The U.S. Constitution on the ropes

There is certainly a lot of talk about the American Constitution these days. Obama, of course, has throw it out the window, according to the Tea Party. The illegal aliens are abusing it according to conservative Republicans. And California’s Proposition 8 tramples it, according to the district  judge who just overruled this democratically established law. Of course, these same constitutional villians have the temerity to appeal to this very Constitution for their side’s views, as well. The rightwing has the tendency to argue that because of our “representative” form of  government that governance should match the weekly Gallup pole rather than the results of the last election. If the majority of the country, according to polling  data, oppose Obamacare, then no Obamacare. It is so obvious! The Religious Right agree (depending on the issue) but add that this is a “Christian nation” and therefore biblical standards are implied in our founding documents. There’s a lot of wishful thinking in this argument, to be sure. So, they argue, if homosexuality is an sin according to the Good Book, then no marriage for gays. Black and white. Right? Of course, I don’t hear a lot of support for stoning heterosexuals who commit adultery, a much more clear biblical mandate. The Religious Left have their “constitutional” arguments as well. While they are very happy to marry two men in a Christian ceremony, this is not the issue, they insist. The issue is civil marriage, they point out. Separation of church and state and all that. Why, it’s the very governing principle that our Protestant founders hard-wired into the Constitution. Shouldn’t gays and lesbians have the same right to the pursuit of happiness as the straight community? And isn’t it the role of government to protect the liberties of the minorities against the prejudices of the majority? It’s stage two of the civils rights movement! It is all so self-evident––to quote one of these devout founding fathers. So this constitution of ours must be a pretty broad document for it to be interpreted in so differently, huh? And that’s  the thing about our beloved constitution that some of us love. And the rest of us, cannot stand.

Dumb works every time

Surveys show that most people are dead set against health care reform until it is broken down for them. Ignorance, once again, is the greatest tool of the G.O.P. This from Newsweek:

In the latest NEWSWEEK Poll, the majority of Americans are opposed to President Obama’s health-care reform plan—until they learn the details…Seventy-six percent thought health insurers should be required to cover anyone who applies, including those with preexisting conditions; and 75 percent agreed with requiring most businesses to offer health insurance to their employees, with incentives for small-business owners to do so.

A Pro-life Public Option? Who’d have thunk it?

The Daily Beast outlines how pro-life Democrats and a fairly moderate President Obama have been promising a Health Care Reform that would avoid using public money to fund abortions all along. So why are pro-choice Democrats so shocked? Maybe they were listening to the distortions of Glenn Beck and the Tea Party crowd.

In a July interview with Katie Couric and on the floor of Congress in September, President Obama promised there would be no public financing of abortion in health reform, meaning the procedure would not be available to women who opt in to any potential new public insurance plan. That pushed the goalposts closer to the pro-life position.

Others are pointing at the pro-choice groups themselves. Jane Hamsher, who runs the Netroots blog Firedoglake, says the organizations have gotten too cozy with the Democratic Party establishment, which often seeks to avoid public discussion of abortion. In the health-reform fight, NARAL and Planned Parenthood were less effective in advocating for their agenda than were proponents of the public insurance option, Hamsher said. “We went out and got commitments from members of the House to vote against any bill that doesn’t have a public option,” Hamsher told The Daily Beast. “They weren’t doing the same thing.”

Richards, of Planned Parenthood, said she wasn’t aware of any efforts, before Saturday’s vote, to extract promises from legislators to vote against a health bill that restricts abortion access. “Frankly, this issue came out Friday night,” she said. Yet Stupak has been on the warpath since July, when he released a letter signed by 19 Democrats demanding a ban on abortion coverage in the exchanges.

“You lie!”

Republican congressman Joe Wilson said a mouthful. And as somebody who routinely says things I regret, I appreciate that he manned up and apologized. But, then again, he didn’t. He said he was sorry for blurting out his statement. However, he stands by the statement’s utter accuracy. It’s a bit like saying “I’m sorry I called your mother ugly, but, oh course, she is.” Not a world-class apology. But, hey, after a summer of town hall meetings that would make one admire a Klan rally for its sense of dignity and  decorum, what do you expect? And what is the proper decorum for faux state-of-the union-like addresses? Does Obama call these meetings because our nation totters on the brink of destruction? Or is it just a great way to make the Republicans look like a bunch of dicks as they sit down on every applause line? The real question is, since when does anybody have to point out when a politician is lying? After all, most of us can usually tell. Their lips are moving.

Casting out Demons

Liberty University is doing the Lord’s work––denying the existence of the Democratic Party. After all, clean-cut kids have no business getting caught up in all that “hope” nonsense. The next thing you know, they’ll want frisbees and keggers.

All haircut and no cattle

Seriously. Will somebody explain John Edwards to me? Still not getting it. This from Truthdig:

Now we learn that Edwards is under investigation for possibly funneling campaign funds to the mistress, and he has released a perfectly parsed statement that says “no funds from my campaign” were used improperly. That pointedly leaves out money that could flow from the labyrinth of his other political organizations. I am sure federal prosecutors can sort all this out.

Still we should not be so concerned with Edwards as another self-absorbed politician who engages in self-destructive behavior. I worry more that Edwards became a two-time presidential contender and the 2004 vice presidential nominee based on little but his own preening.

This Child Left Behind

Vouchers are working for poor black families in Washington DC. It’s ashame that the black family who lives in the White House doesn’t support this program. Mr. President, explain to these families why “yes we can” has turned into “no you can’t.”

Yes, he can

Okay, Arlen Specter was never one of those Republicans. He always looked like a politician who was accidentally mislabled at the factory. But his switching of parties sort of makes the argument that the the GOP is a big tent party lose even more of its credibility. Of course, every time a Republican opens his mouth these days it seems like he/she is channeling Glenn Beck. So, I suppose the only reason the Republicans would even need a big tent is if Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich needed to do a costume change at the same time.

CIA: Italian-style

Thumbs up from The National Review. Michael Ledeen writes:

In the very early days of the Bush administration, Karl Rove asked a Washington policy wonk what personnel changes he’d recommend to newly arrived George W. The wonk said “there is one matter of life and death: he must replace Tenet at CIA and put in one of his own people, someone he absolutely trusts.” Rove said “well, good luck with that one.” Obama knows better, and he’s putting Leon Panetta in Langley.

I always liked Panetta. He served in the Army and is openly proud of it. He seems to be a good lawyer (oxymoronic though it may seem). He’s a good manager. And he’s going to watch Obama’s back at a place that’s full of stilettos and a track record for attempted presidential assassination second to none. But Italians know all about political assassination; you may remember Julius Caesar. Or Aldo Moro. The self-proclaimed cognoscenti will deride his lack of “spycraft,” and he’s never worked in the intel bureaucracy or, for that matter, in foreign policy or national security. But he’s been chief of staff, which involved all that stuff.

I think it’s a smart move.

The Rapture- Ready Ticket

I was reading some Jack Chick end times tracts recently, and they got me thinking. You know how all the major airlines make sure that there are never two born-again Christians in the cockpit? You know, in case of rapture? So tell me, how come the GOP ticket have two Bible-believing, born agains on the same ticket? That’s just reckless!  And maybe feckless. Who will be left behind to be President when the rapture happens? Seriously! That is why every patriotic evangelical Christian (and there are quite a few) should vote for Obama-Biden. It is the only rapture-ready ticket. Obama has a personal relationship with Jesus and Joe Biden is a devout Catholic. So as Jack Chick will gladly tell you, Joe Biden won’t be making the trip.

It’s all in the eyes

The Bible is full of good advice on how to measure character. For instance, the writer of Proverbs gives us a heads up on how to measure leadership: “He who winks the eye causes trouble, And a babbling fool will be ruined.” (Proverbs 10:10). CNN measured the reactions of the undecided to last Thursday’s Vice Presidential debate. You saw it. Little squiggly lines going up and down. Interestingly, Sarah Palin’s persistent winking was a turn off to undecided women. Undecided men sort of liked it; they thought Sarah was coming on to them. But there was a moment that took the undecided voters off the charts. It was the brief moment when Joe Biden’s eyes welled up with tears and he choked back a sob. The little squiggly lines went wild. Thursday night we saw two things in Senator Biden’s eyes: steely resolve and tender compassion. These are two qualities the book of Proverbs rate pretty high.

Send this woman roses

Sarah Palin has been a gift from above. Her sassy ineptitude, her filibustering facility with the English language and her moose-in-the-headlights refusal to blink has drawn fire away from Joe Biden. Biden, a non-stop gaffe machine, has come off as Winston Churchill by comparison. And I’m sure he will trounce her in the debate. So Democrats, send this pitbull-hockey-mom-baracuda a bouquet ( and a subscription to the Washington Post). Then Republicans, yank her from the ticket. Put Romney in. It is the sort of October surprise that could pull it out for McCain. It’s easy: Romney’s a billionaire captain of industry with a “secret plan for the economy” (it needs work, but I’m sure Rove can finese what you call it). And, best of all, he is the former Governor on a state that shares an ocean with Spain.

Coming to the table

They have worked out a bipartisan deal.  My guess? At least one of these jokers is going to get crucified.

Advice from the West Wing

Maureen Dowd recently arranged a sit down between candidate Obama and America’s smartest former Democratic President –– West Wing’s Josiah Bartlet. God, I love that fictional man!:

OBAMA The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who was angry?

BARTLET Well … let me think. …We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family’s less safe than it was eight years ago, we’ve lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know … I’m a little angry.

OBAMA What would you do?

BARTLET  GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say ”thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said ”Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word ”patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!