It is late on Sunday - my "sabbath" from politics and blogging. But I wanted to stop by before I went to bed and give my warmest thanks for all those who donated to this blog in the last 36 hours. I admit without shame to welling up a bit. L.R. is a genuine pleasure for me - it would be a chore I would have long ago given up on without the readers and participants.
My gratitude at having such an interesting and diverse audience is impossible to quantify. Thank you.
I will be back blogging Monday and will endeavor to continue to earn your readership, time and thoughts.
I rarely do this - but it is time. Sustaining this blog takes much time and it is not what I do for a living. (Fees from google ads are nominal for a blog this size.)
If you come by here regularly and get some food for thought, affirmation. or a laugh - please consider clicking the donate button at the top center of the page and sending whatever amount seems appropriate. 1.00 is fine. 2.00 is better....In fact if my daily regulars each donated 1 to 5 dollars it would have a huge impact for me about now. The slow down in the film business is as real as it is everywhere else...and I want to be able to continue L.R. - this takes avoiding a "set" or "desk" job.
Because of the lively conversation this morning. I made a list...
List of observations:
1. The conversation, even when it gets ugly, is important. So far at least, I'd rather have a smaller audience than an echo chamber.
2. Dissent matters. Even when it confronts things I (or readers here) hold to be true.
3. Resentment is sometimes a place to start. It is not a place to stay. Processes here vary. I, for one, felt the movement called "Puma" - born of deep anger and resentment - should have evolved quickly into a third party concerned with many issues. In my thinking, an opportunity was lost because that resentment did not morph into a third way. The difficulties of a third party in the U.S. became an excuse to not try. I hold fast to the belief that we need a third way as badly as we ever have in this country. Both the corruption of the Democrats and the GOP impulse toward viciousness and stupidity prove this point. The clock is very much ticking on our "way of life" - we need another way.
(I sometimes process my resentments with outright mockery and humor. Sometimes with nostalgia, sometimes fury.)
4. Learning from the past is important -as long as one stays in the present while learning.
5. Forcing those who got lost in the Obama muck last year to see and hear how wrong they were is part of the process of owning and growing into the next place. This task needs to last as long as it needs to last. When a banner across the Huffington Post and the DailyKos announces WE WERE WRONG ABOUT OBAMA, then it might be time to move on. It would be dishonest for me to say that I did not take some joy in just how wrong the Pod people were. I do. My claims to sainthood are a few incarnations away.
Cannonfire put it succinctly yesterday: I wish to hell that these people would just be honest about what they did. I wish that they would 'fess up to the role they played in foisting this nightmarish presidency on the world. I wish to hell that they would apologize.
Given the level of lies, delusion and deceit around Obama I feel it is nearly an obligation to confront those responsible for foisting this nightmarish presidency on the world.
HOWEVER: If resentment regresses into a sniping victimhood then it is mostly useless.
There is some movement among the worst of the "Obots". A realization with some that they have been had. This is progress. Pressing this point is important for a number of reasons:
-Saving liberals from themselves is a decent, if not exactly noble, cause.
-Obama was and remains a symptom of a larger disease that grew out of the Bush era. The trickery is palpable and needs to be pointed out to the tricked. To ignore this is to assume that the democratic systems are working. One side loses, one wins - that's it. But they are not working. We shall get fooled, yet again, if we do not remember the machinations of the dysfunction.
Though we've seen it all before, there was a quantum leap in the body politic in the level of denial around Obama. It took the full force of the media, an economic collapse, a generalized revulsion toward the incumbent, and many of the biggest loudest blogs to get the man to 52%. As with 2000 - what we have here is evidence that the system itself is broken. The media's capitulation to Obama - and to the pro Iraq invasion meme in '03 - are important and similar indicators. We do not live in the country we are told we live in. Standing against the "manufacturing of consent" is one thing a blog can do and do well.
6. I stated that this was a "grievance" blog. This was:
A. claiming ownership of a word used by a blogger who called all Hillary blogs "grievance blogs".(I should have been clear about that.)
B. An admission that nearly all political blogs are grievance blogs. From Kos to Texas Darlin. Americablog took off because of grievances against Bush era policies. Posts at Cannonfire, Noquarter, and anywhere else one cares to alight are almost always in response to grievances of one sort or another. "Beefs" if you like. RCP is a compendium of writers with grievances. Blogs in the realm of political opinion and political writing are all grievance blogs. Having a grievance in and of itself is not a problem. Making the grievance one's identity is.
7. For the most part the best a political blog can do it point in a direction, give an opinion, make us chuckle, or uncover some facts that may have been missed or underreported. I think this is important: Blogs are blogs. Nothing more, nothing less. The obligation to "report" is a fallacy about blogs that is best avoided. I avoid it by writing opinion almost all the time.
As a loyal reader of this blog since it's inception, I must say that I usually enjoy coming here every day.
Brawls break out over divergent views on sexism, racism and homophobia. Fine. Brawls are sometimes productive, and my horizons have broadened along the way by being in the midst of them.
Then comes an often repeated phrase; one that makes me squint when I read it:
"We'll never forget!"
It's meant to be a cry of solidarity...but in what? It's a phrase that converts We The People into We The Wronged, and it is poisonous.
resentment noun bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly
It's no coincidence that the word 'bitter' is right there in the definition, up front.
On it's face, 'never forgetting' suggests that 'we've learned a hard lesson and won't be victims again'. But I've noticed that it's meaning goes much deeper for many here in Raptureland. It often seems to be a declaration of victim identity insidiously dressed up as valor, the result of which is to degrade everything and everyone that it invades. Unsurprisingly, it is also the wellspring of rabid partisanship---yet another wolf in patriot's clothing. It is a prayer to the very attentive and generous god of Rage.
Hillary was the best candidate, but she lost. It was wrong.
Chicago Slim won the election for embarrassingly superficial reasons. It was wrong.
Palin was ridiculed because she is a beautiful woman not only striving for but sitting in power. It was wrong.
Prop 8 won on the ballot in California. It was wrong.
Clearly, none of us will ever actually forget any of these events. They're riveting assertions of our existence at exactly this time in exactly this place. So what does it mean when we write, "We will never forget!"
That we will never actually forget goes without saying, so it must mean something more. The energy behind it is most likely, "We will never forgive!"... and that's not good for you, me, the country or the various issues that most of us want to coax into tangible advancement.
Cling to a wrong long enough and it becomes a part of you, like a scar on your personality. And yes, scars are stronger than the undamaged skin they replace... but they're no longer properly functioning parts of the body. One medical website says of scar tissue, "Although it takes the place of damaged or destroyed tissue, it is limited in function, including movement, circulation, and sensation."
This isn't who we strive to be, is it?
I'd like to suggest that 'forgetting' would actually be more productive than trudging knee deep in resentment, but I suppose that depends on who you want to be in this world.
Make no mistake -- I have battled with this very demon all of my adult life. I can report without any fear of being exposed as a fraud that my most noteworthy accomplishments all grew from having let go of the ways in which I've been wronged. The past screams and yells at me to live in it, but in intermittent moments of grace I can successfully ignore it's clamor.
It's surprising how much ignoring looks like forgetting.
What progressive/liberal supporter of this President can possibly excuse this? I know. Some Obot will come by and say something like "Obama never said he was against amputating mountains! He is a great man! If he says mountain tops must go then we must trust his perfect wisdom and judgement!"
Fine. Whatever. I have no earthlyidea what Obama's stance was on mountain top removal last summer. I do know environmentalists supported him - stupidly.
NK fires again:North Korea fires another missile - Obi admin says: "I don't think that anybody in the administration thinks there is a crisis," Gates told reporters aboard his military jet early Friday morning. Is No Drama Obama actually too disinterested to be bothered since there is no upside for me Obama? Where's Bill? Check this blog out. Comment on Hot Air: Most recently NQ, Liberal Rapture, The Confluence. Mostly small liberal blogs that were hardline behind Hillary Clinton...Believe it or not the real democrats had O figured out along time ago.
So real that we had to leave the party to maintain any integrity.
The kids are alright: Don't they know the musty ol' Bible mutters some barely coherent, mistranslated silliness about it in a single word or two written 1,500 years ago in a long dead language by acidic church elders with powermad political agendas and violently repressed libidos who nevertheless wish to instruct us all how to live and love and screw? Read it all.
John goes all tiger beat:
oh the many things i love...because, as we know - those who can't do - blog...
...USC Football...Shakespeare...the sublime inanity of Green Acres...the deliciously fearless South Park...almond roca...kicky pop music....oh and Rafael Nadal's smile, uh, i mean skill...The French Open is moving along and I also love me some tennis...and come to think of it lets hear it for Shakira ..Fear no Rock en Espanol...while American pop was disintegrating into fits of increasingly crappy rap and increasingly tiresome "hip hop" driven by increasingly creepy and gooey sexual energy... Rock en Espanol was often busy keeping the fun, sexy, earnest urgency of pop alive...so Go Rafa! Go Lakers! Go Friday! Go Rock en Espanol!...Go on then...have a great weekend!
A wonderful, lengthy piece on President Clinton is linked here. Occasionally I wonder if my partisan loyalty to the Clintons is misplaced. Then I read something like this piece which confirms what went on last year - Bill Clinton : I had one minister in Texas in the general election come up and put his arm around me." This was an Obama supporter. "And he came up, threw his arm around me and said, 'You've got to forgive us for that race deal.' He said, "That was out of line."
"That race deal" - that damaged this country and demeaned millions and for what? For who? A talented teleprompted speaker who has no business running a city, much less a county.
I am left with this final answer: The Clintons are better people than the Obamas. I mean that in both a broad and narrow sense. From the reasons behind policy down to how people are seen and treated - The Clintons are better people.
Yes, the Obamas and their rabid supporters were "out of line" to put is as kindly as possible. Mr. Obama's entire career is built on being "out of line" - from the mysteries of his youth, to the lazy career in the state legislature, to the most recent "F You" to gays, and abortion rights activists.
Obama is about advancement of his ego and control over whatever he can manage to grasp - and that is all.
Advancement and control.
Advancement and control. Those two words cover his whole life.
I think - 'no, I shouldn't get over it'. I see no reason to "get over it". A "planned" mistake of epic proportions was foisted on us last year .
And I can't get around the sense that it may be our final mistake. The mistake that ends the possibility for redemption. The one who comes after Obama shoud be as big a concern now for thinking people as Obama himself.
This mistake aided and abetted in corrupting the Left to its core - with the Left being willing, deluded participants. The far Right is alive now. Alive with passion and ideas. The Left, contrary to MSM blathering, is DEAD. A bunch of lost, confused, disempowered fools.
As the results of the Chicago Rules being installed in D.C. become more and more apparent - this mistake becomes one that we will pay for in myriad ways for years to come.
There is now no issue, plank, or contingency, that Obama has not betrayed in less than 200 days. I defy anyone to find one major issue in which Obama has not waffled, doubled back or chosen to ignore what he said in 2008. We are in the midst of Bush's third term. On every major concern "hope and change" has become "What Bush said". Here is the difference - W, Cheney, and Rummy transferred wealth to the military- industrial complex, while giving financial concerns a blank check to loot. Obama is in the process of transferring wealth to the medical-industrial complex while bailing out financial concerns...with our wealth.
It is both "sour grapes" and reasonable to conclude that Hillary Clinton would be a better President. Far from perfect. But certainly better. On this point, Liberal Rapture is proudly a grievance blog and will remain one as long as it is up or until proven wrong.
The veteran who wrote me last night - an email I posted - sent me this "rewrite" if you will. His extensive experience impels us to take note. The email is re-posted below. The writer served for 27 years in the U.S. Army in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, he was stationed in South Korea for 5 years.
-------------- In light of the recent political and military developments on the Korean peninsula, this President should immediately take practical, preventive measures to safeguard the families of service members & DoD employees stationed in the Republic of Korea.
NEO - Non-combatant Evacuation Operation
IF hostilities break out on the Korean peninsula, massive logistical resources would be required to move more than 20,000 American family members out of the country.
Even under peaceful circumstances, a military conducted NEO (non-combatant evacuation operation) would stretch the limits of the U.S. military currently deployed in the region.
It's time to for our leadership to seriously question the wisdom of allowing family members to remain in South Korea. The old colonial, country club, status quo atmosphere of our military in the ROK needs a swift kick-in-the-ass...
As a former soldier who directly supported a small-scale NEO exercise in South Korea, IF shit hits the fan, our troops will immediately focus on protecting family members trapped in a war zone. Why? Because it's a logical, natural reaction.
What would you do IF you were a soldier with family members under direct fire?
Once the DPRK announced it no longer would honor the 1953 Armistice ending the Korean War. the old rules governing the political and military game changed. A De Facto state-of-war now exists on the Korean Peninsula. Allowing family members to remain in the R.O.K. is nothing short of gross incompetence.
By enacting an immediate NEO, it would send a strong message to North Korea, but more importantly China, that the U.S. is serious about defending its allies in the region. It would show the DPRK that the U.S. is listening closely to both its words and actions.
This President has the moral responsibility to safeguard the lives of Americans. IF the U.S. is serious about defending South Korea and Japan, it needs to devote ALL its resources towards reaching and maintaining this political and military objective. The continued presence of family members in South Korea is a recipe for both a military and humanitarian disaster.
The rules of the region's political game have changed. When Germany invaded Poland, my grandfather didn't wait around for the shooting to start in France.He immediately put his family on a boat out of the country.
While I understand our government's desire to avoid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, not immediately enacting a full scale NEO it's nothing short of gross incompetence.
Once again, since North Korea announced it no longer would honor the 1953 Armistice ending the Korea War, a De Facto state-of-war now exists on the Korean Peninsula. Would our government allow family members to remain in places like Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan?
This President must act and act now. Given the continued unpredictable behavior of the North Korean leadership, signing the order for a full scale NEO is both a prudent and logical step.
To do otherwise represents a complete lack of moral leadership.
Wow. MS. publishes something that is NOT stupid, retro-sexist, and straight out of some 1977 Vassar Yearbook Editor's head. Check it out. Imagine MS. is admitting that the Left was vicious, sexist, and vulgar in its treatment of Palin. I wonder if vulgarians like Andrew Sullivan are within ear shot.
Late Wednesday I received an email from an Army vet and old friend asking me to write about the recent developments in Korea. His email and background contains a perspective far beyond anything I could say. He gave me permission to post his email . I've added one link but the military "lingo" is left as is. DPRK is North Korea and ROK is South Korea to us civilians. Whether the recent saber rattling by the DRPK is the result of a new belligerence, an internal power struggle or an attempt to test or bribe a new American President is far beyond my ability to even guess.
The writer served for 2 decades in the United States Army (Thank you, sir!). I do not know his final rank before retiring so I've left it off - no disrespect is meant . His persepctive is compelling and important.
John,
I realize the recent focus of your blog is BHO & the gay marriage debate, but it would be wonderful if you could write something insightful about the recent developments in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Basically, BHO could take some important preventive measures to safeguard the families of service members & DoD employees stationed in the ROK. Look up NEO (non-combatant evacuation operations).
Unfortunately, IF hostilities break out on the Korean peninsula, massive resources will be spent attempting to move more than 20,000 families members out of the Republic of Korea. It's time to rethink the military wisdom of maintaining the status quo which allows family members to remain in South Korea.
The colonial country club atmosphere of our military in the South Korea needs a swift kick-in-the-ass...
Trust me, IF shit hits the fan, our troops will ONLY be focused on protecting U.S. family members caught up in a fresh combat zone. What would you do IF you were a soldier with family members in a Combat Zone? Once the DPRK announced it no longer would honor the 1953 Armistice ending the Korean War (Pyongyang Also Says Truce Ending War in 1953 Is Invalid) the rules of the political and military game changed. The Korean peninsula is now a De Facto war zone. Allowing family members to remain in the Republic of Korea is nothing short of gross incompetence.
By enacting an immediate NEO, it would send a strong message to the DPRK, but more importantly the PRC, that the U.S. is serious about defending the ROK and Japan. It would show the DPRK that the U.S. is listening closely to its words and actions.
As President, BHO has the direct responsibility to safeguard the lives of Americans. IF the U.S. is serious about defending the ROK and Japan, it needs to devote ALL its resources to that goal. Allowing family members to remain in the ROK is a recipe for a potential military and humanitarian disaster.
The rules of the political game have changed. When Germany declared war on Poland, my grandfather didn't wait around for the shooting to start to put his family on a boat out of France. While I understand the desire of our government and the military not to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, not immediately beginning the first stages of a complete NEO is nothing short of gross incompetence.
Would our government allow family members to remain in places like Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan?
The DPRK has declared war. This administration needs to act accordingly and immediately!
One more post while we are still in the first quarter of the Laker game. Today North Korea threatened war against South Korea...which is to say, us. A North Korean incursion into the south would see Americans on the front lines immediately.
Is it just me or does the Commander in Chief seem completely unconcerned?
One has to wonder if the GOP wants to commit suicide. A week ago I wrote that the reports of the GOP's death were wildly overstated. I suppose that is still true. But a party that can't take a punch when it is thrown and then respond without melting into its worst elements is on the quick road to oblivion.
So about that Sotomayor nomination...last night the post was an overview of my basic thoughts
- as far as I could tell, she was worthy of the nomination. No giant. No slouch.
- I made a statement about identity politics that, if read as written - was not very kind to either Right or Left.
- I looked forward to learning more and hoped the battle for and against her was tough and fair.
All that still stands. I think all SCOTUS nomination battles should be tough and fair. So this post is NOT about Ms. Sotomayor's qualifications. I can only guess and my guess is she is every bit as capable as David Souter.
This post is about the politics surrounding her nomination. All SCOTUS nominations are political to some degree. Politicians have to decide on nominees. Politicians with constituencies.
Here are some facts about political life in America: - Hispanics are the largest minority. - Hispanics are rightly proud that a Latina has been nominated. - Some of those concerned about the progress of women in the America's power structures are happy to see a third woman nominated to SCOTUS.
The last 2 "facts" above are both "identity politics" at work - like it or not - and the results of historical discrimination. I make no judgement here about it except to say I wish gender and ethnicity never mattered. We are not there yet. Things are what they are.
Having said that as foreground let me get to the point: W.T.F. IS THE FAR RIGHT BLOVIATE-O-SPHERE THINKING?
Speaking purely politically: Barack Obama threw hard left at the Right by nominating Sotomayor. It was a fair punch. He chose a qualified person who he also knew would have symbolic value with a large portion of the population. This is politics. Obama set a trap for the GOP - and the GOP is falling for it. The chatter floating about is that she is "emotional" and "stupid".
Fascinating. Parts of the GOP can't seem to stop its self destructive bent.
The GOP is in danger of falling into the identity politics counter trap: inciting their base by falling back on stereotypes, enraging the opposition, and making Sotomayor a defacto martyr for a huge portion of the population.
Dumb.
Unless she flubs big time in the Senate or has a dark secret that is revealed - she will sail through. Coded insults from the Right won't stop anything and will, along the way, solidify Hispanics as a Democratic core constituency.
Interestingly, the best critique and criticism of Sotomayor I've seen so far is from liberal law professor Jonathan Turley. He does go after her intellectual depth but there is no sense whatsoever that his criticism has anything to do with her gender or ethnicity.
Right wingers - listen up - That's how it is done.
High court pick stays on 'real world' message (by Tony Mauro, National Law Journal) President Barack Obama announced Tuesday he will nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2d Circuit to the Supreme Court, extolling her "wisdom accumulated from an inspiring life's journey" and setting her on course to become the court's first Hispanic and third woman in history. Defying criticism that the empathy Obama sought in a nominee will color her judgment, Sotomayor pledged "never to forget the real world consequences of my decisions." Click here to watch the video of her acceptance remarks.
Obama's choice of Sotomayor deserves praise (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon) It is very encouraging that Obama ignored the ugly, vindictive, and anonymous smear campaign led by The New Republic's Jeffrey Rosen and his secret cast of cowardly Eminent Liberal Legal Scholars of the Respectable Intellectual Center...Obama has also ignored the deeply dishonest right-wing attacks on Sotomayor... And that is the behavior I want more of from him. Ignore the right wing. They're going to attack you, no matter what, so you may as well do the right thing.- Caro
First Latina Picked for Supreme Court; GOP Faces Delicate Task in Opposition (Washington Post) An all-out assault on Sotomayor by Republicans could alienate both Latino and women voters, deepening the GOP's problems after consecutive electoral setbacks. But sidestepping a court battle could be deflating to the party's base and hurt efforts to rally conservatives going forward. And the GOP started being delicate WHEN?- Caro
Click here for more politics and media news headlines.
My queasiness about identity politics has been expressed here before. Because of Obama's pick of Sotomayor for the Supreme Court much discussion is erupting around this issue.
A few points to make quickly:
1. She seems qualified. I know as little about her as most. We will find out more in the weeks ahead. Thus far I have no reason to believe, she, as a sitting Appeals court judge, is not qualified.
2. I do not like identity policies. It is dangerous in the long term, corrosive and misleading. However, the hundreds of white men who have been chosen as justices before benefited as surely from "identity politics" as more recent elevations of members of minority groups. Expressing concern about identity politics does not negate all of our history in which the only "identity" allowed to move through the system was "white" and "male". (and straight. and mostly Christian) Identity politics cuts both ways. If no woman or minority could move through the systems of power then, of course, there was no concerns about "Identity politics". Only one identify was assumed for any given position.
3. The fact that Sotomayor is a Latina is interesting and inspiring - but is of lesser concern than her qualifications - which, as I said above - she seems to have. I'll watch closely along with many others. As we learn more about her the same rules apply as for anyone else. Where her decisions sound and well considered? Are they within the parameters of precedent and our values?
Obama's pick of Sotomayor is compelling. I look forward to learning more and, as always, the arguments. The inefficiency of the U.S. Constitution is its strength. The executive picks and the congress must assent. Those for and against her must now make their cases. I hope they make them fairly and aggressively.
Final note: I am choosing to ignore the far Right megaphone on this pick for now. Their arguments that I've read or heard so far carry the whiff of racism and sexism. Buzz words like "emotional" are the order of the day. Damaged as I still am from the last election, I, unfortunately, can't read this as anything but pointers to make me fear her gender or ethnicity. If proof emerges that she is driven by emotions that is fair game.Conversely the she is "secretly anti-choice" meme on the Left is odd as hell. Why would Obama pick a a covert anti- Roe agent?
I will peruse sane conservatives who make cogent arguments. There is, no doubt, solid arguments against her. It will be a task to hear truth - but Supreme court picks are supremely important.
This post is an experiment. During last week's atheism discussion, Roberta (bert) recommended Harold Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People. It's been many years since I read "Bad Things", so at my request, Roberta provided extensive excerpts.
Roberta stresses that Rabbi Kushner never attempts to prove God's existence. Yet his book is commonly recommended as a rebuttal to skeptical challenges to belief in a God. For Roberta, Kushner "explains religion and God in such a way that it does not insult my intelligence and my understanding and knowledge of science and presents me with a loving God not the wrathful God of the religion my parents chose for me." For me, Kushner raises more questions than he answers.
To the quandary that provides the book's title, 'how could a loving, all-powerful God allow bad things to happen to good people?', Kushner offers a novel solution: God is loving, but not all-powerful.
Space permits me to cite and respond to but a selection of the extensive quotes Roberta provided. I ask her and you, the reader, to join me in the comments for an extended exchange on Kushner's points.
-tamerlane
***
God's (Non-) Role in Human Misfortune
Our misfortunes are none of His doing ... there are some things God does not control.
There is no message in [natural disasters]. There is no reason for those particular people to be afflicted rather than others. These events do not reflect God's choices. They happen at random....
Here Kushner puts forth the proposition that God is not omnipotent. This is troubling. For, if "God" does not control random misfortunes, who does? A rival god? A bigger god? If so, shouldn't we worship that one instead?
(We are) sustained and comforted by the knowledge that the earthquake and the accident, like the murder and the robbery, are not the will of God, but represent that aspect of reality which stands independent of His will, and which angers and saddens God even as it angers and saddens us.
I derive no comfort from that. Clearly, Kushner does, as he doesn't want his God to be the same harsh, smiting God of the Old Testament. But what sort of deity is Kushner left with, who has no influence over many "independent aspects of reality"?
Nature vs. God
Laws of nature treat everyone alike...Laws of nature do not make exceptions for nice people.
I don't believe that an earthquake that kills thousands of innocent victims without reason is an act of God. It is an act of nature. Nature is morally blind, without values. It churns along, following its own laws, not caring who or what gets in the way.
Kushner's statement is inconsistent with the bible's depiction of God. Does Kushner ever clarify the relation between Nature and God? Does he view Nature as a sovereign entity, perhaps a rival deity, independent of God?
Kushner's Conception of God
But God is not morally blind. I could not worship Him if I thought He was. God stands for justice, for fairness, for compassion.
Read: "I wish to worship a moral God, therefore I cannot imagine Him as morally blind," and, "I want God to stand for justice, etc., so I will arbitrarily absolve Him of all culpability for injustices, etc."
I have to believe that that the Holocaust was at least as much of an offense to God's moral order as it is to mine, or how can I respect God as a source of guidance?
How exactly does Kushner ascertain "God's moral order?" From scripture? God"s voice in his head? Kushner's own aristotelian conjecture of God's desires?
I would like to think that He is the source of my...sympathy and outrage, and that He and I are on the same side when we stand with the victim and against those who would hurt him.
I'd like to think that I'm better-looking than Brad Pitt, and that I can snag Jennifer Aniston on the rebound. Both I and Kushner are engaging in wishful thinking, and neither he nor I have one scrap of evidence to buttress our hopes.
I wonder why Kushner so badly needs the God he envisions to be the source of his sentiments, or to stand with him on moral questions. Why can't Kushner be the source of his own sentiments; why can't he stand alone in the knowledge he is right?
For me the earthquake is not an 'act of God.' The act of God is the courage of people to rebuild their lives after the earthquake, and rush to others to help them in whatever way they can.
So, God put the good stuff (helping others rebuild after earthquakes) into us, but not the bad stuff (building Treblinkas)? He gets credit for Habitat For Humanity, but no blame for the Khmer Rouge? Similarly, does He merit kudos for butterflies, but no complaints about bot flies?
It seems Kushner is defining "God" not as some external entity, but rather an internal human 'spirit.' Or as Jethro Tull's "My God" puts it: "You are the God of everything / He's inside you and me."
The Purpose of Pain and Suffering
Pain does not represent God's punishing us. It represents nature's way of warning good and bad people alike that something is wrong.
Is suffering, then, a coded message from God? Will Dan Brown write a novel on it?
What specifically is "wrong"? And how can one decipher that message from suffering?
I"m confused: is Nature or God sending the message? Again, Kushner implies that Nature has a conscience will, independent of God's.
Why, then, do bad things happen to good people? One reason is that our being human leaves us free to hurt each other, and God can't stop us without taking away the freedom that makes us human.
Pain makes some people bitter and envious. It makes others sensitive and compassionate.
Or, God could have made us different from the start. Why did He choose to make us capable of hurting each other?
To try to explain the Holocaust, or any suffering, as God's will is to side with the executioner rather than with the victim, and to claim God does the same.
Kushner claims that the holocaust was just a byproduct of the free will God grants mankind, but not His will. Yet man's free will is God's will, so any result of our free will is God's will, too. God chose to make us capable of holocausts.
Purpose of Religion
The primary purpose of religion...was not to put people in touch with God, but to put them in touch with one another...There were rituals for planting and for harvesting, for the winter solstice and for the vernal equinox. In that way, the community would be able to share the most joyous and most frightening moments of life. No one would have to face them alone.
Looking around his world, Homo faber saw things that looked created, were too big for a man to create, and therefore posited the existence of bigger humanoid creators-gods.
Religion and deities are also extremely useful in making people follow the rules when no one is looking. (Well, maybe not for Bristol and Levi.)
As the listed social purposes of religion can be-and are-achieved by means other than religion, is Kushner proposing a secularized set of rituals with an amorphous deity as a mere figurehead? The Unitarian Univeralists are already there.
Tamerlane's Excursus To reconcile the caring, moral God that Kushner desires with the capricious, vindictive God of the Old Testament (or the one making bad things happen today), Kushner must rely on convoluted logic, special pleading and baseless suppositions. Far too many of his arguments begin with "I'd like to believe..." or "I can't imagine..." Ultimately, Kushner can only achieve his goal by stripping God of His omnipotence, thereby making Him a less-than supreme being.
A much simpler explanation for all this is that no God exists either to create or to lament random suffering. When Kushner asks, "Can you accept the idea that some things happen for no reason, that there is randomness in the universe?" I reply: yes, I can. In fact, I can accept that the entire universe happened for no particular reason.
That Kushner or any other thoughtful, compassionate, and intelligent person even needs a god perplexes me. If Kushner can be at peace with the randomness and meaninglessness of suffering, what's the value-add of an higher power? In any case, Kushner's "God" - powerless over nature, helpless in the face of human suffering-is hardly worthy of the title "god". After purging Him of all involvement, Kushner is left with little more than an Harvey to keep him company.
To Roberta and other searchers of meaning, I recommend Pema Chodron's When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times. From the dust jacket of my copy:
There is only one approach to suffering that is of lasting benefit, Pema teaches, and that approach involves moving toward painful situations with friendliness and curiosity, relaxing into the essential groundlessness of our entire situation. It is there, in the midst of chaos, that we can discover the truth and love that are indestructible.
If you are wary of Buddhism, try the stoics Epicticus or Marcus Aurelius, who have a similar outlook. Neither Buddhism nor Stoicism require a god to explain things. Neither needs to expend any energy explaining God.
An interesting and provocative post by Tamerlane coming in about an hour. The rector of the parish where I am a member sent out an email letter after today's calif. court ruling. I am posting it without permission - but it is also on their - very good - website here so will take the risk. It's worth it to me.
Dear Friends,
Today's ruling by the California Supreme Court does not only affect the rights of same sex couples, it sets a terrible precedent that a simple majority of voters can deny millions of citizens fundamental rights and relegate those citizens to second class status. Today's decision is not only antithetical to the core American values of liberty and justice for all, it flies in the face of the core Christian commitment to love our neighbors as ourselves. The message we at All Saints Church in Pasadena want to send to the California Supreme Court is that today justice has been both delayed and denied - and our hearts and prayers go out to those couples who have seen their dreams of marriage to the love of their life dashed on the rocks of discrimination.
Nevertheless, All Saints Church will continue to receive all couples, wherever they find themselves on their journey of love, commitment and faith, as we continue to treat all couples equally for the purposes of ceremonies and sacraments. All Saints Church will also continue to stand with our California Faith for Equality allies to support actions and policies that will once again bring full equality to all people under the law of the State of California. We know that the arc of history is long but we also know that it bends toward justice - and we look forward to the day we will stand on the right side of that history on the issue of marriage equality. So today we recommit ourselves as a peace & justice church to work without ceasing toward that day when all of God's people will be treated with equality, dignity and respect.
With love, Ed Bacon Rector, All Saints Church, Pasadena
Gays told to go to hell. My feeling on the appropriate response is here. After watching the the news today tell me - am I right or wrong? Do this: focus on coverage of reaction in the gay community today, then tell me -would non violent, calm, stoic, non compliant protest be better or not? Is it time or not? Will another round of marches and candlelight vigils make on damn bit of difference? I think not. We need a visionary, brave new voice in this debate. A grown up. Is another ballot fight worth it? It is a must to repeal prop 8. but unless combined with consistent moral action it is dangerous, expensive and may well fail. 2010 will be a conservative year. Those who are on the wrong side of this issue have piles of money. I will support the Prop when it comes , but unless the campaign is smart and can tap a big cash flow- it will go down. The Mormon church and many others are perfectly willing to spend huge amounts to make sure gays remain second class, degraded citizens.
Alice Paul, the Quaker suffragette, and her use of nonviolence and the media - here.
Dr. King on the moral obligation of non-cooperation, and on not being an anarchist:
Characteristics of a nonviolent campaign from faslane365:
1. absolute respect for the opponent/everyone involved
2. care for everyone involved
3. refusal to harm, damage or degrade people
4. if suffering is inevitable, willingness to take it on yourself rather than inflict it on others
5. belief that everyone is capable of change
6. appeal to the opponents' humanity
7. recognition that no one has a monopoly of truth, so aims to bring together our 'truth' and the opponents' 'truth' understanding that the means are the ends in the making, so the means have to be consistent with the ends
8. preparation and training, so that our behaviour is nonviolent.
I don't believe in "too big to fail". The smart person who said "If it is too big to fail it is too big to exist" was right on target. Of course, he was talking about banks, not a state. Now we are hearing that California is "too big to fail." Nonsense. California may well "fail." Maybe it should.
I live here. I am a California partisan so to speak. Maybe it is just habit, or a natural reaction to being a native. Maybe it's sloth. Other than New York City I can't yet imagine where else I'd be as at home as I am in LA. Don't misread me. I have great affection for much of the rest of the country and Americans in general. I am one.
Let me be clear though. California is not too big to fail. It is failing. Right now. There are many reasons. Neither party has been responsible in the last 30 years. For all the yelping about how "blue" California is - in the years 27 since 1982 a Democrat has been governor for exactly 5 years.
Much as it pains me to say it: If California is a "failure" it ought to be allowed to fail. Because of Prop 13, it is nearly impossible to raise taxes. Yet, no one is willing to see services cut either. The wheels where bound to come off. A day of reckoning is here. So be it.
It will be interesting to see how Obama responds. One could presume that he can't allow California to "fail" and will ride in at the last minute with some of that money he's been printing for Goldman Sachs and company. If California sinks into misery by 2012 it will go flashing GOP red...regardless of who is on the ballot. No Cali. No second term.
The Democratic ascendancy in California is very recent and confined to the coast. As I have said before the "nocal/socal" divide is largely a concoction of Marin county granola types who look down on LA....often while enjoying a TV show or movie produced in socal....The real divide here is between West and East. Except for San Diego and southern Orange county (northern Orange county as been blue for a while now) the coast is blue. The closer one gets to Nevada and Arizona the more GOP it becomes. California votes for Republicans routinely. Bill Clinton changed the presidential voting trend blue. Before that one has to go back to 1964 and before that 1948 to find Dems taking the state. Los Angeles elected a GOP mayor for two terms in the 90s. No small feat for this very blue town. Since 1942 a Democrat have been governor for all of 21 years. Since 1942 a Democrat not named Brown has been governor once. He was recalled.
Obama should not assume California is in the bag in 2012.
Then again he says he won't bailout California. (Like what he says matters! Ha!) The state probably only needs 15 billion more to fill the gap...and what is 15 billion now anyway? Chump change.
We shall see.
Finally, let me say I think Arnold is okay. I did not support the recall of Gray Davis. What the fervent Arnold recall army ought to remember though - is that he has proven to be no better and is probably a bit worse than Davis.
Please stop being who you are because I don't want to explain anything complicated to my kids. Louis CK on gay marriage (warning it gets a wee bit vulgar)
That's Hot! Memorial Day means the independence day is only weeks away....I do love the 2 ladies in the commercial below.
The Obama Moon breezes into the expanding and contracting Oprah galaxy lifting our spirits off the earthly plane and into the realm of perfect communion with our inner child. Who, it turns out, is a goth teenager who feigns perpetual ennui but secretly twitters about My Super Sweet 16.
You ask yourself: Is this the me I have been waiting for? No, Obama Child. Wait a little longer. When you hear the knocking of the you you have been waiting for there will be no doubt. For the you you have been waiting for smells like fresh orange peels and looks like David Duchovny in Season One of the X- files - all rumpled and sexy with that no one gets it but me look that makes you wanna slap him and bed him all at once.
He will come to the door, smile, and say quietly "The call is coming from inside the house.", cackle and leave. Then, Obama Child you will know it is time...to get to work on Barack's reelection!!!!
Tonight: Hold a family meeting about what you can do now to further Barack's agenda around the house. Perhaps apply Alinsky organizing techniques to your kitchen junk drawer??
Memorial day history here. Interesting stuff. This is the day we remember our war dead...dead being the operative word...some people confuse this with Veteran's day which is celebrated in November.
The California Supreme Court will release its decision of the constitutionality of Prop 8 at 10am on Tuesday morning. It is widely expected to uphold the proposition and ban gay marriage in California.
Gay rights supporters have planned protests and candlelight vigils up and down the state. There is nothing wrong with this response. But it is time now to get past candles and vigils. Gay marriage is now legal in 4 states and gay marriages are recognized in the District of Columbia. The legal avenue has garnered some success. But this, too, is no longer enough. While this is a legal issue it is not only a legal issue - it is a moral issue as well. Disallowing 10% of the population to participate in a right the other 90% assumes is immoral.
Nonviolent civil disobedience is the next step. The myth of Rosa Parks, a genuine patriot, is that she acted alone. In fact, a large and organized support system backed her up and was galvanized by her brave act of nonviolent civil disobedience. During the Civil rights movement brave people were willing to put their bodies on the line to move the greater population's moral compass.
Gay rights advocates must now be willing to do the same. How would this look? I can not say for certain. But the institutions now enforcing the immoral laws must be put on the front line - nonviolently. In fact, nonviolence must be the animating principle here.
Any violence - even minor incidences - is unacceptable.
Linked here are the requirements for civil ceremonies in California. Gay couples who wish to be married could go to county clerks and request a license - refusing to leave until they are granted. These sit ins should be supported by as many people as possible. All refusing to leave. County clerks offices may well be the Woolworth's counters of this movement.
People will be dragged away. It will be ugly. Nonviolence training is a must.
Another important point here is this: Churches must be avoided. This issue has nothing to do with any one institution's beliefs. It is an issue of legally recognized basic rights by the state. If the Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, or any other denomination or religion will not or feel they can not recognize same sex marriages that is their right and must be respected. Gay Marriage rights advocates would be wise to stop arguing religion entirely. However, if churches such as the Mormons finance campaigns against gay marriage their histories are fair game.
Where else nonviolent disobedience is appropriate will become clearer. It may be clear now to those more involved with this movement than I. What is absolutely clear to me is the need to claim the moral high ground. Gay rights advocates already own it. But it must be claimed in order for the rest of the sympathetic but disinterested population to get on board. This is not even about gay people being treated as equal. It is about what is right for a representative, diverse democracy.
Tradition is not an argument. Slavery is a traditional institution in human history. It is also wrong.
What is best for child rearing is not an argument. There is no evidence that heterosexual couples raise children better than homosexual couples. By this thinking "straight" couples who cannot or have no desire to have children should then be banned from getting married as well.
What the "majority" desires is not an argument. Civil rights are not conferred upon minorities by the majority. If this were the case many hotels would still have signs declaring "No colored or Jews allowed."
Finally the word "marriage" cannot be compromised on...unless heterosexual couples married by the state are willing to accept calling their binding commitment a "civil union". It is important to note that those in favor of "civil unions" for gays but not full marriage rights are the judicial activists on this point. They want to carve out a special class instead of accepting simple equality for all. Marriage rights are conservative in nature. Marriage solidifies a society.
And let's not pull any punches here. Much of the gay community is immature - with men in particular. All oppressed minorities evolve defensive survival mechanisms. Ghettos for gay men evolved and stereotypes emerged from these communities and about these communities. There are nuggets of truth in these stereotypes. With many gay men there is a flipness and self hating secretiveness about sex. Crystal meth addiction hammered gay men living through a holocaust in the 80s and 90s - it also aided in the spread of this plague. However, within this community there is also an understanding that marriage rights are an important milestone for gay men. It is part of growing up.
How oppression and self hatred expresses itself among lesbians is outside my experience. I won't comment on it - except to say that struggles of lesbian women in this society are no less real and no less painful because straight men - who hold the power - find them less of a threat to their manhood.
California is one state. However, in many ways it is a nation-state. Creating a group of literally millions of second class citizens is unacceptable and immoral for this state and the entire nation.
The Civil Rights movement of 50s and 60s shows the way. On Tuesday at 10:01 AM it will be time to take the next step.
My goodness. The Lakers may be the end of me this playoff season. Don't let anyone tell you there are no seasons in Los Angeles. There are 4 like everywhere else.
Lakers soon. Tonight's post comes from Astrid Passionfroot's mail bag. As you know Astrid is the Obot-O-Scope astrologer. She also fields questions from the Obama Pod Nation.
*Disclaimer from me - I like Whole Foods and shop there sometimes when I am flush. But it is also irresistible short hand.
From Astrid's email bag:
Dear Astrid,
Yesterday I was in a supermarket regular people go to (I think it is called "Safe Way" or something like that...). The Whole Foods was closed so a nearby shaman named Sherman could cleanse it with burning sage after a case of Count Chocula was accidentally delivered and shelved there. Since shaman Sherman was saging because of the shelved sugary cereal I shopped surreptitiously at Safeway.
At the check out I saw a magazine with Trig Palin and her baby on the cover. She looked very sweet to me. I wonder where we - the Obama people of Light and Truth - too hard on the Palins? I felt a pang of remorse....or possibly it was Standing Restless Leg Syndrome, which I am prone to.
I am so sorry to hear about your Standing Restless Leg Syndrome. The best cure for SRLS is sitting.
We had to do what we had to do - to ensure that Hope and Change would win the day. I know sometimes that meant it seemed like we did exactly what the other side had been doing for years. Character assassination. Mindless, vicious attacks and lies. Heartless rumour mongering.
But we know deep down we are better people so this was acceptable in the long run. The Universe and Obama insists we control those types like the Palins. I am sure the Palins are good people in a certain context - with their "kind". But we can't allow people who went to public school, state colleges, are married to actual Blue collar workers, became elected officials on their own, with no outside help, established spouses, or family money, and are from small American towns no one has ever heard of...to actually RUN THINGS!!!
Feel no guilt, Sunny. Remember what Guru Dohrn, who introduced our Dear Leader to Chicago society, said about guilt: "Dig it! First they killed those pigs and then they put a fork in pig Tate's belly. Wild!"
Politics is no longer a matter of Lying vs. Truth but Which Lie Do You Like? - Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire
Politics and Media News
Obama on National Security: I Am Doing the Right Things; I Have Not Broken Campaign Promises (by Prof. Darren Hutchinson at Dissenting Justice) Ironically, Obama, who ran as the antiwar candidate, is now the "war" president. He is the commander-in-chief in two ongoing offenses, including one in which he has authorized a "surge." As proof that his antiwar rhetoric is a distant memory, Obama has delivered a speech to justify his Bush-esque national security policy against liberal (and Cheney's) criticism in a building that houses the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, which rank among the most enduring of American symbols. This is a long road from the flag pin controversy...
Obama is, as Reverend Wright accurately stated during the campaign, a politician. All presidents before him were politicians as well. I was stunned that liberals refused to see this. So, to the formerly effusive and uncritical Left: I told you so.
New GOP Ad Compares Threat Of Closing Guantanamo To Nuclear War (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line) The Republican National Committee has a new Web ad that appears to suggest that the stakes of the Guantanamo issue are as high as those of the Cold War nuke standoff...The ad references the famous 1964 "Daisy" ad that Lyndon Johnson ran against challenger Barry Goldwater, which featured a little girl plucking daisy petals while a voiceover counted down to a nuclear detonation...Dems...have fallen into the GOP's trap by letting them drive the Gitmo debate. Those of us who voted for Goldwater (yes, it was a lifetime ago) used to say, "They told us if we voted for Goldwater there would be war, and I did, and there is."- Caro You may not be surprised to learn that fear has won the Guantanamo battle: Supermax Prisons in U.S. Already Hold Terrorists (Washington Post) In news conferences, speeches and debates this week, lawmakers from both parties, as well as the director of the FBI, have sounded alarms about moving Guantanamo Bay detainees to federal prisons, where they could launch riots, hatch radical plots or somehow be released among the populace...But the apocalyptic rhetoric rarely addresses this: Thirty-three international terrorists, many with ties to al-Qaeda, reside in a single federal prison in Florence, Colo., with little public notice. The apocalyptic rhetoric doesn't have to bear any relation to the real world, although it tends to be more effective when there is some tiny kernel of truth in it somewhere. The rhetoric is intentionally apocalyptic and would be just as loud if those spouting it were yelling the opposite of what they're screaming about today. In fact, tomorrow they may well be shrieking the exact opposite of what they're bawling today. Because the purpose is not to bring understanding, or to persuade, but to intimidate. The right wing has been doing it for a very long time and has been pretty successful up until they practically destroyed the country with their version of governing.- Caro Obama's civil liberties speech (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon) Obama's speech [Thursday] … was fairly representative of what Obama typically does: effectively defend some important ideals in a uniquely persuasive way and advocating some policies that promote those ideals (closing Guantanamo, banning torture tactics, limiting the state secrets privilege) while committing to many which plainly violate them (indefinite preventive detention schemes, military commissions, denial of habeas rights to Bagram abductees, concealing torture evidence, blocking judicial review on secrecy grounds). Like all political officials, Obama should be judged based on his actions and decisions, not his words and alleged intentions...
Judge Obama on his actions???What, WHAT, WHATTTT? Wow...I sure wish the Left had thought of that last year - JSOM
The Thought Crimes President (by Ian Welsh, thanks to Alegre) People who have committed no crime which can be proved in a court of law, including the crime of conspiracy, will be held indefinitely without a trial. Note that Obama wants to use military commissions to try some detainees, which means that these detainees can’t be found guilty of anything even under military law. This is punishment for a thought crime...
Click here for more politics and media news headlines. Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com
I am sick of Cheney. That's not new. I was sick of Cheney before I was born. Having said that I do wonder what he is up to. For a while now my theory has been that for the last 8 years Cheney was - in effect - President until sometime around Katrina. The man behind the curtain pulling the strings (is there another metaphor I can fit into this sentence?), perfectly content to allow Georgie to enjoy the perks of office while he ruled the roost...(Yes! A metaphor trifecta!) By the time the ill wins of Katrina blew he'd gotten most of what he wanted: The invasion of Iraq, a windfall for Haliburton, insanely expanded powers for the executive branch...Katrina hit and Cheney said "You're up, George!" Then with his security blanket gone with the wind, W's ineptitude was flapping in the wind, visible to all.
So my theories on Cheney's emergence in the early months of Obama's term are three fold - obvious, angry, or conspiratorial. I do not know which rings truest.
Obvious: The GOP has no one capable or willing to take Obama on right now. Cheney is deeply committed to and believes in the changes he wrought during his 2 terms. He felt, with clear reason, that Obama would - or might - dismantle the national security apparatus Cheney implemented. Mr. Obama certainly talked a good game on this front. There was reason to believe he might roll back the civil liberties incursions of the Bush years, and Obama did announce the closing of Gitmo early on. Granted, he had no plan so the announcement was, as per usual for Obi, all smoke and no fire.
Angry: Cheney is unpopular but he does not give a sh*t because he is angry. He is pissed off at W for not pardoning Scooter, he's pissed that he got no respect for "keeping America safe for seven years." (Though, he forgets that all W's men and women ignored the advice of the Clinton team and the warnings in the Summer of 2001.) Cheney is not going to wait for a major Obama screw up in security. (One is coming, my friends, WATCH.) The angry old man's moment is now and he is shrewd enough to know it.
Conspiratorial: In keeping my jaundiced eye trained on the MSM - I can't escape the sense that this Cheney/Obama show is concocted. Cheney yet again playing the role of bad cop and Obama the "good" cop. Cheney is out of power - but he is outflanking Obama and the Democrats. (No, I don't think polls now matter on this issue. Disliking Cheney is a national pastime. We've been trained to snort in his direction.)
Obama is pulling one of his classic stunts: talking a good game to distract his supporters, and, in actuality, not changing Bush policy much at all. The shoving match occupying the media is producing little movement in reality. The chances of Gitmo closing anytime soon are waning. Obama has blinked on military tribunals, his Justice department has shifted to the Right of Bush on civil liberties, and his administration is towing the Bush line on Abu Ghraib. Finally, no one will be prosecuted from the former administration. What is the point of this "fight"?
At the end of this tussle detainees will either be in Cuba or super ultra maximum security federal prisons in the states. Housing these people here is creepy and politically dumb, but not a substantial risk.
Frankly, I do not know why Obama has allowed himself to be sucked into this debate. His policies are not different in substance from Bush's and chances are good he'll lose the argument with Cheney anyway. One attack and Cheney wins going away. Does Obama really believe he's right? Doubtful. Obama never picks a fight on core beliefs. He flip flops if he is going to look bad. That's his pattern.
So what are we left with? Dueling politicians playing a high stakes game, with an upside for both. Cheney gets to fill the GOP vacuum - solidifying its base. Obama gets to play the "wise and moral leader" taking on the difficult issues - at least when the TelePrompTer is booted up. He gets the added bonus of taking on a media punching bag.
I don't buy Obama's posturing here. I DO buy Cheney's - which is hardly comforting.
The smart thing would have been to ignore Cheney and tell his legion of MSM lapdogs to do the same.
This is fascinating to watch. Obama, the President, is in the odd position of having to speechify scholarly explanations for his wobbles. While, quite frankly, Cheney appears more Presidential. Cheney is positioned perfectly for a large, loud TOLD YA SO if anything scary happens.
The fiery Aries/Obama Moon is totally fiery and hot and inflamed today. It joins energetic Mars and the milky Milky Way to align our hyper love for Obama with our sugary feelings of being in his presence. By midday, you may find you've left the kids with the nanny and - suddenly - you're driving to a community you've never seen before and are spontaneously organizing it! Don't let the fact that the residents say they are quite happy and don't need you around stop your important work. Get in their faces! Stir up feelings of victimization! Remember planting the seeds of entitlement and resentment now helps grow the leaders of the future.
Tonight: Mercury, Venus, Pluto and Uranus form a "K" "Y" in the House of Astro and glide into a four way. Relax and go with it. You may wake up a bit sore - but also oddly satisfied.
From the Obot-O-Scope Mail bag
Dear Astrid,
After President Obama finishes being President for Life do you think he'll have a second career in Hollywood?
Very Yours Truly, Scarlett Johansson
Dear Scarlett,
Funny you should ask. Many of those closest to Obama are already spreading their wings in Tinsletown. Joe Biden has sold 2 screenplays this month: The Taking of Valium 123 and a remake of Francis the Talking Mule based on his personal diary.
The Hollywood rumor mill is also a titter with news that Barney Frank will sing and twirl the baton on this summer's America's Got Talent. All ready slimmed down enough to fit into his favorite Wonder Woman costume - a gift from the J. Edgar Hoover estate - expect to see Frank strutting his stuff on the Left coast during the August Congressional recess.
As for now our Barack will stick to being fabulous in D.C. Hollywood will have to get by with the lesser talents of people like Meryl Streep, Robert Duvall, and James Earl Jones.
Dick and dickless duel:Obama and Cheney compete today. Cheney is facinating right now. Like him or not, agree or not, he, with the help of Pelosi, is reviving the GOP brand...The smug and entitled at the big DEM blogs are missing this even at it unfolds before their eyes.
RBO covers the story of the idiots at Common Dreams suddenly waking up to the fact that Obama is a big, skinny, liar. I am not at all surprised that Obama is a big, skinny liar. It is still AMAZING to me that so many liberals are only now coming out of their moronic, self induced Obama stooper.
Take Oped Ed. News which says it is "progressive -tough- liberal" (HA!)and yet the post calling Obama out BHO for dismissing single payer from the conversation states this: The President's response left no doubt that he has taken single-payer healthcare off the table, but his answer lacked the logic and candor we have often come to expect of him.
Emphasis is furiously mine. What planet have these people been on for the last year? There has been no "logic" from Obama, only fancy words weoponized to distort. He is happy to tell us he has a "gift". A gift for distortion and deflection.
As for candor? WTF? !!! The man won't even release his college academic records. 90% of what we know about the man comes from his own hagiographies. Written, one presumes, on holy Chicago parchment. It is impossible to list all the man's flip flops, half ass excuses and dirty ditching of those he stepped over to become POTUS. Start with Alice Palmer - better yet - start with his mystery tour of Pakistan as an undergrad - travel through his mystical unrecorded speech about Iraq that "started it all", the errant nonsense about Wright, the deceits about Iraq, the botching of the Guantanamo closing, the feigned outrage over the AIG bonuses, the strange back flips over torture. Why has no one on the Left noticed that after weeks of bogus hot air, the Obama administration now has, in essense, the Cheney stance on torture. No one on the Left except Ms. Dowd. Surprise. Surprise.
WHEN HAS CANDOR EVER BEEN IN THE SAME ROOM AS OBAMA?
I want to take pleasure in watching the deluded Left wake up. I am that immature. However, the sinking feeling of loss holds me to the sticking point. Obama is nothing more than an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to trick us into paying for other people's malfeasance. The Left checked out last year. Took a vacation. And now they have come back to a house wrecked. Destroyed for a generation. Actually, I don't want to say "generation" - the truth is the Left is dead forever in the United States. Slaughtered expertly by George Soros, Goldman Sachs and Barack Obama.
So many people went out of their way to BECOME STUPID in 2008. I have no sympathy left for the bozos who supported Obama unquestioningly.
All the California budget measures were overwhelmingly defeated yesterday.
The Governator is already gearing up to apply his draconian "pump it up or perish" weltanschauung to the state budget, with education squarely in the cross-hairs of his jaundiced, cyborg eye.
And if California's public schools continue their slide into third-world levels of worthlessness, then parents simply need to take a second job to pay for private school. They should also increase their number of reps and stop being so pathetically weak. Sarah Connor was tough enough to save her kid all on her own; you gotta be, too.
Cuz every one of us arrives here naked, with only our wits and our latissimus dorsi to rely on. If you can't hack it, then go back to Austria or the future or wherever you came from. The rise of the machines is underway in Sacramento, and soft, fleshy models won't be getting any more free rides.
For we, the Chosen Ones for Obama, everyday is full of Hope and Change. Today you may also find yourself feeling existential despair, complete revulsion at our President's embrace of Cheney's Torture Policy, a general sense of ennui mixed with occasional dashes of free floating horror, and the impulse to strip, pull at your hair, and run screaming down the street naked because you just realized you've been totally buffaloed by a George Soros concocted, MSM midwifed fraud.
Fear not people of Obama! All you need to do is limit your interaction with those you are not supporters of the one true genius, Barack Obama. Avoid these racists and everything will be back to normal quickly.
A letter from the Obot-o -Scope Mailbag:
Dear Astrid,
In August I will be opening an Obama merchandise store here in Santa Monica called The O'Bottery Barn. Astrologically, what is the best day for the Grand Opening?
Thanks,
Jiggy Pop Santa Monica, CA
Dear Jiggy,
There really isn't a good day in August, except the 12th when the Obama moon wanes and enters the House of the Rising Solar Deficits. I'd go with the 12th. Even here the danger is high for an unfortunate accident especially with certain items I see on your website. In particular the Barack Wok, Obama Balm with foaming, blinding analgesic, the Napolitano Neapolitan Frozen Pudding Pops, and the Joe Biden Vibrating, Talking Shower Head. All come up as potential threats to consumers throughout August.
The star chart around the Biden Talking Shower Head is especially risky. It indicates that people who take long showers while the Biden face on the nozzle is speaking show an increased risk of performing ritual suicide in a public park within 48 hours.
If possible I'd push your grand opening back to September. After Labor Day Pluto returns from Retrograde and Mars enters Rehab, rendering the Biden Talking Shower Head essentially harmless - except for the occasional unnoticed mini stroke.
