I'm Tough on Conservatives

I am tough on conservatives because they have repeatedly failed us - and there's no hope within their midnight-college discussions - the conservative philosophy is inherently flawed, which is why conservatives always crash and burn when they assume power. They make worthy opponents, no doubt, but lousy leaders.

All human progress has been driven by the liberal spirit - the vision of a better world wherein community is the core value, not a bunch of individuals competing like mad with one another to get to the top of some imagined hill. Conservatives remind me of young children who imagine themselves all grown up and then become resentful of Mom and Dad for telling them to be home before midnight.

Whether it be issues of slavery or making the Bible available, or St. Francis and the animals, or education or women's suffrage or Civil Rights, or universal healthcare, or medicare, environmental progress - it's all the liberal spirit.

If conservatives had their way, we'd be a feudal society, with the bulk of wealth held by the few, and the rest working their tails just to make it. The conservatives would be hangers-on in the court of the king - beautiful bosomy women, aging barons, their snotty offspring, all enjoying their privilege. O golly, it sounds like what we have right now.

Conservative philosophy has a certain "college" feel to it - a sort of "every man for himself" - it's terribly unrealistic ... it never holds up in reality.

Too Many Dumb Boobs

On the news yesterday, it was announced that President Obama has put a hold on all offshore oil drilling.

Immediately, there was a cut to an Ohio oilfield equipment worker who said, "I make pipe for drilling rigs. What's Obama doing for me?"

I thought, "You dumb boob!"

Tens of thousands of jobs are in peril around the Gulf because of a major oil spill. An entire eco-system may be destroyed. Fisheries and tourism all in jeopardy, and this dumb Ohio Boob can only say, "What's Obama doing for me?"

America is sinking, not because of drugs or crazed secular humanists or leaping lesbians, but by the sheer weight of too many dumb boobs who haven't the wherewithal to think. We are losing our grasp of the common good and the big picture.

This poor jerk in Ohio ignores everything to mouth a stupid comment.

Did someone in the media tell him, "Now, be angry and frustrated" because that's the new tag line across CNN and everywhere else - "America is angry and frustrated."

Are we?

I don't think so.

Concerned and worried?

Likely.

But once again, is the media making news rather than covering it?

Between our preponderance of dumb boobs and even dumber boobs crafting the news, we're in a pickle of monstrous proportions.

Come on America, let's go back to school and engage the brain for a change.

Come on CNN and all the rest (I no longer include FOX in this mix), let's cover the news and find out what's really happening, and maybe you can even help the nation gain perspective on the big picture and the common good.

And by the way, I'm totally sick of Wolf Blitzer - this sanctimonious druid is nothing but a carnival sideshow barker inviting us "little boys and girls" into the tent to be titillated and fleeced by the appearance of news manipulated with smoke and mirrors.

And to the dumb boob in Ohio, can ya' give some thought to the Gulf Coast folks?

Can ya' see beyond your own backyard?

Get a grip and get a life.

Holy crap Batman. What are we going to do?

Qualified to be a Professional? a little humor along the way

The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and tells whether you are qualified to be a "professional".

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Wrong answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator. Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. This tests your memory. OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Andersen Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all questions wrong. But many preschoolers got several correct answers. Andersen Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

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!

AZ Immigration Law

Jim Wallis rightly describes Arizona's new immigration law as a "social sin."

To read more, click HERE.

As always, Wallis' judgment is on target.

Whatever your faith-perspective might be, I invite you to dig deep into your soul and ponder this retrogressive action, and why in AZ?

What's going on there?

And what's to prove by these harsh measures?

Flexing someone's muscles? To be king of the hill? For what end?

Palin Is an Anarchist

I'm a Dem, and have been one since I cast my first vote many years ago.

Though I admit, with regret, that I voted for Reagan when he ran against Carter. Mr. Happy-Face Reagan beguiled me as he did this nation. I was a fool!

Oh well ...

During the Bush regime, I prayed for Bush often, and did what I could to support him. After all, he was the President of my country, the leader of my land.

I didn't march on the streets, I didn't write hateful letters, and when Gore lost the election to the Bush Supreme Court, I joined Gore in wishing Bush well and getting on with things. I didn't lash out; I didn't spew hatred. I tried to find ways and means that I could support the GOP agenda and move this country ahead.

I didn't plot the overthrow of the government, I didn't engage in "violent" words of rebellion, I didn't call down the wrath of God and pray for Bush's demise (although the thought occurred to me a time or two).

Am I patting myself on the back?

Not at all.

I'm simply an American, a real American, and I was doing what real Americans do - in sickness and in health, however we see it, I stood by my President and I supported the democratic process.

Which is to say, what we see with the GOP, Boehner and Cantor, Palin and Beck, is an abomination.

They are not Americans, whatever the hell they are. They are engaged in a program of de-construction, playing upon the fears of millions of naive Americans. Sadly, there would be no room for Palin if American citizens fully understood the glorious of our Democracy. But 50 years of Happy-Face Reaganism has deplete the national treasury of more than money - the GOP has looted our intelligence, along with its right-wing compatriots in American pulpits, led by the banality of a Robertson, the guilt-laden remorse of a Colson and the mean-spirted heart of a Dobson.

They are all terrorists determined to undermine our Democracy, sowing the seeds of discontent, malice, rage and craziness.

They are, by far, the greatest threat facing our nation, even as they pull the curtain and turn on the smoke and thunder machine, pointing us to mostly imaginary threats overseas, taking us to war, wasting billions and condemning thousands of our finest soldiers to death and tens of thousands more to a life-time of pain and medication.

They are behaving shamefully and without regard for the wellbeing of our nation.

They are prisoners of their own rage (Boehner) and ego (Palin and Beck) and a perverse religion (Colson and Dobson).

Their mutual hatred of Obama is painfully obvious, with shades of racism and everything evil.

They are not to be trusted; their words are misleading.

In reality, they're anarchists.

They have no vision for the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. They cannot work with anyone else, and they can't even work with one another.

They are anarchists.

They pose a real danger to America.

15th Anniversary of the OKC Bombing

April 19, 1995, 168 people died because Timothy McVeigh decided to exact vengeance on our Federal Government for the Waco Siege which ended in the death of 76 people two years earlier.

Filled with irrational ideas, McVeigh declared war on America.

As bizarre as this sounds, it's what the Confederate States were all about, and these days, the t-bags and all such related anti-government ideas. If Communism ever posed a threat to this nation, and it never did, being used only as a ploy by McCarthy to gain influence, the t-bags are a threat, especially as they are backed by the well-healed, none of whom love this nation, but all of whom love the almighty dollar.

America, a land of incredible freedom, has always had its share of nut cases. That we should have room for them is our glory as the "land of the free."

Yet what sadness they have wrought, especially when used and encouraged by fascist, if not anarchist, interests. Oonce again, their influence is being felt, fueled by a media fascinated with them and welcomed by an indiscriminate public often unable to tell the difference between fact and fiction. All of this cheered on by cheap politicians and cheaper-still pundits out for a quick buck on their latest ghost-written book. And in the background, the powerful who who expect to profit from a weakened Federal Government.

There is nothing proud about the t-bags, and nothing American about them.

They are a threat to our national security and a poison in our soul