President Carter's Mistake

Jimmy Carter made a mistake recently.......in not standing by his words. He was right in stating that from a foreign policy stance, and how our nation is viewed in the world, this administration is the worst in history. Vietnam under Johnson and Nixon, The Cold War, Meddling in South America, Manifest Destiny, etc did not cause the animosity from foreign governments that the Bush administration has brought on us all. Carter claimed he was misquoted and that he was caught up in the heat of the moment. Just admit it, its all true, and you meant it. A vast majority of Americans agrees with you President Carter, and will stand behind your words. Is this "attack "unprecedented? NO, it has happened before, and should. An American passionate about justice, freedom and God's love such as President Carter is obligated and should voice his beliefs, and fight for them at all times. It is a shame that the Political hacks are out trying to bury the message by attacking Carter personally. Just goes to show how people are so bent on "winning" they will ignore fact and reason. Please President Carter, stand by your words, do not back down, and continue to "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves..." (Proverbs 31:8)

A Humbling Experience courtesy of JDRF

The Beat the Bridge to cure Juvenile Diabetes was a great success. Our team, Erin's Diabetes raised more than $1400 to help find a cure! To all who donated money, kept us in your thoughts and prayers, or supported us with words of encouragement, thank you. The experience was definitely one that reminds one what this is all about. T shirts, signs, and bags were covered with names of those who suffer from the disease. Pictures of those who lost the battle remained immediately in front of us during the walk, a constant reminder that yes, Diabetes can lead to death. To see children, there to walk to help find a cure, one that will save their very own lives is both sad and heart-warming. Today wasn't a day of sorrow or anger, but of hope, optimism, and a reminder that a cure will be found. I urge each and everyone of you to check out The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation , and learn a little about the disease. See the stories of the kids and adults, families and friends who deal with this daily.

If you cannot donate monetarily, please help by being an advocate and getting educated. Write your Representatives and Senators, the President and Governor, urging them to fund embryonic stem cell research to help find a cure. Consider joining a walk or fundraiser, one where you will see those who you are helping. See the kids, see those who carry on int he name of someone who died, and let it change you. I am thankful for those who helped me see today, just how important this cause truly is.

Face to Face with anger and Hate

In an instant, all of my moral superiority was wiped away. The news that Jerry Falwell, icon of the religious right, had died, brought a smile to my face. I was enjoying the news, basking in the warm glow of hate and satisfaction. There he was, the man who had misused Christianity, divided a nation, endorsed hate, violence and poverty, with two years under his picture. How could I not enjoy this, the death of someone who stood for everything I hated, the man who created an empire of hatred and cloaked it in religion. There was no pity, no sorrow, no sense of regret on my part, I truly enjoyed it, and savored the feeling.

I was amazed that I was capable of this. I have always considered myself to be someone of love and mercy, one who honestly tried to live God's call. I believed I was standing up for what was right, against people like Jerry Falwell to prevent the kinds of things I gave into today. I thought I was above this, that those who were so hate filled were not like me. Unfortunately, I was proven wrong, and had to see that we are all capable, we are all able to fall victim to this hate.

Jerry Falwell did many things I disagreed with over the years. We stood on opposite sides of the theological and political spectrum. Our vision for the world, vision of God's kingdom, Jesus' mission, the mission of the church and everything else colored our views, and helped us apply our religious beliefs to politics. We disagreed, but this man, like any man or woman, deserves better than to have people rejoice at his death. Larry Flint today shared that though the two were bitter enemies in court, they later became friends and would enjoy conversations with each other. Falwell and Flint? After a drag out knock down court battle that ended up in the US Supreme Court they ended up friends? Perhaps I have a great deal to learn from a king of porn and the fundamentalist preacher. Everyone deserves forgiveness, and everyone deserves God's Love. I was confronted with this today, and now know I need to always be mindful of this. we are all loved, and all needing love, no matter how much we disagree or how much pain we cause. I hope I have understood this and put it to good use, and will continue to do so. God Loved us, and calls us to Love others, no if's and's or but's. Keep it simple.

"Secular-Progressive", the new "Liberal"

The right has a new tool to brand enemies with, and they are out to paint the town with it. Since the Goldwater days, and then the Reagan Revolution, the hip insult was "liberal". Tax and spend liberal, liberal values, liberal this, liberal that. Anything that stood against big business, theocracy, hate and violence was liberal. The word was twisted to be an insult, and thus applied liberally (pun intended). Democrats ran from it, all the way to the middle, anything to avoid this horrible label. Conservatives rode it all the way, used it up, and were left looking for a new term to slander with.


Enter Secular Progressive. It throws out the nuance of liberal, where as before the godless and new crazy ideas parts were implied, now they are RIGHT THERE! They are playing percentages here, with 90% of Americans in one poll claiming belief in God. Yes, those who embody the actions God seeks are Godless. This sort of lowly pandering appeals to those who already are in lock step (or should we say goose step) with the likes of the Falafel King, but nobody else.

Those of us on the left who want to see change to help others, to stop violence, cure disease, end suffering, and bring about equity are not Godless. Many of us turn to the Bible and see these very actions not only asked of us by God, but begged for. We do not seek to destroy religion, only prevent it from being used to justify hate, war and fear. The traditional values we seek to overturn are those that are in contrast to God's love for us, and in turn our love for each other. Just as slavery, segregation and racism were once traditional values, so now is hatred of homosexuals, oppression of the poor, and a disregard for the sick. Those who seek to create violence through war, hatred and fear, and wealth for a few at the expense of many, create a secular agenda, divorced from all meaningful Christian values. We on the left fight this, making our cause arguably more Godly than the right.

I say bring it to those who use the term secular progressive. I embrace it, and hope you continue to look as foolish saying it in the future as you do now. We know where we stand, and we will not be pushed back by the likes of scared little boys, afraid of losing power. We seek to Love God's people, and enact God's mercy, justice and rule over the land and people. It will not be shelved because of some names being tossed around, or labels being placed on us. While you cleverly craft the words to stop us, we will be doing the work you so desperately want to stop.

Fox's Brian Kilmeade Supports Torture!

Friday April 28th's airing of the "best" of Brian and the Judge had a wonderful segment on the capture of an Al-Qaeda operative. These aren't exact quotes, so I'm paraphrasing here. Mr. Kilmeade was of course overjoyed and presented the event as a grand victory, one that can unite the country. USA, USA, USA! The topic then shifted to interrogation. Brian began to talk faster, and more energetic as he attacked McCain, Bush and everyone else who allowed a law that would limit the tools some deem to be torture, this included limiting the patriot act. When it comes to someone who would kill us all Brian exclaimed, I saw do whatever it takes, go ahead, torture them, use water boarding, sleep deprivation, do anything to get that information. his guest co-host Kirstin Powers jumped in to say, well you don't mean torture, the things you listed weren't torture, that's like physical stuff when I think of torture. Brian backtracked and claimed yes, water boarding wasn't torture. Kirsten then had the gall to claim that those who are against such techniques just haven't internalized yet that these are bad people wanting to hurt us. Once you do, you will accept extracting info in these ways. A conservative called in to oppose these views, saying he worried that it would be taken too far by our government, and applied to citizens with conspiracy theories or anyone else deemed dangerous. Brian instantly dismissed this, saying that it wasn't a common practice, they don't do it everyday, only when they need to, in serious circumstances.


Where to begin....Brian Kilmeade is a sports reporter. He does the sports on Fox & Friends, he writes sports books, his website is dedicated to his sports coverage. I like Chris Berman and all, but I don't go to him for political commentary. Mr. Kilmeade's initial response was not a mistake, he didn't stutter, or misspeak, he honestly wants to use torture to extract information. His backtrack was only when pointed out, when he realized that wow, I can't really say that. He apparently is unaware that torture is illegal internationally and in our country, but hey, must have missed that when the Lakers game was on. Water boarding is according to him, not torture, yes apparently the sensation of drowning is not physically painful and mentally torturous enough.

Kirsten Powers condescending attitude towards anyone who disagrees with torture techniques that "aren't torture" is laughable. Oh, they want to kill us? Let me just think about that a bit more, oh, ok yeah, draw and quarter them if you need to. You are right miss FoxBot, it is all about not realizing that, and nothing to do with law or human rights. With a mind like that, you may want to consider spending the rest of your life watching reruns of "She's the Sheriff" while coloring.

"The Brown Haired Guy That's Not Steve Doocy" Is so incredibly right wing wacko nut job out there on this it's not even funny. The guy believes torture will get answers and correct ones at that. Yes, if I know nothing and I was drowning, I too would admit to anything, or give you plans for how my friends were going to steal Luxembourg. To make the claim as he did that they do it much worse to us is horrid. So we now compare our actions with a group of murderous thugs who seek destruction and domination? Well, we only torture, we don't actually kill them, is not a good defense. Our nation was founded on the belief in not giving government too much power, because it could be misused. Here we see that theory in action. For the right wingers, is torture the actions of what Reagan called a "City on a Hill?" Are we showing ourselves to stand for decency, humanity and freedom? No, torture undermines that. Mr. Kilmeade's ignorance, sheer stupidity and dangerous foaming at the mouth right wing hackery is bad for us all. The fact that he is allowed to share this uninformed drivel with the masses two times a day is unfathomable. He can't grasp issues, his insights are as well reasoned as a 3rd grader's, and his unquestioning loyalty to Fox is scary. He is a menace and needs to be put in his place. Where is this you may ask, at some third rate local TV station covering high school sports, reading off the latest hockey results, and showing us fantastic sports bloopers! This is his talent level, this is his intellectual level, and lets face it, he has EARNED that position.