GOP Crisis: Illinois GOP isn't conservative enough for Grover Norquist

A group of conservative stalwarts has made it a top priority to "reform" the state Republican Party..The Illinois Center Right Coalition is leading the effort with the help of prominent Washington insider Grover Norquist...[Norquist] said the party has traditionally shunned conservative values.
"One of the reasons why Illinois has been weakening for Republicans is that the Republican Party there is still pre-Reagan," Norquist said. "It's not an anti-tax party, it's not a small government party. It's a we-were-born-north-of-the-Mason-Dixon-line-so-we're-Republicans party. It is a party without ideological foundation from the establishment's perspective. It never had the Goldwater revolution that other states had."

Their solution is simple: dump state party chairman Judy Baar Topinka (a moderate Republican with socially liberal views)
and Republican National Committeeman Bob Kjellander (he was in charge of five Midwest states in 2000, all of which Bush lost). Bob Kjellander prefers to call his critics "rapid extremists" rather than conservatives.
Kjellander said, "We've got this small band of naysayers who would just rather tear down than work positively. But I'm not even worried about that because they're such a small incestuous group."

This Norquist-style extremism will wind up severely damaging the GOP nationwide... especially in the North.

"They seem to have established this litmus test of what it means to be Republican, and if you don't adhere to that test, they don't make room for you," Illinois Republican Party spokesman Jason Gerwig said of the conservative critics. "If that's how they feel, that's more at their end than our end. We want Republicans to win at the White House and the courthouse. We want everyone to be involved."

To the disenfranchised Republicans...may I suggest Howard Dean as a great alternative? You are more than welcome at the table.

William Buckley the hopeless, the jaded

Buckley rips away at Howard Dean in his own unique fashion:

"...To share time in national forums with the thaumaturgist from Vermont, who with a bright and engaging smile waves his hand eastward and proclaims an end to the problem there by simply shipping our boys home, does two things to the other contenders. They want to say: Stop! stop! stop! The world doesn’t work that way! There are terrible, ridiculous complications! etc. etc...."

Frankly, we could use a bit of a thaumaturgist. A majority of this country believes they've been used and manipulated by the Bush administration. Knowing you've been used and manipulated does not generate a trustful, secure, or hopeful feeling. A hell of a lot of people are not satisfied with the level of participation offered by Bush and/or the Washington business-as-usual. Our voices are not being heard..our wishes are not being adequately translated through our representatives. A lot of people realize that it is, in part, due to an oppressive GOP majority. I am not talking about this mythical far-left Bush-hating 20% of the electorate the mainstream media is tossing around ad nauseum...I wonder where this myth began? Who's tossing out these talking points? Our journalists, it seems, have become either incredibly reliant/lazy...or have lost proper perspective. Pehaps it's a combination of both.

William Buckley's been around a long time. I suspect he's a jaded old conservative. At least he doesn't hammer the tired "angry Dean" schtick. To the contrary, Buckley accuses Dean supporters of being fantasy-struck starry-eyed optimists. Hell, Bill Buckley. I'll take hope over all the other dreadfully minority-ignoring (stick-it-in-your-face/screw you) politics that have been thrown at us by the Bush administration any day.
Why on earth do you think Dean is on TOP?

Notice William Buckley portrays Howard Dean as smiling/bright....Dean surely doesn't sound like an angry fellow to me...how about you?

I think Buckley, like many other pundits, journalists, and even our Washington representatives need to start thinking with the mind of the upcoming generation rather than mocking them for entering the political process.
It seems that, once the younger citizens get on a roll with democratic spirit, they became a bit of an enemy. The jaded old politicos become fearful that things might change. Change is overdue. I, for one, am damn proud of the younger generation interested and empowered by Howard Dean. Even if Dean never secures the nomination (which I believe he will), look at the good he's done for our democratic future.

Calling Howard Dean's ideas "baby-talk political solutions" in light of the comparisons that could be made to any of the Presidential candidates' ideas (including Bush) is nothing more than a blatant attack on one for the benefit of the others.

"...Howard Dean’s exhilarating nostrums have got the headier members of the young Democratic population absolutely carried away with enthusiasm. Is there any sound on earth more pleasing than END WAR? Or, ELIMINATE POVERTY? And the First Amendment guarantees free speech even if it is hypnotic..."

Dear heavens...had our founding fathers felt as bored and hopeless as Bill Buckley, we'd still be Limeys.
We see through you, oh jaded, fearful and tired old Bill.
We even feel a bit sorry for you.

The ABCs of the Iowa Debate




A- Add new people to the voting ranks......Howard Dean

B- Better trade policy needed.......John Kerry

C- Commercial airplanes being escorted by fighter jets..are we safer; really?......Howard Dean

D- Dems-I told you NAFTA was a bad idea all along!......Dennis Kucinich

E- Engagement: Sustained engagement in leadership is an element missing with Bush. Inconsistent prescence
is a Bush hallmark......John Edwards

F- Fear is power......Carol Mosely Braun

G- Get out of Iraq......Dennis Kucinich

H- Hope-not anger......Howard Dean

I- I'll never privatize Social Security......John Kerry

J- Just CAN'T cut and run (from Iraq). We have responsibility......Carol Mosely Braun

K- Kerry on Bush administration and 'No Child Left Behind': "They're faking it."......John Kerry

L- Labor: Rights of workers around the world need to be proptected for NAFTA/WTO to work in the American farmer's
......best interests.......Howard Dean

M- Misadventure in Iraq......Carol Mosely Braun

N- Negative ads: You must defend yourself. Stand up to attackers like
Tom DeLay.......John Kerry

O- Overthrow/Capture of Saddam Hussein makes the world safer...... Joe Lieberman

P- Power Belongs to the People.......Howard Dean

Q- Question from Edwards to Kerry: Are you saying you're the only one who has a health plan?
.......Kerry replies: Time magazine called my plan a 'big new idea'. I'll have 97% of Americans covered in 3 years.

R- Roadmaps-Show the Arab world and terrorists we mean business......Joe Lieberman

S- Supplanting Iraq for the War on Terror......John Kerry

T- Taking action in Iraq was the best decision to keep the American people safe......Dick Gephardt

U- Unbelievably intrusive mandate: Bush's Leave No Child Behind ......Howard Dean

V- Very important: Asking middle class-did your kids' tuition go up with Bush? Health care costs go up?
We need to shift tax priorities. Most of middle class worse off with Bush. ......Howard Dean

W- Waste/Military Spending......Dennis Kucinich

X- Xtra Xtra/Hear all about this: I've balanced a budget, provided health insurance for citizens in my state, delivered healthcare. ......Howard Dean

Y- Yes to trade--no to protectionist positions ......Joe Lieberman

Z- Zo zayeth Braun: Bush 41 said "No new taxes!"; Bush 43 said "No new jobs!" ......Carol Mosely Braun

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BONUS TOP SEVEN:



#1- Most desperate show of hyperbole:
Joe Lieberman's dramatics on the Howard Dean sealed-records. It was as if to say: Please unseal the records so I can find fodder to attack you some more...please oh please..whine..why won't you do it?

#2- Saddest/most worthless attack between 2 people:
Dick Gephardt's attack on John Edwards over trade. Gephardt made a mistake on Edwards' record (Edwards was not in the Senate when NAFTA was decided -- and he pointed out he had campaigned against it). Edwards nearly asked for an outright apology...which he never came close to getting from Gep.
Edwards was a complete gentleman throughout the debate. I was impressed by his performance today.

#3- Most TIRED (and tried) attack:
Dick Gephardt's attack on Dean for 90s-era medicare.
"If I hear Dick Gephardt attack Howard Dean on Medicare one more useless time, I think I'll puke."
-Iddybud October 10, 2003

#4- Best soundbites:
Carol Mosely Braun's got it goin' on in that department..hands down.

#5- Worst Comparison by any stretch of the imagination:
Joe Lieberman comparing TinPot Saddam Hussein to BadBoy Joseph Stalin.
Stalin killed 20 million of his own people, historians have concluded.

#6- Best Self-Defense
This must go to Howard Dean, who had to defend himself all day long.
I especially appreciated his composure and reply that he was standing for the rule of law when Kerry attacked him for
the Osama Bin Laden comments last week. I'm not sure how I would have reacted hearing Kerry twist my words (such as the horrific and perverted version of Dean's statements to Diane Rehm/NPR on December 1st about the Saudi Arabian-9-11 mystery.)
Governor Dean showed he was not an angry defender..he quietly and firmly stood up for himself. Kerry looked like the attacking oaf again. I wonder when he'll learn?

#7- HOWARD DEAN TALKING ABOUT THE 7TH YEAR OF HIS ADMINISTRATION! :)

~~
Adam Nagourney's NY Times article is here

Pakistan is a Powderkeg

I have a prediction for 2004/2005 based upon reasonable speculation. I think we're going to see an Islamic-fundamentalist political uprising in Pakistan. Given the fact that President Musharraf has narrowly escaped assasination twice in the past month, I think we should be very concerned about the future of keeping/counting on Pakistan as a trusted ally in the war on terror. When you consider the fact that Pakistan already has nuclear-weapons capability and has shown a willing propensity for selling secrets and materials to places such as Libya and North Korea, we can't continue to look away.

Kashmir may prove to be a more dangerous and volatile proving-ground for hate-based religious fundamentalism than the Gaza strip. Muslim and Hindu peoples of Kashmir had lived in relative harmony and friendliness since the 13th century when Islam first became the majority religion in Kashmir. The Sufi-Islamic way of life that ordinary Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus), leading to a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines. Kashmiri Pandits were driven from their homeland after a campaign of intimidation and harassment was launched against them by the military-wing of the Islamic terror-employing secessionists.

It may serve concerned people of the world well to read the history of the Kashmir region.

Ignominous defeat suffered by Pakistan in the war of 1971 and loss of East Pakistan without gaining Kashmir has been rankling in the minds of people and rulers of Pakistan ever since. Cadets of Pakistan's military academy at Kakul are known to swear an oath that they will avenge the defeat of 1971. That explains why the military budget has been continously rising even though Pakistan has been cut to half in size and population. It has also been pursuing its nuclear program in a determined way and is reported to be in possession of a few atom bombs and nuclear war-heads.

While it was secretly hoped that Pakistan would implode and partition (a destiny for which it seemed to be headed before the U.S. took them on as allies in the war on terror), India can no longer hope for such an easy solution to the Kashmir question. The war on terror has warped the "settled" facts of history and reliance upon old predictions. (We know there are no settled facts of history).
It helps to remember that Pakistan is not a nation-state. It is an unnatural and unhistorical country with its borders drawn in the name of religion.
Pakistan (through Musharraf) has gained political clout and financial support for supporting the U.S. after 9-11.
Yet, look at how the 9-11/U.S. support has affected the people of Pakistan.
Let's face it, Musharraf's cooperation has made him extremely unpopular in Pakistan with those who harbor anti-American foreign policy resentment. (And there's a lot of it, whether or not we choose to overlook it in favor of support for the war on terror).
There has been tremendous pressure and threat (from U.S.) to anti-Islamic fundamentalists in neighboring countries Iran and Afghanistan. You can safely bet Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan are feeling the threat...and
are empowered to politically survive because of it.
The Kashmir situation increases the threat to Islamic fundamentalists...Hindu reactionaries use sloganeering and war mania against Pakistan to seek popularity. As a reaction to Hindu fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalism gains popularity in Pakistan.

In the near future, you will see an upsurge in Islamic fundamentalists struggling for post 9-11 power. Will the fundamentalists take the power in Pakistan? Recent elections have indicated that they well could do so. Before 9-11, I think we could have safely said no because of the balance of forces in the Pakistani state. However, after 9-11, we see assasination attempts on the President and a constant growing of popularity (with the people) of fundamentalist political rule. Musharraf has recently agreed to cease control of the military (effective December, 2004) to ward off a coup by a fundamentalist section of the army, which was surely on its way to happening.

If Musharraf doesn't take of the militray outfit soon, all hell may break loose.

In most recent news, [Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples party] Benazir Bhutto said that the mathematics of the recent vote of confidence in Pakistan proved once and for all that General Musharraf did not have legal votes for a Presidential confidence vote and that he was illegally and unconstitutionally holding the office of the Presidency. (Sounds like America 2000 albeit the differences in process ;)

One example of prior news of Pakistan on Iddybud blog

Unlike the White House Coward, Tony Blair Moves Freely About Iraq
..in Az Zubayr

... in the light of day, no less. No turkeys. No big stories about going in like a cool brave secret agent under cover of darkness.



Az Zubayr was a place of sorrows

Az Zubayr is a place of need

Wow--Britney Spears Got Married!!!


..and I voted for TTLB New Blog Showcase! Juggernaut of Love: The Red Apprentice (An Altruist Ideal)

Barney's First Dog Blog: My Great White Powder Adventure! (by Barney)

Iddybud named a "blogger's blog" by Ecosystem-gazer--
See Chris Lydon's The Blogging of the President
"....there is a hidden pattern in the numbers that says interesting things about the blogs and their connections...
....The list of the "bloggers blogs" is also interesting, I've labelled these "inward facing" blogs, because they have high cachet inside the blogsphere...."

~~~~~~~~~~

While at Chris Lydon's site, see Matt Stoller's piece on David Brooks.
After reading it, proceed to the Mahablog, where you'll find an interesting critique of a recent Brooks column.

Pop Quiz: Who remembers the name
Imad Hage?
*Hint: the Bush administration doesn't want you to know the name Imad Hage...unless, of course, you can associate it with the name of a criminal or a terr'ist.*
"....Hage said by telephone Thursday from Beirut that he intends to return to the United States in a few weeks to fight the charges, which he suggested were only brought after news surfaced of his involvement in the Iraqi peace deal. "I think I am caught between various people with different agendas," Hage said. "I think they are blowing it out of proportion because somebody wanted to discredit me early on and unfortunately this thing became public."

My blog entry from November will refresh your memory.

Who's Hijacking Jesus?
No, not Howard Dean...
it's Dick and Lynne Cheney!

Christ was hijacked long ago, with countless imperial and other brutalities carried out in His name.



It was religious and civil authorities who put their heads together and ended up torturing and executing Him.
Why?
They considered Him to be a danger.
His message directly challenged empire.

"And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"

Nice Christmas card message, NeoCon Crusaders!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pat Robertson: God tells me it's Bush in a blowout
so sayeth Maru
Please read Maru's hilarious take on Pat's divinely expired prediction.

Bush is Beatable....Pass It On

Bush is Beatable....Pass It On.

Why Bush May Well Lose in 2004

From Jan 4, 2004 NY Times magazine article:

"...the Bush administration stands very, very far from the foreign-policy mainstream: "....liberal Democrats, conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans have more in common with one another than any of them have with the Bush administration.
.... the administration's claim that 9/11 represents such a decisive break with the past that many of the old principles no longer apply is right -- but the new principles need not be the ones the administration has advanced. A different administration could have adapted to 9/11 in a very different way. And this is why national security should be, at least potentially, such a rich target of opportunity for a Democratic candidate...

So, it seems the Democrats have many reasonable talking points to use to their advantage...

"...Why is so much of the world against us? -- is, in fact, the starting point for the Democratic critique of the Bush administration. The sheer velocity of the change from worldwide sympathy to worldwide antipathy is almost incredible, and while much of the new anger comes from the very nature of our superpower status, the conduct of the Bush administration has plainly had a lot to do with it as well....

Just think about where we might be today if we hadn't alienated most of the civilized world...and if we had paid closer attention to limiting weapons-proliferation as a truly multi-lateral-force (I don't mean the Togos and Latvias--I mean a force with the moral strength of this world.)

".....All the major candidates continue to press the loose-nukes issue as an opportunity to demonstrate that the old distinction between hawk and dove is an artifact of another era. In a major foreign-policy address delivered last month, [Howard] Dean accused the administration of being ''penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to addressing the weapons-proliferation threat'' and proposed a tripling of spending in the area -- an idea lifted from the hawkish ''American Security Policy'' document -- with an equal amount to come from America's allies....."

"....''The line of attack is not Iraq, though there'll be some of that. The line of attack will be more, 'What have you done to make us feel safer?' I'm going to outflank him to the right on homeland security, on weapons of mass destruction and on the Saudis,'' whom [Howard] Dean promises to publicly flay as a major source of terrorism. ''Our model is to get around the president's right, as John Kennedy did to Nixon.''...

No doubt-the world changed on 9-11. Was the Bush administration "up to" facing and tackling the multi-faceted and sophisticated task of responding? After experiencing the lead-up to the Iraq war, the thumbing of the nose at the UN, and the aftermath of the initial combat phase, I would have to say they blew it (in a post 9-11 sense).


"...The underlying critique offered by Democratic policy experts is that the Bush administration, for all its bluster about how 9/11 ''changed everything,'' has in fact not adapted to the transformed world into which it has been catapulted and is still chasing after the bad guys of an earlier era. The administration understands war, but not the new kind of multifaceted, globalized war that must be fought against a stateless entity. As Ashton B. Carter, a Defense Department official in the Clinton administration, puts it, ''We've done one thing in one place'' -- or two, counting Afghanistan. What about the other things in the other places? What about diplomacy, for example? Do we have some means beyond threats of military action to induce Iran and Syria to stop sponsoring terrorists? Do we have some means of persuading the European allies to toughen judicial processes so that terrorism suspects can't walk away -- a United Nations treaty, for example?.."

...but...even with all these facts laid out...even with the knowlege we have the worst President in U.S. history, how could we fathom that the Democrat base could lose the Democrats the 2004 election? How could they blow it? How will they get their act together?

".....Clark understands the lessons of the post-cold-war world as no other candidate does. But the post-cold-war world has already been superseded, at least from the American point of view, by something quite different -- the post-9/11 world...

....The difference between the idea that international law, multilateral institutions and formal alliances enhance our power -- the Wilson-F.D.R.-Truman-Kennedy idea -- and the view that they needlessly constrain our power, is a very important difference indeed.....

..... With the very important exception of Iraq, the major candidates hold essentially the same views. Hawkishness or dovishness on Iraq thus does not correlate with some larger difference in worldview, as, for example, the left and right views on Vietnam once did...... O.K., then, it doesn't. And yet it sure feels as if it does. Iraq has, in fact, become the Democratic manhood test.


...The Democrats seem trapped between two irreconcilable impulses, or litmus tests. This is especially obvious, and painful, with figures like John Kerry, who has tried to have it both ways....You can imagine two very different solutions to the irreconcilable-litmus-test problem. If the capture of Saddam Hussein leads to a rapid improvement of conditions in Iraq, the Democratic litmus test could change, and the party could nominate a candidate who couldn't be stereotyped as soft. And if, alternatively, conditions in Iraq fully disintegrate, the general election litmus test could change, and Howard Dean could prove to have been prescient.....Strong and wrong beats weak and right -- that's the bugbear the Democrats have to contend with..."

Let's remember the quote from the beginning of this article:
"....liberal Democrats, conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans have more in common with one another than any of them have with the Bush administration.
Democrats: Capitalize on this fact!

Ralph Hall:
GOP-lite goes full-tilt GOP
An Obvious Move By the "Stop-Dean" Activists in the GOP
(Why are the GOP and DLC trying so hard to stop Dean?)

Tom DeLay hates Howard Dean with a passion...and we know it.
The GOP is attempting to do permanent damage to Howard Dean in the South.

"....House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said Democrats are "reaping what they've sown."
"Their leaders have lined up behind Howard Dean's brand of angry, intolerant politics. They've made their message clear: 'moderates need not apply' and that's a sad trend for a once-great party," DeLay said...."

Perhaps it's high time for politics to fall out into natural lines of ideology.
For example, what on earth is Zell Miller doing calling himself a Democrat...Southern or otherwise? He's a party traitor and belongs with the Republicans... and we know it.

At the same time, Olympia Snow and Lincoln Chafee (just two examples) are
Democrats at heart..and we all know it.

I think we'll be seeing more activity like Ralph Hall's and Jim Jeffords' over the next few years.

How can prejudice affect a Christian’s witness?

*Alternate Title #1: "William J Murray is a hypocrite, so sayeth Christ"
*Alternate Title #2: "Iddybud thinks William J Murray is a crazy ol' poopyhead"

I've asked you this question before.
Here's a new example. This person calls himself William J Murray. Beyond that, I know nothing about him..except he's a political Conservative leader cloaking himself with Christ to slander his fellow man. I see clearly that he's passing prejudgement on a soul he does not either know or possess. He sets the poorest example for true Christian witness.
*In my humble opinion, William J Murray might not know G-d if he stumbled over Him in his rush to prejudge his fellow man..all because of the prideful William J Murray's political agenda.*

Just listen to the words of Christ according to His nutty disciple William J Murray.

William J Murray says:

".."It says something about our nation that a great political party consisting of millions of Americans could possibly pick someone as mentally unstable as Howard Dean to lead their party and carry their banner into a national election..
Dissecting Dean's religious background, Murray notes that although his mother was Catholic, his father was Episcopalian and raised him in that faith.
However, when Dean met his wife, Judith Steinberg, she was Jewish. He did not want to convert to Judaism and she did not want to become a Christian. Murray said Dean and his wife contemplated becoming Unitarians as a "compromise."
"Compromise?" Murray questioned. "Unitarians do not believe in a living God."
He added, "Most Unitarians are either agnostics or atheists and they surely do not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ."
As for Dean's children, Murray said, "it gets worse."
"The Deans told their children to pick a religion, any religion, and that they would not get involved in their decision one way or the other," Murray lamented.
The two children subsequently chose to become Jewish.
Dean himself parted ways with the Episcopal Church in the 1980's "over a dispute about the route of a public bike path through the church property," Murray wrote.
"Excuse me? Now, I would leave a church if they ordained female deacons or recruited a homosexual music minister...but a bike path?," exclaimed Murray.
Murray said Dean then joined the Congregationalist Church, but now "rarely, if ever, attends."
Citing the recent Boston Globe interview, Murray said Dean was careful not to mention Jesus Christ as being "the Son of God, as a part of the Trinity, or being in any way divine."
"Indeed, he talks of Christ in the past tense, as if He had died in the human sense," Murray contends. "Perhaps Howard Dean would have been better off in a Unitarian Church, but then he would have had trouble winning any elections as a member of a near atheistic institution."
Murray says this indecision about his faith is what makes Dean change his mind so often about what he believes on a daily basis. "One day [Dean] said he did not know if Usama bin Laden was guilty of 9-11 and that the man should get a fair trial," Murray wrote. "The next day he said Usama deserves the death penalty."
He continued, "[Dean] has stated that the United States should receive 'permission' from the United Nations before waging war and then said that the Iraqi people must determine their own fate."
Murray says this indecision about what Dean believes is evidence of someone who is "not of a single mind," alluding to possible schizophrenia, and that his run for president is both "pathetic and dangerous....[Murray said] "Further, I am sure that President George W. Bush would prefer to run on his merits and his faith against a more worthy opponent than Howard Dean."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.
Matthew 7:5

~~~~~~~~~~

To my fellow devout Christians (I beg the pardon and indulgence of secularists reading here):

Who is William Murray to judge your spirit and mine..or Howard Dean's?
How does this stranger to my soul [William Murray] purport to know about what lies in the very depths of it?
This is as shameful a display of prejudice as I have seen.
Who is William Murray to judge who is mentally healthy?
He sounds like he's off his rocker himself!

William Murray...I command thee to take thy false piety and thy holier-than-thou barrage and shove it all up your pompous assumptions!
False judgement borne of prideful worldly grandiloquence is against all you have been taught if you are a true follower of the Christ. Your personal relationship with Christ cannot abode piously or truthfully in the same temple with a reliance upon false witness.

While people like William Murray seem to believe they own Christ and consider all other theology (liberal or other) as
something less than Christian, I tell them that Christ's heart bleeds every time they prejudge in His loving name and steal Christ for their own political game-playing.

I'm wagering William J Murray would have been ashamed to look Howard Dean square in the eye and say these things to him. After reading his words I see that William J Murray, in worldly weakness, has allowed politics and so-called patriotism to allow him to compromise his Christian goodness and love for his fellow men.

This may sound sinful, but I can clearly see that William J Murray is a hateful weasel with a political agenda.

If William J Murray is Christian, he should know this judgement is rightfully coming his way.
G-d is watching us.
Judge not lest ye be judged, William J Murray, you crazy ol' poopyhead.

Your fellow Christians are watching you.
You aren't getting away with this, you know.
We see your ugliness for what it is.
Your actions have nothing to do with the spirit of love or freedom.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Election 2004: It's still wide open

Election 2004 Poll: It's still wide open

"..For the next year, presidential candidates will be working to win over roughly a fifth of the nation's voters who haven't made up their minds about which side to support...
In the most recent poll, the swing voters were more likely to be younger adults ages 18 and 39, those without college educations and political independents.....
Other closely divided groups that will be courted heavily during the campaign season are voters in the Midwest, suburban residents and Catholics, according to a Pew analysis done this fall.
Hispanics have tended to lean Democratic in past elections, but increasingly are considered swing voters."

"As long as the president has a stature gap on fighting terrorism," [pollster Andrew] Kohut said, "he has a trump card."

2003 Top Ten Lists

The Greatest Compilation of 2003 Top Ten Lists

Best/Worst Corporateering Of 2003

Counter-Corporateering Blog:
The Worst Corporateers and Best Counter-Corporateering Of 2003

The notion that the free market is more important than the free society was pushed to new heights during 2003...

Navy Times Sailor of 2003

Army Times: Navy Times Sailor of 2003

More False Witnesses

How can prejudice affect a Christian’s witness?

*Alternate Title #1: "Lewis Golberg is a hypocrite, so sayeth Christ"
*Alternate Title #2: "Iddybud thinks Lewis Goldberg is a big ol' poopyhead"

I've asked you this question before.
Here's a new example. This person calls himself Lewis Goldberg. Beyond that, I know nothing about him..except that I think he's passing prejudgement on a soul he does not either know or possess. He sets the poorest example for true Christian witness.
*In my humble opinion, Lewis Goldberg might not know G-d if he stumbled over Him in his rush to prejudge his fellow man*

Just listen to the words of Christ according to His disciple Lewis Goldberg.

Lewis Golberg says:
"Mr. Dean, what kind of believer in Christ picks a wife that has no hope of salvation? Since you believe so strongly in your religion, what compelled you to share your life with someone who has not the new birth within her?
...what kind of Christian consigns his offspring to life on this earth outside the fellowship of believers, and an afterlife in the pits of Hell?..Mr. Dean, if you pretend to be a Christian, people will forget that you legalized abomination..Mr. Dean, Christ came to us to save sinners from damnation, which is pretty inspiring, but we doubt you ever thought about it....

*WHAT THE HELL IS GOLDBERG TALKING ABOUT IN THIS NEXT SENTENCE?*

"...Keeping more with (????)the Northeast tradition of not believing in G-d(????),
Dean is instead using religion as bait, hoping to snare voters desperately seeking a candidate that shares their values... we need no further proof than what is offered in the article, written by Globe Staff columnist Sarah Schweitzer, that Dean is no Christian. He is but a pretender to Christ's tender mercies, for a faith that is not manifest in the way one lives and works is no faith at all, but just another armband donned to show everyone how great someone is....
~~~~~~~~~~

"Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.
Matthew 7:5

~~~~~~~~~~

To my fellow devout Christians (I beg the pardon and indulgence of secularists reading here):

Who is Lewis Goldberg to judge your spirit and mine..or Howard Dean's?
How does this stranger to my soul [Lewis Goldberg] purport to know about what lies in the very depths of it?
This is as shameful a display of prejudice as I have seen.

Lewis Goldberg...I command thee to take thy false piety and thy holier-than-thou barrage and shove it all up your pompous assumptions!
False judgement borne of prideful worldly grandiloquence is against all you have been taught if you are a true follower of the Christ. Your personal relationship with Christ cannot abode piously or truthfully in the same temple with a reliance upon false witness.

While people like Lewis Goldberg seem to believe they own Christ and consider all other theology (liberal or other) as
something less than Christian, I tell them that Christ's heart bleeds every time they prejudge in His loving name and steal Christ for their own political game-playing.

I'm wagering Lewis Goldberg would have been ashamed to look Howard Dean square in the eye and say these things to him. After reading his words I see that Lewis Goldberg, in worldly weakness, has allowed politics and so-called patriotism to allow him to compromise his Christian goodness and love for his fellow man.

This may sound sinful, but I think Lewis Goldberg is a hateful weasel with a political agenda.

If Lewis Goldberg is Christian, he should know this judgement is rightfully coming his way.
G-d is watching us.
Judge not lest ye be judged, Lewis Goldberg, you big ol' poopyhead.
~~~~~~~~~~~

"Our lord loves the country, he's with you at the polls
He knows the lever that you pull
He's keeping track of souls

The way it used to be
The way it ought to be
The way it's going to be again
And when we're in heaven you'll be sorry
When we're in heaven you'll be sorry
When we're in heaven you'll be sorry then.."

-Jill Sobule

What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth

Willie Nelson writes song titled "What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth" on Christmas Day..
...plans to perform song at Kucinich rally....
..rightwing journalist at World Net Daily indirectly connects Willie Nelson with terror groups to punish him for the heartfelt song.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't care if people say, 'Who the hell does he think he is?' I know who I am."

-Willie Nelson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LYRICS:

What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth

There's so many things going on in the world
Babies dying
Mothers crying
How much oil is one human life worth
And what ever happened to peace on earth


We believe everything that they tell us
They're gonna' kill us
So we gotta' kill them first
But I remember a commandment
Thou shall not kill
How much is that soldier's life worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth


(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth


So I guess it's just
Do unto others before they do it to you
Let's just kill em' all and let God sort em' out
Is this what God wants us to do


(Repeat Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth


Now you probably won't hear this on your radio
Probably not on your local TV
But if there's a time, and if you're ever so inclined
You can always hear it from me
How much is one picker's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth


But don't confuse caring for weakness
You can't put that label on me
The truth is my weapon of mass protection
And I believe truth sets you free


(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Time We Thought We Knew
January 1, 2004 / N.Y. Times
By Brian Greene
"...my presence in Times Square that rainy morning - losing sleep to mark an arbitrary moment in the passage of what I
truly believe to be a derivative concept - attests to the power of convention and experience. Regardless of our
scientific insights, we will still mourn the evanescence of life and be able to thrill to the arrival of each newly
delivered moment. The choice, however, of whether to be fully seduced by the face nature reveals directly to our
senses, or to also recognize the reality that exists beyond perception, is ours."

~~~

USA Today: Freewheeling Bloggers Are Rewriting Rules of Journalism

"....There are liberals, conservatives, libertarians and near-anarchists. The one thing they all agree on: blogging. Bloggers discuss the new medium with proselytizing fervor. They know each others' Web handles (AngryLiberal, Atrios, Instapundit). They use links, which enable Internet users to jump from one Web page to another, to publicize each other's work. Bloggers feel so strongly about blogging, they even promote bloggers they don't agree with..."

**Which reminds me, I am linking Sgt Stryker's 'Team Stryker' blog this week. ;)**