Look around, What do you see?

Raise readiness, Assad tells Syrian Army

Iraqi VP accuses Israel of 'massacres'
"These horrible massacres carried out by the Israeli aggression, incites in us the spirit of brotherhood and solidarity," he said in a speech attended by Iraq's president, the prime minister and other top government officials.

The comments were harsher than the criticism leveled by Iraq's president and the deputy prime minister on Sunday. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, another Shiite, had also condemned Israel's offensive before traveling to Washington last week, provoking criticism from U.S. lawmakers

On Sunday, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, demanded an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon, warning that "Islamic nations will not forgive the entities that hinder a cease-fire," al-Sistani said, in a clear reference to the United States.

The latest remarks by Abdul-Mahdi and Sistani are likely to heighten Iraqi public anger against the United States and create political problems for the Iraqi government, which depends on the Americans for its security and survival.

VIDEO - Ad: 'For Zion's Sake, I Will Not Keep Silent'


Israel: No cease-fire in coming days

Analysis-Look around and ask yourself if things are setting up for a wider war or is the U.S. doing what it can to make peace. The U.S. has the power (or maybe had) to bring all sides in. But Bush takes another route let Israel do what ever it wants apologizing along the way. Oops.

There is still hope.
Top Republican asks Bush to push for immediate Lebanon ceasefire.
Hagel said the US link to Israel was a "special and historic one."
"But, it need not and cannot be at the expense of our Arab and Muslim relationships," he said.
Sen. Hagel is correct on this and Iraq. Pat Buchanan is correct.
This is not a Republican vs. Democrat issue it is a "what is in the best interest of America" issue. Israel is a friend and ally and always will be however Israels interest and Americas interests are not always the same so Bush and the rest of Washington better stop acting like they are.

Right now the law of unintended consequences (yet predictable) is making the impossible happen. Sunni and Shi'ite are being united by Israels continued attacks and growing civilian casualties. The civil war in Iraq is between Sunni and Shia. Hezaballah are Shia as is Iran, the Arab countries that initially came out against Hezbollah where Sunni but they now like all the other Muslims are starting to come around in favor of Hezbollah. Sunni and Shia have always been split, will this do what nothing else has for over a thousand years.

Where will it end?

Morality

Most people consider themselves to be a moral person. Paticularly if you are a religious person morality is your professed foundation. So how is it people that claim to follow God simply follow those that claim to follow God (politicians or SCC) thus removing responsibility from themselves and conveniently placing it on those with ulterior motives.

Take Rodney Stanhope who posted a comment a few threads down saying in essence tow the party line for Doolittle regardless of his ethics. Unlike Rodney I believe morality should be above politics. Vote for the best person and yes that means taking their morals and ethics into account.

Is it moral to support Doolittle who has done many seemingly unethical just because he is a Republican? That would be immoral. So do not vote for a party vote for a person voting is the most important personal responsibility and should be given more thought than simple party line votes. Party line votes without question are immoral.

Is it moral to support tax cuts for those at the top while the poor among us have services cut.
That is immoral.

Is it moral to support a war just because our leaders who have been wrong at every turn tell you they are right this time? That is immoral.

Iraq is supporting Lebanon

Rumsfeld- He seems literally in a parallel universe and slightly deranged. If you listen to what he said last week about Iraq, he’s living in a different world, not a different country. Edit posts
Q: Is the country closer to a civil war?
SEC. RUMSFELD: Oh, I don't know. You know, I thought about that last night, and just musing over the words, the phrase, and what constitutes it.


Ethics and morality. They go together but morality is more personal. I would like to know from those of you who claim to follow God but instead follow Politicians and these So Called Christian leaders that have proven themselves unethical and immoral. Is it really that easy to unquestionably follow the unethical immoral and incompetent?

I fear politics will ruin religion rather than religion ruining government.

Attorney: PERA Could Stop ACLU Profits From Anti-Christian Lawsuits

(AgapePress) - An attorney with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (AFA Law Center) says the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has gained windfall profits from its anti-Christian litigation, and it is time for the system that allows this to be changed.

Crampton and other faith and family advocates believe Congressman Hostettler’s legislation, if passed, could put an end to ACLU profits from anti-Christian litigation. PERA would do this by amending 42 U.S.C. sections 1983 and 1988 to prevent the use of the legal system in a way that extorts money from state and local governments and inhibits their constitutional actions.

Analysis- The ACLU making money from anti-Christian litigation is no better than politicians that have hijacked Christianity and use their believe in God to further their careers.

This is the Begining

Could U.S. Troops End Up in Lebanon
The uniformed military, however, is ardently opposed to sending American soldiers to the region,
according to my source. “They are saying 'What the fuck?'” he told me. “Most of our combat-ready divisions are in Iraq or Afghanistan, or on their way, or coming back. The generals don't like it because we're already way overstretched.”

The scenario of an American deployment appears to come straight out of the neoconservative playbook: send U.S. forces into the Middle East, regardless of what our own military leaders suggest, in order to “stabilize” the region. The chances of success, as we have seen in Iraq, are remote. So what should be done? My source said the situation is so volatile at the moment that the only smart policy is to get an immediate ceasefire and worry about the terms of a lasting truce afterwards.

Iran: The Next War
Even before the bombs fell on Baghdad, a group of senior Pentagon officials were plotting to invade another country. Their covert campaign once again relied on false intelligence and shady allies. But this time, the target was Iran. BY JAMES BAMFORD

I. The Israeli Connection

A few blocks off Pennsylvania Avenue, the FBI's eight-story Washington field office exudes all the charm of a maximum-security prison. Its curved roof is made of thick stainless steel, the bottom three floors are wrapped in granite and limestone, hydraulic bollards protect the ramp to the four-floor garage, and bulletproof security booths guard the entrance to the narrow lobby. On the fourth floor, like a tomb within a tomb, lies the most secret room in the $100 million concrete fortress—out-of-bounds even for special agents without an escort. Here, in the Language Services Section, hundreds of linguists in padded earphones sit elbow-to-elbow in long rows, tapping computer keyboards as they eavesdrop on the phone lines of foreign embassies and other high-priority targets in the nation's capital.

At the far end of that room, on the morning of February 12th, 2003, a small group of eavesdroppers were listening intently for evidence of a treacherous crime. At the very moment that American forces were massing for an invasion of Iraq, there were indications that a rogue group of senior Pentagon officials were already conspiring to push the United States into another war—this time with Iran. more

Analysis- I can't help but think that within one year we will be at war with Iran and the public will support it. They will support it like they supported Iraq in the beginning. The only thing that will stop the coming war with Iran is if the public is smarter this time. Irrational fear will drive "good" people to do bad things. Just to make a prediction it will take over a year after the war starts before public support wanes and we find out our intelligence was not very good.

Morality is not on our side
By Ze'ev Maoz
There's practically a holy consensus right now that the war in the North is a just war and that morality is on our side. The bitter truth must be said: this holy consensus is based on short-range selective memory, an introverted worldview, and double standards.

Doolittle and Simmons

Saying he was "deeply humbled" by the results of last week's election, Jerry Simmons issued an apology to the Sierra College community

"I apologize … for how I've handled my role as a trustee. Although I had the best intentions, sometimes my implementation of key decisions was done poorly," Simmons said.

Simmons said he has spent many sleepless nights over the past few weeks pondering how to help the college move forward. He hoped the apology was "a place to start."

He then voted with three other trustees -- Klein, Scott Leslie and Nancy Palmer -- against a motion to remove him as president of the Sierra Joint Community College District board of trustees. The motion -- which needed five votes to pass -- failed, with trustees Dave Creek, Dave Ferrari and Barbara Vineyard backing it.

He appoligized yet there is still a recall. Why?

The Congressman John Doolittle stands behind them-

Congressman John Doolittle, Assemblyman Tim Leslie and Placer County Republican Party Chairman Dean Forman have all condemned the recall started Tuesday in statements issued to the press. Doolittle said “It is unfortunate that politics continues to overshadow the many positive things that the college is accomplishing.”

Here is something circulating from daily kos about John Doolittle

John Doolittle is in trouble.

I am convinced that he will be indicted.

The trouble is timing. It might happen before November, but it could also happen after the election.

Another open question is what crime will he be indicted for first.

Doolittle offers prosecutors a cornucopia of corruption, so it might be his connections to Abramoff, or Duke Cunningham, or his wife's fundraising scams or some new scandal that brings the little weasel down.

Or perhaps it will be a combination of them all. More

And from WAPO

Analysis-I honestly have not followed Sierra College politics but I saw a comment from PS about it and in reference to this blog. So tell me who the good guys are in this fight.

Bush White House checked with rapture Christians before latest Israel move

"Everything that you're discussing is information you're not supposed to have," barked Pentecostal minister Robert G. Upton when asked about the off-the-record briefing his delegation received on March 25. Details of that meeting appear in a confidential memo signed by Upton and obtained by the Voice.

The e-mailed meeting summary reveals NSC Near East and North African Affairs director Elliott Abrams sitting down with the Apostolic Congress and massaging their theological concerns. Claiming to be "the Christian Voice in the Nation's Capital," the members vociferously oppose the idea of a Palestinian state. They fear an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza might enable just that, and they object on the grounds that all of Old Testament Israel belongs to the Jews. Until Israel is intact and Solomon's temple rebuilt, they believe, Christ won't come back to earth.

Three weeks after the confab, President George W. Bush reversed long-standing U.S. policy, endorsing Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank in exchange for Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

Tens of millions of American Christian Zionists support Israeli expansionism because they believe it will bring Armageddon and the return of Jesus.
All want to maintain a U.S.-Israel monopoly on nuclear weapons in the Middle East. There is ample evidence that to maintain this monopoly, the U.S. and Israel plan a dangerous war against Iran, and probably its ally Syria, that could kill millions of Muslims, Arabs, Israelis and even Americans.

The rhetoric between Iran's leader Ahmadineajad and US President George Bush -- both of whom seem to think "God Chose ME to Start Armageddon" -- keeps ratcheting up, even as the Israelis make absurd predictions that Iran could produce nuclear weapons within months. Bush needs a war to distract attention from the disasterous war in Iraq and his many scandals.

Other special interest groups have managed to skew U.S. foreign policy in directions they favored, but no lobby has managed to divert U.S. foreign policy as far from what the American national interest would otherwise suggest, while simultaneously convincing Americans that U.S. and Israeli interests are essentially identical."

The Bush administration is insane. If the American people do not decapitate it by demanding Bush’s impeachment, the Bush administration will bring about Armageddon. This may please some Christian evangelicals conned by Rapture predictions, but World War III will please no one else.

Analysis-Does the President believe that a nuclear war in the mid east (Iran) will bring Christ back? There are many who believe it and are excited about it. There is even the top ten signs. Number one is Iran's nuclear program.

The scary thing is this end of the world talk is making it's way to MSM which is giving it legitimacy. I have heard on CNN Evangelicals are excited at the prospect of a wider war with Iran.

Is the battle in the Middle East a sign of Armageddon? An eye-opening look at what some evangelicals say the conflict means. Tune in at 8 p.m. ET. CNN

What is wrong with these people. YOU can not purposefully bring about the second coming.

Note- Israel needs to be helped and protected as a trusted ally but you even tell a friend when they have stepped over the line.

Where are the Christians?
By Pat Buchanan

But where are the Christians? Why is Pope Benedict virtually alone among Christian leaders to have spoken out against what is being done to Lebanese Christians and Muslims?

When al-Qaida captured two U.S. soldiers and barbarically butchered them, the U.S. Army did not smash power plants across the Sunni Triangle. Why then is Bush not only silent but openly supportive when Israelis do this? (snip)

Already, Bush is ranting about Syria being behind the Hezbollah capture of the Israeli soldiers. But where is the proof?

Who is whispering in his ear? The same people who told him Iraq was maybe months away from an atom bomb, that an invasion would be a "cakewalk," that he would be Churchill, that U.S. troops would be greeted with candy and flowers, that democracy would break out across the region, that Palestinians and Israelis would then sit down and make peace?

How much must America pay for the education of this man?

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for July 19

MATTHEWS: Great, thank you very much. Please keep coming back, Andrew Lee Butters in Beirut.

Let‘s bring in now two political analysts, Pat Buchanan and of course Bob Shrum, both with us regularly. Pat, let‘s go through the politics of this situation. The neocons are out there complaining that this president isn‘t tough enough. I have no idea what they mean, 50,000 dead in Iraq, it was supposed to be a cake walk. Ken Edelman‘s out there today saying we should go other places, you have got guys who have wanted to blow up every Arab country on their list. Why is going on in their complaint and why does the president pays five seconds attention to them?

PAT BUCHANAN, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: I don‘t know why he pays attention to them, Chris. What they want, Chris, is a wider war, especially in the Middle East. They want the United States to fight Israel‘s war against Hezbollah, Syria but especially Iran.

And the Israelis want us to fight Iran‘s well. But it‘s not in the interest of the United States. None of those countries, even Hezbollah and Hamas have not attacked the United States of America. I don‘t think the country is listening to the neocons anymore. I think they‘re discredited. The question is, is Bush listening to them, because he was gone for awhile up through his second inaugural, very much according to a script they wrote.

MATTHEWS: Literally.

BUCHANAN: Yes.

(snip)

MATTHEWS: I just wonder Pat about the simple history. We know from looking at the Arab world, as we‘ve come to understand it, that there‘s this division between the Shia, who are on the outs and they‘re coming to be the ins of course in Iraq and they‘re certainly already in control of Iran, taking on Sunnis, that‘s a war we‘re only vaguely understanding. That‘s a 1,000-year-old war. Do you think we‘re creating another 1,000 year war by killing so many Arabs? I‘ve been afraid of this war from day one, because I‘ve always felt, based on history, every time you somebody, you‘ve got his brother, his mother, his family coming back to get you. We‘ve killed 50,000 Iraqis in a war that was supposed to be a two-day wonder.

When are we going to notice that the neocons don‘t know what they‘re talking about? They‘re not looking at this country‘s long-term interests. They‘re bound up in regional and global ideology and they have had no experience, I‘ll say it again, in even a school yard fight. They don‘t know what physical fighting is all about. They went to school and were intellectuals, but they he want our government to be their big brother. I don‘t get it. I don‘t know why we keep falling for it and the president, you say is he free of these guys yet or not?

BUCHANAN: Well, the president fell for it after 9-11 when they put their little precooked meal in front of him after he knocked down Afghanistan and so they said let‘s do Iraq now and Wolfowitz and all the rest of them. But let me say this Chris, I think the president realizes now that we went into Iraq to pursue weapons that did not exist, a country that did not attack us, did not threaten us, and now we have created a great base camp for terrorism in the Anbar province, the west there, that did not exist.

In response to Mr. Shrum, not only the 150,000 hostages, you attack Iran, Hezbollah will retaliate against the 25,000 Americans in Lebanon, you will have massive hostage takings and killings. Are these people nuts? You‘ve got to ask yourself. I certainly hope the president is not listening to them, because I really question whether they‘ve got America‘s national interest at heart. They are calling for wars against people that never attacked us. I don‘t care how bad they are. There are wicked people all over this world, but you don‘t go after people unless they come after you.

Analysis- Pat Buchanan has it right not only about the silent religious leaders but he is thinking of what is good for the U.S. All I can say is to repeat Pat's question where are the Christians? People are suffering and dying yet I here nothing but Israel good Arab bad. Who is trying to stop the killing? Sitting back and pointing fingers is easy but changes nothing.


Holy War
As the Middle East burns, GOP pols, neocon pundits, and a powerful Christian right leader all sing the same (crazy) tune.
In the June issue of the Prospect, I wrote about Texas televangelist John Hagee, an Armageddon prophesier who insists that military confrontation with Iran is foretold in the Bible as a necessary precondition for the Second Coming.

This is not my religion. This is a religion that has been hijacked for political purposes and I wan't my religion back. A religion of peace.

Jesus Hijacked

This will not be a religious blog but I need to get this off my chest.

The Hijacking of Jesus: How the Religious Right Distorts Christianity and Promotes Prejudice and Hate
Christianity in America has become nearly synonymous with right-wing fanaticism, conservative politics, and--courtesy of Mel Gibson--a brutally sadistic version of the religious experience. Millions of devout Christians, like Dan Wakefield, are appalled by the religious right's distortion of their faith, which only three decades ago stood for peace equality, healing, and compassion for society's outcasts--the issues that made up the ministry of Jesus.

This book traces how the Jesus who preached the Sermon on the Mount has in effect been hijacked by right-wingers and the Republican Party. Dan Wakefield travels across America in search of answers, meeting evangelical Christians, visiting the new mega-churches, and finding "a cultish kind of Christianity as dangerous as it is distorted."

The Terrible Beast in the Temple (and Marketplace and Statehouse) Wakefield shows in “The Hijacking of Jesus” how the religious right has appropriated Jesus and American politics. Like Kevin Phillips in “American Theocracy,” Wakefield correctly pinpoints a southern origin in the current epidemic of religious war. The south might have lost the civil war but damn if it’s not winning the great American cultural war.
(snip)
Americans feel so very entitled. They are God's chosen people (spoilt brats, really). Others have tried but they all failed God. Americans are different. They are special. God is really on their side and they can do no wrong. That's why they don't need science. They don't even need facts. Forget studying history. Who needs to learn from losers? American are special. It's their destiny which God wants them to manifest. They will rule the world and make it so just and secure that God himself will feel safe again to come down and walk the face of the earth. Armageddon is all that is needed.
Just listen to the President. He's God man. Follow wherever he shall lead thee. Bush is the modern Moses. Wherever Bush goes, everything breaks out into a perpetual wildfire. No matter how large the surplus he was given, Bush burned it up. No matter the almost worldwide support for America following 9/11, Bush burned American allies and bridges until nearly everyone is ready to see America get burned. Behold my Burning Bush.

Analysis-I am disgusted that Republicans pretend to be Christians and at the same time ignore the teachings of Jesus. Jesus would not be in favor of pre-emptive war or capitol punishment. Jesus would not look the other way as billions of dollars are cut from programs that help the poor so the Government can give tax breaks to those who have the most at the expense of those that have the least.

Watch for profiteering pundits, politicians and preachers with predatory personality disorders who manipulate you to get what they want. If you call yourself a conservative because you think your elected leaders are just like us and believe what we believe you have been fooled. Actions speak louder than words. The Republicans talk about being Christian and taking the moral high ground all the while walking the low road. I do not listen to the church leader or other congregant who tells me it is the Republicans who feel as I do. I have eyes and ears and a brain that tells me it is the actions not the words that you should judge.

This does not mean I am supporting Democrats who as a whole are spineless and would be just as corrupt as the Republicans if they had the power themselves. You have to look at each person. Do not be fooled by these so called Christians. Anyone that would use religion as a campaign tool will go to hell.

Shameful

John Doolittle

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is one of four congressmen whom the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal have both named as being investigated for their ties to Jack Abramoff.

Doolittle has seats on two powerful committees for granting favors: the Committee on House Administration as well as the Appropriations Committee. He also holds the sixth highest ranking elected position in the House Leadership, the Secretary of the House Republican Conference.

Doolittle, a Mormon and "ardent opponent of casino gambling," was "particularly close to Abramoff," according to former Abramoff associates. Doolittle himself has admitted this.

Analysis-The previous blogger had a post about Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and I have to agree. A commenter speculated Aaron stopped blogging because Doolittle or one of his minions squashed the blog and Aaron capitulated. I hope that's not the case, regardless I will not make excuses for Doolittle or any politician that appears to be corrupted by power. I am a religious independent and I think for myself. If you can change my mind I will be a big enough man to admit I was wrong but don't hold your breath on that.

Murder Is Wrong. Is it Not?

Senate approves embryo stem cell bill

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Tuesday after two days of emotional debate to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, sending the measure to President Bush for a promised veto that would be the first of his presidency.

But in a surprise victory for embryonic stem cell supporters, the House defeated a second bill that would have encouraged stem cell research from sources other than embryos. Opponents of that bill, sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., called it election-year cover that would allow Bush and other embryonic stem cell opponents to say they nonetheless support stem cell research.


Analysis-Last time I checked murder was wrong. If the law has changed since then please let me know. I do not like people playing politics with life and death issues and that goes for Republican and Democrat alike. The good news is President Bush is going to veto this horrendous bill. A babies age should not matter in whether it lives or dies.

I will explain later.

RC

I go to your site and it can't be found so I check and it's available so it must have been deleted.

Are you kidding me?

Let me know when you want it back or are you done?