From the man, Mr. Dean,
As a doctor and a governor, there is no more important issue for me than ensuring quality, affordable health care for all. We did it in Vermont, and we must do it for our country. Your hard work and advocacy has made health care a top issue in this election -- but we cannot let up.
Our health care system is in crisis. Nationwide, 44 million people have no health insurance and 74 percent of those without coverage come from working families. We cannot allow this to continue.
So I am asking you to join tens of thousands of other Americans on June 19th for a national day of action to "Bridge the Gap in Health Care" between those who have coverage and those who don't. Americans for Health Care, Jobs With Justice, Rock the Vote and our friends at SEIU are sponsoring events from the Golden Gate to the Brooklyn Bridge.
To find an event near you, or to start your own event, go to:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/june19
This crisis affects everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, income, education, employment, or age. It is not just tragic -- it is immoral. At this moment, there are 8.5 million children in our country without health care.
Costs are rising uncontrollably and fewer people can afford to keep what coverage they do have. While you have been reading this letter three more people have lost their health care coverage. This is completely unacceptable. On June 19th we will demand action and tell our elected officials that we haven't forgotten about health care -- and neither should they:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/june19
If you can't attend an event, please tell your friends, family, and colleagues why you support this national day of action. You can also join me and more than 250,000 other Americans who have declared ourselves "Health Care Voters":
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/healthcarevoter
When you become a Health Care Voter, you pledge to support candidates who propose detailed, feasible plans for ensuring quality, affordable health care for all. When we speak with one voice on this issue we can make change happen:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/healthcarevoter
We ought not be the last industrialized country to guarantee health care to all its people. We can solve this problem, but only by working ogether. We must stand up and demand that our elected officials start orking for the 44 million Americans who are uninsured and the millions ore who are underinsured.
Please help ensure that all eyes remain focused on this crisis; the longer we wait to do something, the worse this problem gets. Please act now -- lives depend on it.
Thank you.
Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
P.S. -- We cannot win the fight on issues that matter if our votes aren't counted in November -- join more than 117,000 Americans who have signed the petition to ensure verifiable, accountable voting systems:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/counteveryvote
June 16, 2004
Bush Joke
While visiting England, George W. Bush is invited to tea with the Queen. He asks her what her leadership philosophy is. She says that it is to surround herself with intelligent people. He asks how she knows if they're intelligent.
"I do so by asking them the right questions," says the Queen. "Allow me to demonstrate."
She phones Tony Blair and says, "Mr. Prime Minister. Please answer this question: Your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or sister. Who is it?"
Tony Blair responds, "It's me, ma'am."
"Correct. Thank you and good-bye, sir," says the Queen. She hangs up and says, "Did you get that, Mr. Bush?"
"Yes ma'am. Thanks a lot. I'll definitely be using that!"
Upon returning to Washington, he decides he'd better put the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the test. He summons Jesse Helms to the White House and says, "Senator Helms, I wonder if you can answer a question for me."
"Why, of course, sir. What's on your mind?"
"Uh, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"
Helms hems and haws and finally asks, "Can I think about it and get back to you?" Bush agrees, and Helms leaves. He immediately calls a meeting of other senior senators, and they puzzle over the question for several hours, but nobody can come up with an answer. Finally, in desperation, Helms calls Colin Powell at the State Department and explains his problem.
"Now look here Colin Powell, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother, or your sister. Who is it?" Powell answers immediately, "It's me, of course, you dumb ass."
Much relieved, Helms rushes back to the White House and exclaims, "I know the answer, sir! I know who it is! It's Colin Powell!" And Bush replies in disgust, "Wrong, you dumb ass, It's Tony Blair!"
"I do so by asking them the right questions," says the Queen. "Allow me to demonstrate."
She phones Tony Blair and says, "Mr. Prime Minister. Please answer this question: Your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or sister. Who is it?"
Tony Blair responds, "It's me, ma'am."
"Correct. Thank you and good-bye, sir," says the Queen. She hangs up and says, "Did you get that, Mr. Bush?"
"Yes ma'am. Thanks a lot. I'll definitely be using that!"
Upon returning to Washington, he decides he'd better put the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the test. He summons Jesse Helms to the White House and says, "Senator Helms, I wonder if you can answer a question for me."
"Why, of course, sir. What's on your mind?"
"Uh, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"
Helms hems and haws and finally asks, "Can I think about it and get back to you?" Bush agrees, and Helms leaves. He immediately calls a meeting of other senior senators, and they puzzle over the question for several hours, but nobody can come up with an answer. Finally, in desperation, Helms calls Colin Powell at the State Department and explains his problem.
"Now look here Colin Powell, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother, or your sister. Who is it?" Powell answers immediately, "It's me, of course, you dumb ass."
Much relieved, Helms rushes back to the White House and exclaims, "I know the answer, sir! I know who it is! It's Colin Powell!" And Bush replies in disgust, "Wrong, you dumb ass, It's Tony Blair!"
June 11, 2004
Reagan
I'd like to pause and pray for Ronald Reagan, his family and his friends.
After seeing John McCain, my boss at work, and so many other figures comment about Reagan and communism I'd like to fill in the "details" that a time-constrained press hasn't yet touched upon. McCain said that a lot of historians might disagree with him, but his opinion, and it's only his opinion as he said twice, was that the wall wouldn't have fallen if not for Reagan. This views has been repeated countless times, although I have not seen one historian comment on any of this. Well, I should say I haven't seen one historian comment on this in the news, luckily for everyone reading this I happen to know a historian who in East Germany during the 1980s, he might tell a different story:
Figures that ended communism besides Reagan:
1. Vaclav Havel- Playwright who spent the 1980s in soviet prison for his views. Became the first Czech President when it gained independence from the USSR.
2. The protestors at Leipzig. Every monday, thousands of people gathered at the formerly state-owned prodestant to protest the Berlin Wall and other infringements on freedoms. In the final weeks of the church meetings the Soviet government ordered the meetings illegal, sent tanks and troops to stop the post-service protests. This was very soon after Tiananmen square massacre and the Soviet government planned similar brutally violent responses. Despite the ban, 50,000 people stared down the barrels of tanks and guns and attended the meeting and then did a peaceful march. To this day, historians are trying to discover whether the order to kill the protestors was not given, given and not obeyed, or given and lost in transmission.
3. Reformist politicians in the Duma (parliament). I don't think anyone can argue that somehow Reagan proposed and got Perestroika and Glasnost (openness, reforms, the movement for an honest society) passed or was able to get more moderate leaders into power.
4. The sytem itself. The system had been falling apart for years. If you could simply lie and say you did a great job and then slack off, why do a good job? Pretty simple idea here that points out what led to Perestroika and the internal falling apart of the communist system. Totalitarinism and militarism had also been taking it's toll (I.E. the expensive Afghan war).
Faithfully,
Rob
After seeing John McCain, my boss at work, and so many other figures comment about Reagan and communism I'd like to fill in the "details" that a time-constrained press hasn't yet touched upon. McCain said that a lot of historians might disagree with him, but his opinion, and it's only his opinion as he said twice, was that the wall wouldn't have fallen if not for Reagan. This views has been repeated countless times, although I have not seen one historian comment on any of this. Well, I should say I haven't seen one historian comment on this in the news, luckily for everyone reading this I happen to know a historian who in East Germany during the 1980s, he might tell a different story:
Figures that ended communism besides Reagan:
1. Vaclav Havel- Playwright who spent the 1980s in soviet prison for his views. Became the first Czech President when it gained independence from the USSR.
2. The protestors at Leipzig. Every monday, thousands of people gathered at the formerly state-owned prodestant to protest the Berlin Wall and other infringements on freedoms. In the final weeks of the church meetings the Soviet government ordered the meetings illegal, sent tanks and troops to stop the post-service protests. This was very soon after Tiananmen square massacre and the Soviet government planned similar brutally violent responses. Despite the ban, 50,000 people stared down the barrels of tanks and guns and attended the meeting and then did a peaceful march. To this day, historians are trying to discover whether the order to kill the protestors was not given, given and not obeyed, or given and lost in transmission.
3. Reformist politicians in the Duma (parliament). I don't think anyone can argue that somehow Reagan proposed and got Perestroika and Glasnost (openness, reforms, the movement for an honest society) passed or was able to get more moderate leaders into power.
4. The sytem itself. The system had been falling apart for years. If you could simply lie and say you did a great job and then slack off, why do a good job? Pretty simple idea here that points out what led to Perestroika and the internal falling apart of the communist system. Totalitarinism and militarism had also been taking it's toll (I.E. the expensive Afghan war).
Faithfully,
Rob
June 04, 2004
Who could have seen 9-11 coming?
Now, a lot of the people criticizing pre-9-11 failures have probably been a little unfair against the administration. But the media coverage of post-9-11 failures has been amazingly unfair in the administrations favor. I've seen countless guests and interviewers pass of the idea 'nobody could have seen it coming' as a fact. Their simply repeat what the administration has beeen saying to save their butts. National security adviser Condoleeza Rice said on May 16, 2002, "I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile." This idea is just rediculous. It's the media folks trying to make sure people don't think their liberal, because there are plenty of books out there that will tell you that people like Richard Clarke and others who were trying to prepare for things like that. Let's look at people who thought that somebody might hijack a plane:
1. One of the Columbine kids had written in his log that he was thinking about hijacking a plane and flying it into a building, WTC was on the top of his list. Footage of a reporter discussing the details of the student's diary describing the idea can be seen in Bowling for Columbine.
2. Tom Clancy wrote about a scenario with terrorists hijacking a plane and flying it into a building one of his books.
3. There was a movie in production in 2001 about terrorists hijacking a plane and flying it into the Pentagon! The production of the movie was then postponed indefinitely. I heard about this the week after 9-11 on msnbc in a story about how the movie just mentioned was canceled and of course how Spiderman was delayed because a scene in which a helicopter crashes into the WTC needed to be taken out.
4. At the last G8 summit (meeting of the top 8 nuclear powers) there were fighter planes flying around the building in case someone hijacked a plane and flew it into the building. Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them discusses this.
5. A memo sent to the president (while we was on vacation in Texas (of course)) was titled "Bin Laden to Attack Within the United States". The memo mentioned New York TWICE!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4710772/
6. Bill Clinton. Clinton "personally warned President-elect George W. Bush in a meeting during the transition that Osama bin Laden would be his No. 1 national-security problem". http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,612324,00.html
7. Richard Clarke. Who devoted so much time to researching a building intelligence agaisnt Al Qaeda. But Bush was more interested in nation building from the get-go and ignored Clark's suggestings for continuing anti-terrorist efforts. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml
Or simply search google for Richard Clarke or read his book, Against All Enemies.
8. Jack Roche. A muslim convert from Australia knew the whereabouts of 9-11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others. "He had their phone numbers. He had their e-mail addresses. He knew where they lived. He knew how they worked." "But at the time — 14 months before the Sept. 11 attacks — no one was interested."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/20040607/ts_latimes/before911onewarningwentunheard
9. Gosh, I just keep adding stuff to this list. Here is another one. Mohammed Heikal is a highl repsected Egyptian journalist and foreign minister. He told the Guardian on October 10, 2001 "I know what is there. Bin Laden has been under surveillance for years: every telephone call was monitored and al Qa'eda has been penetrated by American Intelligence, Saudi Intelligence, Egyptian Intelligence. They could not have kept secret an operation that required such a degree of organization and sophistication."
10. Sibel Edmonds. Edmonds is a former FBI translator whose testimony before the 9-11 commission helped force Condalezza Rice to testify before Congress. "We had several specific information as early as April, 2001." "The FBI had information that an attack using airplanes was being planned before Sept. 11 and calls Condoleezza Rice's claim the White House had no specific information on a domestic threat or one involving planes an outrageous lie."
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/04/1353259
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=Sibel+Edmonds&btnG=Google+Search
11. Kenneth Williams. An FBI agents that wrote the famous 'Phoenix Memo' warning that supporters of Osama bin Laden were "attending civil aviation universities/colleges in Arizona." The memo apparently never reached the highest levels of the FBI, the CIA or the Justice Department until after September 11.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/21/phoenix.memo/
12. According to the NY Times Sept 9, 2002 as early as 1996, Pakistani terrorist Abdul Hakim Murad confessed to federal agents that he was "learning to fly an aircraft in order to crash a plane into CIA HG"
13. A briefing in July of 2001 warned of "a significant terrorist attack against the U.S. and/or Israeli interests in the coming weeks. The attacks with be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against US facilities and interests. Attacks will occur with little or no warning."
14. We also now know that at least 2 FBI agents warned their superiors that AlQa'eda was planning a "kamakazi strike against New York and Washington". They were told that if they were to come public with this information, they would be prosecuted under the National Security Act. (Dreaming War p.14)
In conclusion, I'll leave you with the conclusion that will be written in history which is the conclusion of the 9-11 commission which said "9/11 could have and should have been prevented."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/17/eveningnews/main589137.shtml
I don't want anybody to be unfair and blame it all on Bush, let's just be honest about the American Neo-conservative agenda: they love nation-building and ignored terrorism.
-Rob
1. One of the Columbine kids had written in his log that he was thinking about hijacking a plane and flying it into a building, WTC was on the top of his list. Footage of a reporter discussing the details of the student's diary describing the idea can be seen in Bowling for Columbine.
2. Tom Clancy wrote about a scenario with terrorists hijacking a plane and flying it into a building one of his books.
3. There was a movie in production in 2001 about terrorists hijacking a plane and flying it into the Pentagon! The production of the movie was then postponed indefinitely. I heard about this the week after 9-11 on msnbc in a story about how the movie just mentioned was canceled and of course how Spiderman was delayed because a scene in which a helicopter crashes into the WTC needed to be taken out.
4. At the last G8 summit (meeting of the top 8 nuclear powers) there were fighter planes flying around the building in case someone hijacked a plane and flew it into the building. Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them discusses this.
5. A memo sent to the president (while we was on vacation in Texas (of course)) was titled "Bin Laden to Attack Within the United States". The memo mentioned New York TWICE!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4710772/
6. Bill Clinton. Clinton "personally warned President-elect George W. Bush in a meeting during the transition that Osama bin Laden would be his No. 1 national-security problem". http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,612324,00.html
7. Richard Clarke. Who devoted so much time to researching a building intelligence agaisnt Al Qaeda. But Bush was more interested in nation building from the get-go and ignored Clark's suggestings for continuing anti-terrorist efforts. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml
Or simply search google for Richard Clarke or read his book, Against All Enemies.
8. Jack Roche. A muslim convert from Australia knew the whereabouts of 9-11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others. "He had their phone numbers. He had their e-mail addresses. He knew where they lived. He knew how they worked." "But at the time — 14 months before the Sept. 11 attacks — no one was interested."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/20040607/ts_latimes/before911onewarningwentunheard
9. Gosh, I just keep adding stuff to this list. Here is another one. Mohammed Heikal is a highl repsected Egyptian journalist and foreign minister. He told the Guardian on October 10, 2001 "I know what is there. Bin Laden has been under surveillance for years: every telephone call was monitored and al Qa'eda has been penetrated by American Intelligence, Saudi Intelligence, Egyptian Intelligence. They could not have kept secret an operation that required such a degree of organization and sophistication."
10. Sibel Edmonds. Edmonds is a former FBI translator whose testimony before the 9-11 commission helped force Condalezza Rice to testify before Congress. "We had several specific information as early as April, 2001." "The FBI had information that an attack using airplanes was being planned before Sept. 11 and calls Condoleezza Rice's claim the White House had no specific information on a domestic threat or one involving planes an outrageous lie."
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/04/1353259
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=Sibel+Edmonds&btnG=Google+Search
11. Kenneth Williams. An FBI agents that wrote the famous 'Phoenix Memo' warning that supporters of Osama bin Laden were "attending civil aviation universities/colleges in Arizona." The memo apparently never reached the highest levels of the FBI, the CIA or the Justice Department until after September 11.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/21/phoenix.memo/
12. According to the NY Times Sept 9, 2002 as early as 1996, Pakistani terrorist Abdul Hakim Murad confessed to federal agents that he was "learning to fly an aircraft in order to crash a plane into CIA HG"
13. A briefing in July of 2001 warned of "a significant terrorist attack against the U.S. and/or Israeli interests in the coming weeks. The attacks with be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against US facilities and interests. Attacks will occur with little or no warning."
14. We also now know that at least 2 FBI agents warned their superiors that AlQa'eda was planning a "kamakazi strike against New York and Washington". They were told that if they were to come public with this information, they would be prosecuted under the National Security Act. (Dreaming War p.14)
In conclusion, I'll leave you with the conclusion that will be written in history which is the conclusion of the 9-11 commission which said "9/11 could have and should have been prevented."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/17/eveningnews/main589137.shtml
I don't want anybody to be unfair and blame it all on Bush, let's just be honest about the American Neo-conservative agenda: they love nation-building and ignored terrorism.
-Rob
June 02, 2004
G. Dubya Quotes
Yeah, it's time for some quotes from G. W. Bush.
"Tax relief is central to my plan to encourage economic growth and we can proceed with tax relief without fear of budget deficits, even if the economy softens." [Source: White House Web site] [American Progress.org]
"For lower-income families, my tax plan restores basic fairness." [Source: White House Web site] [American Progress.org]
"I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him
[Osama Bin Laden]." 3-13-2002 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
Then there's the whole messing up Abu Grahib pronunciation big time, and Bush asking, "Is our children learning?"
Accually, there are hundreds if not thousands. I give up because I'd rather spend my time reading them. There are a lot at http://www.dubyaspeak.com/
For some of Bush's flip-flops, you should visit here http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=42263
"Tax relief is central to my plan to encourage economic growth and we can proceed with tax relief without fear of budget deficits, even if the economy softens." [Source: White House Web site] [American Progress.org]
"For lower-income families, my tax plan restores basic fairness." [Source: White House Web site] [American Progress.org]
"I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him
[Osama Bin Laden]." 3-13-2002 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html
Then there's the whole messing up Abu Grahib pronunciation big time, and Bush asking, "Is our children learning?"
Accually, there are hundreds if not thousands. I give up because I'd rather spend my time reading them. There are a lot at http://www.dubyaspeak.com/
For some of Bush's flip-flops, you should visit here http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=42263
June 01, 2004
Definitions of Political Terms that get distorted in the media.
This is from WordWeb dictionary and Webster's New World. Roget's and others say the same things.
Fascism: 1. An adherent of fascism or other right-wing authoritarian views. 2. A political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government (as opposed to democracy or liberalism) Fascist: 1. An adherent of fascism or other right-wing authoritarian views.
Liberal: n 1. A person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties 2. A person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets. adj: 1. Showing or characterized by broad-mindedness 2. Having political or social views favoring reform and progress, 3. Tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition.
Conservative: adj 1. Resistant to change, 2. Opposed to liberal reforms, 3. Avoiding excess, 4. Unimaginatively conventional, 5. Conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class.
Reactionary: 1. An extreme conservative; an opponent of progress or liberalism, 2. Extremely conservative.
Communism: 1. any theory or system of common ownership of property. 2, socialism as formulated by Marx, Lenin, etc. Communist: 1. A socialist who advocates communism.
Socialism: 1. a theory by which the means of production and distribution are owned by society rather than by individuals.
So what conclusions can we draw from this?
1. Liberals favor "an economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets". Sound like Jefferson, thats right, he was one of the biggest Liberals of his time. Research the foundations of liberalism and you'll find thats what America was founded on. You'll also realize how much the word 'liberal' has been distorted to label and reject anyone who is working for progress on any issue.
2. I've heard people of Faux News and others claim that the Nazis were "Liberals". This is so laughable. This idea is based upon the idea that the Nazis persecuted Christians and the Nazi party has "socialist" in their name. Liberals at the time with their laissez-faire policies and so forth would have never been confused with 'socialists' as the words may be blurred together today. This idea that the Nazis were 'liberals' because they persecuted Christians is so laughable. There were blatent Christian themes in dozens of Hitler's speeches. If one reads the Nuremberg Laws or orders sent to troops one will find similar Christian themese. For example, under the Nuremberg laws you were "Jewish" and hence lost all citenzenship and rights if your spouse attended or was a member of a Synagogue. The Nurumberg laws were a religious standard at least as much as an ethnic standard. Another example of Christian themes in fascist ideology comes from an order sent out by German Field-Marshal Walter von Reichenau to the Nazi troops on the German-Soviet border which stressed "just atonement required of the Jewish subhumans." A teacher at my sister's conservative Christian school told her that the Nazis persecuted Hindus, Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals because the Nazis believed too strongly in evolution. This idea that the Nazi's persecuted Christians I believe comes solely from events in which Polish Priests were persecuted, but they were persecuted for opposing Hitler, not for simply being Christian.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing Christians. Tonight, I spent the evening as a volunteer actor for Summer Bible School for kids from area churches as well as kids from my church that I'm very active in. I'll be helping with Summer Bible School all next week. I am a Christian and I go to a Christian school. From my grandparents down you will find Christians active in churches, so obviously I'm not attacking Christians here. I am attacking the fascists in history who have manipulated, lied, distorted, and killed under the guise of Christianity. I am attacking those who fail the recognize the effects of fusing nationalism and Christianity. It it time for us to truthfully recognize these things.
But then again, we can just all become reactionaries and blame everything we don't like on any people working for progess. After all, it worked for Hitler, whos first victims were political enemies in the worker's party (second largest) in Germany, which was purged from Parliament after Hitler was given power by the conservatives.
Faithfully,
--Rob
Fascism: 1. An adherent of fascism or other right-wing authoritarian views. 2. A political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government (as opposed to democracy or liberalism) Fascist: 1. An adherent of fascism or other right-wing authoritarian views.
Liberal: n 1. A person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties 2. A person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets. adj: 1. Showing or characterized by broad-mindedness 2. Having political or social views favoring reform and progress, 3. Tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition.
Conservative: adj 1. Resistant to change, 2. Opposed to liberal reforms, 3. Avoiding excess, 4. Unimaginatively conventional, 5. Conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class.
Reactionary: 1. An extreme conservative; an opponent of progress or liberalism, 2. Extremely conservative.
Communism: 1. any theory or system of common ownership of property. 2, socialism as formulated by Marx, Lenin, etc. Communist: 1. A socialist who advocates communism.
Socialism: 1. a theory by which the means of production and distribution are owned by society rather than by individuals.
So what conclusions can we draw from this?
1. Liberals favor "an economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets". Sound like Jefferson, thats right, he was one of the biggest Liberals of his time. Research the foundations of liberalism and you'll find thats what America was founded on. You'll also realize how much the word 'liberal' has been distorted to label and reject anyone who is working for progress on any issue.
2. I've heard people of Faux News and others claim that the Nazis were "Liberals". This is so laughable. This idea is based upon the idea that the Nazis persecuted Christians and the Nazi party has "socialist" in their name. Liberals at the time with their laissez-faire policies and so forth would have never been confused with 'socialists' as the words may be blurred together today. This idea that the Nazis were 'liberals' because they persecuted Christians is so laughable. There were blatent Christian themes in dozens of Hitler's speeches. If one reads the Nuremberg Laws or orders sent to troops one will find similar Christian themese. For example, under the Nuremberg laws you were "Jewish" and hence lost all citenzenship and rights if your spouse attended or was a member of a Synagogue. The Nurumberg laws were a religious standard at least as much as an ethnic standard. Another example of Christian themes in fascist ideology comes from an order sent out by German Field-Marshal Walter von Reichenau to the Nazi troops on the German-Soviet border which stressed "just atonement required of the Jewish subhumans." A teacher at my sister's conservative Christian school told her that the Nazis persecuted Hindus, Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals because the Nazis believed too strongly in evolution. This idea that the Nazi's persecuted Christians I believe comes solely from events in which Polish Priests were persecuted, but they were persecuted for opposing Hitler, not for simply being Christian.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing Christians. Tonight, I spent the evening as a volunteer actor for Summer Bible School for kids from area churches as well as kids from my church that I'm very active in. I'll be helping with Summer Bible School all next week. I am a Christian and I go to a Christian school. From my grandparents down you will find Christians active in churches, so obviously I'm not attacking Christians here. I am attacking the fascists in history who have manipulated, lied, distorted, and killed under the guise of Christianity. I am attacking those who fail the recognize the effects of fusing nationalism and Christianity. It it time for us to truthfully recognize these things.
But then again, we can just all become reactionaries and blame everything we don't like on any people working for progess. After all, it worked for Hitler, whos first victims were political enemies in the worker's party (second largest) in Germany, which was purged from Parliament after Hitler was given power by the conservatives.
Faithfully,
--Rob
Reading List
Here is a list of books I've read recently or plan on reading this summer. Feel free to comment on any of them, or pick them up yourselves:
Chris Mathews' 'Hardball' and 'Now Let Me Tell You What I Really Think'.
James W. Loewen's 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' or 'Lies Accross America'.
Marx's 'Communist Manifesto' or 'Early Writings'
Edmund Burke's 'Relfection on the Revolution in France' and any of the various collective writings of Burke.
Aristotle's 'The Art Rhetoric' and 'The Politics'
Immanuel Kant's 'Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals' and 'What is the Enlightenment?'
Plato's 'The Republic'
Thomas Hobbes' 'Leviaton'
After Leviathon read 'The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit' by Melvin Konner to learn about more recent ideas than Hobbes' on human nature.
Voltaire's 'Candide'!
Chaim Potok's 'My Name is Asher Lev' and 'The Chosen'
Eric Schlosser's 'Fast Food Nation'
Barry Glassner. I read 'The Culture of Fear', but his more academic stuff is much better.
Ferdinand Oyono's 'Houseboy'
Al Franken's 'Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them'. I just finished this, and he has written 6 or 7 other books that I haven't read.
I'm about to finish Michael Moore's 'Downsize This,' but haven't read any of his other books. I beleive they are 'Stupid White Men' and 'Dude, Where's My Country'.
I've read 14 of the above books in the last 9 months, and the other few are what I plan to read this summer. Now you folks reading can see my influences. Any comments, criticism, or suggestions for further reading?
Chris Mathews' 'Hardball' and 'Now Let Me Tell You What I Really Think'.
James W. Loewen's 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' or 'Lies Accross America'.
Marx's 'Communist Manifesto' or 'Early Writings'
Edmund Burke's 'Relfection on the Revolution in France' and any of the various collective writings of Burke.
Aristotle's 'The Art Rhetoric' and 'The Politics'
Immanuel Kant's 'Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals' and 'What is the Enlightenment?'
Plato's 'The Republic'
Thomas Hobbes' 'Leviaton'
After Leviathon read 'The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit' by Melvin Konner to learn about more recent ideas than Hobbes' on human nature.
Voltaire's 'Candide'!
Chaim Potok's 'My Name is Asher Lev' and 'The Chosen'
Eric Schlosser's 'Fast Food Nation'
Barry Glassner. I read 'The Culture of Fear', but his more academic stuff is much better.
Ferdinand Oyono's 'Houseboy'
Al Franken's 'Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them'. I just finished this, and he has written 6 or 7 other books that I haven't read.
I'm about to finish Michael Moore's 'Downsize This,' but haven't read any of his other books. I beleive they are 'Stupid White Men' and 'Dude, Where's My Country'.
I've read 14 of the above books in the last 9 months, and the other few are what I plan to read this summer. Now you folks reading can see my influences. Any comments, criticism, or suggestions for further reading?
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