George Washington Delivers Speech On The Iowa State Fair Soapbox!
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| Bernie Sander (D-VT) Iowa State Fair Soapbox |
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
George Washington Delivers Speech On The Iowa State Fair Soapbox!
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Debtors Prisons On The Rise! What Happened To The 14th Amendment?
Debtors Prisons On The Rise! What Happened To The 14th Amendment?
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| Debtor Prisons Where Suppose to be Outlawed In America |
"A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay a debt. These prisons have been used since ancient times. Through the mid 19th century, debtors' prisons were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe. Though increasing access and leniency throughout the history of bankruptcy law have rendered debtors' prisons irrelevant over most of the world, as of May 2013, they persist in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Switzerland and the United States. Then Since the late 20th century, the term debtors' prison has sometimes come to be applied when a court sends someone to prison over criminal duties that would usually be imposed monetarily, but cannot be paid. For example, in some jurisdictions within the United States, people can be held in contempt of court and jailed for non-payment of child support, garnishments, confiscations, fines, or back taxes. The charge for contempt of court is going to jail. The reason for the contempt of court charge is negligent non-payment, obstruction, or fraud." [See Source]
For over 20 years now, debtors’ prisons have been deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. That does not mean that they do not still exist. In simplistic terms, the reasoning behind this decision came from the realization that incarcerating someone for a debt was in breach of the 14th Amendment.
"For example, in some jurisdictions within the United States, people can be held in contempt of court and jailed after non-payment of child support, garnishments, confiscations, fines, or back taxes. The charge for going to jail is in contempt of court. The reason for the contempt of court charge is negligent non-payment, obstruction, or fraud."
Who is fooling who here? The powers that be know that an enormous amount of these cases will result in default judgments for failure to appear. They keep stats on these type of things derived from the court's public record of litigated cases. With the practice of austerity and the cutting of tax revenue in states across America and largely in the ” Red States,” we are seeing a new explosion of non-violent offenders entering into the correctional system.
The legal arguments are mounting against this ever-increasing practice. Many legal scholars and advocacy groups are now starting to question the legitimacy of using the "contempt of court,” dogma as the justification to detain someone for merely owing a debt. There has been a very gross over-reach or overlook of the key prevailing legal terms involved with being in contempt. Willful non-compliance and negligent non-payment.
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Reforms eventually outlawed the practice. But groups like the Brennan Center for Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union say it’s been reborn in local courts that may not be aware it’s against the law to send indigent people to jail for unpaid fines and fees — or they just haven’t been called on it until now.[See Source]
WELL ITS TIME TO CALL THEM ON IT.
Here are some bullet points that this activity fails the 14th Amendment constitutional test.
- In 1970, the Court ruled in Williams v. Illinois that extending a maximum prison term because a person is too poor to pay fines or court costs violates the right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.
- During 1971 in Tate v. Short, the Court found it unconstitutional to impose a fine as a sentence and then automatically convert it into a jail term solely because the defendant is indigent and cannot forthwith pay the fine in full.
- And in the 1983 ruling for Bearden v. Georgia the Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment bars courts from revoking probation for a failure to pay a fine without first inquiring into a person's ability to pay and considering whether there are adequate alternatives to imprisonment.
“It’s a waste of taxpayer resources, and it undermines the integrity of the justice system,” Carl Takei, staff attorney for the ACLU’s National Prison Project, told Fox News.com.“The problem is it’s not much of a money-making proposition … to throw people in jail for fines and fees when they can’t afford it. If counties weren’t spending the money jailing people for not paying debts, they could be spending the money in other ways.”
For example, according to the report, Mecklenburg County, N.C., collected $33,476 in debts in 2009, but spent $40,000 jailing 246 debtors — a loss of $6,524.[See Source]
But there is a more recent prime example of this. The push to have welfare recipients drug tested. There was a significant cost overrun for the States, which netted a single digit positive drug test result. When you are convicted of a crime courts, impose a fine and link that to a conviction no matter the infraction or classification of the offense. Fees are all those extras tacked on by the court to fund administrative services. These costs are ambiguous from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
The 14 Th Amendment was enacted post Civil War as a stopgap measure to reduce the overwhelming human rights violations going on in the Slave owner South.
There have been studies conducted in several states with high prison populations that suggest the following.
A year-long study released in 2010 of fifteen states with the highest prison populations by the Brennan Center for Justice, found that all fifteen states sampled have jurisdictions that arrest people for failing to pay debt or appear at debt related hearings. Aside from citizens being jailed without legal counsel the study identified four causes that lead to debtors’ prison type arrests for debts;
- State laws that attempt to make criminal justice debt a condition of probation, parole, or other correctional supervision with failure to pay to result in arrest and re-imprisonment.
- State laws that consider incarceration as a penalty for failure to pay criminal justice debt. These actions are seen as a civil contempt of court charge, thus technically not in violation of state constitutions that prohibit debtors’ prisons, but for the same reason those incarcerated must be released immediately if they either pay or prove themselves unable to do so.
- Citizens are choosing jail time under state programs where incarceration is a way of paying down court-imposed debt.
- States that regularly arrest citizens for criminal justice debt prior to appearing at debt-related hearings, leading in many cases to multi-day jail terms pending an ability to pay to hearing.
During 1971 in Tate v. Short, the Court found it unconstitutional to impose a fine as a sentence and then automatically convert it into a jail term solely because the defendant is indigent and cannot forthwith pay the fine in full.[Source: Wiki]
There are so many examples how inequality plays out in the hum-drum of everyday life. We must call these forces out that would detain a person from freedom to move to and fro for non-willful, non-negligent, non-repayment of debt. The practice is a balance sheet nightmare and a big loss to the taxpayer.
The Return of Debtors' Prison via Court Fees
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, The DNC Have The Debates Rigged, Guess What! It Won't Work
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, The DNC Have The Debates Rigged, Guess What! It Won't Work.
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| Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) |
Martin O Malley former Governor of Maryland and 2016 Democratic Presidential Hopeful.
"This sort of rigged debate has never been attempted before."[Martin O Malley]In the 2008 Democratic presidential race, there were over 20 debates. Bernie Sanders says there need to be more discussions. Hillary Clinton could not be reached for comment. The Clinton camp is in a defensive hunker down mode. Support for Hillary Clinton is on the decline while support for Bernie Sanders is on the rise. It makes political sense she would rather have fewer debates she has much more to lose. What is wrong with this is for " Debbie Wasserman Schultz." to play favorites with the candidates. It's undemocratic.
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| Bernie Sanders (D-VT) |
The Democratic Party more than ever before should be wanting to have as many debates as possible. Not to just question our candidates, but; to show that there are real differences between the two parties. It's an opportunity to bring the light to the issues of our present times that can affect our future generations as well.
We need to be an informed populist so we can make rational well thought out choices, and the current actions of the DNC are creating a barrier and roadblock from that reality. The fact that the DNC have made their choice of Hillary Clinton and the fact they don't want to give anyone else a chance is disgusting.
From the Thom Hartmann Show
At a time is our nation's history when a majority of Americans are dispirited by our political process. The House of Public Discourse position is we should have as many debates as possible. Also, the House of Public Discourse advocates discussions in places other than the early states. To " boldly go where no man's gone before." If the " Blue Party" is ever to regain a presence in the American South and other heavy Republican regions in the country the time is now not tomorrow.
Bernie Sanders: DNC Debate Schedule Is 'Rigged'
Sunday, September 13, 2015
What The F_ _K Is Up With These Oathkeepers?
Oathkeepers Defenders Of The Constitution, MY ASS!
According to credible sources, Kentucky Clerk and the newest Christian Right Saint Kim Davis goes back to work on Monday What's up in the air will she issue a same-sex marriage license if the situation arises. If not, she could be arrested and thrown right back in jail.
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| Stewart Rhoades Oathkeepers Founder |
According to the self-proclaimed defenders of the Constitution the "Oathkeepers" that's not going to happen. The Oathkeepers listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center are a "Radical Right Wing Hate Group." The group's leader Stewart Rhoades stated they will be there to protect her from what he calls a tyrannical government imposing its will on an American citizen. Rhoades Stated:
"We believe Federal District Court Judge David Bunning grossly overstepped his bounds and violated Mrs. Davis’ due process rights, and, in particular, her right to a jury trial. This judge has assumed unto himself not just the powers of all three branches of government, but has also taken on the powers of judge, jury, and “executioner.”
Rhoades added.
"What matters to us is not whether you agree with her position on gay marriage or her decision to not issue marriage licenses. What matters is that the judge is violating the Constitution in his anger and desire to punish her for going against his will."[See Source]
First and only point the contention by this group's leader that the Judge overstepped his authority and did not offer Kim Davis due process of law is complete "bull-crap." Anyone who believes this to be true doesn't know a single thing about the law whatsoever. A law was passed allowing "same-sex marriage" and as an elected official Kim Davis has to carry out the law of the land whether she likes it or not. The mere act of not doing so is not only contempt of a judge's court order it's a violation of oath of an elected official to carry out the laws of the land. Guess what? God's law or theocratic law does not have one single thing to do with secular law period. So, the Oathkeepers position that the judges order was improper just makes clear that the group's leader maybe a lawyer he doesn't know what he is talking about period.
The Real Question Is Do The Oathkeepers Pose A Threat To "We The People" Who Believe They Are A Hate Group And Full Of S_ _T?
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| President Obama |
One of the most troubling developments over the last several years has been the rise of the " Right-Wing Militia Movement." Memberships in so-called " Patriot Groups" has sky-rocketed since the election of America's first person of color to the White House. Both Homeland Security and the Southern Poverty Law Center warned us back in 2009 to expect this rise in " Hate Groups'" in America. We saw back in the Spring of 2014 this reality when a cattle rancher in Nevada, who had been stealing from the taxpayers being brought to justice. And, these people, headed up mostly by the very same " Oathkeepers" pointing rifles and other firearms at law enforcement officials tasked to bring him to justice.
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Far right-wing groups have and do pose a threat to the security of our nation. The Oathkeepers are nothing more than a water downed version of the Sovereign Citizen Movement. Americans have been inundated with Fox News and Right-Wing Talk Radio about the Muslim are going to take over America. How Obama going to take our guns and put us all in FEMA camps. The fear-mongering has been unprecedented.
However, a recent study shows groups we need to fear the most are not ISIS or minorities but, in fact, homegrown "Domestic Terrorist."[See Study Results]
There were several law enforcement agencies who participated in this study and the overwhelming response to the inquiry was the Sovereign Citizen Movement posed the biggest threat to both law enforcement and public safety.
Who Are The Sovereign Citizens?
Not unlike the Sovereign Citizen Movement the "Oathkeepers" tend to predetermine what is the law of the land and cherry pick the law they will accept and not accept. The bottom line is there are laws both on the federal and state level that forbid citizens from taking the law into their hands. The Oathkeepers have stuck their busybody noses in places it does not belong from Cliven Bundy, Ferguson, and now the " Kim Davis Affair." Their involvement in these events and others has only enhanced the danger and lessen the security. Their actions are not a problem solver but, in fact, a problem creator. But what they are not is defenders of the Constitution they claim they are but instead overgrown children with a desire to "Play Army" and "Obstructors of Justice."
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Slavery in America, Gun Rights, and The Second Amendment, What Do They Have In Common?
Slavery in America, Gun Rights, and The Second Amendment, what do they have in common?
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| Today's Weapon of Choice
America is still feeling the effects of a racially motivated mass shooting in a prominent historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. In this shooting, nine people lost their lives. Anyone who has followed our advocacy here in the House of Public Discourse knows we advocate that ” History Does Repeat Itself In Politics.” With the coinciding action by the South Carolina state legislature to remove the Confederate Flag from the public square, we see the Rebels coming out of the woodwork. ” The South Will Rise Again, Crowd.”
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Slavery In America Had Much To Do With Passing Of The Second Amendment.
When you factor in America has become a ” Gun-Worshiping” country with pro- gun advocates screaming about their guns rights, being taken away from them. It brings this country full circle back to the same old issue of State Rights versus the Federal Government. Then you have the secessionist, clowns.
In The Present
Vice President Biden along with President Obama have formed Gun Control task forces to access the problems of gun violence stemming from the ” Gun Culture” in America. With little to no effect. Guns deaths, shootings, and purchasing of guns keep piling up. What is even more alarming is the growing death of children and teenagers by handguns from negligence by so-called responsible gun owners. [See The Facts]
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As in the time before the onset of the Civil War, there is the fear mongering by assorted pro-gun groups leading to record sales of assault weapons. Not hunting rifles. Human killing guns all in the name of self-defense.
Slavery, Gun Rights, And The Second Amendment
There may be some things you are unaware of concerning the Second Amendment. When you dig deep to find the story behind the story as we do here in the House of Public Discourse, you often find things that get lost in the pages of history. However, this lost information can be critical and relevant in today’s gun debate. Our research has discovered the real reason for the Second Amendment.
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| The Right To Bear Arms |
One reason I love writing is that words mean everything, especially in legal documents. In the Second Amendment, you must pay attention to the term ” free state.” See the Civil War was fought over .”States Rights” with the focal point being on economics which the power of ” free Labor” provided by Slavery was at issue. The fact you never hear mentioned is the reason for the term ” Free State and not Free Country,” were because of the need to preserve State Militia’s power to patrol and maintain Slaves in the Slavery States. If not many of the Southern States would have never signed the Constitution. Slavery and the Slave Trade was a big deal to our Founding Fathers. Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison all Virginians were clear on this issue and WE The People today should be as well.
We make no bones about it the Second Amendment is directly linked to our countries disturbing history of Slavery. And, the problem is getting worst by the minute in these modern times we are in now. How? In the beginning, there were the Militia. In the South, they were called the Slave patrols.[Just In Case You Think We Are Making This Up.]
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| Slave Patrols Were A Profitable Business |
These Slave Patrols were well regulated by the States. There were decrees put into place decades before the Civil War that all Plantation owners and white male employees must join a Militia. One of their primary directives were to perform monthly inspections of every Slave quarters in the State. The Slave Patrol members were trained on how to look for and handle any Slave uprisings. See, when you think about it, keeping all these Slaves in check was the first real job of policing in this country.
"Professor Bogus argues that there is strong reason to believe that, in significant part, James Madison drafted the Second Amendment to assure his constituents in Virginia, and the South generally, that Congress could not use its newly-acquired powers to indirectly undermine the slave system by disarming the militia, on which the South relied for slave control. His argument is based on a multiplicity of the historical evidence, including debates between James Madison and George Mason and Patrick Henry at the Constitutional Ratifying Convention in Richmond, Virginia in June 1788; the record from the First Congress; and the antecedent of the American right to bear arms provision in the English Declaration of Rights of 1688."[Professor Carl T Bogus]
It was always a fear of the White Slave owner in the times of Slavery that the Slaves would rise and revolt. There had to be a system in place and a legal instrument in place to allow for this ugly reality in our nation’s past. What were the keys to making this happen the legal right to bear arms and form militia or as we now know Slave Patrol?. There is no softening of the facts. Well, regulated Militia’s empowered by the Second Amendment were essential for keeping the Slaves in chains and the institution of Slavery alive.
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What sticks out here like a sore thumb is that Slavery and any other form of control of one group of people over another can only be achieved through a ” Police State.” The enforcement of that Police State was the job of the Militia. Another primary concern of the Southerners were Abolitionist and other anti-slavery groups who were always petitioning for the ending of Slavery. They feared these groups would entice the Slaves to run away seeking refuge in the North. There had to be a mechanism in place to stop this. Patrick Henry, Geroge Mason, and James Madison knew this and the Second Amendment was the answer. Without the Second Amendment, the South would have been powerless to stop these advocates or the subsequent rebellions.
"Little did Madison realize that one day in the future weapons-manufacturing corporations, newly defined as “persons” by a Supreme Court some have called dysfunctional, would use his slave patrol militia amendment to protect their “right” to manufacture and sell assault weapons used to murder schoolchildren."[Thom Hartmann-Progressive Talk Show Host and Author]
In Our World Today!
Take a good look at what political party is trying to raise this wage and that one is attempting to do away with a minimum wage altogether. With all the mass shootings and the clamoring by white hate groups about their heritage and their rights being taken away. Listen how politicians and right-wing pundits bump their chest and scream their rights should be determined by the States. You can’t help but hear the demonizing of the Federal Government the very government most of these backward thinking types depend on in some fashion or form. History Repeats Itself In Politics.
Our research in the House of Public Discourse has found that many Americans both North and South found the idea of Civil War far fetched. History Does Repeat Itself In Politics.
Monday, September 7, 2015
The Early American Market Houses Were Very Regulated, Sorry Republicans. (Video)
The Early American Market Houses were very regulated, sorry Republicans.
One of the biggest political fights over the last several decades has been over deregulation of industry and commerce in our country. The Republican Party has championed deregulating just about everything along with the Libertarian faction within the parties infrastructure.
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The Republican politicians and their base are always clamoring about how they adore small government and that regulation is the cause of much of our economic struggles and we just need to go back to the days of our founding fathers.
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Jared Fogle’s Foundation Caught Playing Games With the Obesity Epidemic!
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| Jared Fogel |
Not only, has Jared Fogle turned out to be a major disappointment as a spokesperson for Subway. He’s now facing allegations of fraud. According to several credible news sources, Fogle’s Foundation set up to assist in battling this Childhood obesity epidemic took in millions and gave out doodle- squat.
There are no two ways around this issue. The Jared Fogle Foundation is a massive fraud. Charity Watch President Daniel Borochoff in a report filed by USA Today stated:
“As with a lot of celebrities, the charity appears to be more about image-enhancement than charitable deeds.”In terms of distributing grants USA Today, who looked into this issue found the Jared Fogle Foundation issued a total of zero grants to schools fighting against this childhood obesity epidemic. The Tax records associated with the Foundation show that between 2009 to 2013 most of the money went to the Foundation Director, and the rest is lost in ” la la land” somewhere.
Also, it bears mentioning that the Director of the Foundation was busted months ago on Child-Pornography charges as well.What the facts are showing is these guys both Fogle and his Director are interested in children in a sexual manner. They set up a Charity that puts them near children but do nothing to help the children. The only thing their efforts do is put them in the immediacy of children.
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And, You Wonder Why People Are Leary Of Giving To Charities?
It’s these type stories that embed themselves in people minds. The crookedness and the sheer lack of Morality. The actions by Fogle goes deeper than just his actions. It affects all those who are trying to be of service who are ethical. This indecency does affect the overall fight against the obesity epidemic in our country. The majority of Americans no matter their political persuasion to coin a phrase ” have had it up to here.” with these types of violations of the public trust.These type actions simply dampen people’s ability to trust period. Jared Fogle is worth some 15 million dollars as a result of gaining the public’s trust. You can bet that is why Subway had him front and center as their spokesperson. Once again, we see the sin of greed being the motivation here. Based on the evidence this Foundation was nothing more than a front set up to make Fogle more money. What it looks like is that Fogle’s Director, who was not worth 15 million dollars and the one who pocketed large sums of cash, was not to assist Fogle’s fight against the obesity epidemic in America. But, instead, help him acquire child porn and children to molest. Sad.
Former Jared Foundation Director and Jared Fogle remained in contact after child porn charges
Friday, September 4, 2015
A Warning Made By A Republican Decades Ago Could Have Saved The GOP (VIDEO)
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| Barry Goldwater |
With loudmouth Donald Trump the front runner of the GOP and Kim Davis playing the Christian martyr and the popularity of the Republican Party at an all-time low, should the GOP have listened to Barry Goldwater decades ago?
Some have coined the late Senator Barry Goldwater the ” Godfather of Conservatism.” Senator Goldwater was very outspoken in his disdain with the influx of the religious right. Here are some of Goldwater’s pearls of wisdom on that subject:
"I am a conservative Republican, but I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state.? The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don’t hurt anyone else in the process.”(In a 1994 Washington Post essay)”The religious factions will go on imposing their will on others.”“I don’t have any respect for the Religious Right.”“Every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Falwell’s ass.”“A woman has a right to an abortion.”
Goldwater felt the matter of abortion was one for the courts. In 1981, Senator Goldwater made the following remarks in the U.S. Congressional Record:
There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God’s name on one’s behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ and ‘D.’ Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of ‘conservatism.’
Goldwater is on the record saying that his beloved Republican party would be ruined if the religious right gathered any sufficient strength within the party:
"Well, I’ve spent quite some years carrying the flag of the ‘Old Conservatism. And I can say with conviction that the religious issues of these groups have little or nothing to do with conservative or liberal politics. The uncompromising position of these groups is a divisive element that could tear apart the very spirit of our representative system if they gain sufficient strength."All of this ties into the mass exodus of the George Wallace Southern Dixiecrat to the open arms of the Republican Industrial elites. With this new anti-civil and voting rights voting blocks now in the flock, the Republican Party had to shift some gears and what transpired was Lee Atwater's infamous, “Southern Strategy.”
Massive resistance was a policy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. of Virginia on February 24, 1956, to unite other white politicians and leaders in Virginia. In a campaign of new state laws and policies to prevent public school desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954. Although most of the laws created to implement Massive Resistance were negated by state and federal courts by January 1960. Some policies and effects of the campaign against integrated of public schools continued in Virginia for many more years. Many schools and even an entire education system were shut down in preference to integration.
It is becoming more evident since the government shutdown the Republican Party may be in need of some serious soul-searching Could we see this same old George Wallace crowd move in with the Libertarians, Tea Party, and Religious right and form a new third-party in this country?
"The religious factions will go on imposing their will on others Unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy.? They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternatives. . .? We have succeeded for 205 years in keeping the affairs of state separate from the uncompromising idealism of religious groups, and we mustn’t stop now. To retreat from that separation would violate the principles of conservatism and the values upon which the framers built this democratic republic."[Barry Goldwater]Needless to say, Senator Goldwater fell out of favor and now with some of his warnings ringing true. Donald Trump and Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis examples thereof. There is a hint of in- fighting going on with the Republicans. However, with these gerrymandered districts throughout not just the South but the entire country creating “safe zones,” many Republicans seem just fine with their blind indifference to the point of shutting down the government and circumventing the Constitution.
A Liberals Like Christ article entitled "Goldwater versus Religious Right" offers a good evaluation of this conflict..
Mr. Conservative: Barry Goldwater vs. the Religious Right
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Christine M. Flowers: What if CNN Had Covered The American Revolution? OP-ED
Christine M. Flowers: What if CNN had covered the American Revolution?
By Christine M. Flowers, Philadelphia Daily News
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| The Liberty Bell |
One of my favorite movies is “Jurassic Park.” Actually, that’s not true. One of my 6-year-old nephew’s favorite movies is “Jurassic Park,” which means we watch it on a loop, which means that unless I want to engage a therapist, I embrace my inner Tyrannosaurus rex and pretend it was entirely my own idea.
Deep breath.
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Brazil Light Coffee Beans- High Mountain Grown |
Right around the point of my 82nd viewing of the movie, it occurred to me that technology can sometimes be a dangerous thing. Resurrecting dinosaurs, assuming that were even possible, is not a great idea if the poor creatures would be coexisting with humans (and truly unfair to the dinosaurs if some of those humans were members of the Kardashian genus). But bringing the past into the present is less problematic, at least to my mind, than imposing the present on the past.
I’m thinking specifically of how different historical events would appear to us if the technologies that exist today were available back then. In particular, I’m referring to how we report and otherwise present the news. Frankly, it’s a prospect that frightens me considerably more than the dinosaurs.
Take, for example, the Gettysburg Address. Abraham Lincoln arrived on the battlefield and in the shadow of blood and destruction delivered a speech that gave hope to the hopeless and inspired the despairing. His somber words and stoicism have passed into legend. But imagine what would have happened had Al Sharpton emerged from the swamp of his MSNBC studio and barged onto the scene. Can you hear his stentorian voice, thrust rudely into the sacred air? “MISTER President, WHY are you only interested in the lives of these DEAD WHITE MEN? WHY have you ignored the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER too, and that your concern for these DEAD WHITE MEN, who probably and most assuredly HARRASSED my brothers, is disrespectful to people of COLOR?”
And then there would be a cutaway to the studio, where a panel of women wearing sleeveless dresses and constipated expressions would talk among themselves about how this could affect Abe in the polls.
Or perhaps you’re a devotee of revolutionary history.
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Frosted Oil Warmer |
The struggles for independence that resulted in a courageous and radical document were raucous and sometimes bitter, and you can believe that some of the more anemic critics of the declaration had a grudge against its author, Thomas Jefferson. Imagine, then, if the journalists of that time had gotten whiff of Tom’s proclivity for the ladies. A lovely, powdered-wig Megyn Kelly could have shoved a mic in his face and said, “One of the things people love about you is that you speak — and then write — your mind, you don’t use a politician’s filter. But that has its downsides, in particular when it comes to women. You call women you don’t like (I’m assuming there are at least a few) ‘wench,’ ‘swine’ and ‘annoying little Quaker.’ How would you answer the question, from Abigail Adams no less, that you are part of the war on women?”
And when he retorted with “Megyn, you bimbo, why not vacation at Valley Forge this Christmas?” she could come back with some pointed inquiry into whether he’d ever registered with that scurrilous infidelity website, Dolley Madison. She could also throw in some innuendo about Gen. Washington and his lady biographer that we could all sink our (wooden) teeth into.
But if politics isn’t your cup of tea, so to speak, how about some natural disasters?
For example, the saga of the Titanic has been reported to us through firsthand accounts of survivors and in the forensic treasure trove unearthed when the watery tomb of a vessel was located many decades later. There has also been a slew of fanciful movies about doomed lovers and misplaced jewelry. But can you imagine what would have happened if, say, our local ABC, CBS or NBC affiliate had been dispatched to the scene of the tragedy?
There, clinging to the iceberg with an umbrella that clearly displays the station logo, is the lovely weather lady of the moment, this one preferably not eight months pregnant so as not to compete with the glacier for attention. She would talk about how, even though your city has never in its long history encountered an ice formation, there is indeed a local connection to the tragedy. And then, looking solemnly into the camera, she would explain that several of the deck chairs falling at that moment into the North Atlantic had been crafted by an artisan from the hip part of town.
Yes, we are fortunate that dinosaurs no longer roam the earth. We are equally fortunate that the founding of our nation, its consecration in the blood of patriots, and some unique human tragedies, were spared the harsh and bitter distortions of a 21st century lens.
Christine M. Flowers is a lawyer and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. Readers may send her email atcflowers1961@gmail.com.
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