The Bedrock of Tyranny

Fundamentalist religion, be it Christian or Islamic or any other creed or sect, is counter indicated to the exercise of personal liberty.  Further, it is anathema to the establishment and sustainability of a free democratic state.  Our founding fathers knew this and accordingly inserted the “Freedom of Religion and Establishment Clause” into the First Amendment.  This clause does not make it possible for any one religion to supersede any other; nor does it mandate the supremacy of religious freedom over any other freedom or the civil rights of any individual.  

In point of fact, we have seen throughout history and unto this day that Fundamentalism is the bedrock of tyranny; not to mention camouflage for every scoundrel who would weasel, wheedle, slither, slime and steal their way into public office and power.  Daily these monstrosities usurp the language and sense of the Constitution.  They preach Liberty while systematically eroding our freedoms one step at a time.  In the name of independence they would have the government destroyed.  To be replaced with what?  They would see the IRS, the EPA and Department of Education smashed.  To be replaced with what? 

My dear sister and friend, Jackie, reminded me of something that Sinclair Lewis said in the early part of the last century, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”  Lewis was a prophet.  Morning, noon and night here they come praising Jesus, practicing war and promoting intolerance.  They are Christians who have never read the New Testament, and who spend the image of Christ liberally without meaning or truth.

“Being true to your religious values requires sacrifice on your part.  It’s not a price to be paid by the public,” says my good friend John.  Truer words were never spoken.  Now is the time for people of all faiths, of no faith and those who aren't sure, whether they stand on the Left or the Right or in the middle, to stand up and say, ENOUGH!  Crawl back in your cave and take you vicious, little God with you. 

Words are Power

Words are power, they are passion, they are consciousness made manifest.  When we distort words, torture words out of all meaning and sense, use them to replace truth with innuendo or out and out fabrications we betray their power and forfeit our own.  

We live in a world where it is better to lie, better to falsify reality then it is to tell the truth.  Accordingly, it is all right to engage in racism but not to name a racist.  It is fine to build illegal settlements on the land of another people, or standby and watch while this goes on, but it is not fine to call the process an occupation.  Thus, when President Obama expresses his anger at Bibi Netanyahu for collaborating with his political enemies, perhaps spying on high level negotiations and then relaying his ill gotten information to those enemies in a joint session of Congress – not to mention overturning decades of peace talks between his country and the one he is invading while using hate speech to get reelected – the poster child of obsolesces in public office, John McCain, accuses the president of having a tantrum.  Owing to the fact that Senator McCain has been having one of the longest tantrums in history since he beat himself in 2008 using Palin as the whip, this accusation aimed at Obama is not only dishonest, it is despicable.  

The above represents just one day’s virulent, disease like propagation of bullshit by both the media and the political class.  The thing that is so incredibly interesting about these self promoting showboats is that they seem to hardly know that we are out here.  Our interests are meaningful only in as much as they support elections, reelections or corporate media ratings/revenues.   Their interactive and grotesque theater of the absurd plays on irrespective of our reality.  Indeed, in this 24/7-all-“news”-all-the-time circle-jerk it is repeatedly suggested that if there is anyone out here we certainly don’t see what we see, hear what we hear, feel what we feel and know what we know.

The most dramatic and pernicious result of this insanity is a pervasive and persistent sense of nihilism.  I hear it everywhere – nothing we can do; nothing we can change; we are fucked, shit out of luck and without hope.  If you don’t have the money to play the game, the game plays on without you; or as National Lampoon once said, “You are a fluke of the Universe.  You have no right to be here and whether you can hear it or not the Universe is laughing behind your back.”

It is my belief, and it is counterintuitive I realize but it takes more effort to give in then ever it did to fight back.  Consider who benefits from all of this.  Consider what is really at stake – our voice, our soul, even our quality of life.  To all the nihilists who have given up, given over and lost a sense of your own power I say, snap out of it.  They only win when we agree to lose.  

Flush

Some of my fellow Coloradans may remember my going ballistic over two bills, 1161 and 1171, that were up for discussion in the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee in the Colorado State House. These two piles of legislative diarrhea concerned themselves with the right of so-called people of conscience to discriminate against the LGBT community - for starters - on the basis of religion. Well, both loads of crap were flushed yesterday in committee. This means that for the time being the Civil Rights of ALL Colorado's citizens are safe from abridgment by these partisan fanatics masquerading as people of faith.

I all upon my Christians friends to help us get these lunatics out of office.  Denounce them as duplicitous, self serving charlatans peddling Jesus by the pound to grab power.  You must.  I can't.  I am Pagan and have no standing.  Please, help silence these false prophets so they no longer misrepresent your religion or foul my government. 

Okay with You?

I keep seeing and reading this idiotic argument: the Republicans love war more; no the Democrats do. People citing questionable historical data back and forth to back up their claims as if WWI or WWII had immediate significance to the world today. Where the hell are we, high school? We are talking about killing and maiming people on a grand scale. George Carlin called it the bigger dick theory of diplomacy. Who cares which bunch of bible thumping, influence peddling whores wants it more? Never mind what happened 50 years ago. Let us talk about today.

Chris Carter had a character in the Xfile say of war, "... since Antietam nothing has driven the engine of the economy faster." Days after orchestrating that filthy letter to the Iranian government, Tom Cotton meets with defense contractors. What do you think they were talking about? This isn't about God or country or right or wrong; this is about money - blood for money. Okay with you?

Forget FDR, JFK, LBJ, Dick Nixon, they're dust, footnotes in history. Today 62% of the American people want boots on the ground in Iran. In November 36% of the lazy bastards showed up to the polls. Shove a draft up their asses and see how much they want a war. Put their skin in the game and see how much they want THEIR kids' boots on the ground.

War is a distraction, a made for T.V. movie, like party politics, scapegoating and race baiting. Our so-called leaders, both side of the aisle, drag us around by our night terrors and day hatreds while Tom Cotton and the defense contractors make money. Okay with you?

IMMEDIATELY AFTER LAUNCHING EFFORT TO SCUTTLE IRAN DEAL, SENATOR TOM COTTON TO MEET WITH DEFENSE CONTRACTORS

Separation of Power

The Republicans are setting precedents for the future of the American Presidency that they won't want to live with should they every get back in the Oval Office.  They have laid the ground work for the marginalizing of the executive branch with their unbridled hatred and disrespect for the sitting president.  I believe this will rebound on the office itself and materially damage the effectiveness of future presidents.  To me it seems that there is an ongoing attempt to undermine the separation of powers where President Obama is concerned by people too incredibly shortsighted to understand that the damage they do today will outlast the president's tenure.  I have long believed that a chronically destructive and deadly myopia attends the addiction to power and politics in the same way that a chronically destructive and deadly erosion of mind and body attends the addiction to alcohol and  drugs.