It was FDR and the New Deal that made America Great, that took us through the Depression, wrote labor laws, won the war and gave us the middle class.
All along the way, FDR understood the plight of working America and the hatred held in the heart of the Ruling Class for the worker.
Now, with a Supreme Court in its pocket and a Congress more than happy to kick the American Worker in the teeth, the GOP is dismantling what made America Great. We are on our way to making America Ugly Again. Hoover just rose from the grave and said to the Supreme Court and to the GOP: "Well done, good and faithful servants."
Showing posts with label Supreme Court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Supreme Court. Show all posts
Monday, May 21, 2018
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Cross in the Mojave to Remain
In a 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court allows a war memorial cross to remain in a remote part of the Mojave Desert.
While I tend to affirm tradition, even when a new context would have us do something differently, I was shocked to hear one commentator defending the memorial say, "The cross is no religious symbol."
Well, if it isn't a religious symbol, what is it?
Let's be honest for a moment: our Jewish war dead are buried beneath the Star of David. And more often these days, we're finding the Crescent, to make the graves of Muslims.
The cross IS a religious symbol, but more than religion, it's also a symbol of state power - reflecting a time when the national governments of Europe were deeply connected to the state church - when Cross and Crown were linked together to maintain their bastions of power. In all the wars of Europe in the last thousand years, nation went to war with nation, each of them carrying the Cross of Christ.
Throughout Nazi Germany, the cross was a powerful symbol of German imperialism, even as the cross is a symbol of white supremacy here in the States. The cross is clearly a symbol, and what it sometimes represents is anything but the Man who died on it.
Certainly the cross, as religious symbol, captures the hopes of millions of Christians, but simultaneously, it represents bigotry and sufferings for millions of Jews and Muslims. If you have a question about this, ask your Jewish or Muslim neighbors.
In this day and age, we'd all think a little more thoroughly before erecting a single-symbol war memorial. And I would hope that Christians, long accustomed to being king of the hill here in America, will awaken to the new reality of our world and begin to exercise a greater sensitivity to our neighbors.
As for the war memorial, perhaps we could erect a field of symbols, including the Star of David and the Crescent, to name just a few.
Go HERE to see a list of authorized emblems for our National Cemeteries.
It's time for Christians to be honest about what the cross means to millions of people around the world, and rather than shoving it in people's faces, to show some restraint, some humility, and some basic kindness. What a great move it would have been for the erectors of that cross to voluntarily take it down and replace with a monument to honor all of our brave American soldiers.
We can do better!
While I tend to affirm tradition, even when a new context would have us do something differently, I was shocked to hear one commentator defending the memorial say, "The cross is no religious symbol."
Well, if it isn't a religious symbol, what is it?
Let's be honest for a moment: our Jewish war dead are buried beneath the Star of David. And more often these days, we're finding the Crescent, to make the graves of Muslims.
The cross IS a religious symbol, but more than religion, it's also a symbol of state power - reflecting a time when the national governments of Europe were deeply connected to the state church - when Cross and Crown were linked together to maintain their bastions of power. In all the wars of Europe in the last thousand years, nation went to war with nation, each of them carrying the Cross of Christ.
Throughout Nazi Germany, the cross was a powerful symbol of German imperialism, even as the cross is a symbol of white supremacy here in the States. The cross is clearly a symbol, and what it sometimes represents is anything but the Man who died on it.
Certainly the cross, as religious symbol, captures the hopes of millions of Christians, but simultaneously, it represents bigotry and sufferings for millions of Jews and Muslims. If you have a question about this, ask your Jewish or Muslim neighbors.
In this day and age, we'd all think a little more thoroughly before erecting a single-symbol war memorial. And I would hope that Christians, long accustomed to being king of the hill here in America, will awaken to the new reality of our world and begin to exercise a greater sensitivity to our neighbors.
As for the war memorial, perhaps we could erect a field of symbols, including the Star of David and the Crescent, to name just a few.
Go HERE to see a list of authorized emblems for our National Cemeteries.
It's time for Christians to be honest about what the cross means to millions of people around the world, and rather than shoving it in people's faces, to show some restraint, some humility, and some basic kindness. What a great move it would have been for the erectors of that cross to voluntarily take it down and replace with a monument to honor all of our brave American soldiers.
We can do better!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Next Supreme Court Justice?
The New York Times has an interesting article about Michigan's Governor, Jennifer Granholm as a potential Supreme Court Justice.
Having lived in Michigan until 2007, I watched her negotiate one of the most difficult governorships in the land - what with Michigan's severe economic crisis (in part, created by her predecessor, Republican Governor John Engler), failing state-wide infrastructure, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his shenanigans, a deeply conservative Republican majority in house and senate energized by a strange coalition of Detroit's Roman Catholics and their anti-choice positions on everything and super-wealthy Dutch Protestants on the west side of the state.
She has negotiated one land mine after another with style, spunk and vision. She's been an extraordinary governor in the worst of times, maintaining her balance, her humor and her determination to guide Michigan through it's greatest test. She's been able to build coalitions, win the respect of opponents and gain the confidence of the voter. Does this qualify her to be a Justice?
While it's hard to say clearly what kind of Judge she'd be, Governor Granholm is worthy of consideration.
Having lived in Michigan until 2007, I watched her negotiate one of the most difficult governorships in the land - what with Michigan's severe economic crisis (in part, created by her predecessor, Republican Governor John Engler), failing state-wide infrastructure, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his shenanigans, a deeply conservative Republican majority in house and senate energized by a strange coalition of Detroit's Roman Catholics and their anti-choice positions on everything and super-wealthy Dutch Protestants on the west side of the state.
She has negotiated one land mine after another with style, spunk and vision. She's been an extraordinary governor in the worst of times, maintaining her balance, her humor and her determination to guide Michigan through it's greatest test. She's been able to build coalitions, win the respect of opponents and gain the confidence of the voter. Does this qualify her to be a Justice?
While it's hard to say clearly what kind of Judge she'd be, Governor Granholm is worthy of consideration.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Colin Powell Endorses Obama
Wow!
Check out the VIDEO from Meet the Press.
See also, The Huffington Post ARTICLE.
Eloquent, insightful ... a real American speaking out for real values.
Oh that our nation could rise to its best character.
Leave behind the meanness, the callowness, the innuendo of suspicion ...
To be great in heart and faith,
Acceptance and affirmation,
To live the truth emblazoned on our Statue of Liberty:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me.
Hats off to Colin Powell, good soldier that he is.
I watched his UN effort, and my heart broke for him.
In subsequent remarks, Mr. Powell has undone the damage;
he's admitted - the UN appearance is a "blot on my career."
He tried his best to stand with the Republicans, but he's a centrist, and as Mr. Powell noted this morning, the GOP has moved further and further right.
And he would be distressed with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court.
The Court is, and should be, above politics, but politics are very much a part of the appointment process, and politics play a hand in the game.
For the Court, and for the White House, we need those who can rise above the fray and see the greater good. We need women and men free of narrow ideological demands, who can genuinely weigh the options, listen to various voices, and make a decision on behalf of the whole nation, a nation diverse, a land of freedom.
Obama is that kind of man.
And we need him in this hour of crisis.
Check out the VIDEO from Meet the Press.
See also, The Huffington Post ARTICLE.
Eloquent, insightful ... a real American speaking out for real values.
Oh that our nation could rise to its best character.
Leave behind the meanness, the callowness, the innuendo of suspicion ...
To be great in heart and faith,
Acceptance and affirmation,
To live the truth emblazoned on our Statue of Liberty:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me.
Hats off to Colin Powell, good soldier that he is.
I watched his UN effort, and my heart broke for him.
In subsequent remarks, Mr. Powell has undone the damage;
he's admitted - the UN appearance is a "blot on my career."
He tried his best to stand with the Republicans, but he's a centrist, and as Mr. Powell noted this morning, the GOP has moved further and further right.
And he would be distressed with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court.
The Court is, and should be, above politics, but politics are very much a part of the appointment process, and politics play a hand in the game.
For the Court, and for the White House, we need those who can rise above the fray and see the greater good. We need women and men free of narrow ideological demands, who can genuinely weigh the options, listen to various voices, and make a decision on behalf of the whole nation, a nation diverse, a land of freedom.
Obama is that kind of man.
And we need him in this hour of crisis.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monica Goodling, Again
That Monica Goodling should have done what she allegedly did is no surprise, given the character of the Christian "right." Endowed with a sense of righteousness that cannot be dissuaded by any amount of reasoning, the theo-cons plow ahead with their program to return this country to their notion of where it should be - to rid the land of gays and lesbians, and all who support freedom. To undo Roe v. Wade and return us to the medical and cultural Dark Ages.
They have done this with consummate skill throughout all levels of government, including our Supreme Court. Thankfully, watchdogs of liberty caught Monica's work in progress and revealed it to the American public.
What bothers me are her "Christian" credentials - look her up at Wikipedia.
Blind, manipulative, conniving, all in the name of Jesus - thank you Pat Robertson and his Regent University (if you can dignify it with the term "university).
This kind of Christianity has always been lurking around the dark edges of history, coming to the front now and then - see Inquisition, see Nazi Germany. For a full review of just how wrong the right is, how dysfunctional and misguided this kind of thinking can be, see Chris Hedges American Fascist.
Monica Goodling, you have done us all a favor. Your "boldness for Jesus" has revealed how crass and uncaring, how unloving and twisted, how unbiblical and unchristian this kind of thinking really is.
It's time for Christians to rise up and identify this kind of "christianity" for what it really is - a defective form that, though naming the Name of Jesus, denies His message and His mercy.
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