From Dostoyevsky to right-wing commentator Ann Coulter we are warned of the perils of godlessness. “If there is no God,” Dostoyevsky wrote, “everything is permitted.” Coulter routinely attributes our nation’s most intractable troubles to the moral vacuum of atheism.

But a growing body of research in what one sociologist describes as the “emerging field of secularity” is challenging long-held assumptions about the relationship of religion and effective governance.

In a paper posted recently on the online journal Evolutionary Psychology, independent researcher Gregory S. Paul reports a strong correlation within First World democracies between socioeconomic well-being and secularity. In short, prosperity is highest in societies where religion is practiced least.

Using existing data, Paul combined 25 indicators of societal and economic stability — things like crime, suicide, drug use, incarceration, unemployment, income, abortion and public corruption — to score each country using what he calls the “successful societies scale.” He also scored countries on their degree of religiosity, as determined by such measures as church attendance, belief in a creator deity and acceptance of Bible literalism.

Comparing the two scores, he found, with little exception, that the least religious countries enjoyed the most prosperity. Of particular note, the U.S. holds the distinction of most religious and least prosperous among the 17 countries included in the study, ranking last in 14 of the 25 socioeconomic measures.

Read the rest here:

http://www.alternet.org/story/144174/is_belief_in_god_hurting_america

BHussein: “Let MY People Go”

Lieberman: Barghouti Will Not be Released
Article: Israel National News

Speaking Thursday morning, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he could “guarantee” that arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti would not be released from prison in any deal to exchange terrorists for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. “We have no intention to free the head of the murderers, a person who has been sentenced to four life terms in prison. There are red lines, and this is one of them,” Lieberman said.

In response to U.S. demands that Israel free an additional 1,000-some terrorists as a “gesture” to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, Lieberman said that previous releases of Fatah terrorists “have not proven themselves. The Olmert administration did this several times and it did not work, and we do not plan to allow it to happen,” Lieberman said.

Why can’t BHussein be smart enough to know that freeing RADICAL TERRORISTS does NOT PRODUCE POSITIVE RESULTS?! Oh. I guess “brotherhood” has a lot to do with it.

BHussein with Palestinian President Abu Mazen as he demands that Israel releases an additional 1,000 terrorists as a “gesture”to “moderate” “Palestinians”.

So; even the terrorists who are holding the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit captive demand only 450 Palestinian terrorist prisoners that are being held in Israeli jails be released in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

A big thank you to our friend DangerB for posting this, please visit and read the rest of his take on it.

WTF is it with B. Hussein and Islamist terrorists? WTF is it with all of his actions since being “elected”? He is systematically destroying our Republic, stripping us of our freedoms. He needs to be gone along with all of his cohorts. WAKE UP AMERICA.

I have not verified the accuracy of this, nonetheless Obama must go.

Editor’s Note: Incumbents in the upcoming election will be featured Sunday’s in the Los Alamos Monitor. New candidates will be featured after they officially file their candidacies March 16 with the County Clerk’s Office.

Rep. Jeannette Wallace

Longtime community leader Jeannette Wallace is running to extend her service in the New Mexico Legislature to another two-year term.

Wallace, 75, has represented District 43, including Los Alamos, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties, since Jan. 1, 1991.

“I think it’s important for me to continue serving because our state is in economic crisis right now and I know our budget and financial issue as well or better than anybody in the state,” Wallace said.

She serves as a Legislative Counsel member who was invited to a position on the powerful 18-member Appropriations and Finance Committee beginning her first year in the legislature.

She has served on the AFC every year since.

Wallace is a lifelong Republican credited with working well with legislators on both sides of the aisle.

“They’re a whole different family but I love all of the legislators dearly. We get aggravated with each other at times and don’t always agree but I thoroughly enjoy working with each one of them,” she said.

While Wallace faced opposition during her first five elections, no one has run against her since.

There are rumblings of opposition for the November 2010 general election but nothing is certain until candidates officially file March 16 in the County Clerk’s Office.

Wallace believes it’s also important for her to continue working in the legislature because redistricting is coming up again in the next session, she said and her established seniority allows her to be a strong advocate in protecting Los Alamos’ interests.

Wallace serves on the Health and Government Affairs and the Printing and Supplies committees.

She also is an interim member of the Legislative Finance, Radioactive & Hazardous Materials and the Science, Technology & Telecommunications committees.

Wallace represents Los Alamos and the state on several national committees.

She serves on the Energy, Environment and Agriculture Committee, the Executive Committee of the Council of State Governments-West and its Energy Committee.

Wallace also holds a position on the National Energy Council headquartered in Dallas that includes representatives from 14 states and several Canadian provinces.

Read the full story in Sunday’s Los Alamos Monitor.

Every citizen of the United States of America should be deeply concerned and even fearful of any “Global Warming Treaty” that is a result of the Copenhagen Global Warming Conference. As I have mentioned on a previous post this is nothing more than an effort to usurp the sovereignty of the United States of America and every other country in the world. If President Obama signs the treaty on behalf of the citizens of the United States, I am fearful that treason would attach itself to such an act. The treaty as it is being parlayed gives into a one world government and oversight by a global body. It will dictate our laws. It will dictate our domestic markets. It will dictate the case law we can use in our civil courts. Such a treaty would be in direct violation to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Every citizen of the United States needs to write to their elected representatives to vote against ratification of this treaty!

    Indiana Congressman James Bopp , Jr. recently circulated a draft resolution for the Republican National Committee to implement a practicew that would essentially vet the candidates that the party fields for elected office as nominees whom they fund and endorse. The resolution would prohibit the RNC from endorsing or contributing financial resources to the campaigns of any candidate who oppose three or more of ten planks in the party platform.

The premise behind the draft resolution is one that I tend to support. But such a practice as that which is promoted by the effort would undoubtedly be followed by attempts from the left to paint the GOP as exclusive and intolerant, a party without a “big tent” and that shuns those who they do not agree with.

The problem is that the opposition will make this accusation no matter what and it is my opinion that the propaganda of the loyal opposition should not play a role in our commitment to the conservative principles which are the backbone of our Party and the source of security and prosperity for our nation. The attempt to create, what may be a litmus test, is something that, in the case of a political organization, could actually be quite useful when it comes to insuring that all its participants are working towards the same goals.

Many of us lay claim to one party or the other, not for the sake of the party name, but because, for us, it represents a set of core  values that amount to an ideological approach to all matters. We are Republicans or Democrats, not because of its organizational membership but rather for the principles it represents and our belief that those principles need to be applied to the practical application of government.

Congressman Bopp puts it this way;

“All we’re requiring is that somebody agree with us most of the time,”

The point is legitimate. Especially from the standpoint of the RepublicanParty  as a national entity which expends its resources on candidates at all levels, from Governor’s, to congressmen and senators.   From a  national point, does it make sense to endorse and finance the candidacy of an individual who claims to be a Republican but actually maintains an agenda that opposes the approach to governance and policies that the Republican National Committee is working toward?

The Bopp resolution has merit. It does not prohibit state or local Republican parties from endorsing and financing the candidacy of any Republican that they choose. But it does restrict the national party from aiding candidates who are counterproductive to our goals.  This type of party policy would have come in quite handy in a case like New Yorks 23rd Congeressional District, where a group of Republican County chairmen tapped Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava to be the Republican nominee for Congress.  This local level decision committed the Nationa Party to dedicate a hefty sum of money and resources to her campaign.  But as it turned it, Scozzafava shared very little in common with the national Republican agenda.  As the differences between her and the Party she claims to a member of beacame more and more clear, Republican voters began to flee from Scozzafava’s candidacy.  many felt that there was no need to support a liberal oriented candidate when another one was honest enough to run under the banner of the more liberal oriented Party.

Before all was said and done, Scozzafava withdrew from the race only three day before Election Day.  In the meantime, the RNC spent a few hundred thousand dollars on the failed candidacy of someone who mine as well have been a Democrat.

Some argue that such “lists” as the one which outlines 10 specific general principles that we as Republicans hold true is trivial.  They feel it is ridiculous and stands in the way of freewill and freethinking.  Some have stated that such a “list” this is the “dumbest idea they ever heard” .

I contend that one can try to trivialize this attempt as a “ stupid llist” but those who do, also run the risk of having that same flippant attitude applied to any documentation of what one believes in.  One can try describe The Ten Commandments as a mere  ”checklist of talking points and issues” and deemed as “the dumbest” Christian idea they “have heard in (their) lifetime“. One could also call those who believe in abiding by the Ten Commandments as part of a “fringe” group” but such interpretations would be would be ignorant and inappropriate.

Furthermore; why can an individual organization not establish its own operational guidelines and stipulate its stated goals and beliefs, especially of the governing rules of that organization allows a democratic vote to adopt such guidelines and reiterate what it stands for?  Who is anyone to say that such actions are inappropriate?  As for freewill, one is free to not particpaqte in any group or organization that does not share their views.

So I have no problem with the intent of the resolution.  If there is enough support and if it is not somehow blocked by RNC Chairman Michael Steele, it could be voted on at the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee in January.  My only suggestion would be to change some of the language.  As much a devoted fan of one of the greatest contemporary Presidents , I would not base this resolution on one man only. As it existsnow  the resolution is called the “RNC Resolution on Reagan’s Unity Principle for Support of Candidates“.    I am not sure if that is the wisest way to go to about this.  But I will also admit this.  I would not want to be the one who goes on record as refusing to use the name of Ronald Reagan. 

How far this resolution will go is not yet known.  A spokesperson fot the RNC stated  

 ”The deadline for submitting Resolutions for the RNC Winter Meeting is more than 30 days away. At this point, we do not know what resolutions will be submitted nor what the final language of any resolution ultimately submitted may be,”.

Below, you will find a poll asking your opinion on the issue and below that is the actual resolution and a likst of the National Committee Members who have so far sihnmed on to it.  Review it and record your support or opposition to the reolution in our poll

The “Proposed RNC Resolution on Reagan’s Unity Principle for Support of Candidates” follows:

WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan believed that the Republican Party should support and espouse conservative principles and public policies; and

WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan also believed the Republican Party should welcome those with diverse views; and

WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan believed, as a result, that someone who agreed with him 8 out of 10 times was his friend, not his opponent; and

WHEREAS, Republican faithfulness to its conservative principles and public policies and Republican solidarity in opposition to Obama’s socialist agenda is necessary to preserve the security of our country, our economic and political freedoms, and our way of life; and

WHEREAS, Republican faithfulness to its conservative principles and public policies is necessary to restore the trust of the American people in the Republican Party and to lead to Republican electoral victories; and

WHEREAS, the Republican National Committee shares President Ronald Reagan’s belief that the Republican Party should espouse conservative principles and public policies and welcome persons of diverse views; and

WHEREAS, the Republican National Committee desires to implement President Reagan’s Unity Principle for Support of Candidates; and

WHEREAS, in addition to supporting candidates, the Republican National Committee provides financial support for Republican state and local parties for party building and federal election activities, which benefits all candidates and is not affected by this resolution; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Republican National Committee identifies ten (10) key public policy positions for the 2010 election cycle, which the Republican National Committee expects its public officials and candidates to support:

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;

(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;

(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

(4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing, denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership; and be further

RESOLVED, that a candidate who disagrees with three or more of the above stated public policy positions of the Republican National Committee, as identified by the voting record, public statements and/or signed questionnaire of the candidate, shall not be eligible for financial support and endorsement by the Republican National Committee; and be further

RESOLVED, that upon the approval of this resolution the Republican National Committee shall deliver a copy of this resolution to each of Republican members of Congress, all Republican candidates for Congress, as they become known, and to each Republican state and territorial party office.

Chief Sponsor:
James Bopp, Jr. NCM IN

Sponsors:
Avie Axdahl NCW MN
Donna Cain NCW OR
Cindy Costa NCW SC
Demetra Demonte NCW IL
Peggy Lambert NCW TN
Carolyn McLarty NCW OK
Pete Rickets NCM NE
Steve Scheffler NCM IA
Helen Van Etten NCW KA
Solomon Yue NCM OR

Ill attempt to my best Dave Zirin impersonation here.

The night before Thanksgiving Katy and I saw The Blind Side.

I had been familiar with the story when I read this New York Times Magazine profile of Michael Oher a few years ago.   After reading the article I bought the book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game.

The book was great but the posters for the movie version of The Blind Side looked horrible.  It seemed to me that this was going to be a sports movie version of Mississippi Burning .  Or might qualify for a recent blog post titled “The Five Most Unintentionally Racist Movies about Racism. Anyways, here is a nice summary of the criticism about Mississippi Burning:

[Missisippi Burning] been criticized by many, including historian Howard Zinn, for its fictionalization of history. According to Zinn: while FBI agents are portrayed as heroes who descend upon the town by the hundreds, in reality the FBI and the Justice Department only reluctantly protected civil rights workers and protesters and reportedly witnessed beatings without intervening.^[1] It was also criticized due to its portrayal of southern African-Americans as passive victims. The image of African-Americans as being passive also shapes the film’s reenactment of the assassinations;^[2] New York Times film reviewer wrote that the film’s alleged distortions amounted to a “cinematic lynching” of history.

See, The Blind Side takes place in Memphis and essentially a rich white woman comes to the rescue of a homeless black kid with an NFL body.  Hollywood could have very easily taken the very powerful story of Michael Oher and Leigh Anne Tuohy and turned into a Disnified, racial fantasy.

Never mind the fact that  Memphis might be one of the most racially polarized cities in the country and the place where Martin Luther kIng was assassinated. And the University of Missisippi?  It’s racial history is just as brutal. And “Ole Miss,”– the college’s nickname?  That is what slaves called the slave master’s wife.

Overall,  the book was better and the movie is far from being perfect.  The Border’s commercial that breaks out in the middle of the movie also might be the most annoying product placement I have ever experienced.

But still, the movie made me cry.  (The last time I cried in a movie might have been in Top Gun when Goose died.)

And I cried, I think, because I grew up around families like the Tuohy’s.  Rich. White. Christian. Republican.  I never once met someone from that background who would have opened the car door for a homeless black teenager, even if he had NFL tackle written all over his body.

And that is why I loved the movie–because if you are rich and white and powerful, it means nothing if you don’t open the door for others.

P.S. I also thought it was interesting that at the end of the movie when they were showing newspaper clippings of Michael Oher’s career the other story that appeared on the “newspaper” was about Darfur.  I think the movie producer’s were trying to make a point….

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

I find it extremely curious that the very same people who are jumping up and down about leaving a debt on our children by providing affordable healthcare are willing to send the country into bankruptcy to dispatch that very same generation of young people to their death in Afghanistan. It’s also curious that we only heard perfunctory grumbling from these people when we spent $700 billion to bailout Wall Street, but now that it comes to spending money on a stimulus plan to help the average American, all hell is breaking loose.

The GOP’s behavior in this matter should make it clear to any reasonable observer that the Republican Party is ideologically oppose to doing anything to help the poor and middle class. The reason for that is when it comes to bigotry, they’re a step ahead of the American people . Since they deal primarily in dollars and cents, they’ve come to recognize that mere racial division is no longer sufficient to accommodate the economics of the new world order, the greed of the beast must now be fed with the greater numbers found only in class.

In order to compete effectively in a  global market, America can no longer afford the luxury of a thriving middle class – at least, one as large as the American people have come to expect. So the class system in the United States is rapidly being realigned.  That accounts for why the educational system and unionism are under attack. It also explains why undocumented workers are being allowed to flood into the country in unprecedented numbers. These people are not sneaking in – they’re being herded. 

If the United States really wanted to stop illegal immigration, they wouldn’t even have to touch the borders. All they’d have to do is arrest anyone who housed or hired them.  This issue is going to cause a blowup within the Republican ranks, because the leaders of your party want desperately to get as many undocumented workers in the country as possible in order to undermine your wages, while the xenophobic tendencies of the Republican base is just as strong to keep them out – legal or not. 

It’s going to be interesting to watch you have to face that reality, because the fact is, the leaders of your party have already come to the conclusion that in order for the United States to compete in a global economy where the competition’s workers work for mere pennies a day, it is absolutely necessary for the United States to grow an undereducated and hungry workforce.  They need a hungry underclass to both feed their war machine, and work for their corporations for whatever crumbs they decide to throw your way.

So the fact is, Teabaggers, if you don’t wake up real soon, you’re going to have to change your name to the Apple Peddlers to accommodate your new status – and I guarantee you, when that happens, taxes is going to be the very least of your concerns.  If your party gets its way, before long you’re about to get a crash course in what it means to be Black in America, and then some.

So before you attend your next tea party, you need to give this matter some serious thought, because you’re already being used in the very same way that the Confederacy used Black soldiers during the Civil War - like worthless cannon fodder. The only difference is, you’ve been given a megaphone to brag about your stupidity.

Now, you may want to write me off as being ridiculous, but think about it. Did the Republican Party promote demonstrations or give illegal “news conferences” to whip you into a frenzy when they gave the world’s largest windfall to those who harass you every month over your mortgage and credit card debt?  Absolutely not - and that’s in spite of the fact that Wall Street spent part of your money wining, dining, and passing out huge bonuses to themselves. So why are they doing it now, when it comes to helping you and your family?  And worse yet, they now have you fighting against healthcare for your own blind family to protect the assets of the very same people who just robbed you on Wall Street. How dumb can you get?

What makes it more “socialist” to help you and your family than it is to help the rich and theirs? Yet, when President Obama suggested that it was time to help the average American, many of your Republican “representatives” started frantically looking for ways to refuse the money. In fact, Gov. Rick Perry became so incensed over the prospect of helping the people of Texas that he even brought up the possibility of seceding from the union.

Now I ask you, when have you ever heard of a politician becoming fighting mad over having money thrust upon him? That alone should send up a huge red flag for anyone with eyeballs. It just doesn’t make sense – that is, unless the politician’s interest is diametrically opposed to the people he represents, and that’s exactly the case with respect to the Republican Party.

The Republican base is in deep denial. You’re like a wife who catches her husband in bed with another woman. As the wife stands there in shocked disbelief, the husband hustles his lover out of the room, then casually looks at his wife and asks, “What woman?” He then goes on to convince his wife that she can’t believe her lying eyes; that he only rented the room because he intended to call her for a romantic night of passion. Then after hearing his explanation, his wife wants to believe him so badly that she allows herself to be convinced that she imagined it all. She then apologizes for being so silly and falls into his arms, and a soaking wet bed.

While that’s a well worn comedy skit, that’s exactly what’s happening with the Republican base. It should be clear to anyone with any kind of common sense that the Republican Party is aggressively working against your interest. But you want to believe your version of reality so badly, that you’re willing to make love in a previously soaked bed.

That’s why we call you wingnuts. Because it’s nothing short of amazing how the GOP can get you to turn out in droves, and on the verge of insurrection, in order to prevent President Obama from shepherding in legislation that would prevent the insurance industry from cutting your throats. You’ve allowed yourselves to be convinced that blocking guaranteed healthcare for your families is in your families’ best interest – and that’s in spite of the fact that the families of the politicians you’re listening to are comfortably enjoying that very same healthcare that they’re claiming will lead to America’s destruction.

Even though an audit by the Congressional Budget Office indicates that healthcare reform would actually lower the national deficit, you’re allowing the GOP to convince you that the cost of protecting your families is too much of a burden for America to bear. But how does that square with the fact that in the very next speech these very same politicians are urging President Obama to send an additional forty thousand of your sons and daughters to possibly die in Afghanistan, at a cost of a million dollars per soldier?

So, pardon my terminology, but this is clearly a case of wingnuts seeing only what you want to see. You need to open your eyes to the fact that the GOP has but one agenda – regaining power. That entails two things – satisfying the coffers of their corporate masters, which entails picking your pocket; and sabotaging President Obama’s effort to bring you relief, which entails making sure that you and your family are miserable for at least the next four years.

Your willingness to accept, in fact, promote this nonsense leaves many to believe that you either have less than an animal’s sense of self-preservation, or that you hate the idea of Obama being in the White House so intensely that you’re willing to throw both your families, and America, under the bus to ensure that he’s not successful. That suggests that you’re at best, merely stupid, but at worst, both stupid and racist – which, of course, is synonymous.

But don’t feel alone, because you’re only ones who need to wake up. If president Obama escalates the war in Afghanistan, we’re going to hear clinking champaign glasses all over GOPland, because Republicans know better than anyone that the war in Afghanistan is a no-win quagmire just waiting to happen.

Dick Cheney is pressuring Obama into Afghanistan as a lobbyist for the war machine. If this man had any character at all, after his cowardly behavior during the Vietnam War, and his atrociously inept performance during eight years in office, he should be ashame to face the American people. But he has no shame, and he’s more than willing to give YOUR all to enrich the coffers of war machine.

While Cheney is inept in office and a coward, he’s not dumb. He knows that once Obama commits to escalating the war in Afghanistan the president is going to have a huge liability in the 2012 election. He also knows that an escalation of the war will waste badly needed resources that we could use to improve the economy. But most diabolical of Cheney is that he knows that escalating the war will leave the president having to account for the lives of your sons and daughters who are happily walking around today getting married, having children, and planing their future, but will no longer be around in 2012.  After that, Bush’s disaster in Iraq won’t look quite so bad. So Cheney’s pushing to use your kids as cannon fodder, to better Republican chances in the 2012 election.

The president needs to realize that it’s easy for Cheney to pull for the war. He and his cohorts aren’t contributing one thing to the war effort, so it’s a win-win situation for them. Their children are safely at home, they reap windfall profits, they make the president look weak to his base for caving in, and they take the Iraqi disaster off the table for the 2012 election.

So while we share differing political views, I’m pulling for the lives of your children, and I hope the president doise the same. I’m hoping the president realizes that only the insane tries the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. As an intelligent man and student of history, he simply has to recognize that we’ve tried the exact same thing, using the exact same rationale, in both Vietnam, and Iraq, and they’ve both turned out to be utter disasters. All we’ve gotten in return is a hemorrhaging treasury, and bulging cemeteries.

Candidate Obama promised us change, and the most profound change that he can provide us at this point in history is fewer mourning families. I hope he recognizes that as long as this nation continues to treat our troops like pawns instead of people who love their lives, and have hopes and dreams for a future, all other change is merely superficial.

So as the president deliberates his course of action in Afghanistan, I’d like him to ponder two questions on behalf of us all. The first: What decision would he make on Afghanistan if he knew with certainty that his own daughters would be the very first casualties in an escalation of the war? In such a case, I’m virtually certain that he’d decide that the effort wasn’t worth the cost. And the second question is, what makes the lives of our children of any less value than his own?

If the president can answer those two questions honestly, his course of action should be clear.

Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com

Religious bigotry: It’s not that I hate everyone who doesn’t look, think, and act like me – it’s just that God does.

Republican. Democrat. Libertarian. What do they stand for? Where do I fit? I can’t answer that for you. You have to answer it for yourself. I can direct you to a quiz that will help you determine it. The world’s smallest political quiz at http://www.theadvocates.org/quizp/index.html .

I can, however, give you my take on the parties and what they mean to me. My views can be boiled down short enough to fit in this post comfortably and still get the message across. For example, the Republican Party, they stand for big business. The Democrat Party, they stand for big government. The Libertarian Party, they stand for the individual. Is that short and sweet enough for you? Oh, you’d like a little more?

Well, let’s see. The Republican party has traditionally sided with GM, GE and Wal-Mart. They counted on the trickle down theory of economics. In other words the rich get richer and the people get more scraps from the table of big business. It works ok, but in recent years they’ve been trying to follow a more Constitutionally friendly agenda. Without much success, I might add.

Now the Democrat Party is totally different while being exactly the same. Confused? Basically, the Democrat party thinks that government can solve any problem from poverty to quantum physics. They claim to be for the working class while expanding the welfare state. Am I making this clear? No? That’s because they are very contradictory. At least with the Republicans you know how they’re going to screw you. The Democrats try to hide it. But the result is the same, you and I pay more.

The Libertarian party, contrary to popular belief, is the most conservative. They actually believe what the Constitution says. They are for the individual and his rights. They do desire to remove most of the barriers in the way of business as well. However, this can create a kind of “buyer beware” sort of climate. They believe in smaller government, just enough to get the job done.

I personally, am an Independent at this point. But if I had to side somewhere it would definitely be Libertarian.

I think this is the shooting that will turn it all around for those who desire a better America. I think that this shooting, even though the boy didn’t die from his wounds, will really be taken to heart by the NRA. After all, when we learn that babies are being killed by defective cribs, we get rid of the cribs through the recall process. We don’t advocate for the purchase of more defective cribs. I’m positive that the NRA will now make the connection between gun ownership and shootings. Sure. Of. It.

This is why we need to have more guns. Most folks don’t know how much fun they are, especially when drunk! They’re just soooo much fun! Oh sure, tens of thousands of Americans are killed every year by them….but guns are soooo much fun! And what’s more American than having ignorant fun!

This is the fifth part of an analysis of the swing state Pennsylvania. It focuses on the traditionally Republican region between the Democratic strongholds in the southeast and southwest.

Pennsyltucky

Outside the Pittsburgh and the Philadelphia metropolis, Pennsylvania is a very different place. Political analysts often label this area “the T,” while others call it Pennsyltucky.

Popular culture mythologizes Pennsyltucky as red-neck capital – a rural region dominated by NASCAR-loving red-necks. Politically, James Carville compared Pennsyltucky to Alabama without the blacks.

In fact, this stereotype is inaccurate on two accounts. Firstly, Pennsyltucky contains far more than so-called rural red-necks; most of its counties are fairly populated (they are far more densely peopled than, say, rural Arkansas). Secondly, many of these supposedly NASCAR-loving red-necks also belong to the local union and vote Democratic on economic issues. The majority may support Republicans, but that majority certainly is below the 88% of Alabama whites that voted for John McCain.

Nevertheless, the “T” does constitute the Republican base in Pennsylvania. Former president George W. Bush pulled 48.42% of the state’s vote in 2004, and he had to get those votes somewhere.

(Note: This statistic, and all the ones mentioned afterwards, come from http://uselectionatlas.org/)

Pennsylvania’s 2006 Senate election provides a geographic illustration of this base. In that election, former Senator Rick Santorum lost by a landslide 17.36% margin; only the reddest counties supported him:

Although they cover a lot of land, not all these counties are rural enclaves of Pennsyltucky (if they were all rural, Senator John Kerry would have won by double-digits in the state). In fact, fast-growing exurbs constitute a substantial source of Republican votes. Located east of the Philadelphia metropolis, these are somewhat wealthy and mostly white. They include Lancaster County (where Bush won 65.80% of the vote) and York County (where he won 63.74%); the former president came out of these two counties with a 121,832 margin, enough to offset Pittsburgh, Erie, and Scranton.

Erie and Scranton both constitute solidly blue areas belonging to “the T.” They give lie to the myth that all Pennsyltucky votes loyally Republican. Like the southwest, Erie and Scranton contain a number of working-class Democrats; unlike the southwest, however, cultural appeals have not swayed these folk into voting Republican.

Indeed, Democrats do respectably in many parts of Pennsyltucky. Here is President Barack Obama’s performance:

Modified NYT Image

Mr. Obama did not just win Erie and Scranton; he took several other counties and ran closely elsewhere. These included Centre County, home to Pennsylvania State University, and Dauphin County, which has a relatively high black population. All the Lehigh Valley – somewhat an extension of Philadelphia’s suburbs – voted for the president. More surprisingly, Obama ran very closely in several rural, lily-white regions of the T; one such county (Elk) even gave the president a 4% margin of victory.

Obama was not the only Democrat to do well in parts of Pennsyltucky. Here is how former president Bill Clinton performed:

Modified NYT Image

Mr. Clinton, of course, was a fellow with immense appeal to so-called “red-necks.” Since his time, much of Pennsyltucky has moved to the right. Yet not all of it is deep-red: while some counties gave Mr. McCain more than 70% of the vote, others – demographically identical – gave him barely more than 50%. These are substantial and curious variations.

While Pennsyltucky as a whole votes strongly Republican, it is wrong to generalize the area. Its most populous regions – the exurbs – constitute a vital part of the Republican coalition, while some rural counties have a fairly weak Republican habit. Finally, a number of places dependent upon industry routinely support Democrats. To stereotype the “T” as a composed solely of Republican-voting red-necks would do injustice to the region’s complexities.

The ever rational rightwingers are outraged that Obama is turning the NFL into a cadre of revolutionary marxists bent on oppressing kid’s god given right to obesity and diabetes.

From the NFL:

President Barack Obama will join Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware in a special public service announcement debuting during each of the three NFL games played on Thanksgiving. The 90-second PSA is a joint effort of the NFL’s PLAY 60 campaign, a leaguewide effort to fight childhood obesity by getting kids active for 60 minutes a day, and United We Serve, the President’s initiative encouraging all Americans to participate in community service. The spot will continue airing throughout the rest of the season in a shorter format.

From a commenter at Trike Force HQ*:

American Experience
lukematthews Friday, November 27th at 12:50PM EST (link)
has got his Dumbo-eared visage at the beginning of every show as well. His goofy, I’m gonna-eat-you grin is so omnipresent as to be the Big Brother nightmare scenario. When I saw that NFL thing, I exclaimed, “Good God! Has he no decency.” My family laughed. [Emphasis added]

Yes, equating Obama teaming up with sports figures in an effort to fight childhood obesity to the paranoid reactionary Joseph McCarthy is particularly witty. Who says rightwingers and Republicans can’t do humor.

*Fear them:

(from Sadly, No! Click for link)

Piper Palin spellchecks Sarah at book signing event.

The day after Thanksgiving is allegedly the busiest shopping day of the year as retailers discount goods in an attempt to jump-start the holiday shopping season. The day is known as “Black Friday” because it is the day when most retailers’ accounting books shift from the red to the black. This year’s Black Friday is also a day when Sarah Palin, the ex-quitting former governor of Alaska will be in Washington state for a weekend of hawking her ghost-written fictional memoir in the hope of raking in enough cash to extinguish all of her legal defense debt. Palin hopes that today is the day that her subservient supporters will buy enough books to shift her personal finances from the red to the black.

She has a good chance of achieving her goal. Palin’s supporters are primarily comprised of under-educated, rural, right-wing, religious zealots. These folks will only buy a book if its title is, “Bible” or if it is very easy to read with little words and lots of pictures. Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue fits the second category quite nicely. Consequently, she should sell a bunch of them which will then be gift-wrapped and given out as Christmas presents all across backwoods America.

The rest of the reading public may want to take a pass on delving into the Palin book. The critical reviews are not flattering. Today’s Boston Globe has an informative yet negative review which can be read here. Some of the more memorable quotes contained therein are as follows:

Even if one agrees with her premise that Team McCain was dealt a poor hand last year and made things worse by infighting and poor decision-making, it’s not at all clear that if they had followed Palin’s advice, the outcome would have been different. Given her poor grasp of many issues and her tendency to make verbal gaffes, it’s not surprising that John McCain’s staff members kept her on a short leash.

and

While readers get glimpses of her sunny side, it’s often eclipsed by her need to give verbal payback to Alaskan and national politicians who crossed her or didn’t take her seriously enough. Also, while her press coverage wasn’t always what she might have liked, it goes with the territory of playing in the political big leagues, and it would have been more helpful to her image if she had accepted it, rather than whine about it excessively. Though her media-bashing may play well among the conservative base, it might not be the best approach for snagging centrist voters who tend to be the people whose votes decide presidential elections.

and our favorite,

Palin also doesn’t help herself by having produced such a poorly written book. The narrative rambles, and there isn’t much self-reflection. One is reminded of Truman Capote’s comment about the works of Jack Kerouac: “This isn’t writing, it’s typing.’’ In addition, she should have looked ahead and devoted additional space to outlining her worldview.

Ouch!

In honor of Black Friday what better song could we parody than Steely Dan’s “Black Friday”? please remember to click on the song link below to familiarize yourselves with the tune and to have more fun singing along with the parody.

Black Friday song link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVQKiqCZ9No

PALIN’S BLACK FRIDAY

(sung to the Steely Dan song “Black Friday”)

When Black Friday comes
She’ll be on her book tour
Sarah Palin hopes “Going Rogue” is a great big score
When Black Friday comes
She’ll collect all the dough she’s owed
And before those lines thin out she’ll be on the road
When Black Friday comes it will be “me”, “me”, “me”
Cuz this is Sarah P.

When Black Friday comes
She’ll be at the Borders Books
Where all her supporters have no brains judging by their looks
But they will all be so pleased
They’ve paid their SarahPAC dues
Yet they have no idea that they’re just being used
When Black Friday comes they’ll pay Palin’s bills
You know they will

(musical interlude)

When Black Friday comes
Palin’s bus will be on the roll
Counting her book cash just thrills her big empty black soul
Even though her coins are shiny
Sarah’s demeanor is mostly whiney
She needs the cash to move away from the cold North Pole
When Black Friday comes
She’s gonna stake her claim

To fortune and great fame!

    I consistently contend that liberals are hypocrites and that the contemporary, predominantly liberal, Democrat Party, possesses a hypocrisy based ideology.

Hypocrisy is so ingrained in liberalism that it seeps into everything from the way they do business to the policies they promote and the double standards they operate under.

For example. A $400 million dollar deficit after 8 years of President G.W. Bush drew repeated public denunciations by the left and cries of irresponsibility (which is actually true) but an epic $1.85 trillion deficit in 10 months under President Obama is seen as a good thing by liberals now.

Liberals claimed that Clarence Thomas was unfit for the Supreme Court because a comment he made about pubic hair on a can of coke inspired one Anita Hill to accuse him of sexual harassment. But according to these same liberals, the dozens of sexual harassment charges against President B.J Clinton, including those settled out of court, had no bearing on how fit he was to be Commander-and-Chief.

The list is endless, but recently I was struck by a group of liberal, civilian, conscientious objectors who oppose our national security interests and the war against the enemies confronting us.

WarTaxBoycott.org proudly promotes their “2009 War Tax Boycott” and they even ask you to participate in their 2010 War Tax Boycott. I was floored by the message this site offered. What shocked me was not their total refusal to understand why we are at war, or their unwillingness to accept the fact that what we are in the middle of is borne out of necessity (as President Obama admits). No. What made my eyes pop out was the utterly ridiculous level of hypocrisy they confirmed.

Here is some of what the site explained:

“$141,696 redirected from war to projects that serve humanity!

Half the signers to the 2009 War Tax Boycott refused to pay federal income taxes to the IRS and are giving the money to Direct Aid Iraq, Common Ground Health Clinic, or hundreds of other projects of their choice.”

Here’s the kicker…………….

“Other signers have chosen to reduce their income so that none of their money will go to war — with the added benefit of less consumerism.”

I was astonished by the liberal admission of the fact that less income in the pockets of individuals results in “less consumerism”.

Now in the case of this Brooklyn based pit of hypocrisy, they see less consumerism as a good thing because the reduced purchase power and lack of profit in America, in their small, warped minds, is an added sign of protest against our national security.  However; the bottom line is that these liberals clearly connect less money in the pockets of taxpayers with less consumerism. So another words if one were to be allowed to keep more of the money they earned, they would spend more and their would be more of that much hoped for consumerism.

Is this not the exact same point they argue against when they denounce tax cuts?

In the meantime, while you have a portion of the Democrat Party refusing to pay their taxes because of our defense efforts, you have a leading liberal, Congressman David Obey, demanding that we create a “war tax”.

Are liberals actually this confused or are they really as stupid as they sound and act?

But just to accentuate the undeniability of liberal hypocrisy, I should mention that people like Congressman David Obey and Joe Klein, the liberal, so-called journalist of Time, are currently trying to argue that a “war tax” is patriotic, yet, at the same time, do they call it unpatriotic when  liberals refuse to pay any taxes, as demonstrated by the 2009 War Tax Protest group?

The endless hypocrisy of the left is painfully obvious and incredibly obscene.  But if you really want to blow a gasket,  check out what Joe Klein had to say about Congressman Obey’s war tax.  Not only does it add to my point, it also demonstrates the blatant level of political insincerity that liberals possess.  Klein’s brief opinion of the war tax reveals the real reason behind it. 

It is an attempt, on the part of the left, to exploit the war effort and turn it into a wedge issue to attack Republicans with.  And we all know it!  After all, do any of us believe that the same government which claims that stimulus dollares are creating jobs in Congressional Districts that do not exist , is actually going to insure us that their war tax goes to the war effort?   Absolutely not! 

These hypocrites really need to stop the lies and put an end to the games they’re playing.

In honor of the racist bigots posting on several blogs, such as Sue, Black Lion, brygenon over on the Right Side of Life, who call anyone that has anything to say against “their” Obama a racist. I have decided to have a little fun and make the following illustration poking fun at their inabilty to see facts. Mind you that unlike them, I do not revert and call people racists. I for one, standby Alan Keyes and Pastor Mannin, who also question the illegal undocumented alien, Barack Hussein Obama’s eligibility as POTUS.

So here’s to you Sue, Black Lion, and brygenon

Robin’s article is here at American Thinker. (H/T ECM)

Excerpt:

Like for most feminists, it was a no-brainer for me to become a Democrat. Liberal men, not conservatives, were the ones devoted to women’s issues. They marched at my side in support of abortion rights. They were enthusiastic about women succeeding in the workplace.

[...]Then along came Sarah, and the attacks became particularly heinous. And I realized something even more chilling about the Left. Leftists not only sacrifice and disrespect women, but it’s far worse: many are perpetuators.

The Left’s behavior towards Palin is not politics as usual. By their laser-focus on her body and her sexuality, leftists are defiling her.

[...]The Left has declared war on Palin because she threatens their existence. Liberals need women dependent and scared so that women, like blacks, will vote Democrat.

And so the Left must try to destroy her. And they are doing this in the most malicious of ways: by symbolically raping her.

Just like a perpetuator, they dehumanize her by objectifying her body. They undress her with their eyes.

They turn her into a piece of ass.

Liberals do this by calling her a c__t, ogling her legs, demeaning her with names like “slutty flight attendant” and “Trailer Park Barbie,” and exposing her flesh on the cover of Newsweek.

And from Atlantic Magazine’s Andrew Sullivan “Sarah Palin’s vagina is the font of all evil in the galaxy.”

Nothing is off-limits, not actress Sandra Bernhard’s wish that Palin be gang-raped or the sexualization of Palin’s daughters.

As every woman knows, leering looks, lurid words, and veiled threats are intended to evoke terror. Sexual violence is a form of terrorism.

Read the whole thing.

Do conservatives oppose women?

Conservatives think that men and women should make good choices and do good things. That is why on this blog hardly a moment goes by without me praising women like Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn, Jennifer Roback Morse and Trayce Hansen for making good choices and doing good things.

For example, here’s Michele Bachmann speaking out about National Adoption Day.

Adoption is a good thing. Conservatives support the choice to love and nurture vulnerable children. We don’t support the choice to kill an unborn person. Conservatives support good choices, and oppose bad choices.

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

-Frederick Koenig

Be sure to click here to read “She Set The Table For Thanksgiving“  a reflection of what our thanks is really for

I don’t guess this is a good time to give thanks to the Christian God for much of anything.  Especially since He watched as hundreds, if not thousands of children were molested.  The Christian God heard their cries for help and did NOTHING to stop it for decades!  It seems we can’t trust the Christian God to watch over our children and keep them safe.  He can’t even do it in his own house with his own servants. Just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas, no wonder they now prefer to say “happy holidays”.  Not much Merry in the Christmas for those kids.

The full list of reports can be found at the following link:

http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PB09000504

The summary of the report is provided below:

The Roman Catholic Church is said to have covered up DECADES of child abuse by priest in an attempt to protect the church’s reputation.  This was discovered after a three year investigation into the matter.

Several government investigations into chronic child rape, beatings and other cruelty in Catholic-run schools, children’s workhouses and orphanages in 1975-2004 were conducted.

The government indicated their investigations “shows clearly that a systemic, calculated perversion of power and trust was visited on helpless and innocent children in the archdiocese.”

With respect to the abuse cases the government stated: “The perpetrators must continue to be brought to justice, and the people of Ireland must know that this can never happen again,”

The 720-page report – delivered to the government in July but released Thursday – analyzes the cases of 46 priests against whom 320 complaints were filed. The 46 were selected from more than 150 Dublin priests implicated in molesting or raping boys and girls since 1940. Eleven priests convicted of child abuse are named in the report, but 33 are referred to by aliases and two have their names blacked out because they have yet to face justice.

The report also rejected past bishops’ key claim that they were ignorant of both the scale and criminality of priests’ abuse of children, showing that the Dublin Archdiocese negotiated a 1987 insurance policy for future legal costs of defending lawsuits and compensation claims.

The report states that  ”the taking out of insurance was an act proving knowledge of child sexual abuse as a potential major cost to the archdiocese.”

Investigators spent three years poring over 60,000 previously secret Dublin church files. Among the files were more than 5,500 that Martin’s predecessor, retired Cardinal Desmond Connell, had tried to keep locked in the archbishop’s private vault.

“One priest admitted to sexually abusing over 100 children, while another accepted that he had abused on a fortnightly basis during the currency of his ministry which lasted for over 25 years.”

“A few (priests) were courageous and brought complaints to the attention of their superiors. The vast majority simply chose to turn a blind eye,” the report said.

In May, the government published a report on decades of child abuse in Catholic-run schools, workhouses and orphanages. More than 12,000 victims of rape, beatings and mental abuse have received compensation payments from a government panel exceeding euro800 million ($1.2 billion).

I am surprised that anyone can feel it moral to follow this Christian belief after what has already been exposed.  It is likely this is not all we will come .

Yet, fools (dumb sheep) will still look to the Church for answers on “morals”.   We have Christians of all types now making excuses for child abuse, child rape, child labor, and in America we have Christians supporting the re-election of a Christian President that sent American troops to die for his war based on lies of WMD and ties to 9/11.  A President that used God as an excuse for it all, to include torture.  Christians in overwhelming numbers supported and re-elected Bush and thus approved, supported and condoned his immoral acts.  Yes, they are just as accountable for those acts.

Just because these people follow some superstition that millions respect doesn’t mean they are above the law or that they can commit any immoral act and get away with it.  Ted Haggard, Jimmy Baker, Jimmy Swaggert, Mark Sanford, Larry Craig, Vittner, John Ensign to name a few high profile Christians, seems to slide past any real accountability.

Imagine how many low profile individuals are getting through the cracks.  If the most “moral” of the “moral” are doing such sick acts, then the Christian idiots that come here and leave comments like “fuck off you piece of shit” are likely hiding many other vile acts while they claim to follow a “moral” God.

What happened Christians?  You attempt to tell us that we have no morals without religion and it appears the opposite is true.  With religion, we discover how to be immoral and claim it is moral, hide it with money and power and praise God while we tell others how they should live!

Pathetic!!

It is time for the world to wake up to these superstitious claims, stop believe the lies that are spread because threats are made of terrible harm that will come if you don’t follow.  Grow up, stand up and be honest to the children.  Stop threatening them with your God’s great punishment and torture for eternity.  Let them have a chance at life and escape the lies you are forced to live with.

Jesus Christ during his suffering in Gethsemane asked his apostles to “Watch and Pray…” with him, “that ye enter not into temptation” (KJV Matt. 26:41).

During the ratification process for the Constitution an author to the Daily Advertiser in September 24, 1787 offered the following:

Let difficulties, if any unhappily arise, be no longer laid to our charge –and let us all, who are friends to order and good government, in the language of the scriptural injunction, “watch and pray.” — Watch, and, with open front, manfully oppose every ambitious demagogue, however high in office, who may attempt to form combinations, with a wicked intent to destroy the labors of those distinguished worthies; and pray to the Governor of the world to avert, and finally disappoint there nefarious purposes. — If the change, which genius and patriotism has presented to us, as the most advisable to be received, should be rejected, and if (which God avert) such evil minded men should prevail, what is the alternative? Gorgon-headed anarchy, or a miserable aristocratic domination; all the wretchedness and wickedness of an aristrocracy, without a single particle of its dignity.

What are some things we need to watch for?

Representatives who don’t.
Representatives who line their pockets and base decisions on the interests of their party or a lobbyist rather than the concerns of their constituents.
Representatives who seek to destroy the work of those who chose to work and enrich themselves for those who do not wish to avail themselves of opportunities.
Representatives who manipulate an overly-complex tax code to help their friends gain positions of power.
Representatives who actively strive to destroy the fabric of society, even the family unit.
Representatives who undermine our security by weakening and demoralizing those who have chosen to protect us and the Constitution.
The list could go on and on.

The second part of that directive is to pray. I do not care if you pray to God, Allah, or any of the other host of deities worshiped by people in this country. I do not even care if you are an atheist. We need to be praying.
Praying for what?

Pray that our elected leaders will have the wisdom and guidance that they need to govern properly this country.
Pray that our representatives will remember those whom they have gotten their positions from.
Pray that the family can survive.
Pray that the efforts of those who have shed blood for the freedoms which we take for granted will not be in vain.
Pray that the nefarious efforts of wicked men will be thwarted.
Pray that true leaders and true patriots will arise from the masses to help lead us.
Pray for the men and women who everyday place themselves in harms way to protect our Constitution.

I am thankful for this country. I am thankful for the freedoms which we have. I am ashamed that for so long I have taken for granted those freedoms. I am thankful that I had a chance to serve my country.

The directive to “watch and pray” is still applicable as it was 200 years ago and 2000 years ago.

Watching means more than simply looking out for irregularities. It also means that we take action. A neighborhood watch program is only effective if the people watching also call authorities to action should the need arise. This places a responsibility on us.
We need to know what our rights our. We need to know what our Constitution says. We need to be able to think critically. We also need to be turn that knowledge into a watch. Then by watching we will know if something is amiss, and with our vote take action.

We also need to rely on whichever Creator we worship and through prayer ask for his divine help. This means not only relying on our own merits, but realizing that without divine help we are nothing. This means not relying on the arm of flesh, but on the divine arm of God to help and direct the leaders of our country.

For too long, we as Americans have been asleep on the tower. Enemies have and our infiltrating the ranks of our representatives. We need to find them and root them out.

WAKE UP! Stand tall, watch and pray.

    She was an older woman. Her face was etched with a history of struggles and her heart strengthened by a faith in a force that was the backbone of her survival. She was a bright lady, industrious and ingenious. Determined and strong willed, her fury could be unlike the scorn of no other, but compassion and fairness ruled her every action.

She was married to truth and loyal to justice. Her family was an unruly bunch and a large one too. It consisted of those born of her and those adopted into her arms. But all were embraced with equal amounts of love.

Each morning, she woke, without ever actually having fully slept, and prepared to fuel all those in her home with the energy to face the day ahead. Wheat from her heartlands was risen in dough. Corn from the fields she tilled flavored the muffins in wicker baskets made with her own hands, and the bacon cured and eggs laid on her farms, sizzled in the cast iron griddles milled from the iron mined out of her mountains.

When breakfast was done, the work had just begun. Every member of her family had to go out on their own. One by one, as each left, she reminded them of their bounty and of the future that could be theirs if they made the new day they embarked upon, more productive than the last.

Each of her loved ones did something different. They worked in auto factories, others in shipyards. Some worked as lawyers, others as teachers. Some kept financial records, tended bars, stocked supermarket shelves, sang beautiful songs and played magnificent music, prepared luscious meals, made haute couture, wrote for newspapers, provided protection and some cured the ill. What each one did, did not matter to her so much as did their doing it well. For sure, she knew that each one was as valuable as the other. She knew that without each one doing their part, her household would suffer. And suffering was not in her plan.

She herself had suffered many tough times. She had been faced with financial ruin, been battered and forced to face many violent confrontations. She had been stolen from, taken advantage of, beaten upon and endured mental anguish as she struggled with harsh decisions and extradoridnary moral and ethical questions.   Her life was never easy and the assaults of time on her very being, often showed.   Many adored her and looked up to her. Some were jealous of her, others were leery of her and a few often challenged her. But each challenge dropped in her lap and each hurdle crossed, made each of her many successes, all the more grand and incredibly more exhilarating.   She took to the skies, crossed the seas, scaled over, through and under mountains, created artificial light and virtual reality, wrote enduringly prophetic pieces of literature, invented life saving practices and products, bridged islands and worlds and even gave birth to freedom, the force that she would eventually come to realize was the key to her being.

But she never basked too long in any glory.

Instead, she always looked forward and prepared herself for the next challenge ahead. The changing weather, the shifting earth, the roiling seas, the changing opinions and needs of her own family, and the influences of her neighbors, never allowed for a static day. And besides, she was too wise to ever sit on her laurels. The future offered too much promise to ever allow her to just be happy with what was, and too many counted on her own promise to make the most of what will be.

So she trudged ahead with the start of every new day. She knew that as tough as things may be, her freedoms enabled her, and all those in her family, to do their part so that each next challenge could be and would be overcome.  By doing her part and insuring her household with freedom and also responsibilities, all those in her household could become increasingly strong and they in turn would keep the roof over their heads strong.  She knew that as each member of her family did their part, in that which they were best at doing, the bounty of her existence would always be there.

Appreciative of all that bounty, as this day progressed, she prepared a meal for all to share as they came home from their missions.

She made sure that there was a place for everyone at her table, and as, one by one, they took their places, she placed atop the table a wealth of hearty riches that fed their hungry stomachs and fueled the hunger in their hearts for a better day tomorrow.

As they joined hands together as one family, they gave thanks for the wealth of the strong willed lady who provided and insured the freedom that allowed them to lead rich lives with endless opportunities.

Today Lady Liberty has set the table for a celebration of thanks for all that she has made available to us and all that she continues to offer us……..So long as, we all always, do our part.

Happy Thanksgiving America and thank you Lady Liberty. I love you.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN When brains, courage, strength of character, and love of country was more important than spin doctors, questionable ethics and love of the all mighty dollar. He would never be elected today.

(Abraham Lincoln)

He’d probably run as third part candidate anyway.

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: amathistblue via Advanced Lol Builder

» Recaption This!

» View All Captions

We here at Left would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, but first you have to read my post.

I couldn’t sleep last night, so I watched old movies on Turner Classic Movies. Now, these are really old movies. I happened to catch the musical “1776″. Why this was on I have no idea, maybe because there was a scene where Franklin argues for the turkey to be our national bird. That would have sure changed Thanksgiving as we know it. If you have never watched this show, I highly reccomend it. It has great scenes such as John Adam’s quote saying, “Its a revolution, we are going to have damn well offend someone.”. It also has Franklin saying, “Rebellion is only illegal when used in the third person.”. Of course it was not either of those two quotes that inspired my insomnia or this post; however, it was their fervent debate on independency that reminded me to be thankful today.

It seems to me we have lost some of these debate skills as of late. Oh there is still debate, but we have lost respect for the other side. As I reviewed the comments of this site over the last year, I was saddened to see the petty name calling and the misinformation that was being used in the name of debate. One commenter went so far as to question a man’s Christianity over a disagreement on politics. How did we evolve into this species? How did we lose so great an art as to debate the issues at hand?

This Thanksgiving, I challenge you to be thankful for our ability to freely debate. Be thankful for a country that allows both the ability to praise and criticize our leaders. Be thankful that our forefathers did not waste their time debating to see George Washington’s certificate of live birth, but yet saw fit to birth for us a country with freedom.

We here at Left on Lanier would like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans: To the leaders of the republican party who declare their patriotic love for these United States, but spew forth their hatred for the people of this great land; To those who consider themselves democrats, but yet fail to stand on principle in order to avoid a fight; To the liberal who tolerantly advocates intolerance toward all those that disagree; To the conservative that accepts the status quo because the battle is just too hard to win; To the Christian who can remember the law, but fail to see the grace and love of Jesus Christ; To the Muslim who has been unjustly persecuted, but fails to call out those who persecute unjustly; To America, a land of bounty which calls forth it’s citizens to lead and not be led.

This is the time for a new American dream: A dream that our fore fathers were inspired by, a dream that transcends life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are Americans because we understand the fundamental principle of humanity to leave this world better than we found it.

This Thanksgiving be challenged to take up this calling. Fight for what you believe, but fight to make this world a better place.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Award-winning writer and filmmaker Geoffrey Dunn’s book The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power will be released by St. Martin’s Press in spring 2010.

Now this should be a good read.  Those that loved Bush and supported his lies are the ones that support Palin and claim she is intelligent and experienced and they are not able to tell when they are being manipulated using God to do it.

Mike Wooten, 37, who still serves as an Alaska State Trooper in Anchorage, called Palin’s book “a pack of lies.”

According to Wooten, Palin and her father, Chuck Heath Sr., have “interfered with my life–and my children’s lives–for at least the last five years. And it is still going on. I’m done with it.”

An independent investigation ordered by the bipartisan Alaska Legislative Council (composed of ten Republicansand four Democrats) and conducted by former Republican prosecutor Steve Branchflower, resulted in the finding “that Governor Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.”

The report issued by Branchflower documented more than thirty occasions in which then Governor Palin, her husband Todd or members of her staff tried to influence Alaska’s highly regarded Commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan, to fire Wooten. When Monegan refused, Palin fired him instead.

Wooten served 10 years in the Air Force and three more in the Air National Guard Reserves. He participated in a trio of U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf War–Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Restore Hope–before returning stateside to Alaska at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Disabled from his military service, Wooten pointed out that neither Todd nor Sarah Palin, or Chuck Heath, served in the armed forces. Wooten said he was particularly “disgusted and incensed” by Palin’s “insincere” dedication in Going Rogue to “our men and women in uniform.”

It is interesting to note that those who have been victimized by Palin during her political career–including former Wasilla police chief Irl Stambaugh; Monegan and himself–were all veterans. “Sarah is only about Sarah,” Wooten said. “She doesn’t care about the ‘men and women in uniform.’ It’s all about advancing Sarah’s career.”

It is also interesting to note that Palin mentions none of Wooten’s military record, but cites many charges that were brought against Wooten that were subsequently dismissed. She contends that there were “ten different” citizen complaints field against Wooten–without acknowledging that all of them were filed by members of her family or close friends. “They filed every stinking one of the charges,” Wooten contends. “But it’s been more like two dozen.”

Palin, Wooten would be one of those you always call a hero, and he served our country.  Why would you attack one of our heros unless you are a terrorist supporter.  Are you anti-American, Palin?

John Cyr, the former Alaska Public Safety Employees Association Executive Director, confirmed Wooten’s charges:

“Not one complaint has ever been made about Mike Wooten’s professional performance from any member of the public other than the Palin/Heath family and their closest friends. The troopers that I’ve talked to that have worked with Mike tell me Mike is the kind of guy they’d go through a door with. That he does his work. He’s a professional. You know, just no complaints out there about Mike’s work.”

“It’s the product of an ugly divorce and custody battle,” Cyr [pictured below, at left, with Wooten] said of the complaints against the State Trooper. “It’s nothing more than that.”

Palin I thought you were a Christian?  Why are you so full of hate, revenge and lies?  Is that what your Jesus would do?  I am glad God didn’t want you to be President.

It is interesting how she can so easily fool Christian Republicans that seem to worship her like a God.  Bush fooled them, destroyed our economy, lead us to a war based on lies of WMD and ties to 9/11 and then sold torture to his Christian supporters that excused it and allowed it to continue.  Praise God?

In a letter dated January 1, 2000, written on official City of Wasilla stationery, Palin praises Wooten profusely, though she fails to declare her then-pending familial relationship with him.  She also didn’t mention this in her book.  I wonder why?  Does she wish to just deceive all the people she can?

Hey Palin, here is what you had to say about Wooten that you rather no one know about:

“It is my pleasure to provide character reference examples for Mr. Mike Wooten. Since I have become acquainted with Mike I continue to be impressed with his integrity, worthwhile community spirit and trustworthiness…  On a personal note, I have witnessed Mike’s gift of calm and kindness towards many young kids here in Wasilla. I have never seen him raise his voice, nor lose patience, nor become agitated, in the presence of any child. Instead, Mike consistently remains a fine role model for my own children and other young people in Wasilla.  I wish America had more people with the grace and sincerity that mirrors the character of Mike Wooten. We would have a much kinder calmer trustworthy nation as a result.  I believe the United States Air Force has been fortunate to have the services of Mike the past 10 years. His work ethic, his American patriotism, his obvious dedication to traditional values, and his strong faith in God and truth is witnessed in Mike’s everyday living.”

Why wasn’t this in your book Sarah Palin?  Are you afraid everyone will see you for the wack job you are?