Compassionate???? Conservative????

President Bush vetoed legislation that would expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program complaining that the expansion was too big and would give health insurance benefits to children whose parents might be too far above the poverty line. What a concept: to deny health care to millions of poor children because some children who are not quite as poor might also get health care. Following are just a few of the comments I found from people who are outraged by the president's lack of compassion.

Jesus made healing a principal sign of his ministry and of the presence of the kingdom of God. From a biblical point of view, it is simply wrong when health becomes a commodity and accessibility depends upon wealth. . . . SCHIP is one bill – one program – to help fix the health care problem. No bill is perfect. But a bipartisan group of legislators think it is a good bill in the right direction.

To veto the bill, with no alternative plan instead - to simply abandon millions of poor children, to leave them to a market system that is failing to provide health care to enough people - is simply morally unacceptable.

Mr. President, members of the House and Senate, 9 million American children are without health care coverage this day. . . . When historians reflect back on this era, do we want to be remembered as the people who turned their backs on the uninsured children of this nation?

I think this veto has the potential of being talked about 20 years from now as part of the legacy of this administration, and it is seen as a cruel and cynical response to the needs of poor children.

I disagree with the [White House] legislative staff on all of this. Frankly, I think the president has had pretty poor advice on this. I can answer every objection that they've made, and I'm very favorable to the president. I know he's compassionate. (His words, not mine. I don't think he is concerned) I know he's concerned about these kids, but he's been sold a bill of goods. --Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

From streetprophets.com

When a young couple have a kid with an expensive, long term disease, will they try to take away our right to fire the parents to save money on our employer health insurance costs??????
When a young couple have a kid with an expensive, long term disease, will they try to take away our right, (after the parents lose their jobs and get new ones) to deny coverage to the kid because of a pre-existing condition???????
When a young couple have a kid with an expensive, long term disease, will they try to take away our right, (after the parents lose their jobs and get new ones), (and after their application for SCHIP is denied because the parents make too much money but their kid isn't covered) to run up bills in the parents names into the millions of dollars????????
When a young couple have a kid with an expensive, long term disease, will they try to take away our right, (after the parents lose their jobs and get new ones), (and after their application for SCHIP is denied because the parents make too much money but their kid isn't covered) (and after weve run up bills in the parents names into the millions of dollars) will they demand that we loosen the bankruptcy laws??????????
God in heaven, Jesus would never stand for this lack of personal responsibility on the part of parents! How dare those Liberals!!!!!!
(This happened to a niece and nephew-in-law of mine. They both have decent jobs, health insurance that does not cover their son's hemophelia, and owe millions of dollars in health care debt that they can never repay, and can never get out from under.... Jesus would be proud.)

The words of another prophet come to mind, "Would Jesus wear a Rolex on his television show?"

By Their Fruits . . .

I loved it during the Dems debate the other night when Tim Russert caught nearly all of them off guard by asking them about their favorite Bible verse. All of them seemed a little nervous about the question except Dennis Kucinich, who quickly pulled from his pocket a copy of St. Francis' prayer, ". . . make me an instrument of thy peace . . ." which he keeps right next to the copy of the Constitution that he always carries. While some have criticized him because it was not a "Bible" verse, it certainly is biblical. I am constantly astounded that people who consider themselves to be followers of Jesus and his teachings find so many ways to get around his teachings on peace. I don't think Kucinich has a chance to win, but maybe he can influence the platforms of the front running fence straddlers.

Patreus or Betray Us

Yesterday the right wing pundits were all having a hissy fit because MoveOn.org ran an add which questioned Petraeus credibility. They were crowing about the great success his testimony was for Dubya and his cronies. Following is a critique of his testimony from the MoveOn folks which will convince any thinking person that Patraeus is just another part of the Big Lie that Bush has been trying to sell the country for six years.



Yesterday, General David Petraeus misled the country.

He used faulty statistics and cherry-picked intelligence to argue that American troops should stay in Iraq for the foreseeable future. The general said we're making major progress¹—and we have to stay the course. Sadly, independent assessments show that things in Iraq have gone from bad to worse (see below for more on how Petraeus stretched the truth).

Some of you have emailed to say it reminds you of the day four and a half years ago when President Bush sent General Colin Powell to the U.N. to make a trumped-up case for war.

Powell's WMDs helped justify the invasion of Iraq, and Petraeus' version of "progress"—if it goes unchallenged—will justify keeping troops there for years. Can you take a few minutes to write a letter-to-the editor reminding folks that the "surge" didn't work—and that the responsible thing to do is bring our troops home?

http://pol.moveon.org/lte?campaign_id=84&id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=2

Petraeus based much of his assessment on the claim that violence in Iraq is dropping.² That just isn't true:

• Petraeus is using "funny math." According to the Washington Post, Petraeus and the Pentagon are using a bizarre formula for measuring violence in the country. For example, deaths by car bombs don't count.³ And assassinations count only if you're shot in the back of the head—not in the front.⁴
  
• Iraqis believe the surge has failed. According to a massive new ABC/BBC poll, every single Iraqi polled in Baghdad, the primary target of the "surge," said it had made security worse. Iraqis themselves overwhelmingly think the situation in Iraq is deteriorating, in terms of security, political cooperation, the economy, and other measures. Overall, 70% think the escalation worsened rather than improved security conditions. ⁵
• The independent GAO report found that violence is up. A comprehensive Government Accountability Office report ordered by Congress found that "average number of daily attacks against civilians have remained unchanged from February to July 2007."⁶ In August, things got worse, with civilian casualties rising according to the Associated Press⁷ and the Los Angeles Times.⁸
• For our troops, it's the bloodiest summer yet. More U.S. troops died every month this year compared to the same month last year.⁹
  

Petraeus claimed that he compiled his report without conferring with the White House. But the Washington Post recently reported that Petraeus or his staff joined daily conference calls with the White House and former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie this summer to "map out ways of selling the surge." The Post reported that Gillespie's White House political unit was "hard-wired" to Petraeus' military unit.¹⁰

We would all like to see life improving in Iraq. But it's not—it's getting worse. And if US forces stay in Iraq both Americans and Iraqis will pay a terrible price.

Today is the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in American history. The wounds of 9/11 are still fresh for many of us. After 9/11, President Bush used fear, lies and trumped-up intelligence to stampede us into Iraq. Now, America is bogged down in an unwinnable civil war, and Al Qaeda has regained enough strength to once again menace the United States.¹¹

It would be a tragic irony if, six years later, the administration used skewed intelligence to head off the growing momentum for an exit strategy from Iraq.

Please write a letter reminding America and Congress not to fall, ever again, for White House lies—we need a timeline to bring our troops home.

http://pol.moveon.org/lte?campaign_id=84&id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=3

Thanks for all that you do,

–Nita, Karin, Laura, Eli, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

P.S. Yesterday, MoveOn members sponsored an ad in the New York Times debunking Petraeus' claims. Click here to see the ad—and the evidence to back it up:
http://pol.moveon.org/petraeus.html?id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=4

The ad stirred a controversy on Capitol Hill—it accuses Petraeus of "cooking the books." And it charges that Petraeus is betraying the American peoples' trust by spinning the facts to support the White House. Some Democrats were uncomfortable with such strong language, and Republicans attacked MoveOn.

We're sure if we'd run an ad debunking Colin Powell's testimony in 2003, they would have done the same thing—but sometimes it's important to set the facts straight.

SOURCES
1. Washington Post, "Petraeus Backs Initial Pullout," 9/11/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2958&id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=5 2. Ibid.
3. New York Times, "Time to Take a Stand," 9/7/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2941&id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=6
4. Washington Post, "Experts Doubt Drop in Violence in Iraq," 9/6/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2938&id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=7
5. ABC News, "Iraqis' Own Surge Assessment," 9/10/07
http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=3571504
6. Washington Post, "Experts Doubt Drop in Violence in Iraq," 9/6/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2938&id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=8
7. Associated Press, "1,809 Iraqi civilians killed in August," 9/1/07
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20543737/
8. Los Angeles Times, "Iraqi civilian deaths climb again," 9/1/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2956&id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=9
9. http://www.iCasualties.org
10. Washington Post, "Among Top Officials, 'Surge' Has Sparked Dissent, Infighting," 9/9/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2957&id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=10
11. Washington Post, "Scarier than Bin Laden," 9/9/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2959&id=11221-8292763-PChjRg&t=11

Fool Me Once . . .

As Dubya tried to say one time, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." If there is anyone out there still being fooled about "progress" in Iraq, it is because they want to be fooled. See

http://pol.moveon.org/troopshome/?id=11197-8292763-A7ozWt&t=3

Don't fall for the Whitehouse spin on whatever next weeks report might say. The truth is American troops are their few allies are being killed everyday because Iraqis are fighting Iraqis. They will not take responsibility for their own security as long as we are doing it for them. We need to start bringing the troops home today and not stop until they are all out of harm's way.

Two Down, ? to Go!

Are these two rats leaving a sinking ship?

Who cares, as long as they are leaving.

Two Pictures are worth . . . ?

If a picture is worth a thousand words these two say pretty much all that needs to be said.

I am grateful to the Baptist Blogger for these images.

Going, Going, Goooooon--not quite yet

One has to wonder how much longer a man, who will be universally acknowledged as one of the worst attorneys general of all time, can hang on. As was written in another blog,

Gonzales will go down in history as the attorney general who helped the president: 1) torture, 2) wreak havoc on civil liberties, 3) fire U.S. attorneys who didn't prosecute along preferred political lines, 4) demoralize the Department of Justice, 5) worsen Bush's already dismal relationship with Congress, and 6) relentlessly hector a man in the intensive care unit.

Of course, one also has to wonder why the Shrub cares more about loyalty than he does about justice.

Impeach Now Or Face the End of Constitutional Democracy

The title may be a little scary but those are not my words. They belong to an old-time Reagan republican who finally recognizes what some of us "liberals" have been warning you about. Bush is an imperialist and not just internationally. He continues to abuse the power of the executive branch for his personal goals and ambitions. Read the frightening analysis of the latest presidential power grab at Or Face the End of Constitutional Democracy Impeach Now By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS



Roberts says

Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran.

If this column does not make the hairs on the back of your neck stick straight out you have to be counted among those he describes as

"a diehard minority" who still believe "in the honesty and integrity of the Bush-Cheney administration and in the truthfulness of the corporate media."

There is no reason to wait and every reason to fear what Bush and his crew may try to pull off before we can vote someone else into office.

Where are the "Real" Baptists?

. . . every true Baptist understands that any attempt to “baptize” the faith with the imprimatur of the state – whether it’s the Ten Commandments or faith-based initiatives or public prayer in public schools – ultimately diminishes the integrity of the faith. Roger Williams warned us about that nearly four centuries ago. Those warnings were prescient then.

Today, they’re urgent.

That comment in a speech last week By Randall Balmer at The Religious Liberty Council Luncheon in Washington, D.C., addresses the same problem I have been trying to raise at every venue that I have access to. The so-called baptists who are leading the SBC today have not concept of what it has meant historically to be baptist. Their hunger for power and caused them to throw away the one thing that really made baptists distinctive, their absolute commitment to a "Free church in a Free state." I urge you to read the entire address at "In Search of America's Baptists"

George Bush Hates America

I heard on the radio this morning that a critic referred to George Bush as "brain-dead" in response to the Scooter Libby fiasco. Some of those on the panel thought this kind of language was a little too extreme to use for a sitting president. Well, I've gone way past that. I fully believe that George Bush hates the America that most of us love. You don't have to agree with me, but you do have to seriously consider the things he has done to try to undermine the whole system of government. All you really have to consider are his supreme court nominees. Specifically, if he cared about the way the court is supposed to operate why would he have ever considered nominating Harriet Myers. At least in that case there was enough public outcry to make him withdraw the nomination. His nominations for attorney general were, are, and will be a total disgrace. Ashcroft was an absolute failure, but at least he seemed to honest and knew that the wiretaps were illegal. Gonzales is not only a failure, but a liar. How sad it is when the man who is supposed to lead the "Justice" department has no concept of what justice means. His nominee to the UN was designed to undermine the US presence there. The few people of quality that he allowed into his cabinet have resigned in disgust. General after general has resigned from the military so they can openly comment on the fiasco in the defense department. Who can forget, "way to go, Brownie." I could go on but it's too depressing. I hope the country can survive another year and a half in the hands of a man who hates what it stands for.