March 23, 2008
There are 2 entries for this date: Erich Fromm and William Smith.

Erich Fromm

On this date in 1900, psychoanalyst and humanist philosopher Erich Fromm was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Grandfathers on both sides of the family were rabbis. He earned his Ph.D in sociology in 1922 from the University of Heidelberg, and trained at the Psychological Institute in Berlin. By 1926, Fromm had rejected Orthodox Judaism. Fromm took the story of Adam and Eve and turned it into an allegory in praise of the quest for knowledge, the questioning of authority and the use of reason. He moved in 1930 to Geneva to escape Nazism, then emigrated to the United States in 1934. Fromm taught at Columbia University and became a citizen in 1940. His pinnacle work, Escape from Freedom, was published in 1941, followed by Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics (1947). Fromm moved to Mexico in 1950 to become a professor at the National Autonomous University, where he taught until 1965. The Art of Loving (1956) became an international bestseller. That was followed by The Sane Society (1955), You Shall Be as Gods (1966), The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (1973), and To Have or to Be (1976). Fromm began teaching in the United States again in the late 1950s, at Michigan State University and later New York University. He was a co-founder of several institutes, including the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology. As a critic of McCarthyism and the Vietnam War, he helped found the international peace group, SANE.

In The Sane Society, Fromm distinguishes "intelligence" ("thought in the service of biological survival") from "reason," which "aims at understanding." "In observing the quality of thinking in alienated man, it is striking to see how his intelligence has developed and how reason has deteriorated. . . . Even from the nineteenth century to our day, there seems to have occurred an observable increase in stupidity, if by this we mean the opposite to reason, rather than to intelligence." Those with "outstanding reason in our midst . . . think apart from the general herd thought, and they are looked upon with suspicion--even if they are needed for their extraordinary achievements in the natural sciences." Fromm called ethics "inseparable from reason." About conscience, Fromm wrote: "To the degree to which a person conforms he cannot hear the voice of his conscience, much less act upon it." Fromm eventually moved to Switzerland, where he died just before his 80th birthday. D. 1980.

�If faith cannot be reconciled with rational thinking, it has to be eliminated as an anachronistic remnant of earlier stages of culture and replaced by science dealing with facts and theories which are intelligible and can be validated.�
-- Erich Fromm, Man for Himself (1947)

William Smith

On this date in 1769, William Smith, known as the "Father of Geology," was born in Oxfordshire, England. Smith, who trained as an apprentice surveyor, single-handedly produced the world's first geological map in 1815 (of England, Wales, and part of Scotland), spending 15 years on the project. Smith, "whose agnosticism was well known," according to biographer Simon Winchester (The Map That Changed the World), produced a "map that heralded the beginnings of a whole new science . . . a map that laid the foundations of a field of study that culminated in the work of Charles Darwin. It is a map whose making signified the start of an era, not yet over, that has been marked ever since by the excitement and astonishment of scientific discoveries that allowed man at last to stagger out from the fogs of religious dogma, and to come to understand something certain about his own origins and those of the planet." [page 2]

Winchester also noted: "For the first time the earth had a provable history, a written record that paid no heed or obeisance to religious teaching and dogma, that declared its independence from the kind of faith that is no more than the blind acceptance of absurdity. A science . . . had now at last broken free from the age-old constraints of doctrine and canonical instruction." [page 139] Smith went bankrupt, spending weeks in a debtor's prison, and was denied membership in the Geological Society until he was old. His ideas were right, and his methods are still used today. He won the first Wollaston Medal, which is the "Nobel Prize" for Geology. (There is no Nobel Prize for Geology, an unfortunate oversight.) His fossil collection is currently housed in the Natural History Museum (formerly part of the British Museum) in London. D. 1834.

http://ffrf.org/day/

sort of a strange post for easter morning isn't it gotv? does this mean we can't believe in the easter bunny anymore?

gotta beat mccain to avoid a...

Good morning fellow Democrats, Happy Easter to my Jesus worshiping brothers and sisters.

Good morning fellow Democrats, Happy Easter to my fellow Jesus worshiping brothers and sisters.

President Asshole's war is unravelling again. Why hasn't the POS been impeached and sent to the Hague along with cheney?

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Baghdad's heavily fortified "Green Zone" came under heavy rocket or mortar attack on Sunday, and police said at least two people had been killed outside the government and diplomatic compound.

Barrages hit Green Zone, gunmen kill seven

Good morning all. On that Cheney person ...

So, What Do People Think About "So?"
by BarbinMD
Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 04:29:04 PM PDT

Last week when it was pointed out to Dick Cheney that two-thirds of Americans believe that the war in Iraq is not worth fighting, Cheney's reply perfectly encapsulated this administration's attitude towards the people they allegedly work for:

So?

...and when Dana Perino was asked if Cheney believed that what the people think doesn't really matter, Perino explained that:

You had input. The American people have input every four years, and that's the way our system is set up.

Not surprisingly, Americans disagree with that notion:

When Americans are asked whether they think that "elections are the only time when the views of the people should have influence, or that also between elections leaders should consider the views of the people as they make decisions," an extraordinary 94 percent say that government leaders should pay attention to the views of the public between elections.

I'm guessing the White House response to that will be, so?

Bear Stearns chopping 8,000 of 14,000 workers
by Chris in Paris · 3/23/2008 08:28:00 AM ET · Link
Discuss this post here: 0 Comments · reddit · FARK ·· Digg It!

- as Bush, McCain and the GOP prefer even today - works so much better. Behold the glorious end result of ignoring Wall Street throwing around billions. Of course, this is only a small percentage of the overall losses related to federal failures but hacking 57% of the company employees is ugly enough to give everyone a taste for the situation.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
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Oh my ,,,

well, I think I've decided that the Easter bunny is something people make up. I believe that really it's Jesus who comes and hides our Easter eggs so that He can tell us how much He loves us." Then she paused. "Also, I think He does this because He's jealous that Santa Claus has taken over the party about His birth."

Thought I'd share. The deep philosophy of childhood is just so sincere!

Posted by MIKaren on March 22, 2008 at 08:43 PM

Happy Easter and Good Morning, all.

I wanted to repost Karen's daughter's comments about the season because I think she is so cute and thank her mother for for sharing.

I agree, Jesus gets a short shift on these holidays. A six-foot rabbit with baskets of chocolate eggs kind of steals the show. The guy in the red suit with a bag full of Chinese-made, lead-painted toys in another story entirely.

Politically-speaking, Cheney with his WMD threats reminds me of the first and McCain with his Bomb Bomb Iran jokes clearly is channeling the second...both frauds.

In further violence, at least 13 Iraqi soldiers were killed in a suicide bomb attack on an army base in the northern city of Mosul.

Posted by gregg on March 23, 2008 at 08:08 AM
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gregg, have you noticed how violent it's become the past two months? The surge is a political failure. But now, I think it's close to being a tactical failure as well. The reason is that portions of Sadr's militia are not following the cease fire and now the Sunni militia is out there again given that the United States stopped paying them blackmail. Clear to me, that Bush paid the Sunni off just so he can say "the surge is working". Pathetic! And now the occupation costs 6 times what it costs just a couple of years ago!

dried out there in texas yet sandy?

Politically-speaking, Cheney with his WMD threats reminds me of the first and McCain with his Bomb Bomb Iran jokes clearly is channeling the second...both frauds.

Posted by SandyH on March 23, 2008 at 09:03 AM
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Hi Sandy, they are both disgraces to America (and I don't care about McCain's military record ... what has he done for his country as a Senator is what counts).

McCain ... same as Bush!

In a remarkable week, the Fed:

_engineered the fire sale of bankruptcy-headed Bear Stearns Cos. to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. with a $30 billion loan.

_offered emergency loans to other securities dealers under terms normally reserved for regulated banks.

_slashed a key short-term interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point, to 2.25 percent. The cut was sixth since September.

These steps followed moves to lend $100 billion in cash to banks and $200 billion in Treasury bonds to cash-strapped investment banks. The goal was to keep the financial system from seizing up.

"I spent 35 years on Wall Street, have been a Fed watcher for a long time and I have never seen the potential for a more severe credit crisis than this one," said David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors and a former Wall Street economist. "It looks like we turned the corner precisely because of what the Fed did."

I wonder what this "economic expert" would say about our economy if he walked around in my shoes for a few months. It's not quite so good down here and I seriously doubt the Bush mis-Administration or his printing press called the Federal Reserve is going to bail me or my friends and family out of the mess we are in. We've turned so many corners it's become a downward spiral, it's the little people who will get hurt the most and also recieve less "help". Our government has just given hundreds of billions of Taxpayer dollars to rich Wall Street investors to gamble on the market to try to get even again. What happened to the republican chant about letting markets decide their fate, not much talk about that lately.

What happened to the republican chant about letting markets decide their fate, not much talk about that lately.

Posted by wldj on March 23, 2008 at 09:08 AM
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wldj, obviously the Republicans are okay with corporate socialism (or is there another word for that ... would it be ... fascism!).

The GOP don't care about the typical citizen. Instead of bailouts they arranged for the corporations to keep the citizen in debt slavery if they go under.

gregg,

It's dried out in St. Louis...actually snowing this morning. The rivers have crested and one of the major interstates was saved by a new levee in Valley Park. We're not out of it, however. All that record snow cover up North still has to melt and work its way down the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois.

The Ohio comes in south of here near Memphis. I don't envy those folks when all our water plus the stuff they have coming converge later this spring.

Who says there isn't an Easter Bunny?

Polls suggest Obama rebounding from pastor flap

GallupSaturday.gif

By Jim Tankersley

It's been a bad few weeks for Barack Obama - losses in Ohio and Texas, major poll deficits in Pennsylvania and, of course, the first mega-controversy of his presidential run, over the controversial comments by his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

But two polls out this weekend suggest he may be putting the worst behind him.

The first, released yesterday by CBS News, shows voters giving Obama high marks for his speech on race relations this week, which came in response to the Wright controversy. About seven in 10 voters said Obama did a good job addressing race relations and explaining his relationship with Wright. On the downside for Obama, only half of voters told the pollsters he could unite the country as president -- down from two-thirds in previous polls. (The full results are here.)

The second poll, from Gallup and reported by USA Today, shows Obama regaining his lead among Democratic primary voters over Hillary Clinton, 48 percent to 45 percent. He fell behind last week, in a shift Clinton strategists labeled "buyer's remorse" with Obama...

www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/03/polls_suggest_obama_rebounding.html

You can't keep a good man down...especially when even Chris Wallace is coming to his aid. So, when do you suppose Murdock will have Tucker Carlson take over his Sunday show?

Baghdad's heavily fortified "Green Zone" came under heavy rocket or mortar attack on Sunday, and police said at least two people had been killed outside the government and diplomatic compound.
===================================================

Hey JE, it's obvious that even the small tactical "gains" from the surge are falling apart.

Good Morning!

The GOP don't care about the typical citizen. Instead of bailouts they arranged for the corporations to keep the citizen in debt slavery if they go under.

Posted by rjsnj on March 23, 2008 at 09:13 AM

They sure care about you before you're born then piss on you after....

Anyone watching HBO's "John Adams"? I watched the 1st and 2nd installments last night. It made me cry at times. I tried to think on how that time really was. These men (and women) were truely real Americans!

I wonder where we went so wrong in this country and can we ever get that back?

We really do need a strong leader now....

Anyone watching HBO's "John Adams"? I watched the 1st and 2nd installments last night. It made me cry at times. I tried to think on how that time really was. These men (and women) were truely real Americans!
===================================================

Kathy, I missed it. I heard it is very good. I'll try to catch the re-run.

I agree ... these people were the ones with true values. John Adams would be disgusted by the money grubbing GOP.

Happy Easter

Posted by rjsnj on March 23, 2008 at 08:38 AM
When Americans are asked whether they think that "elections are the only time when the views of the people should have influence,

Posted by rjsnj on March 23, 2008 at 08:38 AM

I saw Dana Perino response she was so condescending that reporter and got her facts wrong. She appeared on the Daily show couple of weeks ago did you see that?

Well the founding fathers set up the constitution in such a way that public opinion should reflect on electing congress that is why their term is 2 years, and Senators are supposed to be independent in doing what is good for the country 6 years, and of course the President every 4 years. But we elected the same president knowing everything we knew in 2004, so you really can't blame the structure must blame all those people who voted for him in 2004 for the countries mess. what do you do...

The surge is a strategic, political and conceptual failure

rjsnj - when you watch it, close your eyes and try to think on how these people lived and try to put yourself in their place..amazing! What courage it took! If you compare these true Americans to the ones who are supposed to be the shepards of our country now - it makes one sick - just pure sick that we have allowed our country to be lead by these criminals. We are truly at a low level in this country. Bush and Cheney are disgusting men, truly disgusting human beings.

Buchanan continues his idiocy.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/22/83758/9895/1022/482071

Buchanan continues by dismissing a host of government programs designed to assist the working poor and our least advantaged citizens as giveaways to the African American community.

[N]o people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

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So, let me understand this Buchanan. You are saying that NO white person ever got Medicaid, a Pell grant, Section 8 housing, etc... I think that's easily enough debunked. Here's an article on Medicaid:

The distribution of payments by sex does not differ significantly from the distribution of recipients by sex. There is a disparity in the distribution of benefits by race or ethnicity. White people who represent 52.7 percent of the recipients account for 67.4 percent of the program payments. Every other racial and ethnic group account for a proportion of payments that is less than their proportion of recipients. Tabulations not shown in this chapter indicate that about 18 percent of the white recipients are more than 65 years of age. The highest percent for other racial and ethnic groups is about 9 percent. Persons 21 years of age or over constitute 53 percent of the white recipients. The comparable percentages for the other racial and ethnic groupings are: Black, 41 percent; American Indian and Alaska Native, 36 percent; Asian and Pacific Islander, 41 percent; and Hispanic, 33 percent. Thus, the minority races are more heavily represented among persons less than 21 years of age. As noted previously, this age group accounts for benefit payments far below their proportion of recipients. This disparity in the age distribution contributes to differences in the distribution of program payments by race or ethnicity.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0795/is_nSUPP_v14/ai_14804370/pg_9

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Ummm Pat ... looks like white people are getting more Medicaid than non-white people ... funny thing about facts, they debunk bigots every time.

JPM was beating the clock to offer contracts to to the Bear Stern's employees on Friday

Besides Bear share price went up because they think that the shareholders well push for higher price from JPM than $2 a share.

I saw Dana Perino response she was so condescending that reporter and got her facts wrong. She appeared on the Daily show couple of weeks ago did you see that?
================================================
ss16, I didn't see that. I sorta think that all press conferences with Perino is like The Daily Show. I never seen a more misinformed press secretary.

Well you have to maintain the confidence in the banking system that is the backbone of the financial structure. If the Feds did nothing and it goes into a free fall then all bets are off, so they will always get rescued and I feel it is the right thing to do, not because they deserve it but how else can you safe guard the financial system.

May be we should start a sovereign fund as well, for domestic and international to beat wall st

There was an article yesterday about new sheriff in town for wall st. Benn Benanke and Tim Geithner (CEO of Federal Reserve Bank of NY) as they met with Paulson to discuss a mortgage rescue plan

My only hope is that it will all trickle down in time to save those average American families that need help now.

Posted by Kathy_from_Indiana on March 23, 2008 at 09:38 AM
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Kathy, I think the founders who wonder how is it that Americans are once again ruled by privileged elites. They fought to get rid of their tyranny. Now, the tyranny of the corporations have been imposed on all of us. I am appalled when I hear corporate types even co-opt our language and use terms like the "corporate common good". What exactly is the "corporate common good"?

Good morning fellow Democrats, Happy Easter to my fellow Jesus worshiping brothers and sisters.

Posted by justaguy on March 23, 2008 at 08:34 AM

And a belated happpy Ostara to our pagan brothers and sisters :)

Posted by SS16s on March 23, 2008 at 09:47 AM
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ss16, this has gone well beyond the banking system! This is now corporate welfare for brokerage firms. What's next - I suppose the hedge funds (which sadly were bailed out in the past as well).

I understand we need confidence in the banking system or there will be runs on the banks. FDR understood that as well. But, what a lopsided society we have where corporations get the bailouts and the people get the usury!

This is no longer government by the people and for the people. It's government by the corporations and for the corporations.

BearStearns is not a commercial, retail bank. It is an "investment" bank which means it is a Wall Street gun slinger, underwriting securities, etc. . The run on the banks in the 1930's was on retail banks. The idea that Bear Stearns had to be saved in order to prevent "a run on the banks" is a bit of a stretch put out by the Bush administration to justify their billions to the Wall Street bankers. Jim Rogers is a top flight financial man, you might want to read his opinion which I posted at the end of the prior thread.

Happy Easter to all.

From The Archives: Concerns About the Post-War Economy After WWII.

The CNN ticker this morning was reporting that our economy, and this recession is the worst it has been since WWII. In light of this, I found it interesting to review these archival government films concerning our economy following WWII. Take some time and review them, taking note of the many similarities as well as differences to our situation today.

Part One
Part Two

This is interesting.

Carlyle Group

I wonder where we went so wrong in this country and can we ever get that back?
Posted by Kathy_from_Indiana on March 23, 2008 at 09:19 AM

Happy Easter! To believers and nonbelievers alike.

Certainly, both the religious and secular ideologies of the Founding Fathers played a part. While we can admire the self-discipline and moral piety of Adams stemming from Puritanism, its roots in Calvinism and the theory of election have their dark side as well. Once spiritual superiority "God on Our Side" characterizes other people - Native Americans and Africans - as inferior, the die was/is cast. Yes, there were voices that decried the actions perpetrated against these peoples, but they were too often in the minority or the compromises that were made to form a more Perfect Union resulted in these two original sins.

Remember the beliefs emobodied in "Manifest Destiny" that justifed the wholesale slaughter and relocation of Native Americans? As if it was ordained by God?

And yet, the Abolitionist Movement had its roots in New England. So, it is one of the paradoxes of our history that religion can be both progressive and reactionary. Witness the Christian Right in our midst as well as those evangelical groups with genuine concerns for both the environment and economic inequality.

Realizing this is the first step toward Redemption. I would hope that we would begin to incorporate two questions into our everyday beliefs and subsequent behavior: 1) Is it equitable? and 2) Is it sustainable? Both would faciltate our recaputuring what is so uplifting about this country and take US into the future.

Whether incorporated into religious practice or more secular ethical systems wouldn't matter. The results would be much the same - a world in which the environment is seen as something that belongs to us all and is the very sustenance of life. And that every human being has the right to be treated with dignity and respect as an inalieanable right of creation - whether by God or cosmic accident.

It may not get US back to the FOUNDING but it will get US to the GARDEN!

Peace and serenity to ALL this Easter Sunday.

Posted by goodfoe on March 23, 2008 at 10:17 AM
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goodfoe, it's actually an outright lie. There is no reason to think that problems with an investment bank (really a brokerage firm) will lead to general runs on banks. This begs some really hard questions:

1) Just how much of this will we do?

2) The more we throw at bailouts, the deeper in debt we go. This will devaluate the dollar even more. Could we be fueling a feedback loop that will drag us even deeper into the abyss?

3) What is the morality of bailing out those who would gladly subject the citizens to usury?

I read in one of the financial reports I receive that in the months before it's collapse, Bear Stearns paid out 36 BILLION dollars to it's executives, a fact that Jim Rogers mentions in closing. Two things about that: 1) That is about the amount of money projected to be lost on sub prime mortgages (that Bear Stearns help to distribute) and 2) You have to ask yourself, if Bear Stearns knew they were in bad financial condition, hid that fact, distributed those bonus' to their executives, they not only defrauded their stock holders, they also defrauded us, we the taxpayers have to cover the loss.

In this Easter of peace, I wish Democrats well in their blessings of pure HeArts. The Cost of Free Speech is too much to bear but worse to extinguish. If one needs to be banned as a Democrat in a Bush Corporate Republic and those Democrats that say they must win at all cost of destroying Party Unity, then by all means toss your Kitchen Sinks, for my dreams have been already destroyed. The following poem is a work in progress for Party Unity after the quagmire Democratic Civil War, Sunni-Progressives or Sunni-Liberals fighting the Shiite-Progressives or Shiite-Liberals. Toss your Kitchen Sinks Diplomacy as you would be a Presidential leader, we have had 7 1/2 years of that. Just get me out of this Bush prison and sentence me with Lady Liberty back to France, where I can make love to Poetry and romance the mademoiselle like Ben Franklin did.

Of the cuff unedited

Easter Miracle Of Changing America

Upon the winds of prayers of “We the people”
Can Poetry hold hands across America positively?
Dark White House of negativity, gloom of secrecy,
Closed doors to the infrastructure of HeArt beats
Cheney oil pumping prices in a Corporate Republic.

Faith lies within the diversity of God Bless America
Hugging the land in the miracle of divine patriotism
Is a nation creating love more important than hate
Where Kitchen Sinks create political abuse scarring
The terrain in quagmires of civil strive and divisions.

Does America have to be reborn in Easter’s teachings
Where songbirds and sunshine spring forth a new day
Rebuilding the core of germinating hope for children
Can one kneel and pray within the treasure of Heritage?
History of patriots recycling children’s dreams star spangled.

Lord, I wail in the pain of this Royalty of pure arrogance
Look at our Public school reality upon those Katrina tears
Feel the Kitchen Sinks being tossed and striking negativity
Abu Graith of I do not give a damn, I must win at all cost
Is this what we preach to children that bullies always win.

What is this shallow grave of endless deep depressions?
Poet called “Obscene.” Why, because he cared to dream
Of “Truth” but “Lies swallowed him whole ‘n no one cared
Pains weather rotting teeth, swelling feet depressive weight
He was Terminates into Constitutional Freedom’s Democracy

Vietnan rants its therapy, where the demon must be expunged
Writing the wind’s canvas to release frustrations camping ground
Soon Iraq Rants will vent the true need to speak out in Free Verse
Dark clouds turmoil melancholy evaporating into dire survival
Words reaching out of darkness scraping pieces of a dim smile.

Oh “Obscene” Poets, we must label you into lifetime’s of censorship
Your eyes cannot paint words digging in viens of telling the truth
We live in a Bush World of Intelligence ‘n Enron Bohemian accounting
Profit religion of Idolitry of bulldozing for New Orleans Condominiums
America of two economic classes: royalty and increasing pure poverty.

Democratic Party of “We the people we need real change of positive
Reinforcement rebuilding this Constitution among cracked Main Streets
We cannot have Royal Private Schools and working class Public School
Bringing back that colored image of former sins like a Vietnam body bag.

DOES ‘ANYBODY’ HEAR THE INTERNATIONAL VOICE IN THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM IN, OVER, OR THROUGH THE IRAQ WAR?

CAN THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ HEAR THEIR OWN VOICE IN THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM REPRESENTED?

DO SOME MIDDLE EASTERN GOVERNMENTS USE THE IRAQ WAR TO MUFFLE THE MIDDLE EAST’S OWN REGIONAL VOICE TO KEEP THEIR RELIGIOUS/GOVERNMENTAL POLITICS ON VOILENCE AND THEIR PUBLIC AND REGION IN A POLITICAL QUAGMIRE?

THE WORLD KNEW THE DEMOCRATIC UNITED STATES, ALWAYS OPEN TO AT LEAST LISTENING TO ANY CRITICISM, DID NOT DESERVE 9/11. PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENTS WILL NO LONGER HALF-APPEASE POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS AND/OR GOVERNMENTS WITH WEAPONS IN THEIR HANDS OR THEIR HALF-SUPPORTED-LAWS-ON-VIOLENCE. NOR WILL TAKING ADVANTAGE/OR DISRESPECTING THE UNITED STATES DEMOCRATICALLY LED EFFORTS THAT INSURES THAT PEOPLE ARE GRANTED A RIGHT TO SPEAK AGAINST THESE UNITED STATES BE SLAPPED IN THE UNITED STATES FACE WITHOUT A RESPONSE, VIOLENCE OR NOT, IRAQ WAR OR NOT. (Can an American make their-self any clearer?)

NATO has confiscated weaponry in Iraq verifying the serial numbers registered to the ‘government’ of Iran, supporting U.S. Military reports that the Iran’s Government is supplying Shiite militias in Iraq to fight opposition of the dominating ‘Shiite’ government of Iraq, or even if not, allowing it. (By the way, it is disturbing that a leader like McCain has missed that Iran’s government is Shiite on more than one occasion, calling the Iranian sect Sunni instead of Shiite, leading one to question the quality of McCain’s leadership with the Iraq war. Because knowledge of Iran as Shiite brings the important question to any leader as to why the Shiite Iranian administration wants to supply ‘Shiite’ militias with weaponry to fight the Sunni and Kurdish in Iraq ‘who can not possibly politically compete’ with the ‘Iraqi Shiite dominated government’ anyway?)

So is the politically ambitious Iranian administration out to encourage violence between Iraq’s Shiite sect against other sects for, if you will, ‘no political good reason’ other than giving other sects of Iran’s own nation and the entire region a message? Is Iran promoting the inference that the Iraqi Shiite Government ‘might be’ encouraging the insurgency violence with Iran’s government in order to give Iraq’s Government and Iraq’s Public a message too? As well offering the region failing leadership of ‘trying’, as though any intelligent government leadership would need to, make the U.S. look bad with the Iraq war by further exploiting it?

IF THE U.S. LEAVES IRAQ WITH USING DIPLOMACY, IRAN WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO USE THE OCCUPATION AS A POLITICAL EXCUSE TO ENCOURAGE OR ALLOW IRANIAN INSURGENTS TO MAKE THE U.S. LOOK BAD, SAVING IRAQI LIVES AS WELL AS OUR SOLDIERS. NEITHER WILL IRAN BE ABLE TO USE THE OCCUPATION AS A SHIELD TO HIDE PLAYING THEIR RELIGIOUS/GOVERNMENTAL POLITICS ON VIOLENCE TRYING TO CO-REGIONALLY LEAD IRAQ’S GOVERNMENT AS A WAY OF GIVING PEOPLE OF OTHER SECTS IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY, IRAQ AND THE REGION A FORCED MESSAGE.

SO LEAVING IRAQ GIVES AMERICAN DIPLOMACY A VOICE IN THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM SPEAKING AGAINST RELIGIOUS/GOVERNMENTAL POLITICS ON VIOLENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AROUND THE WORLD. A VOICE THAT CAN WIN THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM FOR AMERICA EVEN IF AMERICA CAN’T WIN THE WAR IN IRAQ. HOPEFULLY, WITH THE HELP OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, DIPLOMACY WILL GIVE IRAQ A VOICE OF ITS OWN IN THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM.

AS BARRACK OBAMA HAS SAID, “AMERICA WILL NOT BE HELD HOSTAGE IN IRAQ”.

VOTE FOR THAT VOICE OF DIPLOMACY, VOTE DEMOCRATIC.

Happy Easter to people of every world religion, those who recognize the survival power of all kinds of resurrection! (Don’t wait for Iraq to resurrect America from the Iraq war, we need to do it ourselves for ourselves. Have faith in the people of Iraq.)

This is also interesting.

How to get rich quick on the backs of the American people and our military families

Keep our fuel mix diverse.

Get Energy Active

Good morning. To those who write in the middle of my night, I certainly hope you live on the other side of the world.

Buchanan's remarks made me curious so I've started to do a little digging. Pell Grants are first. Found this federal report site which reports grant awards by race. 17 percent of all white college students get Pell grants compared to 40 percent of all black students, 3 percent of Hispanics. It's important that these are intragroup percentages, not how one whole is divided up among these. For example Asians, Hawaiians and other "racial categories" have rates in the 20s if all of these numbers were added together it would come out to more than 100 percent.

Now, what I did next is to seek out the enrollments by race. There are 10 million whites in college which means that 1.7 million whites receive Pell grants.

There are 1.7 million Africans in college which means 680,000 African Americans get Pell grants.

There are 1.6 million Hispanics in college which means that about 530,000 Hispanics get Pell grants.

I'll keep looking. But on another point, if whites gave blacks Christianity (Ethiopians were Christian while the Irish were still pagans), then aren't whites the source of Jeremiah Wright's Christianity?

Posted by FloridaDemToo on March 23, 2008 at 10:24 AM
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FloridaDemToo,

Good film clips from a time that many don't discuss.

Note several differences:

1) Congress was proactive. They were looking ahead to what can be done to create jobs. They were willing to work with small business.

2) States had surpluses and also looked forward to creating jobs.

3) International competition was weak. Europe was in way worst shape than the United States ... in many cases, large areas were totally destroyed. China, India were still looking inward and not ready to enter a global economy.

I think we have way worst problems. We have a corrupt government that serves wealth. We have enormous debt. We don't have a fundamentally sound economy based on creating real products.

Well I found another chart on this Whites do make up more than half of all Pell Grant Participants.

White 51.8
African American 21.4
Hispanic 17.9
Asian American 4.7
American Indian 1.1
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander 0.8
More than one race 2.3

See page 17 here

Posted by Veneita on March 23, 2008 at 10:52 AM
==================================================

Veneita, it's so easy to debunk bigots such as Buchanan and Savage. The reason is that they don't speak from facts instead they have ingrained opinions.

Posted by goodfoe on March 23, 2008 at 10:17 AM

John Boy,

Good point. When you think about how the Republicans were pushing so hard to privatize Social Security into Wall Street accounts, it makes sense that they now have to rescue these investment banks at all costs.

These enterprises have become so insecure that even the average American can see they were being conned by the GOP now. Can you say WMD?

I got a Morgan Stanley invite to dinner/sales pitch in the mail yesterday. Boy, that would be one snake oil presentation. Might go just to see how desperate they are. Do you think they would serve tainted Chinese shrimp?

Posted by SandyH on March 23, 2008 at 10:58 AM

Hi Sandy, get back to you shortly, Schemer talking right now....John Boy...

Posted by rjsnj on March 23, 2008 at 10:46 AM

Good observations. What alarmed me most in watching those was that it was the remobilization of the industrial base from military production to consumer/mass production with the cooperation among all socioeconomic groups & the government that revived the economy and staved off depression. We don't have that industrial base anymore so what is there to remobilize to create jobs to reinvigorate our economy? These stipud tax rebates? I don't think so.

Dean/Schweitzer 2012!

Morgan Stanley - you're talking Morgan Stanley? Man have I got a horror story for you all.

My father, 93 years old and has stock with Morgan Stanley. I had to take Dad and move him into an assisted living place in Oct. During this time, we decidied that since I have POA, I would move his stock from Morgan Stanley to other areas for him. I got into such a fight with those people. They were the rudest, the most awful group of asswipes I've ever had to deal with. After one such long distance call fight, after the creepy broker told me that I was probably the "black sheep" of the family and that I was probably going to clean house with my fathers accounts, I told him he could kiss my ass and I'd hire an attorny just to go after him, his boss and all the way to New York - the awipe...

End of story, after going back and forth with those people since last Oct, I was able to transfer his holding to other areas and thus we have no further contact with those assholes. Buyer beware - they are rude and as far as I'm concerned - slightly leaning towards being lowlifes and at the bottom of the gene pool. I would never ever do any business with them in any shape anyway anyhow!

Freethought of the Day -2

Ibsen once wrote: "With pleasure I will torpedo the ark." D. 1906.

"Bigger things than the State will fall, all religion will fall."
-- Henrik Ibsen, letter to Georg Brandes, quoted in Ibsen by biographer Aall, 1906

Do you think they would serve tainted Chinese shrimp?

Posted by SandyH on March 23, 2008 at 10:58 AM
==================================================

LOL ... I would be careful!

Posted by Kathy_from_Indiana on March 23, 2008 at 11:13 AM

Sorry they were so rude to you. In partial defense to their position though, you would be surprised how many grown children DO INDEED clean out their parents accounts when they become old and feeble. I've seen it so many heartbreaking times so I understand why they took that position with you....although there was absolutely NO need for the man to get personally insulting about it.

Venitia,

Buchanan has always been a advocate for the white man's burden. He came back into vouge with the 24/7 crowd after Bush's coronation and hasn't stopped spouting his home-spun bigotry since then.

Look at his failed presidential campaigns. He's always looked down on people of color and used them as a threat to lower-class whites who felt frightened by the effects of GOP economics. Before The Clintons started their race-baiting strategy in South Carolina, Buchanan and the rest of the GOP Border Vigilantees were using Hispanic illegals as their wiping boys.

Now they are back to blacks again. Richardson read this one right.

This bigotry will never slow as long as pundits like Buchanan are given a voice of authority by the corporate media. He's an expert alright...a expert at using scapegoats to mask GOP incompence and corruption in financial circles.

The American Dream is at risk for all poor and middle class people not because of one or another ethinic groups but by the top 2% of wealthy whites.

I wonder where we went so wrong in this country and can we ever get that back?

Posted by Kathy_from_Indiana on March 23, 2008 at 09:19 AM

Posted by GOTV on March 23, 2008 at 11:16 AM

Happy Easter! To believers and nonbelievers alike.

Certainly, both the religious and secular ideologies of the Founding Fathers played a part. While we can admire the self-discipline and moral piety of Adams stemming from Puritanism, its roots in Calvinism and the theory of election have their dark side as well. Once spiritual superiority "God on Our Side" characterizes other people - Native Americans and Africans - as inferior, the die was/is cast. Yes, there were voices that decried the actions perpetrated against these peoples, but they were too often in the minority or the compromises that were made to form a more Perfect Union resulted in these two original sins.

Remember the beliefs emobodied in "Manifest Destiny" that justifed the wholesale slaughter and relocation of Native Americans? As if it was ordained by God?

And yet, the Abolitionist Movement had its roots in New England. So, it is one of the paradoxes of our history that religion can be both progressive and reactionary. Witness the Christian Right in our midst as well as those evangelical groups with genuine concerns for both the environment and economic inequality.

Realizing this is the first step toward Redemption. I would hope that we would begin to incorporate two questions into our everyday beliefs and subsequent behavior: 1) Is it equitable? and 2) Is it sustainable? Both would faciltate our recaputuring what is so uplifting about this country and take US into the future.

Whether incorporated into religious practice or more secular ethical systems wouldn't matter. The results would be much the same - a world in which the environment is seen as something that belongs to us all and is the very sustenance of life. And that every human being has the right to be treated with dignity and respect as an inalieanable right of creation - whether by God or cosmic accident.

It may not get US back to the FOUNDING but it will get US to the GARDEN!

Peace and serenity to ALL this Easter Sunday.

We don't have that industrial base anymore so what is there to remobilize to create jobs to reinvigorate our economy? These stipud tax rebates? I don't think so.

Posted by FloridaDemToo on March 23, 2008 at 11:08 AM
===================================================
The rebates won't do anything. It's almost an insult to issue them ... but I won't stand in anyone's way if it makes them happy getting back a few bucks.

I have been trying to explain this for years since the era of neo-liberalism hit us hard. There is a fundamental disconnect between the wealth of corporations and the wealth of citizens. It actually goes beyond "trickle down". The wealth of corporations and citizens are actually disjoin.
The reason is that the multi-nationals create so many jobs overseas. Note in the film how business people talked about increasing the output of goods and services by the American people. Well, they no longer talk about that. Instead, it may be the Chinese people increasing the output of goods and services. Sure, the business types and sales people in America can make a living but how about everyone else? We can't all be managers in corporations and sales people. That just won't create enough jobs. So, we gravitate toward this low paying service types of jobs that don't substain a decent standard of living. It's a recipe for total failure.

Freethought of the Day-3

"With pleasure I will torpedo the ark." D. 1906.

"Bigger things than the State will fall, all religion will fall."
-- Henrik Ibsen, letter to Georg Brandes, quoted in Ibsen by biographer Aall, 1906.

Well, it's time for me to get ready - planning on a Prime Rib roast with Yorkshire Pudding this afternoon so I need to start that process -

Have a great day today and will see you all later..

Keep on Rockn'

Sandy H,

You were talking about the film of Barrack Obama’s minister that the media found already published by ‘who knows’ on the Internet, made it into a story and exploited it...

The best Obama Campaign strategy was when Senator Obama did not come out right away to respond to the media and put the media, who were sensationalizing the story, in their place, I thought.

That speech Barrack Obama gave about racism was wonderful. Did you hear it? I was impressed with Barrack Obama’s way of thinking things through in a way that we all could understand. It didn’t sound like a scripted speech like Bush gives; it sounded like it came from the heart of an intelligent person.

I think opening up dialogue about any type of discrimination is good because anti-Americanism is a form of discrimination, wouldn’t you agree? I mean there is discrimination of all kinds of people and discrimination really doesn’t reflect the Democratic way of giving people equal rights, opportunities and justice.

Glad to hear that Barrack Obama’s percentage of support in the polls is on the rise again.

Posted by Kathy_from_Indiana on March 23, 2008 at 11:13 AM

Kathy,

Thank you for confirming my worst fears. How many older Americans have been conned by these monsters? I'm so glad you were able to get your Dad's money out of the clutches of these creeps.

My mother was always cautious about her money. Once when the CD rates went way down, she talked to one of these financial planners/salesmen and walked away. She said they reminded her of loan sharks from the 1930's. Not all seniors are that sharp as they get older.

It's really important to keep an eye on parents as they age. Lots of time they need help but are afraid to admit it. When you do offer to assist, you can see the relief. There are forces in this country who prey on the sick and old. The GOP and some Centralist Dems have given them cover.

Some of the worst charlatans are these "religious" televangelist like Oral Roberts. He and his family fleeced thousands out of my mother's aunt. Some of these oversea's children's charity are also nothing but sponges that sap the few funds seniors have on reserve for a rainy day.

No wonder the Lord threw them out of the Temple 2,000 years ago. They're back and in charge of the country. Time to model ourselves after Jesus and run them out of power in Washington.

Hate to mix religion and politics but we have to address this issue just like race. Both have been bastardized to fool unsuspecting good people to do things that are harmful to themselves.

bbl.

Sandy H,

You were talking about the film of Barrack Obama’s minister that the media found already published by ‘who knows’ on the Internet, made it into a story and exploited it...

The best Obama Campaign strategy was when Senator Obama did not come out right away to respond to the media and put the media, who were sensationalizing the story, in their place, I thought.

That speech Barrack Obama gave about racism was wonderful. Did you hear it? I was impressed with Barrack Obama’s way of thinking things through in a way that we all could understand. It didn’t sound like a scripted speech like Bush gives; it sounded like it came from the heart of an intelligent person.

I think opening up dialogue about any type of discrimination is good because anti-Americanism is a form of discrimination, wouldn’t you agree? I mean there is discrimination of all kinds of people and discrimination really doesn’t reflect the Democratic way of giving people equal rights, opportunities and justice.

Glad to hear that Barrack Obama’s percentage of support in the polls is on the rise again.

Posted by Kathy_from_Indiana on March 23, 2008 at 11:13 AM
==================================================

Kathy, a co-worker from a previous job got wiped out by Morgan Stanley. They told non-stop lies about their funds. When he finally read the fine print (his bad in my opinion for trusting these sharks), he was enormous fees for a very risky fund that basically went bust in dot-com downturn. I would never go near them. In fact, I don't trust any of these people. Find the cheapest fees and work it yourself.

Posted by ElizabethJW on March 23, 2008 at 11:34 AM

Elizabeth,

Obama handled this in the same measured, calm way that he has other issues. It only confirmed to those who are looking for a change in how this country solves problems that this man is one of thoughfulness and fairness.

I think there is going to be a backlash agains those who are fanning the fires if this attack is renewed in the future.

We have too many major problems to address in this country to let this petty politics of fear to damage those who are really advocating new approaches to solving old problems. The younger generations are ready to tackle the future and not be drug down by the past.

Posted by MARZBAR on March 23, 2008 at 11:21 AM
=================================================

MARZBAR, outstanding post! Happy Easter to you as well.

"With pleasure I will torpedo the ark." D. 1906.

ll any Democrat would have to do to neutralize the Religious Right would be to thoroughly exposure the wacko 177-year-old history of the RR's favorite and greatest money-making belief: the "any-moment, pre-tribulation rapture." In 1980 religion expert Dr. Martin Marty wrote in Christian Century that Time or Newsweek should expose the same history, but nobody listened. Then not long ago Bill Moyers, in a speech at Harvard, referred briefly to two "itinerant preachers" of the 19th century who promoted it but said nothing more about the same fantasy's history. But the complete facts are now on the web, and historian Dave MacPherson is the only one who has spent 30 plus years focusing on them and the only one who has found more long forgotten and covered up 19th century "rapture" documents while researching in British libraries than anyone else. Needless to say, Falwell, LaHaye etc. have tried to suppress his findings. His Google piece "Pretrib Rapture Diehards" is a sample of his work, and his bestselling 300-page book "The Rapture Plot," which drowns us with rapture history facts, is carried online by bookstores such as Amazon and Armageddon Books. MacPherson has stated that the same rapture dogma is the RR's most cherished belief, and that if some national political leader would expose it as the Johnny-come-lately scam that it really is, the RR would fragment and become totally ineffective, politically speaking.

Since '01, Guarding Species Is Harder
Endangered Listings Drop Under Bush

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 23, 2008; A01

With little-noticed procedural and policy moves over several years, Bush administration officials have made it substantially more difficult to designate domestic animals and plants for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Controversies have occasionally flared over Interior Department officials who regularly overruled rank-and-file agency scientists' recommendations to list new species, but internal documents also suggest that pervasive bureaucratic obstacles were erected to limit the number of species protected under one of the nation's best-known environmental laws.

The documents show that personnel were barred from using information in agency files that might support new listings, and that senior officials repeatedly dismissed the views of scientific advisers as President Bush's appointees either rejected putting imperiled plants and animals on the list or sought to remove this federal protection.

Officials also changed the way species are evaluated under the 35-year-old law -- by considering only where they live now, as opposed to where they used to exist -- and put decisions on other species in limbo by blocking citizen petitions that create legal deadlines.

As a result, listings plummeted. During Bush's more than seven years as president, his administration has placed 59 domestic species on the endangered list, almost the exact number that his father listed during each of his four years in office. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has not declared a single native species as threatened or endangered since he was appointed nearly two years ago.

In a sign of how contentious the issue has become, the advocacy group WildEarth Guardians filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking a court order to protect 681 Western species all at once, on the grounds that further delay would violate the law. Among the species cited are tiny snails, vibrant butterflies, and a wide assortment of plants and other creatures.

"It's an urgent situation, and something has to be done," said Nicole Rosmarino, the group's conservation director. "This roadblock to listing under the Bush administration is criminal."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/22/AR2008032202204.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008032300179

=================================================

I guess Bush is one of those conservative evangelicals who don't care about the environment.

Yet another way in which Bush is robbing future generations of their heritage.

80,000 Angry Men. Is the US Surge collapsing?

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/32051
====================================================

Without a doubt yes because as with everything this administration does it's all smoke and mirrors. There's no way there will ever be peace in Iraq until we leave completely.

One for the road...

Patriotism spat tars latest round of Clinton-Obama battle

by Michael Mathes Sun Mar 23

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The campaigns of the Democratic White House hopefuls braced for fierce confrontation Sunday, after former president Bill Clinton appeared to question the patriotism of his wife Hillary's rival, Barack Obama...

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080323/ts_alt_afp/usvote_080323110945

I'm going to go out on the limb here, but I don't think Bill was intentionally questioning Obama's patriotism. It was just another of his off base, off hand remarks that seem to dismiss anyone who isn't part of the Washington in-crowd.

This elitist attitude is getting really growing thin with all Democrats. It just makes me question more strongly the value of another Clinton administration.

The economy is in meltdown, Iraq is heating up again, and climate and energy concerns are not being addressed...so all the GOP and The Clinton campaign can address is patriotism from a man who is an American success story?

Another question? Since when has Limbaugh become the preminent voice of working class Democrats? He is the the leader of the racist Dixiecrats. They left our party in the 1960's. I do not include Reagan Democrats among their crowd.

The Reagan Democrats have been coming back to our side ever since NAFTA and outsourcing. The 9/11 shock waves slowed it down, but now they are returning in droves and joining with other middle class Democrats who never left the fold.

The younger and ethic/black voters have also found their voices and are now going to be an active force in American politics. Young families are hurting and they don't see Republicans as being sympathetic much less competent.

Why is the media still paying so much attention to a dying breed of Reagan Republicans that Limbaugh represents?

later.

Since many of you have focused on economic issues this morning, I would like to throw this out. While pundits and the like have decried the Neo-Cons for their failures, have they really failed?

Whether by accident or design, the federal government is fiscally insolvent or soon will be. This said how does it constrain a future Democratic Administration from fulfilling its camapign pledges?

I posted this last night in response to something Highserenity posted. [It's easier to copy than remember and retype] Since it is germane to the point made above I throw it out for anyone who care to comment.

"Assuming we win in November this fiscal profligacy has to end or the much hoped for victory in November will be limited to four years. Putting our fiscal house in order has to be a priority. Otherwise, Social Security and Medicare will be cut! Doing so will also dispel the "tax and spend" Democratic misnomer. There are historical studies that show that Republican Administrations are actually more inclined toward deficit spending than Democratic ones since 1945. But the last eight years have certainly disillusioned many fiscal conservatives on both sides of the aisle. So anything resembling fiscal responsiblity will be a plus.

Health care reform will get caught up in this as well with those opposed to it now arguing that we cannot afford it! How convenient! But it doesn't make the argument go away.

The tax cuts will likely expire if for no other reason than to help offset the costs of the Iraq War. Up till now, the American public has not felt the impact of the war since it has been funded largely on credit. Allowing the cuts to expire is fiscally responsible and will likely precipitate more opposition to this war, facilitating our disengagement. It will be difficult for Republicans to oppose this when it is couched in these terms. Many a Republican will likely support it. Sen George Voinovich of Ohio is just one example. This could be one real talking point in the forthcoming presidential debates.

Disengaging from Iraq will take place but I don't know if we'll be out in four years. I would hope that this is the case but there are many actors in this equation that all have to come together for this to happen. Obama has said this much already. So, even with this optimistic scenario, we're going to spend at least another 500 billion over four years, if not more... I suspect more when it's all said and done.

The overall state of the economy is anyone's guess. Until the housing market recovers, maybe 2009 or 2010, the Democrats will find themselves severely constrained. Raising taxes in a recession has its limits.

I don't expect much in the next four years. Undoing the damage of the past eight [30?] will hobble the new Democratic Administration regardless of whether its Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. These are just some of the structural constraints it will be working under.

Another concern of mine is that the expectations of the populace will be raised so high that when promises made do not materialize they will become disillusioned and vote with their feet in 2012. People I've spoken to seem to understand this. But I'm not sure everyone does.

Just trying to be realistic and fiscally responsible to our children and theirs. We have to pay for this somehow. We cannot borrow on their future! It's clearly not sustainable. Nor is it equitable.

But I'm putting the cart before the horse. Let's focus our sights on winning in November! We have to have power before we can do anything.

From Mother Jones:

Christian Zionists continue to have clout with White House

For some time now, Christian fundamentalists have served as Middle East consultants to the National Security Council. Most recently, the White House has met with a group called Christians United for Israel, whose members believe that supporing Israel's expansionist policies represents a "biblical imperative." Led by John Hagee, known for his televangelism, CUFI's members are interested in the U.S.'s adopting a more confrontational posture with Iran and in withdrawing all aid to Palestinians.

"The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty," says Hagee. A loyal friend of the Israeli right, Hagee has raised over $8 million for Israeli social service projects. His man in Washington is Sen. Arlen Specter's former chief of staff, David Brog, who helps carry out CUFI policy, handles public relations, and--though Jewish--represents Christian Zionist in meetings with White House staff.

One of Brog's more interesting theses is that Christian anti-Semitism no longer exists and "is a bygone phenomenon that died the moment the Allies seized Hitler's bunker." To support this belief, he emphasizes the outpouring of Christian evangelical support for Israel. At the same time, Brog has to carry the baggage of Hagee's outspoken belief that Israel will be the site of the Rapture. Only recently, Hagee ally Janet Parshall announced, when the Israel-Hezbollah conflict began, that "These are the times we've been waiting for. This is straight out of a Sunday School lesson." Somehow, the two men have developed a public relations balance in which Hagee and his people can go on about the Rapture and Brog can dismiss this talk as something like the ramblings of an ecccentric uncle, and concentrate on promoting the organization's total support for Israel.

The CUFI board of directors, by the way, is made up very well-known figures, including Jerry Falwell, Gary Bauer and George Morrison (chairman of the board of Promise Keepers). Other CUFI personalities include Parshall, Rod Parsley, Ron Wexler, Joyce Meyer, and Benny Hinn. In addition to supporting Israel, all of these people are also opposed to feminism and gay rights, and any form of liberalism. Hagee is closely associated with Tom DeLay, Meyer came close to having her ministry investigated by the IRS, and Hinn has been accused of avoiding financial accountability for his faith-healing ministry. Another of their close colleagues, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, is closely associated with both DeLay and Jack Abramoff.
=================================================

Hagee is the guy that McCain SOUGHT OUT to support him! Fits with his "bomb, bomb Iran" motif.

Posted by goodfoe on March 23, 2008 at 10:17 AM

The idea that Bear Stearn's had to be saved in order to prevent "a run on the banks" is a bit of a stretch ...

goodfoe, I stepped out for a while it is so bright and sunny here. Agree Bear Stern is not a commercial bank, that is the reason JPM had to get involved to act as a, go between, because the 28 days window of short lending funds are only available to commercial banks.

The underlying reason for the rescue was, that the traders will sell short, on all the investment and commercial banks, which they did on that Monday in Europe. They said there must be a systematic risk and how much can the Feds pump in... there argument was, how can Bear worth $60 a share the week before be sold at $2.

as I stated earlier, I don't agree with the corporate bonuses for derivative traders in the $100m per annum, nor saving the share holders of these companies, but if they did nothing and a run on the money had started, then you need to pump more to keep everyone a float.

They have to take drastic measures to cut spending in Iraq and bring the troops back.

On the banking issue Bush was actually cautioning not to meddle with free market mechanism. I took that to mean he really didn't understand how all these things worked.

Posted by goodfoe on March 23, 2008 at 10:17 AM

The idea that Bear Stearn's had to be saved in order to prevent "a run on the banks" is a bit of a stretch ...

goodfoe, I stepped out for a while it is so bright and sunny here. Agree Bear Stern is not a commercial bank, that is the reason JPM had to get involved to act as a, go between, because the 28 days window of short lending funds are only available to commercial banks.

The underlying reason for the rescue was, that the traders will sell short, on all the investment and commercial banks, which they did on that Monday in Europe. They said there must be a systematic risk and how much can the Feds pump in... there argument was, how can Bear worth $60 a share the week before be sold at $2.

as I stated earlier, I don't agree with the corporate bonuses for derivative traders in the $100m per annum, nor saving the share holders of these companies, but if they did nothing and a run on the money had started, then you need to pump more to keep everyone a float.

They have to take drastic measures to cut spending in Iraq and bring the troops back.

On the banking issue Bush was actually cautioning not to meddle with free market mechanism. I took that to mean he really didn't understand how all these things worked.

No wonder the Lord threw them out of the Temple 2,000 years ago. They're back and in charge of the country. Time to model ourselves after Jesus and run them out of power in Washington.
Posted by SandyH on March 23, 2008 at 11:34 AM

This Republican administration are the "Pharisees" of our day. The Pharisees of Jesus time killed him because he was a threat to their power and cash flow. The Pharisees that are running our government think nothing of killing us and our children. Killing is ok by them as long as it's not them or their kids dying.

Send a thank you note to Govenor Richardson

http://www.governor.state.nm.us/emailchoice.php?mm=6

Why is the media still paying so much attention to a dying breed of Reagan Republicans that Limbaugh represents?

later.

Posted by SandyH on March 23, 2008 at 12:14 PM
==================================================

Sandy, why indeed! Probably for the same reason that they their coverage of the 5th year of the Iraq occupation was so disgraceful. The media won't do anything that they think will offend the powers that be. They are interested in getting their mergers approved. Could that be why they like McCain so much ... how convenient given he chairs a FCC committee ...

In a word:

Corruption!

McCain ... same as Bush

Have a good day.

Posted by SandyH on March 23, 2008 at 12:14 PM

I think the media created that perception; that Bill Clinton was ipso facto questioning Obama's patriotism by only talking about his wife and McCain as being patriots who love their country. I didn't take his remark the way the media portrayed it. He was speaking of his wife as the Dem candidate in opposition to McCain come November and was comparing and contrasting the two. The media is responsible, I think, for much of this hostility going on between the two candidates.

Even this morning, CNN ran a lead-in for a segment to follow the commercials where they were going to comment on how the Obama campaign had moved on since the "Wright" video scandal and debacle....and the reporter said, "you're all familiar with those videos by now, you know, THOSE videos....well after the break we'll discuss (blah bla blah)"......and then they qued up and ran the "God damn America!" video once more....even waiting while the techies got their assis in gear and loaded it after bungling it on the first attempt! It really was not even necessary to play the video again. Plain and simple....they LIKE hostility and controversy." THAT is what qualifies as "news" today.

Sunday morning,

Greed and Fear in a gamed financial system where fear has been neutralized.

Stern Bulls was adjudged too big, or interconnected, to let go bankrupt by the Fed: might have brought down the whole system. The Stern executives knew it and so were emboldened to take excessive risks with their investments because they had no real fear of failure: they would be bailed out by taxpayers if things went extremely south.

The "too big to let fail" status of businesses exposes the critical and vulnerable state of the system. With all the mergers and acquistions of the past decades, too many businesses had attained the lofty status of invulnerability to failure, and so too many of these businesses were making overly risky investments.

Now that the investments are unravelling together they are all exposed to real failure because taxpayers cannot bail them all out at once. They are trying to unwind the unwise investments slowly so as to be orderly in arranging the funding for these debts onto the taxpayers. Where have we seen this before?

And that is what should finally awaken the people to the government's slide to fascism. The knowledge that people will have the debt burden of these international corporations that were too greedy for their own viability. The mistaken direction of the government to take care of the common welfare of corporations ahead of the common welfare of real people is an outrage. We the people have got it way mixed up and have a golden opportunity to shed these corporate leeches off the body politic.

What is it going to take to get real change? Corporate owned media and voting machines are anti-American, how have we sunk so low as to be blinded by greed? Voluntary slavery, what, your check is in the mail? The incurred debt is passed through your DNA, to the next generations? Enough.

Posted by SS16s on March 23, 2008 at 12:24 PM

I understand what you are saying and while can concede that a temporary run might have occurred on other "Investment" banks, had Bear Stearns been allowed to implode: the stock holders would have been wiped out as they were anyhow, the bankruptcy court would have looked at the recent bonus' paid to bear Stearns executives with the thought in mind that these bonus' were paid out to fatten these guy up in anticipation of bankruptcy and the court would have tried to recover these monies. As far as the investors in the mortgages back securities and derivatives that Bear Stearns issued, these funds are not supposed to be guaranteed by the Federal government. Those investors are supposed to take the risk on their investments, not spread their losses onto the taxpayers of the country. In short, it was their responsibility to know what they were doing. This is what Bush is saving about individual homeowners who have or will lose their homes to foreclosure. If it's good enough for individual home owners, it should be good enough for the high flying traders and investors at Bear Stearns.

My Grand daughter is taking "Her"computer away from me for a little while,...BBL......

Good morning and Happy Easter Egg

Hundred of investigative reporters have been pouring over all of Rev. Wrights sermons, and there are thousands, searching for damning snipits---they are not finding them.

For those of you that insist (like Fox) on perpetrating the fraud, my challenge to you is to listen to the REAL sermon and respond with the same passion you have to the mis-leading loops that have been re-played ad-nauseum.

And here is the REAL video of the looped up snipets

Meet the White Man that Wright was Parroting from Fox News

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/21/meet-the-white-man-who-_n_92793.html

His name is Ambassador Edward Peck. And he is a retired, white, career U.S. diplomat who served 32-years in the U.S. Foreign Service and was chief of the U.S. mission to Iraq under Jimmy Carter -- hardly the black-rage image with which Wright has been stigmatized.
In fact, when Wright took the pulpit to give his post-9/11 address -- which has since become boiled down to a five second sound bite about "America's chickens coming home to roost" -- he prefaced his remarks as a "faith footnote," an indication that he was deviating from his sermon.
"I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday," Wright declared. "He was on Fox News. This is a white man and he was upsetting the Fox News commentators to no end. He pointed out, a white man, an ambassador, that what Malcolm X said when he got silenced by Elijah Muhammad was in fact true: America's chickens are coming home to roost."

The beautiful leadership that he is well known for in his community is now starting to emerge everywhere----his regular speeches on responsibility for self and others and LOVE, AND FORGIVENESS, AND GRATITUDE etc etc. are starting to emerge.

Good Afternoon and Happy Easter Dems! It's come to my attention that the Repubs are circulating (another) email full of crap and lies. So I'm posting the rebuttal here. I figure that we can all send it to our friends and family (and hopefully get them the correct info before they read the lies). Sorry for the length, but I think it's important.

The plain text is a Republican propaganda email full of crap and lies. The bold print is the correct info (usually called "the truth" but Republicans don't usually recognize it).

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2187rank.html

Do you see where we are? #163. Twelve years of Republican financial policy put us there. (In case you don't want to look at the link now, I'll just tell you that it's current account balances of countries around the world. Last place is, you guessed it, 163. The US has more debt than the rest of the world combined. But, look at the link if you want to double check that. And, it's from the CIA, so it has to be true, right?)

Now…

Proposed changes in taxes after 2008 General election:

CAPITAL GAINS TAX - wrong/misleading

MCCAIN
15% (no change)

OBAMA
28%

CLINTON
24%

How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.

Obama said more people who own their homes should get relief from mortgage payments. The current mortgage interest deduction only goes to those who itemize their taxes, while Obama would create a universal mortgage credit of 10% of interest payments the campaign says would benefit an additional 10 million homeowners.

Oh yeah, he’s really screwing over homeowners, there, huh. And by the way, whomever wrote this is extremely fact challenged, you only pay a capital gain on the sale of your home if you do not live there as a primary residence for two years - and they don’t even need to be consecutive. What a load of crap they are shoveling.

Obama will return the Capital Gains tax to Reagan Era levels, and it will only affect you if you are incredibly wealthy -who received a very unnecessary tax break that they neither needed or asked for WHILE OUR DAMN COUNTRY WAS AT WAR AND AS TAXPAYERS, WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PITCHING IN MORE TO PAY FOR IT NOT GETTING TAX BREAKS AND DRIVING UP OUR DEFICITS TO THIRD WORLD LEVELS.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/us/politics/19obama.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

DIVIDEND TAX

MCCAIN
15% (no change)

OBAMA
39.6%

CLINTON
39.6%

How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama or Clinton become president. The experts predict that "Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit."

First of all, who are these “experts”? I think Wall Street deregulation has recently proven a mistake, with Bear Stearns requiring their own special brand of