Unexceptionalism - A Primer

By E. L. DOCTOROW
Published: April 28, 2012 | Opinion | New York Times  New York Times Subscribe Today

TO achieve unexceptionalism, the political ideal that would render the United States indistinguishable from the impoverished, traditionally undemocratic, brutal or catatonic countries of the world, do the following:

PHASE ONE

If you’re a justice of the Supreme Court, ignore the first sacrament of a democracy and suspend the counting of ballots in a presidential election. Appoint the candidate of your choice as president.

If you’re the newly anointed president, react to a terrorist attack by invading a nonterrorist country. Despite the loss or disablement of untold numbers of lives, manage your war so that its results will be indeterminate.

Using the state of war as justification, order secret surveillance of American citizens, data mine their phone calls and e-mail, make business, medical and public library records available to government agencies, perform illegal warrantless searches of homes and offices.

Take to torturing terrorism suspects, here or abroad, in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment. Unilaterally abrogate the Convention Against Torture as well as the Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war. Commit to indeterminate detention without trial those you decide are enemies. For good measure, trust that legislative supporters will eventually apply this policy as well to American citizens.

Suspend progressive taxation so that the wealthiest pay less proportionately than the middle class. See to it that the wealth of the country accumulates to a small fraction of the population so that the gap between rich and poor widens exponentially.

By cutting taxes and raising wartime expenditures, deplete the national treasury so that Congress and state and municipal legislatures cut back on domestic services, ensuring that there will be less money for the education of the young, for government health programs, for the care of veterans, for the maintenance of roads and bridges, for free public libraries, and so forth.

Deregulate the banking industry so as to create a severe recession in which enormous numbers of people lose their homes and jobs.

Before you leave office add to the Supreme Court justices like the ones who awarded you the presidency.

PHASE TWO

If you’re one of the conservative majority of a refurbished Supreme Court, rule that corporations, no less than human beings, have the right under the First Amendment to express their political point of view. To come to this judgment, do not acknowledge that corporations lack the range of feelings or values that define what it is to be human. That humans can act against their own interest, whereas corporations cannot act otherwise than in their own interest. That the corporation’s only purpose is to produce wealth, regardless of social consequences.

This decision of the court will ensure tremendous infusions of corporate money into the political process and lead to the election in national and state legislatures of majorities of de facto corporate lobbyists.

PHASE THREE

Given corporate control of legislative bodies, enact laws to the benefit of corporate interests. For example, those laws sponsored by weapons manufacturers wherein people may carry concealed weapons and shoot and kill anyone by whom they feel threatened.

Give the running of state prisons over to private corporations whose profits increase with the increase in inmate populations. See to it that a majority of prisoners are African-American.

When possible, treat immigrants as criminals.

Deplete and underfinance a viable system of free public schools and give the education of children over to private for-profit corporations.

Make college education unaffordable.

Inject religious precepts into public policy so as to control women’s bodies.

Enact laws prohibiting collective bargaining. Portray trade unions as un-American.

Enact laws restricting the voting rights of possibly unruly constituencies.

Propagandize against scientific facts that would affect corporate profits. Portray global warming as a conspiracy of scientists.

Having subverted the Constitution and enervated the nation with these measures,  portray the federal government as unwieldy, bumbling and shot through with elitist liberals.  Create mental states of maladaptive populism among the citizenry to support this view.

PHASE FOUR

If you’re a justice of the Supreme Court, decide that the police of any and all cities and towns and villages have the absolute authority to strip-search any person whom they, for whatever reason, put under arrest.

With this ruling, the reduction of America to unexceptionalism is complete.

E. L. Doctorow is the author, most recently of the novel “Homer and Langley.”

NEWS FLASH: Republicans Change their Mascot!

 

Republican Party's New Mascot

The HYPO

For The Hypo-crisy Party

I know its Hippo not Hypo

Many of the Republican's, including our Senator Bob Bennett, proclaim that the stimulus bill was a failure and only added to the deficient. However, when they are in their own states and districts they praise the stimulus bill for the jobs it created and the recovery of the economy of their respective states. Bob Bennett's letter to the Democratic leadership states that the stimulus bill was a good idea and was desperately needed to rebuild the economy. Many of the others have praised the stimulus bill as they are photographed handing over enlarged checks for special projects paid for out of the stimulus bill for their respective districts. They also supported the debt reduction committee until President Obama agreed with them and asked for it to be formed, now they state it is a bad idea. Another example, the pay as you go bill they proposed to reinstate, again Pres. Obama agreed and asked for it to be reinstated. Now they say they will vote NO on this bill. When you suddenly change your position, because the opposition agrees with you, you call it pure HYPOCRISY!

Big Government Vs Good Government

Conservative Republicans since Ronald Reagan have bashed government in all forms. They use the term BIG GOVERNMENT as a key word of disdain for anything governmental. What they are really saying is they do not want any regulatory oversight of business and finance. But regulatory oversight of personal life is OK. But when you hate government so much, governing then becomes a problem. How can you govern a country or state if you hate government, thus hate yourself when you have control of legislation and administration? Conservatives also believe that states retain all power and not the federal government or the people. To them the Republic is a collection of sovereign states that only grants very limited rights to the federal government. Of recent, they believe the rule by the majority, unless they are the minority, then it is the rule by the minority. That is where Progressives differ with Conservatives.

Progressives do not see government inherently evil. Instead they look at government as either Good, meaning assisting its citizens to achieve a quality standard of living and longevity, equal social justice and separation of power within the branches of government, separation of church and state, and fairness and oversight in the market place, or BAD, meaning an over bearing and intrusive government that violates a person's civil liberties and allows anarchy in the open market place. So progressives strive for GOOD Government that effectively oversees industries known to abuse their inherent power so as to maintain a fair and level playing field within those industries and the market place. By doing so it protects consumers from abuses by business and finance, and defends citizens civil liberties for everyone. Progressive feel the power should always remain with the people, not with the states, the federal government or corporations. We progressive believe that corporations are not equal citizens to the individual person, but a entity that is granted a limited privilege to operate for the benefit of the people.

Progressives believe in the right of an individual to work hard and obtain great wealth, the same as conservatives, but that there is an inherent moral responsibility of those who do obtain great wealth to give some of it back to the people that gave them that great wealth. At times that requires a tax structure that forces those of great wealth without moral conviction to give back to those who made them rich in the first place through social programs that provides safety nets in times of need, such as Social Security and Medicare, FEMA, etc.

That is why progressives lean more Democratic than Republican. Progressive see governance as a stepped process; first all power is held by the people and it is the people who grants selective power to the various governance bodies, such as local, county, state, and federal governments. Second, to sustain the union of the various states there is a need for granting certain power to the federal government to create greater standardization between the states. Part of this is to insure that citizens can expect the same treatment and civil liberties as they travel from one state to then next. The federal system is also to balance the natural economic power that certain states have, such as California or New York with agricultural states like Mississippi, Iowa, Nebraska, and less populated states like Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah.

It is true that since the Civil War, government services and agencies have greatly increased. In part that is due to population expansion, technology that has allowed very easy migration from state to state and communication between all citizens. The people demanded more of their government, safer food, clean water, waste treatment to reduce illness, better roads and highway, better railway system, our national parks and recreation areas. When we had the Great Depression, the people wanted accountability of banks and businesses, they asked government to regulate them to protect the people from abuse. As populations exploded, many citizens felt it was necessary to protect the environment and wildlife and asked government to take the lead on this with creating another agency. Poor school districts had a hard time educating the populace and their states where in just as bad a shape, so they asked the federal government for assistance by asking richer states to assist them, thus the education department. As our world has become more complex and smaller by comparison, the federal government has been asked to take more responsibility for services that local and state governments are not capable of doing. Additionally, for some services it made sense that these government services are equal and standardized across all states to make it easier for people to move from state to state.

To effectively shrink government, you have to eliminate services that government provides. Conservative feel that private enterprise can provide these services. The question is, can they do it at the same or lower cost? Most economist say no. By privatizing these government services could increase the cost to the people. Yes, taxes may go down, but your total out of pocket expense for the same level of service will increase.

So the real question is: Do you want Good Government or Small or No Government? The best approach would be to do a cost benefit analysis to determine which would be most cost effective. Absent of that, how can you state one over the other, other than we have a proven record with current services provided by government.

For me I know I have some ability to have a say in the government operated services through my vote and complaints to my representatives. I have very little if any ability to have a say for services provided by a corporation, unless I own sufficient stock shares to control the board of directors. The ordinary citizen will not have that opportunity. Yes, some corporations will react to bad PR, but more and more are becoming immune to even this pressure as they obtain greater control of our legislators in Congress and State Houses. Competition is not always the great equalizer that capitalist purists theorize. In fact history has shown that it is not when large mergers are permitted and there becomes dominance by a single corporation in an industry. Or in the case of health insurance companies that are exempt from anti-trust laws.

There has to be a balance between the free market and consumer protection through governmental oversight.

However, there is a recent study that suggests that our political leanings are more hard wired in our brains than environmental association. The study shows that those who are conservative have a greater fear level and higher sensitivity to perceived threats, reacting with greater force, utilizing weapons in more of an offensive move than defensive. They would rather fight than be diplomatic. Progressive are more likely to want to resolve conflict through negotiation and are not as fearful to perceived threats. This explains Pres. Obama's calm nature in dealing with terrorists and VP Dick Cheney is so fearful, in almost a panic mode. Conservative tend to be more self interested than Progressives who are more willing to share, even if it costs them something. If it is true that we are hardwired from birth regarding these issues, then only the randomness of birth will determine how a given population may lean politically and socially. This will also determine how they govern. Obviously there is a great pendulum between the extremes of these two mind sets, so it is always hoped that the majority of the population are somewhere in the middle.

Beastie Boys: Virginia House Passes Bill To Ward Off Antichrist

You can’t make this stuff up.

The Virginia House of Delegates has just passed a bill that supporters hope will keep the Antichrist at bay.

You hear a loud whirring noise, you say? That would be Thomas Jefferson and James Madison spinning like tops in their Virginia graves.

Yes, it’s true. Yesterday House members approved a measure that would prohibit employers and insurance companies from requiring people to implant microchips in their bodies.

I’ll have to admit that I wouldn’t want that to happen. But frankly I didn’t know there was much of a move afoot to do something like that.

As it turns out, there isn’t. But, according to The Washington Post, there are some fundamentalist Christians out there whose analysis of end-times biblical prophecy leads them to believe that the Antichrist will appear soon and force everyone to accept the “mark of the Beast” in their persons. That “mark,” they think, could easily be the microchip.

The Post reports that Del. Mark L. Cole (R –Fredericksburg), the bill’s sponsor, has both privacy and religious concerns. He thinks the microchips could someday be used as the “mark of the beast” described in the Book of Revelation.

“My understanding – and I’m not a theologian – but there’s a prophecy in the Bible that says you’ll have to receive a mark, or you can neither buy nor sell things in end times,” Cole told The Post. “Some people think these computer chips might be that mark.”

Okaaay.

So let me get this straight: the Antichrist – the personification of Evil itself – is going to show up in America and start imposing the mark of Beast. He rolls through states such California, Kansas and Delaware, but when he gets to the Virginia line, he and his legions of demons just have to stop dead in their sulfurous tracks.

“Sorry, boys,” he’ll say. “Virginia’s got a law that says we can’t mess with the good folks there.”

You know, I’m not sure I buy it.

However, could the mark of the beast already be in your wallet, but not the 666, but Visa, MasterCard, American Express? Could it be the RFID chip in your employee ID card or your health insurance subscriber card; many of them have RFID chips embedded in them?

Far be it from me, however, to make fun of anyone else’s sincerely held religious beliefs. The Free Exercise Clause guarantees that we each can believe any darn thing we want to. I’m sure there are millions of people who think my opinions about religion are utterly ridiculous, and yet the Constitution ensures my right to hold them.

But there’s a difference between Virginia’s anti-Antichrist brigade and me. I’m not trying to pass legislation enacting my beliefs into law.

The House measure’s provisions won’t do much harm, I guess. It blocks something that almost certainly wasn’t going to happen any way. But focusing on things like this diverts legislative attention from pressing matters such as unemployment, education and state budgets.

And most importantly, it does enormous harm when legislators get the idea that it’s perfectly okay for them to enact laws based on religion.

By Joseph L. Conn

Conservatives Economic Plan and their new Contract For America.

The Republicans are about to release their economic plan and their new Contract for America for consideration by Congress. The plans are the same as George W Bush and Newt Gingrich proposed, but failed to pass. It's kind'a long, but worth reading.

• It would privatize Social Security in which the fund would be invested in the risky stock and bond markets through private brokerage firms. This will skim 20% to 30% off the top of the principal and dividend for the transaction fees and commissions. No security for a crash like we just experienced, totally volatile, except for tax payer bailouts like we just did. Government backed insurance for the investment bankers, but not the social security investor like you. Your money would remain at risk. Why you ask? Because they are pro business, anti-anything government and they are profiteers.
• Abolish Medicare and provide for a short transitional time with vouchers to seniors to purchase private health insurance. The vouchers would only cover maybe 20 or 30 percent of the cost of the premium. They are not concerned about how many fixed income seniors will not be able to afford the private health insurance. Don't have money, then die, period. Population control the conservative way. The vouchers would be eliminated over 10 years.
• Abolish federal participation in Medicaid and push it totally onto the states to fund, if at all.
• Privatize all national parks, monuments and recreational parks. 
• Privatize the FAA through an airline joint venture structure. Private pilots will have to pay a fee to fly.
• Abolish the securities and exchange commission and the federal trade commission, they feel these are harming the free movement of the free markets.
• Completely privatize the Federal Reserve Bank.
• Abolish the department of transportation and the national railway administration. Eliminate AMTRAK. Privatize all railways, federal highways and freeways, if the states don't assume responsibility. Toll roads will become the norm for even local travel. Eliminate all federal grants for mass transit. Elimination of national highway construction standards & federal funding. Each state will determine their own standards and pay for their own roads.
• Reduce the authority of the FDA making it easier for pharmaceutical and food companies to market their products with less oversight. 
• Reduce the authority of the agriculture department to free up corporate farming practices that will harm the small family farm and increase the farming subsidies for large corporate ag companies. 
• Raise corporate subsidies for marketing their products to foreign markets and overcome foreign tariffs.
• Lower the tax on the upper 2% of the population and reduce the corporate tax of the Fortune 1,000 list. Eliminate capital gains tax all together and the inheritance tax. Raise the tax on the middle class to cover what's left of government operations. 
• They would increase funding for the defense industrial complex.  Make it easier to sell weapons to other countries.
• Increase the funding for the new security industrial complex via Homeland Security Agency.
• Eliminate funding for public television and radio and any of the arts. 
• Eliminate the Federal Department of Education. All standardization tests benchmarks will be done at the district level. Federal tax credit will be given for home schooling, private charter schools and parochial schools. Desegregation laws will be abolished. Without federal support, many public school will have to be closed. Eliminate federal grants for hiring teachers in depressed districts.
• Eliminate the Health and Human Services Department, except CDC.  All grants for clean water development and waste treatment will be abolished. States will have to pick up the tab for all these needed services.
• The Environmental Protection Agency will be eliminated. The Super Fund will be eliminated.
• Funding for veterans will be reduced and vouchers will be issued for their medical care through private insurance companies, thereby closing all veterans hospitals and clinics. However, since they have un-insureable injuries, they will not be able to purchase private insurance at a price they can afford.
• Grants & subsidies for state and community law enforcement & fire fighting will be eliminated.
• The FCC will become more of a content censor than technology manager. Internet, Cable and Satellite content will become regulated under the new FCC.
• ICE will receive more funds to hire private contractors to continue building more of the tall fence along our Mexican border and also a fence along our Canadian border.
• The FBI and NSA will receive more funds to monitor citizens activities.
• Wilderness designations will be eliminated, opening up land for oil and gas exploration and mining.
• Endangered Species act will be repealed.
• The Army Corps of Engineers will be eliminated and all dams and other structures will be turned over to the states and private companies. Recreational use of these facilities will require use fees paid to the private company. The water rights will also be sold to private companies, so your fresh water rates may rise to insure profitability to the private company's share holders.
• The management of inland navigable waterways will be removed from the Coast Guard and given to private contractors. Any vessel that want to use these waterways, rivers, lakes and reservoirs will have to pay a use fee to the private contractor.
• National Forests will be privatized. Wood product companies will bid at auction for the forests. They must provide recreational access to the public, but for a fee to the public. The private company can keep whatever profits it receives from the lumber, minerals and recreational services.
• NTSC will be contracted out to a private contractor who will re-hire the current investigators. They will have no power over any transportation company, i.e. automotive safety, airline safety, railway safety, etc. They can only recommend safety management to these entities. All commercial transportation companies will pay a service premium to the contractor for their services. No government funding will be provided to for this service.
• NASA will be eliminated and all space exploration will be done by private entities. Any Science that is obtained and usable for commercial or consumer need can be patented by the entity. Besides, God told us all about the universe, we do not need to study it further.
• NOAA will be eliminated. The study of our environment is not needed. No need for science and the understanding of our oceans and atmosphere. Hurricanes and tornadoes are Gods wrath, no need to monitor or study them.
• USGS will be eliminated. We have mapped all of our country now, so no need for further mapping and study of our continent. Earthquakes are God made, so no need to monitor them or study them.
• Sell the GPS satellites to a private company. That company can charge people with GPS devices a monthly fee to use them.
• Eliminate the National Weather Service. Local TV stations do a better job forecasting the weather. Airline pilots and ship captains can tune to the Weather Channel to get their information.
• Stop all funding of the United Nations by the USA.
• Stop all funding and pull out of NATO.
• Stop all foreign aid and support.
• Reduce tariffs on all foreign goods entering the country, if the company has a presence in the US or a US corporation owns part of the foreign company. Outsourcing jobs to other countries, not a problem.
• Establish a sur-charge on all alcoholic beverages manufactured in the country, even for personal use.
• Reduce the tobacco tax to improve the Southern states profitability of growing tobacco.
• Eliminate the health warning label on all tobacco and other consumer products.
• Eliminate product liability tort action.
• Eliminate public defenders in the Federal Courts. If you can't afford one, then rot in jail.
• Privatize all Federal Prisons. Families will be charged for their family members incarceration, vertically and laterally related by two generations, and en-laws.
• Eliminate OSHA and Mine Safety Administrations.
• Eliminate the Labor Department. Thereby eliminating child labor laws. Return to the 19th Century.
• Eliminate the census. Who needs it, no federal funds will be going to any states for any reason.
• Literacy test will be reinstated across the country to qualify to vote. Questions will be created by a conservative caucus. Voter must swear to uphold conservative ideology before voting.
• Every citizen will have to submit DNA to the national database and obtain a national ID card for all identification transactions and use of mass transportation. Each card will have an RFID chip embedded to identify the individual remotely and record your whereabouts during your life.
• The National Data Collection Agency will be created (ops, it already is) to collect personal data from all corporate, private and government databases for the purpose of profiling individuals as potential treats to the tranquility of the country. Any individual deemed a threat by NDCA will be removed to Gitmo in Cuba without trial or recourse. Every computer sold in America will have to have NDCA surveillance software hard chip set installed on the motherboard to monitor all computer activity.
• Eliminate all anti-trust laws.
• Create a litmus test that all public officials and public employees must be an active Christian of an approved Christian faith.
• Repeal the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights so Christianity can be the established religion.
• Repeal the 17th Amendment granting the electorate the right to vote for its Senators.
• Repeal the 19th Amendment granting voting rights to women.
• Repeal the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery.
• Repeal the 15th Amendment granting voting rights regardless of race or color or prior servitude.
• Repeal the 24th Amendment prohibiting poll taxes when voting.
• Pass a constitutional amendment requiring all voters to be an active member of a Christian faith. Non Christians will be prohibited from voting and must register with the FBI.
• Pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion for any reason.
• Pass a constitutional amendment requiring all businesses to close from one minute past midnight Sunday morning to 7 am Monday morning. Travel will be limited to home and church and back during church services and only to family members homes that are within 100 miles of your home and only after church services. You will be required to attend 70% of all church services. Fines will be imposed if you fail to attend the required amount. Tithing or donation will be required each Sunday to the church.
• Pass a law stopping all legal immigration by anyone from any place, close our borders. Tourists and business travelers will require a visa to enter and will be electronically tracked by GPS while in country.
• Pass a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage or unions of any type. Homosexuality will be prohibited, even in private, and offenders will be jailed for life.
• Eliminate a persons Miranda and habeas corpus rights.
• FEMA will be eliminated. States will be on their own. Federal flood insurance will be eliminated.
• All news and media must be submitted to Fox News for approval before printing or airing.
• Abolish the 40 hour work week. Businesses would be unrestricted in the amount of time required for a job and the same rate of pay for each hour. Eliminate overtime compensation. Eliminate all required breaks. Eliminate minimum wage laws. Eliminate equal pay laws.
• All prisoners, domestic and foreign, will be subjected to torture before civil/criminal trial or military tribunal.

 The goal is to reduce government services to such a limited level and obtain money from auctioning off government assets that the national debt will be eliminated by 2055. For the most part, government will be reduced to the defense department, but more of the actual combat will be privatized, the treasury department, and the state department. A second goal is to increase national security and eliminate political unrest within the country, establish tranquility within society and convert all citizens to Christianity.

If you like these ideas, then vote for a conservative this next election and every election thereafter.

America Lost

American governance has hit a screeching stop. We now have a Senate with rules that allows a single senator to hold up the process of governance. Today there are still 70 government nominees of Pres. Obama's still pending senate approval. Why? Because some senators have realized that they can hold the governance of the country hostage to get special benefits for either their state or themselves. The collective good of the country no longer has merit. Requiring a super majority for any legislation to be passed now is also a Juggernaut to governance. The more the majority party calls the opposition the party of NO, the less the public pays attention and blames the gridlock on both parties.

We have never seen before the minority party in such a solid adherence to the task of crushing a sitting president. They will only participate in the process if the legislation is theirs only, so the minority rules, not the majority. This is evident by their recent response to Pres. Obama's health care summit. Republicans were invited to the summit to present their arguments for their proposals, along with the Democrats. All things are on the table for consideration. However, the Republicans responded with demands; first, start from scratch and abolish all prior bills and amendments, second, only their proposals would be acceptable for their support for a bill. Since the President is not going to have any preconditions for the summit, the Republicans will not attend and continue to obstruct any progress in passage. The interesting thing is that many of the proposals by the conservatives and Republicans have been included in the current bill, and yet that is not enough compromise to obtain their vote. It has to be their way only, or no vote. That is not the way our system of governance works.

The Republicans learned in the 90's from Bill Clinton. Clinton took many of the Republican policy ideas and made them his own, like welfare reform, reduction in government size, pay as you go policy, etc. They saw Clinton was able to take credit for these during his re-election campaign. This reduced Dole's ability to set himself apart from Clinton and the tax and spend motto they like to hang on Democrats, so why change leadership, except in the Congress. So this time around, they are not going to vote for any legislation that they want and is part of their platform, because they fear Obama will be given credit for it and they would loose out in 2012. They only have one choice and that is to vote no on any substantive bill. Given the senate rules problems, this means absolute grid lock.

The Senate has become an obstacle to governance and should the conservatives win more seats in November, there will be absolutely no chance of any bills passing, unless they are purely Republican, and then you will have the Democrats blocking the passage. It will be a no win situation for the country.

America has reached the end of its greatness in civility of a pluralistic society. The anger that has simmered and remained hidden out of fear during the Bush years is now erupting. The problem is that without leadership in the senate minority to work with the majority to calm this anger, it will build into outrage and civil war. We are reaching a point that the people have lost all respect for their government, mainly the Congress, and want some type of change, but they don't really know what kind of change they want. Something that resembles civility in the Congress and some level of bipartisanship, as we have had in the past?

The Tea Party is capitalizing on this anger, but their pure libertarian approach with a high dose of theology is only fueling deep rooted bigotry, hatreds, frustrations and anti-government anger that can not help to find answers to our social and financial mess. If this group along with the Republicans in general congeal into a frenzy force, much the same as in Europe in the 1930s, we could see armed revolts and violent hostilities between sectors of our country. Immigrants, LGBT and non-Christians will be targets for violence. There is a movement among the conservatives to break up the country into smaller fiefdoms based on conservative-religious lines. The country is in for a very difficult time until calm can be re-established and a focused vision of the future can be accepted by the super majority of the country. Otherwise, the great American experiment will fail, and we repeat history of many great past societies of the world and cease to be a great nation. An authoritarian regime of a coalition between Wall Street and Christian extremist will seize power. The future looks grim.

What saddens me greatly are my conservative family members who are oblivious to this problem and are fueling the very flames of hatred and bigotry. And these are the family members who profess absolute adherence to Mormonism. Mormons who were the targets of hate and violence in its early years, and yet now fuel the fire of intolerance and greed. I just don't understand that mind set.

Historic occation, Obama Q&A with Republicans

Friday was another amazing night in Obama land. A sitting president attending the opposition party's retreat and submitting himself to a Q&A from them, British style. Never has this been done before. Some have given a speech and then left for their private meeting. And not only did he take Q&A, but it was televised around the world. CSPAN servers crashed because of the volume of viewers that could not get it via broadcast.

Though like many politicians, he did skirt a few questions, but for the most part he nailed them to right. His clarity and understanding of the problems was very impressive. Challenging the miss statement and out right lies put forth by the Republicans was incredible. Bring the Bush revisionist back to reality about the mess he inherited was masterful. Republicans demonize him for using a teleprompter for his speeches, but his command of the issue and not using a teleprompter at this meeting or the town hall meeting he has held, shows that he does not need it scripted as did Reagan and W Bush.

Many of the Republicans are now very sorry they agreed to have it televised. They truly thought they could force him into a corner on his policies. But instead he back them into a wall, showing how petty they are, how they are not willing to work with the Democrats on any legislation for fear of upsetting the Tea Party people. He also demonstrated how the Republicans will NOT accept they lost the election and now a minority. They want it their way or NO way. So they demand take all their amendments and drop all the Democrats bills and that is the only way they will agree to a bill for passage. Now that is childish and outright stupid. The people no longer mean anything to the Republicans, other than their core voters. It clearly identified them as the party of NO on anything, even proposals that they have sponsored in the past.

What drives me crazy is that the Republicans had Bush's full first term when they controlled both houses and the White House and did not pass health care reform. They did expand Medicare with Part D, the prescription drug benefit, but without a way to pay for it. So the nearly trillion dollars spend on that program had to be borrowed, plus they reduced revenue with the tax reduction for the wealthiest.  BTW that was suppose to help the economy, but in fact it destroyed the economy, along with deregulation. Middle-class income was stagnant and high wage earners saw huge gains. No trickle down in the plan. To sustain their lifestyle, the middle-class borrowed way beyond their means and the credit market collapsed. This all during the Bush administration.

As the president pointed out at this meeting, the unemployment figures from the day of the election to when his stimulus package was passed and started to work, was the period of the greatest job loss, all relative to the prior administrations economic policies. After his plan kicked in, jobs became stable with some modest growth. With out that package, we could well be 15 to 20% unemployment in the country. Let's be thankful that it stopped at 10% and falling.

For me this meeting demonstrated one fact. Don't count on any Republican to support legislation from this president, even if it is something they want. They are obstructionist until they can regain control of both houses and the White House again, and then watch out. I fear a great depression will occur. We'll call it GDII.

The NeoConservatives plan is to bleed the treasury dry, borrow until we can borrow no more and that will force the nation to abandon all social programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, and will force the privatization of all these services. The government will be reduced to the Pentagon, what's left of the Treasury, and state department. Everything else will be privatized. That is their goal.

Obtaining a drivers license in Utah

Effective Jan 1, 2010 every citizen in Utah when renewing their drivers license or obtaining their first one, must now prove their citizenship, social security and domicile. The Utah Legislature passed this law last year without funding for additional personnel to process the multitudes now having to appear at the DMV offices, rather than renew by mail or online. I was one of the unfortunate ones on January 12th that waited hours just to get up to the DMV's doors only to find out that the tax forms I brought to verify my social security number were not acceptable. You have to have the social security card issued by SSA, but mine had gone through the washer some 45 years ago, or a W-2 or 1099, but being self employed I have neither. I did have my passport, my disabled veterans ID with my social security number on it and my 1040 tax return also with my SSN on it, and two statements from utility companies to prove my address. But my veterans ID and 1040 return was not acceptable as verification of my SSN, so I had to spend several more hours at the Social Security office at the opposite side of town to make application for a replacement card. Now waiting for it to come in the mail so I can stand in line and do it all over again, with success I hope. Unfortunately I will have to take the written test, because it is now past my birth date.

One thing that burns me, is the office I went to had 17 service window, but only 4 open. And then when a person was ready for their 10 minute break, they would close that window without opening another. Also in Utah to save the state money, all state offices are closed on Fridays, so that backs things up even more. The governor asked the DMV to open on Fridays, but with no new hires, how can they do that. Plus the state is a billion dollars in the red, so there is no money to hire people and train them in time to alleviate the problem.

All of this is in preparation of a national ID card the Bush administration was wanting under the patriots act. But most states have rejected the idea and civil libertarians have made it clear they will fight it in court to stop a national ID register. It hasn't happened since passing the Patriots Act, so why cause such a problem now? I actually know, they want to identify the illegal aliens they issued drivers licenses to several years ago. They can get a driving privilege card, same as a drivers license, but its not to be used as an official ID for travel.

Here I am 60 years after my birth at Holy Cross Hospital in SLC and I have to prove I'm an American citizen, even though I'm a disabled veteran as well. And according to the current law, I have to do this every 5 years now on. They couldn't just mark my file in the computer as verified citizen and let me renew by mail or online after this, NO, I have to do the same shit again in five years. The anti-immigration fanatics are out of control. They have to fuck everything up for their own peace of mind.

Haiti and the hypocrisy of Christian theology

We know what caused the catastrophe in Haiti. It was the bumping and grinding of the Caribbean Plate rubbing up against the North American Plate: a force of nature, sin-free and indifferent to sin, un-premeditated, unmotivated, supremely unconcerned with human affairs or human misery.

The religious mind, however, restlessly seeks human meaning in the blind happenings of nature. As with the Indonesian tsunami, which was blamed on loose sexual morals in tourist bars; as with Hurricane Katrina, which was attributed to divine revenge on the entire city of New Orleans for harboring a lesbian comedian, and as with other disasters going back to the famous Lisbon earthquake and beyond, so Haiti's tragedy must be payback for human sin. The Rev. Pat Robertson sees the hand of God in the earthquake, wreaking terrible retribution for a pact that the long-dead ancestors of today's Haitians made with the devil, to help rid them of their French masters.

Needless to say, milder-mannered faith-heads are falling over themselves to disown Pat Robertson, just as they disowned those other pastors, evangelists, missionaries and mullahs at the time of the earlier disasters.

What hypocrisy.

Loathsome as Robertson's views undoubtedly are, he is the Christian who stands squarely in the Christian tradition. The agonized theodiceans who see suffering as an intractable 'mystery', or who 'see God' in the help, money and goodwill that is now flooding into Haiti , or (most nauseating of all) who claim to see God 'suffering on the cross' in the ruins of Port-au-Prince, those faux-anguished hypocrites are denying the centerpiece of their own theology. It is the obnoxious Pat Robertson who is the true Christian here.

Where was God in Noah's flood? He was systematically drowning the entire world, animal as well as human, as punishment for 'sin'. Where was God when Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed with fire and brimstone? He was deliberately barbecuing the citizenry, lock stock and barrel, as punishment for 'sin'. Dear modern, enlightened, theologically sophisticated Christian, your entire religion is founded on an obsession with 'sin', with punishment and with atonement. Where do you find the effrontery to condemn Pat Robertson, you who have signed up to the obnoxious doctrine that the central purpose of Jesus' incarnation was to have himself tortured as a scapegoat for the 'sins' of all mankind, past, present and future, beginning with the 'sin' of Adam, who (as any modern theologian well knows) never even existed? To quote the President of one theological seminary, writing in these very pages:

"The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God. This is true for every cell in our bodies, even as it is for the crust of the earth at every point on the globe."

You nice, middle-of-the-road theologians and clergymen, be-frocked and bleating in your pulpits, you disclaim Pat Robertson's suggestion that the Haitians are paying for a pact with the devil. But you worship a god-man who - as you tell your congregations even if you don't believe it yourself - 'cast out devils'. You even believe (or you don't disabuse your flock when they believe) that Jesus cured a madman by causing the 'devils' in him to fly into a herd of pigs and stampede them over a cliff. Charming story, well calculated to uplift and inspire the Sunday School and the Infant Bible Class. Pat Robertson may spout evil nonsense, but he is a mere amateur at that game. Just read your own Bible. Pat Robertson is true to it. But you?

Educated apologist, how dare you weep Christian tears, when your entire theology is one long celebration of suffering: suffering as payback for 'sin' - or suffering as 'atonement' for it? You may weep for Haiti where Pat Robertson does not, but at least, in his hick, sub-Palinesque ignorance, he holds up an honest mirror to the ugliness of Christian theology. You are nothing but a whited sepulchre.

Washington Post | January 25, 2010; 1:26 PM ET
By Richard Dawkins.  Former Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford; author of "The God Delusion" and "The Greatest Show on Earth."

Conservitive versus Liberal

The terms conservative and liberal are interesting labels. For the most part they are oxymoron's. Lets first look at American conservatism. The general understanding of the word is to limit, refrain, remain the same, stagnant. For example to conserve water in a drought, to conserve wilderness by closing it off to easy access by humans, but wait those are Liberal ideas. But for some conservatives it is about the interpretation of our constitution. They hold it to be absolute in their narrow meaning of the words as the constitution was written over 200 years ago so that it will fit their political ideology.

Conservatism also includes predominance of Christian theology within their political ideology. Which of course is directly contrary to the meaning of the first amendment of the bill of rights establishment clause. However as they explain to me, the establishment clause only limits government (of the people) from establishing a national religion and interfering with the religious practices of the people, but it does not limit Christian organized religion from interfering with governance of ALL the people, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist or Atheist. They want to establish an unofficial religion through manipulation of public law to include theology. Liberals interpret the first amendment as a two way street, no government establishment of an official religion or influence in religious practice and no organized religion's influence in governance and public law; fair and equal. In exchange for government prohibition to interfere with organized religion, they receive special treatment by the government with exemptions such as taxes of any kind, nondiscrimination laws in employment and membership, disclosure of finances, legal testimony of private communication between clergy and members, etc.

Conservatives profess to want very limited government, thus governance. That government should stay out of the lives of the people and business. However, they are the principal architects of legislation to do just the opposite. They want to control a woman's body and reproductive organs, they want to control what an adult can read, watch, or speak, i.e. pornography. They want to prohibit LGBT citizens their equal protection under the 14th Amendment by government prohibiting them from marrying. They are frequently the ones wanting a billboard taken down that advertises gambling or a gentleman's club, if not close the business all together. But wait, aren't they the pro business group? Why would they want to close down these businesses and the liberals want to keep them open and stop the heavy government regulations that eat up profits? Liberals on the other hand, do not want any laws that infringe on a persons liberties, regardless. A person's behavior should not be prohibited, unless it can be demonstrated through scientific analysis that by permitting that specific behavior, all of society will be greatly harmed, such as murder, rape, and crimes against property, etc.

Liberals are a mixed group of ideologies. Some lean social progressive, others lean more economic socialist, even some are fiscal conservative. But the most common thread through them is the desire for social justice, fairness, and equality. Yes, there are a handful of quote "communist," that want a classless society, but not the central economic structure style of the Ex-Soviet Union or Marxism. Yes, many are conservationists-ecologist wanting to preserve natural resources and wilderness from exploitation,and are concerned about climate change. Most interpret the constitution in more liberal, broader terms than conservatives. Progressives feel that the constitution should be true to the original intent of each amendment, but also must consider society in current times. Obviously when it was written, slavery was acceptable and blacks were considered 3/5th human and women did not have legal standing, and that was acceptable. It was a white-man's world.

If our social maturity over past 200 years was not considered by the courts and laws, today slavery would still be practiced, and women would not be able to vote or own property, unless acquired through marriage and if widowed and remarried, the property would pass to the new husband automatically. There is a small handful of ultra-conservatives who want to return to the strict interpretation of the original constitution, thus returning to slavery and elimination of woman's rights. Most of us have matured intellectually to recognize that it is wrong to enslave another human or to deny women their civil rights. Yet, the majority of conservatives have no problem with denying LGBT's their civil right to marriage and all the civil liberties and responsibilities that flow therefrom. Liberals are wanting the courts to interpret the 14th Amendment to include LGBT marriage under the equal protection (justice) clause.

What I find interesting is that it was the progressive conservatives who helped push emancipation of slaves within the Republican Party of Lincoln. It was the progressive conservatives that supported Susan B Anthony suffrage movement and help pass the voting act for women. It was the progressive conservatives like Sen. Berry Goldwater that supported the Equal Right Amendment and the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1964 along with the Democratic Party. After the civil rights movement push by the civil libertarians of both the Democrats and Republicans, the south was so angered at the Democrats and the progressive Republicans, that they started to switch to the social-conservative wing of the Republican Party and started their push to eliminate the progressive libertarian conservatives out of the party.

In the 1920's, religious leaders obtained political power within the Republican Party, and pushed for the 18th amendment, we call prohibition, which passed in 1917 but didn't work and was repealed in 1933. With that win they shifted their core values from human rights and civil liberties for all to a very limited ideology that reduced their care and concern for their fellowman, unless it served them well politically, economically and public relations wise. They turned inward to capture more political power and control to move their theological ideas into public policy. Instead of the focus of caring for the sick, poor and common man, they teamed up with commerce to obtain the capital they needed to move their agenda forward. The two interests which logic would dictate are not compatible, have developed a very interesting alliance. It is interesting that Christianity once was against capitalism and the greed it gendered. They instead supported a more socialist ideology. But today they now embraced high finance and capitalism by building large investment portfolios to gain political power. They have lost the mantra of taking care of the sick, the poor, the elderly and the common man. They are fighting against health care for everyone now being considered. They are fighting against the labor unions that try to help the common worker have a better life. They have not spoken up against the exportation of American jobs to other countries. They have not spoken out against the abuse and greed of the financial market. What does Christ stand for now?

During the conservative Eagle Forum's convention this weekend, one of the Republican challengers for Senator Bennett's seat pledged "to counteract feminism's influence on national policy." Does that mean repeal the right of women to vote, own property, able to be an individual separate from their husbands. The other 2 challengers along with her wanted to repeal the 17th Amendment of the constitution that gave the power to the people to vote for senators. Prior it was the state legislators who chose the senate. They want strict interpretation of the constitution as it was originally written, thus any amendments written thereafter should be repealed. That would bring back slavery as well. They also wanted to remove all government regulation of business. We have already seen what that will do to the economy. For me this election year, knowing that the Democratic challenger does not stand a chance at winning in Utah, I will most likely vote for the conservative Bob Bennett; just so these other nuts don't get in.

One major misunderstanding about liberals and progressives is that we are old school socialist and anti-capitalism. Socialism and Capitalism are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, we embrace capitalism, but with oversight to limit the inherent abuse of greed that harms everyone, as we have seen this past few years on Wall Street and the economic collapse. Responsible and fair capitalism is the best economic policy that has proven itself over hundreds of years. Today Europe's social-capitalist countries are mixed economies with very pro-capitalism with capital being owned privately, private property ownership, etc., but with socialistic public services, such as health care, which to them are better provided by government through taxation at a lower cost than the private sector. But conservatives have pressed the lies that we want a Soviet style centralized economy and their form of Marxist socialism to demonize liberals as evil. As Karl Rove has stated, "...it might be a lie, but if you say it often and loud, it will become the truth, regardless of the facts."

My philosophy is more social Egalitarianism than anything. What that means is social equality; all people are equal in society and under the law. It does not advocate the elimination of persons right to accumulate wealth. Just that the laws of the country are blind to any class or category of citizen, no one has more rights than another person. It actually was the foundation of Christianity before power and greed corrupted them.

I am afraid that society has become so polarized regarding these labels, that reason and cooperation is no longer possible.

What happens when a country has a failed government

The disaster in Haiti, a country that has never had an effective operational government and what government they do have is corrupt. The many minister of the various departments lack the training and ability to deal with such a major disaster. I am sure some were killed in the quake, others are searching for their own family members, and others are so overwhelmed they can't function. Even the president is homeless. As help arrives from around the world, the Haitian government lacks the organizational ability to send resources to the areas of greatest need. Add to that the problem of who has the authority to fill the void. The UN has assumed part of that responsibility, but their own headquarters was destroyed and they have been preoccupied with the rescuing of their own personnel.

The US military can't just take over and occupy the city, that could create civil revolt by these desperate people. Security for the rescue workers is becoming a concern as frustrated people are starting to be violent. Gangs of mainly young people are looting homes and businesses and robbing people that might have anything of worth. The Haitian police are now busy protecting what little functional resources are available, like gas stations, water supplies, and food rations. There is not enough of them to also patrol the streets or help in the search for those still alive and trapped. With the inherent corruption, some of the food and water coming into the country are being sold on the black market for profit. 

In one case a mobile hospital as set up near a functioning clinic and because of gun shoots and other violence near by, the UN has directed that the medical personnel move to a more secure location, but where and how are they going to move the hospital tents with all the patient they have inside? Can't they get some of the military over there to secure the hospital without having to move everything? At least in Sumatra there was some form of functional government that was able to coordinate the various resources for a more effective relief process during the initial hours.

I am sure President Obama must be very frustrated that he can't just take over and get things done. After all this is another country and the USA does not have any authority to arrest or detain Haitian citizens. This is not a war, it is a civil rescue operation, and that requires diplomacy with a government that is trying to reassemble in make shift tents in order to govern. Most every government building was destroyed or unsafe to occupy.

To help reduce disease spreading among the survivors, the Haitian government is resorting to mass graves at the outskirts of the city. No records of who they are burying. The true death toll and names of those lost will never be know.

Unless there can be some organization created with all the relief contingencies, only a small fraction of the survivors will get any assistance or medical care. The death toll from lack of water, food and medical care will climb. Many who could be saved, will parish. We also know that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will start to affect the people and more anger and aggression will be the result. Any civility will cease and total anarchy will prevail. We have seen this first hand in New Orleans after Katrina hit. Civility is only paper thin and when governmental authority fails to exist, people will do whatever it takes for self preservation. If it means killing your neighbor for their food or water, so be it.

Let's hope thing improve tomorrow or the next day so that human life can be saved and civility returned to the people of Haiti.

Haitian Earthquake – Tragedy In Huge Proportions.

Haiti experienced a MAJOR 7.0 earthquake in the center of its most populaces city; the capital Port-au-Prince lays in ruins. It is so bad that there is no one in the limited government it has to do anything. This small country is the most impoverished of the entire western hemisphere. Add to that the devastating hurricanes and  tropical storms they have suffered in the last couple of years, plus a fragile government that barely keeps civil order at the best of times. As the days pass by, and American assistance is able to assess the situation, it is conceivable that a half million people might have lost their lives and hundreds of thousand injured.

If this is not bad enough, here in American we have commentators of the extreme conservative right-wing  making this disaster a political issue by attacking President Obama for his quick response to the Haitian earthquake. Rush Limbaugh said it was a political move to have a press conference less than 24 hours after the quake giving support to that small island nation of blacks and that it took 3 days to talk to the press after the undiebomber on Christmas day. His point is that this quick response will help secure the African-American vote and because he is a black. But since the undiebomber was going to kill whites, he took his time to respond. Rush's statement was purely racist and totally offensive to the people of Haiti and Americans alike.

Also Pat Robertson proclaimed on the 700 club that the earthquake was the wrath of God against the decedents of the Haitian slaves for obtaining their freedom and independence from France in the slave revolt of 1791. He said that the Haitians made a pack with the devil to obtain their freedom and thus they have been plagued with poverty, civil unrest, hurricanes and storms. How stupid are these statements. I would hope this is not indicative of the Christian faithful. It is not very Christ like of him to blame the victims of this disaster for this natural event of destruction. Of course he does not accept the idea of science, thus he does not accept the concept that the movement of tectonic plates caused the earthquake.

History be told, the revolt of the slaves in Haiti was the genesis for the French to sell its holdings in the expanding America, the Louisiana Purchase, that eventually added 13 states to the union at a very cheap price, less than 3 cents per acre. It was also the start of the freeing of the slaves throughout the Caribbean and South America.

If you can, please give what you can to the Red Cross or other relief agency assisting this devastated country.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

G-Wizz An All Electric Car

 

England's ALL electric London Commuter car.  The G-Wizz Li-Ion battery car will get up to 51mph and range of 75 miles. It sells for about 7,000 British Pounds. There is enough room for two adults in the front seats and a very small bench in the back for children only or groceries. No transmission, electric motor direct drive. Options are air-conditioning, leather seats, and custom color. Of interest is that some techies modified an '07 model with more batteries and drove it by remote control (to lighten it up), and then raced it on the quarter mile against a stock Mustang GT driven by a racer and the little G-Wizz beat the Mustang by a half car length.

London has a congestion tax for cars that drive in the city center to reduce the amount of cars polluting and congestion. The car maker created this little gem to comply with the tax exemption requirements and also exemption of the high parking fees.

So why can't America make such a car for urban use in our crowded cities? Our automotive industry seams to still be behind the curve in ecologic electric cars. They could do one better by making the body from Soybean Plastic rather than metal. Henry Ford made a Model A with soy-plastic, but at that time it was more expense to produce than American steel. So steel became the choice for the automobile skin.

Maybe we can import these and make some money.

Private Prisons and Lack of Information On Conduct

This is an interesting story (click on the title above) about Charles Overby who is the CEO of the "Freedom Forum" in Washington DC whose mission is to promote freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the freedom of the spirit. However Mr. Overby is a board member of a private prison corporation that is fighting a bill that would require them to give access to their operations at the prisons in the same manner as the public prisons. Currently the private owned or operated prisons do not have to provide the press access to the inmates or records to oversee the conditions and operations of the prison; if they are violating any civil rights or laws or if they are profiteering by sub standard operations.

I know most of us just don't care about what happens to inmates that are incarcerated, but recently it has been determined that as much as 20% of the inmates are actually wrongfully imprisoned and are actually innocent of the crime. What if you become one of the 20%, would you want your access to the press or anyone else to hear your pleas of your innocents denied?  What if you're forced to live with rats and sub par food? America has the highest percentage of its population incarcerated than any other western model democratic country. So you should be concerned, it might be you some day.

More about prisons in general:

Prisons are horrible! America has not done a very good job isolating the gangs and violent inmates from the non-violent inmates who are there to do their limited time and get out; usually incarcerated for just a few years. Most of us think ALL inmates are the violent tattooed and shaved head gang-banger ready to fight anyone and incarcerated for life. But there are many who are there for non-violent crimes, but are subjected to the violence of the gangs and other violent inmates. Without the press and other organization being watchdogs over the prisons, conditions can become intolerable thereby constituting excessive and unreasonable punishment of the non-violent inmate by placing that inmate in a cell block full of violent inmates or allowing the facility conditions to deteriorate to a point that it is dangerous to both inmates and employees, just for the sake of profit.

This story also demonstrates how corrupt our elected representative are, regardless of party. How corporate money buys influence that can kill a bill that is needed for good and transparent government.

It also raises the question of privatizing government services when profit is the bottom line motive and not meeting the need of society. Can we trust corporations to be morally upright operators of imprisoned citizens by placing the health and well being of the inmate ahead of profit? I think not. So far I have not seen a corporation forsake profit for the betterment of their customers, products, or services. Wall Street would kill their rating as a company and stock value would die. That is why certain public services are best performed by government that is answerable to the people and open to the press for scrutiny. It is also scary when corporations are given police power over citizens, as they do for guards at the private prisons. This police force is only answerable to the corporate management, not you a member of society that locked up the inmate. When we incarcerate a person, we the society that removed their freedom takes responsibility for their basic well being until they are released. We can't lock them up then forget about them, especially those in for lessor offenses that many of us could find ourselves offending.

My point is that a prisoner should only pay the appropriate punishment for the crime committed, not more, not less. So if a person is in for two years for smoking weed, why should he fear for his life that he will be assaulted or killed by a gang member if he doesn't do something against the rules for them. Violent prisoners should be housed together so they can fight it out without harming the non-violent prisoners. An example: My wife told me about a patient that went to prison for two years on a minor offense. While in prison, he was raped by several violent inmates. He contracted HPV and HIV from those assaults. So his sentence went from 24 months to a death sentence.

Why are the Anti-Abortion folks so single minded?

Abortion is another hot topic for the Utah Legislature this session and also in the negotiations for Health Care Reform in Congress. The anti-abortionists will not stop until a woman's right to choose has been eliminated and we return to the underground abortionist and women dying from them.

Utah Rep. Carl Wimmer is pushing for a law to require every woman considering an abortion to view an ultrasound of their fetus. They already have passed laws that require women to read and view anti-abortion propaganda in a way to intimidate the person into not performing the procedure. How immoral is that!

What most anti-abortionist fail to understand is that there are many situations that are medical in nature and are needed to save the life of the woman. Here is a first person account of the tough choice a family had to make. Would you criminalize them for the choices they made?

Updated: 12/30/2009 05:21:24 PM MST  SLTribune Public Forum

  "Utah Catholic Bishop John Wester is wrong, dead wrong, about abortion ("Top Utah Catholic slams bill," Tribune , Dec. 24). My son's birth nearly cost his mother's life; the doctor thought he had lost her. Frightened, we waited five years to try again.
  In the second pregnancy, the fetus attached in the tube rather than the uterus and had to be aborted. Some anti-abortionists say, "Let the mother die" -- to hell with them. Since child delivery meant death for my wife, we adopted our daughter.
  My son might have been motherless from birth, and my daughter could have been aborted. Thankfully, the college girl chose to carry her to full term.
  Neither Bishop Wester nor I possess the extremely personal, deep-in-the-gut emotions involved in her decision. Nor should we fault her had she had an abortion. A mother's life and well-being are of paramount importance for any child. Every pregnant woman knows that to her core.
  Jesus sent the mob away that was going to stone an adulteress. Where, oh where, does that gentleness and understanding exist today?
  It appears that Bishop Wester is throwing stones at some pregnant women. Shame!"

Jerry Crouch

Salt Lake City



I too have had close encounters with pregnancies and the potential loss of my wife. The first was with my first wife, Vicky, who had a partial spontaneous abortion and started to hemorrhage. They had to rush her to the hospital and do what was called a D&C, which is an abortion, to finish the removal of the fetus and stop the bleeding. This was just after Roe Vs Wade, thankfully. The doctor said that in years past they did the D&C procedure, but at the legal risk of the law, should a prosecutor want to charge them. The second was with my current wife, Judy, who had a tubal pregnancy that ruptured causing huge hemorrhaging. They had to put pressure pants on her to keep her blood going to her vital organs until they could stop the bleeding and give her a transfusion. Her blood pressure was zero over zero. In both of these cases there was no choice but to abort the pregnancies or loose my wives. Should we be criminalized for these choices?
 

The Catholic Church, the Mormon Church and the Evangelical Churches that push anti-abortion legislation are wrong. Until a person has been in the situation and had to make the choice does one truly appreciate the ability to make the choice. I would venture to say that there are accounts of Nuns seeking abortions for numerous situations, from rape to love. Most performed without the knowledge of the church.


I recall back in the 60's when a high school girl would get pregnant and Mormon, they would either go to Grand Junction, Colorado to have a legal abortion (it was one of only a few states that abortion was legal) or to Rexberg, Idaho to an unwed mother "school" to have the baby. If they returned to school after only a few days absence, then we knew they went to Grand Junction, if they were out for months and they have a new "sibling", we knew they had been at Rexburg. I don't know why in most Mormon families, the parents of the pregnant girl will adopt the new born as their own and raise it as a sibling of its biological mother. It must be very troubling when the child grows up and realize that their sister is actually their biological mother. There were a few that gave the child up for adoption and some who kept the child and tried to raise it as a parent, very few did this.


As Jerry Crouch points out, there are many medically necessary reasons to perform an abortion, not all are for convenience, as stated by the anti-abortion groups. Yes there are many women who had an abortion for whatever reason that now regret that decision and carry heavy guilt. But that is no reason to outlaw the procedure for everyone. We all make choices we regret and have heavy guilt for, like adultery, not being there to help a friend or family member when they needed help, making a bad investment that takes all your money, filing bankruptcy, etc. But these choice don't put you in jail.


If these churches want to punish their parishioners for having an abortion through excommunication, that is their prerogative. But leave it in the church and their moral teachings. Not as public law.


This is another conflict between science and religion. Within the science arena the fetus is a parasite dependent on the host for development. Therefore it is not a person until the umbilical cord is severed and the first breath is taken. Then the fetus becomes a person. Depending on the religion, the female egg is considered a person waiting for fertilization. These eggs have legal standing and rights. They don't consider the sperm as persons. I don't know what they consider a woman's monthly cycle to be? Others determine that when an egg becomes fertilized, then that single cell is now a person with legal standing and rights. Thus any termination is murder. I do not know how they reconcile spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) as an act of God or God's will and a medically necessary abortion as murder? If it is OK for God to perform an abortion, why not humans? If God is perfect and does nothing wrong, then if he causes a spontaneous abortion, is he not committing a murderous act?


I also have a problem with the fanatical anti-abortionist who kill others in hopes of stopping abortions, like the shooting of Dr. Tiller recently. If they are for the sanctity of life, why can they take the life of another human? How can they bomb clinics that kill and injure others? How can they reconcile this? Oh, the killings are justified by God.


The decision to have an abortion is a very deep and personal one that a woman has to make. It is also a decision that has a life and death outcome to either the mother or the fetus, who should make that choice? You, me, Carl Wimmer, Catholic Bishops, Mormon Leaders? NO! ONLY THE WOMAN!

SAAB as a car may be gone, but their technology lives on

A Chinese auto company, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, Co.(BAIC), purchased from GM Saab's underpinning and vehicle safety technology so they can engineer a car that finally meets most safety standards for export. China's auto makers have designed very unsafe vehicles that will not pass North American and EU safety standards for import. BAIC is fast tracking the technology in an attempt to be ready for any automotive market up swing.

However the technology they have purchased the model 9-5 that dates from 1988 and the 9-3 that is a decade old, so it is still old technology compared to current models from Japan, Korea, the EU and North America.
Motor Trend reports the BAIC is going to actually build the Saab 9-5 model, not just incorporate the technology into a Chinese designed car. However, GM also reported that they were going to make the new 9-5 slated to go to market in 2011 as a new Buick. That could be a problem if they decide to market the Saab/Buick in China, with BAIC also producing the car. GMs badge in China is Buick, so I see the connection. However, some reporting may be delayed and thus GM might have relinquished all rights to the Saab 9-5. Saab has enjoyed a following mainly because of its Swedish connection. Will the US Saab dealers now sell the Chinese made Saab and how will that go over with the American buyer?  

I see China trying to build an automotive manufacturing industry to take on Japan, Korea, Europe and Detroit. If they can produce quality cars at a lower price, like they do everything else we buy, then they will capture the market, as they have with electronics. It is obvious to me that they want to dominate the heavy manufacturing sectors to insure steady employment of its masses and economic dominance in the world, as America once was. They saw how the US became a world power, not by military force, but by its industrial manufacturing of heavy goods to the world. Now that the US is no longer a leader in this sector, our economic dominance is falling. China is there to fill the void and be the next super power.

Our economic policy should be to bring back heavy manufacturing and export to China cars, appliances, and other major items. In that way, we would have better employment and a thriving economy. Unfortunately, we have exported our economic force to China, we are only a consumer country now.

We may curse Nixon for opening this giant of an economy to the world.

FRUIT OF THE BOOM underwear.

abc News posted this photo of the UndieBomber's Fruit of the Boom underwear, custom modified to hold the explosive. Blowing his balls off for Allah. But if he does that, what will he do with the all the virgins he would receive in heaven? I guess they will remain virgins.  I jest, but it is actually a very serious issue.

The disturbing thing for me is that the FBI had been notified by this guys father of his radical ideology and potential risk. The CIA and FBI are more worried about Graigslist escorts than terrorists and dropped the ball again - big time. This was not an issue of not screening this guy's emails, it was that they had direct contact from his father. What more does the CIA need? Does the father have to escort him to America and to the FBI for them to take notice?

Who ever received the information at the CIA and did not get this guys name on the DO NOT FLY list failed his or her obligation and should be terminated. If he was on the list and the airline failed to search for him on the DO NOT FLY list before issuing him a ticket, then the airline needs a healthy fine for security failure. There is no excuse why this guy was allowed on the plane. He set off so many red flags: No luggage and purchased a one-way ticket with cash. HELLO! Even without his name on the list, he should have been detained and questioned and a call to the FBI was in order. He could have missed that flight, and if clean, sent on his way the next flight, or most likely would have been identified as a risk and denied boarding.

Personally I have been on the political hassle list for years that required me to get my boarding pass at the counter, rather than online or at the kiosk. That's because I talked badly about our past president in emails to our Danish friends overseas. That tripped the NSA's computers red flag and then my name was posted on the list. Fortunately the new administration has deleted these political hassle lists and I can now print a boarding pass online. So if they can do that to me, why can't they do the same thing to a guy buying a one-way ticket, no baggage and a name Abdul????? DAHH!

We spend all this money on a new government agency "Homeland Security" and we get incompetence like this? Are they more worried about Jose swimming across the Rio Grand looking for a job, than Abdul flying across the ocean on a one-way ticket, paid with cash and no baggage, who's father called months before to warn of his risk?

I do have a suggestion for flying now. Everyone can undress and put on hospital gowns that open in the back, and those paper slippers to pass through security and to wear while on the plane. Prohibit any carry on anything and that should solve the problem. Clothing optional is the only way to overcome this type of smuggling of explosives onto a plane. Otherwise every ones underwear is going to have to be checked, as well as all other potential clothing, like bras, pants, socks, etc.

Here's a new industry, special travel clothing like sweat pant and shirt with chemicals that interact with explosives of all types. The clothing will dissolve if it comes into contact or near explosive material. If you see some ones pants dissolve when they walk up to the security screening, then he might be a terrorist.

Of course making everyone fly nude would solve all this and reduce travel cost as well.

Since we are flying to Australia at the end of February, I can see now it will take longer to go through security. I might even try the hospital gown to see if that speeds my passage up.

OH, here is something else that is driving me nuts. The conservatives are wanting this young terrorist to be tried in a military tribunal rather than the federal court. Why, the shoe bomber terrorist, Richard Reed, caught during the Bush administration was prosecuted and convicted in a federal court, not a military tribunal? The shoe bomber who tried to ignite an explosive in his shoes is now locked up in a maximum security prison in Colorado. No cries of not having him here in America or torture him to see what he knows. Some are even asking that the undiebomber be tortured to see what master mind info he has. This low level,  bottom of the chain operative that I am sure Al Qaeda did not trust with the plans of their next big attack. What happened to our moral civility and adherence to the rule of law? The conservatives are the ones always yelling "We must have law and order." But now its different, he's Muslim. You know they will call for Pres. Obama's head. But not George W's when the shoe bomber attempted to blow up an airplane!

Do you have any ideas we can pass on to the White House?