Sad news today. Even though the courts hands were probably tied (I am not a lawyer), it is deeply distressing the hate mongers have won out again. Gays aren't good enough for the same right to marry as straight people. They must be satisfied.
Why is it that people so fear and mistrust those that do not conform to their view of the "norm"?
These so-called Christians that have such a burning desire to preach hate and fear. I do not begin to understand it. They put all their faith into a Bible that was written by men long after Christ died. It has been rewritten and re-interpreted so many times over so many generations, how can it truly reflect his words?
The one thing that shines through is the message of love and acceptance and caring. There is no message of hate and exclusion and fear. For hundreds of years, any non-white people were treated as less as not worthy of equal status in our society. Heck, there were even white people treated as badly, but we were finally learning to move past that attitude. How have we come to saying it again? How have we come to hating so deeply again?
I don't think that is what Jesus intended. At least, I hope not.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Fear in Our Times
In his speech a few nights ago, President Obama said “Our government made decisions based on fear rather than foresight”. I think he was being diplomatic. I believe the Bush Administration made decisions based on fear and with the intention to incite fear. The more fearful we were the better. They ladled it on, thick and rich with everything they could think if to make us think that the terrorist were just down the block, ready to kill us all in our sleep.
The Bush Administration used they very tactics we decry as evil in the pursuit of their agenda. They wanted a war that wasn’t necessary, so they did everything possible to change the facts to fit. The Iraqis were surprised that anyone thought they had a connection to Al Qaeda, just torture people until one of them says there was a connection just so that the torture will stop.
They wanted to shift the blame for being asleep at the wheel when the World Trade Center attack happened, so they screamed at every opportunity that it was Clinton’s fault. It doesn’t matter that he left office nine months prior to the attack and his intelligence folk warned there was something in the offing.
Now Dick Cheney is making the rounds, telling anyone with a microphone that torture made us safe. Even though the overwhelming evidence is that any useful information was obtain from “prisoners” was obtained before the torture started, and that torture usually produces more false information that truth, and it was very useful in recruiting for the terrorists, and made it exponentially more dangerous for any captured American service men and women, Mr. Cheney is adamant that is kept us safe.
The GOP is following hot on his heels. They are using every trick in the book to spread the fear again. According to them, Obama wants to release all the people being held at Quantanamo onto the streets of the United States. From there, they will invade our neighborhoods and kill us in our sleep.
The media outlets, newspapers and broadcast are, of course, breathless in their need to propagate these insane accusations as fact and reality. They seem to be falling over each other in the haste to have Cheney and the GOPers on their shows and in their columns. I know the need to sell papers and commercial time is a high priority, but at the cost of our country? The term media whore can be applied to more and more of our supposedly noble journalists these days.
What really gets is the number of allegedly educated and sober Democratic politicians that are falling for it. Apparently their spines did disappear years ago and will never be found again.
We have gone from being a nation that can hold its collective head high and look danger in the eye to a nation of cowering, gibbering idiots. We have not recovered from the days of reds under the beds, we have just replaced them with terrorists. We are now using and condoning torture and the worst of tactics that we abhor in our enemies.
How can we, as a nation, as the United States of America, say to future generations that we stood up and met the challenges of our time? If we succumb to the fear, if we do not meet the fight head on, if we do not keep that moral high ground, we will not be worthy of being called Americans. We have become the very things we once stood against.
The Bush Administration used they very tactics we decry as evil in the pursuit of their agenda. They wanted a war that wasn’t necessary, so they did everything possible to change the facts to fit. The Iraqis were surprised that anyone thought they had a connection to Al Qaeda, just torture people until one of them says there was a connection just so that the torture will stop.
They wanted to shift the blame for being asleep at the wheel when the World Trade Center attack happened, so they screamed at every opportunity that it was Clinton’s fault. It doesn’t matter that he left office nine months prior to the attack and his intelligence folk warned there was something in the offing.
Now Dick Cheney is making the rounds, telling anyone with a microphone that torture made us safe. Even though the overwhelming evidence is that any useful information was obtain from “prisoners” was obtained before the torture started, and that torture usually produces more false information that truth, and it was very useful in recruiting for the terrorists, and made it exponentially more dangerous for any captured American service men and women, Mr. Cheney is adamant that is kept us safe.
The GOP is following hot on his heels. They are using every trick in the book to spread the fear again. According to them, Obama wants to release all the people being held at Quantanamo onto the streets of the United States. From there, they will invade our neighborhoods and kill us in our sleep.
The media outlets, newspapers and broadcast are, of course, breathless in their need to propagate these insane accusations as fact and reality. They seem to be falling over each other in the haste to have Cheney and the GOPers on their shows and in their columns. I know the need to sell papers and commercial time is a high priority, but at the cost of our country? The term media whore can be applied to more and more of our supposedly noble journalists these days.
What really gets is the number of allegedly educated and sober Democratic politicians that are falling for it. Apparently their spines did disappear years ago and will never be found again.
We have gone from being a nation that can hold its collective head high and look danger in the eye to a nation of cowering, gibbering idiots. We have not recovered from the days of reds under the beds, we have just replaced them with terrorists. We are now using and condoning torture and the worst of tactics that we abhor in our enemies.
How can we, as a nation, as the United States of America, say to future generations that we stood up and met the challenges of our time? If we succumb to the fear, if we do not meet the fight head on, if we do not keep that moral high ground, we will not be worthy of being called Americans. We have become the very things we once stood against.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Spooks in the Room
So, the GOP are holding the CIA up as the sayers of absolute truth and moral superiority? The CIA are supposed to be the guys that sneak about spying, upsetting dictators, bugging rooms, and doing all kinds of underhanded things that aren't discussed in polite society.
Besides, such support is despite former Senator Graham's note-taking of all things minutia and large indicating the CIA's briefing reports were wrong 3 out of 4 times and Director Panetta's own seeming inability to state unequivocally the reports were absolutely correct. (What a rock and a hard place that man lives between.)
The CIA are supposed to be the guys that do the dirty work for us, no matter what it is or why. Their's is but to do or die, right? They're supposed to be the spooks in the room. If that's their job, but they can't even get accurate briefing notes together, I have a hard time trusting anything they say.
Another thought...unless those briefing summaries (SUMMARIES, remember) are date and time stamped by some sort of nuclear, unalterable clock, who's to say they weren't written last week? Just saying.
Besides, such support is despite former Senator Graham's note-taking of all things minutia and large indicating the CIA's briefing reports were wrong 3 out of 4 times and Director Panetta's own seeming inability to state unequivocally the reports were absolutely correct. (What a rock and a hard place that man lives between.)
The CIA are supposed to be the guys that do the dirty work for us, no matter what it is or why. Their's is but to do or die, right? They're supposed to be the spooks in the room. If that's their job, but they can't even get accurate briefing notes together, I have a hard time trusting anything they say.
Another thought...unless those briefing summaries (SUMMARIES, remember) are date and time stamped by some sort of nuclear, unalterable clock, who's to say they weren't written last week? Just saying.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Former VP that Won't Fade Away
Anyone want to know why Cheney won't go away? I think there are a few reasons.
1. He needs to justify his existence.
2. He needs to justify his all comsuming passion to torture, even though there might not be any evidence the people he wants to torture have done anything worhty of arrest. (I'd hate to think what he does when he sits alone in the dark and watches the DVDs of the torture. *shudder*)
3. He wants to be able to blame the Obama administration if there are ever any future attacks by terrorists on U.S. soil. This will probably include if the terrorists are some of Cheney's most ardent followers that have been incited by his claims. It also doesn't matter that the actions he devised and approved of were and are the greatest possible recruiting tools given to terrorists.
4. He can't stand the notion that he's now being publicly held up to account for his actions.
5. He is paranoid to the point of insanity.
6. He's just pissed that he couldn't rule for ever.
1. He needs to justify his existence.
2. He needs to justify his all comsuming passion to torture, even though there might not be any evidence the people he wants to torture have done anything worhty of arrest. (I'd hate to think what he does when he sits alone in the dark and watches the DVDs of the torture. *shudder*)
3. He wants to be able to blame the Obama administration if there are ever any future attacks by terrorists on U.S. soil. This will probably include if the terrorists are some of Cheney's most ardent followers that have been incited by his claims. It also doesn't matter that the actions he devised and approved of were and are the greatest possible recruiting tools given to terrorists.
4. He can't stand the notion that he's now being publicly held up to account for his actions.
5. He is paranoid to the point of insanity.
6. He's just pissed that he couldn't rule for ever.
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