Voters elect the people who run the government so if it is broke…we did it!
For the sake of plain old fashioned truth, let me start this piece of communication with a fundamental fact. Every one of the people responsible for governing the United States of America was elected to do so in campaigns where they were required to state their positions. In order to fix government, we have to learn how obstructionists like Boehner, McConnell, Bachmann, DeMint, Wilson and others got elected. What did they say that people found so compelling that they overlooked the illogic. We know what Obama said.

The current election process can elect anyone. Sarah Palin was governor of Alaska. Glenn Beck could probably get elected. After all, remember those idiots in the Deep South? Lester Maddox, Ross Barnett and the old George Wallace were elected because they defied the constitution of the United States of America. In other words, the electorate of these states once again seceded from the union by knowing they were electing anti-constitution candidates. In fact, to ensure that only people who thought like them got elected to any public office, they negated the vote of at least 35% of the voting population. That’s what the party of no is trying to continue.

How many African American people did you see at the Tea Party Convention? In spite of the fact that they claim to be independent of any of mainstream politics, they spent almost as much time making personal attacks against Obama as CPAC did. They are a conservative republican weapon created to disrupt and discredit any candidate, white or colored who does not follow the script. They don’t want to either fix America or govern America. They want to rule America!

I have never worked for the government but I got a feeling that making a really good suggestion that requires congressional approval is a real nightmare if not outright dangerous to one’s career. Therefore, I am reluctant to conclude that government employees are the problem because they execute congressional will. Does anyone remember the votes on healthcare, jobs, etc?

Did anyone see the summit meeting between Obama and some of his fiercest detractors? Was it just me or did anyone notice that the republicans did not come to identify areas of agreement so a basis for further negotiation could continue until an acceptable bill was passed? To put it simply, they came to try to embarrass him by holding him accountable for shortcomings in Medicare along with all the Bush administration economic messes. For the record, everyone in the room was wealthy and healthcare is not a personal concern for them. For the record, there were clearly people in the room representing and outright lobbying for the insurance companies. Keep in mind that corporations can spend as much as they want to help political candidates.

How many republicans voted in favor of healthcare in spite of 5 different reputable polls that explicitly stated that the public wants healthcare reform? My God, I hope there is no one stupid enough to not see why the most visible conservatives are dead set against Obama. It is not politics; it is hatred that transcends patriotism! Do you agree?

Who knew tea could cause such hateful stupidity…
Let’s start with a common truth. The tea-party is as racist as the guy in the photo that attacked black students during the busing days in Boston. Having said that, maybe that’s why they keep rambling on about how Obama is taking food out of the mouth of their babies.

But I smell a bigger rat somewhere in all this. Do you think as I do that these people closely resemble the people who were paid to disrupt town hall meetings so that there would be no health care bill? If they are, I get the feeling that they think we are too stupid to notice that in spite of the lipstick, we keep hearing oinks.

The primary reason why I think the way I do is because even people in faraway places where wild animals roam freely now know that Obama did not create the financial mess. In fact, I believe that at least 95% of the tea party members voted for Bush both times and would do it again if he could run. Of course, that begs one to question why they did not know that when they voted Bush in for his second term it was a vote for Cheney too…and 4 more years of financial disaster to the tune of almost 5 trillion dollars!

I can’t help feeling that these people are looking for jobs in the tea party because they know something we don’t. They know where the money is. I think they aspire to be employees of the largest corporation of lobbyists in the history of the world. My guess is that the leadership training available at the convention will be on how to become even more effective at disrupting any candidate they don’t like or put another way any candidate they are paid to drown out.

Imagine how much money must be changing hands is what I think is going on is really going on! The way I see it first the Supreme Court makes it legal for corporations to spend as much money as they want in order to sway candidates and voters to do whatever they want them to do. Then the tea party begins the process of legitimizing itself into the instrument of execution for their political agenda – which is to kill any health care reform…duh!

It makes me wonder if this isn’t Cheney’s plan. One thing is for sure, these people are not about a democratic process, nor are they about freedom. They are quite the opposite. They want to enforce whatever agenda they think is right regardless. That’s why Boehner is trying to get on their good side.

If they make it, expect to see Roe v Wade repealed, expect to see civil rights legislation rolled back, expect to see minimum wages frozen, expect to see the separation of church and state ended and expect to see everyone receiving any form of public assistance required to perform forced labor (this course is slavery 101). What really makes me mad is just how stupid they think we are…or are we…I mean we aren’t gonna fall for this are we? Do you agree?

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow corporations to spend any amount they want to support the campaigns of presidential and congressional candidates. I must admit I did not see anything like this coming. I think it is an astonishing decision although if I reflect on who the members of the court are, I should not be surprised at all.

I’ll bet everyone in the United States can name at least four of the five judges appointed by the far right wing conservatives and religious saints, who voted to do this. But in case you are not very well informed, I will be happy to tell you that the voters now and in the future for all things that support corporations and radical Republican conservative views are Scalia, Roberts, Alito and What’s-his-name, who were joined by Justice Kennedy in literally allowing corporations to purchase candidates favorable to them.

Corporations are free to actually issue the same kinds of ads the political parties air. This is really bad for democracy. The justices seemed to overlook the fact that not only will corporations be able to swing elections, by helping their guys get elected to office, they will be able to fix prices independent of the Sherman Antitrust Act because they proved that they already own the Supreme Court! Now they can legally do illegal things!

I must say this Republican coup ranks right up there with election fixing. It is a bold and outrageous assault on the freedom of low and middle income citizens. I hope Americans are as outraged as I am at this slap in our faces. Because if there is anyone who believes that there is nothing serious going on, remember how a group of criminals subverted the election in Florida and then Ohio and denied American citizens the right to vote in order to ensure a favorable outcome for their candidate?

If this vote does not scare you, consider this; how do you think Bank of America was able to repay the 45 billion? Many of the major corporations are cash rich. They will not hesitate to spend billions of dollars to make sure their candidates win because they can make tens of billions. They are counting on the number of people who know what they are doing is insufficient to stop them. Take your country back from the Supreme Court by petitioning your congressional representatives to impeach the five justices who voted in favor of this unconstitutional ruling (because it gives wealthy people a clear advantage over those who are not). Do you agree?

I chose to follow the teachings of Jesus because the things he said are common to every religion. They all admonish their followers to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and suffer the children to learn to love their neighbor as they love themselves and so on. The selflessness of these admonitions tends to attract ambitious and charismatic leaders seeking to win them over in order to exploit them. That’s why there are denominations in every major faith. To me, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and the rest are merely words. The reason there is no such thing as religion is that there is one God of all.

I pray that this message is heard by every leader and every citizen of every nation in the world. I pray that religious rituals and traditions will no longer be used as sacraments to separate us. I pray that the vicious hateful acts of the self-serving leaders of Muslim terror groups, all other despots, and every hate group are seen for what they are ignoramuses drunk on personal power at the expense of innocent human life.

O God, how much longer must we endure white supremacists filled with hate and justifying it in your name and the name of Jesus Christ. How long do we have to endure ministers who preach prosperity to fill their pockets without regard to the true words of Jesus? How long must we endure Muslim leaders who changed the words written down by Mohammad? How long must we endure the belief that there is something holy in immersing someone in water to wash away their sins, or marching around a tower? How long before people come to realize that no priest is given authority to bring prayers and petitions unto God?

Is it right that a man can kill another while he is praying to God in a mosque? Is this happening in the world today? Has Christian killed Christian? How can two and a half billion people whose believe in the same God differ so much between them?

I pray that everyone who reads this message will join me in 2010 to unite as we have never united before. I pray that we may learn to turn our faces to the sky and ask our common God to grant us the strength to become one people in one world in one accord before Him. For I ask in God’s Holy name, who have I offended by asking? Whose faith do these words offend that ask us to raise our hearts and our prayers to the same God as one human family? Do you agree?

I do not have a religion. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and the rest are merely words coined by men. In each case, the members of these groups worship a singularly powerful entity they refer to as God, Allah or other name. And that is precisely why there is no such thing as religion: there is the one true God of all.

I chose to follow the teachings of Jesus because the things he said are common to every religion. His words have been often been included in scriptures of other faiths. That’s why I believe there really is no such thing as religion (Faith…yes, religion…no!)

The theological dogma or tenets that religions hold to be true incorporate the most basic things Jesus said every one of us ought to be doing. Among these are feed the hungry, clothe the naked, suffer the children to learn to love their neighbor as they love themselves and so on. The power and passion of this kind of expression of love for one’s fellow human beings is ripe for charismatic and ambitious leaders to exploit. That’s why there are denominations in every major faith.

I pray that this message can open the eyes of the leaders of the world as well as the rank and file citizenry of every nation in the world. I pray that rituals and traditions will no longer be used as religious doctrine to separate us from one another. I pray that the vicious hateful acts of men led by self-serving despots such as the leaders of the Muslim terror groups, despots, and all hate groups are seen for what they are; ignorant men who worship personal power at the expense of innocent human life.

O God, how much longer must we endure a white supremacist in the United States seeking to murder people of color while justifying it in your name and the name of Jesus Christ. How long do we have to endure ministers who preach prosperity for their pockets at the expense of the true words spoken by Jesus? How long must we endure those who have come to power among the Muslims and changed the words written down by Mohammad? How long must we endure the belief that there is something holy in immersing someone in water to wash away their sins, or marching around a tower? How long before people come to realize that there is no priest given authority to bring the prayers and petitions of the people to God? How can one man kill another while he is praying to God just because he is a Sunni and the man praying is a Shiite’? Is this not what is happening in the world today? Has a Christian killed a Christian?

I pray that everyone who reads this message will join me in 2010 to unite as we have never united before. I pray that we may learn to turn our faces to the sky and ask our common God to grant us the strength to become one people in one world in one accord before Him. For I ask in God’s Holy name, who have I offended by asking? What faith do these words offend that ask us to raise our hearts and our prayers to the same God as one human family? Therefore, do you agree?

Earlier this year, I wrote an article about a growing discontent with church-based Christianity in the United States. A study due for release in January in the U. K. has reached some very startling and disturbing conclusions. Unlike an earlier study by the Pew Forum finding that people are stitching elements from various faiths together to make a religion they can be comfortable with, the UK study found that people there may actually be dropping out as noted in an article by Martin Beckford of the Telegraph.co.uk.

Professor David Voas, the data analyst of the UK study stated that an increasing number of people are losing interest in religion while expressing an acceptance of its apparent inevitable demise according to the survey. The Telegraph noted that the study by the National Centre for Social Research was taken from nearly 4.500 interviews.

Among the striking conclusions that fell out was a decline in people calling themselves Christians. He noted that their numbers declined to 50% today, down from 66% in 1983. But as if that was not bad enough for the church to hear, it gets worse. The number of Britons who say they “have no religion” increased from 31% to 43%. (It should be noted that during this same time frame, non-Christians increased 5% and now make up 7% of the population).

Another worry was surfaced in the data that compared how many people attended services in 1983 to 2007; attendance fell 18.5% from 1.2M to 978K. The losses were 232,000 people mostly from the Church of England. In stark contrast, the Roman Catholic Church lost one percent. And not surprisingly, a whopping 37% are not completely sure God exists. A mere 7% said they were devout believers. And I don’t want to lose sight of survey respondents sending a strong signal that priests meddling in politics are a contributing factor to their discontent with religion in general. They must be watching too much American television.

For the record, I disagree with one conclusion Prof. Voas made that children no longer brought up in a ‘traditional’ (family) religion are a large contributor to the overall decline in church attendance – let alone believers. I believe it is an undeniable signal that church leadership is no capable of giving spiritual guidance. In other words, the church leaders require members to conform to them…regardless! The rank and file preachers have not figured out that the notion of a church being a family has been broken apart by the psychology of what it takes to survive in today’s highly complex societies. With a decline in family size, with a widening of economic gaps and with an increasing arrogance of big business ripping them off under the collective noses of their political representatives, there is a new rugged individualism of self-emphasis that compromises the belief that the church can actually make a difference.

In my opinion churches of every faith today have a disconnect because they are oblivious to the fact that news sources such as CNN are educating people in remote parts of the earth to the fact that our religions are very, very much alike. Couple that with corrupt politicians like Chavez and Ahmadinejad justifying what they stand for as being consistent with their respective religions and I think you get the message. The most learned of clergy in the major faiths know the doctrines of their religions have at their core, 60% commonality. Citizens of countries allowed to acquire an education know it also. Educated people are simply losing interest in religions that are self-serving and ineffective! What’ya think? Want to know more, try our Christian blog.

What a delicious irony. For the first time in our history, an African American has been elected President of the United States of America. After hearing his campaign remarks, the world has accepted, embraced and hailed him as one of the greatest leaders of our time. And this comes in spite of the relatively large population of ‘influential’ leaders in the United States of America that still can’t get past his color. And while they are small minded people they nonetheless have substantial (albeit shrinking) numbers that include such heavyweight ‘conservatives’ as Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, Dobbs, Bachmann, Boehner, Grassley, Baucus, McClain and not to leave out Lieberman and those cute ladies who are always desperately trying to impress us by the way they weigh in.

The more venom and race hate these “Americans” spread, the more main stream America sees them for what they are…self-serving anarchists. They don’t do it for a paycheck alone; they want to establish a powerful presence within the ‘pack’. They want absolute power over the loyalty of the other wrong-thinkers among whites and African or Hispanic American Oreos. Part of their plan is working; they are getting paid. But boy did they miscalculate the other part. Not only are white people not supporting them in growing numbers, there just might be a mid-term back lash among voters in red states in disgust for the totally un-American rhetoric.

Still, there is no shortage of whites who love to hate. That keeps the likes of Rush, Glenn, Lou, and the Ladies of the Mouth desperately trying to press home issues such as whether Obama is an American citizen, or government death panels killing people and the other excrement. Why… because like I said, what they do pays well because there will likely be a Rupert Murdock in the world to whom hate may be intoxicatingly fun for a long time. So, if by chance you are good at extreme positions that can attract those who love to hate, you too could be making the big bucks these guys are making. Just speak out against Obama, cheer when things like the US losing out on the Olympics happen and so on. You might get lucky. But if you do make it big, you owe me. Do you agree?

Isn’t it interesting that the only thing the majority of Republicans agree on is that President Obama is not good for the United States for some reason or other. While almost 3 out of 4 Republicans feel that way, there is still that 1 in 4 that thinks he is at least a human being worthy of being called equal to the rest of humanity. Because of them, I am still an optimist, although stupid enough to actually believe that the day will come when the number of Republicans that think President Obama is just another president of the United States will one day rise to 50 percent. But like the freed slaves Pharaoh allowed to leave Egypt, the 25 percent in question will have to wander around in the desert of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the like for their ‘forty years’ until they are purged of the prevailing Republican hate rhetoric.

However, on the other hand considering that 75% of Republicans can be talked into denying President Obama is a real human being; it is surprising that they can otherwise be so fractionalized. Since becoming titular heads of the Republican Party; Limbaugh and Beck have managed to rip the party apart leaving a majority of party members wishing they would go away. What is interesting about all this is how the real power brokers hijacked the brains of the Republican Party. They even got rid of the ethics of the Reagan, Ford, Howard Baker, Lugar, Lindsey Graham and so many others who are smart. Instead, the rank and file opted for the ignoramuses who run the party now.

The litmus test for whether one is worthy of the blessings of the likes of Boehner, Armey or Delay, is whether they can rile up anger and hatred for moderates and liberals. To get noticed, one must say the kind of stuff Beck says. I would like to think that the reason there are not more Becks and Limbaughs is because there is still a lot of decency amid the rank and file of the party but they are afraid of losing party support. But the Beck ‘wannabes’ will continue to keep the flat out lies coming because of the green support given by Murdoch…even ‘wanna-bes’ like Matlin and Coulter can get paid. I hope Beck and Rush are keeping an eye in the rear view mirror because Tucker and Dobbs have started their engines. I bet Michael Steele hopes like blazes that he can last long enough for the flames to go out so he can assert himself as an African American Republican Party member who really does have some value. But since 60% of us are not happy with the way things are going, the mid-term elections could sound the death of some very prominent Republicans in purple robes and crowns because 70% of Republicans want the party to return to a more moderate position.

What is sad is how efficiently the real party leadership is selling the integrity of the party for real cash. Somehow the guys who simply hate President Obama, managed to get nearly 4 out of 5 Republicans to take up positions against healthcare. It is hugely significant because the majority of American citizens not only know health care reform is needed, it is the moral thing to do. What the current party leadership has not counted on is that at least 80% of all Republicans have friends and relatives who have been hit hard by insurance providers. Nevertheless, the alpha dogs of the party are forcing the party to vote against the man rather than against healthcare regardless of the benefit to the American people. They have made it clear that above all, Barack Hussein Obama must lose! The vicious current leadership has replaced the reason of Republicans alike Rockefeller, Hagel, Spector, Javitts, Scozzafava, Case, Hatfield, Case, Weicker, Schweiker, Jeffords, Lindsey Graham, Ridge and Chafee to name a few. What they may have overlooked is that forst and foremost, we are America; true Republicans can do a hell of a lot better than the present Republican leadership! Do you agree?

Close your eyes and try to picture you and all the members of your family in this environment. You are living in Afghanistan where every so often, Al-Qaeda blows something up trying to kill Americans and other coalition forces and end up killing innocent Afghans as well. Every now and then, a Taliban bomber blows something up trying to kill Americans and non Taliban Afghans. Only they also wind up killing innocent women and children as well to prove who  is really in control. Or, sometimes a Taliban youngster would legally shoot a female non-Taliban youngster in the face because she was not wearing a burka.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to imagine yourself living there with all your family members, add this to the above concerns: you and your family are probably hungry if not starving. Not only are Afghans having to contend with the above threats today, many Afghans are having to relive these same conditions when the Russians came. There were suicide bombers then to trying to ‘keel’ the infidel Russians.

Well, today nearly 25 times as many Afghans die of hunger and/or from complications brought on by exposure to harsh winter temperatures according to a United Nations Security Council report. As if all this were not enough to cope with, imagine you are pregnant because remember, you are hungry! How many hungry Afghans are there you ask? Fully one-third of the population of 7.4 million! And another third are on the borderline with regard to the quantity, quality and nutritional value of the food they have. That includes almost one and a quarter million children under age 5 – of which 300,000 die every year. Class, for your homework assignment, write an essay on why groups like the Taliban can come to power in the midst of this kind of abject poverty. Be sure to include why you think other Afghans are in the opium business. As for you who are reading this anywhere and everywhere in the world, does your religion tell you to feed the hungry? Twenty percent of the world’s population throw away enough food to feed every poor child in the world every day. Maybe Santa will bring Afghan children some food this year!

Comment: How can any nation or people whose religious faith advocates that all human beings are created equal standby while nearly 70% of the world’s children are malnourished? Does wealth transcend humanity to the degree that undernourishment and starvation of some is acceptable? I seem to recall learning that the Romans and similar wealth-driven empires would have said yes!

Suppose a licensed practicing physician said “We’re losing more Americans every day because of inaction …(regarding a lack of health insurance) than drunk driving and homicide combined,” Should his remark have any credibility? If you are one of the more rational people in America and answered yes, then you should know that Dr. David Himmelstein, and Dr. Steffi Woodlander, who is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard conclude.

Incredibly, President Barack Obama’s health care plan has been fiercely opposed by people who we refer to as conservative republicans but who in reality are people taking money to oppose health care from some care providers and the insurance companies. As a side note to this plan, I have had some difficulty determining why some health care providers would oppose the made Obama’s plan because of the Hippocratic Oath. But of course I have no difficulty determining why the insurance companies are intensely against the public option. I once read about the Sherman Anti-trust Act. So I thank God for Physicians for a National Health Program, which supports the public option.

The Harvard research group said American adults younger than 65 years old without health insurance have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those who with insurance. This awful number is sharply up from a similar study in 1993 that found uninsured people in the same age group had a 25 percent greater risk of death. In 2008, more than 46 million people in the United States have no health care insurance. This number probably does not include the 12 to 15 million illegal aliens. Nevertheless, the 46 million is up 600,000 from the previous year…before the economic crash!

Some of the worst states for uninsured are notoriously conservative Republican. Among them are: Florida at 26%, Louisiana at 25.5%, and of course Texas which comes in at 29.7%. I do not know what the hospital be availability is or emergency room capacity in areas where the highest uninsured live. But there is a general decline in public hospitals and clinics especially in New Orleans, which is in Louisiana, the third highest uninsured state after Texas.

The National Center for Policy Analysis, euphemistically referred to as a ‘Washington think tank,’ that advocates that health care should be a free-market, said researchers overstated the death risk and did not track how long subjects were uninsured. This answer should be justification enough for there to be a public option. Do you think this answer addresses the reality of not being insured even if is for three months.

Did any Congressional staff review the Harvard study involving nearly 9,000 patients tracked by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) National Health Statistics through the year 2000 which excluded Americans over 64 years of age because of the Medicare health care coverage? Harvard professor of medicine Dr. Steffi Woodlander, flatly stated “For any doctor … it’s completely a no-brainer that people who can’t get health care are going to die more from the kinds of things that health care is supposed to prevent.”
COMMENT: In order to prevent President Obama from getting his health care through, conservative Republicans like John Boehner, Michelle Bachman, Joseph Lieberman, Dick Armey (Freedom Works) and of course Sarah Palin are willing to continue to grow the numbers of those who die from a lack of insurance in order to defeat Obama. Now they sure seem like a ‘death panel’ to me! Do you agree?