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Month: June 2006

Who said it?

Who said it?

If you don’t already know who said this, comment with your best guess.

The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today, Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press – in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during recent years.

Today’s Quotations

Today’s Quotations

“And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, ‘O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.'”
–from Monty Python and The Holy Grail


Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition)

“Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.”
— William Gladstone (4-time Prime Minister of Great Britain)

al-Zarqawi is dead

al-Zarqawi is dead

Finally, it looks as though there has been some valuable on-the-ground intelligence.

The Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (real name Ahmed Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalayleh), the most-wanted terrorist in Iraq, is dead. As far as we know, he was the top guy in charge of kidnappings, beheadings and suicide bombings. Of course, our propaganda campaign may have exaggerated his importance to some degree, but however he got there, Zarqawi was considered the figurehead of the Sunni insurgency. He is said to be the leader of the merged insurgency/al-Qaeda network in Iraq, responsible for killing thousands of Shias and US forces. Jordanian courts have given him the death penalty more than once, and he is believed to have personally beheaded at least two Western hostages, among them American Nicholas Berg, who was slain on camera in late 2004.

The two 500-pound bombs dropped by warplanes on his safehouse seem to be a little bit of an overkill to me, but maybe not, since Iraqi police – first to arrive on the scene – were able to recover his body.

At this point, there are some conflicting reports about who else may have died. His key lieutenant and spiritual adviser Sheik Abdul Rahman al-Iraqi is being named as being among the dead, but seems also to have issued a statement today? An Australian site claims two women were killed in addition to the unnamed 6-7 aides at the safehouse. The story develops.

Al-Qaeda will, of course, try to use al-Zarqawi’s murder as a rallying point, but I don’t think there could really be such a huge following for the idea of “martyrdom” in this case. I hope that his death will contribute to improvements on the ground for the Iraqi people.

Keep on, Al Gore

Keep on, Al Gore

I just sent a message to Al Gore, who’s been attacked in his efforts to raise awareness on the issue of global warming. So far, right-wing talkers have compared him to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propagandist, and one even likened Gore’s pursuit of solutions to global warming to Adolf Hitler’s pursuit of genocide.

Tell him thank you and that he should keep fighting here:

http://www.democrats.org/keepfighting

I wanted to take a minute to tell you thank you, and to keep fighting.

Thank you for demonstrating the courage and moral clarity that you have in the face of the vicious right-wing attacks. Global warming is not and should not be a political issue, and I stand behind you against those who use rhetoric to try to hide the truth.

My personal comments added:

As long as there are people like you working for the things that really matter, we still have a chance. Thank you for doing all in your power to awaken us to our own self-destructiveness and to set in motion the forces needed to address our global crisis. On a more personal note, to see you follow your heart and your calling makes me very proud and happy. It gives me hope – you’re my hero.

Non Illegitimi Carborundum

Happy 6-6-6

Happy 6-6-6

Although the date has no cosmic significance, it’s still resonant to those obsessed with strange biblical interpretation. Therefore, a banishment of weirdness is probably called for.

Happy 6-6-6 Day!

May it be full of love, light and laughter.

(Thanks to Mary for the link)

Rant on the So-called Marriage Amendment

Rant on the So-called Marriage Amendment

Tell Congress you oppose the “marriage” amendment to our Constitution. I did….

How dare you try to amend our Constitution to discriminate against any American citizen? How dare you appeal to hate? How dare you use God for this!

This is so low, so hypocritical. You won’t dabate Iraq, but you WILL debate this?

Is this what you have left to say about “compassionate conservatism”? You’ve let pseudo-christian dominionists (otherwise known as supremacists) gain too much power in our process because you think hate will motivate enough votes that the rigged elections can be rationalized.

These people want to bring back stoning! In America! They are wayyy too concerned with how to control other people. It won’t stop with this – gays aren’t the only people they hate. They want to put women “back in the box” as well, and they are training the children just like little Hitler youth with their home-schooling programs. Some even speak of a return to slavery.

But that’s not even what it’s about, is it? Because in addition to payback to the terrorist christian right – remember these are the people who incited to murder, bombed clinics, etc – this is really about something else.

It’s about insurance. You want to nip that “alternative family insurance” movement in the bud. You know, at the behest of the people who wrote the laws for the prescription drug “benefit”? It wouldn’t look good to talk about poor grandma raising her grandchildren, or the single moms or dads doing the best the can. Noooooo….you have to find that bigotry that remains, and work it, baby, work it.

Meanwhile, the dollar seems (to me at least) ready to plummet, Iraq is a disaster, Iran is about to become a disaster, Halliburton and ExxonMobil walk off with our money, and you don’t think there are any monuments in New York so you’re cutting homeland security funds. People are dying, people are hurting. There are parts of America that are as poor as any third-world nation, but you’re in bed with crony corporatists (when you don’t have prostitutes or long-term buddies from college to sleep with and promote).

You want to lecture us about morality? You want to use our own constitution for power, for hate? You have profoundly misunderstood the nature of this country. This country belongs to WE THE PEOPLE.

You’ve handed power to the executive branch. You’ve destroyed our country. You’ve taken our future. Keep going, and you’ll be showing up for photo ops in your hoods or uniforms or whatever.

The Nazis had their scapegoats too.
Shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on you.

You fundamentalists have lost
the thing most fundamental.
Pharasees again, in code
have lost or burned the message.
You fanatics worship manmade creeds
that will undo us all
And YOU, you terrorists of all religions
your gods will make us fall.

Yes I confess this deep deep flaw,
this remnant of rigidity,
scar-tissue of self-righteousness,
torn open yet again.
Yet one must speak from where one stands
and this is what I know,
I have no room left in my heart
for love toward you to grow.

The evil that your “god” incites
in you and o’er the world,
stains for all time our histories,
we all pay for your sins.
I guard compassion jealously
held selfish in reserve
for the ones you hurt so deeply
and whose stories aren’t heard.

I name you and yours false prophets
because you do define the phrase,
you lead the would-be faithful
always far and further astray.
Placing demon masks
on the faces of our kin,
undoing all the fragile good
that lets us breathe again.