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Being a Democrat Means Believing In The Freedom to Choose
I have watched with anguish these last weeks the struggle and pain facing the Schiavo family. And I have also watched with anguish the desperate and misguided efforts by right wing politicians, media hacks, and pundits to describe for me my position as a “Liberal” or as a Democrat. And to be perfectly honest, I just can’t stand the smell anymore.
So I’m gonna open the window and let in a breeze of reality. And guess what: I’m a Democrat, and actually know what Democrats think. So listen up, kittens. This is the real McCoy.
I read, appalled, Peggy Noonan’s scathing and ludicrous column in which she asserts that I, and apparently the 80 percent of Americans who see the Schiavo case as a private family matter, are “In Love with Death.”
Well, Peggy, thanks for lowering the bar, but no.
I am a Democrat, and here’s what I’m in love with, Peggy. I am in love with the Constitution of the United States. I believe in it, I worship it, I would defend it with my life. We’re either a nation of laws or we’re not. I believe in that thing that Conservatives have so much trouble with these days, the ‘Separation of Powers.’ I believe in the autonomy of the Judicial branch, Peggy. I believe in the rights of Americans to CHOOSE, Peggy - at every crossroad, at every painful point in our lives - Whether I’m dying, or pregnant, or going to church, or not going to church, or voting, or wearing t-shirts that you don’t like, or protesting a war that I volunteered to fight in, or writing things on the internet, I BELIEVE IN MY FREEDOM TO CHOOSE for myself, Peggy. The Democratic Party believes in it, too. I checked. We believe in the freedom of individual Americans to make decisions about their lives. All the time, Peggy. Not just when they agree with me. And most definitely, not just when they agree with you. That’s what being free means, Peggy.
What I don’t believe in is the right of the United States Congress to intervene, despite the wishes that I have expressed to my husband and that 19 courts have upheld, that the end of my life is a political opportunity. In case you missed the memo, Peg, I’ve attached a link for you.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Schiavo/story?id=600937
I don’t have time to address the added absurdity of having Tom DeLay lead the Schiavo effort… I mean, who could possibly be a better spokesman for morals and ethics than Tom DeLay? But you know what? As a Democrat, I’m thrilled to have Tom DeLay leading the Neocon coup on the national stage, Peg. I think he perfectly illustrates the power-mad, unhinged, pathological partisanship that has so damaged our country. Not to dismiss your efforts, Peg. You’re doing what you can, too. It’s all about PR, isn’t it?
Remember governing? Didn’t think so. Not getting a lot of press, that. But here’s what Dave Durenberger said recently about representative government (that’s what we have), and the dangers of the Neocon philosophy. “They talk about freedom and values but they really don’t believe in representative government.” He’s a member of the Republican Party. God bless them, I miss them dearly. The “old Republicans.” The fiscally conservative, keep government out of my business, we have a responsibility kind of Republican.
So, while you’re busy furthering the toxic-spill that passes for Conservative politics these days, you might want to create a new memo for your party, Peg. This one could talk about the political advantages of actually BELIEVING in freedom. Recent polling suggests that Americans like it.
Victoria,
Hurrah. Very well written. I hope Peggy gets to read this.
Tom DeLay...
[h.y.p.o.c.r.i.s.y stinks...]
DeLay Had Own Tough Quality-Of-Life Choice
LOS ANGELES - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has helped lead a congressional effort to keep Terri Schiavo alive, joined members of his own family nearly 17 years ago in allowing doctors not to take extraordinary measures to extend his father's life, a newspaper reported Sunday.
entire article~
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&ncid=703&e=2&u=/ap/20050328/ap_on_go_co/brain_damaged_woman_delay
Victoria... BRAVO!!!!!
Just sent as feedback to the WSJ:
The idea that physical life is all there is, in my view, a profoundly unspiritual one. The desire to end the suffering of a person in a vegetative state may have more to do with a desire to set that spirit free, and allow him or her to return to God.
For instance, if it weren't for human intervention in the Schiavo case, that's where she'd be today, with God - since God didn't include the feeding tube that's keeping her alive as part of His original design. There comes a time when human life is meant to end, and the next phase of the adventure is meant to begin. All religions accept this.
The only question is when - and whether Government should allow families and medical authorities to have some say in this process, or whether the most claustrophobic religious voices in the nation should instead be given the power to dictate such decisions. I say no to the latter, as would have the Founding Fathers.
Furthermore, if God is truly beyond all understanding, as mystics from all religions repeatedly tell us, then I’m quite comfortable in concluding that the Religious Right has nothing to offer America in the way of definitive spiritual guidance.
As for Ms. Noonan’s evocation of Auschwitz, I’d suggest she be more concerned about the twenty-six prisoners who have died in American custody since the beginning of the War on Terror, and less about a private tragedy that never should have received this kind of attention.
Posted by: Cyrano at March 28, 2005 09:44 AM
Nicely done.
Follow the Money
Watchdogs are warning that corruption in Iraq is out of control. But will the United States join efforts to clamp down on it?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7306162/site/newsweek/
-snip-
Why hasn't the administration joined the case? It has argued privately that the occupation government, known as the Coalition Provisional Authority, was a multinational institution, not an arm of the U.S. government. So the U.S. government was not technically defrauded. Lawyers for the whistle-blowers point out, however, that President George W. Bush signed a 2003 law authorizing $18.7 billion to go to U.S. authorities in Iraq, including the CPA, "as an entity of the United States government." And several contracts with Custer Battles refer to the other party as "the United States of America." Pressure has been building on the administration to join the case—or at least to file a brief saying publicly if it believes defrauding the CPA is the same as defrauding the United States. The judge's latest deadline for that brief is this Friday. But a Justice Department spokesman said last week the government "could" still refuse to take part. "I'll bet you $50 they will not show up," says Richard Sauber, a lawyer for Custer Battles, which is still operating in Iraq.
Pharmacists’ rights at front of new debate
Because of beliefs, some refuse to fill birth control prescriptions
By Rob Stein
March 27, 2005
Some pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills, saying that dispensing the medications violates their personal moral or religious beliefs.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7312534/
from Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry Ice Cream:
Action Required by Tomorrow, March 29th, at 12 noon
Something special is going on concerning the Iraq war. This Wednesday, people all across the country will meet online -- we're expecting hundreds of thousands.
Working together, we'll create a written Declaration for peace and justice and against the war (a smart new online collaboration tool will make it possible for such a huge group to work together easily). The goal is to articulate the progressive vision we all share for America, and to launch a determined, on-going nationwide effort to end the war and realize that positive dream.
Here's the link to sign up for the meeting: http://www.PeaceNotPoverty.org
That declaration of values -- YOUR values -- will be read in a televised "Beyond Iraq" interfaith service from historic Riverside Church in New York on April 4th, the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1967 speech against the Vietnam War. Then our friends from the Peace Not Poverty campaign will take the message on the road with a nationwide bus tour to connect with people of conscience across America.
It's a one-of-a-kind event, and we're grateful to our friends at FaithfulAmerica for helping make it happen. No matter what your faith or belief system, if you feel our nation's moral mission is to promote peace, justice and equality, this is your movement. Help write the Declaration of it's principles.
Victoria--
You nailed it, perfectly.
This idea that we live in some kind of new world where disagreeing means lack of patriotism or morality does not sit well with me at all. I'll stand by my morals without government intervention, thank you, and Peggy and all her 'march in lock step' friends are going to just have to get over it.
Gotta love this -- Even Conservatives standing downwind of Tom DeLay are angry....
Duh -- forgot the link. From Salt Lake City.
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_2621401
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20050325%2F1544109980.htm&photoid=20050323TXSA111
True to form, the political capitol has turned into a defecit:
Bush Approval Rating Hits Low Mark at 45 Percent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush's approval rating slipped to a new low in the latest national survey with pollsters suggesting federal government intervention in the Terri Schiavo controversy may have been a factor along with growing concern about the economy.
A conservative crackup?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3395977/
In their book, The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America, authors John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge predict steady growth for the conservative movement in America, unless something goes wrong to derail its trajectory. But things can always go wrong. How could the Republican coalition fail? By being "too Southern, too greedy, and too contradictory."
Right now it's aiming at two out of three.
-snip-
There's also a lot of contradiction lately. After talking about small government and the rule of law, Republicans overwhelmingly supported a piece of legislation intended to influence a single case, that of Terri Schiavo. As former Solicitor General Charles Fried observes:
In their intervention in the Terri Schiavo matter, Republicans in Congress and President Bush have, in a few brief legislative clauses, embraced the kind of free-floating judicial activism, disregard for orderly procedure and contempt for the integrity of state processes that they quite rightly have denounced and sought to discipline for decades.
International and domestic issues are no longer separate. Concerted direct action needs to happen in addition to grassroots efforts through political channels.
If you don't think neocon Wolfowitz is a good choice for the World Bank, email the following people, or join Friends of the Earth & they'll do it for you. Remember that environmental issues are directly connected to oil guzzling and oil empire & we all pay, some with our life.
World Bank Executive Director Luis Marti, MC12-453 via email at lmarti@worldbank.org
Acting Executive Director - USA Robert B. Holland, III via email at rholland1@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Yoshio Okubo via email at yokubo@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Eckhard Deutscher, MC via email at edeutscher@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Thomas Scholar, IMF 11-120 via email at tscholar@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Gino Alzetta, MC 12-041 via email at galzetta@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Marcel Massé, MC 12-175 via email at mmasse@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Thorsteinn Ingolfsson, MC13-531 via email at tingolfsson@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Biagio Bossone, MC 13-751 via email at bbossone@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Ad Melkert, MC 13-433 via email at amelkert@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Alexey Kvasov, MC 13-635 via email at akvasov@worldbank.org
World Bank Executive Director Pietro Veglio, MC13-227 via email at pveglio@worldbank.org
Hmmm....Things that come to mind when I bother to spend a nano-second dwelling on dear ol' Peggy:
-Total ditz. Has anyone ever seen her play pundit? She's sucks even by today's punditry standards which may explain why we (thankfully) don't see her often on the pundit circuit anymore.
-Unabashed Reagan whore. Working for Reagan was certainly her career peak and she doesn't mind reminding us everytime she's on camera. BARF!
And now after skimming through her nonsensical opinion piece where she chooses to ignore medical science to make her case, I may now have to stop calling her a ditz and find a word that more accurately describes her intellectual deficiency. Hmmm...What's dummer than a ditz?
Canadians are posed with this choice:
Who do you trust less - Al Jazeera or Fox?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050326/BKARAB26/TPEntertainment/Books
On a tired topic - I just read the pdf of the last court papers for the Terri Schiavo case.
They proposed a device whereby her pre-speech thoughts would be translated by pattern recognition software into speech. This is impossible, as the device has possible potential with those with intact cortical function but faulty peripheral speech mechanisms. She has been the opposite. (I am a speech pathologist/speech scientist.)
Florida Dem
You have accurately described Peggy Noonan. I first read of her in one of those boring airplane magazines, during the Reagan era.
For your perusal
This is circulating on the west coast via email:
from Josh Marshall's blog
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/index-old.php
Reader mail ..
I am a public employee in California. For 16 years I worked at UCLA, and for nearly 17 years I have worked for LA Superior Court. Not only is Arnold trying to change the State pension system, his proposals include every pension system covering public employees, from the State to cities and counties, to school districts, to water districts, etc. We are all under attack. Information from my Union shows that LACERA, Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, gets 75% of its funding from dividends, about 12% from the County, and the rest from employees. My University of California pension is coordinated with Social Security. So basically, both my pensions and Social Security are being held hostage by the Republican party. This is a horror story for my family. What we thought would be a good retirement for us may collapse as Arnold wants the end of all funding for public employee pensions by 2006. I have money invested for retirement, that is my deferred compensation which could tank any time. I really am glad to see you put this on your blog for the rest of the country to see. And if Arnold wins in California, no state will be safe from the Republican plan to repeal the 20th century and promises made to employees. I would love to move out of the country now. Thank you for publicizing this.
SB
Hi DiAnne!
Re: Shrub's Poll Numbers
This Schiavo thing really tanked for ShrubCo. How bad have things gotten for him? The WH and even the avowed Shrub-ites are now actually blaming his bad poll numbers on all his other F-ups: the economy, high gas prices, unpopular SS tour, etc. It's like they are admitting, "Yeah I really screwed up on the Schiavo deal, but that's not the real reason why I'm so unpopular right now. I mean, I continue to f-up the economy, and have you seen gas prices lately? And don't even go there about that fool SS tour I'm on." It's actually kinda funny.
I consider Shrub's current popularity crisis a small reminder to those in charge that a win by 2.5 percentage points is NOT a mandate to bully the rest of the country.
We don't get many bleak weeks like this for ShrubCo. So I'm going to sit back and enjoy it while it lasts. Pass the popcorn please.
Looks like the Brits also have issues with church, state, media, censorship - http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1446519,00.html
Excerpts: Defender of the faith
As ITV halves its religious output and evangelical pressure groups lead the charge against 'blasphemy' on screen, the broadcasters' official adviser on religion, the Bishop of Norwich, tells Maggie Brown why television needs God.
In the passage of time between the two great Christian religious festivals of Christmas and Easter, the issue of religious broadcasting, and what constitutes blasphemy in Britain in 2005, has burst into flames and, in so doing, changed the media landscape. In January, BBC2 broadcast Jerry Springer - the Opera, provoking a tabloid furore, and it is now facing a potential judicial challenge as the governors steel themselves this month to answer a record 50,000 complaints.
Meanwhile, Ofcom, which abruptly allowed ITV to kill off My Favourite Hymns and halve its religious output from this week without public consultation - raising questions about its conduct over sensitive content issues - is also pondering a record 8,857 Springer complaints. You sense Ofcom would rather rule on competition issues than whether "f*ck" and "crucifixion" can be used in the same sentence at 10pm, or if Eve "masturbating" Jesus on BBC2 causes harm and offence - but that is the new reality.
....
Meanwhile, for all the BBC's defiant words about the right to broadcast provocative pieces for a broad audience, director general Mark Thompson used a keynote speech this month to agree it was time to do more to "connect" with Christian viewers and plug a "creative deficit" in a nation where 72% of the population say they are in some sense Christian.
....
Bishop James believes that a prevailing liberal, sceptical view is stifling innovation. "The western secular liberal mindset seems to dominate broadcasting - and for that matter a paper like the Guardian. They gave up on religion some 30 years ago, and thought that as we all became more prosperous and so on, it would die away."
...
"The truth is that far from falling, religions are resurgent. Look at Islam, in China, as prosperity rises it is also resurgent and this is quite apart from what is happening in the US." The bishop insists that debates about the coverage of religion on television need not revolve around the relative merits of each one. "It is not whether all religions are true, or not. They can't all be true. It's whether religion matters in people's lives. The number of communicants on a wet February Sunday morning in the Church of England are more than the members of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat political parties. We are a mass movement by comparison."
...
Yet he defends the place of worship on ITV, something which makes some senior people at Ofcom uncomfortable. "The Communications Act requires some complete acts of worship and it would be very odd if they didn't broadcast communal acts of worship. It is something very many people do. It's not a cult secret, and it is not there just for the housebound."
Can you say Corporate Welfare?
Congress makes huge appropriation to improve the street in front of Walmart -- Prominent Republicans carry the water.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2005-03-25-walmart-street_x.htm?csp=34
An earthquake, at least magnitude 8.2 has hit off the coast of Sumatra. It is in the same general location as the earthquake that caused the tsunamis of 12-26-2004.
Quake hit just after 11:00 p.m. local time, and because there are still no sea gages, there is no way to predict tsumnami's with accuracy. There are warnings. If tsunami's are going to hit, it will be within the next two hours.
The Republican party sold its soul to the Religious Right, and the bill came due this past week.
Politics is a Grey area, with compromise and give and take.
Religion is a distinct arena, no compromise, the issues are clear cut and non negotiable.
The comments made by Religious leaders, "there will be hell to pay" regarding reluctance from Republicans to represent the schiavo issue, is all America needed to hear. Religious leaders holding politicans hostage to their whims?
Who is running our nation?
America was founded upon the principle of many freedoms; speech,press,assemble,and Religious among them. We will not go back to a Puritanical state, where religious leaders dictate every aspect of your life.
This is the wake up call America needed to hear.
I find this SO NOT surprising............
Stories on Schiavo Protestor Miss One Point: He's a Registered Sex Offender
By E&P Staff
Published: March 28, 2005 11:30 AM ET
NEW YORK As protests outside the hospice housing Terri Schiavo in her final days mounted last week, numerous newspaper reports, many based on an Associated Press account, mentioned or quoted 10-year-old Joshua Heldreth and/or his father, Scott Heldreth. Josh was one of several youngsters arrested for crossing police lines in Pinellas Park, Fla., in an effort to take water to Schiavo.
None of the stories revealed that Scott Heldreth, a religious activist and anti-abortion crusader, is a registered sex offender in Florida-- until The Charlotte Observer mentioned it on Sunday.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000856102
A remarkable and frighteningly accurate analysis by Gore Vidal, "The Undoing of America"
http://www.citypages.com/databank/26/1268/article13085.asp
Dear Victoria Ellen:
That was good, very good.
Very interesting interview of Phil Donahue by Amy Goodman on Thursday, March 24th
Phil Donahue: "We Have an Emergency in the Media and We Have to Fix It"
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/24/1446244#transcript
~snip~
PHIL DONAHUE: Oh, yes, I do. I can't get over how -- I actually took for granted the opportunity to do programs like that. That was very exciting to punch the biggest – you know, to kick those kind of tires, to pop off about -- against powerful institutions and people was very, very exciting. And it's really -- it's certainly noticeable, the absence of that today.
AMY GOODMAN: Has the media regressed?
PHIL DONAHUE: Oh, I don't think there's any doubt about it. I think we are all -- everybody is under pressure to shut up and sing. And dissent is a vehicle of entertainment, really. I admire so much those progressive people who do get on Fox. By the way, progressives are more likely to be found on Fox than anywhere else, because they're inoculated against being -- against any suggestion that they're anti-American. The people in the middle are the ones who -- Michael Moore has never been on Meet the Press. Michael Moore has never been on Face the Nation. Imagine, this is -- he was considered Time magazine Man of the Year. I mean, it was in consideration. The documentary -- lines around the world – around theaters around the world, certainly the center of the 2004 presidential campaign, this documentary. He was invited on Larry King but then dis-invited when the White House refused to send a balancing act. So, the White House, by refusing to send a balancer, was able to control him. I am -- this is -- he was on George Stephanopoulos, ABC, but edited to a fairly well -- it was pre-taped and then edited. This is Karl Rove. You put Michael Moore on, you don't get Condi. You don't get access. You don't get Colin. These are the legitimizing heavyweights that grant gravitas to the Sunday morning programs. It's just – it’s amazing. Follow the ball--
~snip~
More fake news from our government:
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/03/17/time/index.html
More faux news
And the hits keep coming on the fake news front. Today, Friends of the Earth posted two Department of Interior-produced video news releases designed to look like objective newscasts. Both fail to inform viewers that they are government produced, instead opting for "reporters" who end the segments with "In Tampa, Pam Forrester reporting," and "This is Porter Versfelt reporting," respectively.
Critics call the prepackaged newscasts propaganda. And according to guidelines established by the Public Relations Society of America for video news releases, "Organizations that prepare VNRs should not use the word 'reporting' if the narrator is not a reporter." The Government Accountability Office came to the same conclusion in a ruling last year. But the Department of Justice last week overruled the GAO, informing federal agencies that they did not have to identify themselves in scripts for video news releases.
On Sunday, the New York Times reported "at least 20 federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production."
The DOI's faux news segments were not mentioned specifically in the Times roundup of video news releases, and whether they were included in the total number is unclear. But the DOI reports do fit a pattern of VNRs that seem to go out of their way to camouflage their origin.
"The American people deserve to know when their tax dollars are being used to create government propaganda that they are unknowingly watching on TV," said Korey Hartwich, policy analyst at Friends of the Earth, in a statement posted on the group's Web site. "The GAO has already said that the government should not be producing this kind of propaganda. It's time for the Bush administration to put a stop to it, in every department of government."
-- Eric Boehlert
[14:59 EST, March 17, 2005]
Today's reports from the LA Times regarding Tom Delay's own tragedies regarding his father and end of life decision he and his family had to make in my mind pales in comparison to what I am hearing now, how he and his family recovered major dollars from a manufacturer for his father's death from a negligent prouduct in that same tragic accident.
We had a similar situation here in Texas regarding a state Senator, Jo Nixon who was responsible for our infamous H.B 12 tort reform bill while at the same time collecting $350,000 from Farmers Insurance on his own personal mold claim, that his legislation otherwise ended.
Reminds of W's small auto accident claim back in the 1980s that he collected on. Seems like tort claims/products liability claims are only intended for R's like Tom Delay to collect on.
Also read a story this weekend in the New York Times regarding a railroad official that admitted that he had knowingly lied in over 100 affidavits used in South Texas by Union Pacific Railroad to have over 100 railroad death claims throw out in federal court.
The Chamber has a litany of legislation they have written for Congress including asbetos reform, gun mfg protection laws and pharmacutical corp protection legislation that they intend to shove down Congress' thorats.
I sincerely hope others here will join me in fighting this hypocricy and highlighting DeLay et al's personal use of tort claims for personal financial gain.
DW---
Can we flood the Justice Department and demand that the VNR's be given DNR's?
Or would that go against the culture of propaganda?
Victoria,
I agree with your post. However, I'd like to point out that they support war, the killing of soldiers and civilians over a war. Even now, there are reports that Bush and his administration requested for them to only dig up the facts supporting war, but they didn't present the other side of Peace.
The death culture far and away belongs to the war culture.
Email Letter from Robert W. McChesney, President and Cofounder of Free Press
LAST CHANCE FOR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT
Dear Media Reformer,
Fed up with the media? Want to do something about it?
The National Conference for Media Reform is just six weeks away -- and it's bound to be one of the most exciting and inspiring events of the year.
Your presence couldn't be more crucial. Over the next couple of years, policymakers will make decisions that will determine the future of our media. Industry lobbyists are dedicating millions of dollars to lobby, litigate and lie their way toward rules that will bring Big Media more power and profits. We need your help to educate and mobilize millions of citizens to take on powerful corporations and defend the public interest.
Join us in St. Louis on May 13-15 to gather momentum for this fight.
Register now - the early bird registration discount ends this Thursday, March 31. Go to http://www.freepress.net/conference to learn more and register online.
At the conference, you'll meet hundreds of activists, academics, media makers and concerned citizens from around the country. You'll hear speeches by renowned guests like Amy Goodman, Jim Hightower, Naomi Klein and Al Franken, as well as FCC commissioners and members of Congress.
~snip~
Mr. DeLay has now sparked the interest of the FBI. Somewhere a bird sings...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7169454/site/newsweek/
The Savage Carnival
By John Cory
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 28 March 2005
America has become a savage carnival of freak show religiosity and circus clown politics.
Let's call them what they are: Ghoulish Obscene Panderers. How else to describe Tom Delay and Bill Frist, et al., as they crawl into bed with a brain-dead woman to pose for a political Polaroid?
If Bill Frist is the paragon of compassionate-conservative medicine in this country, it is no wonder the GOP wants to do away with trial lawyers and medical malpractice awards. I mean, if Dr. Frist can diagnose via video, surely we can all be diagnosed and healed by touching the magic screens of our televisions, powered by the celebrated and all knowing all-powerful Dr. Oz and his media-evangelists, cured through Our Lady of the Sacred Cable Cathedral and the Holy Order of St. Arbitron, all included in our monthly satellite and cable subscription fees. Better than national healthcare. God is good.
And while the circus of life unfolds before us, notice how no one acknowledges the rampage of giant pink elephants. The media, like a good Ring Master, barks and waves, diverting our attention to the death-defying trapeze artists, the bearded lady, the two-headed boy, and the miniature fire engine loaded with seltzer-spraying pundits fresh from clown college. Modern journalism under the Big Top.
No one wants you to see what just happened. They hide the fact that Congress passed legislation that 80 percent of America thinks is wrong and invasive, that Congress passed this act with only a minimum of congressional and senate membership present, which should scare the living bejeebers out of all of us. What about separation of powers? GOP is the power. What about the rule of law? Only the GOP makes the law. Constitution? Just another dead document. What about activist courts and judges? The GOP will tell you when activism is good and when the evil liberals do bad activism, and never mind the difference!
Wake up America! The Republic is dead. Welcome to the United States of Jesus, sponsored by the GOP Gospel Hour Medicine Show.
It's all a cheap savage carnival on the midway of mendacity. If you want to know these people's moral values, look no further than their pocketbook. And remember, George Bush says their money is our money. Our values are their values.
For every $1 we spend on education in this country, we spend $6 on the defense industry. Are we really six times more dedicated to killing than educating?
While Congressional Christian Conservatives fight to keep a brain-dead woman alive, they cut millions and millions of dollars of VA Healthcare for the treatment of brain-injured soldiers returning from the Iraq war, as well as dozens of programs intended to help the wounded veterans and their families. Why are they so eager to bury the living while digging up the dead for political fundraising?
Helping the poor and homeless is called "entitlements," while tax cuts for the wealthy and tax-subsidies for corporations are considered the "America way." Sort of like saying that kicking people while they are down is the best way to get a good shoe shine.
They fight to keep a brain-dead woman alive while allowing our youngsters easier access to guns than to mental healthcare. But hey, it's only ten little Indians in Red Lake, and besides, Terri Schiavo is a true American.
And like that old adage, "follow the money," if you watch the deposits and withdrawals of our moral leadership, you'll see exactly where their values are, and in turn, why they couldn't care less about your values. Because it is not about values, it is about power and winning and ruling. Values are like congressional ethics, flexible moral standards based on convenience and financial contribution. How else to explain Democratic support of the vile and onerous bankruptcy legislation? I guess it's true that a conservative Democrat is just a Republican in cheap clothing.
These folks hold the Constitution as irrelevant and Catechisms as the only key to America's greatness. They want the Ten Commandments in all public buildings and the 12 Apostles in Congress. They want the Virgin Mary to teach sex education, and they believe in the Holy Trinity of Bush the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Rove.
Money is free speech for those who can afford it, while "silence is golden" applies to the middle class and working poor.
So here we are, in a nation that claims to value the sanctity of life above all else - even as Justice Scalia bemoans no longer being able to put teenagers to death - but content with enforcing capital punishment on mentally retarded prisoners.
It's a freak show, folks. For one thin dime, one tenth of a dollar, you can dance with Christian cannibals while being baptized in the healing waters of the Potomac and witness the second coming of GOP's chosen children - them that's got.
It is a savage carnival that fights to keep a brain-dead woman alive, while pulling the plug on democracy and the Constitution.
John Cory is a Vietnam veteran. He received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with V device, 1969 - 1970.
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Well said, John Cory. Unfortunately it's all true.