Christ to be lord andking of my life...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, the Feast of Christ the King marks the end of the church year. Over the year we have recalled the promise of Christ’s coming, his birth, life and ministry, his death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. Today rings with the words of Jesus from the cross - ‘it is finished!’ - as today also marks the end of our annual training programme on how to be Christian disciples.

The conversation between the Pilate and Jesus revolves around the issue of kingship, with Pilate determined to discover whether Jesus poses a real political threat or not, and Jesus determined to redefine the notion of ‘kingdom’ and kingship.’ Again Jesus reminds Pilate that it is he who defines Jesus in political terms. “You say that I am a king.’ Even though Jesus was not a problem for Pilate - he believed he held Jesus’ life in the balance - Pilate was determined to get to the bottom of this and so should we - what does it mean for Christ to be King?

Christ’s kingship is God given and has a universal and personal reign. Universally Christ is king of all creation. When God sent his son, he did so to complete the work he began when he said. ‘Let there be light!’ Christ’s life, death and resurrection are about God taking all that it means to be created, broken, hurting, incomplete even sinful, to heart, and on the cross’s eternal embrace, to allow the eternal effect of sin and death to die with his Son. Christ is King of creation because in his death and resurrection he he deposes the power that holds all of creation captive - he liberates every thing into a new freedom in the presence of God and releases eternal life into the present,

Personally, Christ is King of our hearts. As Christ dies, the eternal affects of sin and death are annihilated. With his cry of ‘It is finished!’ Christ is not defeated, but victorious! Christ is King of creation because in his death and resurrection he he deposes the power that holds all of creation captive - he liberates every thing into a new freedom in the presence of God and releases eternal life into the present. Christ is King in me, for just as he took sin and brokenness to his heart, so I must take Christ’s kingship to heart. Christ is King in me by my faith in him. The liberation beginning to experienced in creation, can be experienced in my life, in yours only when we pay due respect to the king, when we listen to his words, and as loyal subjects, carry out his will.

What does it mean for Christ to be King in my life? As Christ has given his all for me, so I must give my all for him. We need to become people who lay ourselves open completely to the will of God, we need to become a trusting people, we need to ask him to help us to become a faithful praying people. This sort of radical obedience is hard - God knows even Jesus found it hard - Gethsemene still rings with Jesus’ ‘Father if it is possible, take this cup from me!’ Yet when we do, even our deaths become resurrections and the problems and worries that might keep us awake at night pale into insignificance. It’s not that they disappear, but that we entrust them and ourselves to the will of God. Friends it is then and only then that we will experience true joy, true peace, and we will see our lives and the lives of others filled with Christlike kingship.

What does it mean for Christ to be King in my life? As Christ has given his all for me, so I must give my all for him. We need to become people who are filled to overflowing with the love of God. Just as God’s love for creation overflowed into the coming of Christ, so our love of God should overflow into our relationships with others. The hallmark of the Christian community in Paul’s day, back as the church was beginning, was the way that Christian’s loved one another. This sort of radical obedience is hard - God knows it’s hard - the well where Jesus encountered the Syrophonecian woman still stings with Jesus’, ‘Is it right that the children’s food is thrown to the dogs?’ Yet when we do even our deaths become resurrections, like Jesus, even the most deepseated difference with our neighbours, friends or family pale into insignificance when we see all people made in the image of God and loved by God. Friends it is then and only then that we will experience true joy, true peace, and we will see our lives and the lives of others filled with Christlike kingship.

What does it mean for Christ to be King in my life? As Christ has given his all for me, so I must give my all for him. We need to become people who know that we are loved personally by God. If you were the only person on earth, God’s love is so great for you, Christ would have come - did come - just to restore the relationship between God and you. Hear Jesus’ words in 3:16 from God’s point of view - God so loved N so much that he sent his only son so that if they believe in me, they would not perish but have eternal life. God calls us to love ourselves too - he does. This sort of radical obedience is hard - God knows it’s hard - the seashore is still lapped with Jesus’ words to Simon and his response, ‘Do you love me... you know that I love you.’ Yet when we do even our deaths become resurrections, like Peter, our self-worth is restored. Friends it is then and only then that we will experience true joy, true peace, and we will see our lives and the lives of others filled with Christlike kingship as brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Friends, today rings with the words of Jesus from the cross - ‘it is finished!’ - as today marks our renewed recommitment to be Christian disciples, seeking Christ’s kingship, the love of our redeemer, brother and lord, in our lives, in our loves, in our world. Amen.

BREAKING NEWS!

Reid says caucus went well, all had smiles on their faces! Bill will be online tonight. Said a public option is included. "Finish line is in sight"! CBO has validated the bill will actually reduce deficit by 127B over 10 years, and this bill is paid for. Right now on MSNBC, gotta go listen!

a thought......

While watching the evening news my local station had a segment about the upcoming terrorist trial in NY. He said the republicans are AFRAID (there's alot of that going around lately) the trial being in NY, instead of secretly hidden away in military tribunals, will give the terrorists a platform to spew their hate. I thought to myself, Hmmmmmm, isn't that what we give the republicans every day?? A PLATFORM TO SPEW THEIR HATE!! HYPOCRITES!!!

If they were honest they would tell us their only fear is for a dem president to show he is tough on terror. They are petrified for a dem president to do what they couldn't.....fuckers

Frank Schaeffer talks some serious shit!

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If you missed Rachel last night then please take the time to look and listen to this video. It's long and I tried to crop it but don't know how! All Rachels shows are excellent but this segment on the wingnuts latest nuttery is a must see. They are circulating yet another Bible verse, A Prayer for Obama, PSALMS 109:8&9. For you neocons who refuse to see the evil of your ways please look at this part of the video then try to explain it away, I'd really love your comments. After that is Frank Schaeffer, Frank is an X wingnut so he knows what he is talking about, he is asking all conservatives to denounce the religious fanatics, this is not fun and games anymore, this is scary. The religious fanatics are not led by God when they put out their vile and evil words, this is an entity like nothing we have seen in this country. Conservatives, if you only listen to rightwing media then you are not getting the full picture. Let me know what you think about this latest wingnuttery!

The Word as Wordle

Here is the wordle of John 18:33-37, the gospel reading for the Feast of Christ the King (22/11/09). Sermon thoughts to follow... but I am struck by the importance of the words king, kingdom, world, Jesus, Pilate and answered...

Reading the passage again, I am struck that the lectionary compliers did not have the courage to give us more of the text as believe that we can only really make sense of Jesus' words by setting them in the wider context of th rest of John 18.

That said, even in the confines of these few verses, Jesus is mystifying, enigmatic, enlightening and confrontational all at once.

Pilate asks Jesus about his kingship. This is a question about geography, politics and military might. We will never really know what Pilate was gettig at or what his notion of kingship meant. Did he have Caesar or the puppet-king Herod in mind? Either way the Messianic connotations will not hav been common parlance for him, but he must have been aware of them.

Either way, Pilate throughout John 18, is constatly looking to do the right thing. So we join him trying to make sense of why Jesus has been sent to him and to give Jesus a chance to defend himself.

Jesus, as he usually is especially in John's Gospel, starts to be infuriatingly allusive. 'My kingdom is not of this world' says Jesus. What on earth?

But then that's maybe the point. Jesus is perhaps trying to expalin some Messiah theology to a non-Jew. You have no need to be threatened, says Jesus, as my kingly power is not about politics or the exterior world of geography and place.

The kingdom says Jesus, centres itself in the realm of truth and values. The kingdom of God is not therefore about the exterior world but about the inner landscapes of the human heart - the place where truth, love and values reign and rule our lives and lifestyles.

If you want to understand the way that kingdom is run, Jesus says to Pilate and to us, then listen to God speaking through me...

~~~~~~~~

Well folks that's the beginnings of where the sermon is going. I will try to post more as we near Sunday!

Anish Kapoor and the Via Negativa...

I have just watched the first of a new series of the BBC series 'Imagine.' The programme tonight was handed over to the work of British artist and sculptor Anish Kapoor. The excellent program is available to watch here.

Over the years I have become familiar with his work - especially his voids. These have been set everywhere for me, most notably in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern with his enormous 150m long 'Marsyas' and as part of the exhibitions in the Sir John Soane museum.

The thing that struck me about Alan Yentob's interview was Kapoor talking about his use use of colour. He went on to talk about his use of 'black' an example of which is above. The 'black' of course is a dark red. But it is the sort of black that you see as you close your eyes - blackness tinged with the redness of blood.

This all got me thinking about how Anish Kapoor's work therefore is an external expression of the inner world. In other words, his art, some of it massive, reveals something of what is going on inside him and each of us. Kapoor like Bill Viola is a true apophatic postsecular artist... an interesting article can be downloaded from here...

The Single Most Los Angeles Thing I Have Ever Done

This saturday, I went and did something that was the most completely "Los Angeles" thing that I have done in my four and half years of living in southern California.

I attended an independent film festival.

The film festival was put on by Mosiac. It was all themed around Erwin's latest book
. I hadn't been to such an event since the festival at my undergraduate, and I loved those too.

This event, took place at "the Mayan," a themed-out downtown club in LA. There was a red carpet. There were people posing behind large frame -a kind of "living artwork"- as per the themes of the festival. There were two guys playing guitar and singing, that way we all knew it was an evangelical thing.

The energy of the place was exciting. I was there with my roommate who is working on the next spider man movie. We got our picture taken on the carpet. I got a nice bottle of "metro water" and drank it without embarrassment. There was popcorn and even Korean Tacos available for purchase. There were a few big wig hollywood people there.

The movies? Well they were all great. My favorite was a short film entitled Marbles with Thoreau. It was simple yet profound. One of those rare movies that is thought provoking in a way that children can understand. It had everything it would need to be a full length film, and it will be.

I left feeling quite happy. It was a great event and I am glad to know my church community there.

I just I hope I haven't turned into a complete Los Angeles native in doing so.

:-)

Sarah is soooo boring...

Wasn't today Oprahs interview with Sarah Palin?? I forgot, damn...

Why are we giving this empty-headed moron air time anyway?? Why has MSM gone bonkers reporting about this hideous book?? The majority of sane America despises her. I wish she would fade away into the woodwork, or how about another far away country, somewhere, far far away....

I'm bored with the story, I sure hope Keith doesn't talk about her tonight, he probably will. In fact he'll probably do a 15 minute rant.

I'd much rather hear about Lizard Cheney and her comment on Fox Sunday morning. She said "Cheney 2012". I don't know if she meant herself or her evil twin, daddy. Did anybody see the show or read anything about it? Can you imagine, Dick the M F 'er actually thinking he could be president?? Maybe this could get the ball rolling with Obamas administration and put the fucker behind bars. Would he, could he, campaign in prison...??

Time for Countdown!

Get the story right or don't say anything!

I have seen a few conservative blogs claiming President Obama wants to "slow down" the investigation of the Fort Hood murders. They are of course trying to insinuate something sinister, like Hasan is a Muslim.... therefore Obama being Muslim......there HAS to be a connection.....
They have accused the President of wanting to go real slow so the public will eventually forget about it, it'll be taken off the front pages..... and well you can just imagine what they are assuming!

I actually got this from Foxnews.com. The header said...OBAMA URGES CONGRESS TO DELAY FORT HOOD INVESTIGATION:
President Obama on Saturday urged Congress to hold off on any investigation of the Fort Hood rampage until federal law enforcement and military authorities have completed their probes into the shootings at the Texas Army post, which left 13 people dead.

On an eight-day Asia trip, Obama turned his attention home and pleaded for lawmakers to "resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater." He said those who died on the nation's largest Army post deserve justice, not political stagecraft.

"The stakes are far too high," Obama said in a video and Internet address released by the White House while the president was flying from Tokyo to Singapore, where Pacific Rim countries were meeting.

Isn't it so typical of these moron, conservative, Obama hating bloggers to twist and turn upside down a story that says NOT ONE THING that they are claiming!

President Obama said in his weekly address to the nation...

"There is an ongoing investigation into this terrible tragedy. That investigation will look at the motives of the alleged gunman, including his views and contacts. As I said in Fort Hood, I am confident that justice will be done, and I will insist that the full story be told. That is paramount, and I won’t compromise that investigation today by discussing the details of this case. But given the potential warning signs that may have been known prior these shootings, we must uncover what steps – if any – could have been taken to avert this tragedy.

On the Thursday evening that this tragedy took place, I met in the Oval Office with Secretary of Defense Gates, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – Admiral Mullen, and FBI Director Mueller to review the immediate steps that were necessary to support the families and secure Fort Hood. The next morning, I met with the leadership of our military and the intelligence community, and ordered them to undertake a full review of the sequence of events that led up to the shootings.

The purpose of this review is clear: We must compile every piece of information that was known about the gunman, and we must learn what was done with that information. Once we have those facts, we must act upon them. If there was a failure to take appropriate action before the shootings, there must be accountability. Beyond that – and most importantly – we must quickly and thoroughly evaluate and address any flaws in the system, so that we can prevent a similar breach from happening again. Our government must be able to act swiftly and surely when it has threatening information. And our troops must have the security that they deserve.

I know there will also be inquiries by Congress, and there should. But all of us should resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater that sometimes dominates the discussion here in Washington. The stakes are far too high." (END)

There you have it, the President will NOT drag this out and delay. What he is saying to Congressmen, obstructionist neocons, is stay the hell out of it if you are planning on turning this story into something it is not just for political grandstanding!

Who do you trust?

Below I copy a version of what I preached at All Saints on Sunday. It was good service and I am beginning to feel quite at home there.

The day before, I spent a day at a conference called '

The Future of the Planet: Wilderness or Promised Land?' From the Diocesan website:

The St Albans Diocese Board for Church and Society's second Environment Conference

Since the first in 2006, the debate has moved on to practical measures for tackling climate change.

Can we as individuals and as members of local churches really make a difference?

Our 2009 Energy and Climate Change conference is a joint project between the Environment, Europe and World Development groups.

It takes place just weeks before the vital UN Climate Change meeting in Copenhagen. The conference is introduced by the Rt Revd Richard Inwood, Bishop of Bedford and the theme of Exodus will run throughout the day. The morning session will consist of talks by eminent speakers on environmental matters:

• The Revd Professor Ian James, meteorologist - Climate change science

• Richard Howitt, Labour MEP - European energy policy and its effect on business

• Mark Dowd, Head of Campaign Group Operation Noah - Our response as Christians

• Chris Goodall, environmental author - Future energy opportunities

The afternoon of the conference will focus on how individual parishes can take practical steps towards the aim of the Church of England in “Shrinking our Footprint”. There will be an opportunity for discussion in small groups about measures we can take in our personal lifestyles, our churches and congregations, our local communities and in the wider world.

The afternoon was very practical and held together by Benedict Southworth, formerly of the WDM. All in all it was excellent, challenging, rewarding, mobilising day. Well done John, Alice, Helen, Sue and everyone else concerned...

Here's the sermon for Kingdom 3:

I love going away on holiday and when I do I love to go and visit some of the sights. One of the best places I have ever visited is Chicago. It is beautiful - right on the banks of Lake Michigan. It has loads of really amazing buildings - some quite old by American standards with nice bricks and stone and carving; some really new with smoked glass and chromed steel. Some of the most successful companies in America have been and are based there.

Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem doing a bit of sightseeing. The disciples are amazed at some of the things they see. They are particularly taken with the size of the Temple - they notice how big the stones used to make it were. Jesus warns the disciples that one day these great buildings will be destroyed. That’s sad, especially if they were as amazing as the ones in Chicago are. Jesus’ point though is: these buildings might be used by companies who make all sorts of amazing things that we might really want, that help make life good - PS3, drums, trainers - but if we have the best trainers, a fantastic drumkit and a new PS3 and don’t trust in God and listen to Jesus then we have missed what life is all about.

So where do place our trust? What do we hope for? What makes life good for us? Lower taxes? A new car?? Aromatherapy???

Back in Jesus’ day, people were pretty anxious. They were people living in an occupied land, kept ‘secure’ by foreign soldiers. They longed for freedom. There was also a strong feeling that they were living in ‘the end times’ the end of the world was near. The metallic taste of fear was in the air. There were sections of Jewish society that played on that fear - the tax collectors who helped to finance the political status quo - the all encompassing influence of one nation, Italy and the Roman system of government - oh and line their own pockets too! Another such section of society was the Temple. Instead of being a place where God was worshiped, and people were liberated to live for him - they were being crushed by the weight of the letter of the law, and being tithed financially dry. This suited the religious leaders - it kept them in jobs, in the lifestyle they loved, and in the respect of the masses.

Jesus deplored this. It stood rank and file against the coming kingdom of his God and father, with it’s inverted values that benefitted the many not the few. Whilst the Temple and the rest of Roman influenced society was an amazing structure, there was a time coming when God would tear it down and raise it to the ground. This, along with the persecution of Jesus’ followers would lead ultimately to his return.

Jesus is unnervingly specific in his predictions - in the future, disciples could expect to face famines and earthquakes, wars, the break up of families and community strife. This is just part of the process of freeing that the Son of Man will himself complete.

Yet this is an unnervingly contemporary gospel. We too live in anxious times. Whilst our land may not be occupied, in many places we are the occupier albeit in the name of peacekeeping. Yet we are occupied, or at least our political leaders are pre-occupied with the very real threat of Islamic terrorism. With that threat and nuclear programmers being developed if not in Iraq then certainly in Iran and North Korea then we maybe also feeling a bit apocalyptic. There are also those in our society who play on our fears - offering us loans we cannot repay, health remedies that may not work, legal advice to sue when what happened was a genuine accident - and the all encompassing influence of one nation America, her MacDonalds culture and ‘democracy at all costs.’

An anxious people look for surety in all sorts of places and some find it in religion. But if the church is ever a place where people are drawn in and all your gifts, talents, time and money are used up here, then it makes us no better than the Temple enforcing the unenforceable.

The church should be a place where we are encouraged, where we meet with God and are empowered by him , where we are sent out to face earthquakes, wars, family break up, community strife.

It is here where we learn what suffering means - or put a better way, where life is headed. Jesus doesn’t try to down -play or explain the sufferings he talks of - except that we see later that he himself would walk the same road, being rejected by the same institutions of power and influence, taking suffering to it’s conclusion. And yet his death marks the death of those who play on our fears - the Temple curtain tears in two. Not one stone will be left one on another.

We have no way of knowing whether any of what Jesus talks of here will happen. Except... the things Jesus predicted happening to him happened. Except... men and women around our world have been and will suffer in exactly the sorts of way that Jesus suggests.

Go on - place your faith in the institutions of power; see if that massage helps long term not just for you but for others; long for the Iraq or Afghan war to end or Gordon Brown to resign - or place your trust in a God who made the world, loves it, suffers, dies and rises again in it, and who is freeing it’s anxious people from fear one at a time. Amen

interesting read on rethuggery stupidity

Check out this post by Spencer Ackermann-firedoglake. He quotes Sarah Palin's stupid objections to the terrorists trial being held in NY, and also goes on to say this....

"What’s an actual insult to the victims of 9/11 is the idea that America is not strong enough to withstand the blatherings of a mass murderer. For me, the prospect of KSM grandstanding at his trial falls into I-wish-a-motherfucker-would territory. I want to hear how KSM builds a case against America, because everyone will hear how laughably conspiratorial and clownish it is. Think of what a cathartic moment it will be when America sees the face of the man considered to be UBL’s most efficient henchman and he delivers a pitiful harangue to a bank of cameras. No one will be emboldened to do anything but laugh. The only downside will be his inevitable discussion of how CIA operatives tortured him.

My hope for the KSM trial is that it does more than all this. It should forever shatter the pernicious myth that al-Qaeda is composed of supermen — supermen against whom America has no choice but to alter its character and most precious laws in order to confront.

Read the rest here:http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2009/11/14/whos-afraid-of-khalid-shaikh-mohammed/

So while reading the comments about this post I thought this one was excellent and says alot about our fraidy-cat rethugs:

sgwhiteinfla November 15th, 2009 at 10:54 am

I love this post and of course I’ll be linking to it, but I wanted to make one small correction. You see Sarah Palin isn’t REALLY afraid of what KSM will say or do during the trial. What she is REALLY afraid is that a Democratic administration will do what a Republican administration didn’t. And that is show that our system of justice is stronger than any terrorist in some far off land living in a cage. And also that we will NOT show cowardice by bending to their will by not giving them a fair trial and thus becoming the caricature that they try to make out of our country. And finally that a Democratic administration will show more deference to our founding fathers than Bush or Cheney would have ever dreamed.

You see once KSM and his cohorts are dragged in front of a jury and are handed down the death penalty, then they lose the super villan with super powers status that Bush, Cheney and just about every Republican in Congress has given them for the last 8 years. And guess what, if there are no more boogey men then Republicans will have a hard time finding someone to fearmonger against when they are pimping their national security cred.

As with most things that have to do with Republican criticism of moves that the Obama administration makes, this has almost nothing to do with what they are actually saying and everything to do with what they see as their political futures. See also, health care, cap and trade, gay marriage…etc

How true is that??! Rethugs and their never-ending fearmongering tactics, it's the only way they know how to steal power and win over the ignorant segment of our population. Sad really.

Here's another great comment which reminds me of Saddam hiding in his rat hole, peeking out as he was found. It's so pathetic how these monsters are held up to be Satan himself in their evilness but are pions in the end. We shall see how KSM responds during the trial, and that's something we need to see, we wouldn't if rethugs had their choice of a military tribunal. comment:

I think keeping the face and bent personality of KSM out of the public eye, allowing him out of the shadows only as a caricature, is essential political theater for the national security state. That’s because, as in personal and family counseling, the monster in the living room keeps growing when it stays in the shadows. When it has a name, a place a date, a hurt, a harm, a fix; when it’s removed from the realm of the head on pillow at night and sees the light of day, it’s often very much smaller. It’s manageable and it can sometimes be cured.

Keeping KSM and those like him out of a public courtroom is essential for Mr. Cheney’s view of the world to win. It’s essential to keep the public in awe and fear, to keep it obligingly paying taxes without questioning to what use they are put. It allows Cheney and his successors to continue to build the national security state with no questions asked, no policies reviewed, no limits applied.

My guess is that KSM is no more frightening than the CEO of a tobacco company or an energy company, or a drug kingpin. Seen in the light of day, none of them are as mighty as the law. Keep them in a secret world, positions reverse and we live in fear, not hope.

A GOP catastrophy

I got this list from AlterNet, It's 15 AWFUL things rethugs would do if they had the chance. WE MUST NOT give them the chance if we want our country to survive!! Remember, friends don't let friends vote Republican!! If this GOP agenda were implemented it would be catastrophic!

by Dennis Rahkonen, The Smirking Chimp

Always the political instrument of moneyed elites, and a retrograde societal force, the GOP today is more negatively impactful than ever. Here's what an unfettered Republican Party would do "for" America:

1) Greatly reduce or entirely eliminate taxes on the rich, thereby forcing hard-pressed working families to painfully make up resulting revenue shortfalls.

2) Bust labor unions, cruelly preventing the collective bargaining that's the key reason why US workers ever won decent wages and benefits.

3) Stubbornly deny the existence of ominous climate change while blithely pumping more pollutants into the environment from lucrative, dirty industries and practices. Although reputable scientists say 350 carbon parts per atmospheric million is the safe limit for sustained life on Earth, Republicans dismiss the frightening fact that we're already at a carbon level of roughly 390 ppm.

4) Remove "restrictive" regulations on everything from investment banks and credit card companies to a broad array of "profit-eroding" consumer protections, leaving the American masses exposed to a host of resulting abuses and dangers.

5) Continue to criticize and insufficiently fund public education, advocating private schooling instead, thus entirely ignoring that progressive public systems are used in every country that has education outcomes superior to our own.

6) Outlaw abortion, under a fraudulently moral guise, compelling the US to bloodily join those benighted, backward nations where thousands of already-born, living, breathing, socially functioning females perish because of sexist denials of their basic reproductive rights.

7) Continue to recite a Pledge of Allegiance whose last six words are "with liberty and justice for all," while remaining numbly oblivious to the harsh hypocrisy of preventing our homosexual citizens from marrying.

8) Speak often and loftily of freedom, but engage in secret wiretapping, repression of domestic dissent, neo-McCarthyite witch hunts, Red-baiting name calling, and a panoply of Patriot Act transgressions against the Constitution of the United States...all under the misused rubric of "national security."

9) Show the rest of humankind nothing but bullying world-cop arrogance through endless US interventions and aggressions on foreign soil, resulting not just in countless lives extinguished in indefensible wars, and billions of badly-needed dollars flushed down the drain, but constant al Qaeda recruitment against hated Yankee interlopers.

10) Generally drive down the income levels of America's working-class majority, as a purported cost-saving corporate measure, without appreciating that a populace that's too poor to buy back what society produces is doomed to economic ruin. A living wage is the ultimate "stimulus," but try to find even one Republican who favors it!

11) Continue to lie about the alternative, affordable health care for all that some fifty world nations' people overwhelmingly support, thereby propagandistically leading Americans to think that having private insurance whose premiums are rising at rates three times higher than our pay -- and which routinely denies coverage when it's required most -- is somehow preferable

12) Unleash de facto ethnic cleansing against 12 million immigrant men, women, and children, making them contemporary equivalents of the Jewish scapegoats that Hitler blamed for hardships Germans experienced during a prior period of capitalist economic distress.

13) Shamefully try to lend credence to their avarice and social irresponsibility by revising the Bible to obscure passages that place human need before abject greed, attempting to turn it into a facilitating guide for modern peers of the temple moneychangers whose tables Jesus angrily knocked to the floor (and who undoubtedly wouldn't be mentioned in the amended version that one conservative group is actually, amazingly trying to put into circulation).

14) Give full vent to the intensely bigoted hatred that has crazed extremists dreaming of literally tearing Barack Obama to pieces and gassing all liberals...if only they could.

15) Place the livelihoods and lives of over 300 million Americans in the hands of incompetent ideological "purists" such as Sarah Palin.

While there are certainly Democrats who've yet to show spine in furtherance of vital change, let's be absolutely clear about the unmitigated disaster that would follow if Republicans, in their present ultra-rightist incarnation, ruled our country exactly as they wickedly wished.

despicable fearmongering neocons, please watch!!

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I am outraged at the rightwingnutfucks who are so hysterically trying to claim President Obama wants the trial in NY so all the dirt on the SHRUB and his Dick can come out during the trial therefore causing a mistrial, or even worse, the terrorists will go free because liberals are too fuckin NICE!!! Rethugs want these trials secret, they don't want the families to see the murderers found guilty?? They want a military tribunal. Well sorry fuckers, the world will see this trial, they will see we will find these terrorists guilty and they will face punishment. After 8 years waiting for these terrorists to finally have their day in court, it's President Obama who is doing it! So go ahead you nutfucks, FEAR, FEAR, FEAR!!!!!