mjh's blog

Guns Are Further Proof…

If there is anything more controversial — and shocking — than saying, “There is no god,” it would be declaring “the world would be a *MUCH* better place without any guns.” Further, lest you think I’m just an idealist (which gun owners believe is dangerous enough), I’d vote/pray/wish/beg/pay for the destruction of any guns possible. But relax, gun owners, you’re safe and secure, even though you live in fear that you might not be so. There will never be a day in America when you can’t own a kill-stick. Maybe the real solution is a spell that guarantees the only people ever hurt by guns own them. Now, that’s too idealistic. peace, mjh

E. J. Dionne Jr. – The D.C. Handgun Ruling

In his intemperate dissent in the court’s recent Guantanamo decision, Scalia said the defense of constitutional rights embodied in that ruling meant it “will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.” That consideration apparently does not apply to a law whose precise purpose was to reduce the number of murders in the District of Columbia. [mjh: Impeach Scalia!] …

[I] hope this decision opens people’s eyes to the fact that judicial activism is now a habit of the right, not the left, and that “originalism” is too often a sophisticated cover for ideological decision-making by conservative judges.

There Is No God

I am not at all surprised that I am out-of-step with 92 percent of Americans. I am certain there is no god. I’m only driven to declaring that when there is so much noise from the other side.

World news Feed Article | World news |

By many measures, Americans are strongly religious: 92 percent believe in God, 74 percent believe in life after death and 63 percent say their respective scriptures are the word of God.

But deeper investigation found that more than one in four Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants and Orthodox Christians expressed some doubts about God’s existence, as did six in ten Jews.

Another finding almost defies explanation: 21 percent of self-identified atheists said they believe in God or a universal spirit, with 8 percent “absolutely certain” of it.

World news Feed Article | World news |

It’s funnier that I am out of step with one in five atheists, in that I know what atheism is and they don’t. One can be a believer with doubts (that’s healthy), but a doubter who believes is an agnostic, at best. Of the 8 percent of Americans who don’t believe in God, what percentage are “self-identified atheists”? (Not believing in god isn’t the same as calling yourself an atheist, obviously.) Of that less than 8%, 21% — less than 2% of the whole — aren’t actually part of that 8%, unless this is recursive, in which case there are no non-believers.

Perhaps these ‘atheists’ who believe in god (even with certainty) are actually anti-theists or antaga-gnostics: Those who hate god. I was one of those for a long time. It’s a real waste of energy. peace, mjh

Religion in American Culture — Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Welcome to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey

Based on interviews with more than 35,000 American adults, this extensive survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details the religious makeup, religious beliefs and practices as well as social and political attitudes of the American public. This online section includes dynamic tools that complement the full report. For a video overview and related material, go to the resource page.

Religion in American Culture — Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Casting Bibles in Glass Houses Upon the Waters

Dobson accuses Obama of `distorting’ Bible – washingtonpost.com

Dobson took aim at examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy _ chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, “a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application.”

“Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles,” Obama said.

Dobson and Minnery accused Obama of wrongly equating Old Testament texts and dietary codes that no longer apply to Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament.

“I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,” Dobson said.

“… He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter.”

Joshua DuBois, director of religious affairs for Obama’s campaign, said in a statement that a full reading of Obama’s speech shows he is committed to reaching out to people of faith and standing up for families. “Obama is proud to have the support of millions of Americans of faith and looks forward to working across religious lines to bring our country together,” DuBois said.

Dobson reserved some of his harshest criticism for Obama’s argument that the religiously motivated must frame debates over issues like abortion not just in their own religion’s terms but in arguments accessible to all people.

He said Obama, who supports abortion rights, is trying to govern by the “lowest common denominator of morality,” labeling it “a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution.”

Dobson accuses Obama of `distorting’ Bible – washingtonpost.com

James Dobson should know a fruitcake when he sees one (every damn day in the mirror). While I would be uneasy with Obama finding biblical justifications for anything other than doing away with the War Department, Dobson’s insistence that only Dobson knows the truth should be all anyone needs to turn their back on him and run away. Judge not, Jimmy. peace, mjh

Obama dismisses Dobson criticism about Bible
By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer

Asked about Dobson’s assessment, Obama said “somebody would be pretty hard-pressed to make that argument” that he was distorting the Bible.

Obama supporters also responded to Dobson.

The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a Methodist pastor from Texas and longtime supporter of President Bush who has endorsed Obama, said Tuesday he belongs to a group of religious leaders who, working independently of Obama’s campaign, launched a Web site to counter Dobson at http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com. The site highlights statements from Obama and Dobson and asks visitors to compare them.

Caldwell said he has great respect for Dobson’s advocacy for families, but said the criticism of Obama was “a bit over the top” and “crossed the line.”

See also Evangelical Leader Blasts 2006 Obama Speech, by Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR

This Week’s WTF?!

Today’s paper was full of interesting letters, though this one takes the fruitcake.

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Letters to the Editor

Limit Voting to Vets, Property Owners
A RECENT front-page article reported on skyrocketing property taxes. Of course, the main reason for this is that fewer and fewer of us are supporting more and more of us. My contention is this. I believe that the only people who should be able to vote are active or retired military personnel and those who own property. That would encourage people, perhaps, to own real property, and it would put the exploding population of do nothings right where they should be, and that is OUT, with a capital “O.”
JT, Albuquerque

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Letters to the Editor

I give JT the benefit of the doubt that he doesn’t realize he’s just endorsed a view long held by racists, slave-holders and fascists. I don’t assume – based on one letter – that he is any of those things. However, it is quite clear he is an idiot. peace, mjh

What More Will It Take?

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Letters to the Editor

A Can-Do (Everything Wrong) Party
CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT Cal Thomas is right — the Republicans and conservatives are certainly the “can-do” party of the United States. They can continue to ignore the millions of Americans who have no health coverage and bleat “socialized medicine” every time a remedy is suggested. They can trash and exploit the environment. They can turn a blind eye when the U.S. president ignores, undermines or circumvents international treaties and laws like the Geneva Convention. They can gleefully slash taxes for the wealthy and for corporate America. And they can turn a billion-dollar budget surplus into a trillion-dollar deficit in order to finance a war that was predicated on half-truths and fear mongering. If the Republican Party has not demonstrated their absolute unfitness to rule this country, what more will it take? Do we dare wait for the smoking gun to take the form of a mushroom cloud?
BRAD JAFFE
Albuquerque

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Letters to the Editor

Amen, Brad. peace, mjh

Let’s Finish Destroying What We’ve Started Before Destroying Something New

updated 6/25/08

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Letters to the Editor

Drill the Leases You Have, Not Our Last Wilderness
THE DEBATE over America’s energy needs is often riddled with misinformation and fear mongering. The level of propaganda by the pro-drilling forces has reached a pinnacle of disgust. As Sergeant Friday once said, “Just the facts, ma’am.” Between 1999 and 2007, the number of drilling permits issued for public lands, both onshore and offshore in the United States, increased 361 percent. This is a staggering statistic that should not be overlooked when debating energy needs in this country. The Bureau of Land Management has issued over 28,776 permits to drill on public land. Yet today, only 18,954 wells have been actually drilled. In other words, 10,000 well permits have been stockpiled by the already cash-bloated oil and gas industry. In addition, 47.5 million acres of onshore public lands are leased by oil and gas companies. Only 13 million of those acres are actually in production. America cannot afford to stoop so low as to allow the oil and gas industry to drill the last, best, wild places left in the country like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or Otero Mesa. … Conservation, fuel efficiency, renewable energy, tax incentives for businesses and strong-willed leadership by our elected officials in Congress is the right answer. Misleading propaganda by an industry and its allies in Congress will only take us further down the path of high energy prices and destruction of our last wild places.
NATHAN NEWCOMER
New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, Albuquerque

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Letters to the Editor

Well said, Nathan.

This weekend, I heard a pundit say, “We will not conserve our way out of this problem. We will not ‘green’ our way out of this problem.” (Clever dick.) News flash: We will not *solve* this problem if the solution involves oil, a finite resource which we are going to run out of some day, whether tomorrow or in a hundred years (in your dreams). When you are rushing towards a cliff, don’t mock people who suggest slowing down. When you call yourself a conservative, try conserving something. Oil in the ground is money in the bank.

peace, mjh

Ich Traumte

The dream had been going on for a while before I became aware of it. In the dream, a group of us were preparing to depart a foreign city. I was gathering my belongings, which seemed to be scattered around several cluttered rooms. Two women I didn’t recognize asked if I had and extra ball cap. I said not to worry, I had five but wasn’t sure where they were at the moment. Suddenly, I realized my group had already left for the airport. I worked my way through the labyrinthine halls of the hotel and out onto an unfamiliar, foreign street. All the while, I was thinking how I was going to have to find my own way to the airport and possibly change my flight info and that these were tasks Merri is much better at. Optimistically, I considered one person might move faster than a group, which surely had allowed more than enough time to get to the airport.

Traffic seemed to stop at an intersection. A man was in the equivalent of a wheelchair combined with a motorcycle. He veered abruptly across the intersection at 90 degrees, though this surprised no one but me. Traffic stopped and started in incomprehensible ways, following signals lost to me. I realized I didn’t have any clues as to which direction to move in. Where was north? Which direction did I want? I overheard someone say, “‘kuchen,’ that sounds interesting.” I was in a German-speaking city. I walked in an arbitrary direction. The streets got narrower and more Old Worldly. I was descending a narrow, steep flight of steps — nearly a ladder — surrounded by people. The guy in front of me stopped at the bottom of the stairs and said, “I understand you’re trying to get to the airport.” Now, with a group of American students (how did I know?), I said, “I know how to ask, ‘Wo findet man den Bahnhof?’ but I don’t know how to say ‘airport.’ (In the dream, I congratulated myself silently on that construction. Bahnhof is train station. My waking mind recalls ‘Flughof’ as airport. I spent a lot of time in German train stations. I was never in a German airport.) Turning to a woman, I added jokingly, “It’s not aeropuerto.” She considered that for a moment before agreeing. I awoke to a thunderclap as the dog appeared beside my bed.

peace,
mjh

Stand Still

I recommend you re-read all of Andrew Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress, but I will jump to the punchline here. peace, mjh

Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Through the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

PS: After the link, You, Andrew Marvell, by Archibald MacLeish follows, as it should.

Continue reading Stand Still…

Think Progress » Will: Americans are economically better off today than they were eight years ago.

peace, mjh

Think Progress » Will: Americans are economically better off today than they were eight years ago.

In a USA Today/Gallup poll released earlier this month, a record number of Americans — 55 percent — said that their families are worse off financially than they were a year ago. But conservative columnist George Will thinks these people are just misinformed. On ABC’s This Week yesterday, Will brazenly claimed that average Americans “are better off today than they were in 2000-2001.”

Think Progress » Will: Americans are economically better off today than they were eight years ago.

Impeach Scalia!

Scalia is the most intemperate, least judicial hot-head. peace, mjh

Think Progress » Scalia: Court’s Decision Restoring Habeas ‘Will Almost Certainly Cause More Americans To Be Killed’

In a landmark decision today, the Supreme Court ruled that habeas corpus protections apply to detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. “We hold these petitioners do have the habeas corpus privilege,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in the majority opinion. The decision was a “a stunning blow to the Bush Administration in its war-on-terrorism policies,” SCOTUS Blog noted.

Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, however, is outraged. In his dissenting opinion, he devoted an entire section to “a description of the disastrous consequences of what the Court has done today,” a procedure “contrary to my usual practice,” he admitted. Scalia adopted extreme rhetoric about the impacts of the decision, calling it a “self-invited…incursion into military affairs” that would “almost certainly” kill Americans. Some lowlights:

– “America is at war with radical Islamists. … Our Armed Forces are now in the field against the enemy, in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

– “The game of bait-and-switch that today’s opinion plays upon the Nation’s Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.”

– “Today the Court warps our Constitution.”

– “The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today.”

It is unlikely that the Supreme Court’s decision will have the impacts that Scalia claims. As Kennedy explained, “Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law.” Discussing the restoration of habeas at Guantanamo last year, Colin Powell noted:

The concern was, well, then they’ll have access to lawyers, then they’ll have access to writs of habeas corpus. So what? Let them. Isn’t that what our system’s all about? And by the way, America, unfortunately, has too many people in jail, all of whom had lawyers and access to writs of habeas corpus. And so we can handle bad people in our system.

But as a cheerleader for the administration’s terrorism policies, Scalia’s rhetoric isn’t surprising. It is “absurd” to say that you “can’t stick something under the fingernails,” or “smack [a detainee] in the face,” he said in February. “No. To the contrary,” Scalia said when asked whether torture violates the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause.

Think Progress » Scalia: Court’s Decision Restoring Habeas ‘Will Almost Certainly Cause More Americans To Be Killed’

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 06/15/2008 | America’s prison for terrorists often held the wrong men

An eight-month McClatchy investigation in 11 countries on three continents
has found that Akhtiar was one of dozens of men — and, according to several officials, perhaps hundreds — whom the U.S. has wrongfully imprisoned in Afghanistan, Cuba and elsewhere on the basis of flimsy or fabricated evidence, old personal scores or bounty payments.

McClatchy interviewed 66 released detainees, more than a dozen local officials — primarily in Afghanistan — and U.S. officials with intimate knowledge of the detention program. The investigation also reviewed thousands of pages of U.S. military tribunal documents and other records.

This unprecedented compilation shows that most of the 66 were low-level Taliban grunts, innocent Afghan villagers or ordinary criminals. At least seven had been working for the U.S.-backed Afghan government and had no ties to militants, according to Afghan local officials. In effect, many of the detainees posed no danger to the United States or its allies.

The investigation also found that despite the uncertainty about whom they were holding, U.S. soldiers beat and abused many prisoners.

Prisoner mistreatment became a regular feature in cellblocks and interrogation rooms at Bagram and Kandahar air bases, the two main way stations in Afghanistan en route to Guantanamo.

While he was held at Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base, Akhtiar said, “When I had a dispute with the interrogator, when I asked, ‘What is my crime?’ the soldiers who took me back to my cell would throw me down the stairs.”

The McClatchy reporting also documented how U.S. detention policies fueled support for extremist Islamist groups. For some detainees who went home far more militant than when they arrived, Guantanamo became a school for jihad, or Islamic holy war.

It’s as if BushCo’s goal was to add fuel to the global fire and guarantee a generation of international warfare. Madness? Yes. peace, mjh

When Did Lying Lose Its Magic?

Watch for a pattern in the following. peace, mjh

The Back Forty » McCain Adviser Stays Classy – Lies with a Smile
By Tracy Russo

Nice job, Carly.

On Fox News today, Carly Fiorina, who is a top economic adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), blatantly distorted Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) tax proposals. When Fox’s Martha MacCallum noted that Obama says he wants to “put money back in people’s pockets and give them tax cuts,” Fiorina claimed that Obama has “not proposed one single tax cut”

Fiorina’s assertion is flagrantly wrong and disingenuous. In fact, Obama prominently touts his plan to “cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families” on his website:

Obama even touted his tax cut plan in a widely covered speech yesterday, saying that it would “provide $1,000 of relief to 95% of workers and their families.”

In the same segment, Fiorina claimed that her boss, John McCain, “has been very explicit about the taxes he will cut.” But she neglected to mention that McCain is far from explicit in explaining how he’ll pay for massive deficits created by his tax proposals. In fact, he refuses to name a single program he’ll cut.

The Back Forty » McCain Adviser Stays Classy – Lies with a Smile

Think Progress » McCain denies his record of supporting Social Security privatization. 

During his town hall event in New Hampshire yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) got into a verbal back and forth with a voter over his support for Social Security privatization. McCain told the man, “I’m not for, quote, privatizing Social Security. I never have been. I never will be.” Watch it:

But McCain’s record begs to differ:

- “Without privatization, I don’t see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits.” [C-Span Road to the White House, 11/18/2004]

- “As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it — along the lines that President Bush proposed.” [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/2008]

Not only was McCain “a big booster” of Bush’s 2005 plan to privatize Social Security, but one of his top economic advisers, Carly Fiorina, recently told conservative radio host Bill Bennett that McCain “supports private accounts as one of the ways to reform the system” and that “he will continue to be supportive of those.”

Think Progress » McCain denies his record of supporting Social Security privatization.

Think Progress » Sen. Martinez Calls Out Dick Cheney’s Lie On Oil Drilling Off Coast Of Cuba 

In a speech before the Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney – the former CEO of the oil services company Halliburton — called for a substantial increase in domestic drilling for oil and other natural resources.

In his speech, Cheney claimed that China is pumping for oil off the coast of Florida, noting that “even the Communists” understand the need for more drilling:

It’s my own view that we should be drilling in ANWR in an environmentally responsible way, which could increase our daily domestic oil production by as much as a million barrels a day. As for other locations, George Will pointed out in his column the other day that oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida. But we’re not doing it, the Chinese are, in cooperation with the Cuban government. Even the communists have figured out that a good answer to high prices is more supply.

Mother Jones and the Gavel note that Reps. John Boehner (R-OH) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) have uttered the same talking points. It’s false. And they’re being called out on it by a conservative senator who knows more about the issue than they do.

Armed with maps and reports, Sen. Mel Martinez – a Florida Republican who served in Bush’s cabinet – took to the Senate floor to dispute Cheney’s claim

Think Progress » Sen. Martinez Calls Out Dick Cheney’s Lie On Oil Drilling Off Coast Of Cuba

OMG! ROFLOL!

Think Progress » DeLay On Obama: ‘Unless He Proves Me Wrong, He Is A Marxist’

On right-winger Mike Gallagher’s radio show today, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), who is currently facing charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, launched a fringe attack on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) by claiming that he is a Marxist. “I have said publicly, and I will again, that unless he proves me wrong, he is a Marxist,” DeLay declared.

Gallagher couldn’t agree more, saying “that’s what he is”:

GALLAGHER: Yeah, that’s, we hear that everyday. Congressman, every day someone will say to me, and I’ve said it, it’s as if this were a guy who’s desperately trying to cover up what seems to be the kind of old school Marxist, radical liberal failed ideology.

DELAY: Absolutely.

GALLAGHER: That’s what he is.

DELAY: No doubt about it.

This Week’s WTF!?

Gas will *never* be as cheap as it has been. Supplies will *never* keep up with demand — unless the economy collapses. We will *never* drill our way out of this dead-end. Wake up. Stop whining. Change. peace, mjh

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Letters To the Editor

Thank Environmental Wackos for $5 Gas
CONGRATULATIONS to the politicians in Santa Fe on their recent decision to haul waste products from drilling locations from sites in New Mexico.
This is just another sample of the irrational thinking that has brought us to seeing $4 per gallon gas when we fill up our cars with this product. This started when Bill Clinton vetoed drilling in that beautiful ANWR that a lot of folks will visit.
We also have coming down the tracks the Lieberman/Warner Climate Security Act that has just come out of Barbara Boxer’s Environmental and Public Works Committee. This will add an estimated $1.50 to $5 per gallon of gas to the current price, according to industry experts. The energy industry is not faultless with their record-setting profits.
Let us send Santa Fe some $5 per gallon gasoline from the San Juan Basin and perhaps the legislators can jump on King Bill’s train and go up to the Galisteo Basin and enjoy the beautiful environment. They might also stop and buy some corn on the cob at $5 per ear — thanks to ethanol — and have a snack.
Everyone else can have a nice day pedaling their bikes around town and take time to thank the idiotic environmental whackos!
ROGER BILLINGS
Farmington

The Catbird Seat (or the Crosshairs)

NM Could Decide the 2008 Race (no really!) – Duke City Fix

Electoral-vote.com classifies our state as “barely Democrat”. In New Mexico in 2000, Gore defeated Bush by 366 votes. In 2004 Bush beat Kerry by 5988 votes. It is conceivable that in 2008, New Mexico might decide who the next President is by a state margin of less than half a percentage point.

Each Party Is Set to Hunt The Other’s Usual Ground

An analysis of past elections shows remarkable stability. States the Democrats have won in four of the past five elections add up to 255 electoral votes; states Republicans have won in five of the past seven elections (including two Ronald Reagan electoral landslides) account for 269 electoral votes. New Hampshire, New Mexico and West Virginia, representing 14 electoral votes, fall into neither category.

In 2004, 13 states were decided by seven or fewer percentage points: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

2008 Electoral Map Based On Intrade Prediction Market

Democrat: 289
Republican: 227 [-13]
Dead Heat: 22 [+13]
Total: 538 (270 to win)

Election 2008: Presidential, Senate and House Races Updated Daily

Obama 287 McCain 227 Ties 24

The Back Forty » Sweet Seventeen By Sean Reagan

While not backing off its 50-state strategy, the Obama campaign is prepping for a 17 state focus – key battlegrounds where they’ll be directing the bulk of their resources.

The seventeen states are: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Obviously a lot of these are swing states – Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania. A couple – Georgia and North Carolina – are eye-openers, but as I noted earlier, forcing the Republicans to spend time and money in places they don’t want or didn’t expect to, is a net gain for Democrats.

[Sean Reagan] might’ve added a couple states – Montana and Maine most notably – but on whole it’s a sound list.

The other point to be made is that many of the states have a significant rural constituency. In terms of population, New Hampshire and North Carolina are ranked 11th and 12th respectively. Wisconsin and Missouri are 20 and 21.

Altogether, ten of the seventeen are ranked above the U.S. average of 21% rural population.

If Obama plans to win in these states, then he’s going to have to win the urban areas (at which he excels) but also pick up votes in the hinterlands. He’s already indicated that he knows this. Going forward, the fight for rural votes may be one of the most exciting stories of this election.

http://www.ruralvotes.com/thebackforty/?p=108