Thursday, December 9, 2010
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8jw-ifqwkM
John Lennon---I love his songs--he saw to the words that are needed in the world--yesterday and today. Long live John Lennon's words.
John Lennon---I love his songs--he saw to the words that are needed in the world--yesterday and today. Long live John Lennon's words.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Harold Meyerson - When Tea Party wants to go back, where is it to?
As battle cries go, the Tea Party's "Take our country back" is a pretty good one. It's short and punchy, and it addresses a very widespread sense that the nation that Americans once lived in has changed, and not for the better.
Harold Meyerson - When Tea Party wants to go back, where is it to?
Harold Meyerson - When Tea Party wants to go back, where is it to?
Friday, October 15, 2010
TPM Fact Check: New Conservative Anti-Spending Flick Plays Real Loose With Facts | TPMDC
When "I Want Your Money" hits theaters today, it will likely be hailed by Republicans eyeing Congressional control as exposing the Obama administration for being fiscally reckless. Already, the creator Ray Griggs has made the rounds on Fox News, which heaped praise on the filmmaker for including Fox contributors in the documentary.
But there's one big problem -- a bunch of the facts don't add up. The most egregious omission is failing to mention that Ronald Reagan, who is depicted as a fiscal hero in the film, raised taxes.
TPM Fact Check: New Conservative Anti-Spending Flick Plays Real Loose With Facts | TPMDC
But there's one big problem -- a bunch of the facts don't add up. The most egregious omission is failing to mention that Ronald Reagan, who is depicted as a fiscal hero in the film, raised taxes.
TPM Fact Check: New Conservative Anti-Spending Flick Plays Real Loose With Facts | TPMDC
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Frank Schaeffer: Obama's Critics Are Dead Wrong
Before he'd served even one year, President Obama lost the support of the easily distracted left and engendered the white hot rage of the hate-filled right. But some of us, from all walks of life and ideological backgrounds -- including this white, straight, 57-year-old, former religious right-wing agitator, now progressive writer and, given my background as I describe in my book Crazy For God, the son of a famous evangelical leader, unlikely Obama supporter -- are sticking with our president. Why? Because he is succeeding. Obama's critics from the left and right are going to be proved dead wrong.
Frank Schaeffer: Obama's Critics Are Dead Wrong
Frank Schaeffer: Obama's Critics Are Dead Wrong
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
E.J. Dionne Jr. - Health reform's reality vs. its parody
Here is another piece of conventional wisdom about this year's election that is being rendered patently false. It's been said over and over that no Democrats are running on the health-care bill. Actually, more and more of them are proudly campaigning on what the plan has achieved -- and they should.
E.J. Dionne Jr. - Health reform's reality vs. its parody
E.J. Dionne Jr. - Health reform's reality vs. its parody
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
FactChecking ‘The Pledge’ | FactCheck.org
FactChecking ‘The Pledge’ | FactCheck.org
The Republican “Pledge to America,” released Sept. 23, contains some dubious factual claims:
■It declares that “the only parts of the economy expanding are government and our national debt.” Not true. So far this year government employment has declined slightly, while private sector employment has increased by 763,000 jobs.
■It says that “jobless claims continue to soar,” when in fact they are down eight percent from their worst levels.
■It repeats a bogus assertion that the Internal Revenue Service may need to expand by 16,500 positions, an inflated estimate based on false assumptions and guesswork.
■It claims the stimulus bill is costing $1 trillion, considerably more than the $814 billion, 10-year price tag currently estimated by nonpartisan congressional budget experts.
■It says Obama’s tax proposals would raise taxes on “roughly half the small business income in America,” an exaggeration. Much of the income the GOP is counting actually comes from big businesses making over $50 million a year.
The Republican “Pledge to America,” released Sept. 23, contains some dubious factual claims:
■It declares that “the only parts of the economy expanding are government and our national debt.” Not true. So far this year government employment has declined slightly, while private sector employment has increased by 763,000 jobs.
■It says that “jobless claims continue to soar,” when in fact they are down eight percent from their worst levels.
■It repeats a bogus assertion that the Internal Revenue Service may need to expand by 16,500 positions, an inflated estimate based on false assumptions and guesswork.
■It claims the stimulus bill is costing $1 trillion, considerably more than the $814 billion, 10-year price tag currently estimated by nonpartisan congressional budget experts.
■It says Obama’s tax proposals would raise taxes on “roughly half the small business income in America,” an exaggeration. Much of the income the GOP is counting actually comes from big businesses making over $50 million a year.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Who has right to define Obama? - My Web Times
Somehow, that connection has been lost. For a growing number of Americans, Obama's narrative no longer defines who he is. And the haters have filled the vacuum with their falsehoods and fabrications. If Obama wants to win re-election, and have a successful presidency, he has to take back his story, his faith and his very identity.
Who has right to define Obama? - My Web Times
Who has right to define Obama? - My Web Times
Michael Gerson - In mosque controversies, some Christians undermine their own faith
Excerpt:
But the problem runs deeper than an inability to calculate self-interest. This Christian attitude toward Islam represents a distortion of Christianity itself.
Michael Gerson - In mosque controversies, some Christians undermine their own faith
But the problem runs deeper than an inability to calculate self-interest. This Christian attitude toward Islam represents a distortion of Christianity itself.
Michael Gerson - In mosque controversies, some Christians undermine their own faith
Monday, August 30, 2010
Recovery Act: How Obama's Stimulus Is Changing America - TIME
Yes, the stimulus has cut taxes for 95% of working Americans, bailed out every state, hustled record amounts of unemployment benefits and other aid to struggling families and funded more than 100,000 projects to upgrade roads, subways, schools, airports, military bases and much more. But in the words of Vice President Joe Biden, Obama's effusive Recovery Act point man, "Now the fun stuff starts!" The "fun stuff," about one-sixth of the total cost, is an all-out effort to exploit the crisis to make green energy, green building and green transportation real; launch green manufacturing industries; computerize a pen-and-paper health system; promote data-driven school reforms; and ramp up the research of the future. "This is a chance to do something big, man!" Biden said during a 90-minute interview with TIME.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2013683,00.html#ixzz0y78ROJON
Recovery Act: How Obama's Stimulus Is Changing America - TIME
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2013683,00.html#ixzz0y78ROJON
Recovery Act: How Obama's Stimulus Is Changing America - TIME
Monday, August 16, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Social Security at 75: Crisis Is More Myth Than Fact
The truth is that Social Security is completely solvent today, and will be into the future because it has a dedicated income stream that covers its costs and consistently generates a surplus, which today is $2.5 trillion. Estimates are that the Social Security surplus will grow to approximately $4.3 trillion in 2023, and that reserves will be sufficient to pay full benefits through the year 2037. After 2037, Social Security would still be able to pay for 78 percent of benefits even with no adjustments to revenues or benefits.
James Roosevelt: Social Security at 75: Crisis Is More Myth Than Fact
James Roosevelt: Social Security at 75: Crisis Is More Myth Than Fact
Saturday, July 24, 2010
ISS - The real story of racism at the USDA
Right now, if you do a web search of the words "racism" and "USDA," the majority of links will steer you to coverage of this week's Shirley Sherrod affair, in which the African-American U.S. Department of Agriculture staffer based in Georgia resigned after a conservative website reversed the meaning of a speech she gave last year to imply she would deny farm loans to whites.
ISS - The real story of racism at the USDA
ISS - The real story of racism at the USDA
Sunday, July 18, 2010
La. may have been unprepared for handling spill - The Boston Globe
The state has an oil spill coordinator’s office. Its staff shrank by half over the last decade, and the 17-year-old oil spill research and development program that is associated with the office had its annual $750,000 in financing cut last year. The coordinator is responsible for drawing up and signing off on spill contingency plans with the Coast Guard and a committee of federal, state, and local officials.
La. may have been unprepared for handling spill - The Boston Globe
La. may have been unprepared for handling spill - The Boston Globe
Friday, July 9, 2010
Sand berms a dubious solution: A guest column by Len Bahr | NOLA.com
Sand berms a dubious solution: A guest column by Len Bahr | NOLA.com
On the basis of 22 years of academic training and experience in coastal science and 18 years of policy experience in the Governor's Office of Coastal Activities, I'm strongly opposed to the governor's sand berm project for the following nine reasons:
1) Absence of science: Vague plans for the sand barriers were hastily drawn up by "outside experts" from Holland, with no input from Louisiana coastal scientists. Project details subsequently released have been universally panned by these scientists.
2) Questionable justification: The sand dredging project was proposed by and heavily lobbied by vested dredging interests, and it reeks of potential conflicts.
3) Opportunity cost: This emergency and temporary project will deplete and waste finite sand resources needed for a credible barrier shoreline nourishment project.
4) Environmental cost: Dredging holes in the very delta that we're trying to restore is irrational.
5) Changes to natural flow regime: Attempting to barricade tidal passes speeds up water velocity, causing barrier island erosion and potentially sucking even more oil into the estuary.
6) Lengthy construction time: The contractors project a completion date nine months away, by which time deflecting BP oil could be a moot issue.
7) Sand berm fragility: Sand-filled Hesco baskets (a type of sand berm) completed three weeks ago by the Louisiana National Guard along Holly Beach to protect against BP oil washed away like sand castles during a glancing blow by Hurricane Alex.
8) Dubious benefits: A huge volume of crude oil has already drifted into the very marsh areas that would supposedly be protected by sand barriers. Completed berms could trap rather than repel some of this oil.
9) An alternative active response: Whether or not BP pays for the sand barrier project, there are more effective and risk-free ways to spend $350 million. For example, I estimate that for that amount 2 million tons of oil-absorbing hay could be spread on the oil by boats and planes, soaking up perhaps 4 million tons of oil, then raked up by shrimp boats for onshore disposal.
I'm not alone in challenging this project, although I can afford to be more vocal than most of my science colleagues. Many of them, along with their employers, fear the financial consequences of alienating Gov. Jindal, who tolerates no criticism of his sand berm fantasy.
In Louisiana, politics keeps getting in the way of science:
By Jarvis DeBerry
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/post_17.html
Berms always seemed like a bad idea: A letter to the editor.
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2010/07/berms_always_seemed_like_a_bad.html
On the basis of 22 years of academic training and experience in coastal science and 18 years of policy experience in the Governor's Office of Coastal Activities, I'm strongly opposed to the governor's sand berm project for the following nine reasons:
1) Absence of science: Vague plans for the sand barriers were hastily drawn up by "outside experts" from Holland, with no input from Louisiana coastal scientists. Project details subsequently released have been universally panned by these scientists.
2) Questionable justification: The sand dredging project was proposed by and heavily lobbied by vested dredging interests, and it reeks of potential conflicts.
3) Opportunity cost: This emergency and temporary project will deplete and waste finite sand resources needed for a credible barrier shoreline nourishment project.
4) Environmental cost: Dredging holes in the very delta that we're trying to restore is irrational.
5) Changes to natural flow regime: Attempting to barricade tidal passes speeds up water velocity, causing barrier island erosion and potentially sucking even more oil into the estuary.
6) Lengthy construction time: The contractors project a completion date nine months away, by which time deflecting BP oil could be a moot issue.
7) Sand berm fragility: Sand-filled Hesco baskets (a type of sand berm) completed three weeks ago by the Louisiana National Guard along Holly Beach to protect against BP oil washed away like sand castles during a glancing blow by Hurricane Alex.
8) Dubious benefits: A huge volume of crude oil has already drifted into the very marsh areas that would supposedly be protected by sand barriers. Completed berms could trap rather than repel some of this oil.
9) An alternative active response: Whether or not BP pays for the sand barrier project, there are more effective and risk-free ways to spend $350 million. For example, I estimate that for that amount 2 million tons of oil-absorbing hay could be spread on the oil by boats and planes, soaking up perhaps 4 million tons of oil, then raked up by shrimp boats for onshore disposal.
I'm not alone in challenging this project, although I can afford to be more vocal than most of my science colleagues. Many of them, along with their employers, fear the financial consequences of alienating Gov. Jindal, who tolerates no criticism of his sand berm fantasy.
In Louisiana, politics keeps getting in the way of science:
By Jarvis DeBerry
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/post_17.html
Berms always seemed like a bad idea: A letter to the editor.
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2010/07/berms_always_seemed_like_a_bad.html
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Lindsey Graham: In Today's Republican Party, Reagan Wouldn't Make it as a Republican - The Washington Note
The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz profiles reactions to Tea-Partyism today and notes that Senator Lindsey Graham, who once told me that his favorite film was Seven Days in May and that one of his biggest fears for the country was national security and military demagoguery, doesn't have much time for the Tea Party.
From Kurtz's good piece:
And then there's Lindsey Graham.
The South Carolina senator has already ticked off the right by being willing to negotiate deals with Democrats. He doesn't see bipartisanship as a dirty word.
Lindsey Graham: In Today's Republican Party, Reagan Wouldn't Make it as a Republican - The Washington Note
From Kurtz's good piece:
And then there's Lindsey Graham.
The South Carolina senator has already ticked off the right by being willing to negotiate deals with Democrats. He doesn't see bipartisanship as a dirty word.
Lindsey Graham: In Today's Republican Party, Reagan Wouldn't Make it as a Republican - The Washington Note
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
General McChrystal Actions
Maddow (6/23):
[T]he behavior of General McChrystal captured by a reporter with unfettered access to him did not just show indiscipline or insubordination, they called into question the military doctrine that General McChrystal championed....
[The strategy is:] You can't kill your way to victory. Instead, the goal is to secure population centers, set up Afghan governance, set up governance that itself keeps insurgents in check even after the military campaign is over.
....if General McChrystal, if he is the guy responsible for that strategy and preaching that strategy that requires unity of effort between the military and all of these non-military people who are needed to win a war like this, you can't both be that guy and be the guy who's talking smack about all of the non-military people who even you say are essential to your mission. You can't be the guy who says that's necessary and the guy who talks all that smack.
How is it that Rachel Maddow zeroed in on this obvious point, and everyone else pretty much seemed to miss it, the way that Rip Van Winkle missed the Revolutionary War? Maddow's lonely grasp of the central contradiction in the McChrystal affair staring us right in the face shows once again how totally and utterly clueless the entire Versailles establishment really is.
[T]he behavior of General McChrystal captured by a reporter with unfettered access to him did not just show indiscipline or insubordination, they called into question the military doctrine that General McChrystal championed....
[The strategy is:] You can't kill your way to victory. Instead, the goal is to secure population centers, set up Afghan governance, set up governance that itself keeps insurgents in check even after the military campaign is over.
....if General McChrystal, if he is the guy responsible for that strategy and preaching that strategy that requires unity of effort between the military and all of these non-military people who are needed to win a war like this, you can't both be that guy and be the guy who's talking smack about all of the non-military people who even you say are essential to your mission. You can't be the guy who says that's necessary and the guy who talks all that smack.
How is it that Rachel Maddow zeroed in on this obvious point, and everyone else pretty much seemed to miss it, the way that Rip Van Winkle missed the Revolutionary War? Maddow's lonely grasp of the central contradiction in the McChrystal affair staring us right in the face shows once again how totally and utterly clueless the entire Versailles establishment really is.
Monday, June 21, 2010
YouTube - Blood, Sweat & Tears in the Gulf-Oil Spill 2010 Full Copy
Blood, Sweat & Tears in the Gulf-Oil Spill 2010 Oil spill photos set to music.
Blood Music (Moody Blues - The Voyage)
Sweat Music (The Business of America)
Tears Music (Moody Blues - Melancholy Man)
A Way of Life Music (Phil Collins - Look Through My Eyes)
I selected music relevant to the photos. The video was done in 5 segments.
One called Blood, one called Sweat, one called Tears and one called A Way of Life with a finale added to display website organizations to save the coast.
I wanted to make a video that relayed what was happening here in the Southern United States--the huge price that was paid-the Blood, the hard work that will go on for a long time-the Sweat, the worry of lost lifestyle, culture and livelihood-the Tears and to give the viewer an idea about A Way of Life that is enjoyed and is special to us with the song (Look Through My Eyes)
YouTube - Blood, Sweat & Tears in the Gulf-Oil Spill 2010 Full Copy
Blood Music (Moody Blues - The Voyage)
Sweat Music (The Business of America)
Tears Music (Moody Blues - Melancholy Man)
A Way of Life Music (Phil Collins - Look Through My Eyes)
I selected music relevant to the photos. The video was done in 5 segments.
One called Blood, one called Sweat, one called Tears and one called A Way of Life with a finale added to display website organizations to save the coast.
I wanted to make a video that relayed what was happening here in the Southern United States--the huge price that was paid-the Blood, the hard work that will go on for a long time-the Sweat, the worry of lost lifestyle, culture and livelihood-the Tears and to give the viewer an idea about A Way of Life that is enjoyed and is special to us with the song (Look Through My Eyes)
YouTube - Blood, Sweat & Tears in the Gulf-Oil Spill 2010 Full Copy
Friday, June 11, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
How Obama Haters May Help Democrats in Midterm Elections - TIME
Within the overheated conservative bubble there is little room for discussions of serious policy alternatives to deal with America's problems, reminders that the country is typically drawn to optimistic candidates (like Reagan and Obama) and weighty appeals to the center of the electorate. If Obama is the worst President ever, as conservatives seem to believe, why do they need to say anything more than that to take control of Congress and then get rid of him? But while the conservatives' ultimate condemnation rallies their core supporters and resonates with some centrist voters, over time it is unlikely to produce a majority against the Administration.
It can't be pleasant for Obama to be the subject of such attacks. And solving the country's major problems in a bipartisan fashion will be difficult under these rancorous circumstances. But as long as those trying to beat him are blind to the fact that tens of millions of voting Americans think Obama is doing a fine job, this President has a great ally in his enemies.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1993050,00.html?xid=newsletter-weekly#ixzz0qKGZP3gr
How Obama Haters May Help Democrats in Midterm Elections - TIME
It can't be pleasant for Obama to be the subject of such attacks. And solving the country's major problems in a bipartisan fashion will be difficult under these rancorous circumstances. But as long as those trying to beat him are blind to the fact that tens of millions of voting Americans think Obama is doing a fine job, this President has a great ally in his enemies.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1993050,00.html?xid=newsletter-weekly#ixzz0qKGZP3gr
How Obama Haters May Help Democrats in Midterm Elections - TIME
Saturday, May 29, 2010
2006DEEP POCKETS N GULF OF MEXICO/Flush with profits - SusanThur - Open Salon
Traditional oil producing basins have matured, particularly on land, and exploration & production companies have been forced to look for new reserves in ever more challenging environments like the deepwater environments off the Coast of Africa and in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (beyond the Continental Shelf) in order to maintain production and profits.
2006DEEP POCKETS N GULF OF MEXICO/Flush with profits - SusanThur - Open Salon
2006DEEP POCKETS N GULF OF MEXICO/Flush with profits - SusanThur - Open Salon
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Op-Ed Columnist - Obama Versus the Corporations - NYTimes.com
So here’s how it is: They’re as mad as hell, and they’re not going to take this anymore. Am I talking about the Tea Partiers? No, I’m talking about the corporations
Op-Ed Columnist - Obama Versus the Corporations - NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Columnist - Obama Versus the Corporations - NYTimes.com
U.S. federal oil and gas royalties - SourceWatch
U.S. federal oil and gas royalties are payments made by firms to the federal government in exchange for the opportunity to explore for oil and gas on government-owned land or water. Traditionally, most of the funds generated by these royalties have gone directly into the general U.S. Treasury. Some of the funds have been directed to the Historical Preservation Trust Fund and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. During most of the twentieth century, oil and gas companies generally paid between 12.5 and 16.7 percent in royalties for a lease to drill on public land or water. Over time, these royalty payments generated over $100 billion in revenues.
U.S. federal oil and gas royalties - SourceWatch
U.S. federal oil and gas royalties - SourceWatch
UNFPA - UNFPA Welcomes Restoration of U.S. Funding
UNITED NATIONS, New York—UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, applauds today's statement from United States President Barack Obama restoring U.S. funding for UNFPA's operations.
President Obama said: "I look forward to working with Congress to restore U.S. financial support for the U.N. Population Fund. By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S. will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries."
UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid welcomed President Obama's decision to restore funding and noted how quickly he addressed the issue. "The President's actions send a strong message about his leadership and his desire to support causes that will promote peace and dignity, equality for women and girls and economic development in the poorest regions of the world. And access to reproductive health is at the core of all of these issues."
UNFPA - UNFPA Welcomes Restoration of U.S. Funding
President Obama said: "I look forward to working with Congress to restore U.S. financial support for the U.N. Population Fund. By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S. will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries."
UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid welcomed President Obama's decision to restore funding and noted how quickly he addressed the issue. "The President's actions send a strong message about his leadership and his desire to support causes that will promote peace and dignity, equality for women and girls and economic development in the poorest regions of the world. And access to reproductive health is at the core of all of these issues."
UNFPA - UNFPA Welcomes Restoration of U.S. Funding
Bill Gates, Sr., others meet in North Admiral, demand higher taxes for the wealthy | West Seattle Herald / White Center News
"Tonight I'm going to talk about the state income tax," said Gates. "In this state the wealthiest people are paying too damn little. The richest people are paying about 3-percent of their income. And the bottom 20-percent pay 16 or 17-percent, five times as much. It stinks."
Bill Gates, Sr., others meet in North Admiral, demand higher taxes for the wealthy | West Seattle Herald / White Center News
Bill Gates, Sr., others meet in North Admiral, demand higher taxes for the wealthy | West Seattle Herald / White Center News
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Newsvine - Louisianans bleed Together, Louisianans suffer Together, Louisianans survive Together
Louisianans bleed Together, Louisianans suffer Together, Louisianans survive Together
Another tragedy is unfolding. Another One!, I scream irately and angrily to the heavens.
How can this be? How unfair and how are we going to, now, survive this, I desperately ask.
I know here in New Orleans, where I now live (Crowley, Cajun country originally) we have had our share of hardship and difficulties. Many of us frighten, despaired and overwhelmed what we experienced nearing 5 years ago. Hurricane Katrina's anniversary is in August. And Hurricane Rita gust in without much delay, giving Louisiana no break or rest. It seems barley enough time to catch our breath, even though we sweat it out every hurricane season since. The experience of the "big one" has left many of us edgy, anxious and nervous. It has been a challenge for us all.
Now here is once more another challenge. The oil spill in the gulf that threatens our, ecosystem, shoreline and seafood industries. For many of us, our distress are concentrated on our wetlands which have become more defenseless by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. I recognize I have. For us to undergo another "big one" our coast is the first line of defense to our survival. Ever since these potential, massive hurricanes, my intense coastal and wetland focus has been like a laser, zeroing on which is most important for Southern Louisiana's continued existence.
However, the health and wellbeing for our future lies right now with-- us-- which are our local oil field experts and workers. The men on these oil rigs, the ones that will--and I have confidence--will plug the blowout and stop the damage--the bleeding--they are US.
They are family and friends, mutual Louisiana citizens, who are well aware how important their job is, for us as well as for themselves and their family.
Much is at stake to our livelihood, our environment and our way of life.
These challenges, taken together-- standing together as community, we can accomplish much. Louisianans bleed Together, Louisianans suffer Together, Louisianans survive Together. Let us not be divided. Division will only hinder, obstruct and hamper.
I am not liking what I am seeing out there, in the media, in the newspapers, on the news programs-- the cynics, the name-calling, the finger-pointing, the conspiracy theories, none of this helps. In fact, this is not the" best of us" but the "worst of us". To solve big problems such as this, it will take the "best of us". When the fringes dominate the debate--it doesn't make for good course of action. Careless language reduces the ability to solve problems or produce any agreement among us. It mainly produces anger. Lots of us are frustrated, concerned, worried, questioning, doubtful, uncertain, searching, and yes, even hopeful. Some of these emotions guide us into good problem-solving but anger seldom does.
Let us not be swayed by those, who want to divide and who have a very different "agenda" than Louisianans. Lost within these harsh and loud voices is the image of what Louisianans are really about, what Louisianans stand for and what Louisianans need. Louisiana right now, need leaders and citizens with balanced, fair and intelligent reasoning to work out very difficult situations we find ourselves.
For myself and identifying with many --Louisiana, the New Orleans area and specially Cajun country, this is my country, this is our country, it is about--an up-bringing, a background, a personal history of ancestors and descendants, an environment of people, relationships, relatives and family.
This is what makes us strong. This is what unites.
United, Louisiana and its people will overcome fear, despair and anger for we know these emotions weaken us as a person, weaken us as a society. We will, be stronger than this, we will, be stronger than the ones that want to divide us. We will, embrace our challenges, we will, accept. And in our support of one another, we will, succeed.
Our better-selves are already at work, working together. The enterprising and creative circle of community is hard at work---Our Oil Workers(Justin, Logan, Kyle), Shrimpers, Community Outreach Coordinators (BP) , Coastal Parish Governments, Audubon Nature Institute, Seafood Industry, Federal Homeland Security, Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness( Lee John), Corp of Engineers(Danny), Gulf Restoration Network, Wildlife and Fisheries, Coast Guard, National Guard, and our local volunteers of Louisiana citizens.
Taking sides is unnecessary and counter-productive because:
Louisianans bleed Together, Louisianans suffer Together, Louisianans survive Together
Susanthur
Newsvine - Louisianans bleed Together, Louisianans suffer Together, Louisianans survive Together
Another tragedy is unfolding. Another One!, I scream irately and angrily to the heavens.
How can this be? How unfair and how are we going to, now, survive this, I desperately ask.
I know here in New Orleans, where I now live (Crowley, Cajun country originally) we have had our share of hardship and difficulties. Many of us frighten, despaired and overwhelmed what we experienced nearing 5 years ago. Hurricane Katrina's anniversary is in August. And Hurricane Rita gust in without much delay, giving Louisiana no break or rest. It seems barley enough time to catch our breath, even though we sweat it out every hurricane season since. The experience of the "big one" has left many of us edgy, anxious and nervous. It has been a challenge for us all.
Now here is once more another challenge. The oil spill in the gulf that threatens our, ecosystem, shoreline and seafood industries. For many of us, our distress are concentrated on our wetlands which have become more defenseless by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. I recognize I have. For us to undergo another "big one" our coast is the first line of defense to our survival. Ever since these potential, massive hurricanes, my intense coastal and wetland focus has been like a laser, zeroing on which is most important for Southern Louisiana's continued existence.
However, the health and wellbeing for our future lies right now with-- us-- which are our local oil field experts and workers. The men on these oil rigs, the ones that will--and I have confidence--will plug the blowout and stop the damage--the bleeding--they are US.
They are family and friends, mutual Louisiana citizens, who are well aware how important their job is, for us as well as for themselves and their family.
Much is at stake to our livelihood, our environment and our way of life.
These challenges, taken together-- standing together as community, we can accomplish much. Louisianans bleed Together, Louisianans suffer Together, Louisianans survive Together. Let us not be divided. Division will only hinder, obstruct and hamper.
I am not liking what I am seeing out there, in the media, in the newspapers, on the news programs-- the cynics, the name-calling, the finger-pointing, the conspiracy theories, none of this helps. In fact, this is not the" best of us" but the "worst of us". To solve big problems such as this, it will take the "best of us". When the fringes dominate the debate--it doesn't make for good course of action. Careless language reduces the ability to solve problems or produce any agreement among us. It mainly produces anger. Lots of us are frustrated, concerned, worried, questioning, doubtful, uncertain, searching, and yes, even hopeful. Some of these emotions guide us into good problem-solving but anger seldom does.
Let us not be swayed by those, who want to divide and who have a very different "agenda" than Louisianans. Lost within these harsh and loud voices is the image of what Louisianans are really about, what Louisianans stand for and what Louisianans need. Louisiana right now, need leaders and citizens with balanced, fair and intelligent reasoning to work out very difficult situations we find ourselves.
For myself and identifying with many --Louisiana, the New Orleans area and specially Cajun country, this is my country, this is our country, it is about--an up-bringing, a background, a personal history of ancestors and descendants, an environment of people, relationships, relatives and family.
This is what makes us strong. This is what unites.
United, Louisiana and its people will overcome fear, despair and anger for we know these emotions weaken us as a person, weaken us as a society. We will, be stronger than this, we will, be stronger than the ones that want to divide us. We will, embrace our challenges, we will, accept. And in our support of one another, we will, succeed.
Our better-selves are already at work, working together. The enterprising and creative circle of community is hard at work---Our Oil Workers(Justin, Logan, Kyle), Shrimpers, Community Outreach Coordinators (BP) , Coastal Parish Governments, Audubon Nature Institute, Seafood Industry, Federal Homeland Security, Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness( Lee John), Corp of Engineers(Danny), Gulf Restoration Network, Wildlife and Fisheries, Coast Guard, National Guard, and our local volunteers of Louisiana citizens.
Taking sides is unnecessary and counter-productive because:
Louisianans bleed Together, Louisianans suffer Together, Louisianans survive Together
Susanthur
Newsvine - Louisianans bleed Together, Louisianans suffer Together, Louisianans survive Together
Monday, May 3, 2010
Consortiumnews.com
In addressing the University of Michigan graduating class, President Barack Obama pleaded for increased “civility” in American politics and in the media, faulting extremes of the Left and the Right for the ugly acrimony that is sapping the nation’s ability to address serious problems.
The address did defend the role that government must play in creating conditions for a successful nation, but Obama noted that “to keep our democracy healthy,” there must be “a basic level of civility in our public debate.” He went on to criticize both those on the Right who throw around accusations of “socialist” and those on the Left who use words like “right-wing nut.”
In Obama’s framing of the incivility problem, both sides were treated as roughly equal offenders,
Consortiumnews.com
The address did defend the role that government must play in creating conditions for a successful nation, but Obama noted that “to keep our democracy healthy,” there must be “a basic level of civility in our public debate.” He went on to criticize both those on the Right who throw around accusations of “socialist” and those on the Left who use words like “right-wing nut.”
In Obama’s framing of the incivility problem, both sides were treated as roughly equal offenders,
Consortiumnews.com
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Washington Times & Rev Moon & irrationality and dirty tricks
After all, for 28 years, the right-wing Washington Times has sent disinformation slithering through the U.S. political system while creating a nest for propagandists who have befouled American democracy with irrationality and dirty tricks.
Indeed, one could say that Moon's newspaper pioneered the modern style of deceptive “journalism” that is the daily fare on Fox News, angry talk radio and right-wing blogs.
The immediate cause of the Washington Times’ financial collapse is said to be the bitter succession fight among children of the 90-year-old Unification Church founder who is no longer capable of maintaining personal control over his global religious-political-business empire.
Consortiumnews.com
Indeed, one could say that Moon's newspaper pioneered the modern style of deceptive “journalism” that is the daily fare on Fox News, angry talk radio and right-wing blogs.
The immediate cause of the Washington Times’ financial collapse is said to be the bitter succession fight among children of the 90-year-old Unification Church founder who is no longer capable of maintaining personal control over his global religious-political-business empire.
Consortiumnews.com
Monday, April 26, 2010
Op-Ed Columnist - The Government War - NYTimes.com
In these columns I try to give voice to a philosophy you might call progressive conservatism. It starts with the wisdom of Edmund Burke — the belief that the world is more complex than we can know and we should be skeptical of handing too much power to government planners. It layers in a dose of Hamiltonian optimism — the belief that limited but energetic government can nonetheless successfully enhance opportunity and social mobility.
Op-Ed Columnist - The Government War - NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Columnist - The Government War - NYTimes.com
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
TV Guide Magazine | News | Is TV Starting a New Civil War?
In a U.S. torn by dissent over health care, immigration and Barack Obama, rhetorical rage is the new norm. Just turn on Fox News and MSNBC. Partisan talkers like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity on the conservative-leaning FNC and Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz on their liberal counterpart MSNBC inflame their eager fans with colorful, merciless and sometimes misleading attacks on the opposition.
A generation ago, no matter how divided their politics, Americans got their news from the same source—“the lame stream media,” to quote Fox contributor Sarah Palin. Almost the entire country was watching back in 1968 when CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite declared the Vietnam War not winnable. Four years later, he was deemed the most trusted man in America.
TV Guide Magazine | News | Is TV Starting a New Civil War?
A generation ago, no matter how divided their politics, Americans got their news from the same source—“the lame stream media,” to quote Fox contributor Sarah Palin. Almost the entire country was watching back in 1968 when CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite declared the Vietnam War not winnable. Four years later, he was deemed the most trusted man in America.
TV Guide Magazine | News | Is TV Starting a New Civil War?
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Evening Sun | Government is us, not them
The number is startling. Only 22 percent of Americans “trust the government in Washington almost always or most of the time,” according to the Pew Research Center. “Trust in government rarely gets this low,” said Andrew Kohut, the center’s director. This is a dangerous trend because it reflects our growing inability to trust one another, to work together to solve common problems. And Lord knows we have them: from warring terrorists and warming temperatures to the demographic car bomb of retiring baby boomers that’s about to explode.
Link for more:
http://www.evesun.com/news/stories/2010-04-23/9469/Government-is-us-not-them/
The Evening Sun | Government is us, not them
Link for more:
http://www.evesun.com/news/stories/2010-04-23/9469/Government-is-us-not-them/
The Evening Sun | Government is us, not them
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Bill Moyers Journal: Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Crocodile Tears on Wall Street
Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Crocodile Tears on Wall Street
With all due respect, we can only wish those Tea Party activists who gathered in Washington and other cities this week weren't so single-minded about just who's responsible for all their troubles, real and imagined. They're up in arms, so to speak, against Big Government, especially the Obama administration.
If they thought this through, they'd be joining forces with other grassroots Americans who in the coming weeks will be demonstrating in Washington and other cities against High Finance, taking on Wall Street and the country's biggest banks.
The original Tea Party, remember, wasn't directed just against the British redcoats. Colonial patriots also took aim at the East India Company. That was the joint-stock enterprise originally chartered by the first Queen Elizabeth. Over the years, the government granted them special rights and privileges, which the owners turned into a monopoly over trade, including tea.
Bill Moyers Journal: Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Crocodile Tears on Wall Street
With all due respect, we can only wish those Tea Party activists who gathered in Washington and other cities this week weren't so single-minded about just who's responsible for all their troubles, real and imagined. They're up in arms, so to speak, against Big Government, especially the Obama administration.
If they thought this through, they'd be joining forces with other grassroots Americans who in the coming weeks will be demonstrating in Washington and other cities against High Finance, taking on Wall Street and the country's biggest banks.
The original Tea Party, remember, wasn't directed just against the British redcoats. Colonial patriots also took aim at the East India Company. That was the joint-stock enterprise originally chartered by the first Queen Elizabeth. Over the years, the government granted them special rights and privileges, which the owners turned into a monopoly over trade, including tea.
Bill Moyers Journal: Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Crocodile Tears on Wall Street
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Where Does the Money Go?
Americans paid a lower share of their national income in taxes in 2009 than at any time since 1950. Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 98 percent of working families got a tax cut this year. The rich, too, have been treated very kindly by the tax code in recent years. The top marginal tax rate on income is fully half of what it was 30 years ago, and the top rate on capital gains is at its lowest point since 1933
Where Does the Money Go?
Where Does the Money Go?
Monday, April 12, 2010
Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go? - TaxDay 2010 | National Priorities Project
With this publication, taxpayers can take stock of how the federal government spent each 2009 income tax dollar: from 26.5 cents for military-related spending to 13.6 cents for military and non-military interest on the debt to 2 cents for education. The publication also shows, in addition to individual income taxes, where the money came from in 2009 to pay for the federal spending
Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go? - TaxDay 2010 | National Priorities Project
Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go? - TaxDay 2010 | National Priorities Project
Friday, April 9, 2010
http://blog.cagle.com/2010/04/08/dont-repeat-this-history/
http://blog.cagle.com/2010/04/08/dont-repeat-this-history/
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Looking out from the harbor here, it’s easy to imagine a mortar lighting up the night sky as it hurtled toward Fort Sumter and signaled the start of the Civil War. It’s also easy, standing inside the walls of the island garrison, to view today’s nullification battle over health care less as a frivolous political game and more as a serious threat to the Constitution.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Looking out from the harbor here, it’s easy to imagine a mortar lighting up the night sky as it hurtled toward Fort Sumter and signaled the start of the Civil War. It’s also easy, standing inside the walls of the island garrison, to view today’s nullification battle over health care less as a frivolous political game and more as a serious threat to the Constitution.
Michael Gerson - Tone down the hatefulness in politics
Michael Gerson - Tone down the hatefulness in politics
What is so wrong about Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell declaring April to be Confederate History Month? Can't we respect Robert E. Lee's high-minded sense of honor? The average Confederate soldier's outnumbered stubbornness?
Americans can appreciate these things, and do. But when a public official celebrates Confederate history without mentioning slavery, there is a problem.
The historical context of secession was the defense of slavery
What is so wrong about Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell declaring April to be Confederate History Month? Can't we respect Robert E. Lee's high-minded sense of honor? The average Confederate soldier's outnumbered stubbornness?
Americans can appreciate these things, and do. But when a public official celebrates Confederate history without mentioning slavery, there is a problem.
The historical context of secession was the defense of slavery
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Deficit Fascinates Media—Its Causes, Not So Much
Deficit Fascinates Media—Its Causes, Not So Much
The role of George W. Bush’s tax cuts in the current federal deficit is tremendous. Their role in corporate media’s current round of deficit obsession, however, is tenuous at best. Sometimes acknowledged in editorials or op-eds, the cuts generally only make it into news reports as assertions from the White House or Democrats, rather than established and relevant economic fact.
The role of George W. Bush’s tax cuts in the current federal deficit is tremendous. Their role in corporate media’s current round of deficit obsession, however, is tenuous at best. Sometimes acknowledged in editorials or op-eds, the cuts generally only make it into news reports as assertions from the White House or Democrats, rather than established and relevant economic fact.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Republican obstructionism /Consortiumnews.com
Consortiumnews.com
Washington’s conventional wisdom for explaining the intensity of Republican obstructionism toward President Barack Obama breaks down one of two ways: either it’s a philosophical disagreement over the role of government or a desperate need to stay in line with a radicalized right-wing base.
Washington’s conventional wisdom for explaining the intensity of Republican obstructionism toward President Barack Obama breaks down one of two ways: either it’s a philosophical disagreement over the role of government or a desperate need to stay in line with a radicalized right-wing base.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Roots of The Tea Party's Conspiracy Mania - CBS News
Roots of The Tea Party's Conspiracy Mania - CBS News
Leftists like to say that another world is possible, but I was never quite sure of that until I started reading tea party websites. There, a government of leftists is not only possible, it's on the cusp of seizing permanent power, having broken American capitalism and replaced it with a socialist state. Down that rabbit hole, Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel are communists, and "The Left"--which encompasses everyone from the Democratic Leadership Council to Maoist sectarians--is a disciplined and near omnipotent army marching in lockstep to a decades-old master plan for domination called the "Cloward-Piven strategy" or, as of January 20, 2009, "Cloward-Piven government."
Leftists like to say that another world is possible, but I was never quite sure of that until I started reading tea party websites. There, a government of leftists is not only possible, it's on the cusp of seizing permanent power, having broken American capitalism and replaced it with a socialist state. Down that rabbit hole, Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel are communists, and "The Left"--which encompasses everyone from the Democratic Leadership Council to Maoist sectarians--is a disciplined and near omnipotent army marching in lockstep to a decades-old master plan for domination called the "Cloward-Piven strategy" or, as of January 20, 2009, "Cloward-Piven government."
The GOP's Blame-ACORN Game
The GOP's Blame-ACORN Game
An increasingly desperate Republican attack machine has recently identified the community organizing group ACORN as Public Enemy Number One. Among ACORN's alleged crimes, perhaps the most serious is that it caused, nearly single-handedly, the world's financial crisis. That's the fantasy. In the reality-based world, it was ACORN that sounded the alarm about the exploitative lending practices that led to the current mortgage meltdown and financial crisis.
An increasingly desperate Republican attack machine has recently identified the community organizing group ACORN as Public Enemy Number One. Among ACORN's alleged crimes, perhaps the most serious is that it caused, nearly single-handedly, the world's financial crisis. That's the fantasy. In the reality-based world, it was ACORN that sounded the alarm about the exploitative lending practices that led to the current mortgage meltdown and financial crisis.
Responsible Wealth, Responsible Taxes
Responsible Wealth, Responsible Taxes
Every day, the damage done by the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy becomes clearer.
With 15 million people unemployed, millions of families facing home foreclosure, and state and local budgets decimated by lost revenues, there is a huge struggle to find the resources needed to respond to our economic crisis.
If you're wondering why we're in such bad budgetary straits, remember those Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. Nearly half of the cuts went to W's "base"--the top 5 percent of income earners--while the bottom 60 percent received less than 15 percent. By the end of this year, W.'s fiscal malfeasance will have cost this nation--ready for this?--$2.5 trillion
Every day, the damage done by the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy becomes clearer.
With 15 million people unemployed, millions of families facing home foreclosure, and state and local budgets decimated by lost revenues, there is a huge struggle to find the resources needed to respond to our economic crisis.
If you're wondering why we're in such bad budgetary straits, remember those Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. Nearly half of the cuts went to W's "base"--the top 5 percent of income earners--while the bottom 60 percent received less than 15 percent. By the end of this year, W.'s fiscal malfeasance will have cost this nation--ready for this?--$2.5 trillion
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Karl Rove Autographs Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope Book
Karl Rove and the Liberal (Independent) - SusanThur - Open Salon
Link for Photos
Can someone spin the Spin Master? I just did! I am a big Obama supporter/ I was at a Karl Rove book signing and I was able to get him to sign my Audacity of Hope book(page33). By asking Karl Rove to sign the page in Obama's book he was not too happy about. I knew Political Spin will now be my device to make use of in requesting Mr. Rove to sign my The Audacity of Hope book. It is so rich and amusing to see politicians place the political spin on each other. How could he deny me when I am offering him some self-perceived vindication?
Read how I did it.
'Courage and Consequence'
Here he is looking in my Audacity of Hope (Obama book).
In his book Mr. Rove stated that Obama misquoted him--he said---he never said that.
In Mr. Rove's book this passage is written this way:
Shorty after publication of Obama's The Audacity of Hope, my deputy Barry Jackson asked, "Did you know you're in his book?" I didn't, but there on page 33, accused of saying something I'd never said:
The section Mr. Rove states in his book stated in Mr. Obama Book:
For a younger generation of conservative operatives who would soon rise to power, for Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove and Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed, the fiery rhetoric was more than a matter of campaign strategy. They were true believers who meant what they said, whether it was "not new taxes' or "We are a Christian nation."
Continuing to read Mr. Rove:
"While I readily admit to believing and saying the part about taxes, I certainly don't believe and never said, "We are a Christian nation." It's one thing to say that America is a notion of faith, that our country draws on the Judeo-Christian ethic, and that we celebrate the First Amendment's protection of the "free exercise" of religion. It's entirely something else to say, "We are a Christian nation." What happened to the Jews? The Muslims? The Hindus? The Buddhists? The skeptics and nonbelievers? In America, you can have any faith----or not believe at all----and still be just as good an American as anyone else."
Yep, as I read through Mr. Rove's book, and yes, I read a lot before the book signing. I did not think it right to go for the book signing and not do my homework.
What kind of political science student would I be ---if I did not do that.
As I read, I would tab things I agreed with and I tab things I did not. And yes, there were many, many sections I did not agree but there were some I did, mostly the sections pertaining to Political Strategy. Rove is a Master when it comes to Political Strategy. It is one of the reasons I went to the book signing. Now, someone may ask, Why, me, who is a die-hard Obama supporter would go see Karl Rove-- a Republican strategist! I guess because I do see myself a political science student and Karl Rove is one of my study subjects. How can I not be there when someone I have been studying is so close to my home. I can not let this opportunity pass me by.
As I read the book, I would tab things I agreed and I tab things I did not. The so called Obama quote about Mr. Rove was a section I tabbed which I agreed with Mr. Rove. Of my many studies of Mr. Rove I do believe he would not have "said" "We are a Christian nation"
About the taxes-- yes. But Christian nation passage --no.
Karl Rove, as a master political strategist, "Using", "Manipulating", and "Courting" the Republican Religious Right base and the Christian Right's propaganda ---We are a Christian nation reference---Yes.
“National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ‘ridiculous,’ ‘out of control,’ and just plain ‘goofy,’” David Kuo writes in his book Tempting Faith He says some of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as “the nuts.”
http://www.amazon.com/Tempting-Faith-Inside-Political
Seduction/dp/0743287134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269372363&sr=1-1
I stored that tidbit away a few years ago and have always kept in mind Jim Wallis quote, bestselling author of God's Politics, "Beware of those who would manipulate genuine faith for partisan political purposes."
Yes indeed, it all does come down to whom do we, "trust".
I did say Mr. Karl Rove is the "Master" of his craft.
Political Spin in this country, is the tool to misinform, deceive, mislead and hoodwink the American citizenry. And I know, as an Independent voter, all sides of the political spectrum are guilty of it.
Myself a true believer in something also---a true believer in the existence of "Political Spin," I knew Political Spin will now be my device to make use of in requesting Mr. Rove to sign my The Audacity of Hope (Obama) book.
It is so rich and amusing to see politicians place the political spin on each other. How could he deny me when I am offering him some self-perceived vindication?
The night before the book signing I could not sleep. Over and over in my mind, tumbled the words I wanted to say when I meet him. Should I tell him I saw him on the Charlie Rose Show and thought it a very good interview? Could I be bold enough and tell him I disagreed with him on one of his charters? I had read somewhere that he did not want to or was not sure including a chapter about his family. And I wanted to tell him, he was wrong, I enjoyed the chapter about his family history and it was this chapter that kept me reading but most important it was this chapter that humanized him. If only we can, as a society, see each other, human, struggling with our own hurt and pain.
My thoughts, unrelenting, kept me up until 2:00 am, thinking also how was I going to say the words that would get him to sign my Obama book. And, did I even have the courage to. Yes, as we lay in bed thinking everything we want to say or do, we have great courage. However, with the encroachment of the rising sun bringing a new day and the impending reality that comes with it, I knew bravery and audacity would be shattered and ruined by my own cowardice. Just like the cowardly lion from OZ, safe in his own environment, I can roar raucously in my own (home & bed) but if my figurative Toto nips me, I cry like a sissy, little baby.
Danny, my husband, could care less about politics but he had great fun when I told him Karl Rove's nick name given to him by President Bush was Turd Blossom. Here was where he enjoyed putting his two cents in. He dared me to ask Mr. Rove to sign my copy of his book---To Susan From Turd Blossom. Now, that would take a tremendous amount of audacity. We did have great amusement with that idea but all of this was forgotten until after the book signing and we sat in the bookstore coffee shop watching the rest of the signing proceedings. Oh yes, forgot to mention, Danny and I were one of the first in line, getting our line tickets the day before. So, we had plenty of time to enjoy and discuss the Turd Blossom nick name. Danny's theory of President Bush calling Mr. Rove Turd Blossom is because, and this tells just how Bush's mind may work---a very funny guy---got to give that to him---- Mr. Karl Rove can take a pile of shit and make it blossom into something useful, even maybe, pretty.
Now, that's a master of spin.
Day of the book signing: Line up
Number 5 come up to the podium---that's me and Danny, our turn is here.
I shook Mr. Rove's hand and then Danny shook his hand.
I think I said it was so nice to meet him, I was a big Obama supporter and I enjoyed reading the book. As a political science student it gave me political balance, I said. And yes, I did tell him I disagreed with him in his idea that he should maybe not have written about his family. Writing about his family was good and I enjoyed the chapter, I told him. He said Thank You. And Yes, Yes, I then asked if he would sign Audacity of Hope and the page I wanted sign was PAGE 33--the non not-quite Rove quote, "We are a Christian nation." He said yes he would but he wanted to write something on that page not just the standard ---to whom ever. I said wow, that showed what kind of person he was ----a good sport. Then he noticed Danny's U. S. Army Iraq baseball cap and thanked Danny for his service. Then pictures were taken--to Buy.
As we turn to leave a Times Picayune representative asked for our name since he took pictures of us for the paper. As we sat down in the coffee shop Danny and I took a look at both signed books. To Susan--karl Rove---and the Obama book, page 33----"NEVER SAID IT"~ Karl Rove.
And yes, it's in caps. I laughed and was thrilled.
Wow! What a day for a political junkie like me.
But Wait! There's more. You don't get one sharp political knife, if you call now, you get two sharp political knives!
Who walks in and walks right in front where I am sitting and sit at the next table?
Mary Matalin, the Republican Political Strategist! I have seen her many times as well as her husband, James Carville, the Democratic Political Strategist on TV. They now live in New Orleans.
I went over to her and asked her if she would sign Mr. Rove's book. She graciously did. I found her very nice and easy to talk to. We must have talked a good 10 minutes. I told her how I able to get Karl Rove to sign my Obama book and I opened the page to the signature of-- Never Said It. I also told her I was able to see Obama in New Orleans when he came for a Town Hall Meeting. Viewing my copy of Mr. Rove's book, she said she was very impressed with my reading skills. I told Mrs. Carville (Matalin) I have been studying Political Science for 7 years now---every since the Iraq War. I then introduced Danny to her after he came back from another part of the book store. She could see from Danny's hat that he went to Iraq and asked him where in Iraq did he serve. She thanked Danny for his service. I mentioned to her the struggles of a military family. I told her Danny always thought he believed he was pretty much safe and Ok ( invincible complex) but the family members at home are not that much convinced and of course I never would ask how his day was going or what he may have to do that day. I did say Danny was my balance, like Obama, calm and even-tempered. She commented that she was sure I was also his balance. Oh I so wish I would have said--" Yep, like his Obama to me, I am his Rahm Emanuel to him."--Obama's Chief of Staff, who keeps the No Drama Obama informed & energized on what is important. That would have been a hoot.
I asked her how does she and her husband deal with being on the opposite side of the political spectrum, her a Republican Strategist and him, a Democratic Strategist. I believe she said, like most couples, keep things quiet.
I told her even though I voted for Obama, I am an Independent. (I see it as the smarter move) The Iraq War was my wake up call, I told her, and knowing nothing about politics, I had to start from scratch.
As I finish my seventh year of study, I know exactly, political, where I want to be, morally, where I have to be. In my studies, as I go back in time, I wonder if I would have marched for Civil Rights, marched for Women Rights, marched for Non War, marched for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and marched for Human Equality.
Yes, I do know where I would have made a stand. In the election of 08, I knew.
We talked about the concept of "big government" and "small government." I told her I was more interested in government, Working. I then asked, do we really know anything, because many things happen behind political closed doors. To be truthful and balanced, the closed door theory occur in any and all administrations. How many of us can go to the White House and sit in the Oval Room? We talked about the media spin-- all media spin (which we both agreed) and how I find it very trying and frustrating to uncover some political truth out there and the study is very hard work.
I thought it amusing as we chatted, she had her own spin ---trying to spin me. (Healthcare Bill). As I stated above, political spin is the political tool for Political Strategist and Politicians---they keep on trying to get us to take a spin on their Tilt-a-Whirl.
They maintain that ride religiously, spare no cost to keep it running smoothly, powerfully and swiftly. Efficiently operated in fast motion, the riders, dizzy, have no chance to view what is really around them, no time to even think.
Each occupant must take the leap, to take the responsibility to muster the courage to disembark. We are not "free" till we break free of the Tilt-a-Whirl political spin. The politicians and the political strategist are in charge of this ride, not us.
We must all be political science students, educating our self, searching for facts, trudge through the garbage that is out there. To recognize and leave behind, even denounce loudly, the propaganda twist of misrepresentation and manipulation wherever we find it.
This does take "Courage" maybe even the "Consequence" of standing alone, taking a stand for what we believe is right and true. Sometimes, many times, our own ignorance, anger, biases and prejudices are what hold us bound, keeping us enslaved, keeping us away from what is right, what is true and what is good.
I will place Karl Rove's book, Courage and Consequence on my bookshelf along with my other political books that I have enjoyed reading, such as: Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day by Joe Scarborough, Everything You Think You Know About Politics And Why You're Wrong by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Faith and Politics by Senator John Danforth, Bush at War by Bob Woodward, Where the Right Went Wrong by Patrick J. Buchanan, What Happen: Inside the Bush White House by Scott McClellan, America Back on Track by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Cable News Confidential by Jeff Cohen, My Life by Bill Clinton and The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.
Yes, I do believe I will place my Karl Rove book right next to Barack Obama's.
Side by side they will sit, to remind me---there are two sides to every story. Along with that thought is the, Trust Factor, if I do my homework thoroughly I will know exactly where I need to be.
Nevertheless, I will count Mr. Rove as one of my many authors and teachers. Who would have guessed---certainly not me--- that I would have a soft spot for Karl Rove, even if it is a very, very, tiny one.
If I had kept myself bound and enslaved by political bias, I would have missed out on a very great day.
Susanthur
I'm not bound to win, but bound to be true ~ Abraham Lincoln
Link for Photos
Can someone spin the Spin Master? I just did! I am a big Obama supporter/ I was at a Karl Rove book signing and I was able to get him to sign my Audacity of Hope book(page33). By asking Karl Rove to sign the page in Obama's book he was not too happy about. I knew Political Spin will now be my device to make use of in requesting Mr. Rove to sign my The Audacity of Hope book. It is so rich and amusing to see politicians place the political spin on each other. How could he deny me when I am offering him some self-perceived vindication?
Read how I did it.
'Courage and Consequence'
Here he is looking in my Audacity of Hope (Obama book).
In his book Mr. Rove stated that Obama misquoted him--he said---he never said that.
In Mr. Rove's book this passage is written this way:
Shorty after publication of Obama's The Audacity of Hope, my deputy Barry Jackson asked, "Did you know you're in his book?" I didn't, but there on page 33, accused of saying something I'd never said:
The section Mr. Rove states in his book stated in Mr. Obama Book:
For a younger generation of conservative operatives who would soon rise to power, for Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove and Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed, the fiery rhetoric was more than a matter of campaign strategy. They were true believers who meant what they said, whether it was "not new taxes' or "We are a Christian nation."
Continuing to read Mr. Rove:
"While I readily admit to believing and saying the part about taxes, I certainly don't believe and never said, "We are a Christian nation." It's one thing to say that America is a notion of faith, that our country draws on the Judeo-Christian ethic, and that we celebrate the First Amendment's protection of the "free exercise" of religion. It's entirely something else to say, "We are a Christian nation." What happened to the Jews? The Muslims? The Hindus? The Buddhists? The skeptics and nonbelievers? In America, you can have any faith----or not believe at all----and still be just as good an American as anyone else."
Yep, as I read through Mr. Rove's book, and yes, I read a lot before the book signing. I did not think it right to go for the book signing and not do my homework.
What kind of political science student would I be ---if I did not do that.
As I read, I would tab things I agreed with and I tab things I did not. And yes, there were many, many sections I did not agree but there were some I did, mostly the sections pertaining to Political Strategy. Rove is a Master when it comes to Political Strategy. It is one of the reasons I went to the book signing. Now, someone may ask, Why, me, who is a die-hard Obama supporter would go see Karl Rove-- a Republican strategist! I guess because I do see myself a political science student and Karl Rove is one of my study subjects. How can I not be there when someone I have been studying is so close to my home. I can not let this opportunity pass me by.
As I read the book, I would tab things I agreed and I tab things I did not. The so called Obama quote about Mr. Rove was a section I tabbed which I agreed with Mr. Rove. Of my many studies of Mr. Rove I do believe he would not have "said" "We are a Christian nation"
About the taxes-- yes. But Christian nation passage --no.
Karl Rove, as a master political strategist, "Using", "Manipulating", and "Courting" the Republican Religious Right base and the Christian Right's propaganda ---We are a Christian nation reference---Yes.
“National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ‘ridiculous,’ ‘out of control,’ and just plain ‘goofy,’” David Kuo writes in his book Tempting Faith He says some of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as “the nuts.”
http://www.amazon.com/Tempting-Faith-Inside-Political
Seduction/dp/0743287134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269372363&sr=1-1
I stored that tidbit away a few years ago and have always kept in mind Jim Wallis quote, bestselling author of God's Politics, "Beware of those who would manipulate genuine faith for partisan political purposes."
Yes indeed, it all does come down to whom do we, "trust".
I did say Mr. Karl Rove is the "Master" of his craft.
Political Spin in this country, is the tool to misinform, deceive, mislead and hoodwink the American citizenry. And I know, as an Independent voter, all sides of the political spectrum are guilty of it.
Myself a true believer in something also---a true believer in the existence of "Political Spin," I knew Political Spin will now be my device to make use of in requesting Mr. Rove to sign my The Audacity of Hope (Obama) book.
It is so rich and amusing to see politicians place the political spin on each other. How could he deny me when I am offering him some self-perceived vindication?
The night before the book signing I could not sleep. Over and over in my mind, tumbled the words I wanted to say when I meet him. Should I tell him I saw him on the Charlie Rose Show and thought it a very good interview? Could I be bold enough and tell him I disagreed with him on one of his charters? I had read somewhere that he did not want to or was not sure including a chapter about his family. And I wanted to tell him, he was wrong, I enjoyed the chapter about his family history and it was this chapter that kept me reading but most important it was this chapter that humanized him. If only we can, as a society, see each other, human, struggling with our own hurt and pain.
My thoughts, unrelenting, kept me up until 2:00 am, thinking also how was I going to say the words that would get him to sign my Obama book. And, did I even have the courage to. Yes, as we lay in bed thinking everything we want to say or do, we have great courage. However, with the encroachment of the rising sun bringing a new day and the impending reality that comes with it, I knew bravery and audacity would be shattered and ruined by my own cowardice. Just like the cowardly lion from OZ, safe in his own environment, I can roar raucously in my own (home & bed) but if my figurative Toto nips me, I cry like a sissy, little baby.
Danny, my husband, could care less about politics but he had great fun when I told him Karl Rove's nick name given to him by President Bush was Turd Blossom. Here was where he enjoyed putting his two cents in. He dared me to ask Mr. Rove to sign my copy of his book---To Susan From Turd Blossom. Now, that would take a tremendous amount of audacity. We did have great amusement with that idea but all of this was forgotten until after the book signing and we sat in the bookstore coffee shop watching the rest of the signing proceedings. Oh yes, forgot to mention, Danny and I were one of the first in line, getting our line tickets the day before. So, we had plenty of time to enjoy and discuss the Turd Blossom nick name. Danny's theory of President Bush calling Mr. Rove Turd Blossom is because, and this tells just how Bush's mind may work---a very funny guy---got to give that to him---- Mr. Karl Rove can take a pile of shit and make it blossom into something useful, even maybe, pretty.
Now, that's a master of spin.
Day of the book signing: Line up
Number 5 come up to the podium---that's me and Danny, our turn is here.
I shook Mr. Rove's hand and then Danny shook his hand.
I think I said it was so nice to meet him, I was a big Obama supporter and I enjoyed reading the book. As a political science student it gave me political balance, I said. And yes, I did tell him I disagreed with him in his idea that he should maybe not have written about his family. Writing about his family was good and I enjoyed the chapter, I told him. He said Thank You. And Yes, Yes, I then asked if he would sign Audacity of Hope and the page I wanted sign was PAGE 33--the non not-quite Rove quote, "We are a Christian nation." He said yes he would but he wanted to write something on that page not just the standard ---to whom ever. I said wow, that showed what kind of person he was ----a good sport. Then he noticed Danny's U. S. Army Iraq baseball cap and thanked Danny for his service. Then pictures were taken--to Buy.
As we turn to leave a Times Picayune representative asked for our name since he took pictures of us for the paper. As we sat down in the coffee shop Danny and I took a look at both signed books. To Susan--karl Rove---and the Obama book, page 33----"NEVER SAID IT"~ Karl Rove.
And yes, it's in caps. I laughed and was thrilled.
Wow! What a day for a political junkie like me.
But Wait! There's more. You don't get one sharp political knife, if you call now, you get two sharp political knives!
Who walks in and walks right in front where I am sitting and sit at the next table?
Mary Matalin, the Republican Political Strategist! I have seen her many times as well as her husband, James Carville, the Democratic Political Strategist on TV. They now live in New Orleans.
I went over to her and asked her if she would sign Mr. Rove's book. She graciously did. I found her very nice and easy to talk to. We must have talked a good 10 minutes. I told her how I able to get Karl Rove to sign my Obama book and I opened the page to the signature of-- Never Said It. I also told her I was able to see Obama in New Orleans when he came for a Town Hall Meeting. Viewing my copy of Mr. Rove's book, she said she was very impressed with my reading skills. I told Mrs. Carville (Matalin) I have been studying Political Science for 7 years now---every since the Iraq War. I then introduced Danny to her after he came back from another part of the book store. She could see from Danny's hat that he went to Iraq and asked him where in Iraq did he serve. She thanked Danny for his service. I mentioned to her the struggles of a military family. I told her Danny always thought he believed he was pretty much safe and Ok ( invincible complex) but the family members at home are not that much convinced and of course I never would ask how his day was going or what he may have to do that day. I did say Danny was my balance, like Obama, calm and even-tempered. She commented that she was sure I was also his balance. Oh I so wish I would have said--" Yep, like his Obama to me, I am his Rahm Emanuel to him."--Obama's Chief of Staff, who keeps the No Drama Obama informed & energized on what is important. That would have been a hoot.
I asked her how does she and her husband deal with being on the opposite side of the political spectrum, her a Republican Strategist and him, a Democratic Strategist. I believe she said, like most couples, keep things quiet.
I told her even though I voted for Obama, I am an Independent. (I see it as the smarter move) The Iraq War was my wake up call, I told her, and knowing nothing about politics, I had to start from scratch.
As I finish my seventh year of study, I know exactly, political, where I want to be, morally, where I have to be. In my studies, as I go back in time, I wonder if I would have marched for Civil Rights, marched for Women Rights, marched for Non War, marched for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and marched for Human Equality.
Yes, I do know where I would have made a stand. In the election of 08, I knew.
We talked about the concept of "big government" and "small government." I told her I was more interested in government, Working. I then asked, do we really know anything, because many things happen behind political closed doors. To be truthful and balanced, the closed door theory occur in any and all administrations. How many of us can go to the White House and sit in the Oval Room? We talked about the media spin-- all media spin (which we both agreed) and how I find it very trying and frustrating to uncover some political truth out there and the study is very hard work.
I thought it amusing as we chatted, she had her own spin ---trying to spin me. (Healthcare Bill). As I stated above, political spin is the political tool for Political Strategist and Politicians---they keep on trying to get us to take a spin on their Tilt-a-Whirl.
They maintain that ride religiously, spare no cost to keep it running smoothly, powerfully and swiftly. Efficiently operated in fast motion, the riders, dizzy, have no chance to view what is really around them, no time to even think.
Each occupant must take the leap, to take the responsibility to muster the courage to disembark. We are not "free" till we break free of the Tilt-a-Whirl political spin. The politicians and the political strategist are in charge of this ride, not us.
We must all be political science students, educating our self, searching for facts, trudge through the garbage that is out there. To recognize and leave behind, even denounce loudly, the propaganda twist of misrepresentation and manipulation wherever we find it.
This does take "Courage" maybe even the "Consequence" of standing alone, taking a stand for what we believe is right and true. Sometimes, many times, our own ignorance, anger, biases and prejudices are what hold us bound, keeping us enslaved, keeping us away from what is right, what is true and what is good.
I will place Karl Rove's book, Courage and Consequence on my bookshelf along with my other political books that I have enjoyed reading, such as: Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day by Joe Scarborough, Everything You Think You Know About Politics And Why You're Wrong by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Faith and Politics by Senator John Danforth, Bush at War by Bob Woodward, Where the Right Went Wrong by Patrick J. Buchanan, What Happen: Inside the Bush White House by Scott McClellan, America Back on Track by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Cable News Confidential by Jeff Cohen, My Life by Bill Clinton and The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.
Yes, I do believe I will place my Karl Rove book right next to Barack Obama's.
Side by side they will sit, to remind me---there are two sides to every story. Along with that thought is the, Trust Factor, if I do my homework thoroughly I will know exactly where I need to be.
Nevertheless, I will count Mr. Rove as one of my many authors and teachers. Who would have guessed---certainly not me--- that I would have a soft spot for Karl Rove, even if it is a very, very, tiny one.
If I had kept myself bound and enslaved by political bias, I would have missed out on a very great day.
Susanthur
I'm not bound to win, but bound to be true ~ Abraham Lincoln
Truman. Johnson. Obama. | The New Republic
Truman. Johnson. Obama. | The New Republic
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act extends the promise of affordable care to the rest of the country--a promise that will be fulfilled, one way or another, by the government.
It will not happen today, tomorrow, or even in 2014, the first year of full implementation. And you can expect plenty of problems along the way. But history tells us that first we we agree to an obligation--and then we spend some time, maybe a long time, meeting it. Medicare grew to cover more and more benefits; Medicaid grew to cover more and more people. The same will happen with this act, I am sure.
In the meantime, life will get a little better for most people and a lot better for a few. The sick will get some care. The fearful will know some serenity.
And somewhere LBJ will be smiling. Harry Truman, too.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act extends the promise of affordable care to the rest of the country--a promise that will be fulfilled, one way or another, by the government.
It will not happen today, tomorrow, or even in 2014, the first year of full implementation. And you can expect plenty of problems along the way. But history tells us that first we we agree to an obligation--and then we spend some time, maybe a long time, meeting it. Medicare grew to cover more and more benefits; Medicaid grew to cover more and more people. The same will happen with this act, I am sure.
In the meantime, life will get a little better for most people and a lot better for a few. The sick will get some care. The fearful will know some serenity.
And somewhere LBJ will be smiling. Harry Truman, too.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Education of David Stockman - The Atlantic (December 1981)
The Education of David Stockman - The Atlantic (December 1981): "The Education of David Stockman - The Atlantic (December 1981)
Stockman himself had been a late convert to supply-side theology, and now he was beginning to leave the church. The theory of 'expectations' wasn't working. He could see that. And Stockman's institutional role as budget director forced him to look constantly at aspects of the political economy that the other supply-siders tended to dismiss. Whatever the reason, Stockman was creating some distance between himself and the supply-side purists; eventually, he would become the target of their nasty barbs. For his part, Stockman began to disparage the grand theory as a kind of convenient illusion—new rhetoric to cover old Republican doctrine.
"
Stockman himself had been a late convert to supply-side theology, and now he was beginning to leave the church. The theory of 'expectations' wasn't working. He could see that. And Stockman's institutional role as budget director forced him to look constantly at aspects of the political economy that the other supply-siders tended to dismiss. Whatever the reason, Stockman was creating some distance between himself and the supply-side purists; eventually, he would become the target of their nasty barbs. For his part, Stockman began to disparage the grand theory as a kind of convenient illusion—new rhetoric to cover old Republican doctrine.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Catholic Europe: How Damaged is the Papacy? - TIME
Catholic Europe: How Damaged is the Papacy? - TIME
On Good Friday 2005, as a dying Pope John Paul II watched via video hookup, worshippers outside the candlelit Way of the Cross ceremony in Rome's Colosseum recited meditations written by the man who would be his successor. Breaking with tradition, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's musings veered away from Christ's Passion and into the Catholic Church's current problems. "How much filth there is in the Church," he wrote, clearly referring to the charges of sex abuse by priests that had rocked the church in the U.S. "And even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him!"
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1973213,00.html?xid=thepage_newsletter#ixzz0ipR9ND4w
On Good Friday 2005, as a dying Pope John Paul II watched via video hookup, worshippers outside the candlelit Way of the Cross ceremony in Rome's Colosseum recited meditations written by the man who would be his successor. Breaking with tradition, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's musings veered away from Christ's Passion and into the Catholic Church's current problems. "How much filth there is in the Church," he wrote, clearly referring to the charges of sex abuse by priests that had rocked the church in the U.S. "And even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him!"
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1973213,00.html?xid=thepage_newsletter#ixzz0ipR9ND4w
Friday, March 19, 2010
Head Strong: Free (and hateful) speech vs. the right to gather | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/14/2010
Head Strong: Free (and hateful) speech vs. the right to gather | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/14/2010
Fred Phelps, founder and pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., claims to be a man of God. But when I interviewed him days after he initiated a vulgar protest at a dead Marine's funeral, he reminded me more of Lucifer.
America, he insisted, had "gone the way of the Brokeback Mountain," before adding: "God's wrath is upon this nation. And he's pouring out that wrath by killing these soldiers and maiming these soldiers in Iraq and sending them back in body bags. And it's only going to get worse." Though we "met" by way of a cable television connection, I remember how disturbed his fiery eyes left me.
Fred Phelps, founder and pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., claims to be a man of God. But when I interviewed him days after he initiated a vulgar protest at a dead Marine's funeral, he reminded me more of Lucifer.
America, he insisted, had "gone the way of the Brokeback Mountain," before adding: "God's wrath is upon this nation. And he's pouring out that wrath by killing these soldiers and maiming these soldiers in Iraq and sending them back in body bags. And it's only going to get worse." Though we "met" by way of a cable television connection, I remember how disturbed his fiery eyes left me.
Thomas Friedman/ Let’s Fight Over a Big Plan / Israel / NYTimes.com:
Op-Ed Columnist - Let’s Fight Over a Big Plan - NYTimes.com
Underlying the latest U.S.-Israel spat over settlements is the deeper — real — problem: There are five key actors in the Israeli-Palestinian equation today. Two of them — the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the alliance of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah — have clear strategies. These two are actually opposed, but one of them will shape Israeli-Palestinian relations in the coming years; indeed, their showdown is nearing. I hope Fayyad wins. It would be good for Israel, America and the moderate Arabs. But those three need their own strategy to make it happen.
Underlying the latest U.S.-Israel spat over settlements is the deeper — real — problem: There are five key actors in the Israeli-Palestinian equation today. Two of them — the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the alliance of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah — have clear strategies. These two are actually opposed, but one of them will shape Israeli-Palestinian relations in the coming years; indeed, their showdown is nearing. I hope Fayyad wins. It would be good for Israel, America and the moderate Arabs. But those three need their own strategy to make it happen.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Newsvine - Texas Messes with History: Scientific American Podcast
Newsvine - Texas Messes with History: Scientific American Podcast
The Texas Board of Education has long promoted the teaching of creationism in schools instead of actual science. It’s former chairman and current member Don McLeroy uttered this immortal line when confronted with numerous actual scientists urging that evolution be discussed accurately in the curriculum: “I disagree with these experts. Somebody’s gotta stand up to experts that are just…I think, I don’t know why they’re doing it, they’re wonderful people.”
This stuff is important nationwide. Because Texas buys so many textbooks. So textbook publishers tailor their products so that they’ll be marketable in Texas. And many places around the country get stuck with the same books.
Last week, the Texas Board revised its history standards. And it decreed that a list of people who were influential in fomenting revolutions would no longer include Thomas Jefferson. The board’s not crazy about Jefferson because of the whole separation of church and state thing. But if the guy who wrote the Declaration of Independence doesn’t meet your standards, maybe it’s really time to start listening to experts.
The Texas Board of Education has long promoted the teaching of creationism in schools instead of actual science. It’s former chairman and current member Don McLeroy uttered this immortal line when confronted with numerous actual scientists urging that evolution be discussed accurately in the curriculum: “I disagree with these experts. Somebody’s gotta stand up to experts that are just…I think, I don’t know why they’re doing it, they’re wonderful people.”
This stuff is important nationwide. Because Texas buys so many textbooks. So textbook publishers tailor their products so that they’ll be marketable in Texas. And many places around the country get stuck with the same books.
Last week, the Texas Board revised its history standards. And it decreed that a list of people who were influential in fomenting revolutions would no longer include Thomas Jefferson. The board’s not crazy about Jefferson because of the whole separation of church and state thing. But if the guy who wrote the Declaration of Independence doesn’t meet your standards, maybe it’s really time to start listening to experts.
History Revised, Teachers Sacked: The Book Wars in Texas and Beyond -- Politics Daily
History Revised, Teachers Sacked: The Book Wars in Texas and Beyond -- Politics Daily
It's been a brawl for years, this education culture war that seems to take on a particularly vicious turn in the heart of Texas. The latest and most important round, a drastic revision of the social studies curriculum standards to put a conservative spin on history and economics textbooks, was given preliminary approval after a series of heated meetings of the Texas Board of Education that didn't do much to improve the image of the nation's second largest state as a sometimes small-minded political and educational backwater.
It's been a brawl for years, this education culture war that seems to take on a particularly vicious turn in the heart of Texas. The latest and most important round, a drastic revision of the social studies curriculum standards to put a conservative spin on history and economics textbooks, was given preliminary approval after a series of heated meetings of the Texas Board of Education that didn't do much to improve the image of the nation's second largest state as a sometimes small-minded political and educational backwater.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tell Glenn Beck: I’m a Social Justice Christian - Jim Wallis - God's Politics Blog#disqus_thread
Tell Glenn Beck: I’m a Social Justice Christian - Jim Wallis - God's Politics Blog#disqus_thread
Glenn Beck says Christians should leave churches that use the word “social justice.” He says social justice is a code word for communism and Nazism.But since the Catholic Church, the Black Churches, the Mainline Protestant churches, and more and more Evangelical and Pentecostal churches including Hispanic and Asian-American congregations all consider social justice central to biblical faith, Glenn Beck is telling all those Christians to leave their churches.
Glenn Beck says Christians should leave churches that use the word “social justice.” He says social justice is a code word for communism and Nazism.But since the Catholic Church, the Black Churches, the Mainline Protestant churches, and more and more Evangelical and Pentecostal churches including Hispanic and Asian-American congregations all consider social justice central to biblical faith, Glenn Beck is telling all those Christians to leave their churches.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
ISS - How progressives can win back the South: Jobs
ISS - How progressives can win back the South: Jobs
Obama and the Democrats have no silver bullet for winning over white Southerners. But there's a sure-fire way they can make the situation worse: ignoring the South's history of economic populism and the very real economic pain millions of Southerners face today.
Obama and the Democrats have no silver bullet for winning over white Southerners. But there's a sure-fire way they can make the situation worse: ignoring the South's history of economic populism and the very real economic pain millions of Southerners face today.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Lobby Firm Tells Clients How To Sway Elections While Avoiding 'Public Scrutiny' | TPMMuckraker
Lobby Firm Tells Clients How To Sway Elections While Avoiding 'Public Scrutiny' | TPMMuckraker
In the wake of last month's Citizens United ruling, a powerhouse Washington lobbying firm is informing its corporate clients on how they can use middlemen like the Chamber of Commerce to pour unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns, while maintaining "sufficient cover" to avoid "public scrutiny" and negative media coverage.
In the wake of last month's Citizens United ruling, a powerhouse Washington lobbying firm is informing its corporate clients on how they can use middlemen like the Chamber of Commerce to pour unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns, while maintaining "sufficient cover" to avoid "public scrutiny" and negative media coverage.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Where Today's Large Deficits Come From — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Where Today's Large Deficits Come From — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Some critics charge that the new policies pursued by President Obama and the 111th Congress caused the huge federal budget deficits that the nation now faces. In fact, the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the economic downturn together explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years (see Figure 1).
The deficit for fiscal 2009 was $1.4 trillion and, at 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was the largest deficit relative to the size of the economy since the end of World War II. If current policies are continued without changes, deficits will likely approach those figures in 2010 and remain near $1 trillion a year for the next decade.
Some critics charge that the new policies pursued by President Obama and the 111th Congress caused the huge federal budget deficits that the nation now faces. In fact, the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the economic downturn together explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years (see Figure 1).
The deficit for fiscal 2009 was $1.4 trillion and, at 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was the largest deficit relative to the size of the economy since the end of World War II. If current policies are continued without changes, deficits will likely approach those figures in 2010 and remain near $1 trillion a year for the next decade.
PolitiFact | A stimulus report card
PolitiFact | A stimulus report card
Nearly a third of the cost of the stimulus, $288 billion, comes via tax breaks to individuals and businesses. The tax cuts include a refundable credit of up to $400 per individual and $800 for married couples; a temporary increase of the earned income tax credit for disadvantaged families; and an extension of a program that allows businesses to recover the costs of capital expenditures faster than usual. The tax cuts aren't so much spending as money the government won't get -- so it can stay in the economy. Of that $288 billion, the stimulus has resulted in $119 billion worth of tax breaks so far.
The stimulus also has $499 billion in spending. That includes $226 billion for projects such as new roads and high-speed rail; $273 billion in payments to state governments for things such as hiring teachers and police officers, and for services such as extended unemployment insurance and health coverage.
According to an analysis by Pro Publica, an online news service, $179 billion of the total stimulus has actually been spent. Another $154 billion has been committed, or is "in the process" of being spent.
Nearly a third of the cost of the stimulus, $288 billion, comes via tax breaks to individuals and businesses. The tax cuts include a refundable credit of up to $400 per individual and $800 for married couples; a temporary increase of the earned income tax credit for disadvantaged families; and an extension of a program that allows businesses to recover the costs of capital expenditures faster than usual. The tax cuts aren't so much spending as money the government won't get -- so it can stay in the economy. Of that $288 billion, the stimulus has resulted in $119 billion worth of tax breaks so far.
The stimulus also has $499 billion in spending. That includes $226 billion for projects such as new roads and high-speed rail; $273 billion in payments to state governments for things such as hiring teachers and police officers, and for services such as extended unemployment insurance and health coverage.
According to an analysis by Pro Publica, an online news service, $179 billion of the total stimulus has actually been spent. Another $154 billion has been committed, or is "in the process" of being spent.
Yes They Can | The American Prospect
Yes They Can | The American Prospect
What we are left with is a situation in which one party is assiduously adhering to the norms it believes are still in place, while the other party long ago concluded that norms are meant to be ignored. Republicans aren't so much the "party of no"; they're the party of "yes we can" -- yes we can filibuster everything, yes we can put holds on nominees for no good reason, yes we can argue in the most dishonest ways imaginable (see panels, death), yes we can be as hypocritical as we like. The Democrats, on the other hand, continue to be the party of "maybe we shouldn't."
What we are left with is a situation in which one party is assiduously adhering to the norms it believes are still in place, while the other party long ago concluded that norms are meant to be ignored. Republicans aren't so much the "party of no"; they're the party of "yes we can" -- yes we can filibuster everything, yes we can put holds on nominees for no good reason, yes we can argue in the most dishonest ways imaginable (see panels, death), yes we can be as hypocritical as we like. The Democrats, on the other hand, continue to be the party of "maybe we shouldn't."
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Lobbying-Media Complex
The Lobbying-Media Complex
These incidents represent only a fraction of the covert corporate influence peddling on cable news, a four-month investigation by The Nation has found. Since 2007 at least seventy-five registered lobbyists, public relations representatives and corporate officials--people paid by companies and trade groups to manage their public image and promote their financial and political interests--have appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, CNBC and Fox Business Network with no disclosure of the corporate interests that had paid them. Many have been regulars on more than one of the cable networks, turning in dozens--and in some cases hundreds--of appearances
These incidents represent only a fraction of the covert corporate influence peddling on cable news, a four-month investigation by The Nation has found. Since 2007 at least seventy-five registered lobbyists, public relations representatives and corporate officials--people paid by companies and trade groups to manage their public image and promote their financial and political interests--have appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, CNBC and Fox Business Network with no disclosure of the corporate interests that had paid them. Many have been regulars on more than one of the cable networks, turning in dozens--and in some cases hundreds--of appearances
Powell's Books - Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media by Jeff Cohen
Powell's Books - Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media by Jeff Cohen
Producer, pundit, and media critic Jeff Cohen offers a fast-paced romp through the three major cable news channels Fox, CNN, and MSNBC and delivers a serious message about their failure to cover the most urgent issues of the day. Propelled by hilarious anecdotes featuring celebrities, famous pundits and media personalities, Cable News Confidential highlights the foibles, hypocrisies, and absurdities he witnessed at news organizations run by entertainment conglomerates
Producer, pundit, and media critic Jeff Cohen offers a fast-paced romp through the three major cable news channels Fox, CNN, and MSNBC and delivers a serious message about their failure to cover the most urgent issues of the day. Propelled by hilarious anecdotes featuring celebrities, famous pundits and media personalities, Cable News Confidential highlights the foibles, hypocrisies, and absurdities he witnessed at news organizations run by entertainment conglomerates
Snowstorm: East Coast Blizzard Tied to Climate Change - TIME
Snowstorm: East Coast Blizzard Tied to Climate Change - TIME
Brace yourselves now — this may be a case of politicians twisting the facts. There is some evidence that climate change could in fact make such massive snowstorms more common, even as the world continues to warm. As the meteorologist Jeff Masters points out in his excellent blog at Weather Underground, the two major storms that hit Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., this winter — in December and during the first weekend of February — are already among the 10 heaviest snowfalls those cities have ever recorded. The chance of that happening in the same winter is incredibly unlikely.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1962294,00.html?xid=newsletter-weekly#ixzz0fp6gAqF2
Brace yourselves now — this may be a case of politicians twisting the facts. There is some evidence that climate change could in fact make such massive snowstorms more common, even as the world continues to warm. As the meteorologist Jeff Masters points out in his excellent blog at Weather Underground, the two major storms that hit Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., this winter — in December and during the first weekend of February — are already among the 10 heaviest snowfalls those cities have ever recorded. The chance of that happening in the same winter is incredibly unlikely.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1962294,00.html?xid=newsletter-weekly#ixzz0fp6gAqF2
Friday, February 12, 2010
It's You, Not Me | The New Republic
It's You, Not Me | The New Republic
One mini-saga of the past decade in American politics has been the flirtation—with talk of a deeper partnership—between progressives and libertarians. These two groups were driven together, in the main, by common hostility to huge chunks of the Bush administration's agenda: endless, pointless wars; assaults on civil liberties; cynical vote-buying with federal dollars; and statist panders to the Christian right.
One mini-saga of the past decade in American politics has been the flirtation—with talk of a deeper partnership—between progressives and libertarians. These two groups were driven together, in the main, by common hostility to huge chunks of the Bush administration's agenda: endless, pointless wars; assaults on civil liberties; cynical vote-buying with federal dollars; and statist panders to the Christian right.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
How to Answer the Dumb Things Climate Deniers Say | Environment | AlterNet
How to Answer the Dumb Things Climate Deniers Say | Environment | AlterNet
How to Answer the Dumb Things Climate Deniers Say
Below are a few responses to some of the more frequent statements these deniers toss our way.
February 9, 2010 |
If you are like me you probably have encountered a few people that do not believe global warming exists, or if they do, they are not always convinced that humans are contributing to the problem. There are usually a range of issues these skeptics raise in an attempt to cast doubt on climate change evidence. Below are a few responses to some of the more frequent statements these deniers toss our way
How to Answer the Dumb Things Climate Deniers Say
Below are a few responses to some of the more frequent statements these deniers toss our way.
February 9, 2010 |
If you are like me you probably have encountered a few people that do not believe global warming exists, or if they do, they are not always convinced that humans are contributing to the problem. There are usually a range of issues these skeptics raise in an attempt to cast doubt on climate change evidence. Below are a few responses to some of the more frequent statements these deniers toss our way
Color Revolution? | The New Republic
Color Revolution? | The New Republic
-- So what exactly is the Tea Party movement and why has it risen up?
The ferocity of its opposition to President Obama is mystifying to political progressives. Most of the left simply doesn't see the current occupant of the White House as especially liberal, let alone "socialist."
-- So what exactly is the Tea Party movement and why has it risen up?
The ferocity of its opposition to President Obama is mystifying to political progressives. Most of the left simply doesn't see the current occupant of the White House as especially liberal, let alone "socialist."
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Snowpocalypse sign of global warming
Snowpocalypse sign of global warming
Now that the Philadelphia/DC area has gotten its third major snowstorm of the winter season, anti-science and global climate change deniers have been embolden in their rhetoric.
Their main argument seems to be, “It is cold, and therefore global warming is a hoax.” What they fail to understand is that it is winter; it is supposed to be cold. Also there is a difference between weather and climate. One cannot simply look at the weather of the week or even the season and make an accurate conclusion about the climate. Climate research studies decades and centuries of weather and not simply the day to day temperature.
Now that the Philadelphia/DC area has gotten its third major snowstorm of the winter season, anti-science and global climate change deniers have been embolden in their rhetoric.
Their main argument seems to be, “It is cold, and therefore global warming is a hoax.” What they fail to understand is that it is winter; it is supposed to be cold. Also there is a difference between weather and climate. One cannot simply look at the weather of the week or even the season and make an accurate conclusion about the climate. Climate research studies decades and centuries of weather and not simply the day to day temperature.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Op-Ed Columnist - America Is Not Yet Lost - NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Columnist - America Is Not Yet Lost - NYTimes.com
We've always known that America's reign as the world's greatest nation would eventually end. But most of us imagined that our downfall, when it came, would be something grand and tragic
We've always known that America's reign as the world's greatest nation would eventually end. But most of us imagined that our downfall, when it came, would be something grand and tragic
Friday, February 5, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Justice Stevens bemoans changed court - USATODAY.com
Justice Stevens bemoans changed court - USATODAY.com: "WASHINGTON — When liberal Justice John Paul Stevens dissented Thursday as the Supreme Court permitted new corporate spending in elections, he invoked the names of influential and long-gone justices.
He began with retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, with whom he had worked on a 2003 case the majority was partially overruling. He referred to the late Justice Thurgood Marshall's warning in a 1990 case, also overturned, about how corporate money can distort political debate. Stevens then cited the late Justice Byron White about the importance of deferring to Congress, which had passed the law the majority discarded Thursday."
He began with retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, with whom he had worked on a 2003 case the majority was partially overruling. He referred to the late Justice Thurgood Marshall's warning in a 1990 case, also overturned, about how corporate money can distort political debate. Stevens then cited the late Justice Byron White about the importance of deferring to Congress, which had passed the law the majority discarded Thursday."
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Ezra Klein - Will bloggers profit if newspapers charge?
Ezra Klein - Will bloggers profit if newspapers charge?: "A blogger with a few subscriptions can distill the information from the newspapers that readers don't have subscriptions to. Bloggers move from providing more efficient information to offering access to information. A black market for news, in a sense."
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
More than one in four Americans believe religion "outdated"
More than one in four Americans believe religion "outdated"
Overall, this is good news, as it indicates that, rather than blindly believing in unfounded concepts which have created an often spectacular amount of divisiveness and horror, people are beginning to develop the courage and insight to look more closely and with greater scientific thinking into humankind's most important issues.
Nevertheless, I hope by "outdated" the majority of these individuals are not suggesting that we simply throw out all religion, ignore its history and ban it from the future. I completely disagree with such a notion, which would define tyranny and fascism, if those words have any meaning at all. As a mythicist and scholar of comparative religion and mythology, having studied these fascinating subjects for decades, I have absolutely no interest in banning religion or ignoring its massive, imaginative, creative and colorful past extending back many thousands of years.
Indeed, I love studying these subjects above all others, and my main goal is to spread the appreciation for deserving religious ideation dating back millennia, while attempting to stem the fanaticism and megalomania that create endless atrocity. It's really not that difficult, but we need to wake up, as it seems a significant portion of people are doing today. Ironically, what we are bringing forth from our collective past is really the "updating" that religion so desperately needs in the first place!
29% of Americans say religion 'out of date'
A Gallup poll of Americans' attitudes towards religion released on Christmas Eve found significant recent increases in those responding either that they have no religious preference, that religion is not very important in their lives, or that they believe religion "is largely old-fashioned or out of date."Only 78% of Americans now identify as Christian, while 22% describe their religious preference as either "other" or "none."Most of these changes have occurred since 2000 and represent the first significant shift since a sharp decline in religious adherence during the 1970s. Over the last nine years, the number with no religious preference has grown from a level of around 8% to 13%. The number for whom religion is not very important has climbed from just over 10% to 19%. And the number who believe religion is out of date and has no answers for today's problems has jumped from slightly more than 20% to 29%.These changes do not appear to have affected the majority of Americans who still consider religion "very important" in their own lives. That figure remains at 56% -- roughly the same as for the last 35 years -- while 57% still say religion has answers to most of the world's problems.The biggest difference is that in the late 1990s, up to 68% of Americans though religion had answers to the world's problems -- even though only about 60% said religion was personally very important to them. It seems as though over the last ten years a significant number may have gone from believing that religion is a positive factor in the world, even if they're not particularly religious themselves, to seeing religion in a far more skeptical or even negative light....
Overall, this is good news, as it indicates that, rather than blindly believing in unfounded concepts which have created an often spectacular amount of divisiveness and horror, people are beginning to develop the courage and insight to look more closely and with greater scientific thinking into humankind's most important issues.
Nevertheless, I hope by "outdated" the majority of these individuals are not suggesting that we simply throw out all religion, ignore its history and ban it from the future. I completely disagree with such a notion, which would define tyranny and fascism, if those words have any meaning at all. As a mythicist and scholar of comparative religion and mythology, having studied these fascinating subjects for decades, I have absolutely no interest in banning religion or ignoring its massive, imaginative, creative and colorful past extending back many thousands of years.
Indeed, I love studying these subjects above all others, and my main goal is to spread the appreciation for deserving religious ideation dating back millennia, while attempting to stem the fanaticism and megalomania that create endless atrocity. It's really not that difficult, but we need to wake up, as it seems a significant portion of people are doing today. Ironically, what we are bringing forth from our collective past is really the "updating" that religion so desperately needs in the first place!
29% of Americans say religion 'out of date'
A Gallup poll of Americans' attitudes towards religion released on Christmas Eve found significant recent increases in those responding either that they have no religious preference, that religion is not very important in their lives, or that they believe religion "is largely old-fashioned or out of date."Only 78% of Americans now identify as Christian, while 22% describe their religious preference as either "other" or "none."Most of these changes have occurred since 2000 and represent the first significant shift since a sharp decline in religious adherence during the 1970s. Over the last nine years, the number with no religious preference has grown from a level of around 8% to 13%. The number for whom religion is not very important has climbed from just over 10% to 19%. And the number who believe religion is out of date and has no answers for today's problems has jumped from slightly more than 20% to 29%.These changes do not appear to have affected the majority of Americans who still consider religion "very important" in their own lives. That figure remains at 56% -- roughly the same as for the last 35 years -- while 57% still say religion has answers to most of the world's problems.The biggest difference is that in the late 1990s, up to 68% of Americans though religion had answers to the world's problems -- even though only about 60% said religion was personally very important to them. It seems as though over the last ten years a significant number may have gone from believing that religion is a positive factor in the world, even if they're not particularly religious themselves, to seeing religion in a far more skeptical or even negative light....
Friday, January 8, 2010
Coming Out to Friends & Neighbors: Should You Reveal Your Atheism to Friends?
Not all atheists have revealed their atheism to their friends and neighbors. Religious theism is so widespread, and distrust of atheists so prevalent, that many people can’t tell the full truth even to those closest to them out of fear of ostracism and discrimination. This is a serious indictment against the alleged morality of religion in America today, but it also points to an opportunity: if more atheists did come out of the closet, it might lead to a change in attitudes.
http://atheism.about.com/od/atheistactivism/p/ComeOutFriends.htm?nl=1
http://atheism.about.com/od/atheistactivism/p/ComeOutFriends.htm?nl=1
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Fox News: Keeping the faith | Media Matters for America
Fox News: Keeping the faith Media Matters for America
The collected spiritual teachings of the world's various deities, messiahs, prophets, monks, yogis, gurus, and shamans are so deeply ingrained in human culture and consciousness that they essentially tell the history of mankind. Their cosmological and philosophical differences have proved to be stubbornly intractable and provided the impetus for many of humanity's more brutal conflicts. The greatest minds of the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds have devoted entire lifetimes delving into the deepest questions that face mankind.
But for Fox News, religion is easy: Christianity is right and good and must be defended from its relentless persecutors, and other faiths are dangerous, inadequate, or funny.
The collected spiritual teachings of the world's various deities, messiahs, prophets, monks, yogis, gurus, and shamans are so deeply ingrained in human culture and consciousness that they essentially tell the history of mankind. Their cosmological and philosophical differences have proved to be stubbornly intractable and provided the impetus for many of humanity's more brutal conflicts. The greatest minds of the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds have devoted entire lifetimes delving into the deepest questions that face mankind.
But for Fox News, religion is easy: Christianity is right and good and must be defended from its relentless persecutors, and other faiths are dangerous, inadequate, or funny.
Poem/ Boxes & Labels
Boxes & Labels
Independent, I am
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
To believe is lesson learned, to think anew is lesson earned
Christian, Atheist, Protestant, Agnostic, Catholic & Baptist
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
To believe is lesson learned, to think anew is lesson earned
Democrat, Conservative, Republican, Liberal, Moderate & Activist
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
Think anew is the Struggle
Think anew is the Shock
Think anew is the Loss
Think anew is the Gain
Think anew is the Freedom
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
The Struggle I behold
The Shock I behold
The Loss I behold
The Gain I behold
The Freedom I behold
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
Independence, Individualism, Self-Rule, Liberty & Freedom is my Reward
Do not box or label me
Think anew is the task I deem merit
To believe is lesson learned, to think anew is lesson earned
Christian, Atheist, Protestant, Agnostic, Catholic & Baptist
To believe is lesson learned, to think anew is lesson earned
Democrat, Conservative, Republican, Liberal, Moderate & Activist
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
~Susanthur
Independent, I am
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
To believe is lesson learned, to think anew is lesson earned
Christian, Atheist, Protestant, Agnostic, Catholic & Baptist
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
To believe is lesson learned, to think anew is lesson earned
Democrat, Conservative, Republican, Liberal, Moderate & Activist
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
Think anew is the Struggle
Think anew is the Shock
Think anew is the Loss
Think anew is the Gain
Think anew is the Freedom
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
The Struggle I behold
The Shock I behold
The Loss I behold
The Gain I behold
The Freedom I behold
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
Independence, Individualism, Self-Rule, Liberty & Freedom is my Reward
Do not box or label me
Think anew is the task I deem merit
To believe is lesson learned, to think anew is lesson earned
Christian, Atheist, Protestant, Agnostic, Catholic & Baptist
To believe is lesson learned, to think anew is lesson earned
Democrat, Conservative, Republican, Liberal, Moderate & Activist
Do not box or label me
Independent, I am
Think anew is the task
~Susanthur
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