Right wing commentator Ann Coulter is now saying that Obama isn’t a Muslim, he’s an Atheist, as if being an Atheist is a bad thing. As an Atheist myself I don’t have an invisible friend telling me to fly planes into buildings or to invade Iraq after fabricating false reasons for the invasion. So if Obama actually were an Atheist I wouldn’t have a problem with that.
However, it makes me wonder if Ann Coulter is an Atheist. If I believed in God I certainly would not be using the Lord’s name in vein to make a cheap political point. When I see those who call themselves Christians do bad things and use God’s name as a cover, one can only conclude that they don’t really believe in God. After all, if God is in your heart, transformed your life, and God actually means something to you, you simply would not abuse his name as a tool to foment hatred. Ann Coulter is admitting through her conduct that it she is the Atheist.
I just getting really tired of people inflaming hatred for profit or political gain. Christians want to hate the Muslims. Muslims want to hate the Christians. Atheists want to hate people who believe in God. Believers want to hate those who don’t believe in God. And in the background there are those who are out to make a buck or grab power while using hatred as a distraction.
The truth is that we are one planet and one people and what we should be focused on is how we are going to all get along so that humanity can progress so we can all get from where we are to where we want to be. So I’m not going to be caught up in the “my God is tougher than your God” fight while those who inflame the hatred pick my pockets. If humanity is going to dig ourselves out of the hole we are in then it’s to we step it up a notch and rise above the petty crap.
It’s time to take responsibility for our existence, own our mistakes, and figure out a way to move forward and fight over who gets the credit for making the right choices rather than who gets the blame for screwing things up.
There comes a point where the right of free speech meets freedom of religion head on. This week a federal judge stopped stem cell research because of a law that was the result of Christianity’s war on science. According to Christan values, people like me would burn in hell in the next life for doing scientific research on cell that would otherwise have ended up in the garbage.
I am the founder of the Church of Reality and our religion has a different world view of the afterlife. In our religion everything you do becomes part of your “Life Story” and when you die, who you were is the sum total of everything you did. It is a historical fact, for example, that Galileo was imprisoned by the Catholic Church because he talked about the Earth orbiting the Sun. That is part of the Catholics Life Story and even though they now recognize they were wrong, the fact that it happened never goes away.
In our religion two of our Sacred Principles are the Principle of Responsibility and the Principle of Scrutiny. These principles require us to think things through and be sure so that when we take a stand on an issue that the reasoning behind our choice is in fact sound judgment. Sound judgment is required in the Church of Reality lifestyle. When our life story is remembered, we want people to say we made the right choices.
Like the Catholic Church and Galileo however, Christians of this era will be judged by History and this day will be looked back upon as a mistake and that hundreds of thousands needlessly died and suffered as a result of the delays caused by the obstruction of stem cell research. The blood will be on the hands of those who oppose stem cell research because they didn’t go to the trouble to think things through before taking a stand.
We are a religion that seeks the Truth. The real truth. And what is it that can be a higher truth than reality itself? Science is holy to us because science brings us closer to reality. Science is by definition the exploration of reality.
You Christians can go pray to your invisible friend all you want. I don’t care. But when you interfere with science then you are interfering with our religious beliefs. So I want to say to the Christian community that I really resent it.
I’m getting tired of the whole “mosque at ground zero” story. It’s not a mosque and it’s not at ground zero. And it’s not political because the First Amendment gives religious freedom to all religions and no politician can do anything about it. American Muslims are very different that Middle East Muslims and the reason for that in large part is because of our religious freedoms. Freedom is a good thing and I find it strange the politicians are against it.
What I see is just Republicans looking for someone else to hate. Let’s hate all Muslims. And because of 911 they are an easy target. It’s consistent with let’s hate Hispanics, Blacks, Gays, Liberals, Socialists, Intellectuals, Teachers, Community Organizers, Unions, Europeans, Poor People, Hippies, Soccer, Hollywood, People who ride the bus, Environmentalists, Unemployed, Progressives, and Pregnant Teen Sluts. And the news media is falling for it. I would rather see some coverage of the issue that the Republicans don’t want to talk about. That issue is what this year’s election means – the choice between to we stick with the Obama recovery, or do we return to Bush Era economics. So maybe the news media will wake up and cover something that is actually important.
With poll numbers falling people are asking what Democrats should do now to win the mid term elections this fall. What message should Democrats use to bring the attention of the voters back to remembering the Bush Era and how we got in this economic crisis in the first place.
If I were the Democrats what I would do is buy 15 minutes of time on the major networks a few days before the election and I would play Bush’s full economic crisis speech of September 24th 2008. I think once the voters hear that again, and the talking head on cable start discussing it, then the election will be about whether America should continue the long hard path to recovery, or should we go back to the Bush Era and make the problem worse. Elections have consequences and if we make the wrong choice then we have to pay the price.
On this 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki I want to apologize to the people of Japan and the entire world on behalf of America for vaporizing 2 cities. We must never forget and we must never allow nuclear weapons to ever be used again. Although I am not an official that can speak for every American, the silence of America does not represent the voice of the people. Some day the President will speak out, but today I will be the voice that expresses my personal regret and for those who feel as I do.
It appears that Charley Rangle, the same congressman who a House panel found broke ethic rules, wants to bring back the national draft. A bill, introduced on July 15th called the “Universal National Service Act” would require everyone 18 to 42 years old to perform national service. This joker is telling us to perform national service! Hey Charley, why don’t you perform a national service and resign from the House of Representatives? I love it when congressmen who cheat on their taxes want us to serve the country.
A lot of politicians are talking about extending the Bush tax cuts claiming the it would raise taxes in the “middle class”. However the news media is trying to redife middle class to include people making $200,000 a year. Is $200,000 a year middle class? I don’t think so.
The average American family income is $46,326 a year. Someone making $200,000 make more that 4 times average. That seems rich to me. They are also in the top 3% on the income scale. That’s on the rich end. In my view if you are in the top 15% that would be rich. So $100,000 a year in my opinion is a rich person.
So I really resent the news media’s assertion that we should extend the Bush tax cuts because it raises taxes on the middle class because it’s just plain false. The Bush tax cuts were for the rich and the rest of us are having to pay for it because it was and continues to be paid for with borrowed money. And borrowing money for the rich to be paid for by the poor is just plain wrong.
Reference on my numbers:
Although Republicans have of late been making a lot of noise concerning the growing national debt, we liberals are concerned about it as well. That’s why the tax cuts for the rich need to expire. It’s not a tax increase, it’s taking away a tax cut for the rich that they never should have had in the first place. One of the main reasons we have this debt is because of giveaways to the rich. Just like the bank bailouts. That money went to the rich as well.
Now people are talking about extending those tax cuts saying things like it will raise taxes on the upper middle class. People making merely $200,000 a year. My heart bleeds for these people really! While the unemployed eats dog food because unemployment benefits were stalled for 2 months, we are not so concerned about people making over $200,000 having to pay their share? How will these people survive with $3700 less? I know – let’s find some cheaper dog food to feed the unemployed!
America has to get it’s priorities straight and if the Democrats want the people to turn out and vote for them they better start taking care of those making under $200,000 and not over $200,000. There’s more of us than there are of them and with the deficit growing and the economy collapsing I think it’s time to say no to the interests of the rich. No more high income tax cuts!
One of the things I find amazing about the Tea Party leaders’ response to being accused of racism is to try to prove that blacks are racist to. If blacks are racists then it’s somehow ok for them to be racist as well. WRONG!
Even if some members of the NAACP were racist, which they might be, it’s not ok for the Tea Party to be racist. It reminds me when I was a kid and someone does something bad and they say, “Well Joey did it too!” That kind of excuse, they are racists too, not only proves the Tea Party followers are racists, but that they are just not very smart. And in spite of what they might here, being smart is a good thing.
The mainstream news media this week was misled by right wing racist Andrew Breitbart who claimed that the NAACP is racist. His proof was a video he edited to make it look like Shirley Sherod was making racist statement at an NAACP meeting. As a result of all the news coverage, Sherod was fired.
Now it turns out the news media was wrong and Ms. Sherod made no such racial statements. So who is the media blaming? Would you think they would blame Andrew Breitbart who phonied up the video? Do you think they would blame Fox News for inflaming it? Do you think they would blame themselves for getting it wrong? NO! The news media is blaming the NAACP and the Obama administration for believing the mainstream media. So when blacks are victimized who do we blame? We blame the victims, the people who believe the lie, not the people who told the lie. And that is racism on the part of the news media. This is their fault and the fault of Andrew Breitbart.
—–
As usual – the media blames the niggers. It’s the NAACP’s fault for believing it. It’s Obama’s fault for believing it. Not the fault of FOX or CNN or MSNBC for calling for her resignation. Not our fault the media says. Let’s blame the niggers.
Today was another good day for President Obama and America. First, his Supreme Court nominee Elana Kagan was approved by the Judicary Committee. And then Obama busted the Republican filibuster and the Senate voted to approve emergency unemployment benefits for the unemployed. That was the big victory because most of these unemployed remember that they lost their jobs because of Bush and the Republicans. Now the Republicans want to cut them off in favor of maintaining tax cuts for the rich. With the unemployment rate at 9.5% it makes me wonder if they are going to vote for the party that caused the problems or the party that’s fixing it?
The National Tea Party Federation expelled the Tea Party Express this week over how to handle racist views. Tea Party Express leader Mark Williams decided that it was time for them to be honest about their racism and to come out of the closet and say what they really mean. And Mark did so by writing a satirical letter to President Abraham Lincoln about what “colored people” want.
No No No says the National Tea Party Federation. You don’t call them “colored people”. That’s highly offensive. You have to respect them by calling them “people of color”. This is an election year and the National Tea Party Federation, made up of former Republican leaders like Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey, understand that overt racism doesn’t win elections. Their position is to hide the racism, stay in the closet, and be politically correct. Don’t say what you really think. So the National Tea Party Federation expelled the Tea Party Express because they refused to lie about how they really feel.
The Republican Party completely understands that there is a difference between what you do and what you say. The Republicans get it! They have a person of color, Michael Steele, as the Republican National Committee Chairman. And even though Mr. Steele had a little problem with RNC money paying to take a group of Christian conservatives to a lesbian bondage themed sex club, Mr. Steele keeps his job; possibly sending a message to the political left that there might be a place for affirmative action in the Republican Party.
So who is right? Do voters respect honesty or is it that smart politicians understand that you have to tell the voters what they want to hear. I say, they both are right. Honesty and sincerity is what wins elections. That’s what the public wants. So once you learn how to fake sincerity and honesty, you have it made!
Founder of the Church of Reality http://www.churchofreality.org
Reality change my life. It can change your life too. Make reality part of your daily life.
Proud member of the reality based community.
ADDITIONALLY : I try to keep my letters short. However, I am on a roll so if you have room for a longer piece, below is what you would add for the long version:
Now there are two Tea Parties. One for those who are openly racist and one for those who are not comfortable being openly racist. Who says the Tea Party isn’t a big tent? And they are all going to vote Republican this fall because even though they have a black chairman, they have a long history of racist voting records and legislation.
Although America has come a long way in electing our first mixed race president, we are not there yet. Racism is not over and Obama in the first. I remember as a child hearing discussions about if Kennedy could be an effective president because he is Catholic.Obama is the first, and when you are first, your culture is on trial. The issue of whether Blacks are ready to lead America, especially during these troubled times.
Think about it. What are the Republicans running on? Do you think they are running on their record of accomplishment? Even they don’t say that! So it’s a good think in my opinion to get the whole racial thing out in the open and talk about it. Because in order for racism to really go away, we have to merge our cultures and both sides will have to give up segrigationalist thinking. And it’s going to take some time before we get there.
But I personally an not allow racial issues to distract me in choosing my leaders. What matters to me in this election is that we are in tough times and I want to choose the candidate who is wisest and who is most likely to make the right choices that get us from where we are to where we need to be. So my criteria is based on who has the best plan? Convince us that you can make it happen. I want someone with a deep respect for reality and who understands that if you don’t get right with reality, that there are consequences. You want my vote then inspire me with your vision of the future. Is your vision “Star Trek”? “The Martix,” or “Planet of the Apes”? I want to hear “Star Trek”. —-
This letter in support of California Proposition 19
Although Democrats are nervous they scored yet another victory for the people today in passing tough rules to prevent Wall Street from crashing the economy again. No more bailouts this time. Now we have a consumer protection agency that will defend the people from the abuses of the big banks. The news media tells us that Obama is unpopular and that we’re going to lose in the next election. I don’t think so. I don’t think that America has forgotten who has caused the problems and who it is that’s fixing it. Today was a good day. America took a big step forward. We are on the way to recovery.
Here’s a letter I sent to a large number of California State officials about California Proposition 19, to legalize marijuana in California. I support it not because marijuana isn’t so bad, but rather that marijuana is actually good for you. Here’s what I wrote.
People are talking about how the Republicans might do in the elections this November. I say they can’t win because the Republican party no longer exists. Those who claim to be the Republicans aren’t. The party is dead. Only the name survives.
This is not the party of Abraham Lincoln. Ronald Reagan was far to liberal for today’s Republicans. What is left of what the Republicans is the Ku Klux Klan wing, neocons like Dick Cheney, and those who are against the kind of people who think. The party is owned by corporate puppets that apologize to British petroleum. The party is led by Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin. Republicans are only concerned about the deficit when they are out of power and spend like mad when they are in power.
Republicans need to take responsibility. They need to stand for something more than empty slogans. There are no ideas there anymore. It’s all about their own self interest. So Republicans cannot possibly win because Republicans no longer exist.
It wasn’t the decision that Judge Martin Feldman made this week lifting the oil drilling moratorium that I find the most offensive. What is even more offensive was that he was allowed to hear the case in the first place.
The Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges from hearing cases for which the judge has even the appearance of a financial interest in the outcome. Judge Feldman has tens of thousands of dollars in oil stock that is directly affected by the outcome of this decision. Yet he was allowed to hear this case. That is what is really really outrageous.
By allowing this judge to hear this case the Courts sent a clear message that they are so deep in the pockets of big oil that they aren’t even going to pretend to follow their Code of Judicial Conduct. They are flaunting their corruption in front of the public. They are sending a message that they are above the law and that they can just get away with it because the public is powerless to stop them.
Public respect for the judiciary has eroded ever since the Supreme Court decided the 2000 election appointing Bush president. Since then judicial ethics has gone down hill to the point that a judge no longer even pretends that the appearance of impropriety has any meaning at all. Now they flaunt their corruption. To me this is an act of treason to the Constitution and insults the values that America represents.
It amazes me that Republican Joe Barton actually apologized British Petroleum saying that President Obama is shaking them down for 20 billion dollars. I say good for Obama. That’s what he’s supposed to do. What do the Republicans expect – that the taxpayers should bail out big oil? I don’t think so! On one hand they are calling on Obama to do more and then they complain when he does more. They hate big government unless big government is bailing out big banks and big oil.
Republicans are also claiming that it’s the governments fault for failing to force the oil industry to obey the law. That’s like saying that if a bank gets robbed it’s the fault of the police for failing to stop them, The Republican have sided with the oil companies and against the people. When people ask, “What can we do to stop a disaster like this again?” What we can do is vote the Republicans out, pass tough energy reform legislation, and get America off of oil. This time for real.
We live in a nation of morons who just don’t get it that running on oil just doesn’t work. Everyone expects that somehow President Obama is going to waive a magic wand and the oil spill is going to go away, the coast will be clean, and the fishermen are going to start fishing again. People think that maybe if we give Obama the authority of a king, or maybe if we nuke the hole, that everything is somehow going to fix itself. It’s not going to happen. It’s time to get off of oil because this spill has proven that oil no longer works.
How many spills do we have to have before we stop drilling for oil? How many wars for oil do we have to fight before we get it. Politicians are crying over the drilling moratorium because 150,000 oil workers might lose their jobs. Good I say! Every oil worker needs to be looking for a new job. We are a country in deep denial and quite frankly I hope the oil keeps spilling until America finally gets it. Until we get serious about wind and solar energy. We can, for some time run off of natural gas and coal, but we are officially out of safe oil and we need to stop drilling for it.
So I hope the spill keeps spilling until the last politician in the pocket of big oil gets on the side of the people. I hope it gushes until the last Tea Bagger stops saying “Drill Baby Drill”. America has turned its back on reality and reality has been tapping us on the shoulder trying to get our attention. Now reality has whopped us up side the head. America needs to get right with reality. We need to run our trucks on natural gas. We need to run our cars on electricity. We need to start making diesel fuel out of coal. We need to upgrade the electrical grid. We need to do nuclear if we can do it safely. And we need most of all to convert to solar, wind, and hydroelectric to ensure that we have clean energy for tomorrow. And most of all, we need to have a war on stupidity, because being a nation or morons is a luxury we can no longer afford.
It is unfortunate the Helen Thomas was forced to retire after speaking her mind about Israel. I happen to agree with her although I wouldn’t have worded it the way she did.
No religion should have a homeland. Whenever there is a religious homeland it creates a caste system where one group of people are superior to all other religious groups. If the Jews get one then it justifies the Muslims getting one, then the Christians will want one, and eventually the Church of Scientology will want their homeland. In contrast, America is a secular nation where all religions and non-religions are equal.
I also don’t like censorship. It seems that you can’t say anything the criticizes Israel or draw cartoons of Muhammad without losing your job or your life. Helen is a role model for me. Like Helen, I don’t accept this form of oppression and I will say whatever I want about anyone I want. I encourage others to do the same.
It’s interesting to see Republicans and Tea Baggers changing their tune when they want the government to bail them out after the capitalists have failed. After all, isn’t the oil spill “Free Enterprise”? They didn’t like the government bailing out the banks, but they want the government to bail out the oil companies and help clean up the spill? I thought they believed that wasn’t the government’s role. They shouldn’t interfere with the “free market system”.
Not the conservatives want the government to “take over”. They want government run beach protection? Are they asking for socialized government run environmental protection? Isn’t this just more “government regulation”. Just another “big government takeover”? Why do we care about the environment? That’s what those liberal progressive tree hugging global warming socialist hippies want. Not the conservatives are calling out to the “federal bureaucracy” for a “bailout”. What about British Petroleum’s God given right to make a profit?
When things are good it’s easy for Tea Baggers to run their mouth. But when the disasters come and we have to deal with reality all of a sudden they change their tune and come crying to Uncle Sam wanting the liberals to clean up their mistakes. I think the news media is giving these people intellectual welfare to even listen to them anymore.
I’m just hoping that after the worst oil disaster in history that if it’s really going to be bad that it is bad enough to shut up the “Drill Baby Drill” crown and those who keep saying that we don’t need government regulation. Without regulating these companies the Taxpayer’s have to pick up the cost of these corporate mistakes. They want to play “capitalist” and “free market” but when they fail we have to bail them out. I wonder if the Tea Party thinks that the Taxpayer should bail out the oil companies in the name of corporate freedom?
We deregulated the electric companies and had rolling blackouts. We deregulated the Savings and Loans in the 1980s and they collapsed and had to have a taxpayer bailout. Then we deregulated the banks and the securities and we had the taxpayer bailout of 2008. We didn’t regulate the mines enough and miners die in explosions. Now the oil companies have liability caps which means that someone else has to pay for their mistakes. Where were the government regulators? They were literally downloading porn, doing drugs, and having sex with corporate lobbyists.
Our nation is a nation of people, but corporations. It’s We the People. We have to vote out the politicians who put the companies who bribe them first before the interests of the common good of the humans they are supposed to represent. Maybe finally this latest disaster will be bad enough to shut up even Rand Paul and Sarah Palin who seem to think that foreign oil companies have superior rights to the American public.
Tuesday’s elections are a big wake up call for those who think that America is leaning Republican. In Pennsylvania, the Democrat beat the Republican for Congress in Jack Murtha’s seat. Senator Arlen Spector, Republican turned Democrat, lost to a real Democrat. In Kentucky the Tea Party candidate beat the Republican establishment candidate in the Republican primary. If the republicans can’t even win in a Republican primary I’d say that the Democrats are going to do much better than what the news pundits are predicting.
None of this is a surprise for me because the Republicans caused the mess we’re in and they have tried to obstruct the recovery. While only 1/2 the country agrees that Democrats are fixing the problem, no one things the Republicans are fixing the problem. So of course Republicans aren’t going to win. Maybe Republicans should think about working with President Obama and accomplishing something positive and run on a record of accomplishment.
Before Martin Luther King in the 1960s blacks were considered second class citizens. They did the work no one else would do at wages far below that of white people. Now Hispanics are in the same positions as blacks were before 1960. Under the guise that some of them might be illegal immigrants Hispanics are being pushed down by white racists who have a new race to oppress.
Sarah Palin fueling this racism is saying that “We are all Arizonians now”. Actually every human on the continent are the decedents of someone who immigrated from somewhere else. White people are not native to America, so the way I see it, we are all immigrants now.
I’m not sure what the Republicans have in mind by trying to organize America into “us vs. them” because they are giving Hispanics more motivation to vote than they ever had before. I don’t see how alienating more voters is going to help the party of Bush win elections.
On 9/11 Jerry Falwell declared that god was punishing us for abortionists, gays, and feminists. Muslim clerics have declared that recent earthquakes is God punishing us for women dressing immodestly. Pat Robertson said that the Haiti earthquake was God punishing the Haitians for making a “pact with the Devil”. So I just can’t wait to hear what God is punishing us for now!
As an Atheist I feel like I should be able to have an opinion as to what God is punishing us for that is based on our cultural perspective and belief system. So, speaking in behalf of the Atheist community, the oil spill in the Gulf is because God is punishing us for not having a working shutoff valve at the oil well head. That’s our opinion, and we’re sticking with it.
This week President Obama is going to pick the next Supreme Court justice. People are talking about what kind of a justice Obama should pick. I want a justice that won’t usurp the will of the voters and appoint a president like the Supreme Court did in Bush vs. Gore giving the presidency to the loser. I want a justice that understands that We the People does not mean We the Corporations and that The People are superior to the corporate world. I want a justice than understands that it is the right of the people to spy on the government and not the right of the government to spy on The People. I want a justice that gives a woman more rights than they give her gun.
The current Supreme Court is not an institution of justice but little more that a cesspool of right wing corruption. In 2008 We the People rose up against the tyranny of the Bush/Cheney administration to take America back, leading the world back to recovery. But the fight isn’t over and we aren’t going to let a bunch of Tea Baggers stand in our way. We say to you that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken – you can not outlast us, and we will defeat you. Reality is on our side.
During the 2008 election the Republicans, raising their angry voices, were all chanting “Drill Baby Drill” as the solution to America’s energy needs. Now with 200,000 gallons of oil a day pouring into the Gulf the reality of why we need to get away from oil is washing up on our shores. When it comes to making good decisions you have to look at the big picture and think things through rather than just find a three word slogan that angry people can chant. It’s time for people to take responsibility, turn to reality, and come up with solutions to our energy problems that actually work.
So Mr. Hawking, you say it’s “too risky” to contact beings from other planets? You must be thinking about moving to Arizona because of your anti-alien rhetoric. We don’t like being called “Space Aliens”. We see ourselves as “Citizens of the Universe”.
We need to stop listening to racist pigs like Stephen Hawking. If we are going to get along in the universe we have to stop judging people be the color of their skin or what planet they were born on. For years people from other planets have become productive citizens of Earth. While it is true that we have taken jobs in the computer design and software development industry, we only design the chips and write the software that no one else wants to do, working for free in to Open Source world.
I know many of you are afraid that we are just here to breed your women and use our mind control powers to make you vote for people who no one had ever heard of like Barrack Obama and Sarah Palin. But we just want to be treated like people no matter if our skin color is white, brown, black, yellow, invisible, or green. We should not be forced to carry identifier chips to be scanned by police robots to prove that we are legally allowed to be here on this planet.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the Tea Party crowd responds to the Republicans blocking the Democrats from stopping bank bailouts and fixing the problems that led to the collapse of the economy and the high unemployment and deficits. Supposedly the Tea Party are “independent” and are interested in issues. but when the Democrats give them what they want and the Republicans block it, will they support the Democrats? I don’t see the Republicans gaining seats this year when they are against everything that the people want.
