The Night America Almost Died

While roaming about the net, Crooks and Liars to be exact, I came upon a post by Nicole Belle, Sunday Morning Bobblehead Thread, with a parody song "That's Not Torture" (lyrics by Marcy Shaffer) sung to the tune of "That's Amore", which made my muse, oddly enough, toss down a parody of "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace. She will not tell me how she went from one to the other so the leap of logic is left to your imagination.

My apologies upfront to Paper Lace.

The Night Chicago Died Lyrics↨

In the heat of a summer night
In the land of the dollar bill
When the town of Chicago died
And they talk about it still

When a man named Al Capone
Tried to make that town his own
And he called his gang to war
With the forces of the law

I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be

I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed

And the sound of the battle rang
Through the streets of the old east side
'Til the last of the hoodlum gang
Had surrendered up or died

There was shouting in the street
And the sound of running feet
And I asked someone who said
Bout a hundred cops are dead

I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!

I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed

And ther was no sound at all
But the clock upon the wall
Then the door burst open wide
And my daddy stepped inside
And he kissed my mama's face
And he brushed her tears away

The night Chicago died
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed

The night Chicago died
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be

The night Chicago died
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed

-THE NIGHT AMERICA DIED Parody lyrics
In the dark of an Alaskan night
In the land of the midnight sun
When America almost died
And we trembled of her run

When a crazy woman named Sarah
Tried to take this country by terror
and she used McCain as pawn
With the forces of the neocon

I heard our country cry
I heard her weep the night we almost died
Oh what a night we truly had
Oh what a fright we truly had
Yes indeed

I heard our country cry
I heard us weep the night she almost died
Oh what a night we truly had
Oh what a fright we truly had
Yes, siree

And the noise of her mouth rang
Through the streets of the countryside
'Til the last of the hooligan gang
Gave in to the winning side

There was confusion in the towns
And the sound of screaming clowns
And I asked someone who said
This country might be dead

I heard our country cry
I heard us pray the night she almost died
Oh what a night we truly had
Oh what a fright we truly had
Yes indeed

I heard our country cry
I heard us weep the night she almost died
Oh what a night we truly had
Oh what a fright we truly had
Yes, siree


Then grave silence began to mount
As we waited upon the count
Then the t.v. was turned up inside
And numbers stood up high
And we kissed each other’s face
And we wiped our fears away

The night America almost died
The night America almost died
Oh what a night we truly had
Oh what a fright we truly had
Yes, siree

The night America almost died
The night America almost died
Oh what a night we truly had
Oh what a fright we truly had
Yes indeed

The night America almost died
The night America almost died
Oh what a night we truly had
Oh what a fright we truly had
You betcha

© 2009 mrp/thepoetryman

Darkness to light- Jonestown is back

And in a surprise to everyone present, Her farewell speech was chock full’a Status Quo Wingnut “Pay Attention to Me” Paranoia (Here’s an Excerpt)-

Friends, and fellow Self-Righteous, Mud Humping, Haven’t a Fucking Clue About Jack Shit Creationist Whack Jobs, I stand before you today, Proud. Proud to know that I, like you, am not a Mean Old Liberal Meanie Pants. Proud to know that I am not part of the Elite Establishment Hell Bent on being Really Mean, and Nasty, and Hurtful toward people like Myself who are simply trying to Improve their Standing in life by Grifting the plethora of Mouth Breathing Goobers in this country Desperate for a Messiah, No Matter How Absurd, to save them from the Mundanity of their Sad, Meaningless Lives.
(Read the rest at Jonestown...)

Palin Poetry?

John Lundberg has a wonderful piece up on The Huffington Post called: Sarah Palin, The Anti-Poet.

After reading it I thought I'd add my two cents...

~

Calling what Sarah Palin spits out of her bungling maw should never be considered poetry. Ever!

Aside from "repetition"
She displays nothing that nears poetry.
No form, no rhythm, no rhyme nor reason.
No ambiguity, symbolism, or irony.
No other stylistic elements.
No metaphor, simile or metonymy.

She is rhythm(less), meter(less), thoughtless,
And without an nth of metrical pattern.
Her words possess no alliteration,
Assonance nor form!

_________________________________________________________________

The distinction between historian and poet is not in the one writing prose and the other verse... the one describes the thing that has been, and the other a kind of thing that might be. Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are of the nature rather of universals, whereas those of history are singulars. ~Aristotle, On Poetics

A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep. ~Salman Rushdie

There is poetry as soon as we realize that we possess nothing. - John Cage
_________________________________________________________________


Sarah Palin"s the antithesis of a poet. She's a blank sheet of paper waiting to be written upon or discarded altogether as contrivance. ~thepoetryman


Below is a video featuring Sarah's speechwriter and it certainly gives valuable insight as to why she was always so "poetic" in her speeches. Seriously. Watch it and see for yourself...

That 100 Days Leadership Thing

The topic below was originally published on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal. Also, I hope readers here will consider voting for my blog for the 2009 Chapeau Blog Awards. My appreciation as always for being allowed to X-Post here. I love the new format!

A charismatic president assumes power in a time of unprecedented turmoil after his hapless predecessor becomes a hated symbol of inertia. Financial institutions previously trusted for their forbearance are exposed as reckless stewards while the global economy implodes and regular folks who did nothing wrong are ruined. As job losses mount, unscrupulous demagogues at home and abroad exploit the chaos for nefarious objectives.

Discredited conservatives accuse the new president of socialism while anarchists under the guise of populism are determined to expropriate and redistribute private capital’s wealth no matter what the consequences. Yet the nation rallies to the new president even as progress is slow, uneven and plagued with setbacks. Critics on the left, including his wife, believe the new president is overly cautious while conservatives view him as akin to the anti-Christ.

The public discourse is volatile as the new president confounds his critics and towers over the body politic. Sound familiar? Generation-Y liberals may assume I’m referring to President Barack Obama’s first 100 days that we’ll be reading about next week. I am of course referring to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who first established the 100 days benchmark in 1933. FDR’s first 100 days were the foundation of twenty-years of Democratic Roosevelt/Truman administrations that forever changed American society and its place in the world.

FDR himself was brilliant and flawed as he navigated the country through perilous waters domestically and internationally. His leadership enabled America and its allies to prevail in World War Two and establish an enduring middle class. Yet there was also a dark side to the FDR years as the “imperial presidency” was launched and Japanese civilians were “relocated.” The imperial presidency later metastasized during the cold war following the 1947 National Security Act under Harry Truman.

Ultimately, the FDR years, like any presidency was a product of its time. Skirmishes between labor and business were violent. The gap between rich and poor was grotesque. Much of rural America didn’t have electricity and whites routinely murdered their black neighbors. Anti-Semitic demagogues such as Father Charles Coughlin polluted the airwaves. Industrial leaders like Henry Ford as well as national hero, aviator Charles Limburg, openly expressed their admiration for Adolph Hitler.

Capitalism as well as the concept of democracy itself seemed to be retreating as Hitler in Germany, Josef Stalin in Soviet Russia and Italy’s Benito Mussolini maneuvered for global domination. The Japanese Empire brutally worked to establish their “Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and carved up the Chinese mainland in the 1930s. Americans hoped to avoid foreign wars and FDR promised to keep us out as he plotted behind the scenes to save civilization.

In any era, leadership is not for the meek or faint of heart. FDR projected jaunty confidence and empathy for the downtrodden as he defined America’s center of political gravity on his terms. His leadership style was one of calculated confrontation and FDR skillfully utilized his political capital to take on conservative agents of the status quo at home while inspiring an international alliance against implacable enemies abroad. Seventy-five years after his first inauguration many historians regard him as America’s greatest president.



President Obama’s current challenges and leadership style is understandably compared to FDR – especially has we approach his 100 day benchmark. His support remains notably impressive in spite of the plutocratic dynamic duo of Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner or his waffling with respect to prosecuting crimes committed by the Bush Administration.

Every week we set new records for unemployment claims and the Wall Street bailouts continue. Yet the public continues to believe in his leadership. I do too even as I fret over Obama’s handling of the banking crisis and worry his presidency will be consumed by efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan.

My interpretation of President Obama’s political standing is that his support is partly attributed to a conservative minority that is bereft of ideas and maturity. There is the faux populist outrage of “tea parties” to the sniveling temper tantrums of conservatives when Obama shakes hands with Hugo Chavez. Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh look like fools as they critique Obama’s handling of the Somali Pirates hostage crisis while the administration initiates a successful rescue operation. Republicans in Texas and Georgia speak openly of secession while a more sophisticated majority wants to come together and solve problems.

The public face of conservatism is angry, xenophobic, homophobic, shrill and insipid and no longer taken seriously. It's not just that conservative ideology is thorougly discredited as it was in 1933. Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, John Boehner and Newt Gingrich are almost cartoonish in their political opposition. Hence, the real debate with respect to public policy about issues ranging from the potential fall of Pakistan, engaging Iran, addressing global warming, strengthening public education, rebuilding infrastucture, renewable energy and health care is between the center and the left. The center of political gravity is being redefined by Barack Obama because Republicans don't belong at the grownups table.

On the left, people like me critique the administration so he will seize the moment and push the envelope further. We want accountability for the Bush Administration’s crimes, a swift reversal of the Wall Street centric economy that has placed millions of Americans on the abyss of destitution and a public option for health care. The end result of impatient liberal/left critics and America’s puerile conservatives is that President Obama owns the political center just as FDR did.

Whether Obama takes full advantage of his unique stature will take far longer than 100 days to know. This is only the end of the beginning.

GLENN BECK - TAPPIN' SARAH PALIN...

This is a video of Glenn Beck's debut on Faux News, so who better than the faux champion of the people, Sarah Palin, to be his first guest to sickeningly schmooze with....

Watching this "little" interview made me... Well, in truth, it made me sick to my stomach. The way in which the two "danced" with one another in the faux backdrop of the frozen tundra made my stomach reel. It felt like Gregory Hines doing a Bojangles imitation on my colon! Suffice it to say it was not (is not) pretty... But it inspired a bit of a silly skit (below the video)...

BECK: Governor Sarah Palin. Hello! How are you?

PALIN: Fine, Glenn. I'm fine and dandy! And you?

BECK: Oh! I'm about to burst! Taut! Bulging with pride at having you on my show!

PALIN: Oh! Glenn! I need to tell you, after watchin' you tear up over our common bondage of special needs children, you need to stop your boo-hoo hooin' and get on with life!

BECK: Okay, but only because you're a hot gramma!

PALIN: Oh! Gee my knee... Thanks, Glenn.

BECK: Just sayin', ya know?

PALIN: Of course you are. Why should you be any different than all the other men I talk to on a daily basis?

BECK: Is Barack Obama your president, Sarah?

PALIN: Ummm... Sure... Sure he is. He's America's president, unless you're one of those strict constitutionalizers like me or you're like Chris Wallace who questions the validness of Barack bein' president due to the language manglin' which Chief Justice Roberts managed to pull off during the swearin' in process.

BECK: I'm certainly a constitutionalizer, and I, like you, believe everything out of Chris Wallace's mouth.

PALIN: Who doesn't, right?

BECK: The liberals don't.

PALIN: Who cares what terrorists think. 

BECK: I believe anything you say because you have a special needs child like me! I was also thinking how lucky you are to live in Alaska. No illegal aliens, scumbags sneaking into your country. I mean state.

PALIN: Alaska's great! You betcha! We got Caribou and other critters roamin' free and we got oil runnin' out the ying yang!

BECK: I like the sound of that!

PALIN: Getting back to Obama, I mean President Barack Hussien Obama's policies, my daughter, Willow, who we were goin' to name Caribou but figured it'd be better to name her somethin' that Mommy doesn't shoot at from airplanes, was watchin' the news the other day, blessed child, and she heard someone say that 95% of Americans were goin' to get a tax cut and she asked me, I swear it was one of those precious Hallmark moments in a lovin' mommies life, she asked me, "What about the other 5%? Why should they be punished for bein' rich?"

BECK: Is she a looker like her mommy?

PALIN: Oh! Stop it now... I'm happily married to a champion snow-mobiler!

BECK: Yes, but she ain't, if you know what I mean?

PALIN: Yes and... Well it is true, she's not married to my husband. Hmmm? ...We'll talk about it after the program, `kay?

BECK: Great! Does she like ice cream? What kind?

PALIN: Would you let me finish? It's cold out here!

BECK: Sorry. You're right. Great view, by the way...

PALIN: Gee, thanks...

BECK: I'm just sayin', ya know?

PALIN: (Sarah giggles.) So instead of cryin' and gettin' all boo-hoo hooey about it, I held Willow close to my bosoms and said, "Honey, the money is goin' to be redistributized `cause Barack and all the devilish liberals in this country want it that way.

BECK: Amen, hot gramma!

PALIN: ...I went on to say, "Because Barack used to pal around with those kinds, those ilks, and well he's their president too, but he's ours as well, my sweet Willow." And she said something about Obama's daddy bein' from the country of black Africa and all and his mommy bein' from the state of white Kansas, so I quickly steered the conversation away from pre-marital sex and sinners and the mixin' of races and all that and just hugged her little ice cream cravin' body again and reassured her that we were safe from most of the world's trash heap. That's what mommies do, Glenn. They reassure their children against all that stuff.

BECK: Amen to that, my soul mate of a hotty gramma!

PALIN: Geeze, Glenn. Simmer down a bit would ya? We're on t.v. and you sound like you're speakin' in tongues...

BECK: Oh, but I am. I am.

A Dear John Letter...

Dear John,
You said, don't blame Palin...

I don't blame Governor Palin.

The responsibility lies solely at your feet.

You, sir, are seen as a war hero by many, including myself, but aren’t war heroes supposed to be heroic?

Your use of "Country First" was shameful and it became quite evident that it was an empty slogan when you chose Sarah Palin as your running mate because someone told you that it would fire up the base and that it would miraculously shore up the Hillary vote. Of course all it shored up was animosity towards you for having used such a transparent tactic against the American electorate thus proving that you have no respect for their intellect and reasoning skills. Never underestimate your audience. Never.

You thrust an unknown governor and first dude and their innocent children into an untenable and preposterous situation.

No. I do not blame you for her actions, after the fact. I do, however, blame you for allowing the use of her as cutthroat surrogate to a rabid base and for you selling your principles and your very soul for god-awful power!

I blame you for sucking up to the Christian fringe and for cozying up to the lobbyists and big oil!

I blame you, Mr. McCain for using your veteran status as a stepping stone for your hubris without thinking of what it is that you were doing to yourself, the nation, war veterans, African Americans, Muslim Americans, Native Americans, the world’s perception of our country, women, gays and lesbians, and senior citizens!

Your doom, I believe, along with many others, began when you visited Liberty University six years after having labeled the Reverend Jerry Falwell one of the political "agents of intolerance". Licking your chops at the possibility of holding the highest office in the land you got your ass in line and kissed the symbolic ring of the contemptuous Christian alliance that is hell-bent on this countries destruction. I find this, not only cowardly on your part, but to have placed a nasty pox upon your record and, simply put, it was precisely where your mavericky demise took root.

Your story of the Vietnamese guard drawing a cross in the dirt with his sandal while you were a POW, which you say is true and I’ve no reason to dispute it, sounded false and your use of such a tale at the Saddleback Church wasn’t you employing a personal and inspirational story to guide sad sacks to God, or as some philosophical anecdote to shed light upon some theory of forgiveness existing within all men, but instead you only used it to shore up your base. The “congregation" and many people watching your performance on television sucked it up like hungry calves on a domesticated ungulate’s teat! It was shameful to say the least. It also proved to the millions of others watching that you would say and do anything to capture the throne. Why the "Christians" could not see this transparent attempt can only be explained by the following verse, “When you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will see well enough to remove the sliver from your friend's eye.” In other words, they are blinded by allegiance for supremacy as much as you.

But what really irked me was your inability to curb your racist and bigoted base during the campaign, or more accurately, it was your complicit silence as the ugliness, spawned by your own shameful rhetoric, began to audibly boil over during your kkkampaign rallies. As shameful as that was, it was more shameful when your interest in the quelling of such was peaked only when it became a liability to your campaign. Your behavior is not something that shall soon be forgotten, nor should it be. Your campaign was more despicable than the man’s you hoped to succeed, and that certainly must not have been a cakewalk!

So, you may sense that many of your fellow citizens are blaming Sarah Palin for you and your party’s demise, but please understand that your inane choice of a running mate was merely a byproduct of your own sickly sweet hubris and shallow principles and your base’s lack of a soul.

Sincerely,
thepoetryman

Scar Tissue, "F" bomb, Shhh, Gitclosed, Brooks & Done, SarahVoid

Scar Tissue and the F bomb
Rage’s pretty white child has lost its teddy bear,
It whose lips he knew and who hugged him tenderly.

We’ve been witness to this foxtrot under the dimness of fear.
Heard him cry “O! How I do love thee, my wooly god!”

Heard him screech of the emptiness pounding his ears
When no one thought to challenge the lopsided score.

Throngs of emotion have dreamed of him
Wished his razor-sharp word would pierce their skin,

The frowned face caked atop their melancholy mug
As the cold flesh of emptiness left its unique scar.

Now his followers madly grimace as truth tumbles down
Upon the soft rear of indifference… and babies cry.

Rise up tender child! Bravely swim back to us
Through the red water and bone! Back to the asylum!

Secret Order – Attack al Qaeda in many Countries
Coming in low, over the streets, over flesh,
Coming to free their bandaged minds of such rumbling,
Terror plummets down as savior and Christ!

Obama Plans to Close Gitmo
To do now what peace should have done before
To seal up fear and anguish within the whispering walls;
Reverse a whore’s work and shackle hubris.

Brooks and Done
“no leaders,"
"world of pain,"
"no coherent belief system."
“circular firing squad”
“complete disaster”
“want Palin to lead them out of the wilderness”
“I loved Reagan, but those days are over”
Amen…

Lindsay Lohan, Bi or Lesbian?
Who gives a measly rat’s ass?

SarahVoid - What’s Ahead for Governor Palin?

© 2008 mrp/tpm

READ MORE HEAD-LINES

OPERATIC OBAMA MAMA

Who can be V.P.?

SATRAP SUCCUBUS (Boo!)

A succubus (plural succubi) is a demon who takes the form of a beautiful woman to seduce men, especially monks, in dreams to have sexual intercourse, according to the medieval European legend. Their male counterpart is the incubus. They draw energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death of the victim.

One such story relates to a man in the town of Coblenz, who has been bewitched by a succubus, with whom he is forced to repeatedly fornicate, whilst in the presence of his wife. The story goes on to say that "after an incredible number of such bouts, the poor man at last sinks to the floor utterly exhausted."

From mythology and fantasy, Lilith and the Lilin (Jewish) and Lilitu (Sumerian) are in redactive Christian fables (folktales not part of official Christian theology), considered succubi.

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, or "Witches' Hammer", written by Heinrich Kramer (Insitoris) in 1486, Succubi would collect semen from the men they slept with, which incubi would then use to impregnate women, thus explaining how demons could apparently sire children in spite of the traditional belief that demons were incapable of reproduction through generative or gestative means. Children so begotten were supposed to be those that were born deformed, or more susceptible to supernatural influences.

In Sri Lanka and other Buddhist cultures the Succubus is named as "Mohini" , where she would wait on the road with a white dress with a baby and ask for men's help.

Etymology
The word is derived from the Latin preposition sub (under), and cubo, which is Latin for "I lie". The word succubo translates as "I lie below".

(A Poetic Justice Photomontage)

Satrap (Persian: ساتراپ) was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Median and Persian empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires.

Satrap is derived from the Old Persian xšaθrapāvā ("protector of the province"), from xšaθra ("realm" or "province") and pāvā ("protector"). In Biblical Hebrew, the word is spelled אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפָּן ahashdarpān (only in the plural אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִים ahashdarpenim). In Greek, the word was rendered as σατράπης, satrápēs, and was romanized as satrapes, from the Old Persian xšaθrapā(van)). In modern Persian this would have naturally evolved to شهربان (shahrban). "Sharban", translated from modern Persian, literally means "town keeper";(ﺷﻬﺮ "shar", meaning "town", ﺑﺍﻦ "ban" meaning "keeper"). There is a link, via Sanskrit, to the warrior class of India, the kshatriya.

The word satrap is also often used in modern literature to refer to world leaders or governors who are heavily influenced by larger world superpowers or hegemonies and act as their surrogates.

The Claret Dress

The shifting woman,
posh high heeled shoes,
a lavish claret dress,
femme chameleon
speaking to the peasants
who gaze upon her visage
only wanting to hear truth
and witness the light of liberty.
She speaks in her common voice,
her maternal voice,
trying to conjure their hope.

The shifting woman winks,
Alters her sweetened words,
Moves and pivots
her familiar stance.
“Tell me I am beautiful”
she pleads. The peasants
have turned away.
“Look upon me as you did!”
she shrieks to the fading horde
as if her voice were an instrument
of divine certainty.

ANOTHER AMERCIAN GOTHIC

(A Poetic Justice Photomontage)

'American Gothic': A Man, a Woman and a Pitchfork
By JEANINE BASINGER
Published: July 10, 2005

When Steven Biel followed Route 16 (the ''American Gothic Parkway'') out of Eldon, Iowa, onto American Gothic Street to visit the source of his subject -- Grant Wood's painting -- it ''didn't occur'' to him at first to look at the house ''anywhere but straight on.'' Experiencing the power of the three-dimensional, however, made him suddenly realize ''there is a backside to the house.'' He ran around behind for a naughty peek and made the anticlimactic cultural discovery of a clothesline, a screened porch, some patio furniture and an air-conditioning compressor. Biel later understood he had discovered more than the clothesline. He had found the inspiration to obtain a full perspective on how Wood's ''American Gothic'' evolved from iconoclasm to icon to parody. Biel documents the process and speculates about how it happened, ultimately claiming that ''American Gothic'' ranks in importance as a recognizable national emblem alongside the flag, the eagle and the Statue of Liberty. He writes with wit and broad knowledge; reading his extended essay is like hearing a good friend hold forth in pleasant conversation on a lazy summer afternoon.

''American Gothic'' was born in August 1930, as Biel recounts, when Wood, a native Iowan, spotted the house he would make famous and decided to use it in a pencil sketch for a painting he planned to enter in the Art Institute of Chicago's 43rd annual exhibition. The small structure was a perfect example of Midwestern steamboat Gothic architecture, and Wood thought it would be a suitable background for a portrait of two people, a woman and a man holding a rake. He recruited his sister to be the woman and the local dentist to play the man. (He painted them separately. They never posed side by side.) He sent to Chicago for the man's overalls and woman's apron, decided a pitchfork would look better than a rake, added his mother's cameo to the woman's outfit and finished his painting.

After he sent it to Chicago, history was almost not made. Narrowly escaping preliminary elimination, Wood's painting was eventually awarded third prize and $300. At that point, ''American Gothic,'' with its bronze medal, could logically have been expected to disappear. Instead it began the journey Biel chronicles, from potential cliché to national symbol. (More...)

Reminiscing About the Future

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Watching McCain/Palin rallies it seems as if Republican Party jihadists are praying for a bullet, a bimbo or a bomb. They know only a catastrophic event will prevent Senator Obama from becoming president while the Republican Party is poised for disintegration from coast to coast. In my home state of New York, Democrats finally outnumber Republicans in Nassau and Suffolk Counties! Nassau County was home to the vaunted political machine of Al D'Amato and bastion of GOP money and patronage. No more and Democrats are poised to capture the New York State Senate for the first time since 1965 as a result. I realize most regard New York as the bluest of states but that's a big deal and symptomatic of the political terrain nationwide.

Memo to Republicans: Obama's ascendancy does not mean the "end of days." However, the combination of George W. Bush's two mismanaged military occupations, crony capitalism and the resulting economic calamity mean even Jesus Christ will not save the GOP's rotting corpse. Republican salvation will only come from repentance of their failed corporate theocratic ideology and cultural contempt for intelligent secular people.

Republicans eminently deserve the pasting they're about to receive. More importantly, Republicans have thoroughly demonstrated how incapable they are of competent governance; especially during times of crisis. For the moment, America and the world can't afford to have the GOP anywhere close to the reigns of power beyond a few state and municipal governments. Republicans also need this beating as an impetus to reform themselves.

Ultimately, I hope judicious Republicans rise above the mob that their party has pandered to. Democrats do not have a monopoly on wisdom and will not be above hubris with one party domination. Progressive Netroots activists like myself will do our best to keep Democrats honest but what's really needed is the competition of strong adversarial parties (note I didn't write party singular) engaged in the intellectual marketplace of ideas.

The years ahead will be challenging and tumultuous. Americans will be tasked with creating a new economic social/paradigm on the fly that works in the 21st century while too many of us are struggling to survive and avoid destitution. Our country will be further challenged because we can no longer effectively sustain an empire and that will require a major adjustment as the world is experiencing both shortages of oil and water. Indeed, a large dose of humility will be needed after the hyperpower post Cold War presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Culturally, we Americans have never done well with humility so that too represents a challenge.

Senator Obama is far from perfect but he appears to have the right stuff for the challenges ahead. Initially, however, should Obama become president Democrats will largely be debating with themselves as the GOP is poised for irrelevancy after November 4th. In the short term that is necessary and good. In the long run that will be a recipe for disaster. Even Franklin Roosevelt had Republicans he could reach out to during World War Two such as Indiana Senator Arthur Vandenberg. As of now though virtually the entire Republican Party establishment is discredited.

It takes more than one party to govern a country especially during times as challenging as these. Hopefully, a landslide down the ticket on November 4th will facilitate the emergence of a new generation of Republicans who are part of the "reality based community" and ready to vigorously compete in the marketplace of ideas. Otherwise we'll all go down together.

Don't 'moose' a 'minute' of it!

Sarah Palin & Heaven

The topic below was originally posted yesterday in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Political debates are an excersise of vapid talking points, quips and body language. Substance is irrelevant. Candidates are programmed to hold the attention span of people that watch American Idol and read tabloids while sitting on the toilet. Yet even these over scripted, dumbed down, brain massaged events have revealing moments.

Yesterday, like most political bloggers, I posted my analysis of the Biden-Palin debate and referenced Palin's most memorable sound-bite:

"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right?"

I focused on Palin's rhetorical attempt to distract from McCain's culpability as an enabler of George W. Bush's pathetic record. The "say it ain't so Joe" line was obviously scripted and delivered well enough. I neglected however to focus on Palin's most revealing sentence of the evening:

"Her reward is in heaven, right?"

I can't prove it but I doubt that line was scripted. Watching it again as well as reading the transcript, Palin's heaven line feels quite spontaneous. Hence, I am compelled to ask, does Palin truly believe that a teacher's sole reward will be in heaven? Why isn't teaching itself a reward? Perhaps if God decreed that a teacher's reward awaits in heaven, one can believe a union advocating for better pay and benefits for teachers is superfluous. As long as teachers are rewarded in heaven, why should it matter if they keep up with the cost of living?

In that one sentence, Palin illustrated a medieval pre-Enlightenment mindset that regulates the Republican Party's base. In previous campaigns, Republican corporatists humored this mindset and earned the support of religious zealots by nominating conservative judges, delivering "values" oriented rhetoric and passing homophobic legislation. Even as the religious zealots were humored, the GOP's corporatists and traditional conservative nationalists retained the real power in their white rich man's party. As we've seen the previous eight years however, these people are no longer just being humored. They have joined the Republican Party's ruling class.

How many of these neocons share the Palin mindset and are pushing for war in Iran to facilitate the Apocalypse, bring about Judgment Day and establish the Kingdom of God? John McCain in my opinion does not share this mindset. Rather, McCain is merely a garden variety crazy war monger with an impetuous temperament. In Sarah Palin he selected a running mate that shares the George W. Bush delusion of religious zealotry. A religious zealotry that resembles the crazy Jihadists who believe seventy-two virgins await them in heaven if they successfully execute suicide terrorist missions.

Republican Jihadists like Palin believe that a holy war against Muslims is a means of carrying out God's plan. Republican nationalists like McCain believe in a reckless concept of American exceptionalism as justification for an American empire and he's more than willing to shed blood for it. Simply put, the McCain/Palin ticket represents a coalition of nationalist nuts and religious nuts.

In my phone-banking activities the economy is the dominant issue on voters minds. But the presidency is more that simply a catalog of public policy positions like the economy. Otherwise we could just program liberal, conservative, libertarian, moderate, nationalist and green androids and let the voters decide which political philosophy they wanted.

The office of President however is a stewardship and the decision making stems from the core value system, life experience, intellectual acumen and temperament of the occupant. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are far from perfect. But they're both intelligent, with their hearts in the right place and neither is crazy.

Governor Palin's, "Her reward is in heaven" line has further motivated me to work for the Obama/Biden ticket. We have enough crazy leaders in this world. And eight years of crazy people in the executive branch is enough.

A New Decider's in Town

It's About John McCain.
It's All About John McCain.
It's Only About John McCain. by Robert J. Elisberg

DAY 11. The "My Very First Decision as Nominee" Tour continues

Just over one week has now officially passed since John McCain gave lie to his insistence that he always Puts America First, and would never ever do anything just to win an election. That he would rather lose.

America now has the chance to grant his wish.

But just to be clear -- admire her wide-eyed claim that "victory is near" in Iraq or cringe for America's safety, John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin to be a heartbeat from becoming commander-in-chief is NOT about Sarah Palin, no matter how gut-wrenchingly unqualified she is to be vice president. Indeed, being honest, her actual resume suggests she's unqualified even to be governor. However, in California we selected the Terminator, so it's not like I can call out others.

The good news is that she does appear qualified to be mayor of a hamlet with 5,500 people (at the time). Of course, so are most of the other 5,499 residents. I say this as someone from a village of 8,762.

No, the issue of John McCain's choice to be vice president is about John McCain.



(Read the full article...it's worth your while.)

They Asked Me to Wait...

(The following is an excerpt from the blog Talk to Action and written by Bruce Wilson...)

If Sarah Palin may hold apocalyptic end-time beliefs or believes that she has a divine mandate to initiate an end-time conflict, American voters have the right to know about the doctrines taught in Palin's Alaska churches. These churches are closely associated with a movement, called the Third Wave or New Apostolic Reformation, which holds views that are highly controversial, particularly among other conservative Christians who are most aware of this fast growing international phenomenon. The activities of the movement have been condemned as heresy by the General Council of the Assemblies of God, to which two of Palin's churches currently belong. Accusations even stronger than `heresy', decrying the "Third Wave" religious movement, have been launched from Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christian groups.

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Our focus on Palin's churches does not "bash religion" and has been praised by conservative Christians for its academic rigor. We are examining the religious views promoted at Palin's churches because the Third Wave / New Apostolic Reformation movement rejects pluralism and its followers believe they have been anointed by God to lead a unified superchurch into the final age - both of which have public policy implications.

Sarah Palin has every right to hold whatever religious views she chooses but, by the same token, the American people have every right to know what Palin's religious beliefs are - especially to the extent that they may include the view that all other religious and philosophical views but her own are under the influence of demonic powers and that believing Christians must conquer the Earth and cleanse it of evil in this final generation.

Palin's Churches and the Holy Laughter anointing

LAUGHTER'S GRIP

They asked me to wait. To wait for God to come laughing,
Wait on His voice to destroy the golden temples of man,
Hold my tongue until His powerful breath was upon me,
And from His loving casualties I’d at last know the Savior.

They asked me to wait. To wait for God to come laughing,
Wait for His followers to die away their persuasive babble
And the murder of Islam to breach the walls of the earth
As the many damned souls drowned under holy laughter.

“O! The Lord God is looming! On his way with God’s wrath!
We are to take up swords and send evil howling back
to die their well deserved and slow death!
Their faces popped and spattered these words as they fell back,
Caught in His fiery presence, twisting their tongues into drivel
And thrashing their minds in the glory of an Eden unlike any other.

And then the snake planted his venom
Through the laughter of their gyrating madness.
Tears emptied their pockets, spirits came crashing,
And the anointed rapture of their making grew tired,
Weary of such euphoric trotting and wheezing
And falling over one another in ecstasy.

I did not wait.

© 2008 mrp/tpm

A tip of the hat to Talk to Action for their post on Sarah Palin's church

A fine read- Spiritual Warfare and the Third Wave Movement. A Critique.

Side note that might or might not be relative...
The Third Wave was an experimental demonstration of Nazism movement undertaken by history teacher Ron Jones with sophomore high school students attending his Contemporary History class as part of a study of Nazi Germany. The experiment took place at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California, during first week of April 1967. Jones, unable to explain to his students why the German citizens allowed the Nazi Party to exterminate millions of Jews and other so-called "undesirables", decided to show them instead. Jones started a movement called "The Third Wave" and convinced his students that the movement is to eliminate democracy. The fact that democracy emphasizes individuality was considered as a drawback of democracy, and Jones emphasized this main point of the movement in its motto: "Strength through discipline, strength through community, strength through action, strength through pride".

The experiment was not well documented. Of contemporary sources, the experiment is only mentioned in Cubberley High School student newspaper "The Cubberley Catamount". It is only briefly mentioned in two issues, and one more issue of the paper has articles about this experiment, but without much detail. The most detailed account of the experiment is an essay written by Jones himself some six years afterward. Several other articles about the experiment exist, but all of them were written after a considerable amount of time had passed.

Church of England apologizes to Darwin for rejecting evolution. Will Sarah Palin's church follow suit? Yeah right!

The Church of England will concede in a statement that it was over-defensive and over-emotional in dismissing Darwin's ideas. It will call "anti-evolutionary fervour" an "indictment" on the Church".

The bold move is certain to dismay sections of the Church that believe in creationism and regard Darwin's views as directly opposed to traditional Christian teaching.

The apology, which has been written by the Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, the Church's director of mission and public affairs, says that Christians, in their response to Darwin's theory of natural selection, repeated the mistakes they made in doubting Galileo's astronomy in the 17th century.

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"The statement will read: Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practise the old virtues of 'faith seeking understanding' and hope that makes some amends."

Opposition to evolutionary theories is still "a litmus test of faithfulness" for some Christian movements, the Church will admit. It will say that such attitudes owe much to a fear of perceived threats to Christianity.

Sadly many in the Christian church have consistently attempted to stall or completely stop scientific progress multiple times in our history, especially when it challenges their belief system.
The church also attempted to deny the significance of psychology and challenged the findings of Sigmund Freud. They also attacked the work of Galileo, as well as Copernicus, and of course Charles Darwin , whose scientific findings clearly angered and frightened the church which resulted in a number of responses ranging from argument, to character assassination, to the actual prosecution of Galileo Galilei.

But in these modern times continuing to deny the enlightenment that science brings while promoting the teaching of superstition in the place of real education should be labeled child abuse in my opinion. And those who insist on forestalling the intellectual growth of our young people should be kept at a distance so that their negative impact can be minimized.

And that is just what Sarah Palin and her church are promoting. The watering down of a science that may present a challenge to their belief system. And the proof of that is in quotes such as this: "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information....Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject -- creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides." Sarah Palin October 2006.

Of course the problem with this concept of "fairness" is that only ONE of these can be considered science. Evolution has been tested, and challenged, and tested again for two hundred years and has stood up to evaluation by the greatest scientific minds in history.

Creationism requires nothing more then faith. There is NO scientific data that favors it over evolution, and therefore it deserves no place in any of the classrooms that our children attend. And NOBODY who has any doubts about that should be allowed to shape policy in this great nation, for if they do our nation may not remain "great" for very much longer.

Update: Apparently not EVERYBODY in England got the memo.

Palin's Laughter

LAUGHTER'S GRIP

HILLARY AND SARAH an SNL skit worth the view

Watch the video +/-