No "Prince"

Erik Prince Calls himself a "devout Christian" I'm sure Jesus, the prince of peace would love a guy who can "kill you before you even knows he's in the room"
I'm no expert on the bible, but does it say "blessed be the mercenaries?"
I think Prince would make a great villain for "24".
Erik Prince is a big funder of the far right. Are they planning on cluster bombing of abortion clinics and Berkley?

Outsourcing Bloodshed

Privatizing food service and laundry is one thing, but private mercenaries with almost no accountability, on the taxpayers tab? Isn't America better than that?

Thoughts On God And The Bible

God is the ultimate "tabula rosa". He is a blank canvas on which the believer can paint anything he or she wishes. Because most beliefs about God cannot be disproved. (Barring historical and scientific facts verified through evidence.)
There are countless opinions and writings about the nature of God. People point to the Bible. The Bible was written my many people and edited by committee. Is it the "word of God" or simply the whim of its individual writers and the people who edited it?
The Bible has many different versions, some which exclude certain texts. To complicate things more , the bible has been interpreted into hundreds of different languages. Most translation of any book arn’t literal. The interpreted often takes liberties with text in order to make it more readable. So, the bible read by someone in India might not really be the same bible read in the US. So, are some versions of the bible more "Godly" then others? And who decides this?

Christian Mercenary

Erik Prince founder of the mercenary outfit Blackwater is yet another self-described "Christian" who seems to be almost "anti-Christian" in the way he behaves. Jesus, after all, preached against war and the lust for money, and advocated tolerance. Things which Mr. Prince and his ilk have not concept of. Their use faith in a very self-serving and egocentric way, not as a means of humility and selflessness.

Freedom On The March?

It seems that the defense department is still spying on anti-war groups:

http://www.bakelblog.com/nobodys_business/2007/01/more_peacenik_s.html#comment-28313135

The last time I checked, Al Queda wasn't into non-violent social change. And, when was the last time a peacenick engaged in a suicide bombing in the middle of a crowed street?

Obscene Talk

If Radio stations can be fined by the FCC for bad words and sexual content, why can't they be fined for violent talk? Who decides what's "obscene" anyway?

The Failure of The Religous Right

I still can't figure out how going after bad words, banning stem cell research, banning abortion, banning gay marriage is supposed to "preserve the family" or "change the culture."
The Eight-hundred pond Gorillas in the room is that the Religious Right has failed in virtually all its goals, despite the unprecedented access they had the last six years to the hall of power.
Could it be the American people are getting fed up with the religious right? In the last election. issues such as gay marriage barely produced a ripple.

Dem's Dream Candidate..

I'm really hoping Brownback gets the GOP nomination. He's so extreme, Dems wouldn’t even have to campaign against him! He Would go down in history as a right wing George McGovern

What Have Pro-Lifers Really Done To Really Reduce Abortions?

Women have abortions because of unplanned pregnancy and/or they can't afford them. What have most of the pro-lifers done (other than promoting abstinence) to lesson the need for abortion? Many pro-lifers are against real sex education, against birth control and belittle the effectiveness of condoms. And many of these pro-lifers don't seem too worked up over cuts in government programs for needy children.
Their "anti-abortion" crusade is surprisingly oxymoronic. Instead of focusing on outlawing abortion, they should do more to take care of babies AFTER they are born. Being "pro-life" should extend after a person is out of the womb.
And take a look at Europe, which has lower infant mortality and lower teen pregnancy. This makes all the heavy handed preaching from far right ring quite empty.

The BIggest (and most unfair) Smear Against Liberals

One of the biggest smears the right has unleashed is to call liberals "moral relativists" or that the "are trying to undermine morality" Really? Is being against war and injustice a sign of immorality? Is it really "moral relativism" to be for tolerance, equality and non-violence? To accuse liberals of immorality is the right’s way of not dealing with the the issues the left is brings up.
Most human beings, be they liberals or conservatives have at least a semblance of morality. There are indeed some people who have no sense of right and wrong. They are called "socialpaths" or more scientifically speaking, they have "antisocial personality disorder." These are people who have no empathy for other people and no remorse at all for their actions. Such a person is hardly "liberal" in their nature. In fact, the most common complaint is of liberals having too much empathy and thus being "bleeding hearts".
In the late sixties and early seventies, there was indeed a faction of the left which had an "anything goes" mentality. But, this faction has become pretty much been marginalized by mainstream liberalism.
This is not to say liberals are perfect. The NEA, for instance, has made it virtually impossible to fire any teacher, even, in some cases, they have committed a crime. And, they seem to be more concerned with the welfare of teachers than the students.
But, to accuse them of "promoting immorality" to children is completely without basis.
The two biggest factors in the psychological makeup of a child is the family, the church they attend and the peer group he or she is associated with. The curriculum and policy of the schools the least significant influence.
This is the big fallacy of "abstinence only" and anti-drug programs. There are complex and ubigutous social forces in this society which can’t be blunted by a one hour a day(at the most) program in the schools. Because neither program has the capacity to really change long term values. Similarly, it is implausible that teaching comprehensive sex education, with information about condom and birth control is going to undermine the values of students.

A Truly Obscene Post

The problem with the term "obscene" is that its very subjective term. It has a different definition all the time. Personally, I think the FCC is pretty obscene!

Condi's Folly

The impression I get from Condi Rice is of a very brilliant and wise women who is reduced to carrying the water for a an incompetent and out of touch administration. Sad, Really.

Leberman has drunk the neo-con coolaid

Leberman claims "we're fighting the same enemy in Iraq as we did on 9/11" Not quite. Most of the violence is sectarian. Most reports indicate that Al Queda is involved in less than five percent of the attacks in Iraq.

No stopping the inevitable

There is nothing the US can do to stop the Middle East’s inevitable slide into chaos. The whole region has been a powder keg for years. The US didn’t create the kindling, but we did light the match. And there is no way the genie can be put back into the bottle. There are forces at work in that part of the world which is beyond the control of the United States. We are a powerful nation, but we are not Godlike. And, the sooner we all wake up to that fact, the better.
Instead of trying to solve the unsolvable in a distant land we barely understand, we need to beef up domestic security, take control of our border and develop renewable energy and promote conservation.

Un-re-elected

There is still an open question as to whether Bush was legitimately elected in 2000. And there is also evidence that may not have legitimately re-elected. Bush may go down in history as the first President to be both un-elected and un-re-elected!

Bush's approval higher than it should be

If more people in this country were really paying attention, Bush’s approval rating would be in the single digits. It is only ignorance, ideological loyalty, right wing propaganda, fear and religious fundamentalism which gives Bush what little support he has now.

Bush and Cheney vs, Democracy

Democracy is based on the rule of the people, not its leaders. What Bush and Cheney are doing is subverting the very concept. They have gone completely over the deep end in terms of insolation, unlimited executive power, corruption, incompetence and secrecy.

Bush Could Be Impeached Many Times Over

If Congress were to apply the same threshold for impeachment with which they went after Clinton, they could probably impeach Bush about thirty or forty times over. To say the right has a double standard would be a profound understatement.
Bush doesn't care about Congress, the will of the American people or America's standing in the world. If Congress would at least threaten him with impeachment, maybe, just maybe, he might start rethinking a few things. Do we take the rule of law seriously in this country or don’t we?

Right Blames America First

Jerry Falwell blamed the 9/11 attacks on homosexuals, femanist and secular humanists. Ann Coulter mocked victims of 9/11. Now a pundit has blamed "social liberalization" for terrorism. Isnt' this another form of the "blame America first" mentality sometime found on the left? And like the far left, they are out of the mainstream of American society.

Just Enough Troops To Fail

In theory, Iraq may not be lost. If the US were to send three hundred thousand troops and stay in the country for thirty years, we might have a chance of turning things around. But, where would we get all those troops? In order to do so might require a draft(which would be unpopular) And, it may cost over several trillion dollars. If the United States is not willing to take such drastic steps, we need to get out as soon as possible. Wars are either won or loss, there can be no middle road. The only exception to this rule is an armistice. But, how can you sign and such an agreement with a hundred different tribes as well as thousands of insurgents and terrorists?
Like Vietnam, we are in a shadowy "half-way" war where victory and defeat are difficult things to measure. This is the worse sort of conflict since it makes stratigizing very difficult, and such a conflict can go on indefinitely. In Iraq, this is complicated by the fact that they are in a de-facto civil war. This means the US is at war with two rival factions.
From the beginning, the complications and difficulties of the Iraqi war were undersold. In the built to war, the neo-cons made it seem like a cakewalk. They were ether delusional or outright deceitful.
Meanwhile as all our resources and attention goes to Iraq, the Taliban are launching more attacks on Afghanistan from bases in Pakistan. The President says he doesn’t want Iraq to become a safe haven for terrorist. Yet, the Eastern provinces of Pakistan are indeed a safe haven for the Taliban and Al Queda! Pakistan has no real control of these areas, despite the Billions in aid and military hardware we’ve given them. If Pakistan can’t bring order out of Chaos, the US should.
Pakistan should simply declare the Eastern Provinces independent, so if the US were to invade them, it really would be and attack on Pakistan itself.

Enemy Of The States

Sean Hannity, in his eternal "wisdom" has a new segment called "Enemy of the State.".
If one were to use the title "enemy of the state" it makes more sense of apply the title to Osama, North Korea or the current president of Iran. But, Sean Penn? Penn got in a boat after Katrina and tried to save survivors while Bush and FEMA were doing "a heck of a job".
And remember that the Romans considered Jesus to be an "enemy of the state."...

Beyond Ironic, Pt. 2

Many corporate sponsors seem to have no problem supporting rightwing nutjobs:http://mediamatters.org/items/200701090004

Air America went bankrupt because they couldn't find enough sponsors. So much for the "liberal media".
Many on the right serve up hate and fear because they have nothing else to offer. In the end, all they hate may backfire on them, hopefully before one of their listeners goes on a shooting spree against "godless liberals", homosexuals and Muslims.
Of course, many of the same wingnuts blame the media and rock music for violence. And with no hint of irony, either.

Beyond Irony

The Soviet Military banned Homosexuals... In fact, being gay in Soviet Russia could get you put in jail. Odd that the Christian Right hated the communist...

Constantine: Christianity's Corrupter

Constantine is remembered as Christianity’s champion. But, in reality, he was its corrupter. Constantine perverted the message of Jesus in the name of imperialism and warmongering. He opened the door to holy wars blood shed in the name of God. This twisting of Christianity haunts us to this day.
Before Constantine, Christianity was more peace loving and less materialistic. The Emperor may have spread the Christian Religion, but at the cost to its very soul. Without Constantine, Christianity might not be as widespread, but it would be truer to it roots.
Jesus himself said he had no "Earthly Kingdom", and ruled an empire "not of this Earth".