Steve Benen has a reality check for Christians who complain about being persecuted in the United States (especially with regard to the so-called “anti-Christmas bias”):
And what’s truly annoying is to hear complainers lose sight of those who really suffer. Last year, armed police broke up a Christmas Mass at an underground Catholic church in eastern China, arresting the priest, demolishing a makeshift pulpit and scattering two thousand worshippers. Around the same time, some seasonal temp at the mall wished Bill O’Reilly a generic “Happy Holidays” and he felt like a victim.
Instead of wasting energy fighting this nonsense battle, how about we focus it on living out the life the Christ-child ultimately empowered us to live? Instead of complaining bitterly at every perceived slight, how about we work to bring a little “peace on earth and good will toward men” during this season?
Oh, and one other thing - perhaps this boycott idea isn’t bad after all. But rather than collectively boycotting against supposedly “anti-Christmas” corporations, perhaps we should individually boycott the consumerism of Christmas altogether and focus on the meaning of the coming Advent and Christmas seasons?
It’s time to put my political science hat on.
Josh Marshall makes an excellent point about the fact that this President keeps saying that we will stay in Iraq until we achieve victory, but has no vision for what that victory looks like nor a plan to achieve it:
So at the moment, there’s not even a reasoned fight between staying in and getting out. Getting out is the only coherent strategy or approach on the table. That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. But it is clear and defineable. On the other hand, there is the president, who hasn’t put forward any concrete description of what our goals are or any coherent (let alone, a good plan) plan for accomplishing them.
It seems to me at this point that those who want the war to continue have a higher bar to clear than those who want us to pull out. At least a pull out has some definable measures of success - the end of American troops dying by the thousands, the possible winding down of the insurgency as the main reason they are fighting is removed, and so on.
On the other hand, staying in seems to have no realistic possibility of success - at least with the President’s current “stay the course” plan which hasn’t worked for over two years (so why would it work now?).
Putting my theological hat back on, what is that saying about “without vision, the people perish?”
Jim Wallis says it much more eloquently than I did:
It is a moral disgrace to take food from the mouths of hungry children to increase the luxuries of those feasting at a table overflowing with plenty. This is not what America is about, not what the season of Thanksgiving is about, not what loving our neighbor is about, and not what family values are about. There is no moral path our legislators can take to defend a reckless, mean-spirited budget reconciliation bill that diminishes our compassion, as Jesus said, “for the least of these.” It is morally unconscionable to hide behind arguments for fiscal responsibility and government efficiency. It is dishonest to stake proud claims to deficit reduction when tax cuts for the wealthy that increase the deficit are the next order of business. It is one more example of an absence of morality in our current political leadership.
Hunter over at Kos sums up my feelings on the Republican party’s war on the 60 percent of Americans opposed to the Iraq war perfectly:
No, after a blocking of every avenue of debate, after questioning the patriotism of every critic, this is now the Republican War, through and through. If you’re a Republican, you like this war just fine, and you don’t care how long it takes, how many American troops get killed, or how incompetently the war is run. If you’re a Republican, you think of the war as a vehicle of nationalist virtue, not to be questioned by the likes of fellow Americans who demand answers better than “everything is fine”. If you are a Republican, you meet the calls for an exit strategy with cries of cowardice. You meet calls for investigation into prewar failures with the brazen and shallow admonishment that anyone requiring accountability for failure does not adequately “support the troops”. It is raw nationalism, and raw partisanship, of the ugliest and most cowardly fashion.
Just hours after one small victory, came this enormous defeat.
Last night, House Republicans managed to twist enough arms to force through $50 billion in budget cuts from programs which help the poorest of our citizens. Republicans, like Chris “Count” Chocola, would like us to believe that they are doing it to be “fiscally responsible”:
“Today we are simply slowing the future growth of government,” said Representative Chris Chocola, Republican of Indiana, as the House opened debate. Mr. Chocola said the reductions, if translated to a typical family budget of $50,000, represented a savings of $50.
The reality? These cuts for the poor were necessary so they could ram through an additional $70 billion in tax cuts for the rich. If you’re following along at home, folks, yes, that means that they’re actually ADDING $20 billion to the deficit.
On the backs of the poor.
So the rich can have even MORE money.
Indeed, there IS class warfare going on in our nation. It is the Republicans’ class warfare against the poor and the middle class in our country.
In the last election, “moral values” was trotted out as a key issue for a large percentage of voters. Unfortunately, as we can now see, moral values lost the election in 2004, as it did in 2002 and 2000. The Republican vision - “make the poor people who wouldn’t vote for us anyway even poorer so we can make our rich doners even richer - so they can bribe us again to make them richer still” - is unjust and immoral.
The Republicans latest attempt to cut funds for the poor so they can slash taxes for the rich has failed:
House Republican leaders were dealt a rare defeat today as Democrats and about two dozen Republicans teamed up to kill a $142 billion health and education spending bill.
I hope that this “effective control” of Congress by Democrats and moderate Republicans can continue. The poor in our nation and in the world can’t afford too many more tax cuts for the rich!
The USA (Un)PATRIOT(ic) Act is poised to become the (mostly) permanent law of the land:
The agreement ensures the extension of all 16 provisions of the law that were set to expire in six weeks. Fourteen will be extended permanently, and the remaining two - dealing with the government’s demands for business and library records and its use of roving wiretaps - will be extended for seven years.
Don’t worry, though, it’s not like the government would ever abuse this power. After all, it’s not like they’ve gone about torturing people, detaining citizens indefinitely without access to the legal system, or obtaining the records of citizens without obtaining a formal warrant.
Oh crap… I guess they have done all of those things.
If you ever needed incentive to call your elected representatives, the government’s abuse of its power over the course of the past four years should be all that you need.
Dick Cheney says the administration’s Democratic critics are ‘dishonest’ and ‘reprehensible’ for making entirely supportable assertions that this administration lied us into war.
I’ll tell you what’s dishonest and reprehensible.
It’s dishonest to withhold crucial caveats from intelligence information in order to get the American public to support the invasion, occupation, and failed state creation which has occurred in Iraq.
It’s reprehensible to advocate the use of torture against our enemies.
It’s dishonest for his chief of staff to lie about blowing Joe Wilson’s wife’s cover.
It’s reprehensible that he was involved in an administration which engaged in torture in eastern Europe, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, and God knows where else.
It’s dishonest for the administration to tell us that they “know where the WMD are” in Iraq.
It is reprehensible that we used “incendiary” (read - chemical) weapons in civilian areas in Iraq.
While the Democrats were responsible for giving the Republicans political cover to wage an unjust war in Iraq, even that does not rise to the level of “dishonest” and “reprehensible” behavior engaged in by this administration - to this very day.
Radical Cleric Pat Robertson just can’t keep his poor theology to himself:
“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city,” Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, “The 700 Club.”
“And don’t wonder why He hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for His help because he might not be there,” he said.
Pat Robertson seems to follow a mafia kingpin rather than a loving God. The character of God as he presents him is that of an extortionist. “Do what I say or I won’t help you out no more.” Or, less subtly, “do what I say or I’ll wipe you off the map.”
Fortunately for us, Jesus taught differently. He taught us that the fundamental reality of the one true God is that of grace. But he also taught us about what Jesus is REALLY concerned about. No, it’s not specific doctrines like the evolution versus creationism (the modern day equivalent to “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin”). It’s about whether or not we are, as the prophet Micah exhorted, acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God.
It’s interesting how many times the prophet Isaiah’s words are applicable today: “these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me.” Mr. Robertson, by advocating the murder of world leaders and condeming people for disagreements over irrelevant doctrinal issues (does it really matter if the story of Genesis reflects God’s loving relationship with us as a metaphor or through the literal processes he took in creating us?), sure seems to fall in the same category as the people to whom Isaiah (and later Jesus) was talking.
“These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community’s judgments related to Iraq’s weapons programs.”
Except for the fact that the investigation into whether the intelligence was manipulated in the run-up to war was NEVER DONE.
Remember that thing a couple weeks ago where the Democrats put the Senate into closed session? This was done to force the Republicans to start the investigation into the administration’s manipulation of intelligence.
So I guess, Mr. President, that’s just another one of those…exaggerations!
