There I go again! Getting all optimistic! I lost my head for a minute…indulge me…

And all the vitriolic volume cranked up by the “true Americans”…you know who I mean, the ‘c’hristian Republicans (‘c’Rs), screaming in the faces of progressives and democratic congressmembers in outraged indignation – that THEY have read the hundreds and hundreds of pages of “the health care bill” (the one that doesn’t even technically exist at this point) so the rest of us had better read it or screw off. And we all know how well-read and studied these folks are…

Then two days ago…one of their own informed members of the ‘c’Rs, and current resident of C Street House, Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, had this to say in an article on the Huffington Post about developing an informed opinion on health care out of concern for the American public:

Republicans challenged Democrats to read the whole bill this summer — even though Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell later admitted that he hadn’t.

In July, Inhofe said that stalling or blocking health care reform would be a “huge gain” for Republicans in the 2010 election.

At a town hall meeting Wednesday Sen. Jim Inhofe told Chickasha residents he does not need to read the 1,000 page health care reform bill, he will simply vote against it.

“I don’t have to read it, or know what’s in it. I’m going to oppose it anyways,” he said.

Okay!  Add Inhofe to the growing list…and I think they need to take this to the floor of congress and have a “movie-day” with popcorn and pillows. In fact, they could up the ante and offer treats to those who can properly use the following words in proper context in a sentence – fascism; socialism; communism; democracy; republic.

I can guarantee you that the investment in treat handouts would be minimal.

QUICK UPDATE:

A comment from a reader suggests that we all go over to You Tube and vote this UP. In doing so, it is abundantly clear to me that I am just a hopeless optimist! Reading some of the comments under the YouTube video of this over on the YT page…and you will be shaking your head too! What a bunch of…! They’re embarrassing…

In the process of transitioning web sites, I want to start a new series that will be ongoing on the new site.  As I have said, we will be departing the Palin port and moving into broader scopes. This will sometimes require ongoing ties back to Queen Esther – as in today’s post about the antics of Franklin Graham and his neat lil company, “Samaritan’s Purse”. Referring back to her is inevitable because they did actually choose her (as unbelievable as that still remains to my rational mind), one year ago today.

My partner Alex (aka ‘dogemporer’), in the upcoming book has done extensive research and writing over the years on dominionism and religious extremism. A great deal of her “diaries” as she calls them are spread across many web sites in the blogosphere…but I am going to start re-posting portions of them with links to her entire articles on the new blog site, “godsownparty”, in an effort to bring them into one place. Her work is invaluable.

So today I am going to share an article about proselytizing in the military and the parasites that swoop in to “harvest souls” like our friend Franklin Graham – Billy Graham’s spot-on example of a prodigal son – a rich daddy’s-boy who travels the world perpetuating his father’s multi-million dollar “souls-for-money” business. We saw Frank recently shuttling Palin, Parnell and the self-righteous Baptist from Anchorage, Alaska (Jerry Prevo), around to a couple of villages in western Alaska. They stood around the plane and had prayer group hugs on camera, and claimed their acts as altruistic in the name of Jesus.

First of all…there is nothing altruistic about these people. There is always an agenda, and that agenda is that you either convert to their game or get squashed. They need the numbers, for how else will they be able to traverse the globe in private planes, motorcycles, boats, limos – you name it spreading the ‘wurd’? They feed off those in despair like zealot parasites in the name of Jesus.

If it sounds like I am angry today it is because I am. A true American patriot, USAF graduate, former White House counsel in the Reagan Administration and my friend Mikey Weinstein and his family have been horribly harassed, threatened and terrorized because of his work to prevent these parasites from dominating faith in the military through his Military Religious Freedom Foundation. So I am compelled to speak out about these lovely dominionist ‘c’hristians and share the tangled web they weave together, including their act of military proselytizing.

Alex has already written about this connection in June 2008 between Samaritan’s Purse and military proselytizing which is included in  full article here – but below I would like to include portions of it so I can interject a few comments:

The recent incident where a Marine was recently found distributing “Bible coins” promoted by a fundamentalist “Bible church” is, sad to say, far from the first incident of overt proselytizing in Iraq.

The truth is, this sort of thing has been going on literally since Gulf War I, and ramped up in Gulf War II–and, ironically, has directly threatened the future existence of two of the oldest Christian churches in the world–churches that can literally trace their founding to one of the Twelve Apostles. Even more disturbingly, most of the worst proselytizing has been with civilian dominionist groups that target both Iraqi citizens and US military personnel.

Not the first, and not even the worst, example of “invading missionaries”

Whilst the “Bible coin” fiasco has been given considerable press (in part because of military involvement following an incident where a copy of the Quran was used for target practice), it is by no means the first or the worst example of targeting of Iraqis–including other “people of the book”–by dominionist “missionaries”.

It has been little publicized, but dominionist “missionary” groups have been in Iraq since the US government hit the ground in Gulf War II–and their activities may have in fact directly led in part to the bucket of hell that the country is in…and to US military being targeted.

One of the first groups on the ground–and one of the more notorious offenders in regard to the use of “bait and switch” evangelism, especially in regards to relief efforts–was Frank Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse (which made plans as soon as 2003 to enter the country). The SBC, the Assemblies of God, and other groups also moved in quite rapidly after Saddam Hussein’s government fell.

Samaritan’s Purse’s actions have been especially odious. Among other things, the group literally described the attempted genocide of Iraq’s Kurdish population as a “missionary opportunity”; never mind that Kurdish people are already a marginalized people and that one of the more heavily demonized religious minorities in Iraq exists among the Kurdish people (the Yezidi faith, which venerates Malek Taus as a bringer of wisdom–a being normally equated to Shaitan in traditional Islam, which has led to Yezidis being (falsely) accused of being Satanists). As it is, Samaritan’s Purse’s leader stated that Islam was a “wicked and violent” religion in such terms that even George W. Bush didn’t want to touch that statement with a 40-foot barge pole.

Okay…It is not a stretch her to place Franklin Graham and Erik Prince (Mr. Xe formerly known as Blackwater) in the same tree house when they were young and playing army. Frank actually was kown to take an automatic rifle and use it as a chain saw but shooting up the base of trees to the point of toppling them. Picture the vitriol hatred the 2 of them share in their righteous ‘c’hristianity towards Islam. An ugly and dangerous combination. Look at them – they look like twins. ‘c’hristians filled with hate. Wow!

Samaritan’s Purse also has a well-documented history of forcing people to be proselytized to as a condition of disaster aid and especially targeting children to do so–including gift boxes given to children with religious toys.

Starving, homeless, displaced children and families – suffering the horrors of war or other disasters – and here come these “people of God”, swooping in with aid but tell them they can’t have it until they have listen to the sales pitch and are “saved” before they can have food, clothing or trinket dangling before them.

This is saving souls!  This is extortion! Shame on them!

In fact, the “bait and switch” extended to adults as well; Samaritan’s Purse ended up wearing out its welcome with the Red Cross during Gulf War I (by pulling stunts where it required people to watch “The Jesus Film” to receive aid at a Jordanian refugee center) which could have gotten our soldiers in serious trouble with their host country:

Even Franklin Graham used some of these methods. According to Graham’s biography, “Rebel With a Cause,” during the last Gulf War, Samaritan’s Purse went to Jordan under the banner “Operation Desert Save” with food and aid–and showed the Jesus Film at night until the International Red Cross complained. Graham then used the Dear Abby Any Servicemen campaign to send Arabic language Scripture tracts and New Testaments into Saudi Arabia-a country he describes as “wicked”–and smuggled them past censors concerned about cultural sensitivity by using the Dear Abby postmark. The U.S. Postal Service, acting on a complaint by Dear Abby, brought the campaign to an end.

(Of Note: Samaritan’s Purse was among a number of dominionist groups (including the Assemblies front group FGBMFI) known to have funneled aid to the Contras under the guise of “aid” and conducted extensive “bait and switch” evangelism in Nicaragua)

And lest people think Samaritan’s Purse’s behavior in Iraq was an aberration–they’re reported to have targeted survivors of Hurricane Katrina in identical manner. In fact, Frank Graham explicitly saw Katrina as “God’s Judgment” on New Orleans (how many times do we have to tell these folks that Hurricane Katrina is not divine retribution, and if it were, then God must have the worst aim in the world as Bourbon Street was probably the least damaged area that Katrina hit?).

Ironically, the influx of dominionist missionaries may well have been one of the worst things to have happened to the Christian community in Iraq in modern times.

Almost from the time they arrived, dominionist groups started aggressively targeting both Moslem *and* Christian groups for conversion–including the Chaldean Catholic and Iraqi Orthodox churches, two of the longest-lived congregations in all of Christianity. Traditionally, some of the churches in Iraq literally were founded by missionary efforts of no less than St. Thomas. As in the disciple Thomas, as in one of the guys who personally knew Jesus when he was alive in Christian tradition. Yes, these are literally some of the first Christian churches ever set up, where St. Paul would have been visiting as a traveling preacher visiting established churches.

Enough is enough for the Christian community in Iraq. The head of Iraq’s largest Christian community, Patriarch Emmanuel Delly, recently scathingly attacked the evangelical Christians who have taken their crusade to Iraq since the illegal U.S. invasion of March 2003.

According to Delly, the evangelicals attract poor youths with displays of money and then “take them out in cars to have fun. Then, they take photos and send them here, to Germany, to the United States and say ‘look how many Muslims have become Christian.’”

The interesting thing is…before the dominionist missionaries came, relations between the Christian and Moslem communities in Iraq were historically quite good in modern times. There was very much a spirit of “live and let live”–groups kept to their faith, and there was little effort at trying to convert each other.

This pretty much got shot to hell by dominionist missionaries…who, in part because of their actions, are now causing one of the oldest groups in Christendom to flee their country in droves and causing them to be targeted in such numbers that the word “genocide” has been increasingly used to describe the situation.

And increasingly, our soldiers are being associated with having brought the Dominionists to Iraq by its countrymen–and, sadly, with reports of ongoing attempts at steeplejacking of the US military’s chaplaincy system (which has been frighteningly successful in the Army and Air Force; the Navy still seems to be giving a good fight), this is not necessarily inaccurate.

Thank you, Alex.

And that is exactly what Weinstein is fighting, and being persecuted for. Working to keep our military free from these ‘c’hristian cult leaders who have now invaded the chaplaincy and dominated it, leaving subordinates to be pressured into conversion under threat of insubordination and misconduct.

And because of his fight to keep religious choice free in the military, he and his family have come under the most heinous fire. Mr. Weinstein, you sir are a true patriot!

UPDATE!!  BAILIN’ PALIN BAILS AGAIN! THIS WOMAN IS UNBELIEVABLE…

Link here to Lisa Derrick’s article that was JUST posted to LaFiga Firedoglake.com.

She can’t even commit to something she is committed to!

Below is the article I put together last night before the news that she now claims to have never been invited to this shin-dig.  There ya go Sarah! Step on your own!  Let us know how that will keep working for you…what a piece of work…

She has picked another spotlight to hover under. Parental consent. It is essentially – “Fox joins Change Point and promoted by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council”.  When I say Fox, it is the combination of her appeal to have all her “friends” tune in and act out by being loyal and faithful watchers of Glenn Beck, and her own questionable mental state that urges her to support this very unstable man.

Her appearance at this ‘event’ will get coverage. Adding to the media attraction is that another very active dominionist extremist, Star Parker, will be there sharing the spotlight with her.  Parker is also scheduled to speak at the Family Research Council’s “Value Voters Council Summit in Washington, D.C. next month on September 18-20, 2009, and of course Palin simply can’t decide – although she is on the list as a “maybe”.

Oh boy…here they go!  Winding up to convey their message of take back America by mandating “Family Values” based on biblical origins and shoving them down our throats…

…while simultaneously absolving themselves from any wrongdoings in C Street fashion because they are the “chosen elite” and are therefore forgiven of past and future sins because they are “doing the Lord’s work”.

So getting back to tonight’s show, I guess this opportunity for Palin and Parker to test the mics at Governor Parnell’s church, is a great way to launch their sanctimonious partnership in the name of “pro-life” by pushing for a law that would require all minor females to notify their parents before seeking an abortion in the event a minor girl went in search of one – even when the pregnancy may be a result of rape/incest and put the girl in harm’s way by seeking permission.

P & P are using this for two main political messages: 1)  declare abortion illegal under any circumstance; and 2)  keep the fires stoked that Obama is a proponent of federal tax dollars going to pay for abortion in his health care reform bill…well, and in Parker’s world add that she claims abortion is a direct tool of genocide against African-Americans among other interesting claims.

And of course, the personal pandering and clambering for constant media attention always a primary factor.  While Parker is a regular mouthpiece on Fox news, and Palin is rallying her ‘friends’ in the Internet world to support Glenn Beck, they continue to command audiences whether through the media or congregations and rile up the paranoid extremists.

For those of you who have the interest, I am going to give you a tremendous amount of information below that you will learn so much from with regard to how these seemingly regional appearances link to the bigger picture of national Political Dominionism.  What I am inserting here is the raw research material provided by “dogemporer” on how this righteous duo fit into the puzzle.  You will also notice that the connections are like a spider web and each link reveals another and another and another.  But this is a glimpse of how we are able to bind them all together.   FotF=Focus on the Family; AFC=Alaska Family Council; NARasite=New Apostolic Reformation parasite;

It turns out Palin is connected with Alaskans for Parental Rights
(http://www.alaskansforparentalrights.org/) which is a front of a front
of a front of a front.  (Yes, it’s pretty much a classic “matroshka doll
front”; Alaskans for Parental Rights is a front of Alaska Family Action,
which in turn is a 501(c)4 lobbying front of Alaska Family Council
(http://www.alaskafamilycouncil.org/), which (along with (de facto if
not de jure) Family Research Council) is a Focus on the Family front
(http://www.alaskafamilycouncil.org/about_us/focus_family_assn.html
gives more details–pretty much it’s a FotF state affiliate (and
specifically a front of Citizenlink, itself a front of FotF Action,
itself the 501(c)4 lobbying wing of FotF that it set up after it
“officially” split off Family Research Council under threat of FotF
losing its tax-exempt status)–and http://www.citizenlink.org/fpc/ gives
more info on the networks nationwide).

This is actually pretty interesting, as AFC has apparently had some
disagreements with Palin regarding Supreme Court appointees
(http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/groups/alaska-family-council).
This proves, even more, that Sarah Palin is going into “stealth and
organise” mode–Alaskans for Parental Rights is a frontgroup set up for
the sole purpose of forcing a referendum on passing a strict “parental
notification” law regarding abortions for minors similar to that in
Missouri (http://www.alaskansforparentalrights.org/about)–Missouri’s
law, of note, has only limited judicial bypass options, and it is
legally a felony for even a relative to take a minor across state lines
for purposes of obtaining an abortion in a state with friendlier
judicial bypass options.

Interestingly, another FotF frontgroup–the Alliance Defense Fund, a
group that promotes itself as being a parallel-economy “Christian
Alternative” to legit civil rights legal groups like the ACLU or
Americans United–has been doing quite a bit of damage control and
pimping of Palin
(http://www.alaskansforparentalrights.org/aggregator/sources/4 gives a
large list, almost all links pointing to Alliance Defense Fund news briefs).

Star Parker…oh gods, Star Parker is just all kinds of friggin’
*speshul*.  Parker is an example of, shall we say, a “house slave” of the dominionist movement,
and in particular likes to promote the idea that abortion was meant as a
method of “back-door genocide of African-Americans”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Parker and yes, sadly, this exact
sort of whargarbl is heavily used now as a recruitment tool by NARasite
groups in particular to recruit African-Americans).  In fact, much of
her schtick is in fact essentially the old neopentecostal “I was a
horrid horrid sinner and druggie and I had lots of abortions and then I
found God” narrative (pretty much what one can consider the “involved in
atrocities then converted” dialogue–which has literally been used for
supposed “Satanists” in the 80s during the “Satanic Panic”, is used a
lot nowadays with “former terrorists”, and has even been promoted up to
literal Godwin’s Law-invoking claims of being former Hitler Youth who
converted; yes, it is literally an honest-to-God “conversion
trope”)–her “Saved Ex-Slut” trope-story is at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/1997/julaug/7w4022.html?start=2 for
your perusal.

Parker is especially appealing to neopentes and neocons, in part,
because she claims to essentially be an ex-welfare-queen and ex-Dr.
Feelgood (which plays to a *very* nasty popular myth regarding “black
welfare queens”) and promotes “abstinence only” stuff; she operates a
group called Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education
(http://www.urbancure.org/) that in essence promotes NARasite theories
about why African-Americans are being held down (tl;dr version: they
ain’t got enough God–no matter that African-Americans are in general
some of the most solidly Evangelical Christians in the US–NARasite
neopentecostalism is relatively new in the African-American church
community, however).  Among other things, she essentially claims that
LBJ’s War on Poverty destroyed African-American culture
(http://www.talk2action.org/story/2009/3/9/93733/84075), even writing a
book called “Uncle Sam’s Plantation” promoting this.

Parker is rather well documented as having connections with FotF Action
(http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/4/05840/96219) and apparently
has stumped for Palin in past; she’s pretty much one of the “rising
stars” of the political dominionist community
(www.talk2action.org

and in particular http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/10/19/20916/994
and http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/9/13/17438/3915 or the promo
material on her own site at http://www.urbancure.org/starparker.asp).

In particular, Parker does seem to have NARasite linkage; she shared the
stage with David Barton of the NARasite historical-revisionist group
“Wallbuilders” (http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/7/18/142622/634)
along with Rick Scarborough at a “Penetrating America’s Heart
Conference” held Sept. 25-27, 2000 at Encourager Church; Encourager is a
“stealth Assemblies” NARasite church with linkages to C. Peter Wagner’s
network in particular that literally operates nowadays as a de facto
“daughter” church of the infamous NARasite Brownsville A/G in Pensacola
(http://www.encouragerchurch.org/ and in particular
http://www.encouragerchurch.org/staff1.html notes how it’s essentially a
Third Wave/Joel’s Army church DIRECTLY descended from Brownsville).
More NARasite linkage (and “Assemblies NARasite” in particular) comes
from some of her advisory board members–Kenneth Blackwell (connected
with World Harvest Church in Columbus, a NARasite “Assemblies
daughter”), John Ashcroft (yes, as in the Assemblies NARasite who was
“annointed” as Attorney-General, as in the literal son of the founder of
the Assemblies frontgroup Chi Alpha), and the head of the dominionist
“Liberty Counsel” legal-harassment group
(http://www.urbancure.org/advisors.asp).

Parker serves not only as an “Uncle Tom” (or “Auntie Thomasina”) to the
African-American community but also to women; she’s linked with the
Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, a “conservative women” think-tank
(http://www.cblpi.org/index.cfm); she’s a favourite on the whargarbl
sites Townhall (http://townhall.com/columnists/StarParker/archive.shtml)
and WorldNetDaily (http://www.wnd.com/news/archives.asp?AUTHOR_ID=219).

Her present husband (she is apparently trotted out especially as an
example of “ebony and ivory living in perfect harmony”; her husband is
white) was in seminary at a steeplejacked “Charismatic Episcopalian”
church as of 1997 (http://www.theeffectivetruth.info/testlsip.html notes
her husband is pastor of St. Michael’s Charismatic Episcopal Church.

So, long story short–this is pretty much *precisely* the crowd Palin
would be hanging around with.

Again, I know this is a lot of information, but when you see the linkages and how deep they go, you can see why we are concerned about these seemingly inocuous appearances.  These are planned and intentional to acheive specific outcomes, and IF we hear about them, it is easy to dismiss them as an “so what, she is speaking at a church – big surprise” kind of reaction.  Believe it or not I only provided a third of that email for you, but it gives you a significant amount of reference material to check out as time allows you.

Palin and Parker are both being used by the boys at the top, but their egos allow them to lap up the glory along the way.  And who are the boys at the top who are referenced in this outline by dogemporer?  James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Dave Barton, and C. Peter Wagner – just to name a few – who are all entertwined with each other and groups like Youth with a Mission =YAM who =Loren Cunningham who = The Fellowship who = The Family recently exposed by Jeff Sharlet.

Soooo…anyone in Anchorage going tonight?

UPDATE!!  BAILIN’ PALIN BAILS AGAIN! THIS WOMAN IS UNBELIEVABLE…

Link here to Lisa Derrick’s article that was JUST posted to LaFiga Firedoglake.com.

She can’t even commit to something she is committed to!

While my blog work is in this transition this week, I am frustrated by some of the antics my computer is playing with me, so bare with any hiccups along the way.  But I had the privilege of meeting the only other person brave enough to come forward last April and speak out against Sarah Palin’s choice for the new Attorney General, Wayne Anthony Ross (aka WAR), with regard to his misogynist behaviour.

I will use only the initials PH here out of respect for her ongoing concerns of backlash because she still resides in Anchorage, Alaska where she was born and raised, and where her ex who abused her for many years, still resides.  This woman bravely agreed to come forward with testimony against this overwhelmingly poor choice, bolstering my own testimony.  My heart went out to her as I pleaded with her to have to repeat her testimony one more time during the process.  In tears she agreed.  And we won a history making decision against this monster – and Wayne Anthony Ross!

There is a lot of discussion about the behaviour of the ‘teabagging’ town hall bullies and how we need to face them head on and put a stop to this intimidation.  This is easier said than done.  I agree that we have to stand up to them, but no one relishes having to confront and stand up to an aggressor.

PH spent the night here giving us time to cover a lot of conversational ground.  Speaking out and standing together for what is right is always easier to talk about than actually do.  I had a sense of the trauma that this caused her, but now know the extent of her past and the domestic violence abuse.  I am even more appreciative today than I was in April for her remarkable bravery in speaking out against a such a despicable bully, even at the risk of bringing retribution into her personal life as a result.  I applaud you PH!

We must all dig deep and find that sense of duty to go out and speak up.  It doesn’t have to be a huge time investment, or require deviating into total activism.  I was sent a great article that I will post here outlining 7 ways to fight fascism...think of ways that you can pick a slice of these ideas and put them into action.

We really can make a difference through our individual actions…

Tom Delay, who is under idictment for money laundering as I posted in my ongoing list of GOP crimials, is making time out of his busy schedule of “stopping Obama” to be on “Dancing with the Stars”.  (This just further confirms for me that this TV show is VERY loose with the use of the word “stars”!)

Let’s review this “star“…shall we?

Tom DeLay, former House Majority Leader was indicted for campaign finance fraud, criminal conspiracy, and two counts of money laundering.  He was arrested and booked at Harris County Jail on October 20, 2005.  Since then, he’s been out on bail pending trial.  Also known as “Hot Tub Tom” from his days in the Texas State Legislature, DeLay became a born-again Christian in 1985.  After his wife Christine DeLay began volunteering as a court-appointed special advocate for children in foster care, the DeLays also became foster parents. DeLay has declined to comment on reports in The New Yorker that he is estranged from much of his family, including his mother and one of his brothers.

DeLay was not personally friends with Armey or Gingrich; he considered them intellectual posers who were not committed to Christian values.

And since he has such upstanding morals…you can see his conflict (rolling of eyes)…

DeLay’s involvement with the lobbying industry also includes a pointed effort on the part of the Republican Party to parlay the Congressional majority into a dominance of K Street, the famed lobbying district of Washington, D.C. (known as the K Street Project) DeLay, Senator Rick Santorum, and conservative activist Grover Norquist launched a campaign in 1995 encouraging lobbying firms to retain Republican officials in top positions.

DeLay has received gifts from Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, including paid golfing holidays to Scotland, concert tickets, and the use of Abramoff’s private skyboxes for fundraisers. Abramoff has since pleaded guilty to federal charges in an influence-peddling investigation.  The Associated Press reported on April 7, 2005.

Today Tom runs around from one Fox show to another giving his ‘professional’ take on the Obama Administration and actually has the gaul to infer that the “Right” is the answer to our problems in this country!  After all, they have done such an exemplary job over the past 8 years!!  If they have all the answers – then WHY AREN”T THEY SHARING THEM???

This is only 33 seconds long, but that is still more time than I can stand listening to this guy.

When asked how he has time to be a “dance star”, DeLay replied, “That’s just five hours a day that I dance,” he told The Daily Beast Tuesday morning from Houston, Texas, as he drove to his first training session. “I’ve got another 19 hours to stop Obama.”

What a great values driven American!  What a guy!  What a conservative republican patriot!  What a ‘c’hristian!

And when asked to expound on his thoughts regarding Palin?

Steve Waldman wrote on beliefnet.com –

“In a brief interview I had today, the former House Majority Leader said he was deeply unenthusiastic about McCain but now shares the prevailing ecstasy about Sarah Palin.

It’s obvious that’s a woman with a world view. I could see it in the way she looked at her family. I could see in the discussion around her child. It’s obvious her faith is her foundation. A Christian has a world view that allows you see a situation…they’ve made the bad choice. So do you see it as a punishment as Obama does or as a blessing as Christians see it?”

They flock together…don’t they?

You have just GOT to watch this for yourself…

…he has truly met the I.Q. standard for the Palin version of conservative republican.

I was just having a conversation on the air yesterday during a radio show about how these same congress members who are so outraged and such alarmists about Obama’s health care reform intruding into our personal lives, especially where end of life decisions are concerned, and then we noted what HYPOCRITES these sanctimonious republicans truly are!

Darren Hutchinson of Dissenting Justice is guest-blogging today for Glenn Greenwald’s column over at Salon.com sums it up beautifully in his article referring to Palin and Grassley as “Dumb & Dumber”…but there is a lot of competition for that title!  Here are a few excerpts for you, but I do recomend that you click this link to read his entire article…well worth it!

“Sarah Palin and Senator Chuck Grassley are working together to spread lies regarding the substance of pending healthcare reform legislation.

In 2005, Grassley supported legislation that injected Congress into the Terri Schiavo saga. Schiavo’s husband – and medical proxy under Florida law — waged an almost 10-year legal battle to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment on behalf of his wife, who was in a persistent vegetative state. After a federal judge ordered the removal of food and hydration, Congress intervened and passed a law that was blatantly crafted to nullify the Florida litigation and to keep Schiavo alive against the wishes of her husband, who acted on her behalf.

Although the Senate passed the statute by unanimous consent, Grassley revealed his position and expressed his support for the measure, stating that: “I support the effort to protect Terri Schiavo. It’s the first case of its kind, a chance to choose life over death. I gave the option to life. . . .” Grassley, however, did not vote for life over death. Instead, he voted to authorize direct federal involvement in an end-of-life medical decision – something he currently claims to abhor.

And to finish icing this cake, Palin and Grassley both support the death penalty. Capital punishment indisputably involves the government determining whether someone will live or die.

“Dumb” works

Apparently, “dumb” works. According to the latest Gallup poll, the conservative backlash to healthcare reform has eroded support among voters – particularly independents. If members of the corporate media (as Glenn Greenwald affectionately describes the “news” outlets) did their job and uncovered the deception and hypocrisy associated with this backlash, then this movement’s rhetoric would actually face greater scrutiny and would perhaps lose some of its effectiveness. The White House also fell asleep at the wheel, as this movement continued to mobilize and to work the media. Furthermore, I suspect that many of Obama’s Web-warriors are enjoying the final weeks of summer break and have not sufficiently organized on this issue.

Public opinion, however, is extremely malleable. If progressives redouble their efforts, a pretty solid reform package might actually get through Congress without damaging (and even possibly helping) the Democrats. Stay tuned.

You know…we hear constantly from these extremists as they smugly declare that the “liberals and democrat party is afraid of Palin”.  Uh, yeah…I am afraid of ALL of them and the collective ignorance that they have brought to the Republican Party!  I am not going to say that this mentality and lack of intelligence doesn’t scare the HELL out of me!  I am concerned for anyone who doesn’t feel that way.

The hypocrisy knows no end…and these Political Dominionists consider themselves the party of Jesus Christ…WOW!

Okay, Sarah Palin does have a new position…Facebook ventriloquist.  No stretch of the imagination can convince me that Palin herself is producing these “Notes”.  They are articulate, non-folksy and referenced…which indicates a level of effort and some reading involved.  This doesn’t mean they are accurate – that’s an entirely different story which I felt is worthy of writing about.

As I read the rolling blogs on Palin’s facebook I asked myself…where is she getting her opinions?  The source of her shot across Obama’s health care proposals can be traced back to a July 24th article written by Betsy McCaughey, a former Lt. Governor of New York, published in the New York Post named “Deadly Doctors”.  Now we are getting somewhere…

As we know, there is NO BILL right now.  There are versions of a health care bill in different committees in congress making their way painfully through the process.  Yet Palin perpetuates the discussion as though this is written and complete in the form of HR 3200.  Her audience buys this and does not question that, or any of the false assertions that someone is writing for her on her facebook.  I have no doubt that these are her sentiments, and that she is enjoying the raucous caused by her dissemination of fear and paranoia – but these are not her words.  As we all know – there would be a ton of ‘there alsos’ and the ‘g’s’ are conspicuously present.

Q: Does Ezekiel Emanuel advocate sacrificing medical care for senior citizens and disabled youths for the good of society?

A: No. Critics of health care legislation are distorting the meaning of Emanuel’s academic writings on medical ethics. And Emanuel tells us, “I am not advocating this.”

FULL QUESTION

Is it true that Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Rahm Emanuel’s older brother and health adviser to President Obama, has advocated “the elderly with dementia and the young who have neurological disorders should be sacrificed for the common good”?

FULL ANSWER

The introduction of Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, head of the Department of Bioethics at The Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health, into the health care reform debate came with an opinion piece written by Betsy McCaughey and published in the New York Post on July 24. Dr. Emanuel is also a health care policy adviser for the Office of Management and Budget and brother of President Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

McCaughey, a former New York lieutenant governor, claimed that Ezekiel Emanuel advocated that “medical care should be reserved for the non-disabled, not given to those ‘who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens.’ ” She interprets his words to mean: “Don’t give much care to a grandmother with Parkinson’s or a child with cerebral palsy.”

Dr. Emanuel strenuously objects to this interpretation. “This is certainly untrue and a distortion of my record,” he told FactCheck.org in a telephone interview. He said that his academic work is being taken completely out of context.

We agree that Emanuel’s meaning is being twisted. In one article, he was talking about a philosophical trend, and in another, he was writing about how to make the most ethical choices when forced to choose which patients get organ transplants or vaccines when supplies are limited.

What Emanuel Really Said

McCaughey cites an article Emanuel wrote nearly 15 years ago in the Hastings Center Report, a journal devoted to discussion of ethical issues in medicine. There Emanuel discusses possible philosophical justifications to “distinguish basic from discretionary health care services.” Emanuel argued that thinkers on both the left and right were beginning to converge on a single answer when it comes to allocating medical resources. Here’s the quote in full context:

Emanuel, Hastings Center Report, 1996: Communitarians endorse civic republicanism and a growing number of liberals endorse some version of deliberative democracy. … This civic republican or deliberative democratic conception of the good provides both procedural and substantive insights for developing a just allocation of health care resources. … Substantively, it suggests services that promote the continuation of the polity – those that ensure healthy future generations, ensure development of practical reasoning skills, and ensure full and active participation by citizens in public deliberations – are to be socially guaranteed as basic. Conversely, services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia. A less obvious example is guaranteeing neuropsychological services to ensure children with learning disabilities can read and learn to reason.

Emanuel conceded that the article is “pretty abstract” and may be difficult to follow for those who are not academics, but he said that one should not then “take two sentences out of context.”

“This is clearly not written in my own voice,” he said. “I am not advocating this.”

We’ll leave it to you to determine the merits of Emanuel’s philosophical observations. But the context makes it clear that Emanuel is describing the implications of a particular philosophical trend, not offering a policy prescription.

We’ll also note that Emanuel’s article actually said that children with learning disabilities shouldget medical help to ensure that they “can read and learn to reason.” We’re not sure how McCaughey interpreted this to mean that services should be withheld from “a child with cerebral palsy.”

McCaughey also pushes the idea that Emanuel would want to ration care for seniors by quoting from a January 2009 article that Emanuel coauthored in The Lancet journal. Here, McCaughey says, he “explicitly defends discrimination against older patients.”

What Emanuel and his two coauthors were actually writing about was how to decide which patients are to receive organ transplants, vaccines or other “very scarce medical interventions” when there are not enough to go around. The three authors advocated favoring younger patients over older patients as part of a “complete lives” decision-making system aimed at saving the most years of life using the available resources. Age would be only one factor, however. Also weighing in the “complete lives” system would be such factors as a patient’s likelihood of full recovery (prognosis) and the use of a lottery when deciding between two “roughly equal” patients.

The authors disputed the idea that this system discriminates against older people in the way that favoring one race or one sex over another would discriminate. “Treating 65-year-olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not.” The authors stated that the complete lives system “empowers us to decide fairly whom to save when genuine scarcity makes saving everyone impossible.”

Emanuel told us that allocating health care services when there is an “absolute scarcity” is “one of the hardest decisions that a physician has to make.” He said that he and his fellow authors were pondering “the most ethically coherent way to do that.”

There She Goes Again

McCaughey also claims in her article that “presidential appointees” will be deciding “your care” and that Dr. Emanuel should “never be trusted with that power.” She’s echoing an earlier false claim about health care rationing that she first trotted out back in February. It’s no more true this time around. A version of the health care bill in Congress, H.R. 3200, does mention creating a comparative effectiveness research center (and a comparative effectiveness commission to oversee the center) to conduct research into how sickness “can most effectively and appropriately be prevented, diagnosed, treated, and managed clinically.” A summary of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill also mentions the establishment of a center for similar purposes. But the research wouldn’t be used to dictate health care coverage. The House version of the bill specifically states that the information can’t be used to mandate any policies for either private insurance coverage or for government health insurance:

H.R. 3200: Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the Commission or the Center to mandate coverage, reimbursement, or other policies for any public or private payer.

So whether or not one might choose to trust Dr. Emanuel with the power to decide “your care,” the fact is that no such power is being proposed in the legislation now being considered.

Twisting information comes naturally to these people.  They do it to the Bible; they do it to the U.S. Constitution, and they do it to anything related to President Obama – and they do it with misinformation, hate, and a profound desire to achieve the downfall of any democratic led proposal.

Q: Does Ezekiel Emanuel advocate sacrificing medical care for senior citizens and disabled youths for the good of society?

A: No. Critics of health care legislation are distorting the meaning of Emanuel’s academic writings on medical ethics. And Emanuel tells us, “I am not advocating this.”

Full Question

Is it true that Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Rahm Emanuel’s older brother and health adviser to President Obama, has advocated “the elderly with dementia and the young who have neurological disorders should be sacrificed for the common good?”

Full Answer

The introduction of Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, head of the Department of Bioethics at the clinical center of the national institutes of Health, into the health care reform debate, came with an opinion piece written by Betsy McCaughey and published in the New York Post on July 24.  Dr. Emanuel is also a health care policy advisor for the Office of Management and Budget and brother of President Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

(Leah’s Note: This video takes 7 minutes to watch but well worth the time to get a clear idea just who this woman is, where she is coming from, and what her interests truly are in the Big Pharmaceutical stakes).

McCaughey, a former New York Lieutenant governor, claimed that Ezekiel Emanuel advocated that “medical care should be reserved for the non-disabled, not given to those ‘who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens.’ “She interprets his words to mean:  ”Don’t give much care to a grandmother with Parkinson’s or a child with cerebral palsy.”

Dr. Emanuel strenuously objects to this interpretation.  ”This is certainly untrue and a distortion of my record, ” he told FactCheck.org in a telephone interview.  He said that his academic work is being taken completely out of context.

We agree that Emanuel’s meaning is being twisted.  In one article, he was talking about a philosophical trend, and in another, he was writing about how to make the most ethical choices when forced to choose which patients get organ transplants or vaccines when supplies are limited.

What Emanuel Really Said

McCaughey cites an article Emanuel wrote nearly 15 years ago in the Hastings Center Report, a journal devoted to discussion of ethical issues in medicine.  There Emanuel discusses possible  philosophical justifications to “distinguish basic from discretionary health care services.”  Emanuel argued that thinkers on both the left and right were beginning to converge on a single answer when it comes to allocating medical resources.  Here’s the quote in full context:

Emanuel, Hastings Center Report, 1996:  Communitarians endorse civic republicanism and a growing number of liberals endorse some version of deliberative democracy…this civic republican or deliberative democratic conception of the good provides both procedural and substantive insights for developing a just allocation of health care resources…

Substantively, it suggests services that promote the continuation of the policy-those that ensure healthy future generations, ensure development of practical reasoning skills, and ensure full and active participation by citizens in public deliberations-are to be socially guaranteed as basic.

Conversely, services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic and should not be guaranteed.  An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.  A less obvious example of guaranteeing neuropsychological services to ensure children with learning disabilities can read and learn to reason.

Emanuel conceded that the article is “pretty abstract” and may be difficult to follow for those who are not academics, but he said that one should not then “take two sentences out of context.”

“This is clearly not written in my own voice,” he said.  ” I am not advocating this.”

We’ll leave it to you to determine the merits of Emanuel’s philosophical observations.  But the context makes it clear that Emanuel is describing the implications of a particular philosophical trend, not offering a policy prescription.

We’ll also note that Emanuel’s article actually said that children with learning disabilities should get medical help to ensure that they “can read and learn to reason.”  We’re not sure how McCaughey interpreted this to mean that services should be withheld from “a child with cerebral palsy.”

McCaughey also pushes the idea that Emanuel would want to ration care for seniors by quoting from a  January 2009 article that Emanuel coauthored in The Lancet journal.  Here, McCaughey says, he “explicitly defends discrimination against older patients.”

What Emanuel and his two coauthors were actually writing about was how to decide which patients are to receive organ transplants, vaccines or other “very scarce medical interventions” when there are not enough to go around.  The three authors advocated favoring younger patients over older patients as part of a “complete lives” decision-making system aimed at saving the most years of life using the available resources.  Age would be only one factor, however.  Also weighing in the “complete lives” system would be such factors as a patient’s likelihood of full recovery (prognosis) and the use of a lottery when deciding between two “roughly equal” patients.

The authors disputed the idea that this system discriminates against older people in the way that favoring one race or one sex over another would discriminate. “Treating 65-year-olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not.”  The authors stated that the complete lives system “empowers us to decided fairly whom to save when genuine scarcity makes saving everyone impossible.”

Emanuel told us that allocating health care services when there is an “absolute scarcity” is “one of the hardest decisions that a physician has to make.”  He said that he and his fellow authors were pondering “the most ethically coherent way to do that.”

There She Goes Again

McCaughey also claims in her article that “presidential appointees” will be deciding “your care” and that Dr. Emanuel should “never be trusted with that power.”  She’s echoing an earlier false claim about health care rationing that she first trotted back in February.  It’s no more true this time around.  A version of the health care bill in Congress, H.R. 3200, does mention creating a comparative effectiveness research center (and a comparative effectiveness commission to oversee the center) to conduct research into how sickness “can most effectively and appropriately be prevented, diagnosed, treated, and managed clinically.”

A summary of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill also mentions the establishment of a center for similar purposes.  But the research wouldn’t be used to dictate health care coverage.  The House version of the bill specifically states that the information can’t be used to mandate any policies for either private insurance coverage or for government health insurance.

H.R. 3200:  Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the Commission or the Center to mandate coverage, reimbursement, or other policies for any public or private payer.

So whether or not one might choose to trust Dr. Emanuel with the power to decide “your care,” the fact is that no such power is being proposed in the legislation now being considered.

Twisting information comes naturally to these people.  They do it to the Bible; they do it to the U.S. Constitution; and they do it to anything related to President Obama – and they do it with misinformation, hate, and a profound desire to achieve the downfall of any democratic led proposal to see Obama fail.  Where do they think they live?  How do they not get that directly impacts them, and their loved ones?  Unbelievable!

So McCoughey found her sucker…Palin (and Bachman, lest we forget)…to go forth and spread her crap so she can continue to benefit from Big Pharma.  God, Palin is a ditz!

For Palin to continue to stoke the coals under this notion of encouraging the elderly to sign their own death certificate as part of health care reform is simply irresponsible – especially when you have people arriving at locations where the President of the United States is about to speak with weapons and signs calling for the death of him and his family.

What was that parting shot by Palin in her last speech as governor?  Hmmm…OH!  I remember!

Palin opened her Sunday speech with what she called “some straight talk,” taking on the media and, ”You represent what could and should be a respected, honest profession, and what could and should be a cornerstone of our democracy — and that’s why our troops are willing to die for you,” she said.

“So how about in honor of the American solider you quit making things up?” she added, without elaborating.

Practice what you preach Queen Esther!

After being a guest for 2 hours on a radio show in North Carolina on WZTK, and hearing a few remarks about the flying accusations as to who is to be likened to Hitler – the GOP or the Dems – I thought this was a perfect time to share research by Alex (dogemporer) on dominionist ties to white supremacist groups that go back early in our history.

To simply shout the loudest and make grossly mistaken remarks accusing Obama of Nazism is all it takes for these ‘c’hristian neocons to jump on that bandwagon.

BUT…they vehemently deny any association with Hitler idolization when there is evidence to the contrary and out of their own mouths.  Here is the first in a series of writings that I will post by Alex from the Daily Kos:

Racists and dominionists, part 1: A troubling history

by dogemperor

Mon Oct 09, 2006 at 08:15:11 AM PDT

“Today, I begin part one of what will be a two or three part series on a secret that the dominionists very much want kept under the bed, so to speak.

Not only are many of the leaders of the dominionist group hateful in and of themselves to LGBT folks and others, it turns out that quite a number of them–including some of the leaders of the dominionist movement like the heads of the Family Research Council, anti-abortion groups, and even Ken Blackwell and John Ashcroft–are linked to some of the most virulent racist and domestic-terrorist groups in the US.

And–as we’ll see in today’s post–this has a very long history, including Christian Identity’s origins in dominion theology (yes, really!) and the oldest dominionist group in the US’s ties with American Nazi groups in the 30’s.

• dogemperor’s diary :: ::

As I’ve discussed before in my articles on dominion theology on DailyKos, “serpent seed” theology actually originated within dominionist groups–and in fact is still used by the “spiritual warfare” crowd to claim that opponents of dominionism are the literal children of the devil.  The split between dominionism proper and Christian Identity occurred in 1948 when the Church of Jesus Christ Christian was founded–as a split from International Foursquare.

There are a few bits of note here–William Branham was one of the first practitioners in the AoG and other pentecostal groups of what would later be termed “dominion theology”–the word-faith aka “name it and claim it” movement originates from him, as do aspects of “latter rain” theology.  Charles Fox Parnham, also mentioned in the article, is the actual founder of pentecostal sects including the Assemblies of God and at least one other source notes Parnham’s influence in their early theology.  The AoG itself has had a long historical record of involvement with dominionism–the term “dominion theology” actually arises from theology in the word-faith movement that claims that illness occurs because “Satan presently has dominion” and that Pentecostals (being the only truly “saved” individuals) must “take dominion” of all things to secure God’s blessing over them and participate in “spiritual warfare”.

The other group of note is the group that can be truthfully stated to have been the first dominionist group in the US in action, if not in name–the Full Gospel Businessmens’ Fellowship International.  FGBMFI was started by an AoG preacher and effectively operates as a “business outreach” of the Assemblies, and can legitimately be seen as a front group of that denomination; they are also responsible for promotion of dominionism throughout the AoG (and even to other non-pentecostal groups–the FGBMFI is a major promoter of “sheep stealing” and infiltration of mainstream Christian churches) and is also the source of spread of most of the spiritually abusive practices within the Assemblies of God, including the theological basis for dominionism in that denomination:

(from a preliminary list of groups that may be front-groups of, or effectively run by, the Assemblies of God)

Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International (a front group of the AoG targeting businessmen and other professionals; has been associated with coercive Yoido Full Gospel Church in Korea (which is the church that originated the “Third Wave” aka “Brownsville” stuff and other coercive tactics in the AoG); per multiple reports is associated with spiritual abuse as well as dominionist planning and may beparticularly responsible for dominionist infiltration of the military; per this article andthis article group has falsely advertised itself as interfaith group but rejects non-dominionists)

There is even some evidence that the FGBMFI may have been the original source promoting dominionism in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Going a bit further from the Assemblies of God in particular (the fact that the denomination is hip-deep within the dominionist movement, and may be its actual originator, is quite well documented especially on sites like Yurica Report and Deception In The Church) and looking at the whole “British Israelism” thing in general–the two main descendants of that theology are Pentecostals (who believe that they along with the Jewish people are the “chosen people” and–in “dominion theology” popular in pentecostal circles–must create a theocracy to “secure God’s blessing”) and Christian Identity (which rejects outright the idea of Jews being, well, Jewish).

If it were just a matter of dominionism being a “sister movement” to a racist ideology, or even Christian Identity being merely a racist split from pentecostalism, that’d be one thing.  The problem is, the links are rather deeper than that (as noted, dominionism was essentially founded by racists) and the links continue to the present day.”

So how does that stack up to the ludicrous and totally baseless remarks flung carelessly out there by Palin and soooo many others (such as on the Fox airwaves, for example)?  I have linked the title to Alex’ full article at Daily Kos which I highly recommend reading as the connections and people involved in their twisted world will surprise you.

On the other hand I was very heartened by the overall sentiment being one of promoting discussion and not shouting hate.  A very welcomed message…

I am going to be posting videos and narrative that will illuminate the depth of Palin’s beliefs and involvement in the Dominionist cult.  Some of these are too traumatic for some to watch who were raised or members of these “churches”, and I apologize for that in advance.  Do not watch the video if you are a survivor and walkaway from these cults.  My co-collaborator is one who cannot endure the trauma that these trigger for her.

Having said that, the rest of us need to really expose ourselves to this, and appreciate how serious it all is.  These are not random small groups of lunatics scattered in the nether-lands of America.  These are LARGE groups (Wasilla 6,000 every Sunday) spread across our country and estimating 60 – 80 MILLION strong!

This first clip is 2 and a half minutes long, and is a compilation of longer videos that show Palin’s enthusiasm and support for this belief…

Notice how brazen they are.   Not only unashamed, modest in their ideologies – but arrogant and smug in their sense of being specially ‘chosen’ by God to either convert us or deport us.

I cannot tell you how upsetting this is to me that they have staked claim to my home state of Alaska!  I am 4th generation Alaskan, and even though I know that other generational (and born and raised) Alaskans have fallen prey to these dominionists, the majority of them are from extreme evangelical bible belt states that migrated north during the Alaska oil pipeline boom days…and stayed.

My mother was almost sucked into that vortex in 1964 while we lived in Ketchikan, Alaska…the town where I was born, my mother was born and embarrassingly enough – where Mary Skulka, now known as Mary Glazier was born.

Mary Skulka Glazier is Tlingit, and was raised in a household of alcoholism, neglect and deep dysfunction.  All these factors contributed to her ‘conversion’ to the white man evangelizing when the road show came to town.  I witnessed these road shows personally, even in this small insignificant community in the scheme of conversion focus – population then around 6,000 and whose population has fluctuated from the old days of mining, fishing and logging to the paper pulp mill and now reliant entirely on tourism and state oil revenues.

This is important to understand where the spiritual “mastermind” of Sarah Palin came from who remains to this day her senior “Apostle” and spiritual advisor, and can legitimately lay claim to grooming Palin for her ‘higher calling’.  (Bill Kristol of the Council for National Policy falsely touts that he ‘discovered her’ in 2007).

And equally as important because we are all so SICK AND TIRED of her – to understand why this woman is not going away.  This isn’t simply about a simple woman from Wasilla…it is about how a powerful political organization run by powerful Political Dominionists, bought into the notion that this woman is Queen Esther from the Old Testament and thrust her into our realities.

Watch this video…please…and listen to Mary stake her dominionist claims on Alaska with Dutch Sheets and nearly 6,000 people in attendance ritualistically goading her on in their fervored trance – including Sheets who is one of C. Peter Wagner most revered Phalse Prophets for Profits!

I will follow this up tomorrow with discussion on what Glazier lays claim to in this video as well as information about the “Alaska Pilgramage”…( a glass of wine or other refreshment of choice is highly recommended before sleeping ).

First of all, I would like to thank those who bought “TheoPalinism – The Face of Failed Extremism”, and those who took interest enough to pick up my cards with the web site address.  Your interest and support is crucial in taking the steps necessary to begin educating ourselves about the Political Dominionism and how entrenched it is in our political lanscape.  It is imperative that we not roll our eyes and dismiss the lunacy of these people who now represent the neo-conservatives in America, and hennce the Republican Party.

Often times we are our own worst enemies.  Let me elaborate.  As progressives, democrats, moderates and so on – we tend to intellectualize issues to death!  When it comes to taking action steps, we balk.  We are so busy being tolerant…and politically correct…that our tolerance of the GOP intolerance – is going to put us right back in the minority!

Out of the hundreds of people that came by my table with my display of “TheoPalinism – The Face of Failed Extremism”, I only sold 21 books.  I did engage many more than that in short discussions, but the overwhelming sentiment was that they weren’t interested in hearing about Palin.  There was a great deal more interest in the 2nd book, “God’s Own Party? – Keep Your Bible OFF My Ballot!”  But there was a definite disconnect and a total repulsion at hearing about who this lunatic really is, and what her role is, has been and will be in the upcoming years – whether she ever runs for elected office again or not.

My sense of frustration is not in the lack of sales because TheoPalinism is a self-published book that I see no profit from.  I wrote it as a pre-cursor to the 2nd book and to illuminate where this wingnut sprouted from and why she is a force that we cannot just shake our heads at and ignore with a dismissive attitude.  My sincere hope for TheoPalinism is that it will introduce what a political Dominionist candidate looks like and how dangerously close we came to having one as ridiculous as Palin in the White House.

What is disheartening about the lack of interest, is that it brings to light what an uphill battle this is going to be.  I have said before that I have no interest or energy in trying to change the minds of the brainwashed sheeples in the GOP.  But, getting the attention of everyone else is no small task either.

Even Ron Reagan made a quick dismissive comment about how Palin isn’t a factor and bypassed my table without even talking to me or looking at the book.  Again, people are just not getting this.  If she never ran for office again, it is about her ‘higher calling’ and how she will be used to whip the GOP fanatics into a froth such as she is doing right now on the issue of Health Care – by throwing out despicable garbage like “Obama’s ‘death panel’, and “euthanasia’ for the elderly.

It is about holding onto our seats in local, state and congressional elections NEXT YEAR!  2010!  THAT is what I am concerned about.  2012? Sure!  But right now it is about the millions of right-wing fanatics that hang on her every word who will show up in any weather, at any time of the day or night, across America to hear this insanity that she has to regurgitate.  It doesn’t matter what we think of her, it matters that she is like a gasoline hose dousing these tea-bagging republicans with hate and misinformation that is dangerous.

Fortunately Bill Press and Mike Malloy were genuinely intrigued (and I will follow up with them this week) – and to some degree Stephanie Miller and Thom Hartmann exhibited a modicum amount of interest.  But none of them were interested enough to buy the book.

So I need your help.  We need to tell our fellow “progressives” that it is playing right into their hands to turn our backs on learning not only about Palin, but Bachman, Huckabee, Jindal, Pence, Gingrich, and the list goes on.  TheoPalinism was intended to highlight their “poster gal”…but she is by NO means the leader of the pack.  We need to take a play right out of their book and fight back.

The dumber Palin comes across, the less we take her seriously, and the more dangerous she becomes.  If you have any doubts about that…just keep watching her as the weeks and months slip by toward the 2010 elections.  Meanwhile, I am now charged even more to complete my draft manuscript of “God’s Own Party?” and get it in the capable and really pissed off hands of Frank Schaeffer so that he can walk it into his NY publisher.  For those of you not so familiar with him, and those who are but may have missed it – here is his interview with Rachel Maddow from the other night.  With Frank’s endorsement (and those of many more) the 2nd book will draw the attention we need to get this message out in the same way that Jeff Sharlet’s book “The Family” is finally going viral.

So I will work on that as well as continuing to post articles here, and welcome some upcoming speaking engagements – and hopefully we will turn our own people around so that we don’t have to fight resistance from within on top of these extreme manipulative fanatics.