In Loving Memory...

This Sunday at 2:30 AM, the world lost a truly unique soul - C.M. Peavler. C.M. was an airline pilot, a real estate appraiser, and a peronsality bigger than life itself. He is irreplacable and will be deeply missed.

As I review the posts on this blog and the reponses that have been left, I am struck by the animosity and ill will that pervades. In the more than one year since I have posted here, I have learned several truths which have been accentuated by my recent loss. To anyone who stops here by chance, I leave you with these closing thoughts:

1) God is Love. Those who abide in Love abide in God.

2) What does the Lord require of you but to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.

We love and miss you, C.M.

Peace.

The Declaration of Independence

Jefferson may have written the Declaration, but it was Lincoln who revived it and it placed it above even the Constitution as the true soul of our country. The following are the words of Lincoln on the Declaration during the 1850's:

"Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty - to Russia, for instance."

In 2006, you could change Know Nothings to Republicans and the phrase would be:

"All men are created equal, except foreigners, homosexuals, and non-Christians."

At least the Know Nothings were aptly named...

Cartoon Violence

Think the world is safer since we deposed Sadaam Hussein? Think again. Just look at the reaction across the Muslim world to a simple cartoon. I don't condone religious intolerance, but I do suppport free speech. While speech has its consequences, like boycott and embargo, it should never be met with violence. In the strangest twists of fate, we in America mourn the passing of the First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement - the most successful non-violent movement in history (right behind Ghandi), while thugs and hoodlums throughout the Muslim world throw molitav cocktails at government buildings and call for executions. And just like in this country when right-wing fanatics bomb abortion clinics and execute doctors, supposedly "moderate" Muslim clerics sit on their hands while whispering for peace and offering excuses for intolerable behavior. Worst of all, they frame the whole argument around a clash of custom. Clash of custom - you're damn right. The West, for all its faults, does not condone violence as the answer to an otherwise nonviolent disagreement. Of course, The West is not a homogenous society, and there are certainly elements that do - The KKK, Pat Robertson, Operation Life. However, for the largest part, these groups are seen to be on the fringe. In today's Muslim world, it seems that the fanatics are in the main stream and the so-called moderates are often indistinguishable from the zealots.

So I ask you - is it really in America's best interests to install psuedo-democracies in a wasteland of fanaticism? Democracy means more than just a popular vote. At least, it should. If it doesn't, then the Enlightenment is dead. Without a basic respect for the rights of man there can be no democracy. So why replace oppresive dictators with freely elected oppresive governments? And, for God's sake, why spend American blood to do it? I don't know what the solution is in the fight against fanaticism. But I'm fairly sure that its not handing the fanatics the keys to castle...

The Pusher

Can anyone really take Geroge W. Bush seriously when he proclaims that we need to kick our oil habbit? Isn't that like the herion pusher telling the junkie he has to quit smack while he's selling him another bag? The Bush family made their fortune selling oil and continue to horde wealth from oil to this day. This adminsitration has fiercely resisted calls to significantly increase CAFE limits which would help to reduce our dependency on oil. Instead, they passed a law that absolutely encouraged any sane businessman to purchase the heaviset and least fuel efficent vehicles on the market. In fact, this administration has pushed for five years to rape ANWR for MORE oil! We were going to pay for Iraq by selling MORE Iraqi oil.

As the mighty Steppenwolf once said: "Goddamn the pusher man..."

This is a democracy?

From the AP Wire on December 22, 2005 in a story concerning Sunni objections to the recent election in Iraq:

A senior member of the Shiite religious United Iraqi Alliance, the group that preliminary results show leading in the polls, said the protesters should accept the results.
"These statements will lead the country to new chaos," Ali al-Adib said. "Who can guarantee that when the elections are rerun they will not reject them again?"
Al-Adib, also a member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said the alliance now helping govern Iraq also had complaints.

Let me get this straight - a senior member of the political group which is leading in the elections is also a member of a group called Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq? ISLAMIC REVOLUTION IN IRAQ!!! 2,000 Americans have died to foster an ISLAMIC REVOLUTION IN IRAQ???

The words DEMOCRACY and ISLAMIC REVOLUTION are absolutely incompatible. This is not to say that the Muslim religion is incompatible with democracy, despite the current historic record. However, Islamic Revlotionaries are as likely to form a democracy as the KKK is to sponsor a Rap concert.

As an interesting side note, Ayad Allawi - the initial Prime Minister of post-Sadaam Iraq - has called the recent elections fraudulent. I don't know if he's right or just a sore loser, but it will be interesting to see how the Bush adminisration handles his claims. After all, they installed him as Prime Minister and insisted to the world that his credentials were impeccable and that he was just what the new Iraq needed. 5 to 1 says they will now marginalize him as a disaffected radical unfit to serve in the new "democracy." If we've learned one thing during the past 6 years its this - Anyone who doesn't tow the official Bush line is a TRAITOR and un-American, or in the case of Allawi, un-Iraqi. I guess we'll just toss him on the pile of propped-up despots who no longer serve American interests.

Walt Disney World - Bastion of Liberalism?

I just returned from nine days at Walt Disney World with a new found respect for Disney - the company and the man. I have always been more the Warner Brothers type - 5 minutes of action, violence, sillyness, and sarcasm. My daughter is definitely Disney and my son is in between with a leaning towards Tom & Jerry. However, Disney World is the ONLY place to take your children when it comes to theme parks. What I recently discovered is the progressive and even liberal slant to many attractions, especially at Epcot.

Attractions at Epcot include Spaceship Earth - a look at communication throughout time which begins with cavemen (and no mention of Adam & Eve or Intelligent Design). The Energy Pavillion contains a 40 minute ride/theatre that examines the development of fossil fuels over millions of years (beginning with an interpretation of the Big Bang) and the effects and consequences of their use today with a strong emphasis on new clean energy and conservation. The World Showcase displays and celebrates the cultures of the nations of the world. Animal Kingdom includes a park-wide activty for kids which stresses the importance of nature conservancy and advocates proaction on the part of the kids. Not bad for a theme park. Couple this with Disney's groundbreaking benefit packages for its cast members (aka employees) inlcuding benfits for the life partners of gay and lesbian cast members and you nearly have a liberal Mecca.

I knew Disney was the place for me when the Southern Baptists annouced their boycott (over the benefits for gay and lesbian partners). I'm surprised that other far right relgions haven't followed suit given the enlightened viewpoints expoused throughout the resort. The look on my children's faces for the past nine days was more the worth the price of admission. But I also felt better about spending my money at an enlightened institution. Consider me a Disney fan...

Quick Random Thoughts...

1) The War in Iraq is not an excuse for terrorists to attack and is not their primary motivation. However, it does make a great excuse to claim, it has most likely swelled the ranks of terrorists, and has claimed far more innocent lives than all recent terrorist attacks on western soil including 9/11. On the whole, its a distraction from the primary objective of ending terrorsim.

2) Liberals and moderates lost the Supreme Court on Election Day 2004 and not upon the recent retirement. However, Bush should realize that appointing one hard line conservative may not swing the balance of power. There is a second swing justice who may begin to vote more liberally if the tenor of the court swings drastically to the right. There is an abundance of historical evidence to support this beleif.

3) Overturning Roe v. Wade will have no more effect on abortion than Prohibition had on alcohol. In excess of 68% of Americas consistantly believe it should be upheld. As a result, there will be no additioanal stigma against having an abortion. In fact, abortions may become more common place because a profit motive will be injected into the equation similar to illegal drugs which will equal more providers not less.

4) Bombing Muslim holy sites, as suggested by at least one Republican Congressman and contemplated by untold numbers of red-blooded Americans, woudl have no effect on terrorist recruitment or morale. These people don't mind orphaning their own children and widowing their wives. Does anyone actually beleive they would break down and cry and then just go home and quit fighting if we bombed Mecca?

5) A superior convetional fighting force with superior modern weaponry will never defeat an insurgency without the aide of the local population. Rome could not hold its empire once conqured, and neither could any other major imperialist. The French couldn't hold Indochina and neither could the US. We will never be successful in Iraq until the vast majority of Iraqis truly embrace democracy and see the US as a tool toward their own freedom instead of an occupying force. This is never going to happen while we are raiding their towns (even if our motives are good) and not likely to happen even if we leave given the track record of democracy in Shia dominant Iran.

6) Stem cell research will eventually lead to bold new treatments and possibly even cures for mutiple types of cancer and neurological diseases. All, and I mean all, of those who now oppose such research will be the first in line to receive these new treatments once they become afflicted with the disease. All of their moral objections will be gone when the cure is available. And the blood of all who suffered and died in the interim will be on their hands.