THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!

U. S. Attorney General Erick Holder

       Every truth-loving American should be outraged by the egregious decision of the Republican controlled House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.
         Now Speaker John Boehner has indicated that the House will consider the case, and the NRA has warned that they will score the Representatives on how they vote!  
         The Attorney General has until now cooperated fully with the Committee, having appeared before them nine times and having already turned over thousands of documents.
         It is a blatantly political and totally unprecedented move to embarrass the President, who for the first time since he took office has exercised his Executive Privilege to prevent Mr. Holder from being forced illegally to turn over certain classified documents.

Right winger Mike Vanerboegh

         So of course the Republicans are now accusing the President of a cover-up, and even likening it to Watergate. It's astounding that the Republicans have bought hook line and sinker into the utterly preposterous gun control conspiracy idea promulgated by an ultra right-wing hate monger named Mike Vanderboegh. He was the Alabama militiaman who screamed for people to throw rocks into the windows of every Democratic office in the country following the passage of the Affordable Health Care Act!
         Readers will remember that the purpose of Fast and Furious was to allow a certain number of guns to slip across the Mexican border in order to track them to the leaders of the drug cartels. Unfortunately the plan went awry, when a U. S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed, possibly by someone using one of those guns. "Walked" guns were found at other scenes of violence.                  
       Vanderboegh has come up with the preposterous idea that Fast and Furious was a sinister plot by Attorney General Holder to further his supposed gun control agenda.  Now listen to this crazy logic: Vanderboegh would have us believe that in slipping the guns to Mexico, Mr. Holder's intention was for them to result in more violence and killings, which in turn would cause Americans on this side of the border to demand more gun control, in revulsion against the violence in Mexico! Can you imagine a more insane idea?
         But the Republicans have espoused it! And, as to be expected, the NRA is fanning the flames. So is Fox News, and who is the authority being cited for this absurd theory? The bombastic brick-thrower himself, Mike Vandenboegh!
        The gun-walking project was begun by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in 2006 as a series of sting operations under Project Gunrunner, with the intention of ending the illegal flow of firearms into Mexico, by tracing the arms to their ultimate destination. I do not intend to try to outline here the complex history of the operation, but for those who would like to do so I suggest you check out the Wikipedia article* on the subject.
          Suffice it to say that what makes the Republicans' witch hunt so despicable is the fact that Project Gunrunner was initiated during the Bush Administration! The first major sting operation was called Project Wide Receiver. Project Fast and Furious came later.  It was continued and later ended by the Obama Administration.
         One would think that the Committee should hear testimony from those who devised and instituted the program. The Democrats on the Committee urged their Republican colleagues to do just that, but the Republican majority refused to do so! Instead, they have charged Mr. Holder with contempt of Congress and are threatening to arrest the Attorney General of the United States! Some are calling for his dismissal.
         Is it just a coincidence that Mr. Holder has been cracking down on the voter suppression efforts of Republican governors like Rick Scott of Florida? Is it just a coincidence that Mr. Holder is an African American? Is it just a coincidence that this spurious conspiracy charge comes so soon after the President's popular order to delay the deportation of children of illegal immigrants?

Republican strategist Karl Rove
Photo by Qurmudjin

         Mr. Obama's predecessors invoked their executive privilege many times. This is the first and only time he has done it. His opponents point out that as a Senator he had opposed President Bush's executive order protecting Karl Rove, as if Rove's behavior and Mr. Holder's performance as Attorney General were at all comparable.

          But truthfulness and fairness and consistency are noticeably missing from Republican rhetoric these days . What a pity they are not being held accountable by the main stream media for their unfounded accusations, misrepresentations, and outright falsehoods.
          Pardon the play on words, but, Is there an honest Republican in the House?


* (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal

MORE REPUBLICAN HYPOCRISY

         The Republican are having a difficult time trying to find ways to criticize the President's temporary ban on the deportation of illegal young people who are in this country through no fault of their own.
         They say "If he wanted to do something about those young people, why didn't he do it earlier?" How hypocritically convenient of Senator Rubio and others to ignore the fact that it was the Republicans who prevented the passage of the Dream Act that would have made the President's move unnecessary!
          Mitt Romney's awkward dodging of Bob Schieffer's direct questions on "Face the Nation" was typical of the Republican candidate. When asked if he would repeal the ban, Mr. Self-Deportation would not commit himself.
          But then again, does he ever? Only when it comes to criticizing the President!Yet he has the audacity to say "People know where I stand, unlike this President who doesn't tell us what his plans are."  Really!
          There's that karlrovian tactic again! Accuse your opponent of your own weakness!

A VIOLENT WORLD

The violence surrounding us is frightening to see---
the child abuse, and spouse abuse, police brutality.
It’s on our streets and in our homes, it’s on the movie screens.
It punctuates the language of adults as well as teens.
It fills the daily papers and it dominates the news.
It saturates the television programs people choose.
It’s how some people root for teams, and how they drive a car,
and how they flaunt the litter laws, no matter where they are.
It’s their abuse of others’ rights, their treatment of the poor.
It’s what they do in their aggressive grabs for more and more.
It’s gross neglect of neighborhoods where poverty abounds,
it’s water, air, and land misuse, offensive sights and sounds.
It’s acts of terrorism that do not seem to abate.
It’s ethnic cleansing, racial hatred, bigotry, and hate.
It’s what some do to animals and their environment.
It’s corporate crime, the mafia, and sleazy government.
It’s slaughtering endangered species ‘til they are all gone.
It’s all of this and much, much more ---one could go on and on.
As violence breeds violence, we’ll pay the price, because
the whole world is the victim when a few transgress God’s laws.
How much worse, then, the consequence of violence and strife,
when for so many it has now become a way of life.

(from If I Do Say So Myself, More Thoughts About Faith and Life,
 CSS Publishers)

TAKING NO SIDES

There are certain clever preachers
who can cultivate the knack
of avoiding issues so they're
never subject to attack.
If they ever face a problem,
they will never take a side,
saying that "It's up to every
individual to decide."
From atop their pulpit platform
on a diving board they stand,
poised to jump into their topic,
but they never seem to land!


(From Enough, Already! And other Church Rhymes
by Richard Stoll Armstrong)
http://www.amazon.com/Enough-already-other-church-rhymes/dp/1556735448

ONE MORE EXAMPLE

Senator Lindsey Graham

        Using the karlrovian tactic of accusing President Obama of doing what his own Republican party is guilty of doing, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina attacked the President for having no long-term plan other than defeating the G.O.P. I prefer not to use the Senator's crude language as quoted in the June 25 issue of Time Magazine.
        Excuse me, Senator Graham, but it was your Republican colleague Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who said in 2010 "Our top political priority over the next two years is to deny President Obama a second term," and who has since publicly reiterated that statement.
        Karl Rove is the master of misdirection. Apparently his Republican friends are catching on to Rove's smoke screen strategy in their determination to disparage President Obama any way they can, without regard to truth.
        Senator Graham's accusation is just one more example.

"BUT" PEOPLE ( I dare say you've known a few!)

The resident "butters" on every church board ---
what a thorn in the flesh they can be!
With unanimous votes they are not in accord;
they'd rather be wrong than agree.

They give you the feeling you simply can't win.
They'd vote against God, if they could.
Their forte is the one unforgivable sin:
attributing evil to good.

Deliver me, Lord, from people like that.
Their "butting" is driving me nuts.
"Yes, but," and "No, but" and "But this" and "But that" ---
they're sliding to hell on their "buts"!


(From Enough, Already! And other Church Rhymes
by Richard Stoll Armstrong)
http://www.amazon.com/Enough-already-other-church-rhymes/dp/1556735448

IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!

Photo by REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

        The President announced a ruling by the Homeland Security Department yesterday that places a temporary (two-year) ban on the deportation of children of illegal immigrants, provided they are under thirty years old, were under sixteen years of age when they came here, have lived in the United States for at least five years, have no criminal record, have graduated from high school or are still in school, or have served in or are serving in the military.
        An estimated 800,000 young people (some say even more) are effected by the ruling, which is only a stop-gap measure, but a very important one, until Congress passes the Dream Act, or its equivalent. When the Senate Republicans successfully filibustered and prevented the passage of the Dream Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for these young people, who consider themselves loyal Americans, they all, for no fault of their own, faced deportation to countries they've never called their homeland and whose language they may have forgotten or never knew.
        Mr. Romney called the ruling a short-term solution that will impede a long-term solution to the problem. His Republican allies view the ruling as a political ploy by the President to court Latino voters. A headline in the right-wing on-line publication Newsmax reads "Gingrich: Obama Pulled 'Election-year Gimmick' on Immigration."
        The ruling does indeed have political implications, and so does the Republicans' response, which is one more illustration of their total unwillingness to give the President credit for anything he does.
        It was inevitable that they would impugn the President's motives. Despite their accusations and regardless of the President's motivations, the bottom line is that it was, as the President declared, the right thing to do!

I GET IRRITATED AND SOMETIMES INCENSED

U. S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky

I have been a political independent all my voting  life, but in recent years I have become more and more disenchanted with Republican principles and practices. It has not been at all difficult for me to choose which side I have to support in the current Presidential campaign. The Republican Party for which I once had great respect, even when I favored a particular Democratic candidate, now represents almost nothing I believe in, either as a citizen or as a Christian. There are many things that annoy me about the Republican rhetoric. Let me list least some of them.  I get irritated and sometimes incensed . . .

MR. ROMNEY'S AWKWARD POSITION.

        Mitt Romney's record as a one-term Governor of Massachusetts was nothing to boast about. Massachusetts ranked 47th among the States in job creation, for example.
        So he prefers to present himself as a successful business man, opening himself to criticism on the same count. As a venture capitalist his goal was not to create jobs ("I like firing people!" he said), but to make money for Bain Capital's executives and stockholders. He did a good job at that, but that doesn't qualify him as an expert on job creation, and it certainly doesn't qualify him to be President of the United States.

YOU'RE WELCOME, I GUESS

It always used to irk me,
if when I held a door,
I got no smile or thanks from
the one I held it for.

To that ungrateful person
I then would turn and say,
"You're welcome, sir (or madam)"
in my most pleasant way.

But now I ask myself where
my altruism ranks,
If when I act politely,
I do it just for thanks.

From If I Do Say So Myself
http://www.amazon.com/If-Do-Say-So-Myself/dp/0788009184

THE REAL PERPETRATORS OF VOTER FRAUD

        There is something really sinister going on in our country, and many Americans must be unaware of it, or there would be a huge outcry against it. Cognizant Democrats are crying "Foul!" while Republicans are overtly applauding.
        The effort to suppress minority voting by Florida Governor Rick Scott and other Republican Governors is appalling. On the pretext of preventing voter fraud, they are violating the rights of thousands of legitimate citizens, the vast majority of whom have voted Democratic in past elections.

THE MASQUERADE

Sports fans, especially basketball fans, will love this one!


Click on the link below and be sure to watch the video to the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8DnKOc6FISU

POSTSCRIPT TO THE WISCONSIN RECALL ELECTION

Governor Scott Walker celebrates his victory (AP Photo by Morry Gash

        Those who have been following my earlier posts on the subject, will not be surprised to know that I was disappointed by the results of the Wisconsin election yesterday.
        As an interested outsider, I was concerned about the amount of money Governor Scott Walker had received from outside the State, about the John Doe investigation, about the indictment of two of his aides, about his attack on the public service unions, about reports of robocalls telling people that if they signed the Walker Recall Petition that there was no need for them to vote in the election, and about Walker's repeated misrepresentations of the facts (about the "balanced budget," for example, and about job creation).

A FRIENDSHIP PRAYER

Give me a friend, O God ---
not one who makes me feel I'm right, whenever I am wrong,
confirms me in my prejudice and pushes me along
the always easy pathways of my self-deceiving sin,
where good intentions quickly die and conscience soon wears thin.  

I need a friend, O God ---
not one who flatters me with praise I know I don't deserve,
or when I need to hear the truth, declines for lack of nerve,
and tells me just what others think is music to my ears,
condoning or excusing all my failures, faults, and fears.

I want a friend, O God ---
whose love for me demands I take the higher, harder way
and calls me to confess my guilt, whatever price I pay.
Far better that I choose to live with honor in defeat,
than bask in fame and glory gained by falsehood and deceit.

I have a friend, O God ---
who wants my best, inspires my best, accepts no less from me,
who sets me an example I can follow earnestly,
expecting me to stand for truth and goodness, come what may,
and judging me by what I do and not just what I say.
                                                                                                                 
You are that friend, O God ---
a friend whose love is life itself, whose truth has set me free,
who sees not only what I am but what I long to be,
who knows my every weakness yet forgives the wrongs I've
         done.              
Such friendship is for all to share, through Jesus Christ, your
                                                               Son.

http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Miracle-Richard-Stoll-Armstrong/dp/0788007629/ref=la_B001HO6VBU_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1338929277&sr=1-2

OBJECTIVE CRITICISM OR PARTISAN OPPOSITION?

        There's a difference between objective criticism, which is factual and fair, and partisan opposition, which ignores or distorts the facts and is bigoted and biased. We need to be aware of that distinction, as we listen to people's political comments, including those of news commentators and political analysts.

Joe Scarborough of MSNBC 

        Joe Scarborough and Rush Limbaugh, for example, are both Republicans, but there's a huge difference in the way they express their views. It is not difficult to tell which one is factual and fair and which one is biased and bigoted.                                    

Talk Radio Host Rush Limbaugh 

        The sad truth is that Rush Limbaugh and his ilk attract like-minded audiences, whose own prejudices are reinforced and inflamed by their slanted rhetoric. They are either unable or unwilling to try to separate fact from falsehood, and their lack of discernment is of great concern to fair-minded folks, who want politicians and their supporters to tell the truth.

THIS WAY, PLEASE!

Have you noticed how some ushers show
the people to their pews?
They go sailing down the aisle without
permitting folks to choose
where they might for some good reason have
a preference to sit.
It is obvious some people don't
appreciate one bit
being taken to a front pew when
they much prefer the rear.
It can ruin their experience
of worshiping, I fear.
It would seem that common courtesy
demands that ushers ask
where people want to sit.  Is that
too difficult a task?
It can sometimes be amusing and
embarrassing to boot,
when an usher loses contact with
the ushered one en route.
I once saw an eager usher turn
and gesture with a flare,
and discover that the person he
was seating wasn't there!




From Enough, Already! and other Church Rhymes

by Richard Stoll Armstrong
http://www.amazon.com/Enough-already-other-church-rhymes/dp/1556735448



                                     

WHERE ELSE?

Such a sweet, loving couple were Charlie and Ann.
They were always in church Sunday morn,
in the very same pew when the service began,
where they'd sat since before I was born.

Just to see them together was always a joy,
for whether they'd sit or they'd stand,
they were just like teenagers, a girl and a boy
who were worshiping God hand in hand.

How distressed we all were when Ann suddenly died,
and was buried one cold Saturday.
Even so, Charlie sat without Ann by his side
in their pew on the very next day.

"I'm so glad that you came today, Charlie," said I.
"What a witness you have been to me!"                                
Charlie smiled and then said, with a tear in his eye,
        "On a Sunday where else would I be?"


From Enough, Already! and other Church Rhymes
by Richard Stoll Armstrong
http://www.amazon.com/Enough-already-other-church-rhymes/dp/1556735448

AN UGLY MEMORY FOR BALTIMORE COLTS FANS

As a sequel to my earlier post, “The Baltimore Orioles Were Never the Browns!,” in which I was critical of the moves of the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles and the New York Giants to San Francisco, I want to cite another egregious example of the betrayal of a community by the owner of a sports franchise.    
I’m referring to the infamous (in the eyes of Baltimore football fans) Robert Irsay, the owner of the former NFL Baltimore Colts, who stealthily moved the organization lock, stock, and barrel, out of Baltimore in the wee hours of the morning of March 29, 1984. Fifteen Mayflower moving vans had arrived late the night before in order to accomplish the move to Indianapolis before the State of Maryland could seize control of the team under an “eminent domain” bill passed overwhelmingly by both the Senate and the House of Delegates of Maryland and signed by Maryland Governor Harry Hughes later that same day. The vans departed by different routes, so that they could not be intercepted by the Maryland State Police.

A.L.E.C. IS AT IT AGAIN!

        This link will take you to an article that is disturbing to me. It seems like a local news item of relatively minor significance, but to me it is another example of the alarming war that is being waged on our environment.

http://www.nationofchange.org/alec-slips-exxon-fracking-loopholes-new-ohio-law-1338539750

        Up-State New Yorkers have been fighting hard to protect their environment against the dangers of hydrofracking. Local communities throughout that hard-pressed region have been contributing their hard-earned dollars to take on the big oil companies and their corporate millions. The New Yorkers' cause is of concern to our entire nation, which needs to understand that their appeal is not for the regulation but for the abolishment of fracking altogether.
        If you have any doubts about the dangers of his wantonly destructive process, I urge you to do some personal research on the matter. Read what the environmental scientists have to say on the subject. I highly recommend Dr. Sandra Steingraber's writings on the subject, which detail the results of her scientific research on the polluting of our environment.
        Dr. Steingraber, a cancer survivor, received the $100,000 Heinz Foundation Award for her latest book, Raising Elijah. The award was established by Teresa Heinz in memory of her husband Pennsylvania Senator H. John Heinz III, to recognize persons for their outstanding contributions in several important areas, including the environment.You should know that Dr. Steingraber has used her prize money to launch a State-wide coalition known as New Yorkers Against Fracking. Check out her web site: http://steingraber.com.
        And now, Ohioans, it's your turn!

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!

Here's a link worth checking out. Progressive-minded folks will find their on-line newsletter full of
timely and relevant news articles. You can sign up for free, but they accept voluntary donations.

http://www.nationofchange.org/