Mitch McConnell - Packing the Courts

Why does Mitch McConnell care only about packing the courts?

The GOP plans to run the nation for the next several decades even if the GOP should lose the next several elections, maybe even the Senate for a time. 

The GOP has in place, now, judges who will turn away progressive, common-good, laws, including civil rights, voting rights, and rights for women - anything for the common good, which is generally termed “socialism” or “communism.”

All “rights” involve what the GOP sees as a “transfer of wealth” from the white rich, the elite, the Oligarchy, anointed by gawd to govern the rest of us, to those undeserving or unqualified.

And just who are the undeserving, the unqualified?

People of color, immigrants, non-christians, women and children, the elderly, and those with challenges, and in some instances, the list even includes Jews.

And poor whites, as well. 

If you want to see a picture of the GOP’s white America, check out the 1920s and 30s - millions of white families living in abject poverty - from the Dust Bowl to the  urban jungles. And did the rich care? No way at all, because poor whites were fodder for the factories, and could be counted on to side with the rich when it came to matters of race.

It’s ultimately the subjugation of African Americans , the symbol of everything the South lost after the War.

Jim Crow laws and voter suppression is still the modus operandi of the GOP - to realize their dream: as the world was before “Gone with the Wind.”

Mitch McConnell is nothing more, and certainly nothing less, than an antebellum southern elite.

Prohibition Zeal ...

The misplaced zeal of prohibition.

Yes, booze was killing millions.
Caught in the hell of their factories.
In the slime of the slums.
Without hope and without light.

Booze becomes, then, or now, some relief.
Who can blame anyone wanting a little R & R?

So, the pious and the well-meaning.
Smashed the barrels and passed the 24th Amendment.

And we all know how that worked.
A boon to the crooked, it was.
While the rich still had their booze and speak-easies.

I guess the nation needed to try it out.

But what a dismal failure it was.
Because the real issues were poverty.
Child labor.
The cruelty of the rich.
The wantonness of Wall Street.
Desperation for millions caught in the cogs of "progress."

This whole anti-abortion thing strikes me as pious palaver.
Misplaced energy and misguided thinking.
The issue isn't abortion.
It's a thousand other things that weaken families.
Victimizes women and young girls.
The macho men who can't keep their pants zipped.
And the pathetic preachers who label it all, "God's will."

Piety of this sort isn't piety at all.
It's just ignorance, fear and misogyny.
The ancient anxiety of men.
To keep women penned and pregnant.

I don't know.
Looks like we're headed in all the wrong directions.
With a brute in the WH.
And sex-fixated conservatives, hands in the pockets.

I hope it doesn't endure.
It won't.
This kind of stuff always falters and fails.
But not without doing its horrible work.

Three Russians and a Bulgarian ...

Remember, the three Russians and the Bulgarian visiting us? No joke!

It was a good time ... the Bulgarian is home by now, and the three Russians are at their hotel and then in for a bit more travel before heading home.

If you can't travel, have some guests from other countries - there's always so much to learn.

We rode the train with them, and they were surprised to hear that it wasn't free for students and seniors.

Moscow's subway system is huge and works well, they said. And it's free for students and seniors.

Well, that's socialism for ya'.

And I thought:

Is that so evil?

Is that so wrong?

As a nation, we could do so much more for one another ... to boost life-quality ... to ensure a stable society ... to lift people out of the terrors of poverty ... give a little more health to each other ... better schools, transportation, housing ... we could do that, and more, if we wanted, and still there'd be plenty leftover for the top dogs.

The rich, of course, hate the idea, and keep telling us that we can't have free-riders and welfare queens robbing us.

They preach the message of scarcity, that somewhere someone undeserving will get something that doesn't belong to them, by taking it from us, who, of course, deserve it.

So we look at one another with a competitive eye, suspicious thoughts, and outright condemnation sometimes. After all, there isn't enough to go around, so we gotta fight for it, and there have to be losers, then, and that's okay, because the rich tell us so.

But the rich have it wrong, and I can only hope that in time, this nation will get it right.

Review of "Among the Mad" - a Maisie Dobbs Mystery

Just finished "Among the Mad," a Maisie Dobbs book by Jacqueline Winspear ... for me, truly an amazing read. I'm struck by Winspear's ability to give us a complete portrait of a life - multiple stories running concurrently, yet the reader (me, that is) doesn't get lost.

Winspear's a fine writer and has created an endearing character in "investigator and psychologist" Maisie Hobbs, whose life is as complicated as the characters she investigates, as complicated, I suppose, as are all our lives.

For me, this book, in particular, (published 2009), as all of her books thus far, give heed to the profound social conditions that shaped England after the Great War - the wounded, in soul and body ... how a callous society hurries on by and hopes to forget them, and the endless machinations of government ...

As one point, Maisie attends a political meeting, to hear the latest demagogue claim to have all the answers for England, and I couldn't help but think of our latest adventures with Donald Trump.

Anyway, this book started off with a bang, so to speak, and didn't let up ... and always more than a mystery, but a look at people, the countless people who cross our path ... in the end, the mystery might be solved, but the mystery of life pushes on, just out of our reach.

So, like Maisie, we wonder ... do we ever belong? And what does it take when our soul departs in sorrow, and can the eyes, perhaps, tell us when the soul has returned.

An amazing read ...

Cream

When the rich skim the cream,
Of course, there isn't enough
To go around.

So the rich hope we blame
The hungry for wanting too
Much cream.

The War Against the Poor Rages on

The War Against the Poor rages on in conservative circles ... widely supported among evangelical christians ...

What are the roots of this malignant cancer eating away at America’s soul?

Two causes:

1) English landed gentry assumed that the peasant working in the field was less deserving of the things of life - determined by god to fulfill the role of servant for those determined by god to be the ruling, landed, class.

2) This was translated into the American Soul - only the landed gentry could vote, etc.. Then, comes the African Slave - of course, slavery was their god-determined role; they were less than human, anyway, and thus degraded in mind and spirit, but endowed with physical strength, to work the sugar cane and cotton fields.

After the Civil War, it wasn’t much easier for the African, and for the South, to justify its growing Jim Crow legal system, the same ideas were applied: being less than human, they were destined to work, and never enjoy the benefits of their labors. And a hint, as well, as punishment: “You cast your lot with the North, and now you will pay, pay mightily for what the North did to us.”

While lots of poor whites labored in the same system, they were at least accorded a certain dignity of status in society and in church. As long as there were Africans on the bottom of the heap, even the poorest and most wretched white man could look down his nose at the African, with disdain, and then fear and hatred, to further demonize the African and justify the growing patterns of violence against the African.

While prevented ultimately from openly directing all of this hatred toward the African, it was transmuted to a hatred of all things poor ... once again, evangelical christianity joined the chorus of hatred - “if you’re poor, you’re lazy; if you’re poor, it’s god’s judgment; if you’re poor, there’s something wrong with you. And what you need, all you need, is Jesus.”

Poverty of others becomes a means of self-congratulations - “I may be poor, but I’m not poor like THAT! I’m blessed by god, I’m bound for heaven, I work hard, and I’m a whole lot better than the raggedy man in his broken-down car and that disheveled woman on the street corner begging for coins.”

“No free stuff for anyone.”

And so the War Against the Poor rages on!

Boehner's Ceaseless Lies

These are the kinds of lies always 

told by the wealthy to America.

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, members of the "ruling class" were wise enough to know just how terrible these lies are, and that's why they "betrayed their own class"- a class of liars and deceivers, driven by greed, and the enormous fear that some might gain at their expense.

I wish I could take John Boehner on an LA bus for a day - let him really see people, how hard they work, bone-tired and poorly paid too often, hoping and dreaming, being good citizens. To drive Vermont and other great streets to see the hustle and the bustle of mom and pop shops, street vendors and folks working hard to make a dime.

Yes, there are some who need help, and who will always need help. Is this so hard for us to understand? Is the need for kindness, mercy, compassion, so galling to us that we cannot muster the will to be generous? What's wrong with this man, and his handlers? What's wrong with the ruling class?

Shame on Speaker John Boehner for such lies ... shame on the ruling class for spouting this unpardonable sin, that of darkening our counsel, muddying the waters, and casting aspersions on millions of decent people.

We can do better. We have done better, and by God's grace, we may again do better. Throw these liars out of office, and put firm leashes back on the ruling class, lest they run us all, like lemmings, off the cliff to certain death.

Hobby Lobby - "If You Don't Like Working There, Get Another Job"

A Facebook friend recently wrote:

If you dont like your bosses beliefs and what they provide, a person is more than welcome to work anywhere else they want instead of being provided with things. It is not the governments job to run a business especially a small business and now the Supreme Court has ruled just exactly that. Especially a tightly held corporation. You may choose any employer you wish or even be unemployed and let the govt choose what you do and do not get for choices.

My reply follows:

First of all, millions of workers around the nation are just glad to have a job, and cannot bounce around as someone with your skill-level and ability can do. I know of so many workers here in LA who swallow daily doses of humiliation and poor working conditions - they cannot afford to quit and find another job; their skills are limited compared to your skills. They live from paycheck to paycheck and have few if any family resources. Mark, because of all kinds of factors, you have the ability to quit a job and would likely find another quickly; but such is not the case for millions.

Second, it's not about jobs, or finding another one, but protecting the American Worker from PREDATION - whether it be sexual or religious, and this is nothing less than religious predation. We now have the 51st State, Hobby Lobby - doing as it pleases with its citizens - this isn't democracy, this is cruelty.

Nor is this about Christianity in general, but Christianity in particular - a very narrow kind of fundamentalist Christianity that differs in name only from Sharia Law in conservative Muslim nations. Hobby Lobby hates birth control, and would deny health care rights to every woman in America. Is this the kind of land in which I'd like to live? Where women are treated as baby factories, and if they wish birth control, are accused of being irresponsible or a push-over for pleasure? No thank you Mark. And I don't think you would either.

We have rights in this nation that transcend state boundaries, and rights that transcend the property line of our employer's place of business. SCOTUS has now declared a 51st State, essentially, and given it exemptions that a lot of Southern States would love to have - all for religious reasons, of course.

This is insanity Mark, the Nullification idea at work, the dream child of the South, the balkanization of the American Corporation - "closely held" companies doing as they please, thumbing their nose at the Constitution and mistreating their workers by denying them their basic freedoms from religious coercion and the right to choose health care.

Sadly, SCOTUS has revived a 16th Century practice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuius_regio,_eius_religio - "whose realm, his religion."

On so many counts, Mark, it's wrong - terribly wrong! My heart breaks for the folks who work there, and I grieve for the likes of the owners, too, who are locked into a prison house of irrational beliefs and monied power, thinking they're closer to god than the rest of us, and thinking the rest of us quite wrong. What a hard world to live in for them - but with their millions, they fly away to peace and plenty whenever they want, and thank Jesus for all of it. They remind me of the Rich Fool who loved his barns more than the people who filled them with grain. He thought he was godly, but he was only a fool.

Breaking News: Hobby Lobby Takes Firm Stand Against War, Poverty and Monsanto

The latest news coming out of Hobby Lobby ...

In order to be faithful to it's pro-live stance on contraception, the owners of HL have declared themselves opposed to

War ... 

How many pregnant women have been killed in war? they ask.
How many injured women delivered a child without adequate medical attention?
How many fetuses were harmed and deformed by concussive explosions and the ruined nerves of the mother?

So, we the owners of HL, because we're all for the fetus, we now take a stand against war ... all war ... anywhere and any time.

And poverty, too ...

Poverty means a poor diet, and that means the fetus is threatened, and so is the mother. Without adequate nutrition, fetuses are mistreated horribly, often ending in still birth or "natural" abortions. We can't have the fetus starving. We must feed it, and that means feeding the mother. Good food, safe food, must be provided to the mothers of the world.

And furthermore, speaking of nutrition, we're opposed to the wholesale use of pesticides and herbicides, as well as genetic manipulation. All of this has created a serious decline in food nutrition, another cause that threatens the fetuses of the world.

Yes, we stand against contraception ...

And we now stand against War and Poverty ...  and will henceforth devote ourselves to peace and to all programs that promote healthy economies around the world.

And with our growing interest in food value, we're putting ourselves on record as opposing Monsanto - fetuses need good food, and we're determined to stand by organic farmers and the effort to keep America's food, water and air clean. 

When Christians Feel "Persecuted"

From many an evangelical pulpit come the the thundering words: "We are being persecuted by a powerful lobby of liberals and secularists who would silence us and take away our rights. We must stand up as followers of Jesus and defend the gospel and claim our rightful place in in our great land of faith and freedom."

One should rightly ask: Who's persecuting whom, and just exactly how can anyone be sure that, as 1 Peter 4 puts it:

¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is takingplace among you to test you, as though something strange werehappening to you. ¹³But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’ssufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when hisglory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you areblessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, isresting on you. ¹⁵But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, acriminal, or even as a mischief maker. ¹⁶Yet if any of you suffers as aChristian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. ¹⁷For the time has come for judgment to begin withthe household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end forthose who do not obey the gospel of God?

For many an evangelical Christian, it's comforting to believe in persecution as a badge of honor, a confirmation of faithfulness. 

But is persecution for the sake of gospel, for the sake of Christ, or simply simply because of "mischief" and worse?

From  Psalm 94:

¹O LORD, you God of vengeance,

you God of vengeance, shine forth!

²Rise up, O judge of the earth;

give to the proud what they deserve!

³O LORD, how long shall the wicked,

how long shall the wicked exult?

Thus far, in the reading, there is no definition of the "proud" for whom the Psalmist wishes judgment. 

But the Psalmist doesn't leave us hanging:

⁴They pour out their arrogant words;

all the evildoers boast.

⁵They crush your people, O LORD,

and afflict your heritage.

⁶They kill the widow and the stranger,

they murder the orphan,

⁷and they say, "The LORD does not see;

the God of Jacob does not perceive."

Who are the proud?

They are identified by their deeds:

They kill the widow, the stranger and murder the orphan.

Reminiscent of Jesus when he warms against those "who take widow's houses and then say long prayers" … the very same who then prance around the Temple Treasury throwing in large sums of money out of their "spare change" while creating a system that takes the last few pennies a widow has to live on (Mark 12.38-44).

The widow, the stranger, the orphan - the three most vulnerable social categories of Israel - victims of wealthy interests (for a devastating critique on those "who borrow and never pay back," spend some time with Psalm 37).

What systems in our land create hardship for "the widow, the stranger and the orphan"?

What would the Psalmist says about Food Stamps, Social Security, health care, pensions, children in poverty, crushing debt for college students and a host of other burdens created by the wealthy to game the system in their favor, and why would Christians cheer any of their nefarious schemes in the light of Scripture?

Such Christians, when criticized, are quick to label themselves "persecuted." But I would label them "dupes of the wealthy," many of them, like the widow Jesus notes at the end of Mark 13 - a victim of some of kind of "prosperity message"? - give your last penny to "god," and miracles will come your way. Even as she gave her pennies, she was standing beside the wealthy who perhaps congratulated her, smiled at her, for her faithfulness even as they schemed to take her house.

Evangelical Christianity has been short on compassion for a long time now, a victim of a misconstrued gospel mostly the tool of the powerful to further their own vested interests even as they "say long prayers" or have others do it for them. 

For Scripture, then, there is is a litmus test: the wellbeing of the "widow, the stranger and the orphan," and how well society cares for them!

It is what we own to one another (Romans 13.8-10).

Aggression Against the Poor

The attack on abortion rights is aimed principally (intentionally or not) at the poor. Because the rich always have the means, one way or the other, to provide for their families, and/or seek an abortion. But it's the poor who suffer the most when women are denied the rights of choice. 

Much of what's done in the name of "morality and religion" is nothing less than full-out aggression against the poor - from state house to state house to the federal government, much of the rhetoric and legislation is designed to punish, humiliate and embarrass the poor - making life ever-harder for them. 

None of this makes any sense - it's like a pack of ravenous beasts, bellies full and already satiated, seeking just one more kill, but rather than killing the prey, simply running it down, until the prey falls exhausted, and still no kill, but only waiting … and when the prey attempts another move, it's beaten down again and again.

I watch some politicians with their goofy smiles showing well-cared for teeth and sporting fine clothes and spay-on tans, slavering over their next piece of legislation - "We'll show these takers; we'll hurt 'em for being so lazy and unproductive. Shame on them, and shame on us if we let 'em get away with their schemes to defraud welfare and live on food stamps. We'll show 'em a thing or two."

The poor are vulnerable and defenseless … they're easy prey for the proud and the powerful who seem to get some kind of a moral kick of out punishing the poor.

So I wonder - who are the advocates of the poor these days? We have some good voices in our land, no doubt, but so many who might otherwise be counted on for a friendly voice on behalf of the poor seem compromised by the influence of the great powers and principalities of reactionary forces in our land. 

The poor of America are not stealing us blind or hurting us. Because the poor are poor; they can only live on the margins of society and survive on the crumbs that fall from the tables. Yet, when a hand reaches for a crumb, there are some eager to slap that hand away with fierce condemnation. 

There is a hardness of heart gripping America right now … years of crummy politics telling us that "government is the problem" and too much war and too many lies … along with Wall Street binging and America's lack of will to stop the robber barons from pillaging the public coffers and tilting the game board in their favor.

I have a hard time seeing how this can end well for us. If the arc of history bends toward justice, those persons, powers and principalities, who fight against the arc of justice will ultimately find themselves broken by it and cast aside into the darkness (Matthew 25).

In the darkness of their own choosing, the powerful will cry out for water, and demand of Abraham that he send Lazarus to dip his finger into some cool water and drip it on the rich man's tongue - it would seem that the rich man, even in hell, remains unrepentant and demanding, expecting Abraham to do his bidding, willing to hurt further the poor man, who, no longer sits at the rich man's gate, but now resides in Abraham's bosom instead (Luke 16).

A Young Man in the Phillippines

From a young man of the church who's doing a semester in the Philippines ...

With limited access to the Internet, this is his first note home - with Mom's permission, I'm publishing his note here:

Hey guys, so I have limited access to wifi here in the philippines. But i can email you about once a week. Hopefully we can set up a skype session soon as well. In my first week alone so much has happened. We are usually up at six and I work out with the guys. Then we come back and take showers (only cold water here), and get started with the day. This first week has been orientation, so every day is jam packed. We have visited everyone's praxis sites. Mine was first, sitio payong is a small slum village with no running water or electricity. It is literally across the street from huge mansions owned by the filthy rich of the philippines. Guards patrol every day in the morning and evening, since the people in sitio payong dont own the land they live on, the guards make it as hard as possible forn them to live there. They want the people to move leave, so they dont lert the people improve there houses in any way, and if the people MUST, the have to sneak it. They are locked in at ten at night, and the gates open at six, so if anyone is sick or injured between these hours, they usually arent allowed out to go to the hoispital. There are 250 families crammed super tightly together in ramschackle huts made of tarp and sheet metal. I will be there two days a week. On our visit they gave us lumpia and prepared a presentation for us. I met the village leaders and met some of the kids, who call me big brother (in tagolog) chaz. Ill be there casey and mariah, we are thinking about teaching them american games, as well as helping them learn to read, and casey and I want to help them with some construction. I met two little boys who were brothers while we there, four and five, who had toy guns and I played with them a little bit. They chased after our jipnee as we drove away yelling by big brother chaz!! I could trell you an amazing inspirational story about every day ive been here, but it would take too long via email, hopefully when we skype.

Today during mass I spoke with one of the women who lives there and cooks for us every day, and she told me the two little boys had died on friday. Myself, mariah, and casey, went to the village with the casa leaders. It has rained extremely hard the last three days and the village (which has no paved roads) is completely muddy and very hard to walk through. We were invited to the mothers house, where her family was gethered outside in mourning. We went inside and wealked into a room with twso tiny white caskets with windows where the boys faces could be seen clearly, the mother of the boys brought us chairs and sat in between her sons and told us in philippino (someone translated) that the boys had been playing in the nearby river while she sold vegetables in the nearby village. The younger brother fell in and began to drown, so his older brother tried to carry him out of the water, but wasnt strong enough and drowned with his little brother. While she told us the story, little boys kep running up to me and saying hello big brother and giving me high fives, little ducklings walked around and played in the mud, and little girls played in the rain outside. 

This country is a dichotomy of poor and rich, polluted and beautiful, delightful and grief stricken. And today was one of the hardest moments of my life emotionally.Despite that, I am so glad that I am here and have learned so much already. I love you guys and miss you. I feel like I am here for a reason, and the real learning will be in sitio payong, not the classroom. Ill keep in touch as best as possible, next time ill send pictures. I love you!!

Chaz

Church and State and Poverty

The number of impoverished families and hungry children was waning when Johnson and this nation envisioned a Great Society and put up the money to make a difference. 

Starting with Reagan, this system has slowly been dismantled (ripping out Carter's solar panels on the white house was only the beginning), with billions flowing from the public sector into defense (talk about a welfare program), war (to satisfy the NeoCon lust for oil and Empire) and tax breaks for the wealthy. 

We've witnessed one of the largest transfers of wealth in the world - from the many to the few. Conservatives have gutted the government, hiding behind a romantic notion of local churches providing assistance. 

In reality, the churches have never done this in totality, but always in conjunction with government. It isn't that the government has failed, but rather that conservative forces in this nation have gutted the government when it comes to children and families, not to mention our nation's infrastructure, water and air, and our food supplies. 

Meanwhile painting the poor as lazy and dependent, wanting to be cared for; if anything, it's the rich who expect to be cared for, because of their social status. 

Check the history of British Aristocracy, the model for America's wealthy - they all expect plenty of free stuff - I think Jesus said something about the best seat in the synagogue. 

God has ordained in this world human and spiritual structures - to work together for the common good. What's needed is a partnership of the various spheres - Cain's line and Seth's line - government, church, mosque, synagogue, board room, Wall Street, and it's the government that can and should set the pace and lift up the Constitutional vision of a free and democratic nation, wherein the church is one of the players, but not the only player when it comes to the Good Society.

---------------

Abraham Kuyper

Abraham Kuyper's Sphere Sovereignty has some merit in this discussion.

Abortion

Just saw a pathetic, emotion-laded video on the "evils "of Obama and his stance on abortion.

Check it out if you will, right HERE. Check out all the related crap - amazing how some folks fail to think, and how they hide their bigotry behind religion.

A friend sent it to me ... sent to her by a "friend."

Here's what I wrote in response:

What about the 30,000 children who die every day from starvation, who die hideous deaths wrapped in filthy blankets, in part, because the Bush Administration fights family planning, has failed to even try to stop genocide, and has failed to help the world redistribute food stuffs to the most needy.

The right-wing turns a blind eye to all of this suffering and then goes all-out on abortions, most of which are done early-on, and most of which are done well.

Abortion remains a hard choice that belongs to every family, every woman ... not that every family or woman makes the best choice, but then not everyone with a driver's license drives well. In so many instances, the choices are not between good and bad, but between bad and bad. It's a hard world, and for millions of mothers, only hard choices.

It's about fundamental freedoms, and both as a Christian ("for freedom Christ has set us free") and as an American, we enjoy tremendous freedoms. At what price are we willing to forgo such freedom?

Since many unwanted pregnancies occur under harsh circumstances, dealing with poverty, sex education and improving people's circumstances will go a long way in limiting unwanted pregnancy.

We have to deal with the REAL issues rather than salving our emotions with emotional nonsense like the video.

We have to choose to think, and those who follow Jesus have to be comprehensive thinkers and doers, because God so loves the world. To ignore the 30,000 children who die every day from starvation brought about by war and disease, and to get all put-out about a very few late-term abortions here in America, is the highest crime against God and humanity.

Shame on Christians who turn a blind eye to the big picture and strain a gnat out of the cup - isn't that what Jesus said to the Pharisees? And getting spiritually uppity on a very small matter while ignoring the tide of death sweeping our world, now intensified by the economic collapse brought about the Reagan-Bush doctrine, will only intensify the power of death.

Just some thoughts ... pray that the hardened hearts of the religious right will be thawed by the grace of Jesus our Lord.

For Jesus ...

Could High Taxes Save Us?

Billions for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae ... and who can calculate the final cost of Lehman Brothers .... billions more, all around the world. Gone, and what's left except sagging bank accounts and depleted portfolios?

Could high taxes save us from this insanity?

Would high taxes draw dawn corporate profits so corporations would have to be more thoughtful and less risky about their work, their investments, their expansion programs?

Would high taxes compel the super-rich to be a little more thoughtful about their extravagant life-styles?

Would high taxes destroy incentive for making money?

That's been the sick mantra of the free-market idiots who've brought us to our knees.

Heavens no.

Folks always want to make money, and they'll make in spite of taxes.

So why high taxes?

High taxes will diminish disposable income, that's for sure, and it's high time we fat, sassy, silly and self-indulgent had a little to spend on ourselves.

And a whole lot more for good government ... the kind of government that funds universal health care and then really cares for the environment, safe products and the kind of food we eat, because now the government is picking up the health tab.

Education for all - the billions spent on failing corporate dreams cooked up on the third cocktail on the fantail of a 90 foot yacht would provide every child with safe and healthy schools, with plenty of toilet paper, computers, white boards and well-trained teachers with well-trained aids.

A living wage - do folks really have to live 100 million dollar life-styles when working Moms still have to rely on minimum wage, terrible working conditions and multiple jobs, without health benefits?

And what about our infrastructure - everything from rail lines to sewer lines; our bridges and our highways; our public transportation system could be the best in the world. High taxes could make this country shine!

High taxes would well put a stop to charity without change. Yes, billions for charity, but hardly dime to change the conditions that produce poverty. Yes, charity makes the giver feel good, but is that the goal? To feel good about dropping some big bucks into the Salvation Army bucket? Reminds me a bit of the Pharisees and their bags of gold, and the utter disdain Jesus showed for that "kind of giving."

We need fundamental changes in attitudes and structures in order to lift up millions from the slough of despond, millions who deserve it; yes, deserve it, because they work harder than any corporate board president, their fret and fear endlessly about the next meal, and they hurt ever so much when they can't afford decent medical and dental care for their children, not to mention themselves. Yes, they deserve something better than a handout, and something far better than charity without change.

I'm not a Utopian, but civilized countries around the world shake their head in disbelief as carry on so foolishly.

Let's hear it for high taxes - a corporate morality of mutual care and building for the future!

Guns or Religion - Obama

Obama's remark about hard times and desperate people turning to guns or religion may have been expressed more sensitively, but the point he makes is accurate. Anger hides in the off-beaten corners of our society, even as it stalks us on our streets. Hard pressed and up against the wall, folks can turn to extreme private rights - such as guns, and it's only a breath away from right-wing religion - all of it, a champion of the down-and-out, channeling their sorrow into often destructive pathways.

I surely hope folks of intelligence and compassion will see in these remarks an accurate description of desperate people longing for meaning and power.

For those with power and wealth, for those with the means to effect positive change in their status, it's difficult to imagine what powerlessness feels like; how maddening it is to see your life's saving slip away, an ill child suffer for want of medical care because the family has no insurance, to see the future as a looming darkness and to live with unpaid bills, humiliating letters and late-night phone calls threatening suit and foreclosure, or whatever else is needed to intimidate those who live on the margins.

Obama is right, and I hope that Senator Clinton, herself a champion of the poor and the struggling middle class, refrains from attack, and helps call the nation's attention to the plight of millions, marshaling our resources and resolve to rebuild the middle class, rescue millions from the edge of poverty, rebuild our economic engines and thereby lessen the temptation to dysfunctional expressions of power and religion.

Obama is right!