Category: Rant

We Love You As Long As You Are Christian

July 13, 2007
PhilosophicalRantReligionRepublicansStrange
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Harry Reid finally went too far. Watch this video. Truly unbelievable.At least that’s what the great granfalloon, the Religious Right, is saying.Imagine disrupting a chaplain leading an assembly in prayer.That’s exactly what happened Thursday in the United States Senate. CNN has the report:

Three people were arrested in the Senate visitor’s gallery Thursday for disrupting the chamber’s morning prayer, led for the first time by a Hindu clergyman.

As Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Nevada, began to lead the brief prayer, two women and one man shouted, “This is an abomination,” according to the Associated Press.

Capitol Police Sergeant Kimberly Schneider tells CNN that the three were arrested in the Senate visitors’ gallery for “disruption of Congress.”

The Great Granfalloon, the American Family Association, actually issued an Action Alert when they found out about the possibility of a Hindu leading prayer for the Senate:

Send an email to your senator now, expressing your disappointment in the Senate decision to invite a Hindu to open the session with prayer.

On Thursday, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada, by the name of Rajan Zed is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. Zed tells the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he will likely include references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards, and Bhagavard-Gita. Historians believe it will be the first Hindu prayer ever read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.

WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto “One Nation Under God.”

Here’s the great theological statement you were advised to pass along to your United States Senator:

“In Hindu, you have not one God, but many, many, many, many, many gods,” the Christian historian explains. “And certainly that was never in the minds of those who did the Constitution, did the Declaration [of Independence] when they talked about Creator — that’s not one that fits here because we don’t know which creator we’re talking about within the Hindu religion.”

There are many things wrong with this statement — not the least of which is that the Declaration of Independence is not the United States Constitution! Have these people even read the Declaration of Independence? It’s not about God at all. A Creator is mentioned in the beginning, and a Supreme Judge near the end. That’s it. Other than that, it’s one of the most inspiring pieces of literature any country has ever produced. Among the great crimes King George was accused of:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

Ouch. Depriving us of the benefits of Trial by Jury. Sound familiar to anyone on the Right?

I’m with Vonnegut. I would like to see these clowns on the Right once, just once, quote the Sermon on the Mount. Why are they stuck on obscure passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, and they never quote the Christ they claim to love?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Why don’t we ever hear any of that?

Get with it on the Right: Jesus is a Liberal.

Bush and the CIA: Strangers In The Night

July 11, 2007
IraqRantRepublicans
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Does the President of the United States listen to anyone in the Intelligence Community? I know he doesn’t read newspapers. He doesn’t “get” news, prefers to know things his own way. But how can he be so far removed from knowing what the CIA knows?

Bob Woodward writes in a July 12 article for The Washington Post:

Early on the morning of Nov. 13, 2006, members of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group gathered around a dark wooden conference table in the windowless Roosevelt Room of the White House.

For more than an hour, they listened to President Bush give what one panel member called a “Churchillian” vision of “victory” in Iraq and defend the country’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. “A constitutional order is emerging,” he said.

Okay. That really sounds great. A new world order is on the horizon. Soon, and very soon, it will all be over. Peace is but a heartbeat away.

And then the CIA reported to the Iraq Study Group, in the same room, the same day, just a short time later:

Two hours later, around the same conference table, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden painted a starkly different picture for members of the study group. Hayden said “the inability of the government to govern seems irreversible,” adding that he could not “point to any milestone or checkpoint where we can turn this thing around,” according to written records of his briefing and the recollections of six participants.

“The government is unable to govern,” Hayden concluded. “We have spent a lot of energy and treasure creating a government that is balanced, and it cannot function.”

Okay. So, that really sounds bad. And who was the skinny guy sitting in the same room just a few hours before, and what Magic 8 Ball was he using to divine the future? Did Director Hayden ever talk to him? Because, gee, his story sounded a heck of a lot nicer. The CIA is always being so, well, realistic.

And Condoleeza Rice played along too:

Asked by former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a member of the study group, if she was aware of the CIA’s grim evaluation of Iraq, Rice replied, “We are aware of the dark assessment,” but quickly added: “It is not without hope.”

No, because, like, losing hope would be bad, and we can’t do that. But the spin has already begun. You see, Hayden didn’t really say all that. The Iraq Study Group just misunderestimated what Hayden said.

What?

But O’Connor heard the scary man say the bad things too:

O’Connor, a Republican, also confirmed Hayden’s assessment. She said she didn’t agree with his conclusion that it was irreversible, but she said she was pessimistic.

“It is a dire situation,” she said. “I don’t think it has gotten any better. It just breaks your heart. . . . Iraqi people are dying, American soldiers are dying. So far it does not seem we have achieved any kind of security there.”

Yes, it breaks your heart.  And it should. How many different ways can we spin disaster?

Is There A Doctor In the White House?

July 10, 2007
Anti-ScienceRantRepublicans
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Many times have I read The Bad Astronomer rant about the anti-science forces in the current administration. We’ve heard complaints from officials at NASA, we read about the “alternative explanations” for the formation of the Grand Canyon, on sale at Grand Canyon National Park book stores. And now we hear from former United States Surgeons General:

Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional panel Tuesday that top Bush administration officials repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations.

The administration, Dr. Carmona said, would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues. Top officials delayed for years and tried to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand smoke, he said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm.

Dr. Carmona spoke at length with Judy Woodruff on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer. Attempts to stifle science for political ends are not new:

JUDY WOODRUFF: At this hearing today, it was not only you, but it was your Democratic and your predecessors of both Democratic and Republican administrations who spoke of conflicts with the administration. But you said your experience was worse under this administration. What did you mean?

DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Well, let me put it in context. It really wasn’t me. It was my predecessors who, after I was in office a few months, went to them for counsel, for mentoring, and mentioned to them the struggle I was having. And they recounted to me all the struggles that they had and said that is the way the surgeon general position has been for some time, but what we see is that you have it worse than any of us. And this is coming from several surgeon generals who preceded me.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And what were they basing that on? What was happening to you?

DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Their observations that the surgeon general was not allowed to speak out on health issues when needed, based on the best science, to deliver the best science, that often policy or spokespersons in government would be talking about given issues without appropriate scientific due diligence. And they were very concerned about that and had called me a number of times when I was in office.

But Carmona’s predecessors agree that this suppression is worst ever under King George the Puerile:

JUDY WOODRUFF: And was it worse under this administration or not?

DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Well, again, my reference point is solely this administration. It is my colleagues who came to me, several surgeon generals, Loop, Satcher, Novello, Julius Richmond, going back to the ’70s, who all said, “We had to fight battles, but nobody has had it as bad in this partisan environment as Surgeon General Carmona.”

Is there a doctor in the White House – anywhere?

“God Forgave Me, So Piss Off…”

July 10, 2007
RantRepublicansStrange
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Vittner Gay Flag

Well, that’s what I heard in Senator David Vitter’s statement.

Did you catch Sen. David Vittner’s profound apology? Did you feel his remorse at getting caught? He jumped right to the chase. Amazing! Ted Haggard took a few days, went away for a miracle cure for his indiscretions. But Vitter informs us he talked to the Big Guy a long time ago. It’s over. CNN reports:

“This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible,” Vitter said in a statement given to reporters Monday night. “Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and from my wife in confession and marriage counseling.”

So, let’s take a step back. Some restraint is in order here. It’s so easy to just mock these guys when they are exposed for who they really are — when they tell us outright who they really are, and have been, for a long, long time. Let’s just stick to the facts. That’s all we really need here. The Moral Majority, that great granfalloon on the right, defender of The Ten Commandments, God’s voice on earth, has lost yet another apostle.

You told us who you are, Senator. You told us who you have been for a long, long time. You allegedly took calls from alleged D.C. madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey, according to news reports. All the while you were fighting the Left.

I didn’t hear remorse, Senator. I would have heard remorse if you had spent the past several years as champion to the poor, showing some understanding for the rest of humanity. But you didn’t.

I heard arrogance. I heard you telling all of us to piss off. “I got caught. Already settled with God. Go away. Piss off.”

How does it feel to be brought down by Hustler?

Are we that happy with War?

June 27, 2007
IraqRant
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Are we so happy with war that we do nothing?

How many of us have actually called, wrote, or emailed our Representative in Congress or Senators? How many of us called or emailed the White House, knowing that our words are falling on deaf ears. Nevertheless, how many of us have called?

If you’ve found Turning Left, then chances are you care enough to think. You may be here because you don’t like Liberals. You may be here because, like the rest of us, you are looking for answers from time to time. But if you are here, you think. You’re part of that small percentage of Americans who still think about issues.

I’m not going to say that we’re Liberal at Turning Left. I’m not going to say we’re Progressive. I’m not going to say we’re Conservative, or Moderate. I’m not going to label us at all. I am going to say that we think. That’s all we need to do.

Some don’t think. Some preach. Some yell. Some twist the truth.

We’re just after the truth at Turning Left. Just the Truth, and nothing but the Truth.

We just happen to have found it most often by Turning Left.

Put on your left turn signal. Email your Congressman. Email your Senator. Call the President (not sure how “email-capable” he is.) Tell them you want us out of Iraq. Then do the same thing again next week. And the week after. And ask your friends to do the same.

Tell them all it’s more fun on The Left.

Iraq – Terrorism University

June 23, 2007
IraqRant
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The fraternities probably do not sport Greek letters, but there is no doubt that George Bush has succeeded in building the most largest and most impressive terrorism university the world has ever known. Welcome to Terrorism U., Iraq. In fact, al Qaida members who survive Iraq are in high demand throughout the world. According to a report on KDKA’s web site in Pittsburgh:

“If you survive that, you’re able to do anything, essentially,” said Thomas Sanderson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Sanderson, an expert in global terror threats, is preparing to publish a year-long study tracking foreign fighters. CBS News took a look at the report.

“You have that impact that says ‘I survived that all of those factor, all of those groups that were arrayed against me,’ and that gives you a sense of infallibility and lethality,” Sanderson said.

In an audiotape posted on the Internet, one insurgent leader describes it this way: If Afghanistan was a school, says Abu Omar al Baghdadi, Iraq is a university of terrorism. (emphasis mine)

The incredible thing is, George’s war has succeeded in something.  We are helping to train the toughest terrorists the world has ever known.  Those who live through Iraq are the best of the best, and they’re in high demand.  They learn “how to miniaturize bombs, how to surveil, how to countersurveil, how to snipe, how to escape.”  In short, they learn everything necessary to lead al Qaeda well into the future.

But they do know they’re part of a new generation of terrorists. In the words of one analyst, they are “rock stars” to their followers trained in war, committed to destruction and some of them may be headed our way.

Rock stars, indeed.

Wouldn’t it be sweet irony if those really in charge of Iraq’s Terrorism University were to award President Bush with an honorary degree?  Perhaps they could invite him to speak at their next commencement?

He’s done so much for them already.

King George the Puerile

June 20, 2007
RantRepublicans
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George Bush

There are no words that adequately sum up the legacy of the worst president in United States history. I never thought I would have to admit that. I suppose someone will make a strong case for running one of the other chaps who led this nation up the , “Worst President Ever,” flagpole, but I don’t see that anyone else will compare. Yes, the president most likely had to go to Dictionary.com to figure out what the title of this article actually is saying.
Lost is any respect this county has ever earned. Lost is any dignity we ever possessed. Lost is any moral authority we might ever have claimed. Lost is our economy. Lost is our drive. Lost is our science. Lost, our imagination, our pride, our love of neighbor.

“Go shopping,” he told us after 9/11. That will show “the terrorists.”

And many of us went shopping.

Today, the president vetoed a Stem Cell Research bill. He said:

“The Congress has sent me legislation that would compel American taxpayers, for the first time in our history, to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos,” Bush said.

Word up, George. Those embryos are going to be destroyed. Will you adopt them? Perhaps Laura will agree to artificial insemination? Add them to the many children the two of you have adopted?

Someone in Washington needs to wake up now and grow some.

Instead, what games are we playing? Send $25 to Barack Obama so I can maybe have dinner with him? Help Hillary pick a song?

We need leadership in Washington now. We’re not getting it from the president. The Republicans have lost credibility. Our only hope is the Democrats, united, now. Right, maybe we get the White House within the next two years. Maybe we don’t. But we never will unless we show some damned leadership right here, right now.

And it’s not happening.

And King George the Puerile continues to play.

Bringing the War Home

June 17, 2007
IraqPhilosophicalRant
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The Washington Post has an incredible story today about the pain suffered by some soldiers returning from Iraq. Standing tall in parades, welcomed in many communities as heroes, our young men and women are returning to the United States haunted.

Telling the story of Army Spec. Jeans Cruz who helped capture Saddam Hussein, the article details the praise has come at a cost:

But a “black shadow” had followed Cruz home from Iraq, he confided to an Army counselor. He was hounded by recurring images of how war really was for him: not the triumphant scene of Hussein in handcuffs, but visions of dead Iraqi children.

In public, the former Army scout stood tall for the cameras and marched in the parades. In private, he slashed his forearms to provoke the pain and adrenaline of combat. He heard voices and smelled stale blood. Soon the offers of help evaporated and he found himself estranged and alone, struggling with financial collapse and a darkening depression.

Cruz sought help from the local Department of Veterans Affiars medical center, trying for help for a diagnosed case of post-traumatic stress disorder. However, his PTSD claim was denied, in spite of overwhelming evidence of his accomplishments for this country:

None of that seemed to matter when his case reached VA disability evaluators. They turned him down flat, ruling that he deserved no compensation because his psychological problems existed before he joined the Army. They also said that Cruz had not proved he was ever in combat. “The available evidence is insufficient to confirm that you actually engaged in combat,” his rejection letter stated

Yet abundant evidence of his year in combat with the 4th Infantry Division covers his family’s living-room wall. The Army Commendation Medal With Valor for “meritorious actions . . . during strategic combat operations” to capture Hussein hangs not far from the combat spurs awarded for his work with the 10th Cavalry “Eye Deep” scouts, attached to an elite unit that caught the Iraqi leader on Dec. 13, 2003, at Ad Dawr.

It does us well to remember those who return with the war still raging within. And their claims are denied. The complete article is worth spending time with.

Where is the great Champion for Justice and Democracy, George W. Bush? Why is he not leading the cry of outrage?

Well, Happy Fathers’ Day, George. Enjoy the cards. How about picking up the phone and giving Army Spec. Jeans Cruz a call? Better yet, Mr. President, read one newspaper article today.

This one.

This war is costing us much more than money.

We Need The Democrats Now — Not In Two Years

June 16, 2007
CongressDemocratic NewsElectionsRant
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The Washington Times is reporting that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has refocused his antiwar crusade as his and Congress’ job-approval ratings plummet to all-time lows. The story continues:

Mr. Reid began the week Monday by vowing to “push very, very hard” for troop withdrawal from Iraq in a Defense Department budget authorization bill in two weeks.
The next day — as the Senate began work on the energy bill and tried to revive immigration legislation — the Nevada Democrat and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California sent a letter to the White House imploring the president to heed the Democrat-led Congress’ call for a pullout.
That same day, Mr. Reid railed against the war and U.S. military leaders in a conference call with a group of liberal bloggers.

Well, hats off to these so-called “liberal bloggers.” Everybody and a some day grandmother is running for President of the United States right now. Yes, it’s nice to see Barack Obama testing the waters so early, and it would be very nice if he was successful. I’m glad that Hillary Clinton is running for president, and, while I give the edge to Barack, I would not be at all disappointed to see her measuring for curtains some day in the Oval Office.

The Republicans have demonstrated a profound limp wrist in running this country and defending her properly. This preemptive war with Iraq that is not officially a war has ruined us. We may be more vulnerable now than we’ve ever been before. Which is exactly why we need leadership from the Democratic Party now — not in two years after everyone has battled it out, we regain the White House, and then try to start working together again as a party.

Enough is enough, already. While Joe and Christopher and Hillary and Barack and John and Mike and Dennis and Bill spend millions flying around the United States, taking people out to dinner, searching for just the right song, or making sure their hair is perfect. Meanwhile, we fall deeper into the crevasse that is Iraq — and the Party-Boy-Who-Would-Be-President prepares to turn the guns on Iran.

So, Senator Joe Biden, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, Senator Mike Gravel, Senator Christopher Dodd, and Congressman Dennis Kucinich — WE NEED YOU NOW. We need your voices to stop this madness right now. The trouble with all of you running for president is that, while you run, more people are dying, our national economy is tanking. The problem is all of you are trying to find incredibly unique solutions to our national crisis, and you are not working IN CONGRESS. We need you to work together, collaborate, right now, and quit trying to save the world — and your own political careers — by yourself.

The people of the United States of America need you all to stand together right now.

Get off your damned high horses already and start working together to find solutions for things that cannot be solved by one person now. Two years hence may already be too late.

Will The Empire Strike Back?

June 14, 2007
RantRepublicansStrange
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There’s a wonderful temptation to gloat and rejoice that I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby may soon be marching off to prison for a two-and-one-half year sentence. If it really happens, I’m sure he’ll only stay part of that time and be released for good behavior.

The reports say, “No date was set for Libby to report to prison but it’s expected to be within six to eight weeks. That will be left up to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which will also select a facility.” I’m sure he’s not going to stay with the general population. Will he still be able to golf? Time will tell. Polo matches will most certainly be out, but you never know.

But will George W. Bush pardon the dude? Will the Empire Strike Back? Really, Bush has nothing to lose in doing so. He has no credibility. He enjoys no positive ratings to speak of. He has never even tried to negotiate anything with Congress. He’s not a “negotiator,” he’s a “decider,” and once the decision has been made, why discuss anything with anyone? “Deciders” make up their minds ahead of the game, apparently, so there’s really no reason to consult anyone.

We could even gloat if Libby really does scoot off to the graystone college. The temptation to rejoice at this news is enticing.  But, we shouldn’t. Karma and all that.

But a knowing smile does not qualify as a gloat.

We may smile yet.

(Clipart from Clipartheaven.com)