If you’re late, it’s not my fault! Hope you enjoyed the graphic.
Mar 132011
Feb 212011
Now I can see you asking what the first Teabagger has to do with Presidents Day, but there is a connection. Presidents Day celebrates George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Republicans seldom mention Lincoln anymore. Although he was the first Republican President, he was the antithesis of the values and beliefs of today’s Republican Party. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was murdered by John Wilkes Booth, and by examining his beliefs, I can make a credible case that Booth was the first Teabagger.
The historical reference for this article is Wikipedia.
Booth believed that the Civil War was not over. That certainly fits the pattern. Teabaggers today still believe that the civil war is not over.
Booth was effected by an encounter he had in his youth with a Gypsy fortune teller, who told him he would have a have a grand life, die young, and come to a bad end. Like Booth, there is nothing too insane for Teabaggers to believe.
Booth was pro-confederate. So are Teabaggers.
Booth was strongly opposed to abolitionists. This same racism is deeply embedded in Teabagger beliefs.
Booth served as a delegate for the Know Nothing Party. That certainly describes Teabaggers, but consider that the party was the nativist political movement of it’s day, hated minorities, strongly opposed immigration, and was open only to males of British descent. Teabagger screeds on “anchor babies” echo this sentiment.
Booth was an avowed Tenther, just as today’s Teabaggers.
Booth blamed the President and the federal government for the nation’s ills and said he “wished the President and the whole damned government would go to hell”. Teabaggers share this hatred of the President and federal government.
Finally, Booth followed, in advance, the advice of Bachmann, Beck, Limbaugh, Palin and other Republicans whom Teabaggers worship, and used a Second Amendment solution to cure an election he did not like. What could be more representative of Teabaggers?
There it is. Irony of ironies. The first Republican President was assassinated by the first Teabagger.
Feb 142011
May this day bring you all the love you so richly deserve.
Jan 172011
Martin Luther King, Jr. influenced my political thinking more than any other, and I was fortunate to have worked under him on Vietnam Summer and to have been present at two of his greatest speeches. Many thinks have changed since those days. Northern Republicans were often progressive. Southern Democrats, aka Dixiecrats, deserted the party because of Dr. King’s successes and are now the Republican base. But both his Dream and the need for his opposition to wars of aggression remain. To celebrate his like, I have video of “I Have a Dream”, delivered in Washington Mall on August 28, 1063 and audio of “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”, delivered in New York on April 4, 1967.
I Have a Dream – Text
Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence – Text
The dream still lives. Keeping it alive is our responsibility.
Jan 012011
On this first day of 2011, thank you all for your comments, your loyalty, your participation, your generosity and your friendship. May your year be as fulfilling as you made the last for me.
Also, a special blessing for politicians of both parties. May you receive for your service, a double measure of all that you deserve.
Dec 252010
Christmas is an interesting holiday as most spend it attending to matters that have nothing to do with it’s origin or intent. Even the secular traditions have largely fallen prey to jingle bells on cash registers and Christmas cheer that’s 86 proof or more. Sadly, those with the most joy this year are Republicans and the millionaires and billionaires they represent. But I’d like to step back from all that and remind us all that this is the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, not Supply-side Jesus, but the real one.
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
[Luke 1:1-14, NASB]
This, in my opinion is not history. Quirinus was governor of Syria at the wrong time and there was no census during his governorship. But that’s not important to me. Most of our traditions are mistaken or unrelated, as well. Shepherds would have pastured their flocks outside Bethlehem in the spring, not in mid winter. December 25 was originally adopted in the Roman Empire because it was Mithras’ (the ‘divine’ man-god of a popular religion) birthday. It was probably kept due to its close proximity to Saturnalia and the solstice. Our Christmas tree, wreaths, yule logs and mistletoe (my personal favorite) are all pagan traditions we have adopted. But that’s not important to me either.
What is important to me is that around 2000 years ago, a man named Jesus was born. According to my faith, he was divine. If you don’t agree, that’s OK. If you believe something else, that’s OK. If you believe in nothing, that’s OK too. Believing in nothing requires the strongest faith of all.
I’d like you to consider a few things about Jesus’ life that make him special. First he was a revolutionary. He taught that love trumps power. He taught that wealth is a hindrance, not a blessing, and had far more concern for the poor than for the rich. He honored the people in his society who were the most despised: lepers, tax collectors, and prostitutes for example. He never called for war. He never condemned people for shortcomings in their lives. He tolerated all except the intolerant, the religious hypocrites, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Republican Theocons of his day. He condemned them for meddling in people’s daily lives, trying to control people with piety codes, and pretending to he righteous, when they were just as flawed as anyone else.
My point is this. No matter what you believe about Jesus’ divinity, his example is worthy for us to emulate, especially his overriding concern for the poor and his opposition to those who use religion to dominate others.
Finally, Christmas is just another day. If we are not practicing peace on earth and good will towards men all year long, isn’t it rather foolish to celebrate it for just a day?
Dec 072010
I suppose there will always be controversy surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor. History is clear that FDR wanted to go to war on the side of Great Britain, but faced a recalcitrant Congress and a public with loyalties so mixed that, many Americans, especially Republican Plutocons, favored Nazi Germany. Even after the war had started, FDR had to threaten Prescott Bush with prison to make him stop trading with Hitler. History is also clear that FDR did everything he could to push Japan into embarking on a war against the US. He wanted Japan to make the first move, because that was the only way he could get the public support he needed. There is no doubt that FDR knew when Japan planned to attack the US. The only thing is question is whether or not he knew where. In my opinion he did. I suspect he thought that the American forces at Pearl Harbor were sufficiently prepared to fight off the attack without prior warning. If he did, he was wrong. Nevertheless, his speech before Congress the following day is a landmark in US History, and I invite you to listen.
I also hope you will join me in honoring those who were killed and injured on that fateful day, those who survived, and all the men and women who have served in our military. They are not at fault for the crimes of our politicians.
Nov 252010
Lord, I’m thankful for each new day, but I’m not thankful for the Tea Party. I’m thankful that I have a roof over my head, but I’m not thankful for for the Tea Party. I’m thankful that, though poor, I have enough food to share with those less fortunate than I, but I’m not thankful for for the Tea Party. And I’m thankful for the friends who read and comment here, but I’m not thankful for for the Tea Party. Why?
I’ve never seen a group of people so willing to believe the most outrageous lies without the slightest effort to fact check them, and continue to do believe them, even when confronted with proof. Here’s an example fitting for today.
Forget what you learned about the first Thanksgiving being a celebration of a bountiful harvest, or an expression of gratitude to the Indians who helped the Pilgrims through those harsh first months in an unfamiliar land. In the Tea Party view of the holiday, the first settlers were actually early socialists. They realized the error of their collectivist ways and embraced capitalism, producing a bumper year, upon which they decided that it was only right to celebrate the glory of the free market and private property.
Historians quibble with this interpretation. But the story, related by libertarians and conservatives for years, has taken on new life over the last year among Tea Party audiences, who revere early American history, and hunger for any argument against what they believe is the big-government takeover of the United States.
It has made Thanksgiving another proxy in the debate over health care and entitlement spending, and placed it alongside the New Deal and the Constitution on the platter of historical items picked apart by competing narratives.
There are other debates about Thanksgiving — whether the first was in Jamestown, Va., or Plymouth, Mass.; whether it was intended as a religious holiday or not. But broadly, the version passed on to generations of American schoolchildren holds that the settlers who had arrived in the New World on the Mayflower in 1620 were celebrating the next year’s good harvest, sharing in the bounty with Squanto and their other Indian friends, who had taught them how to hunt and farm on new terrain… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
I quibble with the official version as well, because that initial harvest was not all that bountiful. The pilgrims were not sharing their bounty with poor savages as the official account portrays. The Native Americans went hunting and brought the meat to the feast. Inviting a guest to Thanksgiving dinner is not an act of charity when the guest brings the turkey. So Lord, I’m thankful that Native Americans shared their bounty with the rest of us, but I’m still not thankful for the Tea Party.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Off topic: I may be sporadic for a couple days. See today’s Open Thread.