Signs the World is coming to and End

There’s no other explanation for the events that have unfolded than the earth as we know it will cease to exist, just like “they” predicated.

I know because on February 9, 2012, I AGREED WITH SOMETHING THAT MIKA BRZEZINSKI SAID ON “MORNING JOE” ON MSNBC!

Now I know what you are thinking. That can’t possibly be true. But it is. And here’s what happened.

Most of you know by now that the US Department of Health and Human Services has mandated that Catholic institutions that employ non-Catholics must provide a health care plan that includes birth control coverage. Now, think about that. HHS is not saying that Catholic hospitals have to dole out birth control, and they certainly aren’t saying that Catholic institutions have to PERFORM ABORTIONS. Although if you listen to the right wing media, this is the spin they have put on it. What HHS said was that they must provide for birth control benefits in the insurance plan that they provide to their employees. And if by chance the Catholic institution is self-insured, they have the opportunity to arrange for birth control coverage FROM A THIRD PARTY. All HHS is saying is that under the law, everyone is equal. Just because birth control is a coverage offered in the health care plan doesn’t mean Catholics are forced to use it. But I can guarantee you that most Catholics would use birth control.

When it comes to Catholic Hospitals and Universities, the majority of the EMPLOYEES are most likely not Catholic. We’re not talking about the executives of such who probably are. We’re talking about regular people who applied for and got regular jobs that happen to be at a place of business operated by the Catholic Church. So not only are these non-Catholics not obligated to follow Catholic doctrine, even Catholics aren’t obligated to follow Catholic doctrine. It’s a well-known fact the most Catholics do not follow the churches teaching on contraception. Mika Brzezinski being one of them.

While Joe Scarborough and his republican cronies have tried to turn this into a first amendment issue (Freedom of Religion) and they are saying that Barack Obama is blurring the lines between church and state, AND he is trouncing on the rights of Catholics, the argument has also been expanded now to include abortion and the whole “slippery slope” bullshit. Anything to distract people from the real issue. And here’s the real issue:

The Catholic Church doesn’t want anyone to know that the majority of their own “flock” does NOT follow the birth control doctrine. All that’s happened is that the White House, by trying to provide equality under its health care rules, has exposed this dirty little secret. Catholics use birth control. The Pope doesn’t have as much control over his minions as he’s like everyone to believe. Nowhere in the Bible did Jesus say, don’t use birth control. And the Old Testament doesn’t talk about it either. Birth Control doctrine is a man-made doctrine.

Is there any difference between using a condom, or a birth control pill, and having a Man simply pull out before he ejaculates? Is pulling out before ejaculation a form of contraception? Of course it is. So birth control isn’t something that Rome is against, obviously. But they are if birth control involves a gizmo or pill, and it’s made public knowledge that Catholics use it. The Catholic Church is hypocritical on so many issues, but especially on this one. Why do they allow any man and woman to get married if they don’t plan on having children (“Be fruitful and multiply”)?

Now as far as Mika Brzezinski is concerned, she is a Catholic. I am a recovering Catholic (one day at a time, fingers crossed). She stated this morning that she believes that this issue is about Health Insurance Coverage and is not a cultural or religious issue. She also said that she believes in contraception, as do most Catholics. I agree with Mi……

I can’t even type it. I’ll try again. I agree with Mika Brz……. Nope, couldn’t do it. One more time. Deep Breath, Heavy Sigh.

I agree with Mika Brzezinski. THERE. I said it. She actually gave this some thought. She also talked to the White House, as a reporter, to get their statement on what was intended by this recent decision. She is not pro-choice and she knows that this is not about abortion. This whole argument is about two things. First, the right wingers want any chance they can to distort the facts and claim that President Obama is forcing Catholic Hospitals to provide abortions. Second, the Catholic Church doesn’t want the laid back approach that most Catholics have to contraception to be well-known. It diminishes the churches power, and exposes their lack of it.

Joe Scarborough and speaker of the house, John Boehner (get real, it’s pronounced BONER, NOT BAYNOR), need to check the right wing conspiracy shit at the door. The saddest part of all of this is that most American’s will only hear the filtered media frenzy of the right wingers and never do their own research to figure out what is really going on. The truth, I mean.

So today is the day I agreed with Mika Brzezinski. I will be watching the skies for meteors, comets, and asteroids.

Alan Grayson’s remarks are not the same as Republican Death Panels

More fake disdain from the Republican Party and political fat-ass pundits today.

Recently in an after hours session of the House, Democrat Alan Grayson help up a sign that said “Die Quickly”.  His verbal assault went further.  He said that the Republican answer to health care is “don’t get sick, and if you do, die quickly”.

While we all now this was a joke and a bad one at that, he was simply trying to make a point.  Let’s face it, the Republicans still can not come up with a health care plan but the are clairvoyant because they know that Democrat plan is wrong.  Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, NO, NO, NO.  But don’t ask them what the right plan is, they have no idea.  So I understand Alan Grayson’s opinions and tactics.

However, Republicans are comparing this to Joe Wilson’s “YOU LIE” comment at a joint session of congress.  Republicans are saying that Grayson should be censured or reprimanded in some way.  They say it is an unacceptable outburst of hate and misinformation.

Hmm.  Let’s think.  Wilson was the first person EVER in the history of the Congress to interrupt the President by yelling out disagreeable remarks during a joint session.  There are rules of conduct in Congress and Wilson stepped way over the line by yelling out “YOU LIE”.  He owed the President an apology and owed the Congress one as well. 

Alan Grayson merely put up a sign in a late night session of Congress when almost nobody was there.  None of the Republican leaders in Congress stuck around to hear all of the debates and to listen to “the juniors” like Grayson when it was his turn to speak.  It was below them.  The place was almost empty.  If it weren’t for C-SPAN catching it on tape, I’m not convinced many would have noticed Grayson’s remarks.  Bringing theatrics and visual aids is a long-standing tradition in Congress.  Grayson was trying to make a point.  Maybe Republicans don’t want you to die quickly, maybe they do, but it was a joke.  Not a funny joke, more of a ploy to get some attention.  A tactic to expose Republicans for what they are: in the pockets of the health care industry, and doing everything they can to maintain the status quo.

Alan Grayson’s sign CAN NOT be compared the Republican’s “Death Panel” crusade.  Republicans flooded the airwaves, both on talk radio and television, trying to convince the American public that Obama’s health care plan includes Death Panels and that they want to kill off grandma.  That tactic was real, scary, and many people truly believed it.  This is the perfect spot for a comment about the ignorant, hate-filled Republican base but I’m going to rise above it).   The words “Death Panel”  became part of the Republican mantra for weeks on end, and even when they knew it wasn’t true, Republicans still would not come right out and admit it there was no such thing.  They would talk in circles so as not to have to blatantly admin THERE ARE NO DEATH PANELS IN THE HEALTH CARE BILL.  I’ve heard them on political talk show saying things like “well there’s no real proof but if you read between the lines. yadda, yadda, yadda, and “government takeover of healthcare” blah, blah, blah.

Alan Grayson was trying to get people to WAKE UP.  For some reason, many politicians don’t understand, or just don’t want to understand, that without OPTIONS from which American’s can choose for their own healthcare, then there is no reform.  Covering pre-existing conditions isn’t going to cut it for people who DON’T HAVE INSURANCE anyway.  For people who don’t have insurance, or are under-insured, everything is a pre-existing condition.

The public option needs to be nothing more than an extension of Medicare or Medicaid to everyone who want it or needs it.    Placing some puny little rules on insurance companies doesn’t stop those insurance companies from jacking up prices and forcing Americans through miles of red tape to get the coverage they are due.  There is no way to enforce the “new rules” that might be imposed on insurance companies.  If an insurance company wants to cancel your policy, they will now cancel an entire line of business.  For example, they could easily say “Healthcare Plan A is being discontinued because it is no longer profitable”.  This is well within their rights.  If they can’t cancel individual policies, what is to stop them from cancelling insurance on a wide-spread basis using loop holes in the legislation.  Nobody can force an insurance company to continue a product that they are losing money on; so they will just discontinue it.  It happens every day.

And here’s one last thought:  My tax dollars pay for Federal Employees healthcare, yet I don’t have adequate healthcare myself.  What if we take away all healthcare for Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court until Congress can figure out a way to give  all Americans the same health coverage that they have.  Then they can apply for it and fill out all the paperwork just like the rest of us.  If a federal employee is single, he will pay about $160 a month (or $77 dollars per semi-monthly paycheck) for his insurance.  But he will get one of the richest plans in this country.  I pay about that for myself and have a $3,000 deductible before my “insurance” even kicks in.  Yet, I am paying for this sample employee’s health insurance.  We could have the same illness and he will live, and I will die, because I don’t have $3,000.

Do you folks even begin to get this yet?

The Birthers – most not born in the U.S.

Who knows where all the Birthers were born.  Does it matter?  We’ll just make shit up.  It seems to work for them.

If case you don’t know what a Birther is (meaning you live under a rock and don’t partipate in society),  a Birther is someone who believes Barack Obama was not born in the United States (yes, Hawaii is a state) and therefore, has no legal right to be President.

If during George W. Bush’s Presidency, you know, those god-awful years between 2001 and 2008 when the world hated us and still does, someone had told me W. wasn’t born in this country and therefore was not legally the President, would I have believed them? You bet your ass I would.

I despised Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Rove, the whole ugly bunch.  I would have looked for any reason to start a movement to get rid of any one of them.  So in some ways I understand why the radical right wing conservative movement in this country is perpetuating the idea that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S., is not a U.S. Citizen, and therefore, not legally the President of the United States.  It is brilliantly simply.  If you are not a natural U.S. citizen, you can’t be President.

Let’s not get too confused about this, however.  The Obama Birther movement was born out of extreme hatred which is based on extreme racism.  There is some scary kind of hatred involved in this.  The birther movement is a cover for racism.  Birthers hate Barack Obama and is blackness so much that they will scratch the bottom of any barrel to get rid of him.

I felt the same way about the Bush Administration; not the racism part, but the willingness to do anything necessary to get rid them.

However, if someone on the Democrat, or Liberal, or Progressive side of the map who I trusted or believed said to me “Hey, don’t be an idiot.  As much as we want to believe this stuff, it is simply not true”.  I would have had no choice to throw my hands in the air and give up the fight.  I would have tried other tactics but why spend so much time dealing in lies.

So why is it that few, if any, radical conservatives can’t utter the words “Hey folks, it’s just not true”.  From Limbaugh to Glenn Beck to the halls of Congress, these people and their “believers” can’t bring themselves to say “This is stupid and it’s not true”.  Even when they pretend to debunk the myth, they say things like “Barack Obama is a citizen” but won’t actually say the words “he was born in this country” leaving a sliver of room to back out and re-interpret what they said at a later date.

On the surface the Birther movement appears almost harmless because it is so ridiculous.  The following is what they want you to believe:  In 1961 Barack Obama was born in Kenya and secretly shipped on a cargo tanker (I guess) to Honolulu, Hawaii where someone who knew that he would run for and win the Presidency some day, planted a birth announcement in the Honolulu newspaper all so that in 2009, a forged birth certificate could be disproved by said newspaper announcement.   Hmm.  Sounds plausible to me; you?

Chris Matthews on MSNBC the most trustworthy G. Gordon Liddy (ahem!) as a guest,  so that Matthews could show Liddy all of the facts and copies of the paperwork first hand proving Obama’s birth and citizenship.  Matthews hoped that the irrefutable evidence would convince Liddy to go back to the listeners of his radio show and say “OK guys, I know we want this to be true, but it simply isn’t; Enough is Enough”.  However, Liddy stared at the evidence in what can only be described as an Alzheimer Haze, twitching and mumbling something about wanting to see originals and some woman in Kenya and an affidavit about seeing Obama being born in Kenya and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  It would have been funny if it wasn’t one of the saddest things I’ve even seen on Television.  Search for the video on Google, it’s easy to find.  I do question Chris Matthew’s motives in bringing on one of the most famous liars in the world in an effort to reform him on conspiracies.  But I guess Matthews was trying to start with someone on the radio who had a following.  Liddy was probably the only conservative talk radio host who would accept an invitation from Mr. Matthews.

Some believe that the birther movement is harmless.  But if you undersand that the people involved in the movement are using it as a cover to hide (and not so well) their extreme racism and hatred of Black America then you won’t think it’s so harmless anymore.

It is time now for those of us who are adults with working brain stems to call our Senators and House Representatives demanding that they speak out on this issue and put the Birthers in their place.  Force your legislators to have a spine by speaking out against the fringe right wing.  I’m all for freedom on speech, but when you are inciting riotous and violent acts based on your speech or actions, i believe you forfeit some of those rights.  The Birthers are full of hatred and are trying to spread it around.  That’s just plain wrong.  Nobody should have the freedom to do that.

There are two trains of thought on debunking lies.  First is to never address is; therefore not giving the idea any traction.  You don’t dignify the accusation by responding to it.  The second method is to nip it in the bud.  You run the risk of drawing out the amount of attention the lie gets but you look strong in your defiance.

The Democrats, and in fact the White House itself, have chosen option one.  Ignore the accusation and you won’t give it any traction.  Let’s see.  How did that work our for John Kerry and the Swift Boaters?

Maine gets Gay Marriage just right

When I listened to Governor John Baldacci of Maine give his speech following his signing of the of the Gay Marriage Bill  just a few short hours after receiving the bill, all I could think of was “He got it right”.

I watched and listened to what he said, not as a gay man,  but as a citizen of Maine, and the United States.  Even though I am gay I have not always agreed with the arguments FOR or AGAINST gay marriage. 

It wasn’t until I heard the Governor explain that the new law is about affording equal rights to all Maine citizens as outlined in Maine’s Constitution that it all made sense to me.  The Constitution’s first Article states “All people are born equally free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.”

Baldacci used this first and most important Article to first understand for himself that allowing Gay Marriage in Maine is not about granting the same rights to gay people that are affording to heterosexual people.  He said we are all equal and all deserve the same rights and when he looked at the issue from that perspective, he could not come up with any reasons not to allow Gay Marriage.

 He went on further to say that that no religion will be required to conduct same-sex marriages, or even recognize same-sex marriages within the realm of their own belief system because Maine has strict policies about the division of church and State.  And Maine whole-heartedly abides by the Church/State tenet.

These are ideas that I had never heard anyone express in this specific manner before; the idea that the State will allow gay civil marriages but it won’t force any church to recognize them.  So if, for example, the Catholic Church doesn’t want to recognize gay marriage because it goes against their belief system, they don’t have to.  But the Catholic Church can’t tell a gay couple what civil rights they can or cannot have.  The same applies to any other religion.  On the flip side, a gay couple cannot force a religious organization to perform or recognize their marriage and cannot claim discrimination if that church will not recognize their marriage or perform their marriage ceremony.  Under these circumstances, anybody against same-sex marriage CAN hide behind their religion, and take comfort there.  But they can not deny rights to others.

I believe that this is as close as anybody is going to get to writing a law that makes sense when defining gay marriage.  It covers all the bases.  Nobody is forcing anyone to “believe” in anything and those who call themselves “believers” can’t squelch equality and civil rights by hiding behind their religion.  So, like the U.S. Constitution has done so many times, it was Maine’s constitution that acted as the final document to guide us through this divisive issue. 

Governor Baldacci was never comfortable with the gay marriage issue.  But, he found it in himself to understand that legislators, or politicians if you wish, need to take a stand and can not continually defer to public opinion.  All of the far lefties, and far righties have had more than enough time to express their viewpoints on this issue, and they have.  Neither is a shy group. 

The Governor said that he realizes this will not be the last word on the issue.  In my opinion, it should be, but it won’t be.  Instead of worrying about real problems, the whack jobs are going to come crawling out of the woodwork.  

The Maine Legislature and the Governor have laid down the gauntlet.  There are no “reasonable” arguments against this law as it was written.  First, anybody who protests this law must first say to themselves, and then the public, “I intend to take away the civil rights of others”.   Secondly, anybody who intends to use the Bible or their religion as an argument can stop right there.  The law clearly states that you don’t have to religiously recognize gay marriage or perform gay marriage if you don’t want to.  So what’s left?

Well, there’s the “I simply think it is wrong” argument.   Hmmm?  Are they also against heterosexual couples who get married and never intend to have children, or those who get married for convenience, or those who get married to obtain property, money, or social status (you know, the reason marriage was invented in the first place).  What one “thinks” or “believes” is wrong is immaterial.  Because under the Constitution of the State of Maine, all citizens have equal rights and included in that is their right to marry whom they choose as long as it is not breaking any other laws (like the minimum age for marriage or harm to animals). 

There is only one argument against Maine’s Gay Marriage law and it’s a faux-argument called “hate, fear, and ignorance” none of which are viable arguments against ANY law.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean some people in Maine won’t mind standing up and saying “I hate, I fear, and I am ignorant” to try and get their way.

The Bush Presidency for Dummies – 8 years in 8 minutes

On the eve of the Inauguration of Barack Obama it is natural to reflect upon from where we have come and how we got to this one moment in history.  We can all sit around and argue about what went right or wrong with the Bush Administration but to do so the opposite side would have to admit that indeed Bush made mistakes.  They must admit there is a possibility that he lied, or worse, committed crimes.  That in and of itself is a tough thing to find.  Even today with Bush’s approval rating at 18%, it is still the voices on Fox News who refuse to admit the truth and the voices on CNN who don’t want to admit that there is a reason to reflect.  They simply want to move forward. 

Keith Olbermann put things in perspective by encapsulating Bush’s 8 years into 8 minutes; a time frame of the mistakes and lies.  It is worth a watch.  And if you combine what he says (video highlight below) with his “Special Comment” today (you can easily find that on MSNBC (countdown.msnbc.com), how we need to move forward is clear.   Start here, just take a listen:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/vp/28699663#28699663

For those with a slower computer be patient.  It has to load and the player will show a short commerical; but it’s well worth the wait.  You can just copy/paste the URL above into your broser as well.  While you’re there check out “Special Comments” about prosecuting torture.

Thanks,

Judgement at Washington-berg

For the first time, I saw the 1961 movie called “Judgment at Nuremberg”.  Spencer Tracy played Judge Dan Haywood who presided over the 3 Judge Tribunal who were given the task of hearing the cases of 4 German Judges charged with war crimes while under Hitler’s rule.

The defense of 3 of the 4 judges on trial was that they had no idea that Hitler had gone to such lengths with Concentrations Camps and that everything they did in their roles as judges was for the their country, their precious, righteous Germany.  The fourth judge on trial, Ernst Janning, admitted that there was no way that he, nor the others on trial, could not have known about the mass killing of millions in their own back yard.  He admitted to sentencing Jews to go to the concentration camps, admitted to false allegations, sterilization of Jews, torture, murder, you name it, these judges were involved in it.  Janning went on further to say that a man can not hide behind his patriotism to commit such atrocities.  Janning was most ashamed of himself because he was one of the most respected judges in the country, a man who had written several books on the rule of law and justice itself.

Some of the actors in this movie were quite astonishing.  A young Maximilian Schell played the part of the defense lawyer with incredible passion and credibility.  His character spoke to tribunal judge Haywood in Haywood’s chambers arguing that Germans were so eager to forget the past and so eager to live in denial of what had really happened under Hitler, that whatever judgement Haywood passed down would be overturned on appeal so that the Germans never had to admit to it in their own minds.

In the end each judge on trial received a life sentence.  BUT, within 10 years each judge that was on trial (and many others not depicted in the movie) were out of jail, free, and in many cases living in other countries.  As for the Germans, they then had to deal with communism and the bisection of their country, all the while still hating America for attempting to make them see the truth of the Third Reich.

This brings me to the war crimes of the Bush Administration.  Were they any better, were they any different than the judges on trial at Nuremberg?  The Bush Administration condoned and actively participated in torture and rendition.  They did it all in the name of their country, their patriotism and loyalty to the United States.  Is Guantanamo Bay really that much different from a concentration camp?  I don’t want to belittle what happened at a concentration camp.  The murder of 6 million people can not be compared directly to holding suspected insurgents against their will for 7 years.  But does it matter how bad a war crime is on a scale of one to ten?  A crime is a crime.

Barack Obama said he wants to look forward.  On the 1/11/09 edition of “This Week” on ABC, Obama said that the new Attorney General is the “lawyer for the people” of the United States.  So I can see that he doesn’t want to be directly involved in prosecuting George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the many minions, because the country is hurting.  There are so many things on which he needs to concentrate and act quickly.  But if you read between the lines he is saying that if the Attorney General, this “lawyer of the people”, is directed by those people to take action against Americans who committed war crimes then so be it.  And I say, let the criminals pay.

Some will say it is simply not true; no war crime were committed.  They will call us crazy.  They will call us “liberals”.  They will call us call kinds of things.  But many Americans, and in fact many people from around the world, do believe that the Bush Administration committed crimes of torture.  For the sake of our sanity, for the sake of our reputation around the world, and for the sake of justice itself, we need to investigate and prosecute anybody, regardless of their position, who committed war crimes; crimes against the Geneva Conventions.   And what better way to show the world that we are ready to take our place as a beacon of hope and change, and all that is right in the world, than to show George W. Bush and/or Dick Cheney being escorted to their prison cell for the rest of his life.

We can not allow ourselves to be like Germany after World War II.  We can not stick our heads in the sand. We can not live in denial.  Would it be easier to just look forward, never look back, and pretend that none of it happened?  Yes it would.  But since when do we as Americans take the easy way out.  If we wanted to do that we would have left Europe to its own devices during World War I and World War II.  We would have let Saddam Hussein invade Kuwait.  And we would never answer the call from anywhere in the world that truly needed our help due to natural disaster or evil invader.

America is an experiment.  We are a young country, comparatively, only a few hundred years old.  When compared to most of the other super powers of the world whose history goes back centuries, we are in our infancy.  America is an experiment in democracy.  Our ideals and our freedoms are the reason why so many have come here, and why another so many hate us.  But we can not stop being the shining city on the hill, even if we have to expose our raw nerves, expose the underbelly of our society, the ones that commit war crimes, and we need to punish them to the fullest extent of American and International Law.

When will it be our turn for “Judgment in Washington”?

California Proposition 8 – the “anti-love” law

Whenever somebody sits down to write a law, or propose an amendment, or legislate anything at all,  the first thing he or she should do is put away the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, “Dianetics” by L. Ron Hubbard, or any other book that skews basic human rights based on somebody elses interpretation.  The reason is that in this country, America, we have what is called a separation of church and state as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.  And religious arguments against same-sex marriages just don’t hold any ground if you consider conflicting scriptural passages like “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  But nobody can explain it with the passion and fervor that Keith Olbermann did on last night’s “Countdown” through a Special Comment.

Known for his “Special Comments”, Olbermann put into words the things many of us think about but can’t seem to verbalize or put into cohesive buckets.  Olbermann, last night, was at his best explaining why nobody should be denied the legal right to love another person and cement that love through marriage.  I watched the video below live, as it happened, and could not hold back the tears.  This from a man who is not gay, comes from the sports broadcasting world, and said he struggled to find someone in his own extended family who was gay for whom he could speak.  He could not find one but that did not temper his firey and poignant diatribe that, in my opinion, everyone should hear before they pass judgement on gay marriage or any other kind of discrimination.

Cool to be American?

I know that I shouldn’t be concerned with what others think or say about me, and I’m not.

I know that I should never listen to a piece of “journalism” from “The Today Show”, but I did.

Lester Holt introduced a piece called “It’s cool to be American” on Saturday morning.  It should have said “Again”.  While I don’t care what people think or say about me, I do care what the world thinks and says about America.

When world leaders are beating down our doors saying “Now that you’ve smartened up and elected a real President, we’re willing to work with you”, it has an impact on us and them.

When the Iraqi Parliament says “Now that you have elected a real President, we trust you and want to sign a continuance agreement with you”, that is saying a lot.

In the end it doesn’t matter what the world thinks about us as a country, but it helps.  And it doesn’t matter what they think about the American people, but it helps. 

We were always taught, from grade school on, that America is a beacon of hope and the gold standard for a good life.  It is the standard that countries all over this planet aspire to achieve.

It took eight long, eight very, very long years, for some Americans to finally admit that George W. Bush, his criminal activities, his desire for war, his lies, his ignorance of the Constitution of the United States, has turned this country upside down.  We don’t even recognize America anymore.  Or at least we didn’t, until we decided, we ALL decided that enough is enough.  We’re more afraid of what the world will do to us if we keep the Republicans in power than we are of terrorism itself.  I don’t know what it was that made America wake up.  Bush as elected (sort of) twice, and John McCain WAS a third Bush term, I don’t care what you say.

But I digress (as usual).

The world thinks America is cool and Americans are cool (unless of course you are still a Republican).  My hope is that the country finally understands the both Democrats and Republicans have good ideas, they just need to be melded together correctly.  That’s what Obama can do and what Bush could never do, and what McCain had no interest in doing.

So go travel the world again, when you have enough money again, and don’t be afraid to say you are American. 

Hint:  If you find yourself in a dicey neighborhood in the world somewhere, I’d still go with Canadian.

Abortion, Abortion, Abortion

I am speaking now to the pro-lifers, right wing conservatives in general,  and the media.

I am so tired of this being an issue in this election.  Actually I am so tired of the media and right wing conservatives pretending that abortion is an issue in this election.

First, abortion is legal and has been for 35 years.  So the only reason that a candidates position on abortion is an issues is what?  Because somebody out there plans on overturning Roe V. Wade.  Really!  Really?!.  Of all the things that are going on in the world and in this country, your biggest concern is who is Pro Life and who is Pro Choice.  Does any of it have any real affect on how the next President of the United States of America is going to govern our nation?   Does it have any real affect on your or my daily life?

So you’re all worried that some supreme court justices might retire and that the President will nominate somebody who doesn’t want to mess with a statute that has been on the books for 35 years.  As we all know, the President’s opinion on Roe V. Wade has no bearing on Roe V. Wade; otherwise George Bush would have “had it overturned” years ago. 

Who the fuck cares what Barack Obama or John McCain feel about abortion?  They can’t change the laws of this land.  They can’t wave some magic wand and change abortion laws.

Since Roe V. Wade there have been about 1100 abortions in the country per year.  How many of those were the result of rape, how many were incest, how many were just plain molestation, how many were the rape of very young girls or the mentally handicapped, how many were prostitutes, how many had to do with the health of the mother? 

Pro-lifers make it sound like women walk sit back on their big comfy sofas with cups of General Mills International Coffee and say “ah, what the hell, I’ll just have an abortion, screw it, let’s toast, can I get anyone anything?”.   Nobody LIKES abortion, no, not even pro-choice people LIKE abortion.  Pro Life supporters just want the opportunity to be legal, and with as little shame as possible, in the rare case that an abortion is the final decision.

It’s starting to sound the the Bush Administration and their buzz words to scare you.  You know them, there’s only three of them.  Terror, Gay Marriage, and Abortion.

Anytime something isn’t going their way, the Republicans will work Terror, Gay Marriage, or Abortion into the conversation.  I am way too busy looking for a job after I lost mine, and too busy trying to figure out how I am going to pay for gas and food, and way too worried about my nephew in Afghanistan to have another conversation with you about Terror, Gay Marriage or Abortion.

When will Conservatives finally admit the truth about this war

Scott McClellan, Joe Wilson, the Downing Street Memo, and now Ron Suskind.  When will right wing conservatives finally admit that this administration has lied, manipulated, and committed actual crimes against the American people; and against the world.  We’re talking about the Bush Administration and the CIA actually forging documents, buying off Iraqi officials, and sending these officials into hiding with millions of dollars just so that we could go to war with a country that never attacked us.  They fabricated evidence to say that Al Queda had ties to Saddam Hussein.

I an not going to go into the details of each of the examples above and how they fit this case; it is common knowledge.  If you don’t know by know, you should so go look it up.

What amazes me is how willing Americans (both neo-cons and to some extent liberals) are to overlook this stuff.  I can only think that they overlook things they don’t understand, and things that are too hard to figure out.  And this stuff is too scary.  They won’t like what they see after all the work they do to figure it out for themselves.  And Americans are lazy, so there you have it.

There is way more than enough information out there to impeach Dick Cheney, George Bush, Condie Rice, Rumsfeld, the whole sinking bunch.  Cheney has insulated GWB from most of what has transpired; and it was calculated.  Although I believe GWB knew full well what was going on, I believe that Cheney masterminded everything so that nobody could prove Bush was involved.  Somehow Bush would be untouchable.  That is Cheney’s real legacy.