Hard Decisions

I was listening to Capitol Public Radio (NPR) this morning when the NPR reporter interviewed a politician from, well it makes no never mind because it is all the same.  They (the politicians) had to make some hard decisions in order to balance the budget -- so they closed a hospice for the elderly.  Now, just how is that a hard decision? The vast majority of people living in a hospice cannot vote.  Those childre3n who will be affected by reductions in free and reduced lunch, aid to families with dependent children, MIC, mental health programs, recreation centers and more -- they are all children and cannot vote.  How about the "hard decision" to cut education?  Realize that by the numbers there are only about 24% of parents who might vote -- no big deal, a politician can still weather those numbers and be re-elected.  That is, especially if they do not want to make "the easy" cuts -- like tax incentives for corporations, tax breaks for the very, very wealthy.  Those folks thank you/ask you by way of millions of dollars to campaign funds.  So, why would the politicians want to make those cuts?  What makes matters all that much worse is so many middle class and working poor actually believe it.  After all, why would they lose a tax break or some services simply because the rich are not to be touched?  Certainly these are hard decisions -- no one would intentionally want to hurt me, right:?

ACNA and Marx: The Relationship

Is it possible that the Anglican Communion in America is somehow connected to Karl Marx? Well, let me show you some things that might give you pause.  ACNA  was formed out of several diocese and a conglomeration of bishops and laity that, down deep, does not appreciate the democratic nature of the Episcopal Church.  They reject logic and reason and require a significant adherence to their beliefs, however arcane or bizarre.  The laity has little or no say in how the ACNA is run nor do they seem to want to.  So, how does that relate to Marxism? 

Here is the quote directly from Karl himself: "Religion is the opiate of the people".  If you do not believe this quote then please analyze the events fomented by John David and his cronies.  They allow for no real news from any source, no real congregations of the faithful that would serve as a communication device; and no real discussion of any issues unless the puppets in the audience are part of the drama.

For my money, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good men (and women) to do nothing". - Edmund Burke

Romneyhood

President Obama, yesterday referred to his political rival as Romneyhood.  A spin-off of the legendary character in England during the time of Prince John, pretender to the throne.  It turns out I am old enough to remember the original TV series. Well, I could not resist the temptation to take the president's reference just a wee bit further:

Romneyhood, Romneyhood
Riding through the glen.
Romneyhood, Romneyhood
With his band of men.
Feared by the good, loved by the bad.
Romneyhood, Romneyhood, Romneyhood.

He called the fat cats  to a tavern on the green.
They vowed to help the people of the king.
They handled all the poor that are on the welfare scene,
And still found plenty of time to fling.

Romneyhood, Romneyhood,
Riding through the Hamptons.
Romneyhood, Romneyhood
With his band of fat men.
Feared by the good, loved by the rich.
Romneyhood, Romneyhoo, Romneyhood.

 If there was any doubt let the truth ring  out, Romney and his fat cats want to have the poor go away and the middle class become poor.  (Got it?)  And, remember, the Romneyhood antics that he would put in place are the same antics GWB used during his two terms.  We went from a trillion dollar surplus to a trillion dollar deficit.  We went from a very good economy to discovering the manipulations of the wall street financiers, the bailout of banks that had already set up the great American failure and they new wing-nut republicans that do not understand the meaning of the word politic.

Can We Talk?

Once again a legislature is returning from "vacation" and has targeted, guess who?  I  brought the paper inthis morning and found this headline: Pension reform the top priority.  The tickler was a quote from Darrell Steinberg the DEMOCRATIC president pro tem of the California senate "I remain confident that we will have comprehensive pension reform before the end of this session".  Just so no reader is confused, this comes from the San Francisco Chronicle. You can look it up.

Just what do you suppose the double speak means?  Well, lets look at the past first, the United Pilots got screwed when UA went into bankruptcy and their pensions were turned over to the pension guaranty fund (government run and far less than what they were receiving).  Then the nationwide case of Wisconsin and it's public services.  These are but two of the many pensions that were once promised, once delivered and forever taken away.

In the instant case, here is how I translate the quote: "For years we have cut taxes, provided tax and other incentives for the rich, allowed the rich to incredibly influence the political process thereby placing our legistatures in a moral delimma and with much frequency deciding against the right thing to do.  We have paid our political contributors off with high positions with high salaries and little work to do but sit around.  We have granted ourselves pay raises and benefits that few others have, we just came back from a month's paid vacation and now we can do nothing to create a just and fair system of revenue to support the most basic of social contract issues, safety (police, fire, nurses, etc) so we have to make the middle class, the government worker, and the bargaining units of this state pay for all our ineptitudes.

This from a democrat that lives in the state that HAD the 7th largest economy in the world.  That HAD the premier college and university system that many states tried to model but could not. That HAD  K-12 school system that was in the top ten in the nation.  That had a reputation for paying a just and fair wage.  That HAD and served mercy for our children and their parents in desperate need.

I can only say thank you Ronald Reagan; thank you Pete Wilson; thank you Arnold the terminator; and thanks to all the legislators who over the years decided to make this state the most lowly, humble, and humilitated state in the union.  Thanks for balancing the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class because you all do not have the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said (and this is cast in stone above the IRS building in D.C) "Taxes is the price we pay for living in a civilized society".  Apparently you and the rich simply wish to return us to the state that Thomas Hobbes classifed as "short, nasty and brutish".

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Well, time to return to the not-off-topic stuff, at least for the moment.First, it appears that GAFCOON, of which ACNA is a part, believes that we should all go backwards until we reach the future.

GAFCON held a conference in of all places, London, England!  The chairperson of GAFCON delivered and incredibly self-serving, self-aggrandizing, self-interpretive speech/testament for GAFCON to proceed.

Here is the scripture upon which the testament is build:

In Micah 6:8 we read:

He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

And to walk humbly with your God.

 

He, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala , then proceeded to speak over the rest of the testament explaining what this scripture meant to those of us poor, slow, dumb laity that could not understand a very simple Godly statement as, "To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God".  Now, I like interpretation as much as the next person but GAFCON has made their name on the basis of solo scripturas.  But, just what in the imagination of Archbishop Eliud Wabukala do we not understand about this particular passage?  How is it more complicated than say, "love your neighbor as yourself."?  But, in order for Archbishop Eliud Wabukala to get where he wanted to go he needed to "interrpret" scripture for us. (I guess we no longer need Bibles, we just need the Bishops of GAFCON.

 

Here is a direct quote form the Archbishop, " It is little surprise then that we find scripture can be bent into all sorts of convenient shapes and that so called ‘gospel’ truths can contradict the plain meaning of scriptures. "   Well, what do you know?  Do you suppose he is talking about him and his friends?

 

And then, buried within the golden voice and "conciliatory speech comes this little gem:

 

Our communion has come of age and it is now time that its leadership should be focused not on one person or one church, however hallowed its history, but on the one historic faith we confess. There is added urgency to these concerns and need for creative thinking so that a pattern of global governance that is no longer fit for this context is not perpetuated by default.

So, here is the issue:  Either the Crown selects one of  them or they take their marbles and go home. 

The Lord requires that we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.  I like Micah better than I like Archbishop Eliud Wabukala. 

 

 

Companion Post

This is a companion piece to that which was just recently posted. Perhaps an example of what I find unjust. And perhaps a bit of explanation of the last piece posted.

Does anyone remember this person? Abbie Hoffman and guess what he is wearing? Yep, that is indeed an American Flag. He was tried for wearing the American Flag but not before some police officers tore it off his body.


Now, here is another image:

This picture is from not too long ago.  First, I hope no one rips the flag of her body - that could be embarrassing.  Second, to the best of my knowledge she was never tried for un-American activities and certainly was not brutalized by the Chicago police.

Justice"?  Well, time wounds all heals but let's face facts, people wear the American Flag all over -- just look at those at the Olympics?  Am I upset about people wearing the American flag?  No.  I am upset by the injustice of it all.  It seems we have a double standard. 

Sound familiar? Sound like it is happening all over again?

By the way, the day that Hoffman was arrested for wearing the American flag Jerry Rubin was there also wearing a flag and absolutely nothing happened to him.  Of course the flag was the flag of the North Vietnam.  Wowsers! Three in a row!

Point of Personal Privilege

Most of the readers may not know "some" of my background.  My father was a United States Marine. I am a United States Marine.  Once a Marine always a Marine.  I also understand many readers abhor violence of any kind.  Well, this is one of those quirks in my life - I guess, I believe there are certain principles that one needs to abide by and when threatened, one choses one's own course -- I choose freedom -- not just one sided but freedom for all -  I firmly believe that each and every person in this country gets to speak their mind without fear or retaliation - I am willing to protect that freedom.  Sorry - this is not meant to be an apology (in the definitive meaning), just an explanation for what is about to follow.  Marine Corps commercials still send a chill up my back, here is one of the latest.





Thank you for your indulgence.