March Madness

If you thought getting healthcare reform passed was like passing a kidney stone, just sit back and watch as the carnage unfolds. To quote that famous Bachman Turner Overdrive song, “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet.”

Shouts of “Baby killer” being aimed at Bart Stupak; a Congressional map from Sarah Palin with crosshairs indicating Democrats to be targeted for defeat in November with a personal message imploring her readers on Twitter to “reload” and on facebook to “aim” at and “fire” those who voted for the bill; a suspicious package being delivered to Anthony Weiner’s office containing a white powder; death threats against Democratic members of Congress and even a few Republicans; a gas line cut in the home of the brother of a Democratic member of Congress.

Normally this would be the stuff of bad soap operas; alas such is not the case. The rage of the August Town Halls has come full circle. The insanity has begun again and this time it isn’t going to subside. Months and months of incendiary rhetoric from the Right has taken root and poisoned the minds of the gullible to such an extent that the fuse it has lit now threatens to blow up the whole damn nation. To the rational mind, this is a time to worry.

I have made no secret of my contempt for the right-wing media who deliberately mislead their viewers and listeners with distortions and lies. Whether it was decrying the path to socialism, fabricating claims of death panels, or underwriting astro-turf rallies, the non-stop, 24/7 onslaught, while it failed to stop reform, worked brilliantly to stoke the violence that now all too clearly resides in the hearts and minds of millions of Americans. These people are beneath contempt and there will undoubtedly be a special place in hell reserved for them when they depart this Earth.

To add insult to injury, the Right’s claim that they are somehow not responsible for these violent outbursts – that somehow these individuals, on their own, just decided to act deranged, show up at rallies with loaded weapons, sporting vulgar signs and shouting racist and derogatory slurs all without one iota of aid from them – is absurd and insulting. That there exists deranged people who are ignorant and frightened is one thing; that they can become this well organized without the assistance of an outside agency is quite another. Only a fool could fail to connect the dots.

Another insidious claim by the Right that the miscreants showing up at these rallies are merely the exceptions to the rule – that the vast majority of these people are law-abiding citizens who are simply expressing their concerns over the direction the country is headed – is NOT supported by the evidence. Find me the calm and collected among this group if you can. Oh, there might be a few sprinkled in among the throng. But far from being the exception, these marauders are the rule. They represent the heart and soul of a mob-like movement that is mad as hell and isn’t going to take it anymore. The problem with individuals who are that mad is that when they lash out you can’t always predict who they are likely to lash out against. That’s the problem with mob rule; ultimately it’s an oxymoron.

When challenged by critics, the Right’s response is predictable. This is all some conspiracy by the liberal media to kill a populist movement. All they seek is a platform to air their grievances, and anyone who dares question their motives is infringing on their freedom of expression, as if threatening a sitting President or Congressman is a matter of expression.

From the moment of his election, Barack Obama has been the target of a constant barrage of inane and outlandish claims, none of which have been borne out by the facts. He was to blame for the recession, even though it began well before the election; he was to blame for the TARP, even though his predecessor was responsible for implementing it; his stimulus was evidence of typical big government tax and spend liberal politics, even though many economists believed it was not large enough; his budget would balloon the deficit to unheard of heights, even though the last two two-term Republican presidents tripled and doubled the national debt respectively; his healthcare reform bill was branded as socialized medicine and a government takeover of the insurance industry, even though many progressives demanded a single-payer system and the insurance industry has been left relatively unaffected and intact.

Charge after charge is easily repudiated by a careful reading of the facts. But facts are not what is driving the bus over on the Right. Fear and hatred are stirring the pot of discontent. This isn’t politics as usual; it’s Munich incarnate. The only thing missing is the procession of brown shirts descending on the Capital. Scoff if you want; we have seen it happen before. The Tea Party movement, the hideous child monster of Dick Armey’s Freedom Works, is now fully self-actualized and, with the aid and comfort of the wingnuts on Fox News and most of the A.M. dial, is now massing for a date with destiny.

Get this straight: it is not peaceful coexistence that these tea partiers seek. Nothing less than total victory is permissible. They have cashed in on the nightmarish scenario woven by the demigods of misinformation and swallowed it hook, line and sinker. The Glenn Becks, Mark Levins and Sean Hannitys are their leaders now. They have no time or inclination for constructive dialogue; the intellectualism of William F. Buckley might just as well have been a figment of some idealistic dreamer’s imagination. Responsible conservatives like David Brooks, who call for collaboration, are shunned as being phony and traitorous to the cause. When David Frum is the one calling you out, you know you have problems.

The events of the last week are only a taste of what is ahead. Crazy does as crazy sees. While the tea partiers do not, thankfully, represent the opinion of the majority of Americans, theirs is the loudest and most obnoxious voice. As anyone who knows history even a little will tell you, if say something often and loud enough over time it will start to gain traction and momentum. It would be a tragic mistake to assume that this malignancy will peter out over time. If anything, it is growing. The damage has been done and the clock is ticking.

And what of the Republican Party? It is one thing for the deranged to burn down Rome; it is quite another for an entire political party to willingly pour the lighter fluid. The complicity of the Party of Lincoln and Eisenhower has been the most puzzling of all. One would think rational and clearer heads would prevail, but this is not a time for rational and lucid behavior. In what can only be described as the gamble of the century, the GOP is betting the ranch that this wave of hysteria will somehow propel them back into power in Washington. They are attempting to tap into and co-opt the rage of millions of people who neither know the truth of the matter, nor have the capacity to understand how they are being played for cheap political gain. Pawns have more say in how a chess game is played than these poor lost buffoons.

Moderates? One might as well look for water on the Moon. Any Republican who dares stand up to the party line is branded as a RINO (Republican in name only). How bad is it? John McCain – a four-term senator – is getting the fight of his life from the very party he represented in the ’08 Presidential campaign. Talk about gratitude! Ron Paul, a self-professed Libertarian, may well be the most lucid member of the GOP, and that is saying something. The party that once championed the abolition of slavery and worked with Democrats to bring about civil rights legislation has sunk to heretofore unheard of depths. Rather than work with Congressional Democrats to try to get a healthcare bill that was more to their liking, they decided to pick up their marbles and stay home. The Party of No has now become the Party of No Way Out. The only thing the GOP seems interested in these days is capitalizing on fear-mongering and reliving a past it should know full well never existed in the first place. Not even the Gipper himself could save this lot.

The shame of all this is that at a time when the country desperately needs boldness and balance in its political discourse, a party that could offer effective solutions would be a welcome sight. Instead what we have according to Bill Maher is a center-right party (the Democrats) and a crazy party (the Republicans); one is in the pocket of corporate America, the other in the pocket of the loons. Saints preserve us!

This is going to be one helluva long year. Before it is over we are going to witness stupidity on a massive scale. Republicans will no doubt run on repealing the healthcare bill; they will appeal to every frightened redneck and talk radio groupie who is convinced the government is out to get them. They will even net gains in both the House and Senate; perhaps even rest control from the socialist hordes. But in the end we will all lose. Because America, now more than ever, doesn’t need more ideologues who can’t see the forest for the trees; it needs visionaries who will challenge our perceptions of who we are and chart a course forward, not backward.

For all his perceived shortcomings by the Right, Barack Obama is still the best hope for the United States. He is, to quote David Brooks, “the most realistic and reasonable major player in Washington.” I would also add, perhaps a bit too pragmatic for some peoples’ tastes. But I would gladly take him over anyone the Republicans will bring to the table in 2012. Considering what’s in the cupboard, that isn’t much of a statement.

There is so much at stake. It would be a tragedy of epic proportions if this blight were to strike down this president and his agenda all in the name of fear and ignorance. Do not kid yourselves; the mood among many of their numbers is decidedly ugly and unlikely to change for some time. Such volatility is often a breeding ground for the kind of lunatics who would find it appealing to send a message and go out in a blaze of glory. It has been over four decades since this nation has witnessed an assassination of a sitting president. I pray we are all spared from having to live through that nightmare again.

Pass the Damn Bill!

Over the last year we have seen an intense and contentious debate on healthcare reform like no other debate in modern history. We have seen every conceivable argument both for and against reform from scuttling the current system in favor of a single-payer system (Medicare for All) to shouts of death panels and a government takeover of healthcare. And after all the political posturing and back and forth banter I have come to the only rational conclusion possible. As flawed as this current healthcare reform bill is, it is still the best effort to date to bring about change to a broken system, and on the whole it should be passed by the House and signed into law by the President.

Yes I know full well that many of the bill’s provisions do not kick in for up to four years, meaning many millions of people will still have to wait to receive the proper care they so desperately need; and yes I realize that with healthcare now mandated by law and enforceable through punitive measures, many of these people will be compelled to purchase insurance from the very same industry that treated them so despicably in the first place – a windfall for an industry that heavily lobbied against reform; and yes after all the hoopla over the numbers, there will still be more than fifteen million Americans without coverage after this bill gets signed into law.

Even with all that and more, this bill should still pass and for two reasons and two reasons only.

1. The mid-term elections are fast approaching. Democrats will almost certainly suffer losses; to what extent no one knows for sure. But whether they lose control of both Houses of Congress, one chamber, or just have their majority cut down in size, this much is certain: next year’s Congress will have no stomach or inclination to discuss, let alone vote, on healthcare reform. Whether anyone cares to admit it or not, this ship is leaving in 2010. The only decision is whether or not this bill makes it on board. An Opportunity like this – flawed as it is – comes once in a lifetime. Clinton’s big mistake was that he wanted his bill his way. Congress punted and the rest is history. Critics who contend that the GOP will make healthcare reform a major issue in the fall campaign are missing the point. No matter what the Democrats do, the GOP will come after them, big time. So long as you’re going to get roasted, you might as well be roasted for doing something.

2. The fear by many progressives that passing this bill means it is etched in stone is absurd. If history has shown us anything it is that politics, like human beings, evolves over time. Social Security and Medicare were far more cumbersome and far-reaching, and yet today’s programs bear little resemblance to what they looked like at their inception. There will be time to correct the flaws in this bill, either through reconciliation or later amendments to it. The point is to start somewhere. Paul Krugman has said that the bill “wouldn’t transform our health care system; in fact, Americans whose jobs come with health coverage would see little effect. But it would make a huge difference to the less fortunate among us, even as it would do more to control costs than anything we’ve done before.” He’s right.

The tragic flaw staring back at all of us is that in this current political climate it was naïve of us to believe we would ever get the bill we wanted. Yes, Barack Obama badly mismanaged this process; yes the wingnuts on the Right should be ashamed of themselves for the fear-mongering they sponsored over what basically amounts to a Massachusetts type of reform bill, but if in our zeal to get what we think is best, we end up killing this bill, then woe to us. It will not be the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs who we will have to thank; it will be our own obstinance.

If Dennis Kucinich could be swayed to vote yes on this bill then maybe it is time we all came to our senses and realize what most moderates and pragmatists have learned all too well and what the Rolling Stones once sang in a famous song: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need.”

This nation desperately needs healthcare reform, and it has needed it for several decades. The time for posturing and pandering to our basic fears and petty desires is over. If we miss this opportunity, the next one might not come for years, if at all.

Pass the damn bill!

Shame On You!

A new month beckons and with it another opportunity to shine the light of day into the squalor lives of individuals who so richly deserve the accolades accorded them. Certainly seems like a long way to travel to heap a ton of hurt onto the narrow shoulders of the despicable, but never let it be said I haven’t been guilty of occasionally laying it on a bit thick.

As in past months, the honorees went above and beyond to earn our collective wrath, but seldom as a Shame on You monthly awards segment highlighted such loathsome behavior. It was difficult picking a winner, so I’ll just let the chips fall where they may and allow God to sort it out later.

Bunning On Empty.

First up, Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, aka Pinhead. Like his fellow conservative colleague Richard Shelby, one of last month’s winners by the way who put a blanket hold on Obama Administration nominees, Bunning seems determined to let ideology rule out over common sense. He single-handedly held up a 30-day extension of unemployment and health benefits to millions of Americans, and for reasons only Bunning seems to have gotten.

Bunning says he held up the extension because the cost of it, approximately $10 billion, was not offset by cuts to other programs. In a nutshell – no pun intended – if the Senate is going to pride itself on passing "pay-as-you-go" legislation then Bunning has taken it upon himself to expose any approved unfunded spending, no matter who it hurts. Ironically, it was Bunning who opposed the very same “pay-as-you-go” legislation he now claims to be championing.

When confronted by Senate Democrats on the floor, Bunning had the nerve to complain that he was being made a victim for his stance and that he was missing a college basketball game; a game by the way he could’ve TiVo’d. Later he responded to one last plea for those affected by saying, “Tough shit. I’m trying to make a point to the people of the United States.”

Point taken, I guess.

While we have seen many examples of broken politics in Washington, this latest stunt beats them all. Bunning’s insensitivity underscores just how depraved some can get in their pursuit of partisan politics. While Bunning isn’t alone in his sentiment – Arizona Senator Jon Kyl went so far as to call it a “disincentive” to be on unemployment – he has unfortunately become the poster boy for the GOP as it attempts to obstruct just about any Democratic legislation coming down the pike. But this wasn’t some political nomination that was being held up for its own sake; this was a vital piece of legislation aimed at helping people caught in the worst recession in decades. Apparently the Party of No is now the Party of No Empathy and Bunning is its mascot.

It wasn’t until Senate Democrats called his bluff and were actually going to require him to personally filibuster the legislation, that Bunning backed down and withdrew his objection; but not before getting them to agree that one of his amendments get an up and down vote in the Senate. In what can only be described as poetic justice the amendment was defeated.

Congratulations pinhead, you’ve earned your stripes.

Fear and Loathing in America.
Next up we have “The Insane Right.” When Andrew Joseph Stack decided to do his own imitation of a kamikaze pilot and fly his plane into the I.R.S. building in Austin, Texas on February 18, he wasn’t just your typical lunatic out on a murder spree, he had a specific mission in mind: to take his wrath out on as many government officials as possible. His deep-seated hatred and contempt for anything connected to the government had been stewing for months and finally, like a volcano, could no longer be contained.

But Stack himself is not the principal cause for concern here. That there exists in this world people with severe emotional problems is a simple fact of life. The real alarm lies behind the impetus that is driving such people.

There is no polite and delicate way to put this. Stack and others of his ilk belong to a group, which is growing in numbers and fervor like a rash spreading throughout the body. For months now I have been writing about the lunatic right-wing fanatics, who are being co-opted by the Republican Party for the sake of cheap politics, and are acting like their own version of the Nazi Storm Troopers in Germany. I have warned about this malignancy spreading throughout the country. In Andrew Stack they finally have their martyr. I fear he will not be the last.

Frank Rich in a New York Times op-ed piece titled, “The Axis of the Obsessed and Deranged,” has correctly and appropriately drawn a comparison between the current Tea Party movement and the domestic terrorism of Timothy McVeigh.

“Anyone who was cognizant during the McVeigh firestorm would recognize the old warning signs re-emerging from the mists of history. The Patriot movement. "The New World Order," with its shadowy conspiracies hatched by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. Sandpoint, Idaho. White supremacists. Militias.”

The pattern is repeating itself, only now it is far more intense and toxic. What had been born out of Dick Armey’s Freedom Works as an organized campaign against Obama and Congressional Democrats over healthcare reform, has morphed into yet another full-blown firestorm that is completely contemptuous of establishment politics and has set its sites on all of Washington. Like Frankenstein’s monster turning on its creator, the Tea Party movement has taken on a life of its own and is beholden to no one except its own insular interests and agenda. Its ideology is one in which paranoia and delusion are given priority over even a modicum of reason. As Rich adroitly pointed out, “That ideology plays to the lock-and-load nutcases out there, not just to the peaceable (if riled up) populist conservatives also attracted to Tea Partyism. This ideology is far more troubling than the boilerplate corporate conservatism and knee-jerk obstructionism of the anti-Obama G.O.P. Congressional minority.”

Gone is the intellectualism of William F. Buckley, replaced by the anti-elitism of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin: the new heroes of the new counter-conservatism. Their followers run the gamut from conspiracy theorists to anti-government zealots to Oath Keepers to John Birch Society Brown Shirts, sprinkled with just a tad of the usual disillusioned bystanders who are still suspicious of Washington, but who haven’t gone completely off the deep end yet.

Last August I wrote in a blog about Fascism, “Pathological dissent often reads like freedom of expression until it is turned up a few notches and it is given voice in the form of riotous hatred. In such instances, the ignorant and frightened are often manipulated and mobilized to act in manners they normally would not be prone to do.” In the Tea Party movement we have the perfect example of freedom run amuck. America’s version of the Nazi Storm Troopers: racist, myopic, and contemptuous of law and order. It is the reincarnation of the mob that turned on Brutus in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” only in this case it is the United States that is at peril from such mindless individuals.

Rational people often have a blind side when it comes to such groups. They see erratic and unbalanced behavior and dismiss it as being largely innocuous. The analogy they draw is that of a spoiled brat or an undisciplined child acting up and looking to draw attention to itself. It is best not to acknowledge the behavior lest you condone it. They see the Tea Partiers as a fleeting movement that will die of its own weight eventually. The problem with that thinking is that this movement is hardly shrinking; in deed it is growing by leaps and bounds. They are well organized, and many of them are equally well armed. The fervency of these people is unmatched by any other in recent memory and they are as unyielding as they are zealous. Far from your typical unruly child, this movement shows no signs of tiring out and grabbing a nap for itself. It is, if anything, loaded for bear. If the August Town Halls were any indication, we are in for one hell of a ride.

Shame On You!

Well it’s that time of the month again. No, not that. It’s time for the monthly Shame on You awards. As always, narrowing down the field to three was tough, but this month’s nominees have earned their spot by going above and beyond. In honor of the Winter Games in Vancouver, I thought I’d go with an Olympic format. Game On!

The Gold goes to Senator Richard Shelby who has decided to place a blanket “hold” on all presidential nominations until a pair of billion-dollar earmarks for his home state are fast-tracked. At least 70 nominations are being held up, many non-political, by the Senator, who himself blasted Democratic efforts back in 2005 at blocking the appointment of John Bolton to the post of UN ambassador. Funny how selective his memory is. Shelby is no stranger to controversy. Last February, the Alabama senator seemed to question the citizenship of Barack Obama by commenting on a rumor that spread like a cancer throughout the campaign.

“Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven't seen any birth certificate,” Shelby said. “You have to be born in America to be president.”

Whether Shelby is an actual member of the Birther movement, or just another political hack looking to garner favor among a myopic element within American society, this much we do know: all impromptu misstatements notwithstanding, this latest stunt has earned him a place atop this month’s list. You can’t call for transparency within the Administration and an end to wasteful spending, while grandstanding for earmarks and holding the government hostage. Shame on you, Mr. Shelby.

The Silver goes to the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Three major Native American reservations in South Dakota, particularly the Cheyenne River Reservation, have been buried under snow and ice with major power failures for weeks during what can only be described as the worst winter in recent memory.

On a “Worst Persons” segment on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Olbermann ripped the Committee. “Power lines down, thousands of other Lakota and other tribes people, already face 75 to 85% unemployment, before a blizzard and an ice storm that added six inches of ice weight to utility poles hit. Two weeks since those lines were knocked down and most of the electricity went with it. They managed to get the water turned back on at Cheyenne River, unfortunately most of the water goes into a pipe system that failed during the storm. The pipes are broken. With the wind chill it was minus 19 there today. What did we find out about this on the Senate Committee of Indian Affairs – some means of donating to the affected tribes, means of underwriting the energy companies now distributing propane tanks by hand? An emergency hearing on a crisis there? Nothing. There’s a committee meeting Thursday to discuss regular business.”

Now in the Committee’s defense, Senate rules do prohibit solicitations of aid of any kind “even in circumstances like this.” And since the Olbermann piece, the Committee has responded to the emergency by allocating funds for the removal of snow, rebuilding of roads, and the repair of power lines and water pipes. But why did it take so long for the Committee to act in the first place? And why only a paltry $300,000 in aid, with total costs projected to be two to three times that amount? More damaging was the fact that for almost a month, while thousands of native-Americans needlessly suffered, the very agency charged with being their advocate was virtually silent and inactive. Inexcusable!

But the Bronze goes to a surprise entry: Keith Olbermann. Last month’s special election in Massachusetts was about as divisive as they come with plenty of hyperbole to go around on both sides of the political aisle. But Olbermann went above and beyond when he went on a tirade against the newly elected Scott Brown in one of his Special Comment” segments last month.

“In short, in Scott Brown we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against woman and against politicians with whom he disagrees. In any other time in our history, this man would have been laughed off the stage as unqualified and a disaster in the making by the most conservative of conservatives. Instead, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is close to sending this bad joke to the Senate of the United States.”

Now you’d think that would be enough for even Olbermann, but the following day, he dug the hole a bit deeper by adding, “I need to apologize for comments made here last night about the Republican candidate. I’m sorry, I left out the word sexist.”

So over-the-top was Olbermann’s tirade that Jon Stewart mocked him on The Daily Show the following day, by doing a parody of his Special Comment segment, to wit, “How far, sir, how far will you fall?...But now, you're just kind of calling people names. To wit, you said this of Joseph Isadore Lieberman, Democrat Connecticut: "a Senatorial prostitute." Of Roger Ailes, "fat ass." Chris Wallace, "a monkey posing as a newscaster." Rush Limbaugh, a "big bag of mashed up jack-ass."...And of Michelle Malkin, you said, "a mindless, morally bankrupt, knee-jerk, fascistic...mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it." That my fine, feathered friend sounds a lot more like violence against women than anything Scott Brown ever said. You can't resort to childish attacks as hominem as they are nauseam. You've ceded the high ground, and now you wallow in the fetid swamp of baseless, of baseless name-calling, and as we both know, sir, that's my thing. It is beneath you, it is next to me. A man of your intellect need not be me: petty, pompous, pusillanimous, or poopy-head.”

http://vodpod.com/watch/2908316-im-falling-in-love-with-john-stewart-all-over-again

Now whether one agrees with Olbermann’s viewpoints or not, and I have on most occasions agreed with them, the fact is that engaging in such displays debases whatever validity one wishes to bring to the forefront. As Stewart succinctly pointed out you can’t resort to childish attacks and name calling which cede the high ground. By doing so you undermine your credibility and give the wingnuts on the Right that much more ammunition with which to shoot you down. Shame on you, Keith!

A Declaration of Sorts

When in the natural course of a man’s journey, he finds he is at an impasse between the reality of his situation and the natural fears he harbors regarding that reality, there demands but one course of action. To deny the reality ultimately is to deny his own heart and to call the God he worships a liar and a fraud, which by His nature is impossible. In this regard, the variable is not the nature of God, but the response of his supposed humble servant. If there is but one Truth, and all others are false, than there must be one action, which though arduous, is nonetheless non-negotiable. Our comfort has never been of much concern to God, so why should we give it any of ours?

The truth is the best of us, at any given moment, has been led astray by lies. We have chosen security over risk, comfort over difficulty, blind ignorance over awareness, and peaceful coexistence over confrontation. We have seen the two principal characters that dominate all four of the Gospels: Jesus and the Pharisees. We have publicly lauded the former, while privately comporting ourselves to the latter; and when push came to shove, even openly embracing the latter. We have, in spite of our stated creed, shown contempt for all that He stands for in the name of an ethic, which is neither historically accurate nor biblically permissible. We have seen the suffering of others and talked about costs; we have witnessed cruelty and injustice and acted timidly - worse, we were indirectly culpable in that suffering through our support of policies that wreaked unspeakable carnage on those who were guiltless in the eyes of the Lord; we have listened to the lies of the enemy and were complicit; we have been challenged to speak out and shrugged our shoulders in indifference. We have stood on principles that are about as secure as quicksand and remained steadfast in our arrogance, confident we were doing God’s bidding. We have, to put it bluntly, behaved shamefully in the eyes of the One who sent us.

And what evidence can we offer up as a rebuttal? Our good works? Our good deeds? Which works? Which deeds? We feed a few people, encourage newcomers to accept Jesus as their Lord and savior, attend weekly group meetings, pray for deliverance from our petty pains of the day and sing a bunch of songs that supposedly represent our act of worship. But in the end nothing changes. Where is the hand of Jesus in all this when many of the very same people who run the vast majority of these supposed ministries do not believe in the core tenants of their own faith? That the words “God helps those who help themselves” do not appear anywhere in the Bible and should be an affront to all they hold true, is irrelevant. That those less fortunate go without basic needs is of no great concern to them. They speak of charity but have none to give. They have professed to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps and condemn all who have not the means to do likewise. Their convoluted logic is wrapped in a flag that they worship above the cross our own Savior carried to his death. They trade in the true role models of the Bible for those of their country and then deliberately misrepresent what those very same countrymen stood for. They concoct scenarios in which gremlins and boogymen from the government will take away their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, all the while professing a devotion to a God who long ago sacrificed his own life, liberty and happiness for our sake and demanded the very same from his children. They know not that their hearts expose their very deeds. They are oblivious to the fact that the Lord sees all. They are lost in their self-aggrandizing.

These are the ambassadors of our faith. They sit in positions of leadership, well versed in biblical scripture, but ignorant to its meaning. They are eager to pray for each other and “praise” His name out of one side of their mouths, while spewing utter nonsense and hate out the other. Without quite realizing that their hypocrisy cancels out whatever credit may have been afforded them, they are nothing if defiant. They are like Sméagol becoming Gollum, consumed by a worship of something hideous and ungodly, yet unaware of its all-consuming power. By throwing in with the enemy they have become his ambassadors. The truth can longer stir them to repentance. They are dead to it.

They are on TV, radio and the print media, spinning lies and mocking the very faith they claim to represent, imploring others to join them in the march to damnation. But they are also sitting at home, nodding in tacit agreement with those very same lies, and actively spreading the word among their fellow cellmates and cyber comrades. Know this much: God sees not the distinction and forgets not the transgressions. Whether it is actively engaging in actions that aid and abed the kingdom of darkness, or whether it is the act of indifference towards that kingdom, the result is the same to God. These lost souls speak of truth, yet know nothing but lies. They are worse than the Pharisees, for the Pharisees did not know Jesus before his arrival. They have no excuse.

But that is not my principle concern here. That there exists within this world men and women who commit evil, and, along with their conspirators, speak lies has been apparent since we crawled up from all fours and began expressing cogent thoughts among each other. What wounds me deeply is how such evil is dealt with within the Church. This is where it gets personal. This is where all of us who know better must do better.

I speak now about a group which I fear represents the saddest lot of all: those of us who know the truth, who have ventured occasionally out of our comfort zones to speak it, but remain on the sidelines, unwilling to completely immerse ourselves for fear of retribution, or under some misbegotten belief that our position of authority or standing precludes us from speaking up. The warning of John to the Church in Sardis in the Book of Revelation serves as a wakeup call.

“These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Are not all of us commissioned to speak out against injustice, to stand up for those who are less fortunate, to challenge lies with truth and paranoia with reason, to act as Paul did when he rebuked James? Did not Jesus rebuke Peter? Did He not love him nonetheless? Why are so few of us willing to stand our ground when presented with the unalterable conclusions of our lot? Are we exempt simply because we are church elders, senior and associate pastors, small group leaders, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, doctors and nurses, lawyers and bankers, athletes and journalists, politicians and statesmen, salespeople and consumers, professors and students? What is the level of our comfort that keeps our mouths shut when our spirit cries out in anguish? Is our new suit too delicate to be soiled if only just a little? Perhaps a new car, the mortgage payment, or the children’s tuition hangs in the balance. What reputation is it we seek to protect when God’s people cry out for justice and we turn away? Did Jesus care about his reputation or his ministry?

All of us know the answers to the above questions. They are as undeniable as they are irrevocable. And yet the enemy continues his lies with nary a peep out of us. The more timid our response, the more arrogant his. Know this: God sees our hearts as well. There will be no comfort or resting place for those who knew the truth yet hid away in relative anonymity for fear of retribution. God’s wrath is far more devastating and enduring than any slight we might have to withstand from a wayward disciple waltzing his way down the road to oblivion. Our hearts are not the issue here; it is our strength of will. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and many a timid follower has fallen victim to the greatest lie of all: that someone else will pick up the mantle. We must always remember two things: our merit alone cannot save us and our fears are unjustifiable before God. Temerity is not a trait one inherits; it’s one he develops, like muscles, through constant exercise. And atrophied of the soul is the greatest sin of all.

When we pass from this world to the next, God will have something to say to each of us. He will either say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” or he will say, “I do not know you.” The sad truth is we have it within us to control that moment. It requires a brave heart, and a resounding faith that, though it may anger others and bring about scorn and ridicule, rejoices in the knowledge that God’s favor is eternal. I have struggled mightily with what response is appropriate in situations where lies are touted as facts, fear trumps reasoning and darkness blots out light, and have come to the only conclusion possible. It is not enough to occasionally poke one’s head out of the ground and politely instruct those who are not interested in learning anything of import. Nor is it sufficient to “pray” for those we know are blind to the truth in the naïve hope that their eyes will be opened. History has shown that such prayer is not redemptive; rather it is merely an excuse for us to feel better about ourselves. Did Jesus ever once pray for the Pharisees?

And what is it that we are praying for? Devine intervention? If it has not yet occurred within the transgressor, assume it is not going to. Our concern, therefore, should not be the hurt feelings of the sinner, but the ramifications, both to us and to others, of the continuation of that sin. There are only four possible responses to such conduct. We can first agree with it and encourage it, which is unacceptable; we can disagree yet remain silent for fear of retribution, in which case we have, without quite realizing it, condoned the behavior – again unacceptable; we can disagree, but object sheepishly, hoping to encourage repentance, which is a cop out; or we can choose to stand firm and call it out forcefully, as though exorcizing a demon from a possessed man.

One look at the Gospels is all you need do to discover which method Jesus preferred. And therein lies the rub and the challenge. Jesus chose the most difficult path of all; the one most likely to garner him the fewest friends and supporters, the path that virtually assured him his death. And yet when faced with the certainty of his fate – a fate he freely chose – he did not back down, but met it willingly. Imagine if we all had to endure what he did. Would we? Could we? The answer is of course not. In our best moments we are not even remotely capable of standing in his sandals. The good news is we don’t have to. He did it for us. But we are called to stand in the shoes that we were given and show the spine that He gave us. Our cross is not made of wood and nails, but it is uncomfortable nonetheless.

How many “friends” would we lose if we were truly fearless in our stances? How many times have we waxed poetically and danced around a subject we knew in our hearts was wrong, justified it on the grounds that it would be rude to speak up, rationalized that it was not our place to bring correction, or that our position did not afford us the option of pointing out wrongs? The answer is quite probably a lot. Who cares to be corrected, even if it is for their own good? Who would stand quietly by and be rebuked by a fellow believer? Few, if any.

But that is irrelevant. When Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me Satan,” he could’ve cared less if Peter liked being rebuked. He heard Peter behaving inappropriately and acted swiftly and definitively. His main concern was his soul, not his wounded pride. How many times would you guess that any of us have acted that swiftly or definitively? Over a lifetime maybe a handful if we are fortunate. It is not enough. Evil never rests, so why should any of us. Our reluctance to roll up our sleeves and take back the moral high ground the enemy has called his own is an anathema to our faith. Too many feeble and misguided Christians make the mistake of assuming that just because we are not to use the tools of this world to fight Satan, that God alone will protect us. The thousands who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 serve as a sobering reminder that evil exists in this world and all too frequently wins its share of battles. Ask Job whether God “protected” him. We are required to suit up and be spiritual warriors in God’s army. We are actors on his stage, not spectators in the audience.

I have looked for a spine in a Church that is as feeble as a doddering old man in a nursing home and been found wanting. I have looked for a moral compass worthy of the ministry Jesus began 2000 years ago. It is not there. Oh, there are ministries that feed the hungry and house the homeless and to be sure they do good works. They are pacifiers only, for the real problem lies in the inescapable conclusion that the Church corporately and privately has bedded down with the oppressors of the afflicted. It is worse than the lawmakers of Jesus’ day; it resembles more the Roman Empire, corrupt and rotting from within. It is a shell of its once glorious self. The martyrdoms of Peter and Paul are nothing more than symbols of a mostly dogmatic religion that long ago lost the meaning of why those men so freely gave up their lives.

While there a few notable exceptions to this rule - small churches whose light occasionally permeates the darkness - the very simple truth is that they are far too small, and way too ineffective to make a difference. And even when the pastors of these sanctuaries manage to stay out of the political fray that has engulfed the Church as a whole, the vacuum that ensues, far from creating the apolitical environment they had wished for, actually encourages the sort of conduct that now defines most of our faith in the eyes of the world. The result is that these parishioners end up “representing” and “dominating” the congregation’s message. If you want to know what a church stands for, you needn’t look at its literature; all you need do is visit the facebook, twitter and myspace pages of its members. In between the “have a blessed day” and “Jesus is good” exhortations, lies the painful and ugly truth that reveals the nature of the spiritual malady that besets many of them. It’s all there in black and white. What people say in open forums or in chat rooms is far more revealing and damning than what they say at the alter on a Sunday morning service. But what gets left unsaid and unchallenged by the stewards of these churches and the rest of their congregations is far more lasting. Where is the outrage to such ignorance? One can only conclude that its absence is due either to denial of its existence or a tacit agreement with its tone; neither is acceptable.

Whether it is the spiritual and social tunnel vision so widely adhered to by the majority of evangelicals or being on the wrong side of virtually every major cause of the day, the silence is deafening! How can any of us condemn moderate Muslims for failing to call out the extremists within their ranks, when our mouths remain shut where it concerns our own miscreants?

Ever since it left its fledgling days behind, the Church has married itself to power structures that were at odds with the very message of the Gospels. First the Holy Roman Empire, then the assault throughout Europe during the Crusades; then Feudalism, then Mercantilism, and now Capitalism. Most of the Protestant Ethic, so widely quoted by latter-day biblical gurus, is nothing more than a self-justification of the same rubbish the followers of Calvin adopted after his death. Those who are saved are blessed with prosperity, and those who are blessed with prosperity must be saved. Satan always completes his circles. For those who would argue that the Church did stand against the tyranny of Communism and fascism, I would counter only when it was threatened by a force inimical to its own vested interests did it finally find its voice and lash out. How much courage does it take to speak out against a totalitarian regime?

Many will say, and perhaps rightly so, that Jesus was ambivalent toward the established government, and chose instead to focus his attention on the religious leaders of the day. Fair enough. It was, after all, our hearts he was looking to capture. But while he remained mostly silent on the perversions and injustices of the Roman Empire, his ministry was filled with parables that spoke about greed, corruption, selfishness, pride and arrogance. Can anyone with half a mind dare suggest that the current economic system employed by the West and touted by so many conservative evangelicals is not loaded with these traits? With a few notable exceptions, most of the financial gains of the last two hundred years have come on the backs of those in relatively powerless positions. The very same disenfranchised flock that Jesus came to deliver has been exploited by the power brokers who call Christianity their own. That the Church has not disowned them is an abomination.

Were Jesus physically alive today, would he not behave much like he did when he walked into the Temple and drove out the money changers? Would he not say to the wealthy of today, “Sell all your possessions and give to the poor?” Are we not commanded to do as Jesus did? But, you would say, are these not impractical demands? Of course they are and one would certainly doubt the sanity and wisdom of any God who would expect his children to live in such abject poverty. Then why are our hearts so indifferent to the sufferings of those who do live in such squalor conditions? If it is unjust and unreasonable to expect us to forego our personal possessions for the sake of being humble, why is it permissible to allow others to do so? Is humility only for the poor?

Claims by supposedly “mature” Christians that the Church’s main purpose should not be to involve itself in the machinations of the world, are as reprehensible and hypocritical as the rebuking these modern-day Pharisees bestow on the conscientious objectors that occasionally dent their ranks. For one thing, the Church has had a long and well established involvement with the politics of the world, mostly on the wrong side; for another the largest offenders have been anything but apolitical in their stances. They have, if anything, been advocates for conservative movements that rarely, if ever, adhere to Christian principles. They are experts at what they stand against - abortion, same-sex marriage, global warming, universal healthcare, government assistance programs - yet rarely speak out for the poor and disenfranchised, as Jesus did, preferring instead to speak of some master plan God must have in store for them, as if that alone would mollify their discontent. To quote Ebenezer Scrooge, “Are there no workhouses?” And when they do find causes, like making sure we all say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays - as if that alone could instill a spirit of Christ within the world – it becomes comical and downright sad.

Those of us who dare question the motives of these charlatans are called liberals, lefties, socialists, enemies of freedom, un-Christian, or simply disruptive and bringing disharmony to the Body. We are made to feel as though it is we who have the problem, not them. Can’t we all just drink the Koolaid and get on with the business of indoctrinating the ignorant and scorning those with the brains to know better?

Balderdash!

Such scoundrels not only miss the forest for the trees, they miss the trees as well. When Jesus fed the multitudes, did he ask who had a job first? Did he call them lazy oafs looking for a handout? What is it that these people are looking for? An engraved invitation? Perhaps the heavens will open up and the Almighty himself will call them out? If the only litmus test of our faith is our sexual purity or the quality of our financial portfolio, we are indeed lost. We should be advocates for the poor to the fullest extent, even if it means challenging the very economic system that caused their poverty in the first place. Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador, a proponent of Liberation Theology, was assassinated by extremists in his country for speaking out against human rights violations and for defending the poor. Mahatma Ghandi, who almost single-handedly won India’s independence from Britain through non-violent civil disobedience, was likewise assassinated by extremists in his country who disapproved of his stance toward Pakistan. Martin Luther King, Jr., a prominent civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, who lead the famous “March on Washington” in 1963, was assassinated in his own country for his stance on racism and segregation. All three men saw injustice and rebelled against it; all three men placed their principles ahead of their personal safety; and all three men paid the ultimate price. Where are the Romeros, Ghandis and Kings of our generation?

I have always felt that true Discipleship should mean more than just signing up people to join a religious movement. We are not the Price Club, so why do we behave as though we are? Disciples making Disciples is supposed to mean more than just increased attendance at the 9:30 Sunday service. It should mean instilling a yearning to know the true heart of Jesus. And that heart, if we are sincere, should cause us to squirm in our seats at the knowledge of just how far we fall short of his standards. Furthermore, it should produce in all of us a righteous anger towards anyone who would challenge those standards, regardless of social or political status, or even if they are church leaders.

But aren’t we called to obey our religious leaders whom we’re told represent Christ on Earth? And isn’t criticizing our leaders a sign of disobedience? Actually, we are called to obey Jesus. Was Jesus being disobedient when he called the religious leaders of his day a “brood of vipers” not once, not twice, but three times in the Gospel of Matthew? Was Paul being disruptive for rebuking the churches in his letters when they had strayed from the true message of Christ? I think not. In deed for the Son of God, Jesus was about as unorthodox a prophet as any in the Bible. He had little use for conventional wisdom and often challenged his Disciples to think outside the box. He was blunt and, when it suited him, rude towards his adversaries, shunning those he viewed as proud and arrogant, while bestowing compassion and mercy on those he viewed as meek and powerless. When Michael Jackson died last year the hordes of supposed Christians who derided his lifestyle was embarrassing. In deed, it was the world that comported itself with far more compassion than many of our own flock. Once more the “voice” of Christianity missed the boat, if not fell off it entirely. That they “worship” a God who hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes still continues to allude many of them. Their ignorance is astounding.

Why then with such a shining example within its midst does the Church insist on watering down the very reason for its existence? Why are so few Christians bothered enough by the injustices of the world to take a stand and walk the path their Lord walked two millennia ago? Why are so many so quick to judge the wicked around them, while ignoring the wickedness that resides within their hearts? And why are so many of us “afraid” to call it out?

Well, as Bob Dylan once wrote, “It ain’t me babe.” I am tired of scratching my head wondering what to do, when the answer has been right there in front of me all along. A little over four years ago I stood at a crossroads in my walk and pondered giving up on the Church altogether, such was the toxic atmosphere gripping it. A very wise and Godly man convinced me to stay and face my demons. He encouraged me to write about what troubled me most in the Church. For him, it showed more courage to stand my ground and speak my peace than it did to pull up stakes and run. After all, when faced with death threats and imprisonment, Paul did not wither and retreat. He stood up to injustice and incurred the wrath of both the Jewish lawmakers and the Roman authorities. In the end it cost him his very life. And while I am no Paul, I do belong to the same faith he called his own; a faith that compelled him to chose martyrdom over comfort. What excuse could I find to toss in the proverbial towel as it were and high tail it?

I have been dwelling on the words from John 15: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” And while I realize it does violence to scripture to misquote it for personal gain, I feel strongly that this passage is speaking to me and has for some time now.

But as a former pastor of mine had a habit of saying, “Now what?” What does one do when faced with such an indelible truth? I have always been a fan of Robert Frost, and greatly admired his epic poem, “The Road Not Taken.”

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

To the undiscerning eye, the poem seems to be encouraging self-reliance, not following where others have led. But I have always felt that, rather than advocating a preference, Frost is simply saying that choice is inevitable, but you never know what your choice will mean until you have lived it.

And that, after all, is the essence of life itself. We are, all of us, the sum total of our choices, good and bad, wise and unwise, popular and unpopular. What we fear most is not the choice itself, but the ramifications of that choice. Being brave is easy when no sacrifice is needed and everything goes your way. It’s the courage that we hold onto in the face of certain condemnation that defines our walk. The Bible is basically a collection of stories of people who took the road less traveled, and for them, as for us, that has made all the difference.

It is no less true for me. I have come to a fork in my road that I can no longer ignore. A decision must be made regarding the impasse that I spoke of earlier. I have agonized over this decision for quite some time now, and, while I am still torn inside, I am bound by an inner voice that simply will not be still any longer.

Since becoming a Christian in late 1991, and even before that I suspect, I have wondered what my purpose on this Earth was. And while I have never been one to hold back my feelings on matters that meant a great deal to me – hence my blog – I confess that it has been a bit of a crutch. As far back as I can recall, writing has always come easy to me, perhaps a bit too easy. While I was no Shakespeare, I took great comfort in knowing I could make persuasive arguments for just about anything I put my mind to. Even when I was in college, I was always the protagonist, questioning authority, searching for the truth wherever it might be, and looking more at the macro than the micro when it came to economics and society. You could say that has been my biggest asset and my biggest problem. While the world needs its poets and provocateurs, it also needs its foot soldiers too. Putting pen to paper is one thing; getting up on one’s feet and marching forward is quite another.

The truth is, I have not always practiced what I’ve preached. In deed I have been far more comfortable playing the role of the critic than the selfless servant. I have been stuck in neutral in my walk and the time has come to put my money where my mouth is. I cannot call others out for their abhorrent behavior, while sitting comfortably behind a keyboard. To continue to do so would be hypocritical. The paradoxical truth of Frost’s poem is that one cannot proceed down two divergent roads at the same time; in the end only one road can be taken. Historically, I have always chosen safety over uncertainty, and playing the Monday morning quarterback was the role of a lifetime. Well that comes to an end today. Safety and comfort have worn thin with me. Wherever my new road may lead I am determined to meet it head on, come what may.

I would be lying if I said I was not apprehensive about what lies ahead. And while I do not know as of yet how it will all unfurl, I am, if nothing else, defiant. This does not mean I will “disappear” or stop writing. Our assets are God-given, and I would certainly hope that I am capable of chewing gum and walking at the same time to use a colorful metaphor. No, the path I choose is to step out and make a difference. The more I look into it, the more intrigued I become with Liberation Theology. While opponents of it have often cited that it takes a narrow view of the Bible, it’s propensity for radicalism is strikingly analogous to the ministry of Jesus. I wonder what it would be like to belong to a church that was that much of an advocate for the poor and oppressed. If there is such a thing as social justice then its proponents will be the ones who bring it to fruition, and I intend to be there with them.

Men like Jim Wallis have made social justice their life’s work, and are living proof that politics and Christianity needn’t be a four-letter word to be effective and righteous. Many of the social causes of the ‘50s and ‘60s were championed by people just like him. Likewise, Richard Stearns, who wrote “The Hole in Our Gospel,” has devoted himself to bringing to light the injustices of our world and has challenged his readers to question the pursuit of the “American dream of health, wealth and happiness,” and instead consider how our choices impact others.

In April 1967 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to a convocation of concerned clergy and laity at the Riverside Church in New York City. His words continue to challenge us four decades later.

It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken, the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments. I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice, which produces beggars needs restructuring.

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.

A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war.

There has been enough pontificating on man’s inhumanity to man to fill a landfill. In every revolution there are men and women who have a vision and the will to carry it out. Jesus started with twelve apostles and look where we are now. If those of us who care about what He represents begin in earnest today, we can reshape this world and transform it into the land of plenty. We may wonder where to begin. It starts with rejecting what we know to be false, and then doing the next right thing the Lord puts in front of us. And while, like Jesus, prayer is essential to our strength, there are times when we spend a little too much time on our knees. The time to rise up is at hand. There are no insignificant servants or deeds on this journey. “Stand up! Stand up, for what you believe in. You know that God will back you up.” Those words come from a Veggie Tales song. Funny how songs work. They either remind us of what we once had or challenge us to grab what is within our reach. God gave us gifts to not only bless us, but to be a blessing to others. We can never fail so long as we remember that God does not call the equipped; he equips the called.

For those of you out there who feel as I do, have seen the terrible injustice and evil in the world, have become restless in your own journey, but privately wonder whether you have it in you to make a difference, I’ll leave you with this scripture from James 4:17. “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.” God is watching and judging us. We are all in this together, and with the grace and strength that comes from above we will persevere!

Obama: One Year Later

It was December 1944 and General George S. Patton was sitting in a room full of generals. The Germans had just launched The Ardennes Offensive, better known as The Battle of the Bulge, and General Eisenhower wanted to know who among them could relieve the beleaguered forces at Bastogne. Patton spied the room for a brief moment and then blurted out, “I can attack with three divisions in 48 hours.”

The other generals were astounded at Patton’s bravado and openly questioned how he could make such a commitment of his soldiers who were already involved in a substantial campaign and would have to travel over 100 miles in the middle of a fierce snow storm. His reply was equally astounding, “They’ll do it because they’re good soldiers and because they realize as I do that we can still lose this war.”

In one sentence Patton had nailed it on the head. Of his many memorable quotes, none were so on point and foreboding as that one, for Patton was not one to count his chickens before they hatched. Despite the apparent superiority of the Allied forces and the shrinking morale of the German army, the war was not over. The enemy had not yet been defeated. A misstep here, a misstep there could spell disaster. We all know what happened: Patton’s divisions arrived in time to rescue Bastogne and within months, the Germans had surrendered. The war in Europe was over. The moral of that story was simple: never assume anything. The fight is never over so long as your adversary is still alive. To quote the great Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Pity President Obama never met George Patton. Pity the Democratic Party never met George Patton. Since their meteoric ascension last November, which gave them virtually unfettered power, both Obama and the Democratic House and Senate have behaved like a football team entering the third quarter with a three touchdown lead playing prevent defense. Anyone who has ever seen a football game knows full well that teams that employ such a defense usually prevent themselves from winning. They are constantly on their heals while their opponents continue to march up and down the field. The rationale given for this defense is based on the assumption that three touchdown leads are rarely overcome. And certainly of course, the way the political landscape looked last year, that assumption seemed as secure as gold. The Republican Party was in retreat and disarray, politically isolated and socially in the hands of individuals who neither had the intellectual capacity to understand the position they were in or the vision to plot a course out of the wilderness. Pundits began to openly wonder if a comparison to the Whig Party was not appropriate. But, as any competent sportscaster will tell you, that’s why they play four quarters.

From the beginning of his administration, Barack Obama has displayed an uncanny inability or unwillingness to follow through on the promises he made on the campaign trail. And even when he has found the willingness to pursue those promises, his ineptitude has been his own worst enemy. He has behaved like the coach of the team ahead by three touchdowns, desperately trying to hang on to the lead seemingly given to him by Providence. And the opposing side, far from calling it a night, has consistently chomped away at the lead, one grueling first down at a time. The result is an administration and a Congress that has lost the momentum and is in jeopardy of losing the game outright. Instead of taking it to them and forcing the issue, which got them the lead in the first place, the play it safe approach the Democrats have chosen has played right into the hands of the Republicans. And the Republicans have capitalized on their new-found fortune. Why bother crafting a message when your opponent keeps punting the ball back to you?

Astonishing!

The facts do not lie. They reveal in exact detail the nature of the malady that currently besets the majority party. Despite a mandate of epic proportions, not once in the first few months did Obama and the Democrats craft a message that clearly outlined what they stood for. Up till now they ran on the premise that they were not Bush and the Republicans. That worked for a while. The angst against the GOP was well deserved. Bush and his cronies had gotten us into two wars and wrecked the economy. True Clinton helped a bit when he allowed the Glass-Steagall Act to be repealed, thus setting in motion a series of events that eventually lead to the financial collapse. Still someone had to pay and the American people decided a change was needed. The problem was that Democrats misread the nature of the angst. They wanted change, but they also wanted boldness. What they got was a party that couldn’t get out of its own way; that often acted like it didn’t know who was driving the bus. By contrast, the Republicans seemed unified and displayed surprising determination. Their message was "no", "no", "no", and while many political pundits wondered about the wisdom of such a stance, it proved surprisingly successful.

Case in point, virtually every poll taken in the weeks and months after Obama took office showed overwhelming support for healthcare reform. A strong public option was what the public wanted. But the Administration, in an attempt to avoid the 93-94 fiasco, off-loaded the whole process into the hands of Congress. House and Senate Democrats, in an effort to appease the more moderate and conservative elements within their ranks, then ostensibly tore the guts out of the bill, removing the majority of the reforms the President had called for, including the public option. And while Democrats were playing politics, the GOP geared up its propaganda machine and by mid-August, the corporate-sponsored Town Halls were stoking the worst fears of Americans with false charges of death panels and a socialist takeover of healthcare, with nary a peep out of the President or Congressional Democrats.

By the time Obama finally addressed the nation in September to make his appeal for reform, the momentum had turned and the mood of the country was growing increasingly volatile. Support for the bill, however, had started going south as early as July. Why the two month delay? Why did it take so long for the President of the United States and the Democratic Party as a whole to stand up and challenge critics of the bill? Whatever the cause, the delay proved costly, as more and more Democrats in the center succumbed to cold feet. When the Senate bill finally passed in December, not only did it lack a public option, it lacked any meaningful support among progressives in the country who correctly felt they had been sold down the river. Moreover, independents were bailing on it as well.

The special election in Massachusetts was touted by conservatives as a referendum on Obamacare; in reality, polls taken on election night were quite revealing. 22% of registered Democrats voted for Republican Scott Brown - who had supported the Massachusetts healthcare plan - and the biggest reason they did so was their dissatisfaction with the Senate healthcare bill. They had wanted a robust reform bill and what they saw was a party capitulating on principles. That, plus a lackluster Democratic candidate, spelled disaster on election day.

The stimulus bill was another example of a half-measured response to a crisis situation. Virtually every prominent economist has stated that the government needed to step in to keep the economy from going off the cliff into a depression. The problem wasn’t the stimulus, but rather its size. Keynesian economists tend to agree that during periods of recession strong and massive infusions of capital are necessary to jump-start the economy. Paul Krugman has stated that a stimulus of approximately $1.5 trillion was called for to not only thwart a depression, but to revitalize the economy and get it back up on its feet. Larry Summers as early as December of 2008 warned that the risk of “doing too little poses a greater threat than doing too much.”

Unfortunately for the country, the President did not head the warnings of either man, and instead opted for a more middle of the road option that was more expedient and then committed the ultimate political faux pas by promising that unemployment would not rise above 8%. When it reached 10% by the fall, Obama’s critics had a field day. And now, with the worst over, but the economy still stuck in neutral, the political will to revisit this issue is all but gone. The forecast for 2010 calls for slow growth with little or no decrease in unemployment. GOP gains in Congress are inevitable; the only question remaining is how many Democrats will fall.

And the real shame is all this was avoidable. The senseless and destructive banter and the corporate-underwritten rage of the tea party movement gained traction within the body politic thanks largely to a President who showed an uncanny lack of spine when it came to defining his message and a stubborn reluctance to push back against the lies in the same manner FDR did so brilliantly during his three plus terms. The progressive many thought they were voting for turned into the consummate pragmatist at a time when the nation needed the visionary most. Worst, Obama’s lack of empathy coupled with the aloofness of a college professor that he sometimes showed a little too much during the campaign - and is emblematic among many liberal Democrats - began to rub independents the wrong way. Even those who still thought he was capable were growing a bit annoyed at his seeming detachment. The public was looking for the Commander in Chief; what they got was the Delegator in Chief.

But all may not be lost. Despite the setbacks of the last year and the hits this president has taken to his prestige, like the recession the worst may be over. In his State of the Union address, Obama seemed far more confrontational and determined to “set the record straight.” He challenged both Democrats and Republicans to solve the nation’s problems and stop the back and forth banter. He also acknowledged his own mistakes. It was the first time in almost a year that the nation saw a fighter.

But the biggest reason for hope is that despite the recent gains that Republicans have made, mainly as a result of the ineptitude of this President, we are still talking about a party that still has no coherent, viable solution that doesn’t include the word “no” or an overly nostalgic reliance on failed policies from the past.

But to take back the mantle and stem the tide, this President is going to have to do a much better job of defining a narrative that heretofore he has been reluctant to do. Whether he enjoys it or not, or even if it rubs him the wrong way, he is going to have to get it through his head that his political opponents are not now, nor have they ever been, interested in bipartisanship. As Jon Stewart so wryly observed, no matter how much he tries to move to the center, "They're not going to let you in the car!" The wingnuts of the GOP are running the show and their goal is nothing short of complete victory and that means stopping this President no matter the costs. Obama must stop trying to reach out to a party that has no intention of reaching back. He must abandon his pragmatism and assert his will. While he has lost a lot of the political capital he had at the start of his term, he still has the biggest and loudest pulpit from which to call out and challenge his opponents. The few times he has ventured out of his comfort zone and done this has worked. He must do it more often.

He also must become more empathetic and less detached. The articulate orator that thrilled the throngs on the campaign trail must be replaced by a more compassionate man who understands the dire straits that many Americans find themselves in, and who can relate to their suffering. Even when the depression was at its worst, Roosevelt was always able to identify with and reassure the millions who were hurting. His fireside chats were legendary and put his Republican opponents back on their heals. It also bought him the political capital to put in place the programs and reforms that helped bring the nation out of the depression. Obama desperately needs to find that spirit if he intends on being more than a one-term president. More importantly, he must honor the pledges he made on the campaign trail when he ran as a progressive. If he intends on fighting for healthcare reform, he must find a way to get progressives back on board and do a far better job at explaining what it is he wants. He cannot afford the luxury of naively believing that the majority of Americans will figure it out on their own. Nature abhors a vacuum, and if history has taught us anything it is that those who care enough to fight for what they believe in usually get their points across and prevail. Those who don’t become footnotes.

Obama must become his own General Patton and go on the offensive. He must realize that the war’s outcome is still in doubt, and that the enemy has not only not been defeated, but is launching its own winter offensive. The lead has shrunk to only a field goal, but it is a lead nonetheless. At stake is more than just a mid-term election; the future of the Republic and perhaps the whole planet hangs in the balance. The specter of a Palin Administration beckons and with it the hordes of ideologues whose intentions have been made all too plain. To the rational mind that is a fate too terrifying to contemplate. Now is the time for Obama to show the temerity he ran on and become the President this nation desperately needs and deserves.

The cost of failure is too high to calculate.

Shame On You!

It took a tragedy of historic and epic proportions to bring to the forefront that which was most important. With the earthquake that devastated Haiti, suddenly the daily trivialities of life were tossed aside and we were all driven by an inner voice to put aside our petty differences and to think of what we could do – even in some small way - to help those in need. Well almost every one.

Over the last 12 months I have chronicled many instances of political chicanery by the Right, and yes even some by the Left. While all were deserving of winning the lofty status accorded them, not until now did I finally come across two shining examples of humanity that prove beyond the shadow of a doubt just how low some can sink when push comes to shove.

And while I find it abhorrent to start this year’s Shame on You awards in the backdrop of such a horrific event, to ignore the deplorable conduct of these individuals is equally wrong. They have not only earned this month’s infamous honors, they have gone above and beyond to display in full bloom their dizzying minuscule intellects. I’d say both these individuals have hit rock bottom here, but I fear sadly that may not be the case. For now, let’s just say this one takes the cake.

There is no first place; both are equally obnoxious. So without further ado.

Pat Robertson. For most of his scandalous and hypocritical career as founder of the Christian Coalition and host of The 700 Club Robertson has said many inflammatory and outrageous things and brought great shame upon a faith that sadly has had more than its fair share of shameful chapters throughout its history. But none were more outrageous and completely devoid of any sensitivity and Christian spirit than the words he vomited over the air less than 24 hours after the Haitian earthquake.

“Christy, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, uh, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you, if you get us free from the French, true story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor. The Island of Hispaniola is one island cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti, on the other side is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is, is, prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty, same Islands, uh, they need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy, I'm optimistic something good may come, but right now we're helping the suffering people, and the suffering is unimaginable.”


Forget for a moment the revisionist history lesson, which is always skewed when it comes to the West, the simple matter of fact was that Robertson, at a time when responsible religious leaders were doing their best to offer their prayers and imploring their congregations to lend whatever support they could afford, once more revealed the dark side of himself and Christianity to a world that doesn’t need any more examples of man’s inhumanity to man.

Too often men like Robertson have not only stuck their proverbial feet in their mouths but put a stain on all Christians in the process. The “devil” in this case is not some entity that the Haitians entered into a pact with some two centuries ago, but the ignorance and hatred that the Church has had to put up with from people of his ilk. Bill Maher, a noted comedian and self-proclaimed atheist, has made it his life’s work to expose just how fraudulent and idiotic all religions are. From his point of view he is correct. The unfortunate and sad truth is that it is the charlatans of our faith that have become its ambassadors to a mostly uneducated and susceptible world. A world that hardly ever sees the mercy and compassion of Jesus; merely the fire and brimstone of clowns like Robertson. It was at least gratifying to know that in this instance, he was outed not only by the majority of the world, but by many within the Church. Miracles, I guess, do happen.

And speaking of clowns, Rush Limbaugh really outdid himself this week. Always eager to show off his never bounding ignorance on anything resembling facts, his comments on Obama’s quick response to the Haitian earthquake surpassed even his “supercilious” heights. I’ll let the maestro tell it in his own words.

“Here's President Obama speaking about Haiti this morning in Washington at the White House. He held a press conference. Now, I want you to remember, it took him three days to respond to the Christmas Day Fruit of Kaboom Bomber, three days. And when he came out after those three days, he was clearly irritated that he had to do it. He didn't want to do it. He comes out here in less than 24 hours to speak about Haiti.

“Oh, this is what he lives for. He lives for serving those in misery. Now, don't misunderstand here, folks. I don't have the whole press conference, but I wonder did he apologize for America before acknowledging we are the only people on earth that can possibly help 'em out down there in any significant way? By the way, I've checked it out, Cuba has offered nothing. Venezuela has offered nothing. They have nothing to offer.

“Yes, I think in the Haiti earthquake, ladies and gentlemen -- in the words of Rahm Emanuel -- we have another crisis simply too good to waste. This will play right into Obama's hands. He's humanitarian, compassionate. They'll use this to burnish their, shall we say, "credibility" with the black community -- in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It's made-to-order for them. That's why he couldn't wait to get out there, could not wait to get out there.”Despicable would be a word in a half for the depravity of this man. Like his compadre above, Rush Limbaugh can reduce any thing to its basest element. It is one thing to have a disdain for political correctness; it is quite another to behave like an insensitive ass. When even Sean Hannity’s website has a link for Haitian relief, you know you’re out in left field, or should I say right field.

Jon Stewart said it best. “I think I know the cause of your heart trouble. You don’t have one.” Apparently he doesn’t have a brain either.