Clipmarks | earnric's 'politics' clips

The drum beat of idiocy...

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:00:57 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: Capt Fogg nails it again: patriotism trumps any type of reason in our (right wing) politics...

Will anyone actually listen to what the candidates has to say on the issues? Or is it all decided based on imagery...

Clip Source: fogghorn.blogspot.com

Am I imagining it, or has our military in effect seceeded from mainstream American culture?

What I'm seeing is the search for another Commander Guy who has never had a doubt about anything the US has done or a scruple about anything we might do in the future: another strutting drum major, another prancing cheerleader who knows nothing about economics, history world affairs, international politics - but looks good in a flight suit. Five years in jail trumps five years at Harvard and hot rod Johnnie doesn't have a wife who ever had a doubt about American exceptionalism whether it be about Slavery, wounded knee, Jim Crow, the trail of tears, the Chinese exclusion act, Joe McCarthy, Father Caughlin, the internment of American citizens of Japanese ancestry, Kent State, the Gulf of Tonkin hoax, the WMD hoax, the Niger Uranium hoax or abu Ghraib. We're number one.

Tags: obama, mccain, military

Devolution...

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:40:13 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: The ability of mankind to cling to ancient myths when they can't fully grasp science is astounding...

Clip Source: fogghorn.blogspot.com

You would think I wouldn't have to beat this subject to death, but here we go again. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, said to be on the short list for running mate with the idiot McCain, wants his kids to be exposed to the "best science" because he's a "Christian" and to be politically correct according to Christian politics, that means ancient and resoundingly debunked legends handed down from illiterate goatherds on the edges of civilization. Jindal insists that the denial of all observed facts packaged as Intelligent Design is a "legitimate scientific discipline." It's not. It's none of those three things, but perhaps it makes Bobby Jindal just dishonest enough to appeal to American voters.

Tags: evolution, culture, religion

Clinton - stay away...

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:08:36 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: No matter if it's justified -- too many people seem to have a virulent dislike of Hillary... it would be best for the country if she didn't get put in the VP slot...

Clip Source: ap.google.com

Lots of Democrats love Hillary Rodham Clinton. Yet plenty of Republicans, conservatives and all-important independents can't stand her, suggesting possible pitfalls for Barack Obama should he make her his vice presidential running mate.

The intense dislike for Clinton suggests that besides support from women and others she could bring to the ticket, she might make it harder for Obama to win over some independents, a pivotal swing group in the November election against Republican John McCain. It also means she might push some Republicans and conservatives to vote against the Democrats — or donate money to the GOP — who might otherwise lack motivation to do so because of tepid feelings toward McCain.

Tags: politics, hillary, election, obama

Sanctity and the government...

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:57:25 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: The blogger is right on point regarding the CA ruling allowing same sex marriages...

Clip Source: fogghorn.blogspot.com

"Many people are concerned that we need more conservatives in government so that we won't have judges who decide this way" was nearly the entirety of the commentary, the balance was the observation that it was the Constitution (hence not the judges) that stood in the way of preserving the "sanctity" of marriage. Regardless of the now apparently reduced sanctity of my own marriage, I continued to wait for my dear wife to have her X-ray with undiminished dedication.

Sanctity, of course is indeed a subject that our Federal Constitution excludes from the business of government. Establishing religious rules or laws based on religious rules is specifically forbidden and not applying any laws in a discriminatory fashion, whether based on religious taboos or not, has long been established in the law. What does CNN mean to imply here: that we should get rid of that nasty secular Democracy thing so we can all be holy? What else can we infer?

Tags: gay marriage, politics, stupidity

Republican slime machine...

Sat, 24 May 2008 16:01:00 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: It's in full swing -- you don't see many emails about McCain, but my box is full of emails about Obama and how he doesn't wear a flag label pin...

What a joke...

Clip Source: fogghorn.blogspot.com

The web of Republican reasoning isn't worth unraveling and there's only a spider at the middle of it anyway. Needless to say, those who scream about flags and pins and national pride the most have their agendas, and one man's patriotism is another man's treason. Oh, and yes, While McCain sold out the vets again, Obama voted for improved benefits. Tell me again about how patriotism is about pins and flags.

Tags: politics

Jim Castelli

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:57:58 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: A US Journalist... on religion in the public square.

Clip Source: www.positiveatheism.org

Religion is bad for American politics when it undermines the civil religion: when it speaks of political matters with the certitude of faith in a pluralistic society in which faith cannot be used as a political standard; when it treats opponents as agents of Satan; when it weakens a sense of national community; when it violates the precept of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom which formed the basis for the First Amendment -- the precept that any American should no more be treated any differently than any other American on the basis of his or her opinions about religion than on the basis of his or her opinions on literature or geometry.

The Imperial Criminal

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:02:51 GMT

clipped by: earnric

Clip Source: reasonreigns.blogspot.com

Memo: Laws Didn't Apply to Interrogators - washingtonpost.com

The Justice Department sent a legal memorandum to the Pentagon in 2003 asserting that federal laws prohibiting assault, maiming and other crimes did not apply to military interrogators who questioned al-Qaeda captives because the president's ultimate authority as commander in chief overrode such statutes.

How in the world can the American people tolerate this behavior? It goes without saying that a chief executive doesn't get to pick and choose the laws he wishes to obey...

Tags: politics, tyranny, law

Compassionate conservative my ass...

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:23:30 GMT

clipped by: earnric

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Bush declined to cut short his vacation after the southeast Asian Tsunami disaster, even as it became clear that it would be of epic proportions. Then, months later, he interrupted another vacation in Texas to fly back to Washington in the middle of the night to sign legislation, pushed through in a rare weekend session, designed to keep a severely brain-damaged Florida woman alive. The actions of Bush and his party appeared to deviate from their stated principles supporting states' rights and the sanctity of marriage and their opposition to judge shopping. Most polls have shown widespread disapproval of the president's handling of the issue, even among Republicans.

Tags: politics, bush

Liberal Democracy - What it means...

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 22:49:00 GMT

clipped by: earnric

Clip Source: usinfo.state.gov

FACTORS BEARING ON THE PROSPECTS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERAL DEMOCRACY

It is not enough that a society be democratic. It must also be liberal and constitutional. Democracy seeks to assure that government is based upon the consent of the governed and is accountable to the people. But democracies should also be liberal, that is, committed to individual rights and freedoms, to the principles espoused by English philosopher John Locke that the state depends on the individual, not the other way around. And democracies must also be constitutional, that is, there must be means to assure the enforcement of constitutional norms, even when that means negating a majoritarian judgment. The following factors are critical to the success of constitutional liberal democracy.

Tags: politics

Bush Sr - "Reagan hastened the collapse" -- didn't cause it

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 22:30:27 GMT

clipped by: earnric

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

As his vice president, George H.W. Bush, said after Reagan was shot and hospitalized in 1981: 'We will act as if he were here.' He is a heroic figure if not always a hero. He did not destroy communism, as his champions claim, but he knew it would self-destruct and hastened the collapse. No small thing.

Tags: politics, reagan

Reagan - moved US from biggest creditor nation to biggest debtor

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 22:26:24 GMT

clipped by: earnric

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

In order to cover Reagan' federal budget deficits, the United States borrowed heavily both domestically and abroad, and by the end of Reagan's second term the national debt held by the public rose from 26 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 1980 to 41 percent in 1989, the highest level since 1963. By 1988, the debt totaled $2.6 trillion. The country owed more to foreigners than it was owed, and the United States moved from being the world's largest international creditor to the world's largest debtor nation. ^[23]

Tags: politics, reagan