"Reflection Not Retribution"

With those words Democratic President Obama is
permitting a whitewash of serious unconstitutional
acts by the Bush Administration. Obama is saying
that "when the President does it, it is legal."
Those are the words of President Nixon concerning
Watergate. A Republican and a Democrat. Yep, not
a dimes worth of difference.

"Just following orders" is a terrible precedent.
While Obama may follow the Constitution, his sweeping
misdeeds of the Bush Administration permits another
president to further erode constitutional law. The
problem is who comes after Obama. This provides the
basis of any future corrupt administration to say, "I
can do whatever I want." This precedent is on the
books now.

What we have here is a cover-up. Obama is guilty of
hindering the pursuit of justice. The memos are clearly
an attack on Federal law and treaties of the United
States. These memos present the dark side of a country.
These are pure and simple a violation of federal laws.

Obama is on the wrong side of the Constitution here..So
much for his ballyhood Constitutional legal expert. He
took an oath to uphold the laws of the United States. All
a future President needs to do is to his administrators to
say that they are "following orders."

As with Nixon, Obama is guilty of obstruction of justice.
This demonstrates that Obama is more concerned about his
political future than the Constitution. As a person who
voted for Obama, this is very discouraging. While it is
good to release these memos, it is a disaster to cover the
wrong doing up. If he is so concerned about his backside,
he could easily permit the Justice Department of appoint a
non-partisan special investigator. So simple, but they
even reject this approach. What a cop out to say that it
is more important to look ahead and solve our economic and
foreign policy problems. There is nothing more important
than preserving the Constitution and federal law.

Tea Party Nonsense

They're 'having tea' all across America these days. In Toledo nearly 1000 turned out for the anti-tax protest the other day. Funny stuff, really a hoot! As if these rallies will actually produce any result. And, by the way, what IS the result they are looking for, anyway?

To me it's odd that, in this time of economic woe, people are looking to rein in the government efforts that, in fact, are the only solutions to the mess left to Obama to fix.

Where were these thousands during the Bush torture years? Where were the rallies after we learned about warrantless wiretapping? Where were they before that phony War on Iraq that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld cooked up? As silent as mummies.

So, it's really a joke that people would now, in these times, attend some anti-government demonstrations. The fools.

Al Franken Wins Minnesota but Wait!

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A three-judge panel ruled late on Monday that comedian Al Franken won election as a US Senator for Minnesota fairly in a vote last November, local media reported.

The ruling ends a three-month long trail which has seen Franken's 312 vote advantage questioned, but is unlikely to end the legal wrangling.

"The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that the Nov. 4, 2008, election was conducted fairly, impartially and accurately," the Star Tribune newspaper reported the panel as ruling.

They concluded Franken had "received the highest number of votes legally cast."

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Ah, at last you say! No, not yet. The never-give-in Norm Coleman now wants to take it to the stat Supreme Court. Nice try, Norm, and you may as well kiss your political career good-bye.

Sixty Democratic votes in the Senate is really what 'it' is all about. Those R's just can't fact the fact that America rejected them way back in November.

Poor sports.

Pastor Rick Warren Speaks Lies

First he says he will, then he won't, then he says, 'I do' and then he won't, he's undecided now so what's he going to do? [kudos to the Ames Brothers]

So the pastor lied. Imagine that. He supported Prop. 8 and then he denied that he did. Reminds me of Peter and the cock crowing.

He knows he lied and that's why he canceled an Easter Sunday appearance on ABC's This Week with Geroge Stephanopolous.

How many have there been? You know, those righteous pastors who lied and fell from grace? Ted Haggard. Jim Bakker. Jimmy Swaggart. To name but a few.

Oh, yes, reverend, we know of your sin and ours, too- the ones you pointed out to us. What else can you tell us, preacher man? Who is going to hell?

Obama Opens Cuba: GOP Cries Foul

TheHill.com

Two Cuban-American GOP lawmakers blasted President Obama’s decision Monday to allow more travel by Cuban-Americans to the island.

Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) said Obama’s move was a “serious mistake” and a concession to a dictatorship that has increased its repression of pro-democracy activists. Besides lifting the travel restrictions, Obama said he would allow Cuban-Americans to transfer money to relatives in Cuba.

“President Obama has committed a serious mistake by unilaterally increasing Cuban-American travel and remittance dollars for the Cuban dictatorship,” the two congressmen said in a joint statement."

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Crocodile tears and anger, I'm afraid. They want Cuba to remain isolated because....well because they are Batistas. They want things to be like they were, before 1959. They enjoyed the power that Batista brought with him as he ruled the island like a dictator, working for special interests with kickbacks to the large landowners and business operators.

Fidel Castro ended their 'good life' and Lincoln Diaz-Balart fled the country with his family after Fidel Castro’s revolution. In Florida they live a good life. The politicians know that, election after election, they will be supported by the Batistas in keeping Cuba isolated.

It's about time that this idiotic embargo is lifted. They can cry 'communist' all they want, but until we stop trading with Communist China, they may as well save their breath.

Barbaric Treatment of Women by 'Our Friends'

(CNN) -- A Saudi judge has refused for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man, a relative of the girl told CNN.

The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl's mother, who was seeking a divorce for her daughter.

The relative said the judge, Sheikh Habib Al-Habib, "stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty." The family member, who requested anonymity, added that the mother will continue to pursue a divorce for her daughter.

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Saudi Arabia. "Our friends, The Saudi King."

Then there is that new fundamentalist law in Afghanistan which allows a man to rape his wife. "Our Afghan friend, Hamid Karzai."

Strange 'friends' that we keep. Karzai appeared as a showpiece 'guest' of President Bush in one of those State of the Union speeches and the Saudi King walked hand in hand with Bush on several occasions.

Apparent our own 'beacon of democracy' doesn't shine bright enough to inspire 'our friends' to respect women. Rather, 'our friends' continue to embrace their Middle Ages view of women in their society, treating them with disrespect and abuse while we continue to 'deal' with them.

What does this say about us as a society?

Multiple Resurrection Day

"Jesus Christ is risen today, alleluia!" This stirring anthem is being sung all across the Christian world today as these believers find hope that, they too, will be raised in a similar manner after their earthly death. Surely, this earthly life can't be all there is.

Others were similarly 'raised' from the dead on that Resurrection Day, so says Matthew 27.

27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Lots of ghosts floating around Jerusalem on that day. One wonders who they were and why their graves were opened and not others? Some early apocryphal texts identified the two sons of the high-priest Simeon, Charinus and Lenthius. Here is the account:

The Book of Nicodemus contains the record of two of the people who arose from the dead at Christ's resurrection. They are identified as Charinus and Lenthius, the two sons of Simeon, the high priest. Annas and Caiaphas, being addressed by Joseph of Arimathaea at a crisis meeting of the Jews, were told, "we all knew
the blessed Simeon, the high-priest, who took Jesus when an infant into his arms in the temple. This same Simeon had two sons of his own, and we were all present at their death and funeral. Go therefore and see their tombs, for these are open, and they are risen: and behold, they are in the ciy of Arimathaea, spending their time together in offices of devotion. Some, indeed, have heard the sound of their voices in prayer, but they will not discourse with anyone, but they continue as mute as dead men. But come, let us go to them ...perhaps they will tell us some of the mysteries of their resurrection." (Nic.12:15-19)

A delegation composed of Annas, Caiaphas, Nicodemus, Joseph and Gamaliel found Charinus and Lenthius in the city of Arimathaea and took them to the
synagogue at Jerusalem, and shut the gates. Charinus and Lenthius were requested to "tell us what ye have seen, and how ye were raised from the dead." (Nic.
12:23) They first had to seek divine leave to do so because they had been forbidden to declare "... the secret things, which were wrought by thy divine power in hell" (Nic.13:2) So they asked for some paper and wrote down all the things they had seen, because they had been instructed, "ye shall not talk with any man, but sit as dumb persons till the time come when the Lord will allow you to relate the mysteries of his divinity. The archangel Michael further commanded us to go beyond Jordan, to an excellent and fat country, where there are many who rose from the dead along with us for the proof of the resurrection of Christ. For we have only three days allowed us from the dead ..." (Nic. 21:3-5)

After they had finished writing, Charinus handed his paper to Annas, Caiaphas and Gamaliel and Lenthius handed his paper to Nicodemus and Joseph. "...
immediately they were changed into exceeding white forms and were seen no more." (Nic. 21:7-8)

When the two papers were compared they were "... found perfectly to agree, the one not containing one letter more or less than the other." (Nic.21:9)

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Whoa! I wonder why most Christians don't know of this 'resurrection' story? Why has the church kept it under wraps? Curious.

Resurrection: A History of Myths

"As fantastic as the world's resurrection stories are, they can't hold a candle to the legend of a friendly rabbit who dispenses colored chicken eggs to children once a year." That, the closing line of the story on LiveScience.com: Resurrection: A history of Myths.

Author Benjamin Rathford begins, "Ancient accounts tell of an important figure whose birth would be heralded by a star in the heavens, a god who would later judge the dead. He would be murdered in a betrayal by one close to him, his body hidden away — though not for long, as he would return in a miraculous resurrection to begin an eternal reign in heaven."

He speaks of the Egyptian god, Orisis, "only one of many pagan gods worshipped thousands of years before the birth of Jesus. Indeed, though Jesus is currently the best-known example of a resurrected figure, he is far from the only one."

Today, the day-between, Christians all around the globe 'await' tomorrow's resurrection event, convinced that in fact, Jesus did somehow beat death to rise and scare the dickens out of the disciples.

The earliest writer of the Gospels, Mark, whose stories were used by Matthew and Luke for the basis of their expanded versions of the story, ends his writing with the words in 16:8 "And they went out, and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them: and they said nothing to any one; for they were afraid."

Biblical scholars suspect that 16:9 - 16:20 were added on sometime in the early Christian era. Thus, Mark, the first writer, does not know what to make of the 'empty tomb' and thus ends his narrative with the women trembling and saying nothing to any one.

Surely these women could not have remained silent otherwise Mark would not have known about the 'empty' tomb. Of course, the 'data' that Mark gives in 14:35-42, regarding the sleeping disciples and Jesus's prayers, is quite suspect because the 'witnesses' are all asleep. Perhaps there was a tape recorder?

Nonetheless, we now have the 'updated' versions of the empty tomb scenario from the other 3 gospels. And there begins the myth, the add-ons, the embellishment of the hero, the martyr, the chosen one. One wise adage warns that the beloved not be embellished more in death than he was in life.

Yet I think that the story of the life of Jesus was clearly more glorious than that specious after-life story. The 'resurrection' that people should witness to is that of the life and teachings of Jesus- summarized in essence in, 'Love one another as I have loved you.' What a great line to repeat at a funeral service.

End of the World is Nigh!

"It's later than you think because we do believe Jesus is coming soon!"  Well, we've been hearing that line for over 1000 years.  One ought to ask, 'Please define soon.'  It does make great theatrics, though. The Toledo Blade's religious editor, David Yonke, has the story of one more biblical end-times preacher who whipped up the 'faithful' here in Ohio with the prophecy.

Eighty-four-year-old Texas evangelist Hilton Sutton believes that current events and biblical prophecies are coming together to prepare the way for such momentous biblical events as the final battle of Armageddon, the Great Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

He feels that this is the 'right time' especially in the past 60 years after the Israeli nation was formed. "When the nation of Israel began to function as a nation...we have End Times prophecies being fulfilled today that no previous generation had ever had fulfilled and the stage is set," said Mr. Sutton.

He stated: In today's world, people were enjoying economic prosperity right up until the day the economic crisis hit, he said, and just like Noah's flood and Sodom's fiery demise, they were caught by surprise.

When asked by a minister about the Antichrist, Mr. Sutton rattled off numerous Bible verses from memory and said the Antichrist will not be revealed until after the Rapture, when all the world's Christians are instantly transported to heaven.

Beam me up, Scotty!

Pittsburgh police shooting suspect may have been white supremacist

CNN) -- "Braced for Fate" believes that Jews control American media, financial institutions and government and that federal authorities plan to confiscate guns owned lawfully by American citizens. Those chilling beliefs are revealed in posts on a white supremacist Web site that the Anti-Defamation League says were made by Richard Poplawski, the man who allegedly ambushed and killed three Pittsburgh police officers last week.

The organization, which tracks anti-Semitic activity, says Poplawski posted on the Web site first under the username "Rich P" and more recently under the ominous username "Braced for Fate."

In one post, "Braced for Fate" describes the eagle tattoo he sports in a photograph taken from Poplawski's MySpace page before the page was taken down, calling it a "deliberately Americanized version of the [Nazi] Iron Eagle.

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Just one more nut case whose head was loaded with idiotic nonsense and whose trigger finger acted out his madness.

A friend said of Poplawski, "He didn't like the control of the guns that was about to happen. He believed everything our forefathers put before us and thought that it was being distorted."

I wonder where he got that idea? Was Poplawski a frequent listener to talk radio? Did he act out the fantasies that Glen Beck and other right-wing talking heads ranted about? Did he believe, as Beck argued, that he was 'taking back America' from its enemies?

In one of Poplawski's posts to the website he wrote, "If a total collapse is what it takes to wake our brethren and guarantee future generations of white children walk this continent, if that is what it takes to restore our freedoms and recapture our land: Let it begin this very second and not a moment later."

'Restore our freedoms,' he said. Does that phrase sound at all familiar? We have to restore our freedoms- freedoms such as? It really doesn't matter to the propagandists on right-wing radio. Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh merely drop the phrases and let the nut cases decide on how to 'deal' with it.

Regarding his weapon: In another post, answering a question about what weapon he'd like to have if he were allowed only one, he said, "I guess I'd have to say my AK. Which is nice because it doesn't have to fall from the sky -- it's in a case within arms reach."

Nearby, his AK-47, the equalizer. His personal 'revolution' will be carried out with his AK-47, not barricades in the streets, not protest signs on street corners, not letters to the editor. No, that is way-too American. He'd rather 'protest' with 100 bullets into police officers.

All-American guy, Richard Poplawski, fighting for 'freedoms' and 'taking back America,' single handedly with his AK-47.