I wasn't going to comment on the State of the Union address because the only reason I could justify watching it this year is to see how many 9/11 references would find their way in the president's speech.
Actually, I think I still won't comment on it.
The speech is not what is causing me to lose sleep, it is the fact that the options involved in dealing with this rogue administration. Congress could cut funding, which would not only hurt troops already in Iraq but could come back and severely damage any chance of getting better leadership in 2008, and if they impeach Bush, that would make Trigger-Happy Cheney our Commander-in-Chief, which is frightening beyond words.
We're stuck. There is nothing else that Congress can legally do. How the hell did this happy? When Bush ran did someone tell him to pick a vampire for a VP so that it would guarantee that no one would try to get rid of him? It seems that the best Congress can do is let his reign peter out and make sure they have a tighter grip on the next prez.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
America the Ignorant?
Keith Ellison, a convert to Islam, became the first Muslim member to be sworn into Congress. There is a big row over his decision to use the Quran (which was owned by Thomas Jefferson) in his swearing-in photo instead of a Bible. Several television and radio personalities are claiming that the Congressman's decision to acknowledge his faith will "embolden terrorists," etc. Is the land of the free and the home of the brave really that ignorant?
If we want to stay true to "American values," there would be no religious text used at all. The people that make the biggest row obviously slept through American National Government and all of their history courses as well. If anything, the Enlightenment period was not religious-friendly and it is suspected that Thomas Jefferson was a closet atheist based on some of his writings. The fact that this country exists at all stems from the greed of European colonialism and imperialism, not a love of God. I doubt very much that Jesus would look kindly on how Native Americans were deprived of their homeland and Africans were kidnapped and enslaved seeing that both of those were major issues for Jews before and during His lifetime.
This is the same level of ignorance that was portrayed when blacks and women began to actively participate in American government and society outside of their accepted roles. The only reason anyone thought the sky was falling is because of their own fears of change. Ellison was elected in a landslide thanks to the democratic process, and if anything, having a Muslim in our government projects the American values of freedom that so many of my Christian counterparts are so quick to forget.
If we want to stay true to "American values," there would be no religious text used at all. The people that make the biggest row obviously slept through American National Government and all of their history courses as well. If anything, the Enlightenment period was not religious-friendly and it is suspected that Thomas Jefferson was a closet atheist based on some of his writings. The fact that this country exists at all stems from the greed of European colonialism and imperialism, not a love of God. I doubt very much that Jesus would look kindly on how Native Americans were deprived of their homeland and Africans were kidnapped and enslaved seeing that both of those were major issues for Jews before and during His lifetime.
This is the same level of ignorance that was portrayed when blacks and women began to actively participate in American government and society outside of their accepted roles. The only reason anyone thought the sky was falling is because of their own fears of change. Ellison was elected in a landslide thanks to the democratic process, and if anything, having a Muslim in our government projects the American values of freedom that so many of my Christian counterparts are so quick to forget.
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