B’Man: As if I had to explain this to anyone, now we have research and documented proof that Bush and most Republicans (which includes ALL ReTHUGlicans) are psychopaths (and I would argue narcissists, as well):
by Ed Martin
The research of Dr. Hervey Cleckley and Dr. Robert Hare exploring the personality and character traits of psychopaths, when applied to George Bush, shows that Bush fits exactly the profile they developed for the psychopath. Demographis show that Republicanism is much worse than psychopathy.
An excerpt from the book Blood Relations, by Eric Konigsberg, about his great-uncle Harold, a convicted murder:
Hervey Cleckley in his book, The Mask of Sanity, describes the psychopath as a certain type of cruel manipulator whose harmful actions are accompanied by an absence of delusion. The psychopath, he wrote, “does not hear voices. In theory, he can foresee the consequences of injudicious or antisocial acts.” A psychopath is a person who knows full well the difference between right and wrong and yet, without compunction, chooses to do wrong. Checkley cited the protagonist of The Incredible Charlie Carewe, a novel by Mary Astor, as a quintessential psychopath. “Charlie is a genius in reverse with dangerous charm. Sisters lie for him, parents defend him, friends obey him. While calmly and casually, Charlie Carewe literally gets away with murder.”
George Bush has calmly, casually and gleefully murdered a million innocent Iraqis. So far, he’s gotten away with it.
Robert Hare got first hand experience with psychopaths while working at a prison near Vancouver. Hare describes one inmate as having a winning personality, and he used it to test the limits of what Hare would do on his behalf. He lied endlessly, lazily, about everything, and it disturbed him not a whit whenever something in his file contradicted one of his lies.
Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist at the University of California, San Diego, says of the psychopath, “Typically the way a person like this maintains an inflated view of the self is by devaluing other people, taking advantage of them. If you look at the trail of a psychopath, you will see it littered with wounded, angry people.”
Yes, better than 70% of the people in the United States alone, not counting more than 20 million people in Iraq and an untold number in the rest of the world are wounded and angry.
George Bush uses a derogatory nickname for just about everyone around him. Turdblossom. He also uses the diminutive to belittle. Brownie for a grown man.
Hare developed a system of identification for psychopaths that includes various personality and character traits:
Glibness/superficial charm, grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, cunning/manipulative, lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect, callous/lack of empathy, failure to accept responsibility for own actions, parasitic lifestyle, lack of realistic, long-term goals, irresponsibility, criminal versatility.
I don’t have to list examples of Bush’s actions and behavior for you to match them up with the above list, but let’s take one, failure to accept responsibility for own actions. When Bush was asked if he had ever made any mistakes, he replied that he couldn’t think of any. That’s just one. Another is parasitic lifestyle. Bush has lived off of relatives, friends and the government all of his life. He now lives in government provided housing and receives government provided funds to live on. Perfect examples. The rest fit just as well.
Some more character traits of the psychopath that fit George Bush perfectly:
Uses defense mechanism of projection, blaming others for own faults, impervious to anxiety, depression, unremorseful, lack of self insight, no self humor, can’t stand to be the butt of jokes, uses neologisms, makes up strange new words, lack of probity, courtesy, doesn’t tolerate society’s niceties or obligations, does not learn from mistakes, tends to think in concrete black or white terms.
That last one is the same as Bush’s “You’re either with us or you’re against us.” Another perfect example.
From the inordinately high number of Republicans who exhibit some or all of these psychopathic traits, such as Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Rove, Addington, Cheney, Rice, Wolfowitz, Pearle and Feith, to name just a few, and those such as Cunningham, Abramoff and others who are in prison for their psychopathic acts, we would have to think that either psychopaths naturally became Republicans or that Republicans, for some abnormal reason, admire and elevate psychopathic behavior as the highest ideal to be emulated.
Normal distribution would show the rate of psychopaths born to be evenly distributed among the population. But, as we have seen, there is an abnormal nimber of psychopaths among Republicans. There just can’t be that many more psychopaths born to Republicans than to anyone else. It has to be learned behavior by people brought up as Republicans. Their immersion in Republican culture and society naturally warps their minds and leads them to think that psychopathy is normal, ordinary behavior. They’ve been taught that way of thinking as the highest ideal and that it is the only way to deal with the world.
The proof for this is the fact that Republicans agree with and support the leading psychopath of the nation, George Bush. We could deal with and accept this had they come by their psychopathy naturally. But, this adoption of psychopathy as a lifestyle, from the learned behavior of the psychopathy of Republicanism unnaturally increases the number of psychopaths to unacceptable, unnatural levels.
There is one advantage to us for this increase in psychopaths above the expected number among Republicans. Since we now know that the preponderance of psychopaths are Republicans, when they reveal themselves as Republicans, its much easier to identify the psychopaths among us, to be forewarned, and be prepared to take defensive action.
Ed Martin is an unindicted curmudgeon. He is not a Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal, deist, atheist, or a member of any -ism.
h/t
I was watching ABC’s Sunday program, This Week with George Stephanopoulos
Unlike Clintons and Obamas plans, McCain doesn’t seem to think it’s important to insure everyone have quality and affordable healthcare. It actually seems like his plan is to see how happy he can make the health insurance industry.
Over 40 million Americans do not have health insurance, and under the McCain plan, neither will people with preexisting conditions. So, who won’t be covered? Anyone with a preexisting condition such as…
Asthma
Diabetes
Any Type of Cancer
Heart/Blood Pressure Problems
All Chronic Illnesses
But don’t worry. McCain says, he will “talk” to each state and “try” to have them cover some people with preexisting conditions. Well…That makes me feel a lot better…NOT. This is nothing more than straight-talking double-talk. What he should be saying is…If you thought things were bad with health care now, just wait till I am in office. I think someone needs to point out to the McCain campaign, that calling something “straight-talk” doesn’t actually make it straight-talk. Although, in his defense, he is just doing exactly what the Bush administration has become an expert in. Giving something a “feel good” name, that doesn’t reflect the truth in any way. Let me give you some examples…
As Senator John McCain spends this week talking about health care and health insurance coverage, the Service Employees International Union has begun broadcasting an ad against his plans in Ohio and Washington, D.C.
The S.E.I.U.’s ad buy coincides with a new bus road tour it began this week, starting in Cleveland, to promote and push for better health insurance coverage.
Rising costs force some U.S. manufacturing firms to leave China, survey finds.
AFP reported yesterday that “China is losing some of its attractiveness to foreign investors as rising costs are forcing some U.S. manufacturing firms to leave the country,” according to the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). “More than two-thirds of AmCham’s member companies surveyed in an annual white paper agreed that China was losing some of its competitive advantage in global markets.” Among factors are “price pressures from competition and major customers, rising salaries and wages, changes in raw material prices, tax expenses and real estate cost inflation,” according to the study. “‘For manufacturers, the seemingly endless supply of low-cost unskilled labor may be approaching its limits,” according to Norwell Coquillard, chairman of AmCham in Shanghai.” Coquillard also noted, “The competitive labor market poses difficulties for export-oriented manufacturers, especially in low-margin sectors such as toys, garments and shoes,” and said that now “they are looking to India, Vietnam, and other places.” But, despite the survey data, “companies still see China as a strategically important manufacturing base because of its domestic market potential.”
B’Man: One may read that and think that “our chickens may come home to roost”, in that, rednecks may think that their manufacturing jobs making that little widget or that furniture or auto part or whatever will eventually come back.
They won’t. Wake up and smell the coffee.
When the Chinese become too expensive or kill enough of our children or pets, we will simply go to the next lower waged slave place in the world.
These assholes who own these companies care nothing for you, if you happen to eat into their profits, even slightly. They will dump you after dumping your health insurance, retirement, then wages… next is your job.
Experts blame changing requirements, unrealistic estimates for Pentagon project issues.
In a front-page story, the New York Times (4/25, A1, Taubman) reported that a Lockheed Martin combat ship program for the Navy has been “temporarily suspended” for soaring costs, among other issues. The program’s tribulations illustrate “what military experts say are profound shortcomings in the Pentagon’s acquisitions system.” The Times noted that “being over budget and behind schedule have become the norm: a recent Government Accountability Office audit found that 95 projects — warships, helicopters and satellites — were delayed 21 months on average and cost 26 percent more than initially projected, a bill of $295 billion.” For that experts blame “a dynamic of mutually re-enforcing deficiencies: ever-changing Pentagon design requirements; unrealistic cost estimates and production schedules abetted by companies eager to win contracts, and a fondness for commercial technologies that often, as with the ferry concept, prove unsuitable for specialized military projects.”
Lack of competition hurts defense industry, consultants argue. In an opinion column in the Washington Post (4/28, A15), Dov S. Zakheim and Ronald T. Kadish, both vice presidents of Booz Allen Hamilton, write that a recent report from the Government Accountability Office “lays bare a festering problem in our nation’s military procurement system: Competition barely exists in the defense industry and is growing weaker by the day.” Zakheim and Kadish note that, “[i]n the 1980s, 20 or more prime contractors competed for most defense contracts.” Now, “the Pentagon relies primarily on six main contractors,” and uses “a system that largely forgoes competition…and replaces it with a kind of ‘design bureau’ competition, similar to what the Soviet Union used.” The two conclude that, if the U.S. cannot foster “a larger, more diversified base of prime contractors and suppliers,” it may eventually be forced “to nationalize the military industrial base or to ‘outsource’ production of our weapons systems, with excessive portions of that work going overseas.”
B’Man:
OMG, you don’t think they would try to privatize and profitize every aspect of everything this country does? Especially militarily? You mean like what caused the fall of the Roman Empire? And try to force that work down to their very favorites cronies? While the rest of America dries up and dies on the vine?
B’Man: When the corrupt Congresspeople get their biggest contributions from Big Health (to a tune of $17,000,000/Day), you should not expect any changes to our healthcare fiasco we are dealing with.
By Trudy Lieberman
Wed 16 Apr 2008 01:22 PM
On Bill Moyers Journal Friday night, David Beckmann, who heads the hunger advocacy group Bread for the World, recalled his visit with Senate Majority leader Harry Reid. Reid told Beckmann, “Look, I’ve been here thirty-five years. I think the two best organized interests in the United States are the insurance companies and the commodity groups,” meaning the people who produce corn, soybeans, etc. Reid said the obvious—that these special interests have very powerful friends on both sides of the aisle and it would be difficult to make changes in the commodity system that Beckmann was hoping for. Reid might well have added that it is also going to be really hard to change the American way of health care, a fact of life that the press is yet to truly illuminate.
A glance at what health insurers spent in the past year to get their way with lawmakers—mostly on one key issue—shows why. That issue may not be as sexy as the latest candidate gaffe, but it’s far more important. It is the question of continuing overpayments to insurance companies for their role in private Medicare Advantage plans.
A quick refresher: Medicare recipients can get their benefits from either traditional Medicare or from private Medicare Advantage plans, which in turn are paid by the government to provide the benefits. Last year the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac), a neutral outfit that advises Congress, said that Medicare was paying sellers of these plans on average 12 percent more than it cost to provide the same benefits under traditional Medicare; it paid sellers of a special type of plan called private-fee-for-service plans 19 percent more. So a middleman—the insurance company—is getting a large cut. And for what, really? This year MedPac says the overpayments are 13 percent and 17 percent. And what is worse: the commission says these overpayments contribute to Medicare’s worsening long-term financial problem.
The insurance companies, of course, think the system is just fine, and they spent heavily to keep the status quo. Health Plan Week, an insurance industry trade pub, took a hard look, revealing that overall health insurance payments to lobbyists soared last year and are likely to grow again in the next couple of years as health reform becomes the biggest issue. A large percentage of that money, the magazine found, was focused on the Medicare Advantage issue, which was front and center last year. Analyzing disclosure forms from the Senate’s public records office, Health Plan Week found that fifteen health plans paid lobbyists more than $22 million in 2007, up from $18 million in 2006, a hefty chunk of change by any measure. WellCare Health Plans, a big seller of Medicare Advantage products that has gotten in trouble with regulators for its questionable sales practices, quadrupled its spending to $320,000 and paid half of that amount to the Washington law firm to plead its case on Medicare issues. Health Net and Tufts Health Plan more than doubled their spending, while insurance biggies like CIGNA and UnitedHealth Group substantially increased their lobbying budgets. Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans spent nearly $10 million.
The Health Plan Week story is instructive. It shows what money can buy. Given the millions that insurers spent, it’s hardly surprising that attempts last year to get rid of the overpayments failed. Meanwhile, predictions of even greater spending this year and next should prompt journalists to closely watch the Medicare Advantage story.
A press release just issued by the Center for Responsive Politics further reinforces the money and health care story. Its message: Special interests spent $17 million for every day Congress was in session, and the drug industry spent most of all, paying lobbyists 25 percent more than they did last year. Did Harry Reid forget to mention them? Drug companies spent some $227 million on lobbying activities. The insurance industry was right behind with $138 million, and not far down was the hospital and nursing home industry, which spent some $91 million. When the Center pulled apart spending by organization, Pharma, the American Medical Association, and the American Hospital Association ranked three, four, and five on its list of top spenders. It’s too bad that the Center’s latest numbers haven’t gotten more press. For they, too show, the rocky path ahead for health reform.
It’s easy for reporters and editors to dismiss yet another press release about gobs of money thrown at politicians and lobbyists. We’ve seen that before, they say; what else is new? And it’s easy to cop out and blame readers for stumbling over the big numbers anyway. But the big numbers tell a big story. It’s crucial to remind the public of the intersection of money, lobbyists, Congress, and the presidential candidates. “It’s a constitutional right to petition your government, but the average citizen is not doing this petitioning,” says Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics. “The average person’s lobbyist is the elected official sent to Washington.” But, he adds, “Those officials are listening to the outsiders who are doing the petitioning.” The Constitution may guarantee lobbying, but it doesn’t say Congress has to listen to big money. The press needs to shine a light on just who is listening to whom.
B’Man: Oh, but then the media would have to stop its complicity in ravaging of Americans. Good luck with that.
There is but one clear answer and that is to cut the head off the middle man that serves no real purpose and is ONLY set up to make profits off the backs of Americans… the Insurance Companies. $.31 of every dollar spent on health related expenses is for the insurance companies’ operating expenditures (which are far higher than Medicare/Medicaid’s costs), profits and huge bonuses.
We need, no REQUIRE, a single payer, NOT-FOR-PROFIT healthcare system… just like most of the 36 better healthcare systems above us.
America #37!
by Dave Lindorff Page 1 of 1 page(s)
Is America at the mercy of an invasion of the pumpheads?
The bizarre behavior of Bill Clinton during this campaign season, which has seen this once smooth-talking and politically uber-sophisticated campaigner repeatedly stick a foot in his mouth and undermine his wife’s struggling campaign, raises the issue of whether he is suffering from postperfusion syndrome—a now recognized cognitive impairment common in patients who have undergone heart bypass surgery.
Referred to in hospital jargon as “pumphead syndrome,” the condition, thought to be caused by debris and bubbles that are created and released into the bloodstream by artificial pumps used to circulate blood while hearts are being operated on—material that can block blood flow in smaller vessels in the brain, causing neurological damage–this recognized condition has been demonstrated in some studies to lead to significant cognitive impairment that can show up in as many as 42 percent of heart surgery patients even as long as five years after surgery.
At least in Clinton’s case, if he is a “pumphead,” the only damage he can do is to his wife’s campaign. He is no longer president or commander in chief. (Well, let me take that back. If she were elected, he could create havoc as First Spouse and chief pillow talker, but let’s not even go there!)
But what about Cheney, a man who has had five, count ‘em, five heart surgeries, each of which offered a 42% chance of causing permanent cognitive impairment? No wonder there are reports that this bizarre, eternally snarling, heavy drinking friend shooter is said to hum to himself loudly and tunelessly in the stall of the White House men’s room!
If we consider the likelihood that the man widely seen as the power in this administration is a pumphead, and that Bush himself, who spent a long time as a drunk and a cokehead (talk about the potential for, not to mention the clear evidence of mental impairment!), we are left with the almost inevitable conclusion that we have been led for the past two terms by a pair brain-damaged men—and that’s not even counting the members of the cabinet and National Security Council, the medical histories of whom we know nothing. Given the advanced age of most of the team, it’s a fair bet that a number of them have had heart surgery too.
Call it “Invasion of the Pumpheads!”
Certainly not everyone who undergoes heart surgery and gets put temporarily on a pump ends up mentally deficient, but the prevalence of the problem sounds to me like a pretty good reason to demand full medical disclosure from all candidates for higher office, and not just for president and vice president, but for cabinet posts too—and judgeships.
For starters, Republican presidential presumptive nominee John McCain, 71 and a known cancer survivor, has not released his medical records. That suspicious failure of candor in a man who has already run for president once, should tell us something right away. His behavior places him squarely in the pumphead suspicion category, especially given that the guy repeatedly fails to recognize the difference between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq, and thinks that the Iranians—nearly all Shia—are backing Al Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni group that is so anti-Iran that they are publicly calling on the US to attack that country! Even if he hasn’t had heart surgery, if he were elected and took office at age 72, he’d be the oldest president in history, and his prognosis for making it through one, much less two terms in one of the world’s most stressful jobs without having a heart attack seem slim.
Not that seemingly intelligent presidents haven’t been disastrous or haven’t made terrible decisions (think Nixon, Kennedy, Hoover and Wilson). But we’ve just endured two terms of a president with some kind of mental impairment with catastrophic results, and we had one in the 1980s with Alzheimer-afflicted Ronald Reagan, which set the nation on its course to bankruptcy. We certainly don’t need yet a third president of limited mental ability. It’s almost like we’re institutionalizing the concept.
____________________
DAVE LINDORFF is an investigative journalist and columnist. His latest book is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and now available in paperback edition. His work is available at http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
Layoffs hit hard across Southeast Tennessee, North Georgia
By: Cliff Hightower
…Companies across Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia like Huber Engineered Woods; Whirlpool in Cleveland, Tenn.; and Mount Vernon Mills in Trion, Ga., have laid off hundreds of workers in the last three months, federal records show.
Even federal statistics might not tell the whole story because industries or businesses that employ 50 people or fewer are not mandated to report layoffs, officials said.
“You can go into some of the small businesses in Dalton and see that their jobs are reduced,” said Kathy Williams, employer marketing representative for the Georgia Department of Labor in Dalton, Ga. “People are trying to do with the minimal.”
Most of those layoffs have occurred in industries that deal with the housing market, records show. Slumping home construction has lessened demand for wallboard, carpet, appliances and other products, experts said.
Other losses came in the textile industry, where jobs have been moving overseas for years to take advantage of lower labor costs.
UNEMPLOYMENT RISING
Unemployment rates have risen over the last year and in some counties have almost doubled from the previous year, records show.
The unemployment rate for Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties rose from 3.5 percent in March 2007 to 6.5 percent in March 2008, said Patrick Todd, labor market analyst for the Tennessee Department of Labor’s Chattanooga Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Chattanooga MSA comprises those Georgia counties plus Hamilton, Marion and Sequatchie counties in Southeast Tennessee.
Unemployment in Whitfield County, Ga., went from 4.3 percent in March 2007 to 6.3 percent this March, federal records show.
March jobless rates jumped in McMinn County, Tenn., to 7.9 percent, up from 5.1 percent the previous year. In Meigs County, Tenn., the rate rose from 6.5 percent to 8.1 percent in the same period.
In Sequatchie County, Tenn., March jobless rates rose from 6.6 percent to 7.8 percent.
“What we’re seeing is a lot of counties are higher than a year ago,” said Larry Green, labor market analyst for the Tennessee Department of Labor. “Everybody is having trouble in manufacturing across the board.”
In McMinn County, Collins & Aikman, a company that sewed automobile upholstery, laid off almost 500 workers last year, records show. Whirlpool laid off 355 employees in Cleveland, Tenn., last month, and Mohawk Industries in Dalton told 66 workers in February they were no longer employed, records show.
Layoffs in smaller counties can be a shock to the entire community, Mr. Green said.
“There’s a lot of counties solely dependent on one or two manufacturers, and if they close, they are in trouble,” he said.
Jack Hammontree, director of the McMinn Economic Development Authority, said county officials are hoping for another employer to take over the former Collins & Aikman plant.
But in tough economic times, that might be hard to achieve, he said.
“It’s always difficult to recruit,” he said. “But it’s more difficult. The companies are thinking less about expanding.”
SEEKING RETRAINING
Some people who lose their jobs go back to school and learn different skills.
Scott Spears, of Trion was among 250 workers laid off from Mount Vernon Mills in Chattooga County, Ga., in January.
Mr. Spears enrolled at Northwestern Technical College in Rock Spring, Ga.
He can draw unemployment while he’s enrolled, and he gets money for school books, gas and food through the federal Workforce Investment Act.
He said he hopes the economy will be better by the time he’s through with his two-year degree in industrial control systems.
“That’s what I’m hoping,” he said.
Susan Doesburg, WIA assistant coordinator at Northwestern, said the most popular programs are nursing, electrical and heating and air conditioning. She said enrollment has increased because of layoffs. School officials said WIA enrollment averages 15 students a quarter, but 60 students enrolled this quarter.
Mrs. Doesburg said those students are using resources at a fast clip, and she’s worried how much help Northwestern can give to victims of future layoffs.
“Due to this increase, WIA funds are now limited,” she said.
Joyce Carrier, dean of the school of technology at Dalton State College, said she expects enrollment to jump in the fall, and perhaps the spring, because of layoffs. Many former employees come hoping the economy will get better once they graduate, she said.
“I think all of us would like to believe that,” Mrs. Carrier said.
B’Man: Look at the bright side. You can always sell shit on EBAY.
Humana Inc. posted a 13% rise in first-quarter net income amid a sizable claims drop as the company’s Medicare prescription-drug operations continued to struggle.
The health insurer also raised its full-year earnings outlook by a dime and issued a second-quarter outlook above analysts’ expectations
Humana reported net income of $80.2 million, or 47 cents a share, up from $71.2 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier.
Last month, Humana nearly halved its forecast to 44 cents to 46 cents a share on higher Medicare drug costs stemming from a cut in co-payments, which the company said was due to miscalculations in designing its Medicare prescription-drug plan. Humana said Monday earnings topped last month’s warning because of a lower-than-expected effective tax rate, which will also help full-year profits.
Revenue climbed 12% to $6.96 billion from $6.20 billion, driven by higher average Medicare Advantage membership. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 45 cents a share on $6.94 billion in revenue…
…Looking forward, Humana raised its 2008 earnings projection to $4.10 to $4.35 a share, compared with analysts’ latest mean estimate was $4.19 a share. The company also said it expects second-quarter earnings of $1.15 to $1.20 a share. Analysts projected $1.12.
B’Man: Better than expected profits and I am spending even more this year than last. So, who is paying the bill for the extra money I spend? Me, of course and they are doing even BETTER than expected.
THIS is a prime example of why we need a Single Payer, NOT-FOR-PROFIT healthcare system so these assholes will stop getting richer as we get sicker and poorer.
Police say they believe the surviving sister had been living with the body for one to three years. They say the body was partially covered with newspapers and that a cat and dog apparently
ate part of it.
Police say they went to the house after a neighbor called to express concern.
Barack Obama’s stirring victory in Iowa was also a good night for our democracy. The turnout broke records and young people – who were mobilized and organized – participated in unprecedented numbers. And now that Iowans have spoken – the first citizens in the nation to do so – and the Democratic delegate count for the top three candidates in January (2,025 delegates are needed to secure the nomination):
Clinton – 169
Obama – 66
Edwards – 47
“Huh?” you say. “Rose, you made a MAJOR typo.”
In fact, as we now know those number are correct: the third-place finishing Sen. Hillary Clinton now has over twice as many delegates as Sen. Obama, and more than three times as many delegates as the second-place candidate, Sen. John Edwards. Why? Because the Democratic Party uses an antiquated and anti-democratic nominating system that includes 842 “super-delegates” – un-pledged party leaders not chosen by the voters, free to support the candidate of their choice, and who comprise more than forty percent of the delegates needed to win the nomination. Many have already announced the candidate they will support.
In a clear attempt to protect the party establishment, this undemocratic infrastructure was created following George McGovern’s landslide defeat in 1972. It was designed to prevent a nominee who was “out of sync with the rest of the party,” Northeastern University political scientist William Mayer told MSNBC. Democratic National Committee member Elaine Kamarck called it a “sort of safety valve.”
In 1988, Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke out against super delegates –that these appointed delegates be permitted to vote for the candidate of their choosing rather than the winner of the state’s caucus or primary. He was right to do so. Twenty years later, when the word “change” is being bandied about, isn’t it time for the Democratic Party to give real meaning to the word? Strengthen our democracy by reforming the super-delegate system so that the people, not the party establishment, choose their candidate. Actually I desire the entire electorial college be done away with! The two party system is not democratic at all!!
That Old Hippie Karl! He was a dreamer with a vision… and in the 60′s many ‘could see clearly now’… but as the realities of life appeared in the fog of clearness… the mind crash came. There still needs to be a governement FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE AND ABOUT THE FRIGGIN PEOPLE!
“…Definition of Marxism: The economic, social, political, pseudo-scientific philosophy, theory, belief, or system based on the works of Karl Marx of Germany. The theory seeks the elimination of the notion of private property in order to gain control of the economic “means of production” by taking it from the bourgeois (the wealthy or propertied class) for the benefit of the proletariat (working class.) His philosophy of history was called “historical materialism” in which his goal was to bring about the end of history, by means of an eventual perfect, classless, utopian society he called Communism….”
That being said–
I now think back, way back to the 60’s. I recall how many sheer youthful and perfect thoughts I had , that still— [in the superlative] — seem right to me. Basically right.
One mouth– one chicken
One head– one bed
One sickness- one med
Etc etc etc.
I could never, deep down emotionally, understand why mothers had to cry? Why fathers had to ask why? And how come children had to die? … but those with $$ were spared so many many times from this level of challenge and pain and suffering. And if I dared remark about it– my words were twisted into “ so you want those people to suffer huh?”. Hell no– that was never what I meant. I meant SHARE THE RESOURCES! Let EVERYONE eat! It is off the backs of the have nots that they became the haves.
Aw– but the fly in the ointment — ‘humans’. In my utopian thinking… I hit the wall when I consider that the first ‘commune’ of two [marriage, couple relationships… [whatever takes two [smile[]is hard enough to undertake. If two people, united, can not exist together with equal freedoms, food, shelter… lives allowing for the freedom being ones self…and actually seeing to and being able to see to ’the others needs!’ how can it be that the entire global community can do this?? Alas– my heart was shattered by 19 years old.
The purest thought of that Idealist Hippie Karl was a wonder to think about, to dream about…. Yes it was!… and pulling from the best and do’able parts, National Healthcare CAN WORK and is desperately needed.
Some people call me a dreamer… I know I am not the only one. [There’s me, John and add your name too…lol lol lo]
I mentioned this first in this post. But after hearing so many times from ignorant rednecks that George is a “Godly Man” and that he loves life and is the “culture of life” president, I thought we needed to review the areas in which God has spoken to him.
In my previous experiences, I have known quite a few people who claim that God speaks directly to them and the problem is that God seems to make a lot of mistakes. As a matter of fact, from my experiences with these folks, God is wrong the vast majority of times, but they are ‘prophets’ and we are not to lay a hand on God’s chosen, etc.
(excuse me as I wretch a dry heave)
from www.liveleak.com posted with vodpod
1. I am driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, ‘George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan’. And I did. And then God would tell me ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’. And I did. Sharm el-Sheikh August 2003
2. I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.
Statement made during campaign visit to Amish community, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Jul. 9, 2004
3. I’m also mindful that man should never try to put words in God’s mouth. I mean, we should never ascribe natural disasters or anything else to God. We are in no way, shape, or form should a human being, play God. Washington, D.C., Jan. 14, 2005
4. God loves you, and I love you. And you can count on both of us as a powerful message that people who wonder about their future can hear. Los Angeles, California, Mar. 3, 2004
5. I tell people all the time, you’re equally American if you’re a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. You’re equally American if you believe in an Almighty or don’t believe in an Almighty. That’s a sacred freedom.
Washington, D.C., Mar. 10, 2006
6. Well, first of all, you got to understand some of my view on freedom, it’s not American’s gift to the world. See, freedom is God — is God given. Interview with TVR, Romania, Nov. 23, 2002
7. I’m sure there is some kind of heavy doctrinal difference, which I’m not sophisticated enough to explain to you. Explaining the issues involved in his switching from attending an Episcopal church to attending a Methodist one, (date is approximate:), Jul. 1, 1994
8. I don’t think you order suiciders to kill innocent men, women, and children if you’re a religious person. Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, Jul. 14, 2004
9. And there’s nothing more powerful in helping change the country than the faith — faith in Dios.
National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, Washington, D.C., May 16, 2002
10. We believe in an Almighty, we believe in the freedom for people to worship that Almighty. They don’t. Martinsburg, West Virginia, Jul. 4, 2007
11. The spirit of our people is the source of America’s strength. And we go forward with trust in that spirit, confidence in our purpose, and faith in a loving God who made us to be free.
5th anniversary of the Sep. 11 attacks, White House, Sep. 11, 2006
12. Churches all across the country are reaching out — synagogues, people from different faiths understand that it makes sense to help their parishioners realize the benefits of this plan.
Sun City Center, Florida, May 9, 2006
13.We can never replace lives, and we can’t heal hearts, except through prayer.
Enterprise, Alabama, Mar. 3, 2007
14. God bless the people of this part of the world. Minneapolis, Minnesota, Aug. 4, 2007
15. I believe there’s an Almighty, and I believe the Almighty’s great gift to each man and woman in this world is the desire to be free. This isn’t America’s gift to the world, it is a universal gift to the world, and people want to be free. Manhattan, Kansas, Jan. 23, 2006
16. I couldn’t imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah
White House, Dec. 10, 200117.
17. I see an opportunity at home when I hear the stories of Christian and Jewish women alike, helping women of cover, Arab American women go shop because they’re afraid to leave their home.
Washington, D.C., Oct. 4, 2001
18. It’s a sign from above. Comment made when television light caught fire above crowd, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Mar. 9, 2001
19. I did denounce it. I de- I denounced it. I denounced interracial dating. I denounced anti-Catholic bigacy… bigotry. Responding to attacks on his visit to ultra-conservative Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina, Feb. 25, 2000
20. We are grateful for the freedoms we enjoy, grateful for the loved ones who give meaning to our lives, and grateful for the many gifts of this prosperous land. On Thanksgiving we acknowledge that all of these things, and life itself, come not from the hand of man, but from Almighty God.
Washington, D.C., Nov. 30, 2002
21. We say in our country, everybody matters, everybody is precious in the sight of an Almighty.
Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota, Oct. 31, 2002
22. We love the fact that people can worship an almighty God any way they see fit here in America.
Phoenix, Arizona, Sep. 28, 2002
23. And I just — I cannot speak strongly enough about how we must collectively get after those who kill in the name of — in the name of some kind of false religion.
Press appearance with King Abdullah of Jordan, Aug. 1, 2002
24. We are commanded by God and called by our conscience to love others as we want to be loved ourselves. Ohio State University, Jun. 14, 2002
25. By being active citizens in your church or your synagogue, or for those Muslims, in your mosque, and adhering to the admission to love a neighbor just like you’d like to be loved yourself, that’s how we can stand up.
Remarks to the cattle industry annual convention and trade show, Denver, Colorado, Feb. 8, 2002
26. And we base it, our history, and our decision making, our future, on solid values. The first value is, we’re all God’s children. Washington, D.C., Jul. 16, 2003
27. One of the great things about this country is a lot of people pray. Washington, D.C., Apr. 13, 2003
28. And there’s no doubt in my mind, when the United States acts abroad and home, we do so based upon values — particularly the value that we hold dear to our hearts, and that is, everybody ought to be free. I want to repeat what I said during my State of the Union to you. Liberty is not America’s gift to the world. What we believe strongly, and what we hold dear, is liberty is God’s gift to mankind. And we hold that value precious. And we believe it is true. White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Feb. 9, 2003
29. This great, powerful nation is motivated not by power for power’s sake, but because of our values. If everybody matters, if every life counts, then we should hope everybody has the great God’s gift of freedom. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jan. 29, 2003
30. The short-term objective of this country is to find an enemy and bring them to justice before they strike us. The long-term objective is to make this world a more free and hopeful and peaceful place. I believe we’ll succeed because freedom is the Almighty God’s gift to every man and woman in this world.
Portsmouth, Ohio, Sep. 10, 2004
31. And if you choose to — if you believe in the Almighty, you can — you’re equally an American. If you’re a Jew, Christian or Muslim or Hindi or whatever. It is one of the great traits and traditions of our country, where people can worship the way you see fit. Interview on Larry King Live (CNN),, Aug. 15, 2004
32. By the way, to whom much has been given, much is owed. Not only are we leading the world in terms of encouraging freedom and peace, we’re feeding the hungry. We’re taking care of, as best as we possibly can, the victims of HIV/AIDS. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jul. 20, 2004
33. Faith-based is an important part of my life, individually, but I don’t — I don’t ascribe a person’s opposing my nominations to an issue of faith. Prime time press conference, White House, Apr. 28, 2005
34. I believe liberty is universal. I don’t believe it is just for the United States of America alone. I believe there is an Almighty, and I believe the Almighty’s gift to people worldwide is the desire to be free. Fort Irwin, California, Apr. 4, 2007
35. What a powerful statement to the world about the compassion of the American people that you’re free to choose the religion you want in our country. Washington, D.C., Sep. 29, 2006
36. The United States of America must understand that freedom is universal, that there is an Almighty, and the great gift of that Almighty to each man and woman in this world is the desire to be free. Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 30, 2006
37. Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research. …Human life is a gift from our Creator — and that gift should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale. 2006 State of the Union Address, Jan. 31, 2006
38. One of the most — I think one of the most important and interesting domestic initiatives, which I agree has created an interesting philosophical debate, is to allow faith-based programs and community-based programs to access federal money in order to achieve the results we all want. I mean, for example, if you’re trying to encourage people to quit drinking, doesn’t it make sense to give people somebody an alternative — he can maybe go to a government counselor? Or how about somebody who calls upon a higher being to help you quit drinking? All I care about is the results. Sterling, Virginia, Jan. 19, 2006
39. Every new citizen of the United States has an obligation to learn our customs and values, including liberty and civic responsibility, equality under God and tolerance for others, and the English language. Tucson, Arizona, Nov. 28, 2005
40. We have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom, and America will always be faithful to that cause. Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 2005
41.Secondly, it’s really important, Pete, that people not think government is a loving entity. Government is law and justice. Love comes from the hearts of people that are able to impart love. And therefore, what Craig is doing is — he doesn’t realize it — he’s a social entrepreneur. He is inspiring others to continue to reach out to say to somebody who is lonely, I love you. And I’m afraid this requires a higher power than the federal government to cause somebody to love somebody.
42. We don’t believe that freedom is America’s gift to the world. We believe freedom is the God Almighty’s gift to each and every person in the world. California, Oct. 15, 2003
43. I believe that, as I told the Crown Prince, the Almighty God has endowed each individual on the face of the earth with — that expects each person to be treated with dignity. This is a universal call. Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Jun. 3, 2003
44. All of you — all in this generation of our military — have taken up the highest calling of history. You’re defending your country, and protecting the innocent from harm. And wherever you go, you carry a message of hope — a message that is ancient and ever new. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, “To the captives, ‘come out,’ — and to those in darkness, ‘be free.’ Aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, a couple of miles away from San Diego May 1, 2003
45. It’s so inspirational to see your courage, as well as to see the great works of our Lord in your heart. Nashville, Tennessee, Feb. 10, 2003
46. As Dick mentioned, we mourn the loss of seven brave souls. We learned a lot about them over the last couple of days, and Laura and I learned a lot about their families in Houston, because we met with them. My impressions of the meeting was that there was — that Almighty God was present in their hearts. Washington, D.C., Feb. 6, 2003
47. It’s also important for people to know we never seek to impose our culture or our form of government. We just want to live under those universal values, God-given values. Washington, D.C., Oct. 11, 2002
48. Yet we do know that God has placed us together in this moment, to grieve together, to stand together, to serve each other and our country. Ellis Island, New York, Sep. 11, 2002
49. The reason I’m — asked [these AmeriCorps workers] to join us here is because I want you to know, America can be saved one person at a time. Green Tree, Pennsylvania, Aug. 5, 2002
50. Government can hand out money, but it cannot put hope into people’s hearts. It cannot put faith into people’s lives. West Ashley High School, Charleston, South Carolina, Jul. 29, 2002
Source www.dubyaspeak.com
When you read that, you immediately thought I was crazy, didn’t you? Since today is Sunday and my day for watching the crazies on B’Man’s Sabbath Watch, I began to think about God and a comment that Bush made about the Pope.
Just prior to the Pope’s visit to the US, W was interviewed by ‘Eternal Word Television Network’:
WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- U.S. President George Bush said that when he looks into Benedict XVI’s eyes, he sees God.
The president made this affirmation Friday when he answered the last question posed him during an interview with Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) anchor Raymond Arroyo.
When he looks into his eyes, he sees God. Now, normally, when demons see God I would assume they run scared or melt like throwing water on a wicked witch.
So, either George is not a demon or he is lying about seeing God in the Pope’s eyes.
Of course, this country knows that George would never lie, but, to be on the safe side of evil, I decided to review all the times that God has spoken or reveled something to George in the past and ask you to decide if you rednecks still think old George is a “Godly Man”.
But before we reminisce, there are a few more ‘nuggets” of bullshit we should see from that interview.
Human rights
The EWTN anchor noted that the Pope will probably bring up the issue of the war in Iraq, asking what the U.S. government is doing to protect the Christian minority there.
Bush said that “something we have been doing all along, is urging the government to understand that minority rights are a vital part of any democratic society. And by the way, my concern isn’t just for minority rights in Iraq; it’s for minority rights throughout the Middle East.”
Well there you have it. W is concerned about the rights of minorities everywhere in the ME. GAG!
And Bush affirmed: “I feel like it was the right decision then, and obviously the data has now shown that — I hope it shows to people it’s the right decision. [...] By the way, I think this is the beginning of what is a very interesting debate that future presidents are going to have to deal with, and that is science versus ethics, the value of life versus saving life — supposedly. [...] I’ve obviously drawn the line in the sand that honoring life in all forms is a touchstone for good science.
“I think it’s important for people to understand that a culture of life is in our national interests and that — it’s also important to understand that the politics of abortion isn’t going to change until people’s hearts change, and fully understand the meaning of life and what it means for a society to value life in all forms — whether it be the life of the unborn, or the life of the elderly; whether it be the life of the less fortunate among us, or the life of the rich guy. I mean, it’s a moral touchstone, I think, that will speak to a healthy society in the long run.”
Damn, rednecks, did you know that this country and our president respects life and wants a culture of life (as long as they haven’t been born yet, that is). For when it comes to bombing those minorities and their children, he has no compunction whatsoever. I almost think that he revels in the bombs.
Finally, Arroyo asked him, “You said, famously, when you looked into Vladimir Putin’s eyes you saw his soul. [...] When you look into Benedict XVI’s eyes what do you see?”
And Bush answered immediately, “God.”
Jesus Christ. He wouldn’t know God if God came down from ‘on-high’ and slapped the fake Texan dumbass out of him.
If there was ever a time to shut down the politics in church, especially after the idiots that were brainwashed into believing that Bush was a “Godly Man” launched a full scale political movement of churches to get the “Maniac-in-Chief” elected the last time and then use their stacked Judges to stop the recounts… the time is NOW.
Here it is for all to indulge… the church and those that run it are simply politically motivated for power and influence. A simple cursory look at their actions and how they force themselves into the political arena, even though it is against the law, and to the devastation of this country and others in the world, proves their intent.
The hypocrisy doesn’t fool me, people. One cannot rail and preach against abortion, yet cheer lead on bombing Muslims. What does fool me is how you can live with yourselves after having such a view. How you can claim to honor and mimic the “Prince of Peace” and still want to bomb thousands of others.
Did the early martyrs become martyrs by fighting and Killing? Or did they do precisely what Jesus told them to do?
I am not telling Americans to sit idly by and allow anyone to hurt us. But, to do what we have done is the height of hypocrisy and I will be the first to point it out to any brainwashed fools who don’t seem to notice their stupid assed allegiance to ruining this country and Christianity while at it.
From Jonathon Turley:
Osama and Obama: Church Fuels Obama Muslim Rumors
As Hillary Clinton is being criticized for running a commercial against Barach Obama featuring Osama Bin Laden, a church in South Carolina has put up a sign “Obama, Osama, hmmm, are they brothers?” It is only the latest intervention of a church in the election in violation of federal law and perhaps the most moronic. Pastor Roger Byrd of the Jonesville Church of God insists that he will not take down the sign, which is less of a problem. It is the tax-supported church behind the sign that need to be changed.
In Jonesville, S.C., this passes for provocative thinking. Byrd says that he just wants to get people thinking. Thinking about what? “It’s simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ,” he said.
Of course, Obama has denied the rumor. But Byrd insists that a lifetime of church going, baptisms, and a controversial minister is not enough. “I don’t know. See it asks a question: Are they brothers? In other words, is he Muslim ? I don’t know. He says he’s not. I hope he’s not. But I don’t know. And it’s just something to try to stir people’s minds. It was never intended to hurt feelings or to offend anybody.”
Never intended to offend anybody. I am less concerned that this man is the spiritual leader of people in South Carolina than I am that he actually gets to vote.
Yet, after years of faith based politics, discussed here, ministers are now openly campaigning in their churches in direct violation of the federal tax code, here and here.
For the full story, click here.
