GOD, AND JESUS, ARE LIBERALS!

I have never been one to wear religion on my sleeve. I believe that one's religion and spirituality are personal matters, and that only vain and insecure people feel compelled to force their religious beliefs on others. Not to say that discussing religion offends me, or that I myself have not done so. What I take exception to, though, are those who constantly put themselves in one's face about the matter, insisting that THEIR brand of religion is the only true religion and everyone had just better believe exactly as they do. HOGWASH! A lady comes to mind who wouldn't do business with me unless I was "born again." Early Christians NEVER had such a stipulation. They believed that this rebirth occurred at the moment of baptism. The current notion of the term came about with the more conservative sects during the Reformation, and, to this day, neither Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, or those who are Eastern Orthodox follow or believe in it.

For this and many other reasons, I have had ny fill of rigid, fundamentalist, religious right conservatives who sanctimoniously claim God is on their side, or that Jesus hates Muslims and gays, and who then go off spouting their support for, and encouraging others to support, earthly leaders who engage in hatred, war, prejudice, cruelty, or plunder for profit.

God the Father, and His son, Jesus, never expressed a political philosophy, to be sure. Neither endorsed big OR small government. Indeed, the only reference to government was a quote by Jesus from Matthew 22:21, advising us to "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." That, incidentally, would strongly imply sacred support for the concept of the separation of church and state, which some conservatives are now trying to deny and even blur!

Yeshua ben Joseph (the real name of Jesus, in Hebrew, meaning "Yeshua, of Joseph") was a Nazarene, meaning He rose from what the Romans of that time regarded as a radical sect of Jews. Clearly, His life and teachings were most radical for that era. His originality and creativity shocked and befuddled the elders and leaders of those days. While neither He nor God the Father ever specifically endorsed institutionalized liberalism, it is clear from both their teachings that they did espouse kindness, gentleness, generosity, forgiveness, and selflessness in one's own personal behavior, all of which are liberal traits. Neither ever advised anyone to reward the rich with tax breaks which would make them even richer, for example. Nor did they encourage accumulation of vast wealth, especially at the expense of, or through the exploitation of, others. Quite the contrary! Neither ever advised or said to engage in pre-emptive war or torture - they preached exactly the opposite! Dozens of times, in the Old and New Testaments, both told us to care for the sick and poor, the weak, and the afflicted. Neither ridiculed or advised others to look down on the less fortunate, and both warned us to not be selfish, vain, or greedy. "Thou shalt not kill!", God the Father commanded. He did not say it was ok to kill or persecute to protect or further His name. No, that notion came later, in the conservative application of the institution which became known as the Christian church.

Below are a number of quotes taken directly from the Bible. They bolster my conviction that both Jesus and God are liberals, and are not reactionary conservatives. For, to actually be conservatives, they would have to contradict these very statements below, of which there are far too many in this vein to even suppose they could be conservatives! Take a look at them:


"Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys."
- Luke 12:33 -

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."
- Proverbs 31:8-9 -

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
- Matthew 6:24 -

"He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished."
- Proverbs 17:5 -

"But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
- Luke 14: 13-14 -

"He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich-both come to poverty."
- Proverbs 22:16 -

"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land."
- Deuteronomy 15:11 -

"Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
- Matthew 5:39 -

"I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."
- Matthew 5:44 -


"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
-1 Timothy 6:9-10 -

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
- Matthew 6: 1-4 -


"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
- Mark 10:25 -

"If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven."
- Matthew 19:21 -


"In the temple courts [Jesus] found men selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables."
- John 2:14 & 15 -

"And He taught, saying unto them, 'Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?, but ye have made it a den of thieves.'
And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine."
- Mark 11:18 & 19 -


"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
- Luke 12.15 -


- Matthew 25:
14 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32
and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36
naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
37
Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
40
And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41
17 Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43
a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
44
18 Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
45
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
46
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."


"But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
- Matthew 5:39 -

"I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite-fully use you, and persecute you."
- Matthew 5:44 -

"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to cast a stone at her."
- John 8:7 -
"Do not judge, lest you too be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to
you."
- Matthew 7:1 & 2 -

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
- Matthew 5:7 -



"Love your neighbor as yourself."
- Matthew 22:39 -

"So in everything, do to others as you would have them do to you."
- Matthew 7:12 -





The conservative's idea of God is apparently a no-nonsense authoritarian God, who sets specific rules and everyone had damn well better obey them or else. To this end, many conservatives of the religious right have taken it upon themselves to enforce what they see as God's will, and this manifests itself in the way they feel justified in persecuting gays, Muslims, atheists, obstetricians who perform abortions, and anyone else they determine is not following God's law perfectly, or the way they would like. These same people, many of whom vehemently oppose governmental intrusion into their own dealings, think nothing of dictating to others just how they should live. In the past, these beliefs have led to pogroms against Jews, Crusades against Muslims, and the burning at the stake of persons suspected of witchcraft. Their self-righteous beliefs led them to extremism, much like today's political and social conservatives. But my question is this: who appointed THEM policeman, judge, jury, warden, and chief executioner?

Jesus merely asked His followers to spread the word about God, not to browbeat or cajole others. For such an action completely ignores the fact that God Himself has given each one of us a Free Will: a choice as to whether we will or won't believe in Him or follow His teachings.

There are those, myself included, who see God not as some ranting, raving authoritarian One whose main aim is to punish those who disobey His commandments, but as One who is loving, merciful, forgiving, and anxious to have us join Him in Heaven. (To be sure, He WILL punish those who oppose or stand up in defiance against Him; look what happened to Satan and the fallen angels! But, by and large, to join Him in heaven, He only asks for obedience and due respect, and is ever ready to forgive small trangressions). For this reason, we liberals tend to be more tolerant and forgiving than the conservatives. Call us the Religious Left if you will: we oppose any effort by other humans to persecute, punish, or deny people their rights to live their lives as they wish, to accept or not accept the teachings of God, or to even question or deny His existence. A person's choice (or non-choice) of a religion is each individual's right, we believe, just as is stated in our Constitution. For we believe conservatives today are placing the right of a person to pursue his or her own individual wealth far above all else, including even common sense, even at times above the wishes of God. Certainly, the conservative Supreme Court was NOT "speaking up and judging fairly" or "defending the rights of the poor and needy" in last year's Citizens United case, for example, which conservatives hail for allowing unlimited corporate donations into our political process, thereby stacking the deck AGAINST the poor and needy!

Agnostics and atheists, you are perfectly within your rights to believe as you do. I only ask that you show the same tolerance and respect toward the Religious Left as you do other members of the progressive community, such as civil rights leaders, or as we do to you. For, I think as you have read this blog, you have come to the realization that much of the Christian teachings mirror your own beliefs about how one should live his or her own life, and are actually quite harmless to you and are good overall. For, as you have seen, God, and Jesus too, are LIBERALS who spread the good word about how we should live with the help of the Holy Spirit!

NO LONGER THE PARTY OF LINCOLN!

[Republicans] “are for both the man and the dollar; but in cases of conflict, the man before the dollar.”
- Abraham Lincoln -


For many years, Republicans have loved to call themselves "the party of Lincoln" because he was the first Republican President. They revel in the fact that one of the most widely acclaimed and revered Presidents of all time was a member of their party. I always laugh and shake my head in disapproval when I hear members of today's GOP crowing about that. For if he were alive and seeking office today, Lincoln would be rejected outright by the ultra-conservatives and teabagger types who now control the modern Republican Party.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. The 1860 version of the Republican Party was far, far different than the one we see today. A look at their 1860 party platform, the one Lincoln ran on, shows this very clearly. One of their planks expresses strong support for the working man, as evidenced below:


"12. That, while providing revenue for the support of the General Government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imposts as to encourage the development of the industrial interest of the whole country; and we commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to the working men liberal wages, to agriculture renumerative prices, to mechanics and manufactures an adequate reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence." This plank is amazing in that it calls for "liberal" (higher, fairer) wages for working people, but also advocates the federal government taxing imports so as to protect American workers' jobs. This flies right in the face of today's ultra-conservative, pro-business and anti-labor GOP, fully stocked as it is with "free trade" advocates who oppose nearly all taxes and who constantly push for unregulated export of American jobs and importation of foreign-made goods! I wonder how many of today's Republicans, including the tax-and-regulation-hating Grover Norquist, have ever read or understood that initial historic platform?

Months before his nomination as the Republican candidate for President, Lincoln wrote, "I was an old Henry Clay-Tariff-Whig. In old times I made more speeches on that subject than any other. I have not since changed my views." Such an advocacy for taxes and protectionism would be violently opposed by today's GOP and by their teabagger allies. In fact, Lincoln signed the bills creating the very first income tax and the IRS!

A look at the third plank on the 1860 Republican Party platform shows how completely off-base modern-day ultra-conservative Republican heretics like Rick Perry and various teabaggers are when they make threats about secession due to their displeasure with current Federal Government policies:

"3. That to the Union of the States this nation owes its unprecedented increase in population, its surprising development of material resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for Disunion, come from whatever source they may: And we congratulate the country that no Republican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced the threats of Disunion so often made by [southern] Democratic members without rebuke and with applause from their political associates; and we denounce those threats of Disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendency, as denying the vital principles of a free government, and as an avowal of contemplated treason, which it is the imperative duty of an indignant People sternly to rebuke and forever silence."

The rigidly ideological religious right would have little time for Abraham Lincoln today, either. "He had no faith in the Christian sense of the term," wrote longtime friend David Davis, whom Lincoln appointed to the Supreme Court. Lincoln's former law partner John Todd Stuart even wrote, "He was an avowed and open infidel and sometimes bordered on atheism...went further against Christian beliefs and doctrines and principles than any man I ever heard, he shocked me...Lincoln always denied that Jesus was the Christ of God - denied that Jesus was the son of God as understood and maintained by the Christian church." Speaking of Supreme Court Justices, today's far-right Republicans would have a fit were Lincoln to appoint some of those he appointed during his 4+ years in office: Samuel Freeman Miller was a liberal Unitarian; David Davis (apart from his comment above) played a big hand in the Ex Patre Milligan decision, which rendered unconstitutional an attempt to imprison a civilian charged with insurrection by a military tribunal as opposed to a civil court; Stephen Johnson Field, a Democrat; and Salmon P. Chase, who wrote the platform for the 1848-1852 Free Soil Party, a group which challenged the then-existing status quo through its advocacy of forbidding slavery in the western territories. Given the intense scrutiny and vocal opposition today's Republicans gave President Obama's recent nomination of moderately-left Sonia Sotomayor, and that which they are starting to give Elena Kagan, I wonder how many of them would filibuster or oppose Lincoln's Court appointees?

Today's Republican Party is no longer the party of Lincoln. With some of its members talking secession, its abandonment of support for "liberal wages" or job protection for American workers, its complete and utter capitulaion to big banks and big business, and its extremely social conservative views regarding religious belief and personal behavior, the party now more closely resembles the conservative Democratic secessionists of the old Confederacy, who were, of course, diametrically opposed to the more liberal 1860 party of Lincoln. And, as a result, just like the old Confederacy, it has become a party of only a small number of fanatical and geographically-limited adherents.

PARROTS FOR THE PLUTOCRACY

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
- Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and former President -



"We are not a democracy. It's a terrible misunderstanding and a slander to the idea of a democracy to call us that. We are a PLUTOCRACY: a government by the wealthy."
-Ramsay Clark, former Attorney General under President Lyndon B. Johnson -


I'm not a hard guy to get along with. Yes, I bash conservatives and Republicans pretty harshly here at times in this blog, but by and large, I'm quite easygoing and good-natured. Good-hearted, too. Generally, I also have a fair amount of patience with most things. But two things really try that patience: mechanical objects that don't work properly, and electronics with intermittent short curcuits that are tough to pin down. Those types of things have been known to make me erupt and use language which would cause even Rush Limbaugh to blush. But the third thing which really makes my part-Irish blood boil is plutocrats, and those who stupidly aid and abet them. The latter, of course, are economic and social conservatives, and are usually (but not always) Republicans. And oh yes---ignorant, ill-informed people, and certain media talking heads also fall into that category of plutocrat-enablers, too .

I am not against wealth. I have the highest regard and admiration for those who go from rags to riches, and who do so honestly, without exploiting others in the process. But unfortunately, that is not how many at the very top of the income scale came to be perched there, or maintain their presence there. What I AM against is the way the wealthy (the plutocracy) have set things up so as to ensure they nearly always come out on top, most often at the expense of those far beneath them on the income scale, and how they have repeatedly used their wealth to effectively buy out our government for their own benefit. Thankfully, it is not impossible to become wealthy in this country. That is one of the wonderful things about the United States. But the wealthy have rigged the system heavily in their favor.


A number of people support conservatives and Republicans on the issue of taxes, and mistakenly believe that the GOP is more adept at running our economy. They believe that Republicans will hold the line on government spending and will cut their taxes; effectively being the best possible stewards of the economy. This is naivete at its worst. During George W. Bush's administration, he and his rubber-stamp conservative Republican Congress increased spending at a gigantic rate, far more than had ever been previously done. For the first time in our entire history, these Republicans went to war while simultaneously cutting corporate and ultra-wealthy individuals' taxes. Everybody else got very little or nothing at all in real tax relief. The GOP even accelerated a plan to privatize a large segment of our military by offering select companies non-bid military supply contracts. Middle class and poor taxpayers footed the tax bill for nearly all of this, and will be doing so for many years to come unless the plutocracy is finally taxed much more heavily. The misconception that Republicans are somehow better for business is disproved by a Ned Davis Research study. The study shows that, since 1901, Standard and Poor's 500 stock index has risen on average 7.2% per year under Democratic administrations, but only 3.2% under Republican administrations. According to International Strategy and Investment, in more recnt years (1944-mid-2008), the S & P was up on average 10.7% per year under the Democrats, but only 8% per year under the Republicans. The conservatives and Republicans also pressed for and got a large amount of deregulation in the banking and mortgage industries. The net result? A ballooning of our trade and government deficits which are being underwritten by China and other countries. That's right, folks: tax breaks for the rich and a war in Iraq that didn't need to be fought have put us into huge debt with China and other potentially hostile countries. Another result? Reckless market speculation that caused the government to have to bail out those careless Wall Street bankers who caused their own failures in the first place! Again, middle class and poor taxpayers footed nearly all the tax bill. Deregulation and irresponsible market speculation also caused rampant gasoline and energy price rises in 2008 and the near-collapse of our mortgage and banking industries. Record post-World War II unemployment, too, and a massive shift of good-paying American jobs to cheap foreign labor markets overseas. And who benefitted from all this? Did your paychecks and buying power rise dramatically as a result of these actions? Absolutely not. The only real beneficiaries of these policies were wealthy bank and corporate CEOs, their boards, their mainly wealthy stockholders, and our vast and growing military/industrial complex. In other words, the only real benificiaries were plutocrats. Does this sound like good stewardship of the economy to you? Would you call this "government of, by, and for the people"? I certainly wouldn't! Remember, folks, the best friends of this plutocracy are conservative REPUBLICANS and compliant conservative Democrats. Best remember this as you head to the polls next November!

Some people support conservatives and Republicans under the misguided notion that the country is safer and less likely to suffer attack from outside under Republican rule. These folks are simply listening to all the Republican bluster and talking points. They are ignoring several important facts. One, 9/11 occurred under REPUBLICAN watch, not Democratic. On August 6, 2001, while on one of his many vacations in Crawford, TX, President Bush was briefed that an attack by Osama Bin Laden on our soil was in the works. This warning was not acted upon, and 5 weeks later came the 9/11 attacks. Two, the Republicans dropped the ball by not finishing the job in Afghanistan in the fall of 2002. Bin Laden was able to escape into the mountains of Pakistan and remains free to this day. Three, the Republicans, led by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, began a very prolonged and costly war in Iraq which did NOT need to be fought. In the process, they unnecessarily ran our deficit sky high and also infringed on our constitutional rights by suspending the writ of habeas corpus. Four, they violated international law and the Geneva Convention through the use of rendition and prisoner torture, acts which may have dire effects on the well-being of future captured American soldiers. These errant actions, strongly supported by Republicans, weakened, rather than strengthened, our country's security and standing in the world. Voting for conservatives and Republicans in 2010 and 2012 will be voting for more of these same costly and wasteful kinds of mistakes. Their support of the military/industrial complex jeopardizes our national as well as economic security. Is THIS what you consider to be a competent, safe, and practical way to handle our national security? Hardly.

Finally, some people support conservatives and Republicans on grounds that they view them to be a more morally sound and pro-religious party than any other. Some are even foolish enough to assert that God Himself is on the side of the Republican Party. The Republicans make all kinds of noise about being pro-life and anti-abortion, and say they promote strong "family values," but in practice these claims prove to be fraudulent, too. For during the Bush administration, when they had solid conservative majorities in both houses of Congress and a de facto conservative majority on the Supreme Court, they made NO effort to eradicate abortion. Instead, they USED it as a political tool to steal Catholic votes away from Democrats. They have also routinely opposed practical contraception methods which would drastically reduce the numbers of unweed teens becoming pregnant and then opting for abortion. Beyond that, look at the numbers of prominent Republicans who have admitted to, or were alleged to have had, illicit sexual affairs over the past three or four years alone: Sen. David Vitter (LA), Sen. John Ensign (NV), former Sen. Larry Craig (ID), former Rep. Mark Foley (FL), and Gov. Mark Sanford (SC). Not a very clean slate for the supposed party of morality and religious purity. So when it comes to moral values, just as in the areas of the economy and national defense, the conservative Republicans love to talk the talk, but often fail to walk the walk. Don't buy their nonsense this November.

Ramsay Clark hit the nail on the head. This is indeed a plutocracy rather than a democracy. Ever wonder why Wall Street got bailed out by taxpayers and not Main Street? Or why legislation beneficial to average, everyday citizens rarely gets passed anymore? Corporate lobbyists write much of the legislation for individual congresspersons. Ever wonder why the public seems so ill-informed at times? Or why our news is shallow, repetitive, and not very broad? Why we only seem to get PART of the story so often? Six major corporations own nearly all of our news media, and present and reinforce their corporate values and bias constantly. Ever wonder why banks lavish perks and freebies on large depositors, and why they penalize accounts with small balances each month? It's brcause banks favor the wealthy and discriminate against everyone else. Ever wonder why YOUR wages remain frozen or are reduced, while corporate CEOs receive huge annual bonuses and golden parachutes even if their companies perform poorly? It's plutocracy in action, folks. The deck in this country is stacked against the poor and working American because our government and business are run for and by the wealthy for the benefit of the rich. Everyone else is a mere accessory.

Remember when voting this fall, everybody: the overwhelming majority of conservatives and Republicans are PLUTOCRATS. They do not understand, care about, or even look after, your best interests. They aim for power so they can continue serving the wants of the few; the wealthy; and corporate America. THEIR friends are on Wall Street, not Main Street. Watch out for those non-wealthy types like Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, and some of the Fox "News" and CNN talking heads and pundits, who consciously or unconsciously do the plutocrats' bidding by issuing false or shoddily researched public statements on their behalf. These people are PARROTS FOR THE PLUTOCRACY, and are not to be listened to, trusted, or followed! Instead, let us campaign for and elect true public servants who care about and really understand the needs of average people! This year, let's nominate and elect more Bernie Sanderses, Dennis Kuciniches, Russ Feingolds, Ron Wydens, and Barbara Boxers to Congress, and dump plutocrats and enablers like Michele Bachmann, Virginia Foxx, and John Ensign! Let's dump plutocrats, their parrots, and their enablers once and for all!


BELOW: Your typical corporatist, conservative Republican we need to divest ourselves of.

"AWWWKKK! MORE FOR THE RICH! MORE FOR THE RICH! AWWWKKK!"

"AWWWKKK! POLLY WANT A TAX CUT! POLLY WANT A WAR! AWWWKKK!"

JESUS AND UNIVERSAL NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM/ ADDENDUM

"TAX THE VERY WEALTHY TO MAKE EVERYONE HEALTHY!"
- VIGILANTE, SOZADEE, CA -



Jesus never excluded anyone He healed due to a ridiculous "pre-existing condition" clause. He never engaged in healing for profit, either.

He repeatedly instructed His followers and humankind in general to tend to the poor and sick. He did not give instructions to exploit them, deny them help, or profit off them, plain and simple.

Why, then, should insurance and pharmaceutical companies be practicing such unfair, profiteering nonsense? Why, then, do conservative Republicans and members of the far-right "religious right" (who loudly claim this to be a "Christian nation") support the unjust status quo and oppose health care reform which would limit profiteering on human health and guarantee medical care for all citizens regardless of their physical condition or income status?

Jesus never instructed humankind to make the rich much richer at the expense of everyone below them.

It is clear these people who actively support health insurance companies' pursuit of excess profit at the exclusion of millions from coverage are not only not following, but are actually contradicting and opposing the teachings of Jesus. So are the defenders of the greedy health insurance and pharmaceutical companies when they loudly protest on their behalf.



This is not a mere economic issue. It is a moral one as well. For this reason, it is high time Christian churches enter the discussion on health care reform, just as they did regarding civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. It is high time they come out strongly in support of a plan that will ensure everybody gets the same high quality medical treatment regardless of their ability to pay (i.e. a universal, national health care plan). Just as Jesus threw the money changers out of the Temple for a good reason so long ago, it is now time for the religious community to throw greedy, immoral profiteers out of our medical care delivery system. It is time for all our synagogues and mosques to come out in support of this, as well.



Failure to do so would be defying the will of God.
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ADDENDUM: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2009

I awoke this morning to the news that Senator Edward M. Kennedy had passed away, losing his battle with brain cancer. For all who care about social justice and health care for all citizens, this is a very sad day.

Teddy Kennedy made some mistakes in his 77 years on this earth, to be sure. But the truth remains that he could have lived a life of leisure, enjoying his wealth without another care in the world. Yet he chose instead a lifetime of public service, devoted to the causes of the poor, the weak, and the sick. He was, understandably, entirely devoted to the adoption of a universal national health care system for this country. He was recently quoted as saying, "that is the cause of my life."

So, too, must it now be OUR cause.

It is time to, in Teddy's memory, put petty partisan bickering aside for just long enough to do the right thing and pass a health care reform bill that forbids exclusion due to pre-existing conditions, prohibits recission, and guarantees medical care to every citizen of this country. NOW.


That is most certainly God's will.

NEVER TO AGAIN BE THE MAJORITY PARTY

"Ignorance is not bliss - it is oblivion."
- Philip Wylie -


If we look at the four men pictured here, we see they were all Republicans, and 3 of 4 were Presidents. They were, however, nothing like those who currently refer to themselves as Republicans. No, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt were economic liberals, who believed that government power trumped that of big business, and that excessively concentrated capital was undesirable and must be regulated by government. Dwight Eisenhower and Nelson Rockefeller were economic and social moderates who understood that organized labor and government must both have a valid role in bettering peoples' lives. All of these men would be thoroughly rejected outright by the GOP of today. For the shrinking, increasingly bitter and intolerant current Republican Party has very little in common with its great predecessor in earlier days. That is precisely why it has lost power and fallen into such great disfavor. I dare say that, barring an unforseen miracle or radical makeover, it will soon die and fade into history, as did the Federalist, Whig, and Know-Nothing parties in prior history when they lost relevance with voters and became too doctrinaire and too limited in focus.

The switch to the Democratic Party by long time Republican Arlen Specter proves there is no longer any room for moderates or progressives in the GOP. For conservatives now exert a stranglehold over the party. They do not mince words when chastising those who dare to drift from their rigid orthodoxy. Specter was roundly criticized by them for his opposition to their obstructionism, which he exhibited by voting for President Obama's recent economic stimulus plan. He, and other long time Republican moderates like Colin Powell and Susan Eisenhower, have all decried the vicious and uncooperative demeanor the party has taken on. It has become a party of bigots and bullies. Just yesterday, conservative Republican commentator Rush Limbaugh instructed his hard core followers that the loss of Specter was a good thing, and wished that Specter would "take McCain and his daughter with him." Limbaugh, like Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Michele Bachmann, Dick Cheney, John Cornyn, John Boehner, and the rest of their ilk, are each clueless as to the current needs of the overwhelming majority of the population, who are hurting from massive unemployment, ever-rising health care costs, and frozen wages. They repeatedly and uniformly call only for more tax cuts as the one action needed to turn the economy around. They stand as a solidly immovable bloc, opposed to changes that people want. This has not, and will not, gain them voter support.

The current conservative-controlled Republican Party does NOT share the wishes or values of the vast majority of people. Most people are opposed to free trade deals that send American jobs overseas, but the GOP still supports those free trade agreements. Most people want universal health care for citizens, but the GOP and shadowy conservative groups are already mounting an ad campaign in an effort to prevent passage of such legislation. A large majority of Americans favor the right of workers to organize into labor unions for collective bargaining purposes to raise wages, but the GOP hates unions and wants them to wither away altogether. Most people do not want the filthy rich or major corporations to receive any more tax breaks or subsidies, but the GOP is still pushing its beloved tax-cut philosophy. Most Americans do not favor pre-emptive war, the use of war as an ongoing profit center for arms merchants and huge weapons manufacturers, or the use of torture as a tool of policy, but here is the GOP advocating military force over diplomacy, and endorsing "the ends justifies the means" philosophy when it comes to using torture, at every opportunity. Americans want cooperation in government and a united front in our effort to restore prosperity and secure the country from terrorism. Yet here is Rush Limbaugh saying he hopes President Obama will fail, Sarah Palin saying he "pals around with terrorists", Dick Cheney saying his policies are leaving the country less safe, Michele Bachmann questioning how pro-America he is, and the rest of the far-right contemptuously criticizing him, liberals, progressives, and anyone else who isn't a modern-day conservative Republican. Senator Olympia Snowe, one of only two remaining moderate Republican Senators, was quoted recently as saying "Ultimately, we're heading to having the smallest political tent in history, the way events have been unfolding. If the Republican Party fully intends to become a majority party in the future, it must move from the far right back to the middle." She is absolutely correct.

I predict, though, that the Republican Party will never again be the majority party. For many decades, when given control of the White House and Congress, they have delivered legislation beneficial only to special interests representing the rich and powerful, not the majority of the country. They have implemented economic policy which has neglected or hurt the poor and those on fixed incomes. They have actively supported union-busting and outsourcing American jobs. They have tried to socially and culturally force this diverse country into artificially rigid and narrowly restricted confines of their own authoritarian social and religious right beliefs. In doing all of these things, they are running contrary to America's will and to her very nature. Majority parties do not behave in such a manner.

Arch-conservative Republican Governor Rick Perry of Texas recently complained about how the Federal Government in Washington, D.C. was trying to run everyone's lives, and that if things didn't improve soon, Texans may wish to secede from the Union again, as they did in 1861. He was offered philosophical support from a number of far-right pundits and mainly fellow southern conservative Republicans. This, too, runs counter to what the overwhelming majority of Americans believe. But perhaps Perry and his cohorts SHOULD be allowed to follow through with their desire. America and its people would be far better off without a conservative power base obstructing progressive legislation and continually enabling corrupt, big business interests. Go set up a modern-day Dark Ages nation of serfs with masters, and and feel free to restore feudalism. Populate it with all the Rush Limbaughs, Sarah Palins, Joe the phony Plumbers, Glenn Becks, and John Boehners you can find.Just don't let our door hit you on the ass on your way out. Good riddance - the rest of us want to get something constructive accomplished!