IF YOU PREACH "IT", MAKE SURE YOU LIVE "IT"

How long have the rhetoric been spewed that if you don't support the troops, you aren't "American" or a true "patriot"? Or if you don't support the President's policies, you're against the President and the Administration? If you are pro-choice, then you support the murder of unborn babies; if you support comprehensive sex-ed, you're a pervert...stop, please, this is getting to me.

I've always been a person who believes that my walk has to match my talk, otherwise, I'm being a hypocrite. So, you would think that if those in this Administration who were so gun-ho for attacking Iraq; drive the car that bankrupts Social Security and protects the banking industry by enabling them to take your property if you can't pay your debts, would be the first in line to have their walk match their talk, right? So, why is there a statistic that demonstrates the following about the 535 members of Congress, such as:

• Seven members being arrested for fraud
• 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
• 117 have bankrupted at least two businesses (can we include the current POTUS in this count?)
• 71 have credit so bad, they can't qualify for a credit card
• 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges.

(Statistics courtesy of Capitol Hill Blue - www.capitolhillblue.com)

Given that track record, no wonder the approval rating for Congress in only in the 30%! And it also explains the lack of enthusiasm for participating in one's civic duty of casting a vote that matters.

Yet, to watch the antics of the Bush Administration, you would be forgiven for thinking that they are walking their talk these days...only to wake up to the reality that they are perfectly willing for YOU to do that walking for them.

So, if you are as frustrated as I am, we should be asking our representatives, and pundits the following questions, without any BS:

(1) Since there are those who are supporting the war in Iraq, ask them if they are going to enlist and go fight in it? Bill Maher had it right - since you support the war, be willing to go fight it. And you will help the military meet their recruiting goals - now that's a wonderfully patriotic thing to do {snark}.

(2) Since you don't want children being left behind in public education - those of you supporting school vouchers, and whatnot, are YOU willing to send your child to that public school down the street from you, when NCLB gets through wiping out all of the public schools in the neighborhood where you live? Will you be wanting a voucher to offset the cost of sending your children to private school, even though you earn enough money to pay for it yourself?

(3) If you support affordable housing, such as public housing projects, are you willing to go and live in them? Put your money where your mouth is?

(4) Let's say you're a congressional critter and you get sick to where you have to resign your Congressional seat. You can't work for a year or more, and all that political favors money slush fund has dried up to the point you have to file bankruptcy. Are you going to part with your property when the Credit Card companies come for whatever asset they can seize in order to clear your debts with them? You HAVE to; remember, you voted for the passage of the BK bill. You just didn't know it was going to actually going to personally impact YOU, did you?
(5) The water condition is piss-poor in your tony neighborhood because of that piece of egregious legislation dealing with the environment that allowed the raising of the levels of arsenic in the drinking water. Are you going to continue drinking from the tap, or will your neighbors see the Arrowhead/Sparkeletts' Water Truck parked in front of your house, while everyone else gets sick or dies from drinking contaminated water, because you took a pay off from the Corporate hounds that pay EPA to look the other way?

(6) Will you be as willing to use the Bible as toilet paper like you allowed the military to use the Koran in the same manner? Will you scream, rant and wail - better yet, start a riot in protest, at the desecration of the Good Book?

(7) You already play the reverse version of Robin Hood - as in take from the poor and give to the rich. Soon, you will run out of poor people to take from, and in that event, will those of you who are moderately wealthy allow the mega-wealthy to take from you like you took from the poor?

(8) Suppose you get Alzheimer's or Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) and you know that the potential treatment to save and improve the quality of your life lies in stem-cell research. But in order to protect the "culture of life" you are willing to stomp out stem-cells as opposed to allowing the research. Will you remember this as the doctors tell you to put things in order, because you don't have much longer on this mortal coil?

I'm addressing every political pundit, every blowhard, every bloviating "imagines themselves as the second coming of Cronkite" media journalist, but most importantly, I'm addressing every elected official sitting in the United States Congress, on the Judiciary and in the Executive Branch, who never knew what it's like to:

• go hungry,
• be broke and can't pay your debts through no fault of your own,
• get sick and can't see a doctor,
• have to drink polluted water and live in an unsustainable environment

but most of all, cheerleading for a war that we didn't need to fight, when your own record indicates you had the opportunity to serve in Vietnam and, either, your behind couldn't be found, or you created excuses such as boils on your butt, ingrown toenails, marriage, college deferment, or National Guard enlistment (where they allowed you so much freedom, you didn't even have to report!) to get out of doing your duty. If you preach it, you must be willing to live it.

So, if you support "it" be the first in line to go do IT. Otherwise, please drink your tall glass of STHU and stop bloviating, stop whining, stop pontificating and stop bothering us with your pronouncements of who's a true American Patriot and who isn't - cause you don't really know. If you did, you'd demonstrate it and you wouldn't have to toot your own horn to do so.

SO, WHO WON?

I would say that it's an even split in the battle of the "nuclear option" on the filibuster. Sen. Bill Frist, like a wounded animal that one knows needs to have another bullet put in him or the animal goes looney with pain and does more damage, is still threatening something that will further weaken the GOP and make them extend to the point that Rev. Sun Hyun Moon begins to look like a common-sense minister.

Sen. Reid offered compromises, which, in hindsight, any Majority Leader worth his salt, would have accepted, if for nothing else than to SAVE FACE. At first, those of us who still claim Democratic affiliation, went nuts, and demanded that Reid take off the gloves and clock Frist. Little did we know, by manuevering the way he did, and facilitating party loyalty, Reid proceeded clock Frist, by doing exactly what he did: back Frist into a corner to the point that he had no choice but to put his hands on the chicken switch of the Constitution and threaten to blow Capitol Hill to Hell and beyond (if there is such a thing).

I certainly hope Sen. Reid decides he wants higher office. One can dream, but we need more Harry Reids in Washington. And even though I saw the usual DLC suspects at the compromise table, perhaps they weren't acting as if they wanted to be true Republithugs, but had an honest concern for the preservation of constitutional principles. If you have read this blog, you know how I feel about the DLC - to give them props means I'm willing to overlook how many times they have given away what's left in the store to the Republicans and received nothing in return, except a desire to bash fellow Democrats and try to feel good about it.

Many senior statesmen in the GOP (Lott, Warner, McCain, et al) remember when they were the minority party. Their past sins came back to bite them in the collective butt. And they knew that they couldn't wreak half the havoc they did without parliamentary procceses, like the filibuster. One senator actually said, "There will be a day when we're the minority party again" and he's right, because that's the way most election cycles operate (except when stolen or maniputated).

On the other hand, I don't like the fact that the three worst jurists that could be dug up (Brown, Owen and Pryor) are going to actually get a damned vote now. Maybe they will embarass themselves with judicial rulings to the point they effectively shoot their chances for advancement to the Supreme Court in the foot, or better yet, facilitate impeachment proceedings to have them removed for straight up incompetence as a result of relying upon their personal ideologies instead of established precedent or constitutional law.

The whole of this compromise is largely dependant on the Republicans keeping their word. We know that the Democrats involved will. But I'm waiting for the "weakest link" in the seven Republicans who willingly consented to being walking targets for whack jobs like James Dobson, to break rank and break their word at the first convenient opportunity. Today, Dobson's so pissed, watch him challenge McCain for the Republican nomination (sort of a "damn, if you want something done, do it yourself" attitude) in 2008. I say McCain, because Frist is effectively toasted, but will need to save face (plus he doesn't have a biopic coming out celebrating his heroism during Vietnam coming out on the A & E channel like McCain does), and thereby affect the Senate race in Tennessee, because once it's dawned on him that for all the prostitution to the Religious Right that he did, Sen. Frist is not going to be the Republican nominee. You read it here first.

In fact, I will not be surprised if he's being told by Ken Mehlmanto step down, and not consider running for the nomination in 2008 at this very moment. Jeb or Laura is being groomed to replace him. So, driven by a desire to remain inside the Beltway, Frist is going to reniege on that promise not to seek re-election in 2006; run for re-election, and force the Financial Service Industry's poster boy (who is actually the Representative of the 9th District in Memphis) to reconsider running for Dr. Frist's seat, which thereby jacks up his political aspirations...

The GOP loves to abandon those who do the most selling out, at the times when those individuals need them the most. I expect no less for the good "I can diagnose a comatose patient by watching video" heart surgeon from Nashville. But first, he has to pay Satan (Dobson) what's owed to him, especially since he didn't deliver on the promise of one-party domination. For today, anyway.

So, who really won here? For today, America won. And that's the way it should always be.

THE COWARDLY ADMINISTRATION

Some days, I really can't keep up with political events. Having said that, and after reading a godly number of blogs that point out:

• Butt-Kicking 101, or "How to Get the Snot Beat out of You" by MP George Galloway;
• Newsweek's version of "Thank You, Sir, May I have another?" (Kevin Bacon's character in "Animal House")
• Laura Bush being sent to the Middle East to teach a class on "How to Smooth Over Feathers Ruffled by Your Husband", followed by:
• The "Saddam Skivvies Skin Pics"

I have to weigh in on the obvious. For example: I didn't want to be the person who pointed out the obvious: Bush sending his wife to the Middle East to clean up the mess he created. Is it me, or, since Bush is a "man's man", wasn't there just a hint of cowardice in sending his wife to an area of the world where she was placed at considerable risk, by sending her over to the Middle East to make "feel good, and America isn't that bad" speeches? Did he not know of the risk? Or didn't he care?

Has any other President sent his wife to do the job for which he was elected?

Newsweek told the truth, when Mike Isikoff wrote that story about the prison abuse. They should not have backed down, but since they are literally begging for the opportunity to assume a kneeling position in front of Karl Rove, in their mea culpa, well, that also means that every friggin thing that goes wrong for the Administration in the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, or anywhere else in the world, Newsweek will be held accountable and responsible. Not Donald Rumsfeld, not Dick Cheney, not Paul Wolfowitz, not Doug Feith - no one in this Administration.

Brave people take responsibility and allow themselves to be held accountable. This is something we have yet to see from this Administration - the following words: " We made a mistake", or "We were wrong".

It should not have taken a British member of Parliament to hand Sen. Norm Coleman his behind on a silver platter and call the entire government liars. Yet, it did, and if for nothing else, George Galloway demonstrated the very act of bravery, by facing his accusers head on, never breaking eye contact, never wavering, not being bowed down, and not being broken.

You wonder if Democrats not named Conyers, Boxer, Kennedy, Feingold, Byrd, Slaughter, McKinney, or Barbara Lee, learned anything from a British MP?

And just when the Newsweek debacle is showing signs of dying down, along comes the version of "Saddam's Famous Photo Album" purely designed with the intention of further humiliating someone who really can't be humiliated anymore. I mean, who's facinated by seeing a nearly 70 year old man in his underwear? Who had the gall, the unmitigated gumption (as my grandmother would say) to take these pictures?

Some poor sod enlisted in the Army, thinking he or she was going off to "Be all they Can Be" and getting short shrift when they were told that the $20,000 pay off for college wasn't going to be there, and they had to pull another six months in Iraq, before they could even be considered being sent stateside. No body armor for protection, food rations that San Quentin would probably riot over, and getting paid $1300 a month (and I think that's the pay for a Private First Class) to place his life on the line in the name of being a Patriot for his country. The buck private knows he could get a cool $25Gs for leaking those pictures to the press; just had to be the foreign press. Unless it was going to be beneficial to the Administration (as in "Big, Bad Cowboy Leader In Charge" enhancement), no MSM would touch them.

Or is this another Karl Rove tactic for drawing the spotlight from where it should go and directing where it doesn't need to be?

The reality is, this Administration is really good at taking credit where they shouldn't, and shlepping off responsibility where they should. This is the coward's way out of things - to either hide behind your wife's skirts, or blame the MSM for the poor image of the United States and the Federal Government.

First, we have "President Hypocrite". Now, we have "The Cowardly Administration".

And a trip down the yellow brick road to the Land of Oz is probably too late to give this Administration the "bravery" it purports to have. Real bravery comes from within - but if your inwardness is hollow as a pumpkin on Halloween, then cowardice is your only option.

WEAPON OF "MASS DISTRACTION"

It has not really been a good week for the Bush Administration. But I'm not gloating about that fact.

I'm wondering when is the American public going to be subjected to some event to distract us from what's really going on in the Administration?

For example, I can recall everytime something about GeeDubya that would have exposed his weaknesses, his faux pas, his plain old inability to just be friggin' Presidential, we either got the color Terrorist Alerts ratched up, or the news item that would have gotten to the truth was spun away in a rinse cycle I wish I had when I do my laundry. Tom Ridge said so; that he was ordered to "ratch up" the color code alerts to frighten the crap out of everybody until the crisis passed. But he didn't admit this until after he left his job as Homeland Security Director.

I wonder if he got tired, and began to think, "I'm an intelligent man. I was smart enough to be elected Governor of Pennsylvania. And I gave that up just to start a coloring book to guide Americans as to whether or not they should be scared of another terrorist attack?" Anyway...

Remember when Sen. John Kerry mopped the floor with Bush during the Presidential debates? And when the tide of public opinion was beginning to slant that way (if Sean Hannity said Bush blew it in the debates, you know dang well he did), lo, and behold, Saddam was pulled from his "hidey-hole" and captured, just in time to swing the attention and capture the fears of 59 million Americans (not to mention swiping a vote in Ohio) to propel Team Bush back into office and convince him that by beating Kerry by a mere two percentage points, that translated into a "mandate" and "political capital".

Yeah, right.

But lately, the distractions are coming more frequently. Almost to the point, we begin to expect them. This is a good sign in that, if we're expecting a media event to distract us, we can become more vigilant to keep alert to developments, such as a recess appointment of a wingnut judge, or some hair-trigger tempered Cabinet official like Bolton, to positions of power where they lack the competence to get the job done without employing the version of using a blowtorch to light a cigarette.

It didn't take long for alert Americans to start connecting "increased terror" alerts and color coded changes with the screwups in the Bush Administration. If we're honest, we got the first indication of it with the Project for a New American Century (PNAC)". Because that document proposal was rejected by Bill Clinton in 1997, the neo cons decided to bide their time and essentially craft an operation that is all too reminiscent of "The Manchurian Candidate". They had three years to find a politico dumb as a post and plant it in what is left of his brain cells, the idea to run for President of the United States. Meanwhile, we're distracted from the very fact that many in the President's Cabinet have criminal records, did time in jail, used drugs, alcohol, abuse their spouses, physically, emotionally, and sexually; have hangups with sex, period, and long for the days of Beaver Cleaver, and Rufus knew his place on the bus. The distraction was there to the point that the Democrats never considered filibustering any of these Neanderthals, and America continues to pay a steep price as a result of how well they represent our interests, domestically and abroad.

I know it's very easy to beat up on GeeDubya, because he's such an easy target! But in all honesty, I think something more sinister is going on here, and he's the authority symbol that was chosen to carry it out. Someone else's dastardly plan of one world order...or doing their best to bring Dr. Tim LaHaye's "Left Behind" Book Series to flaming life. By staging political media events, and not allowing real journalists to question what's going on behind the scenes, anything could be planned, strategized and implemented and we won't know until it's too late to do anything about it. Case in point.

For months, we're heard about prisoner abuses in Gitmo, and Abu Ghraib (we'ver nicknamed Alberto Gonzales "Abu Gonzales" as a result!). But when Newsweek published an article by the reporter who really did his part to trash Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky matter, Mike Isikoff, the White House administered a smack down that would make any WWF fan proud. Then they tried to order the media, starting with Newsweek, that any article regarding the abuse of prisoners had to be cleared by the Defense Department (Rummy).

In a recent press conference, Scott McClellan, is learning that you don't bite the hands that feed you, thanks to the vigilant bloggers over at Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com)

But before that story broke, the news that the White House, Capitol Hill, and other related offices were evacuated last Thursday, when Bush and a friend were out on a bike ride. The public was astounded to learn that the President was not informed of the evacuation until after his bike ride. WTH? Does anyone know how stupid this makes the Secret Service look?

Before we could chew on the stupidity of the Secret Service, the Newsweek scandal showed up. Probably to distract us from the can of whip @$$ that was broken out on Norm Coleman and the Senate Committee members courtesy of MP George Galloway. Although that public flogging was on National television, there's not a peep of it in the MSM.

Bush's approval ratings continue to drop. So out comes pictures of a nearly naked Saddam Hussein, cleaning his cell and generally being a model prisoner. Fresh off inciting riots in Afghanistan over using the Holy Koran as toilet paper, and further guaranteeing that no American should even think about going to Afghanistan in the next 30 years if they value their lives, someone had the bright idea to leak this photo to the press in the asinine hope that we would gloat over his capture and remember that all of this war mess was started to liberate the Iraqis. Not to remember that Bush is the leader of the Free World, and master of all he surveys!

All that picture serves to do is remind Iraqis that they are on the verge of Civil War, that they are not liberated as long as American troops are present, and that maybe life under Saddam wasn't so bad after all. All that picture reminds us is that Americans were lied to in order to justify a war; that deficits are at bankrupt levels never seen since the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, that our troops are dying daily as a result of the lies.

We're told that we should be concerned about Gay marriage, abortion, and fluff issues that any mature adult can handle themselves - but it is to distract us from sacrifices we're continually being forced to make because the Government is ordaining it so. We're told that it is for our own good, but the number of homeless continues to increase, seniors are worried about their survival and if it will depend on eating or getting needed medications, corporations are no longer offering workers the opportunity to pay into pension plans so they can support themselves during retirement, the instability of the stock market is where we're being told to put our Social Security, every child left behind in education, no health care...my God, I need to stop. It's too depressing.

But not when I remember that the staged media events, which occur everytime there's a dip in approval ratings, or the American people just may be waking up and getting wise to the fact that they have been fooled. In that moment, I can clearly identify a Weapon of Mass Distraction, and if I'm recognizing it, you will, too.

No, it was started because Saddam helped out Osama in the 9/11 attack.

No, that's not it, either. It's because Saddam had weapons of mass Destruction.

THE SMACK DOWN

Counterpunch gave me a lift today, with an "Open Letter to Democrats" that is a must read for all of us who are tired of the DLC trying to feed us their poison and call it Kool-Aid.

I'm providing the link,http://www.counterpunch.org/goff05192005.html, but here's a tidbit to whet your appitite:

"And the reason this doesn't happen is that people still hang their thin hopes on you, on electing Democrats who stab them in the back the first chance they get. But Galloway's appearance before the U.S. Senate moved us an inch closer to the Big Strike, and an inch further away from your worthless asses.

Because Galloway didn't, as some are saying, expose the Republicans.

Someone with a full frontal lobotomy could expose a Republican politician.

He exposed the spinelessness of the Democrats." (italics mine)

Whoo-Hoo, a man from Scotland came over to America and gave us our voice and spoke the truth to power. Not to mention calling "misspeak" exactly what it is; A LIE!!!

Too bad about the Constitution Amendment to make Arnold Schwarzenegger President, cause George Galloway gives the rest of us the reason why we might need to consider it. Of course, just like the GOP thugs are trying to eliminate the filibuster - they wouldn't dare consider amending the Constitution so that a foreign-born American citizen could become President...not if it means putting a gutsy, George Galloway-type in office...

I can dream, can't I?

The British Came, The British Came...

You know things are already down hill when it takes a member of the British Parliament to come to America and administer cans of whoop @$$ to the GOP thugs running the Senate. While I'm never a fan of violence, you have to admit, MP George Galloway handed Sen. Norm Coleman his lunch five times over.

Americablog has the goods: http://www.americablog.org/. Crooks and Liars also has the video of this public flogging of a Republican Senator.

Maybe it will take the British Parliament to do what we've been begging DLC members to do all along - grow a spine and push back against bullies.

I never respected Norm Coleman - he needed Paul Wellstone's death in order to get that Senate seat. Minnesota will hopefully improve this sad situation when they send Al Franken to DC as Coleman's replacement.

Meanwhile, settle back and watch Bill Frist shoot his Presidential aspirations in their collective feet and pick off the toes one-by-one when he employs that nuclear option that America has said decisively they don't want to see.

Tell Frist Satan called and he wants payment for favors granted...

GOOD FOR A SOUNDBITE...AND NOTHING MORE

Again, the Orwellian nature of what passes for the Federal Government these days, continues to boggle the minds of sane individuals like me. So, every now and then, I have to post a list of issues, concerns, and the like - which our Commander-in-Chief uses when it's convenient, and discards when it's necessary.

For example:

I've noticed that the President is quick to denounce statements or actions that are inherently and blatently racist (i. e. Sen. Trent Lott's effusive praise of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond), while posing with African-American school children reading "My Pet Goat" while Saudi Arabians are flying hijacked jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Yet, we all know and have factual proof that "No Child Left Behind" is leaving every child in public school behind. You won't tell people how school vouchers really work; that a family will still have to pony up at least 50% - 80% of the tuition or fees that the school vouchers won't cover.

Good for a sound-bite. The explanation of the differences? Not so good for a sound-bite.

While governor of Texas, Bush abandoned the African-American community when they needed him the most - not to mention passing up the opportunity to make a strong stand against racism, when he failed to respond to the hate crime and murder perpetuated againt James Byrd when three racist thugs tied him to the back of their pickup truck and dragged him down the road for sport. I would think GeeDubya would have been banging down the doors to sign a bill into law that would have imposed harsh penalties for hate crimes. If Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson could see the need to denounce this heinous act, why didn't Governor Bush?

And what does the President do in response to the pleas of the African-American community? According to James Byrd's nephew, he asked then Governor Bush to support the Hate Crime Legislation in the Texas Legislature. Bush told him "No".

The Governor's refusal to support hate crime legislation - not good for a sound-bite.

I'm going to dig a little further, if you don't mind. Stay with me, now.

GeeDubya supports equality for minorities by (a) eliminating affirmative action, and (b) refusing to support hate crimes legislation, but (c) he'll cop a pose kissing a minority baby, or reading to them for a photo-op faster than a New York minute.

That's good enough for a sound-bite. Posing with the babies and children, while promoting "Healthy Skies" or "No Child Left Behind", that is.

Or take Karla Faye Tucker, the condemned murderer/converted Christian, upon whom Bush signed her death warrant in the face of her literally begging for her life to be spared. She wasn't asking to be pardoned or granted clemency - she was asking to spend the rest of her life in prison, winning others to Christ. Now, granting her request would have made a very good sound-bite and further facilitated Bush's image as a "compassionate conservative".

And, he mocked her as he signed the papers condemning her to die by lethal injection. Not good for a sound-bite; mocking her, that is. We have the pundit blowhard, Tucker Carlson, for spilling the beans on that one, don't we? Never would have heard about it otherwise.

Better yet, ask the President where was his concern for his wife on last Thursday, when the White House, Capitol Hill and elsewhere, were evacuated for 36 minutes, and rather than find out if your wife and daughters are safe, you continue on your bike ride in Maryland. That's not good for a sound-bite, either.

However, when the Fristdamentalists, members of Congress and your brother, the Governor of Florida, decide to "save" the life of a brain-dead, 15-years comatose woman named Terri Schiavo, by ramming through legislation during a "midnight run" session in Congress, you decided THAT was important enough to interrupt your vacation and hightail it back to Washington to sign the bill into law. Good enough for a sound-bite, Mr. President.

Where was this concern on August 6, 2001, when you received a Presidential Daily Briefing from current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike U. S."? As I recall, Bush didn't interrupt his vacation then, did he? Would 9/11 have been prevented if he had?

To interrupt his vacation for Terri Schiavo, that was good for a sound bite. To interrupt your vacation to protect America from a terrorist attack on American soil...well, not quite sound-bite worthy, huh?

And let's not forget that Bush conveniently forget about that "do-not-resuscitate" bill he signed into law when he was Governor of Texas, and so does the MSM. A bill which consigns a person to death, despite the protests of their loved ones. Espicially if they can't afford to pay the hospital for life support efforts. And he calls himself the President that wants his legacy known as facilitating a "culture of life". Where was his "culture of life" concern for Sun Hudson? You remember him - he was an African-American baby all of six months old. His mother protested at removing the tubes that kept him alive; only to have her protests fall on deaf ears, thanks to the current President of these United States.

That's good for a sound-bite, too. But explaining why the "culture of life" was necessary for Terri Schiavo and not for Sun Hudson, well, that probably wouldn't be a good sound bite, would it? He'd have to address the underlying racial element, wouldn't he? Explaining away racism is never a good sound bite under any circumstances, except when one is denouncing it.

Let's dig a little deeper, shall we? How about when Bush was Governor of Texas, and decided he wanted to be President? He had to start campaigning and his travels took him to Bob Jones University - a school that lost its' tax exemption status because of its' policies against interracial dating. In fact, when his visit came to light, he quickly denounced it - yet he was continued to be seen in association with Bob Jones, Jr. and other decendants of Bob Jones before his selection as President.

Good for a sound bite, I guess, when you denounce Bob Jones' University practices in this area of social justice. But not much more than that.

Maybe I'm wrong, or misguided, but it appears to me that while this President is comfortable with saying the right things regarding racism, sexism, hate crimes, injustice - he is equally comfortable in the company of those who perpetuate all the issues and societal injustices he is so quick to denounce in public, because it sounds good enough for sound-bites to the media. The MSM, who are so drunk on the Kool-Aid it's easier for them to sleep on the job in their Kool-Aid soaked haze, than actually get up, investigate and report real news, which, more often than not, translates to reporting the truth, about this Administration and the leaders who are operating it. It would explain why the "Smoking Gun" memo about Bush, Blair and their decision to attack Iraq almost a year before deploying troops, cost Blair a sizable amount of his party majority in Parliament last week, when it was revealed in Britain, but it took almost two weeks before the LA Times broke their silence on it here in America.

It would also explain why Newsweek got bullied into essentially retracting the truth by the White House when they reported about abuses which led to rioting in Afghanistan, and their reporting was factual, truthful and not good enough for a sound-bite that could be spun by O'Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh, and Scarborough.

The President of the United States; he's good for a sound-bite, and nothing more when it comes to the things that matter.

SO, WHAT IF BOLTON GETS IN?

It is said that the darkest hour is just before dawn. No, I'm not waxing poetic, but I need to, just to keep from crying...

I really considered what was at stake if the Thugs succeed in breaking open that can of whoop @$$ on America and forcing John Bolton down our collective throats, as Ambassador to the United Nations - an institution he's publicly indicated by his comments, that he would employ his own "Nuclear Option" if given the chance.

We already know that half of Congress that have sobered up off their Kool-Aid binge, or never drank the brew, have serious reservations, if not outright objections about confirming this guy. We saw Sen. George Voinovich turn weasel when he refused to "vote his conscience" regarding Bolton.

I don't know about you, but the guy's look is very creepy (Bolton, I mean). Is this the best America can do in being represented at the U. N.?

Then, I thought, if Bolton is forced down the throats of the U. N., maybe the prayers of ending this five year old nightmare regarding the current Administration just might be about to be answered.

"How so?" you may wonder. Consider this:

• If Bolton is confirmed, how long do you think it will be before he shoots himself in the foot, and pick off his toes one-by-one, by becoming a horse's ass with his inability to control his temper in dealing in matters of diplomacy? In other words, how long will it take before he harasses, or physically confronts another diplomat who would also be a hair-trigger from starting WWIII (Kim Jong-Il comes to mind here).
• Bolton will be on a world stage, and even if the MSM chooses to snooze on any faux-pas he commits, the rest of the world won't. Karl Rove won't be able to spin anything reported outside of America - and sooner or later, those reports filter back to those of us who are vigilant.
• He might be the one person who is the key to impeaching GeeDubya, because the extremist, bullying, threatening tactics will be on a world stage as well, and unlike America - the members of the U. N. won't tolerate Bolton's act. Look for the biggest smack down that Vince McMahon wishes he had the opportunity to book on Pay-Per-View.

Despite the best efforts, Bolton's nomination seems a shoo-in. But, I'm willing to bet that forcing this moron on the intelligent members of the U. N. is a disaster waiting to happen and forces everything to a critical mass that Bush and the gang can't conceal or control. In other words, this might be the straw that breaks the camel's back - and weakens the GOP Thugs from pushing through with anything else on their agenda, because the last vestiges of what little credibility they thought they had, will be swept away in an ocean tide of pissivity on the part of the rest of the world.

Somewhere, Osama is doing a ROFLHAO, big-time

WHAT THE HELL IS IT NOW?

Every time I pick up a paper, or read a blog that chronicles the President's actions, or stupid developments out of Congress, all I can think is:

WHAT THE HELL IS IT NOW?

You read about the moronic attempts to roll back social justice and liberties back to the good ol' days (which really weren't all that good if you weren't caucasian or a woman), because the whackjobs in charge long for arsenic and old lace, women barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen; George the Negro guy has to give up his seat to a white person on the bus, Jim Crow segregation, and you are thinking, "What the Hell is it NOW?"

You hear about some misguided soul, who can't take anymore of Bush's "Democracy" to the point he/she tosses a hand grenade within 100 feet of where Bush is attempting to give a speech in Russia (before an equally pissed-off Pooty-Poot); not to mention that the Capitol and the White House had to be evacuated for God knows what, and if you're me, you are thinking, "What the Hell is it NOW?"

You learn about the 73 Democrats voting for asinine legislations like the BK Bill, the Estate Tax Repeal Bill - any legislation that spells disaster for those of us who are being told to "Pay Up!" and you don't have anything to "Pay UP" with. After being hounded by creditors, landlords, lawyers, employers who are telling you that while your work is appreciated, you won't have a pension when you retire (thanks, United and Delta Airlines) after 15, 20, 30 years of faithful service; not to mention that your Social Security benefit, that becomes a necessity to augment what little pension you do receive - is on the chopping block for privatization.

You come to the realization that the House or Senate member you voted for, whose supposed to have your best interest at heart, is facilitating the implementation of economically, socially, environmentally and educationally breaking your back; you have no CLUE as to your next move because they are being eliminated from your consideration, and by now, you are screaming, "What the Hell is it NOW!"

Sometimes, the Christian Progressive Liberal feels like she's the Rude Pundit. I know how a Christian is supposed to talk - my words are to be gracious, and seasoned....but, dang, I'm human; beautifully human, and I look at what I am seeing, and what you are probably seeing, and thinking, "What the Hell is it NOW!" Sometimes, in lamenting what America has become, I'm at a loss for words; gracious words, that is. So, I apologize if this blog entry is less than "Christian". What you are reading is the words of a frustrated Christian, who is crying out at all that is being done in Jesus' name, when the reality is - Jesus would not co-sign on ANY OF IT. Not the Jesus I serve. No honor, no compassion, no love, no consideration - that is NOT Who Jesus was or what He represented, and what the whackjobs are doing now, it never will represent Who Jesus is.

You know how there's a saying that "It will get worse before it gets better" - and you think, "Damn, I don't need to hear that. I need to hear that it's going to get better, period. I need to hear that this trouble is not going to last always; that things will get better."

Indeed, they will get better, for evil cannot overcome good, but good will always overcome evil. And let's face it; what you are seeing from the Federal Government, from Congressional leaders like Fristians and DeLayans, from Cabinet Members like Bolton and Rice; from whack jobs like James Dobson, Pat Robertson and Chan Chandler, and even the President of the United States; the world's greatest Political and Religious Hypocrite; it is not good, but pure, unadulterated evil.

It's evil to brag about how prosperous America is, when we have people who are homeless and starving; not to mention the "working poor" who can barely make ends meet and God help them if they lose what jobs they do have. It's an economic disaster in the making - not to mention that thanks to Congress, the banks and credit card companies really gets to put the screws to us. Let's not mention that there are 45 million people who can't see a doctor when they need to, let alone when they want to. There are states that are actually discontinuing their Medicaid programs because the government is not ponying up their fair share to help the states' run their programs. This is not a time to be harping "States' Rights" as a reason for gutting programs like Medicaid to those who need it the most.

It's evil to tell other countries that you are there to spread democracy, while systematically gutting democracy at home, starting with that "Nuclear Option" to blow away the Senate Filibuster and end over 200 years of constitutional rules, checks and balances. Not to mention arresting people at tax-payer paid gatherings because you don't like the fact that they dare disagree with your anal-retentive pronouncements about how things are good in this country, and they tell you to your face that you are a liar, or wear a t-shirt that basically says "You Suck!" as a political leader of the Free World.

Face it, it's just evil to say you are doing all of this in God's name. Because, when you say you are doing it in God's name, as a practicing Christian who has studied her Bible from Genesis to Revelations, and knows when people are being hoodwinked and are eager to get drunk on the whackjob kool-aid, don't blame me if my response to these pronouncements is "What the Hell is it NOW?"

WELCOME TO THEOMERICA

When supposedly "Christian" churches are kicking out their own members because of political party affiliation, someone needs to ask the minister "Is this what Jesus would do?" Read it and weep: http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2005/05/its_true.html

The Pastor's actions are not those of a Christian - they are those of someone who fed at George Bush's Faith-Based Money Trough.

And the Devil has come to collect....Can you say "Ca-ching"?

Welcome to Theomerica; it used to be known as "America" but since Theocracy is the order of the day, let's change the name of the country to reflect what she is really becoming...a THEOCRACY.

MISSING IN ACTION

It's bad enough when your representatives vote for legislation that works directly against your best interests. It's a damn tragedy when Bush's god-awful budget could have been defeated by seven, count 'em, SEVEN votes, and rather than be in DC on the Floor casting your vote, you are MISSING IN ACTION (MIA).

My friend, Autocrat, at River City Mud Company, gave me the heads' up. To top it off, the MIA House member is a DLC Board Member and Blue Dog Dem as well. Read how they are tearing him (the House Member) a new one at http://rivercitymud.blogspot.com/.

How do you explain your votes to send people to debtor's prison and being MIA to prevent a budget that completes the process (of going to debtor's prison) for most Americans? That's treason...

WHAT IF AMERICA HAD THE BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM?

I love reading Greg Palast's commentaries. It is a shame that a bonified American journalist has pretty much been exiled from his native land in order to pursue his journalism career the way he wanted - as an objective reporter beholden to nothing more than informing readers of the truth.

He's too good for America - that's why he's working for the BBC (www.gregpalast.com).

Anyway, his commentary on Prime Minister Tony Blair's political future after May 5th got me to thinking: What if America had the British Parliamentary System for selecting elected officials?

In Britain, the Prime Minister is not selected - the Members of Parliament (MPs) are voted for by the people, and as their elected representative, the MPs votes for the Prime Minister, usually with the majority party being the key to the Prime Minister's victory. As a result of the Labour Party gaining that majority, Tony Blair got the PM's job. If the Labour Party loses a majority of their seats in Parliament, Tony Blair may be referred to as "Ex-Prime Minister".

What if the American Congress selected the President in the same manner? By majority party? First of all, there would be more viability for third or fourth political parties, just like Britain has. If the American Congress had to do that, maybe we wouldn't be inflected with George Bush, because a House or Senate Member would know that if he or she has to vote for the President of the United States, they won't be so quick to toe the party line. Additionally, in Britain, someone else is responsible for the economic rise or fall of Britain - here, in America, the Treasury Secretary is little more than a rubber stamp for the President. Which means, that even if Blair is returned to his job, he becomes a lame duck, if Chancellor Gordon Brown has anything to do with it.

Now, I'm not endorsing England's system of government; I'm just wondering "what if?"

America wanted nothing like the British system of government when this country was formed 200+ years ago. I wish the Founding Fathers had more foresight than an abhorrance to anything that reminded them of England. America, in the 21st Century, might have been better off. The DLC could exist, but with the knowledge that it could be neutered at any time. Same for the GOP and the radical factions within both Republican and Democratic Parties.

You may not agree with it, but I think the British system of government is looking pretty good these days, because it's more reflective of democracy in action than anything being done here in America. Democracy here is begining to look a whole lot like Facism - and that's the ugliest sight you could ever see.

Makes you wonder....

ON THE PROJECTION OF AMERICA'S SINS

It occured to me that whenever I post anything here, I want to say things that encourage, inspire or reassure you that you are not alone in your quest to make sense out of the world, or rather, George Bush's world, and wonder why aren't more people catching on to the lies, the hypocracy, the double standard, the divisions, the polarizations of our country as a nation.

You are not crazy. You are not drunk on the Kool-Aid Brew. You never have been. You have had the sins of America being projected onto you by it's government leadership. Allow me to explain as best I can.

It seems like our voices are to be continually silenced - drowned out by silly reporting on subject matter like a racist white woman running away from her wedding, what kind of day Michael Jackson had in court, watching Nancy Grace and wondering when her head will explode on live television because she gets so apoplexic about justice; all in an effort to distract attention from the events that feature such dire consequences for all of us, no one dares to call attention to them. Yet, somehow, there is the beginning of a slow awakening - like the animals who are coming awake after a long winter's hibernative sleep. I am hopeful. Every day when I wake to see the dawn of a new day not promised to me - I am hopeful.

Every morning when I rise, my ritual is to sit on the side of my bed for a few minutes (after hitting the snooze for the last 20, LOL) and allow myself to really "wake-up" and think about what I'm going to do today - will I blog, or just read everyone else's blogs and commentaries? Do I have anything viable to say to the masses? Does anyone care? What am I going to do today that will make someone's life just a tad bit better - to encourage them that things will get better?
Afterwards, I reach for my Bible to engage in morning mediation and prayer before I start my day. Today, in my meditative reading, I studied Psalms 14, which basically admonishes us to call sin what it is: SIN. Why don't we do this? For example:

Condoleezza Rice lied during her confirmation hearings. The only Senator that came close to actually calling her a liar was my Senator, Barbara Boxer. Why didn't she just call girlfriend a "liar" and be done with it? Better yet, call her a liar and ask her to prove that she wasn't lying.

How about the 73 Democrats (including a few members of the Congressional Black and Latino Caucuses) that voted for that Bankruptcy Bill and whined when, first, journalist David Sirota exposed them, then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took them to the woodshed and called them on their dereliction of duty. Why were they whining about the fact that they sold out their constituents with their vote? Were the votes something they could boast about to their districts? Were they hoping their constituents wouldn't notice how they were sold out by their representatives? Did the votes cause them shame, recriminations and threats of being tossed out of their Congressional seats?

Bush has lied to the American Public since December 13, 2000, with help from the Supreme Court. At last count, there were 34 scandals involving this administration, but to look at the MSM, one would be forgiven for thinking that Bush's Administration is the most squeaky clean Administration since Harry Truman? So why won't the MSM call him on his lies? I know about the abject fact that Rupert Murdoch and gang own most of the Media, but even in some independent media outlets, they won't call Bush a liar? Why is that?

Psychologists tell us that we tend to project what we hate the most about ourselves onto others. In other words, why won't the Religious Right share with us why they hate homosexuals, minorities, women and anyone who does not fit their image of a "true" American? Because they have homosexuals, minorities and women among them? That would be hating themselves, wouldn't it? So why won't they demonstrate where in the Bible that Jesus gives tacit consent to hate, bigotry, fear, loathing, greed, avarice and lack of compassion for ones' fellow man?

The 14th Psalm is very clear - we just need to "SAY THE WORD". We need to call what we see, what it really is: SIN.

The definition of sin is really "missing the mark". But we're so used to saying we've "missed the mark" that we tend to cover up the ramifications of "missing the mark" for everyone and minimizing what are really devastating effects. In Jim Wallis' book "God's Politics: How the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It" Wallis provides the most convincing arguement you will ever see in admonishing those in leadership how it is a sin to ignore:

those in poverty, in order to pay for war;
use of fear to facilitate compliance on the part of the masses, instead of allowing engagement in debate of issues;
the wealthy getting more wealthy at the expense of and on the backs of the poor and downtrodden;
raping the environment;
neglecting education of our children;
using the "my way or the highway" methodology to get what you want and damn everyone else
blaming the poor and downtrodden for being poor and downtrodden, while not providing any solutions to their plight.

I could go on and on. But before I go further in calling sin what it is, I have to tackle the problem of why foreign countries hate America, if they haven't begun to at least , get irrititated with America first. Trust me, if Tony Blair loses his re-election bid on Thursday, as a result of all the latest revelations regarding how he teamed up with Bush to lie about the reasons to attack Iraq, that will be an example of America's eroding relationships with foreign countries that cannot be covered up, and it doesn't matter that Rupert Murdoch owns 75% of media outlets in this country.

It pains me as an American to say this, but it needs to be said - our country has a multitude of sins that we need to apologize and make amends for. If we maintain our arrogance and hubris, if there ever is another "Pearl Harbor-like/9-11 event" our country will find itself isolated as never before in our history of existance. We have ceased to be doers of GOOD WILL and have become masters at spreading ILL-WILL! We turn off other countries with the arrogant swagger from our government leaders, John Wayne-like attitudes and an unwillingness to at least listen to debate. If we don't reverse our course, we cannot expect a healing of our nation, a healing of divisions and polarization, a fostering of unity that transcends race, class, gender, sexual orientation and religious boundaries.

Yet, then again, I suspect that there are those who are perfectly fine with that "us against them" mentality. There are those who are so insecure within themselves, they have to hurt, harm and mash down anyone who might challenge them on just how "superior" they really are, when the fact is, God created us equally, and being "No respectors of persons" (translation - non-discriminatory), we're expected to foster harmony and diversity, tolerance and acceptance as long as we shuffle around on this mortal coil.

Why is the MSM eviscerating actress Maggie Gyllenhaal these days, like they did the Dixie Chicks? Because they told the truth? That America has a multitude of sins that can be laid at its' doorstep? I submit that this is the case - and here's another psychological explanation for this tendency to beat up the messenger, especially when the messenger holds up a mirror and we don't like what we see.

In my years of working as a drug/alcohol counselor, I learned that the hardest thing for an addict to do is face up to their own failings, and how the refusal to deal with their failings continue the cycle of addiction. Face it, many of us don't want to actually get honest with ourselves. We like the image we have of ourselves; that perfect, can-do-no-wrong, image; and we get angry when someone or something drops in our paths and threatens to tar that image. Our nation is the same way; like an addict that doesn't want to admit he's addicted and needs help.

We want our image as being a liberator of other oppressed nations. It is easy to rail at the genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia, or the killing fields of Cambodia, but we don't want to admit to culpability in those atrocities, such as funding the enemies of these nations, or providing them weaponry to facilitate the genocide. We don't want to admit lack of action in areas like the Sudan or Haiti (and we facilitated the overthrow of a democratically elected President in Haiti).There is a conflict with the image of America to admit these truths, so it's covered up in the hopes that no one will notice, just like we sweep dirt under a rug and hopes no one notices until the dirt starts piling up.

We want to liberate Iraq, yet our government leaders hope that many Americans would just forget about how chummy Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld was with Saddam Hussein back in the 1980s; that we funded his attack on Iran and provided those WMDs that we can't find now. We want that covered up, too. But Saddam's continued existance virtually guarantees we notice that dirt pile that's growing on a daily basis.

We wail about the crack epidemic - yet our government leaders hope that no one remembers that your tax dollars and mine, went to fund Manuel Noriega, until he became a liability to the Government and had to be thrown in jail; not to mention Poppy Bush and Reagan's role in Iran-Contra. Cover up that dirt, Ollie North!

America has funded dictatorships, imperialist nations; facilitated the overthrowing of regimes and political administrations globally, as long as it was beneficial to our Government. It continues to be chummy with foreign leaders whose citizens were proven responsible for September 11th. Once these nations held no more value to our government, America discards them like a $5 dollar 'ho and wonders why we're hated by Iraq and Afghanistan - why they "hate our freedoms". Espicially when such gross negligence, incompetence and maltreatment of decades-old foreign policy results in rewards for the perpetrators, such as medals of Freedom, promotions within the Administration and more war mongering profits to line their pockets.

Might I suggest, that it's not our freedoms these nations hate, but rather, our government's tendency to use and discard foreign governments while trying to perpetuate an image of a nation that fosters liberty and justice for all, not to mention the pursuit of happiness? The cruelest action anyone can take, is to reward people for wrongdoing. It breeds contempt for principles, values, beliefs, honor and dignity of people that are deserving of it. This is what it means to SIN.

Bill Clinton challenged us to start thinking about what is "IS". To me, that's somewhat disingenious and considering the context under which he uttered that; inappropriate for the serious issues that warrant challenges and debate - more so that one's DNA being found on a blue dress.

SAY THE WORDS. CALL IT WHAT IT IS. America continues to engage in sinning and projecting her sins onto those who don't deserve them. Can we please call our leaders on it?
Because until we do, we continue to die as a nation and we cannot be healed.