Turning Points

I’ve been waiting for a column like this from some well-known writer for a long time. Perhaps Chris Hedges isn’t well-known to you, but he has an audience on the left, where I live. For a long time, I have asked myself why those on the left have such a problem with the message of Christ. Chris Hedges, who holds a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard, is perhaps leading the way for those who, when they think of religion at all, focus on the religious right and ignore the long, long history of Christianity’s fight for social justice. I’ve read a number of Chris’ columns over the years, but I’ve never seen one that even comes close to this one. It is Chris Hedges at his best: fiery and passionate. It’s about time, is all I have to say. This essay appeared on the TruthDig site on December 5, 2011.

Where Were You When They Crucified My Lord?

Posted on Dec 5, 2011

By Chris Hedges

Chris Hedges gave an abbreviated version of this talk Saturday morning in Liberty Square in New York City as part of an appeal to Trinity Church to turn over to the Occupy Wall Street movement an empty lot, known as Duarte Square, that the church owns at Canal Street and 6th Avenue. Occupy Wall Street protesters, following the call, began a hunger strike at the gates of the church-owned property. Three of the demonstrators were arrested Sunday on charges of trespassing, and three others took their places.

The Occupy movement is the force that will revitalize traditional Christianity in the United States or signal its moral, social and political irrelevance. The mainstream church, battered by declining numbers and a failure to defiantly condemn the crimes and cruelty of the corporate state, as well as a refusal to vigorously attack the charlatans of the Christian right, whose misuse of the Gospel to champion unfettered capitalism, bigotry and imperialism is heretical, has become a marginal force in the life of most Americans, especially the young. Outside the doors of churches, many of which have trouble filling a quarter of the pews on Sundays, struggles a movement, driven largely by young men and women, which has as its unofficial credo the Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God.

Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Continue reading →

I came across this article on Sam Smith’s site – he’s a veteran journalist who doesn’t suffer the fools we have in this country lightly. We really do need another Charles Dickens to say, “Bah, Humbug!” to these moral cretins in the GOP.

The GOP’s campaign of Scrooges

Sam Smith

I thought there was something familiar about the current crop of GOP presidential candidates, but I couldn’t quite place it until I attended an excellent recitation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol by Hudson Valley storyteller Jonathan Kruk.

Within minutes, I realized that I had been observing Rick Scrooge, Ebeneezer Gingrich, Humbug Herman and Miserly Mitt playing out a selfish, mean and narcissistic ideology unlike any we had seen in modern American politics, one that dates back, in fact, to the 19th century capitalistic excesses against which Dickens aimed his tale.

Certainly, we have not seen in the past century as nasty a crop of GOP candidates as in the current race. These are not merely corrupt politicians of convoluted ideology and prostituted loyalties; they are also the self-obsessed voices of those who, like Scrooge, can see no reality beyond the financial ledger and what they mistakenly view as their own welfare.

Unfortunately, however, like many metaphors this one eventually collapses because, while Scrooge was rescued from his failings by a trio of ghostly spirits, there is today no similar emergency rescue squad from America the past, America the present, or America the future. We lack the education for the first, the media for the second, and the leaders for the third.

And so the party of Ebenezer Scrooges plays out its self-serving yet self-destroying politics of selfishness and cruelty promising nothing but certain misery for the Bob Cratchits of the land and their crippled sons as the White House, major media and other purported spirits of America remain afraid to even look them in the eye and say “Bah Humbug” right back to them.

Update, 12/5/2011:

Jonathan Kruk commented and I updated the post to include a link to his site. I’m also including parts of his comment, which were spoken by the ghosts of Marley and Christmas Present:

“Business!, cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance and benevolence, were, all my business.”

And from the Ghost of Christmas Present, to the wealthy Scrooge: ” It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child.”

Take note, those of you who idolize Gingrich, Cain, and Perry.

Neo-Luddite that I am (I haven’t owned a TV for over 20 years), I greeted the arrival of Kindles and their ilk with great suspicion. Now, courtesy of an article which appeared on the website of Campaign for America’s Future, I’ve been vindicated. The warning:

“At this rate, the “Firemen” in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 will soon be obsolete. So will Bloomberg’s batallions. Soon a faceless bureaucrat or corporate lackey will be able to destroy every single copy of any “unauthorized” book – instantly, simultaneously, and permanently – with a single electronic command.”

If you are interested in reading the entire article, click on the link above. I’m going to go read a book, thank you. A real book, not an ersatz one.

For background information about the scene portrayed in the photograph, go here.

From kabuki7 at Daily Censored:

While the liberal and conservative constituencies in our country have legitimate differences in how the country should be governed, one thing all Americans can agree on is our current political system is broken, corrupted by money, and that it no longer serves the interests of citizens.

Our current system is a Kabuki show. Politicians prance and pontificate before elections, then go back to “doing business” with corporate financiers after elections are over. Democrat or Republican, it does not matter.
A system where Congress writes rules governing its own behavior, such as exempting itself from insider trading rules is ludicrous. Neither voting Democratic or Republican, or not voting will bring about the change needed in the political system.

To change the current system, it first needs to be de-legitimized. The way to de-legitimized the current illegitimate system is to promote a campaign to get the vote and write in ‘ none of the above’ for Congressional and Presidential elections in 2012.

If elected officials get elected without a majority of the vote, it will affect their legitimacy. Imagine a scenario where the President gets less votes than ‘none of the above’. This would be a major political blow. If the Tea Partiers and Occupiers can come together and support the common goal of reforming the system of political campaign financing, lobbying, and Congressional oversight, then we can work out our other differences later.

Let’s all channel our mutual anger and frustration and kick start a get out the vote campaign to vote ‘none of the above’ in 2012.

“I mean, what are the elections? You know, two guys, same background, wealth, political influence, went to the same elite university, joined the same secret society where you’re trained to be a ruler – they both can run because they’re financed by the same corporate institutions. At the Democratic Convention, Barack Obama said, ‘only in this country, only in America, could someone like me appear here.’ Well, in some other countries, people much poorer than him would not only talk at the convention – they’d be elected president. Take Lula. The president of Brazil is a guy with a peasant background, never went to school, he’s the president of the second-biggest country in the hemisphere. Only in America? I mean, there they actually have elections where you can choose somebody from your own ranks. With different policies. That’s inconceivable in the United States.”

- Noam Chomsky

I’m disheartened, to say the least, to see police engage in this kind of activity. Is it really necessary? The body language of the police officer is telling – he looks as though he is spraying roaches. Can anyone tell me why this is necessary?

My heart cries for this country. Is this what it has come to?

This incident took place on the campus of the University of California at Davis.

This must stop.

Vote third party.

A press release from Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah:

Have you had enough?

New Party on the horizon

The former Mayor of Salt Lake City and Executive Director of High Road for Human Rights, Rocky Anderson, calls for the formation of a new political party and a sustained movement committed to the public interest.

Two months ago, Anderson “divorced himself” from what he referred to as “the spineless, gutless Democratic Party.” Responding to an email from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which showed as the subject, “Standing Strong,” Anderson wrote: “How dare you send an email with the subject line ‘Standing Strong.’ You didn’t do it on Iraq, you didn’t do it on torture, you didn’t do it on signing statements, you haven’t done it on Afghanistan, you haven’t done it on defense spending, you haven’t done it on real health care reform, you haven’t done it on the debt ceiling fiasco.”

Rocky Anderson Says Adieu to the Democratic Party, Rolly, Paul, The Salt Lake Tribune, August 12, 2011.

Anderson continued: “I’m done with the Democratic Party… I think the answer is a new political party that actually will advocate for and promote the interests of the public rather than the narrow interests of the wealthy who bought and paid for not only Congress but the White House… The Constitution has been eviscerated while Democrats have stood by with nary a whimper. It is a gutless, unprincipled party, bought and paid for by the same interests that buy and pay for the Republican
Party.”

Former S.L. Mayor Rocky Anderson Divorces Himself From ‘Gutless’ Democratic Party, Romboy, Dennis, Deseret News, August 12, 2011.

This country needs a new, powerful party that can win elections, according to Anderson. “The pensions and other savings accounts of the middle class in this country have been decimated. The only way out is another party. I would call it, frankly, a second party that actually represents the interests of the American people. There isn’t a real opposition force in Washington, D.C., any more, and we the people have the capacity to change that — and we must if our republic is going to survive. I consider myself an Independent, but I would be very pleased to work with others to form not just a political party to run another campaign, but to launch a sustained movement for major change in this country.”

Rocky: Not a Democrat, Levitt, Lexie, City Weekly,September 26, 2011.

Anderson said that people are fed up with the Democratic and Republican parties, Congress, and the Obama administration to the point of being ready to support a new party that rejects the corporatism and militarism of the two “Wall Street lap-dog” major parties. The polls support Anderson’s view that the people of the United States are desirous of a new party, and bold, new leadership, like never before. Patrick Caddell and Douglas Shoen have written:

“The United States is in the midst of what we would both call a pre-Revolutionary moment, and there is widespread support for fundamental change in the system. An increasing number of Americans are now searching beyond the two parties for bold and effective leadership.”

Expect a Third-Party Candidate in 2012, Caddell, Patrick and Schoen, Douglas E, The Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2011.

“Have you had enough?” asks Anderson. “Would you support the formation of a new party that will commit to:

· affordable universal health care

· an end to the wars

· a significant reduction in the military budget
and an end to the military-industrial-congressional complex

· investigation of illegal conduct, including war crimes, by executive officials during the current and prior administrations

· investigation of the events on 9/11 to answer significant questions that have been raised

· prosecution for illegal conduct leading to the economic melt-down

· disincentives for U.S. companies to send jobs overseas;
· employee and environmental safeguards in trade agreements

· implementation of major domestic jobs and infrastructure programs

· an end to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy

· campaign finance reform to end the corrupting influence of money in politics

· treat substance abuse within a public health framework rather than as a criminal matter

· repeal the PATRIOT Act

· compassionate and rational immigration reform

· marriage equality

· an end to subsidies for oil and gas companies

· a ban on a Canada-to-Mexico tar sands pipeline

· air quality protection, including stricter ozone limits

and

· aggressive action and leadership on the climate crisis and the environment?”

Rocky Anderson has been in the process of contacting some of America’s leading social, environmental and political activists with the goal of creating a powerful, broad-based political alternative to the increasingly unpopular Republican and Democratic Parties. He intends that the new party will have candidates in local, state, and federal races throughout the nation.

Anderson plans on hosting a meeting soon between leaders in various sectors of the country in order to draft a new platform and a long-term strategy capable of attracting a majority of voters, including millions of dissatisfied Democrats and Republicans who, until now, had nowhere else to go.

Anderson has stated his intention to do what is possible to get on the ballots in all 50 states and to campaign for candidates aggressively in all states. “The Democratic and Republican Parties have acted as if voters have no other real options. The people of this country will demonstrate that we, indeed, have another option – a party that will work in the public interest, rather than for the defense contractors, the health insurance companies, and the rapacious financial institutions that have caused such economic havoc in our nation and the world.”

Anderson anticipates a broad-based coalition, similar to the one built by the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP), which won impressive political gains in the Canadian federal elections last May. The NDP is the political party that brought universal health care to the Canadian people.

Press info: Mackenzie Scott – Tel. 801-520-0491

Rocky Anderson – Tel. 801-557-9007

418 Douglas Street

Salt Lake City, UT 84102

E-mail: rockyandersonrocky@yahoo.com

“If a man has an apartment stacked to the ceiling with newspapers we call him crazy. If a woman has a trailer house full of cats we call her nuts. But when people pathologically hoard so much cash that they impoverish the entire nation, we put them on the cover of Fortune magazine and pretend that they are role models.”

– B. Lester