President Barack Obama is expected to nominate Jesus Christ, an immigrant originally born to a virgin mother in Bethlehem, to fill the new vacancy on the Supreme Court. Although Mr. Christ is over 2,000 years old, He is immortal, so Democrats and Republicans expect that He will serve on the high court forever or until He decides to start the End Times. Republicans are expected to fight the nomination on the grounds that Mr. Christ would radically move the Court to the left. The GOP is also concerned that, despite decades of controversy and speculation, Mr. Christ has never revealed his position on abortion. Mr. Christ, according to many authorities, is expected to oppose the death penalty in all forms. Michael Steele, the head of the GOP national committee, issued a statement: "Christ is a complete mystery to us. He won't reveal His physical appearance and many of His positions are unknown or the subject of speculation. He is a stealth candidate.
Why won't He reveal himself? Who does He think He is?"
Republicans are reportedly outraged that Mr. Obama even considered Mr. Christ, who has been widely quoted for his sentiments supporting the poor over the wealthy. In a Facebook post, former half-term Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin called for an investigation into the Bethlehem chapter of ACORN because of what she termed the "highly suspicious" coincidence that both President Obama and Mr. Christ had each spent three years as community organizers. In her post, Palin also wrote that "More and more of good God-fearing smalltime Americans from hardworking smalltime towns from great parts of this real America, West, South, East, North, are seeing more and more every day that Christ is a community organizer. We don't need another community organizer in the White House!"
Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) asked, "We're not even sure where He was born. Why is He afraid to show us his birth certificate?" Bachmann also announced that she would vote "no" when the Christ nomination came before the House of Representatives. Later, her congressional staff released a statement saying that the Congresswoman had forgotten that the House does not vote on judicial nominations.
According to Rush Limbaugh, "Christ doesn't know anything about free enterprise. This is part of the Obama conspiracy to drag us to socialism. If this guy is approved, I'm moving to Costa Rica." Sobbing, Glenn Beck attacked Christ's support for the separation of church and state, telling his audience "You know who else wanted a separation of church and state? Hitler."
Several Catholic priests were contacted for comment but refused to discuss the issue, and, even though they weren't asked, all empathetically denied that they had personally molested any children.
Democrats are optimistic about their chances of shoving Mr. Christ down the throats of Americans using normal constitutional and parliamentary procedures. Many Democrats are hopeful that Mr. Christ's past associations with prostitutes will earn him at least one Republican vote, that of Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).
If confirmed, Christ will be the first Supreme Court Justice who has at least one American city named after him: Corpus Christi, Texas.
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
Robert F. Kennedy Day of Affirmation Address Capetown, South Africa June 6, 1966
Just kidding, of course. Says a lot about what we take for granted. Thanks to my lady cousin in SF. I reside here in Cleveland Heights, living life about as exciting as a house sparrow without chevrons.
Each time a man stands up for an ideal.
I went a through an entire thread recently disputing whether the President ought to take more responsibility for raising hope during his campaign or whether it was reasonable to raise statements he made during the campaign that seemed contradictory to this. It is a huge debate here. It appears that one side thinks that the ‘hope side’ should get over it because that is par for the course in politics. The “hope side’ (of which I was a part but eschewed the debate and I hope this does not spark a renewed conflagration) felt that hope was a real thing, as real as cynical political calculations. That the show of hope during his campaign was unprecedented and he could have taken it to the bank but instead took a more conventional route by putting in his lot with the establishment in and out of government rather than the grassroots.
It escalated to many ‘I said’, ‘you said’ and ‘h/she said this, ‘you said that’ comments. Many ‘why don’t we all get along please' and so forth.
I tried to let my 'opponent' feel safe. Did anyone not feel safe? I guess so.
There was a HR on a comment, I presume over the word ‘pimp’ in what I thought was only a heated exchange among siblings. I surprised myself that I even entered the fray. I think that my curiosity about Dkos was my compelling motivation. I normally like to lurk and learn.
I have chosen not to fight about it anymore. In the last thread that I had this conflict, I reached out by email and asked my ‘opponent’ what it was that I was missing, I also stated my decision priorities in order to facilitate the response.
The response I received read like a handout in the doctor’s office about a disease that no one who visited that office would ever get. There was not a word about my question or my priorities behind the question, only my fellow Kossak's personal views very politely reiterated.
As a result, I thought that if a person does not want to hear a point of view or answer a question about h/her own point of view, well then, I guess the situation is going to have to play itself out. I am not going to be the one who tries to turn the herd (if, indeed the herd is stampeding) even if there is a cliff ahead. That will settle itself soon enough. I actually have a different but related frame that I consider. Maybe that is why the debate seems to go sideways.
Frankly, I know everything I have to about Obama and the state of our society in order to make a judgment. A lot of it I get from reading these comments because no one wants to be the one who leaves a tidbit of information or an opinion out of the debate. I am a Democrat who voted for Obama, I am critical and I want people to know what I am looking for in 2012. I want the Democrats to be better. I am writing because I have not seen represented what I think is happening.
Please help me out here.
I know that politics is conducted like a war. Why, when we are supposedly on the same side?
Isn’t it acceptable to use any means at your disposal, limited by what you can get away with, to fight a war?
Is lying really lying or is it called fighting when it occurs during a war?
Is politics really a war?
I am in a struggle for human rights and social justice. I believe that change in this society should come by way of politics. If Republicans conduct politics because they have adopted a cynical ideology, namely conservatism, then what is the limit of the war analogy in politics?
Is it then primarily about politics or human progress?
Are you angry that you are angry?
Do you feel like you were manipulated to feel angry about something that was clearly untrue?
Do you feel like you were manipulated to be angry, even by your own side?
One last queation about America and war war. The shot that was heard 'round the world, was fired by the Confederates in S. Carolina and started a war that was ultimately fought over slavery. The Confederates started a war.
Today we have something called consumerism. It is similar to the status of slaves. A person is a human when it comes to obeying the law or following the rules that are often disguised or diminished. A person is a consumer when they are mercilessly manipulated by groups of professionals hired by merchants to sell almost any goods or services. It is not even a stretch to say that political rhetoric is marketed in a similar way.
Is it necessary for a shot to be fired to make war official?