The Bush League of Nations Blog

Whatever the California Supreme Court Decides on LGBT Marriage Tomorrow, We Shall Overcome Someday

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:09:00 +0000

At 10 a.m. PT tomorrow (May 26) the California Supreme Court will announce its decision on whether or not to overturn Proposition 8, an amendment to the California state constitution (passed by a majority of California voters last November) banning same-sex marriage in the state.

I’m a progressive heterosexual Christian who fought against Prop 8 and is appalled at the Christian Right's upside-down version of Christianity—Pro-Rich and Pro-War—and its war on the LGBT community and the U.S. Constitution, including the separation of church and state.

But I’m almost hoping that the legal efforts to overturn Prop. 8 are unsuccessful.

Good God, why?

Because I’d relish another fight at the California ballot box against the Forces of Darkness who oppose LGBT rights.

I’d like to see a light once again focused on rightwing churches, a light that would be much brighter and harsher this time around.

I’d like to see political pastors like Rick Warren squirm a little more, as they realize they’re on the wrong side of history, human rights and Christ’s ministry.

I’d like to eliminate the rightwing argument that it was liberal out-of-control judges who imposed their personal “agenda” on the people of California.

I’d like to be able to say that the people of California, especially progressive Christians, finally stood up for the LGBT community … and themselves.

Yes, if needed, let’s have another rumble at the ballot box.

Whatever the California Supreme Court decides on LGBT marriage tomorrow, we shall overcome someday.

Red River Rising

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:37:00 +0000

As a native of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and a graduate of Grand Forks Central High School, I’ve been following with special interest the current flooding along the Red River of the North, which flows north into Canada and is the boundary between North Dakota and Minnesota.

The Great Flood of 1997 hit Grand Forks hard, as well as East Grand Forks, its twin city on the east side of the river in Minnesota.

The national attention during the current 2009 flood is rightly focused on Fargo, North Dakota’s largest city, which is 80 miles south of, and upriver from, Grand Forks. Fortunately, it appears that the tremendous individual, community and government response to the current crisis will save Fargo from catastrophe. Whatever happens, I’m proud of their efforts.

As for the Great Flood of 1997, you perhaps recall the extensive national attention to that slowly unfolding disaster, as many square miles of the two cities, including their entire downtowns, were inundated by floodwaters.

Notwithstanding heroic efforts, the Red River in 1997 broke though the dikes and became a river more than ten miles wide. My childhood neighborhood in Grand Forks, more than a mile from the river, was flooded.

The Grand Forks Herald won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for public service after continuing to publish daily during that “Flood of the Century”—and fire—of April 1997, even though its offices were destroyed.

I remember well the Herald’s famous headline, “Come Hell and High Water,” and the remarkable photos showing several old familiar downtown buildings in Grand Forks burning—yes, burning—while sitting in the floodwaters.

My biggest disappointment—and shame as a North Dakotan—relates to the substantial rightwing propaganda that makes racist comparisons—both thinly veiled and overt—between mostly white Grand Forks (which bounced back from disaster) and mostly black New Orleans (which did not.)

If you can’t easily digest political humor from the left—but prefer instead the tangy taste of racist comparisons between the whites of Grand Forks and the blacks of New Orleans—do yourself a favor and read no further.

Luckily, the Clinton administration—not the Bush regime—was on the job in 1997 and responded splendidly to the Grand Forks Flood of the Century.

Thanks in large part to billions of dollars in federal assistance, Grand Forks recovered from the 1997 disaster stronger, better, and more beautiful than ever, and with a new levee system designed to prevent a recurrence of the disaster.

If Bush had then been in office, the headline might have read, “Come Hell, High Water and Bush”—now that’s scary!

Luckily, this flood of 2009 is occurring after Bush slithered out of office. So, once again—whatever damage this current flood causes, and whatever level of federal assistance is needed—the fine people of the Red River Valley will do just fine.

You can bet on it. It’s like money in the bank.

Oops, I forgot—that “money in the bank” simile no longer works.

Dang, is there anything the Bush regime and almost three decades of Reaganomics didn’t wreck?

AIG Bonuses: $165 Million Would Go a Long Way for Peace

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:46:00 +0000

The $165 million in AIG bonuses could fund the U.S. Peace Corps worldwide for six months. (The Peace Corps budget for 2009 is $330.8 million.)

Although $165 million is an enormous sum, the total AIG bailout to date is more than 1,000 times greater. It could fund more than 500 Peace Corps for an entire year!

The interest alone (say 5% annually) on the total AIG bailout could fund 25 Peace Corps worldwide in perpetuity.

AIG stands for: “America Is Greed.”

Capitalism unregulated is armed robbery, only worse.

Almost three decades of Reaganomics—capped by eight years of George W. Bush—have royally screwed America.

Deregulate, deregulate, deregulate.

Give trillions of dollars to the Super Rich and Big Business. Run up multiple huge unsustainable deficits and debts.

Bankrupt America both morally and financially. Plant the seeds for the GOP Great Depression II.

Screw generations of the unborn by making them pay for everything. Take the money and run.

Why do we put up with this? Are we nuts?

Don’t we at last have a reason to keep Guantanamo Bay open? Why not fill it with our financial crooks—our Masters of the Universe—and send our best water boarders there?

Prop 8— Another Rumble at the Ballot Box

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:29:00 +0000

The California Supreme Court is considering a legal challenge to strike down Proposition 8, which was passed by a simple majority of California voters in November 2008 and amended the state constitution to eliminate the constitutional right of gays and lesbians to marry.

I’m a progressive, pro-LGBT-rights Christian who fought against Proposition 8 and is appalled at the Christian Right's upside-down version of Christianity — Pro-Rich and Pro-War — and its war on the LGBT community and the U.S. Constitution, including the separation of church and state.

But I’m almost hoping that the legal challenge to overturn Prop. 8 is unsuccessful.

Good God, why?

Because I’d relish another fight at the California ballot box against the Neanderthal forces that oppose equal marriage rights for the LGBT community.

Because I want a much brighter light focused on rightwing churches and other organizations that oppose LGBT marriage rights (just as they opposed interracial marriage two generations ago.)

Because I’d like to see political pastors like Rick Warren squirm a little more, as they realize they’re on the wrong side of history and human rights.

Because we must eliminate the rightwing argument that it was liberal out-of-control judges who imposed their personal agendas on the people of California.

Because I want to be able to say proudly that the people of California finally stood up for the LGBT community.

Yes, let’s have another rumble at the ballot box.

GOP Financial Wizardry: — An Accounting Joke That Says It All

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:36:00 +0000

Is it even possible to describe the fraudulent accounting used by the GOP as it pushed America off the cliff and into the GOP Great Depression II?

Yes.

Bearing in mind that the best humor is anchored in truth, here’s a wonderful accounting joke that hits the nail on the head:

The GOP’s balance sheet for America has two sides, with liabilities on the left, and assets on the right. The problem is that on the left, there’s nothing right, while on the right, there’s nothing left.

That's the Whole Truth. All the rest is simply commentary.

Accountants (and anyone else) who want more detail can now download for FREE my entire $25.95 book, "The Bush League of Nation."

Tom Daschle Should Not Be Secretary of Health and Human Services

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:46:00 +0000

I’m a progressive, a native of North Dakota (the “other” Dakota), and a longtime supporter of Tom Daschle. However, he’s a terrible choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

My primary concern is not his bad “tax avoidance” decisions, but rather that he would be the kiss of death for universal healthcare that works.

When it comes to healthcare, Daschle represents the revolving-door, corporate-business-as-usual, Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

Especially troublesome are his ties to that life-sucking dinosaur known as UnitedHealth Group, which is Exhibit A for what’s wrong with healthcare in America.

Our healthcare system is wasteful and corrupt precisely because it is con game run by and for huge corporate interests.

The privately-milked system is structured to provide maximum returns for shareholders and wealthy industry executives who are not caregivers, while denying and delaying coverage, and passing around like “hot potatoes” those individuals most needing medical care.

America’s private health insurance companies spend billions each year on advertising and gaming the system.

Patients and the actual caregivers—doctors, nurses and other staff—are forced to waste enormous time and money coping with the bureaucratic obstacles and paperwork of hundreds of different billing and reimbursement schemes.

William McGuire, the CEO of UnitedHealth, received compensation totaling $124.8 million in 2005—an amount which could have paid the total cost of medical care for an entire year for more than 33,000 average Americans.

McGuire retired under pressure in October 2006 due to a pay and stock options scandal at UnitedHealth. An investigation determined that McGuire’s options to purchase 1.5 million shares had probably been “backdated” to increase their value. His stock option package was reported to be worth $1.6 billion—imagine 1,600 piles of one million dollars each.

That amount is many thousands of times what is paid to the most highly compensated executive in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which is run more efficiently than America’s private healthcare system.

Incredibly, the $1.6 billion in stock options for McGuire could have paid the total cost of medical care for an entire year for 422,400 Americans.

The enormous financial and political muscle behind entrenched interests like UnitedHealth to date have killed the messenger and sidetracked any serious policy debate on the merits.

This is why any “reform” coming out of Congress always keeps these companies in the business of screwing America.

Sorry, Tom, but you’re part of the problem, not the solution.

"Pray the Devil Back to Hell"

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:05:00 +0000

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell” is a must-see documentary film about the unimaginable horrors of the recent civil war in Liberia and the heroic efforts of a Liberian Christian, Leymah Gbowee, to fulfill the dream of peace she had in 2003, by first organizing the women of her Lutheran church to pray for peace and then creating an all-women peace initiative, the Liberian Mass Action for Peace, that spread through both the Christian and Muslim faiths.

Tens of thousands of civilians had been slaughtered, rape was endemic, children were starving, and countless men, women and children had had their arms and legs intentionally hacked off in a brutal campaign of terror.

Thanks to the extraordinary courage of Ms. Gbowee and other Christian and Muslim Liberian women, a tentative peace was achieved, the brutal dictator Charles Taylor went into exile in Nigeria, and eventually, on January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became president of Liberia, the first woman ever elected president of an African nation.

Bob Herbert writes about this story of courage in his op-ed piece, "A Crazy Dream," in the January 30, 2009, edition of The New York Times.

I can barely imagine where Leymah Gbowee gets her courage.

How many of us won’t even put a political bumper sticker on our car because we’re worried about what others might think, or that our car might get keyed?

We Americans sometimes criticize oppressed peoples for not standing up to their brutal dictators. But try to imagine taking action when the cost may be the torture, rape and slaughter of all those we love.

Ms. Gbowee, your photo should be in the dictionary next to the definition of courage.

The Next Black Al Franken

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:43:00 +0000

God knows we need more good humor in the U.S. Senate, and that’s obviously why he chose Al Franken to be Minnesota’s next Senator.

I'm pretty certain this is also why God recently ordered Gov. Blagojevich to pick Roland Burris as Illinois’ next Senator.

Have you noticed that Burris, like Franken, has a wonderful sense of humor? Well, he does, and with a little mentoring, he could be the next black Al Franken.

Unfortunately, both Franken and Burris are articulate, passionate, and burdened with superior values and intelligence. God, I pray that America and Big Media will overlook these shortcomings.

Open Letter to Barack Obama from Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:21:00 +0000

I especially welcome comments from people outside the United States regarding, “The Bush League of Nations.” My email address is: bushleagueofnations@gmail.com.

Below is an open letter to President-elect Barack Obama from Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Dear Mr. President,

I did not vote for you in the Presidential Election because I am Malaysian.

But I consider myself one of your constituents because what you do or say will affect me and my country as well.

I welcome your promise to change. Certainly your country, the United States of America need a lot of changes.

That is because America and Americans have become the best hated people in the world. Even Europeans dislike your arrogance. Yet you were once admired and liked because you freed a lot of countries from conquest and subjugation.

It is the custom on New Year's day for people to make resolutions. You must have listed your good resolutions already. But may I politely suggest that you also resolve to do the following in pursuit of Change.

1) Stop killing people. The United States is too fond of killing people in order to achieve its objectives. You call it war, but today's wars are not about professional soldiers fighting and killing each other. It is about killing people, ordinary innocent people by the hundreds of thousands. Whole countries will be devastated.

War is primitive, the cavemen's way of dealing with a problem. Stop your arms build up and your planning for future wars.

2) Stop indiscriminate support of Israeli killers with your money and your weapons. The planes and the bombs killing the people of Gaza are from you.

3) Stop applying sanctions against countries which cannot do the same against you.

In Iraq your sanctions killed 500,000 children through depriving them of medicine and food. Others were born deformed.

What have you achieved with this cruelty? Nothing except the hatred of the victims and right-thinking people.

4) Stop your scientists and researchers from inventing new and more diabolical weapons to kill more people more efficiently.

5) Stop your arms manufacturers from producing them. Stop your sales of arms to the world. It is blood money that you earn. It is un-Christian.

6) Stop trying to democratize all the countries of the world. Democracy may work for the United States but it does not always work for other countries.

Don't kill people because they are not democratic. Your crusade to democratize countries has killed more people than the authoritarian Governments which you overthrew. And you have not succeeded anyway.

7) Stop the casinos which you call financial institutions. Stop hedge funds, derivatives and currency trading. Stop banks from lending non-existent money by the billions.

Regulate and supervise your banks. Jail the miscreants who made profits from abusing the system.

8) Sign the Kyoto Protocol and other international agreements.

9) Show respect for the United Nations.

I have many other resolutions for change which I think you should consider and undertake.

But I think you have enough on your plate for this 2009th year of the Christian Era.

If you can do only a few of what I suggest you will be remembered by the world as a great leader. Then the United States will again be the most admired nation. Your embassies will be able to take down the high fences and razor-wire coils that surround them.

May I wish you a Happy New Year and a great Presidency.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad

(Former Prime Minister of Malaysia)

"The Bug Was Hid in Blago’s Hair"

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:28:00 +0000

"The Bug Was Hid in Blago's Hair"

The bug was hid in Blago’s hair.
Fitzgerald thus did not play fair.
As for the hair, I do not care,
Be it Blago, or Palin Fair.
But when one looks beneath the hair,
For Rod and Sarah, nothing’s there.

Burma Shave.

By James A. Swanson, Los Altos, CA

“The Bush League of Nations”

www.bushleagueofnations.com [for free download of entire book]

Keep Joe Lieberman in a Doghouse—Without a Chair

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:14:00 +0000

I’m a progressive who could not warm up to Joe Lieberman even if we both died and were cremated together.

Lieberman proudly retains his neocon credentials in spite of eight years of disastrous foreign policy blunders by the neocon-led Bush regime.

Lieberman turned a blind eye to GOP attacks on the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law.

He supported every Middle East warmongering initiative of the Bush regime, and made things worse for both Israel and the Palestinians, with increased deaths on both sides, and with no peace in sight.

Standing out in stark contrast are the contributions of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to peace in the Middle East.

Consider Carter’s sustained efforts leading to the signing of a permanent peace agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1979—a peace agreement that has never been broken by either party. That required Carter’s strength, integrity and moral leadership—in short, diplomacy—something missing from Lieberman’s and the GOP’s toolkit.

Likewise, Clinton had a key role in supporting the peace process that led to the signing of a permanent peace agreement between Israel and Jordan in 1994, which agreement has never been broken.

With friends like Lieberman, Israel needs no enemies.

If the Senate Democrats decide to keep Lieberman in their caucus, he must be confined to a doghouse that has a dirt floor and definitely no chair. Whenever he’s let out to do his business, he must be kept on a short leash, and he must use his own pooper scooper.

Californians: Please Vote NO on Prop 8

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:06:00 +0000

Proposition 8 in California is a rightwing attack on the existing constitutional right of gay couples in California to marry. It would enshrine discrimination in the state’s constitution by denying a targeted group of citizens the right to be treated just like everyone else.

Most of the financial support for Prop 8 comes from the same rightwing religious groups that religiously supported Bush and Cheney.

As a Christian, I know there are many reasons, including many compelling Christian reasons, to vote NO on Prop 8 in California on November 4.

Whatever your views on Prop 8, here is a must-read article:

“On Prop 8: A Favor to Ask from Your Gay Friend at the ACLU”
By Anthony Romero, October 29, 2008

God bless you, Anthony Romero, for being who you are and for standing tall. You write with such passion, completeness and clarity that I will add only one point.

It seems to me that you were blessed with loving parents who, like you, faced a difficult life journey because of bigotry and prejudice, but eventually, thanks to the power of love to transform hearts, they came to respect, support and love you for whom you are.

This raises my point, which is another compelling reason, little mentioned, for voting NO on Prop 8—namely, to make the life journey of millions of other loving straight parents of GLBT sons and daughters easier, more just, and more pro-family.

In the future when I think of “family values,” I will think of you and your family.

“Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.”

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:05:00 +0000

It’s only 18 days before the presidential election, which means the Republican Party is now religiously exploiting the vote suppression section of its Electoral Fraud Manual.

In an AlterNet article today entitled, “Republicans Abuse Prosecutorial Powers to Intimidate Voters,” Steven Rosenfeld does a great job in shining the spotlight on this aspect of GOP corruption.

Of course, the current stage is only one stage in a systemic year-round campaign by the GOP to subvert elections and suppress the vote of progressive American citizens, especially blacks.

Below are a few excerpts from Chapter 12 (“Treason, Electoral Fraud—Anything to Maintain Power”) of my new book, “The Bush League of Nations: The Coalition of the Unwilling, the Bullied and the Bribed—the GOP’s War on Iraq and America.”

The serious problems with electronic voting machines and the rightwing companies that design them have given rise to the term “black box voting,” which has been defined as follows:

Black box voting: “Any voting system in which the mechanism for recording and/or tabulating the vote is hidden from the voter, and/or the mechanism lacks a tangible record of the vote cast.” (www.blackboxvoting.org)

When it comes to electoral fraud, however, Diebold (which in August 2007 changed the name of its election systems subsidiary to Premier Election Solutions) and the other vendors of electronic voting machines constitute only a small piece of a much larger rotten pie.

Electoral fraud occurs in many other areas of the electoral process, including:

· obstacles to voter registration

· improper purging of voter registration rolls

· voter suppression, including voter “caging”—a favorite illegal tactic of the GOP to deny the vote to the poor, minorities, college students and other citizens likely to vote Democratic

· ballot stuffing, ghost voting, and “overcounting” (with votes counted exceeding voter signatures in election poll books)

· weaknesses in other voting machines, not just electronic voting machines

· absentee ballots

· provisional ballots

· obstacles to recounts

· and, of course, the financing of election campaigns

In words attributed to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, “Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.”

Here’s a valuable free weapon for American patriots who are fighting to take back our country. You can now download for FREE the entire book, “The Bush League of Nations.”

If you are so inclined, please spread the word. Let others know of this powerful free resource.

I ask for nothing in return, except that you consider using my book to help kick out America’s worst president and worst political party ever.

The GOP at Work—Turning Your 401(k) into a 201(k)

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:05:00 +0000

Let’s never forget that the GOP wanted to also feed Social Security to the sharks on Wall Street.

If the GOP’s “free enterprise” system does not work in the financial arena, I submit that it cannot work anywhere.

Reagan asked voters, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

We should now also ask, “How is your 201(k) doing?”

I now offer a powerful free weapon to patriots everywhere. You can download for FREE my entire book, "The Bush League of Nations: The Coalition of the Unwilling, the Bullied and the Bribed—the GOP’s War on Iraq and America," by James A. Swanson (2008, CreateSpace Publishing, 448 pages).

It’s a rich resource for arguments and information to counter the talking points, myths and lies of the extreme right.

Please spread the good news in any way you can.

I ask for nothing in return, other than the satisfaction of knowing you might be using it to help kick out the worst regime and political party in America’s history.

Go Obama!

Butchering King Crab in the Aleutians

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:54:00 +0000

After my junior year at MIT I drove from Boston to Anchorage with two college friends from Alaska. I ended up in Cold Bay in the Aleutians, where I lived and worked (processing king crab) on a gigantic old dock built during World War II.

Although it’s impossible to see Russia from Cold Bay, I can’t get rid of a disturbing mental image of Sarah Palin “sitting on the dock of the bay” and staring into the distant mists trying to divine the intentions of Putin.

Yes, everyone says silly things from time to time, so we shouldn’t make too much of her initial silly comment about Russia. And she could have ended it there if she had simply acknowledged her gaffe and laughed along with her detractors.

But — in an unbelievable exercise in bad judgment and verbal gibberish — she dug a much deeper hole during her interview with Katie Couric. Normally reasonably articulate, Palin came across as George W. Bush in drag. Now that’s another disturbing mental image to deal with!

P.S. When I sat on that dock in the Aleutians many summers ago and looked up at the moon, I never once thought of myself as an expert in green cheese.

A Heroine From the Brothels

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:06:00 +0000

In his op-ed column, “A Heroine From the Brothels,” in yesterday’s New York Times, Nicholas Kristof focused needed sunlight on the worldwide epidemic of sex trafficking, which he noted, “is widely acknowledged to be the 21st-century version of slavery, but governments accept it partly because it seems to defy solution.”

However, I’m disappointed that Kristof did not include at least a passing reference to the thousands of Iraqi women and girls, many under 14, who were forced into prostitution as a result of Bush’s and the GOP’s War on Iraq.

These young victims are part of a massive flood of refugees from Iraq—conservatively estimated at more than 2,000,000 through 2007 by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The 2,000,000 refugees who fled Iraq constitute almost 8% of Iraq’s population. On a per capita basis, this is equivalent to about 23 million Americans fleeing the United States, or eight times the entire population of Iowa. (Another 2,500,000 Iraqis—10% of Iraq’s population—are war refugees within Iraq.)

The vast majority of Iraq’s refugees outside Iraq live in Syria and Jordan, where they cannot work legally. As a result, tens of thousands of Iraqi women and girls—estimates range to 50,000 and more—have been forced into prostitution in order to survive.

Some have been pimped by male relatives, and many more fear being hunted down and killed by relatives or Iraqi militias, many of whom believe prostitutes must be punished with death.

I believe America’s corporate media, including The New York Times, have taken it upon themselves to protect American sensibilities from the horrors of war. And rather than focusing blame and punishment where it belongs, it’s safer to sweep everything unpleasant under the rugs of “unintended consequences” and “collateral damage.”

The Most Important Thing You Can Do Today—Listen To This NPR Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:45:00 +0000

Understanding America's Financial Meltdown: Terry Gross Interviews Michael Greenberger

If you are trying to understand America's financial meltdown and the catastrophic risks facing not just Wall Street but also Main Street (i.e., all of America), then listen right now to this 38-minute podcast.

If you want to know more about credit default swaps and other risky financial instruments that lurk in the shadows, unregulated, behind the GOP curtains, then listen to this podcast now.

"Could Wall Street Woes Set Off A Global Crisis?"
Terry Gross, host of "Fresh Air," interviews Michael Greenberger on National Public Radio.

I believe Michael Greenberger, a law professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, is the most articulate expert on these topics.

Greenberger is the director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland and the principal deputy associate attorney general at the Justice Department. He previously served on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The podcast's url is: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94686428

David Brooks' Op-Ed in Today’s "New York Times" (Sept. 12, 2008)

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:10:00 +0000

David Brooks' op-ed piece, “The Social Animal,” in today’s New York Times provokes thought, and I thank him for that.

Perhaps as the result of a recent revelation personally experienced, Brooks correctly states what really is an obvious truism, that we are not a society “of self-creating individuals gloriously free from one another, but of autonomous creatures deeply interconnected with one another.” Of course.

He continues, “Recent Republican Party doctrine has emphasized the power of the individual, but underestimates the importance of connections, relationships, institutions and social filaments that organize personal choices and make individuals what they are.”

After reading his piece, one wonders why this conservative refuses to support the man, Barack Obama, who best espouses the social connections that Brooks extols.

More important, Brooks misses the central point that America’s many huge financial debacles—with trillions of dollars of taxpayer money stolen or lost—have not been caused by interconnected individuals “at the bottom” somehow collectively making bad decisions, but rather by GOP operatives at the top who gamed the system.

The gaming of the system breaks Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”—a sometimes useful metaphor which holds that individuals pursuing their own interests tend in the aggregate to produce the most good for the larger society—because that “invisible hand” assumes a free market, a level playing field.

That level playing field did not exist with respect to any of the humongous financial disasters of the last three decades. From the S&L scandals and bailouts of the 1980s, to government contracting fraud in Iraq, to the recent home mortgage financial fiasco, rigged structures are plainly visible.

Huge casinos were established, with the winnings going to the “lucky” few—the GOP’s constituency of “top two-percenters” and huge corporations—and with the losses, countless trillions of dollars, being shouldered by U.S. taxpayers.

Always, here’s the key question to ask when the GOP talks about reform: “Does the proposed scheme involve taxpayer money or a guaranty by the government, and, if so, which parties stand to gain most when things go well, or not so well.”

When John McCain and the GOP talk about “reform” and use wonderful words like “freedom,” “deregulation” and “privatization,” be sure to count your fingers.

We should applaud David Brooks for the steps—albeit baby steps—that he has taken on the road to recovery from the GOP Dark Side, and we should pray that this conservative continues to evolve.

Need Quick-Growing Testicles for Our Progressive Leaders

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:50:00 +0000

Having watched the national conventions of America's two major political parties, I offer the following:

The Left plays CHESS (by the rules, cerebral, soundbite free, hard to explain) while the Right plays WHACK-A-MOLE with sledge hammers (unfettered by facts and fairness.)

The Left is dumb enough to show up at a knife fight with only knives (butter knives, at that.)

We all should have known we were in trouble when impeachment was taken off the table.

The leaders of the Left refuse to attack McCain's so-called strengths.

The Left accepts as truth all the GOP Myths carefully crafted and nurtured by the GOP and Big Media over the years, including:

(1) that McCain is a maverick,
(2) that the media are liberal,
(3) that the GOP is fiscally responsible,
(4) that the GOP better represents American family values, and
(5) most astounding, that the GOP is strong on national defense.

We need a Silicon Valley entrepreneur to invent some quick-growing testicles for the so-called leaders of the progressive cause.

Short of that, let's all redouble our efforts ... let's make those calls, register voters, do something every day. Let's take back our democracy!

Billions for War, Millions for Peace

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:46:00 +0000

The Peace Corps Takes Back Seat to the War in Iraq

The Washington Post reported today (August 22, 2008, page A15, Christopher Lee) that the U.S. Peace Corps "is preparing to cut back on new volunteers and consolidate recruiting offices as it pares other costs amid an increasingly tight budget." Much of an anticipated shortfall in funds is "attributed to the declining value of the dollar overseas and the rising cost of energy and other commodities," which inflate overseas expenses.

$120 billion is a conservative estimate of America's current annual costs for its war in Iraq. This is based on current spending for direct costs, but excludes additional countless billions in the long-haul for veterans benefits, payments to allies, and interest on Iraq war-related debt.

On the other hand, the Peace Corps' current annual budget is only $330.8 million, notwithstanding bipartisan Congressional support.

America thus spends more for 25 hours of its military occupation of Iraq than it does for the worldwide operations of the Peace Corps for an entire year.

The people of the world, especially Americans, reap huge peace dividends from the work of the Peace Corps, but the peace dividends from our military campaign in Iraq are dubious at best.

The vast majority of the world’s population—and even a majority of Americans—long ago concluded that the peace dividends of America's misadventure in Iraq were illusory, in fact, hugely negative.

In his 2002 State of the Union address, Bush promised to double the number of Peace Corps volunteers by 2007, and he broke his promise. Obama promises to double the size of the Peace Corps by 2011, and we must ensure he keeps his promise.

Georgia Quits Bush League of Nations in Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:30:00 +0000

John McCain—Just Like Bush, Except Not As Smart

[President Bush telephoned John McCain from the Olympics in Beijing on August 11, 2008. The following is an intercepted transcript of that conversation.]

Bush: John, what the heck’s going on? I heard the Russians invaded Georgia ... why isn’t the Georgia National Guard stopping them?

McCain: They can’t, they’re in Iraq.

Bush: Dang, that’s right. But, wait, I also heard Georgia was quitting my coalition in Iraq, you know, the Bush League of Nations. How can they do that? I’m the Decider.

McCain: Yah, it’s confusing. Just who do these Georgians think they are? And where are they exactly? It’s like they’re in "two places at once" … or is it, "no places at twice?"

Bush: Who gives a damn, you suck-up! Let’s focus on me! Boy, I feel real lucky the Olympics are in China and not in Atlanta … you know, like before. I’m pretty safe here with our Chinese bankers. But Georgia … God, my knees start knocking whenever I think of being stuck in Atlanta with the Russian troops getting closer and closer.

McCain: Maybe the Russians will stop attacking if we let them keep Georgia and give them South Carolina too.

Bush: Yah, that’s a good idea … [pause, with gears slowly grinding] … and it would raise the IQ of both America and Russia at the same time.

McCain: I don’t understand. Is that a joke?

Bush: I don’t know … but I heard Karl Rove say it in a cabinet meeting, and everyone laughed. So I laughed too.

McCain: OK, then let’s both laugh together now.

Bush and McBush: Hah, hah, hah!

NOTE: For a crisp perspective on the current conflict in Georgia—including history and context—see the AlterNet article: “Georgia Tries out the Bush War Doctrine, Loses Badly,” by Gary Brecher, of The eXile.

My Pastor’s View of Gay Marriage and the Recent California Supreme Court Decision—Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:51:00 +0000

This is the second part in a two-part series in response to the recent California Supreme Court decision striking down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. It is written by the Rev. Dr. Mark S. Bollwinkel, Senior Pastor of Los Altos United Methodist Church in Los Altos, California.

Public opinion polls suggest that the majority of Californians are willing to confer equal legal status to homosexual unions but want to reserve the word “marriage” for heterosexual couples alone.

A marriage license has always and only been a legal contract regulated by the state to ensure fiscal, property and lineage rights between two adults. The issuance of a marriage license by the state and county has never “sanctified” anything. Was the state of Nevada “sanctifying” Britney Spears’ 48-hour marriage to her boyfriend when it issued them a piece of paper?

Government, especially under a constitution separating church and state, has no business defining what is sacred about anything, let alone the relationship between two consenting adults. Political rhetoric insisting that the government must protect the “sanctity of marriage” by openly discriminating against the rights of a minority in our society is hypocritical and un-American.

Religious bodies should have the right to determine who and how they will celebrate a marriage, including my own United Methodist denomination, which prohibits the ordination of self-avowed gays and lesbians and their holy unions. But government has no business legislating discrimination against any law-abiding, consenting adult.

The heterosexual majority may find homosexual behavior and culture strange or repulsive. That is no basis for social discrimination. We’ve been down this road too many times before in America when religious and political bias has been used to justify the majority’s fears by restricting the rights of others – people of color and women in general know that reality all-too-well.

Half of the marriage licenses in our society will be revoked by divorce. We flock to be entertained by movies, TV, books and music that presume if not promote fornication and adultery. To suggest that gay marriage threatens the “sanctity” of heterosexual relationships is absurd.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there are more than 800,000 same-gender households in our country. My wife and I will celebrate our 35th anniversary this year and have never once been threatened in the blessing of our relationship knowing that some families are just different from ours.

Many will argue that the natural ability of biological procreation between a man and a woman is what makes a heterosexual union “sacred,” as God is a life-affirming and life-generating spirit. Adoption, in vitro fertilization and surrogate pregnancies have allowed both heterosexual and nonheterosexual families to have children outside of God-given procreation. To reserve the sacred label for heterosexual families alone makes the procreation argument hollow indeed.

It is difficult at best to project 21st century ethics regarding sexual orientation onto Jesus or the leaders of the early church. They faced an entirely different worldview and context. However, Jesus’ vision of the “reign of God” in which all are included to experience God’s grace, forgiveness, peace and justice has inspired two millennia of the faithful and still does so today.

Jesus would be the first to honor sacred scripture and use it to encounter the living God. By teaching and example, he suggests biblical literalism and manipulation cuts the community off from the living word (Matthew 5:17-18, 21-45, 12:1-8, 15:10-20; Mark 2:23-28, 7:1-23; Luke 6:1-5; John 9; Acts 10:9-16; Galatians 5:1-12, 6:11-16).

To use the Bible as justification to discriminate against a minority within our society is wrong. God may be speaking a new word to us today as we once again wrestle with our prejudices regarding gay marriage.

I am one of a minority of United Methodist clergy who yearn for the day when gay, bisexual, transgender and lesbian people are fully included in the life of our church and honored as full citizens in their nation. I also understand that such a day is in the future due to the fear and prejudice our society has for these children of God. It took centuries for the church and society to change its policies toward slavery, people of color and the role and status of women – all social concerns in which we still have a long way to go. Upholding the California Supreme Court decision for marriage equality is an essential step toward that hopeful day.

My Pastor’s View of Gay Marriage and the Recent California Supreme Court Decision—Part One

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:27:00 +0000

This is the first part in a two-part series. It is written by the Rev. Dr. Mark S. Bollwinkel, Senior Pastor of Los Altos United Methodist Church in Los Altos, California.

In response to the recent California Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage, I offer the following in the hope of encouraging discussion on an important topic of the day. These thoughts do not reflect the policy of Los Altos United Methodist Church or the United Methodist denomination, only my point of view. And they are not the only positions that can be held by faithful people.

In a society that lives with a 50 percent divorce rate and commonly accepts cohabitation of adult children before their marriages and cohabitation between consenting seniors due to financial and tax constraints – all of which the Bible would consider “sinful” – it is ironic that the heterosexual majority condemns committed homosexual relationships in part because “the Bible says it’s a sin.”

Politicians, preachers and talk-show hosts are quick to justify discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender folk while conveniently ignoring much of what else the Bible says about marriage. For example:

Marriage shall not impede a man’s right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (2 Samuel 5:13; 1 Kings 11:3; 2 Chronicles 11:21)
A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the woman is not a virgin on the wedding day, she shall be executed. (Deuteronomy 22:13-21)
Marriage of a believer and a nonbeliever is forbidden. (Genesis 24:3, Numbers 25:1-9, Ezra 9:12, Nehemiah 10:30, 2 Corinthians 6:14)
Divorce is forbidden except in the case of adultery. (Deuteronomy 22:19, Matthew 19:1-9, Mark 10:9-12)
If a married man dies without children, his brother must marry the widow. If the brother refuses to marry the widow, or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Genesis 38:6-10, Deuteronomy 25:5-10)
Any sexual intercourse outside of marriage is considered “fornication,” and those practicing it are not getting into heaven. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Revelation 22:15)

Transposing ancient social norms to the 21st century is not just a matter of semantics. We often quote the Bible to justify our prejudices, picking and choosing verses to justify our points of view.

Many quote Leviticus 20:13, “male homosexual behavior is an abomination,” as culturally relevant for today while dismissing the second half of the very same verse, “and they shall be put to death,” as the quaint relic of an ancient past. Such interpretation is capricious and self-serving.

The challenge of faith is to use the Bible to hear the living word of God (John 1:1-14, 5:39-40), not simply as a gauntlet in a theological debate.

God did not stop speaking when the canon, in the Protestant tradition the 66 books authorized as Holy Scriptures, was formulated in the fourth century CE. If the Bible teaches us anything, it is that the spirit of God is on the move with God’s people throughout history and the changing conditions they face.

For example:

The Bible codifies and regulates slavery as an institution. Jesus says nothing directly against the institution, and the apostle Paul supports it outright. Yet in the 18th century Christians inspired by the living word heard a new message from God and sacrificed to begin a movement that ended slavery within 200 years.
The Bible relegates women to second-class citizenship at best, the status of property at worst. Yet in the 19th and 20th centuries Christians inspired by the living word heard a new message from God and fought for universal suffrage and equal rights for all genders.

God is speaking a new word for us today regarding those with sexual orientations different from the majority.

Whether the majority likes it or not, gays and lesbians serve in our military, teach our children and preach in our pulpits, often hiding their orientation to do so. Law-abiding, tax-paying and contributing citizens of our country should be afforded equal rights under the law regardless of their sexual orientation.

The GOP’s Bankruptcy of America—Part I

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:14:00 +0000

Another Record Deficit from Bush: Living from Grandchild’s Paycheck to Grandchild’s Paycheck

According to financial estimates just released (July 28, 2008) by the Bush administration, next year’s budget deficit will be the worst ever, $482 billion for fiscal year 2009.

Incredibly, the actual deficit will almost certainly be much worse for at least two reasons: (1) The estimate does not include tens of billions in “off-budget” war funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, and (2) the estimate is based on rosy assumptions, including an estimate of economic growth that is higher than the average of estimates from business economists.

Bush’s Olympic performance was noted by fiscal hawk Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND): “If we gave Olympic medals for fiscal irresponsibility, President Bush would take the gold, the silver and the bronze, because he’s got the three highest record deficits ever. … 2009 would be the gold; 2004 the silver; 2008 the bronze.”

In a later blog we’ll acknowledge the Olympic performance of Ronald Reagan, who in the 1980s made fiscal irresponsibility a key plank of the Republican Party—the Cons—and put America on the road to bankruptcy and financial Armageddon.

In this current blog, we’ll review just the last 15 years:

1993-2000: BILL CLINTON (Democrat)—8 Years

Finally, after 12 years in the Land of the Cons, America had a president who told the fiscal truth, and walked it. Yes, a Democrat. Of course.
Turned the largest deficit in history into the largest surplus in history.
Greatly decreased the deficit (or increased the surplus he created) every year he was in office ... 8 years of improvement in a row.
GRADE: A+

2001-08: GEORGE W. BUSH (Republican)—7 Years and Counting

In just three years, turned the largest federal surplus in history (Clinton’s surplus) into the largest deficit in history.
His first seven years were the seven worst years in history in the worsening of the federal budget.
Joined his father and Reagan in the Holy Triumvirate of Voodoo Economics.
Achieved record federal spending each year while never vetoing a single spending bill during his first six years.
Inflicted great pain on the middle- and lower-income workers of America.
Gave humongous tax breaks to the Super Rich.
Presided over the largest expansion of government pork and corruption in history.
Protected America’s fiscal position the same way he protected America on 9/11.
GRADE: F
GRADE DESERVED: W

In summary, the only period of financial responsibility since 1981 was when a Democrat was in charge.

Bill Clinton’s eight years of Grade A financial responsibility—a noble patriotic effort—stemmed temporarily the catastrophic tidal wave of 19 years of GOP Grade F mismanagement and looting (under Reagan, Bush the Father, and Bush the Son).

Giving credit where credit is due, here are some additional facts about Clinton’s Grade A management:

Over eight years, with financial improvement each and every year, Clinton turned an annual budget deficit of $290 billion into an annual budget surplus of $127 billion, the largest ever.
The turnaround to financial responsibility did not occur without straight talk and unpopular painful medicine. In his 1993 budget Clinton increased taxes and slashed expenses. He knew this medicine was necessary to reverse years of financial irresponsibility under the Republican Party.
Every Republican member of Congress opposed Clinton’s 1993 budget and the 1993 Debt Reduction Act. They claimed that Clinton’s tough medicine would cause greater deficits and a recession, but they were wrong—again.
Clinton’s financial stewardship had numerous other benefits, including: a big reduction in interest rates; the largest budget surplus ever; huge growth in excellent jobs; tremendous strength in the stock markets; strength and respect in the world; an America that believed in itself again; and an America that believed in helping its unborn, wanting to leave them—countless future generations of children—a valuable financial legacy, not an immoral IOU in the form of a cold GOP Banana.

After Clinton left office, Bush and the GOP Congress ransacked America like thieves and drunken sailors. They eliminated checks and balances while they wrote unlimited checks and IOUs. The GOP Congress abdicated its constitutional duties by refusing to oversee and investigate financial malfeasance in the executive branch, and it changed and gutted congressional ethics rules to protect its own GOP “crooks and creeps” in Congress.

Until the 1980s both parties believed in fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets. They understood the unfairness of stealing from grandchildren and the unborn to fund current financial addictions. They knew America needed to be fiscally strong in order to be morally and militarily strong.

But then the deficits-don’t-matter neo-GOP rode into town. The party of “conservatives” became the party of “cons. “GOP” soon stood for “Gang of Plunderers.”

Corporate Media Play Pattycake with Yellowcake in Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (jswanson) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:25:00 +0000

“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for … He can go about his business … Move along … There’s no story here.”

The Associated Press recently reported (July 5, 2008) the good news that 550 metric tons of low-grade uranium known as yellowcake had been secretly and safely transported from Iraq to Montreal, to Cameco Corp., the Canadian uranium producer that purchased it from Iraq.

America’s corporate media covered the news in minimalist style, without providing context or the bigger picture, thus allowing the gullible to conclude that nuclear materials had been “found” in Iraq and that therefore Bush must have been right after all about Saddam’s WMDs. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Some rightwing commentators—allergic to facts and critical analysis—immediately jumped to the conclusion that the 550 tons of yellowcake proved that Saddam had an active nuclear weapons program. The conclusion was 100% wrong.

In fact, the recently removed yellowcake uranium dates back to the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who in the 1980s supported Saddam’s WMD programs, including providing Saddam with know-how, equipment and materials for biological and chemical weapons. Other nations also contributed to this effort. Saddam extensively used chemical weapons including mustard gas against Iranian troops and civilians during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) and later against his own people.

Yes, Reagan and Saddam were in bed together, as Iraq waged war on Iran. Knowing that Saddam used chemical weapons on an almost daily basis, the Reagan administration provided intelligence and targeting information to Iraq and reestablished diplomatic relations with that nation. Estimates of the number of Iraqis and Iranians killed in the Iran-Iraq War range up to 1.5 million.

An excellent account of this sad chapter in American history is: “Reagan’s WMD Connection to Saddam Hussein,” by Jacob Hornberger, June 18, 2004.

Some of the yellowcake recently removed from Iraq to Canada was already in Iraq when Reagan became president in 1980, and substantially more was acquired by Iraq during his watch.

The existence, quantity and location of this Reagan-era yellowcake was known to the UN, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United States for many years prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Gulf War I in 1991—also known as Desert Storm—and the subsequent IAEA inspection efforts completely ended whatever yellowcake production and processing efforts Saddam may have started during the Reagan era.

In addition, at the time of the 2003 invasion, the Reagan-era yellowcake:

(1) was legally possessed and stored by Iraq under international law;
(2) was under IAEA control and seal (until the seals were broken in 2003 by U.S. marines);
(3) was inspected frequently by the IAEA over the years; and
(4) was not weapons grade.

In short, the Reagan-era yellowcake was obviously not a casus belli to justify war against Iraq, not even to creative liars in the Bush administration. Therefore, in the run-up to the 2003 invasion, they relentlessly repeated the lie that Saddam had recently sought new uranium from Africa.

The lie was highlighted in the sixteen infamous words in Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address: “The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”

Although the Bush administration during the 2003 invasion knew the exact location of the Reagan-era yellowcake—the Tuwaitha complex 15 miles south of Baghdad—they were so unconcerned about it that they left the site unguarded for 30 days following the invasion.

American marines who stumbled upon the facility in 2003 thought they had found an illegal WMD site and unwittingly broke the IAEA seals on the facility. America’s corporate media then quickly spread misinformation and unfounded speculation regarding the site. Following the “discovery,” an indecisive Pentagon took a month to send a qualified inspection team to the site, and by then the site had been looted.

The yellowcake facility at Tuwaitha was not looted by insurgents or terrorists seeking WMD material, but by local Iraqis who saw a market for barrels and sold them for $2 each after dumping at the site the toxic materials they contained. Many of the empty barrels were then used to store water and food.

The Bush administration later ordered Iraqis to sell back the barrels for $3 each, and some of the roughly 3,000 missing barrels were thus recovered.

Off the radar is any concern about possible health risks to Iraqis who bought the drums or to Iraqis who live near the toxic materials.

Yellowcake—a word previously unfamiliar to most Americans—became part of the public lexicon as the Bush administration’s cover-up regarding its crimes and impeachable offenses began to unravel. These include the attacks on Ambassador Joseph Wilson who had refuted the bogus claims regarding uranium from the African nation of Niger; the treasonous outing of Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative; and, of course, the underlying Niger scandal itself, which history is likely to regard as one of the most evil of the many Bush regime campaigns of lies, propaganda and impeachable offenses.

Ironically, it was not real yellowcake—say that from the Reagan era, which Bush understandably did not want to talk about—but rather imaginary yellowcake—which the Bush warmongers marketed relentlessly—that caused the Bush administration so much trouble.

A detailed account of the Bush regime’s relentless campaign of propaganda and lies regarding uranium from Niger during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 is found at pages 351-8 in this blogger’s recent book, “The Bush League of Nations: The Coalition of the Unwilling, the Bullied and the Bribed—The GOP’s War on Iraq and America” (2008).