Category Archives: NADA – New American Dark Ages

New American Dark Ages

NADA - New American Dark Ages

god bless amerika

I’m an atheist who believes nationalism and zealotry are the roots of many of the world’s problems. So, you can imagine how horrifying it is for me to see bible-thumpers wrapped in flags, proclaiming Jesus as our true President. The formerly benign “god bless amerika” now gives me the creeps.

During channel surfing, I often linger over a Christian channel. I see things I like, especially the theatrics of T.D. Jakes. (I went through a brief period where I enjoyed Christian music videos — much more so than country.)

It is especially interesting to see the “Christian nation” propaganda that is always present reach a peak near the Fourth of July. There was a sermon on the wicked effort to misrepresent the Founders as Deists. I saw a special on His Holiness, George Christ Bush. Several times, I saw part of a concert held in the White House that seemed to feature only Christian music. It is especially chilling to watch the leader of the non-denominational US watch 5 youths jump off a Hitler Jugend poster and into the White House to sing about Amerika and the freedom we all enjoy, “thanks to that one man.” I know they don’t mean Jefferson, but I can’t tell if the mean Jesus or Duhbya. That room held 50 to 100 people. How many of them thought, “I can’t believe this is happening in the White House.” Any? It made me think of good times at Bergesgarten.

The White House is no longer the People’s House. It is a Christian Compound. We are one election away from Evangelicals demoting the rest of us to second-class citizens. Ironically, they will do this as part of a Religious Freedom Act, to protect them from persecution from secular humanists.

I think I’ll go burn a bible for the Fourth. mjh

take 'under god' out of the pledgeFor evangelicals, a bid to ‘reclaim America’ By Jane Lampman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor | March 16, 2005

An energetic pastor who built Coral Ridge into a 10,000-member megachurch with far-reaching radio and TV audiences, the Rev. Dr. Kennedy regularly calls the US a Christian nation that should be governed by Christians. He has created a Center for Christian Statesmanship in Washington that seeks to evangelize members of Congress and their staffs, and to counsel conservative Christian officeholders. …

Christianity and patriotism are interwoven throughout the gathering, from Christian and American flags marched into the sanctuary, to red, white, and blue banners festooning the church complex, to a rousing “patriotic concert.” Several speakers emphasize the idea that America’s founders were largely Christian and that their intent was to establish a biblically based nation. (No mention is made of other influences on the Founding Fathers, such as Englightenment thinkers or issues of freedom of conscience.)

David Barton, a leading advocate for emphasizing Christianity in US history, deftly selects quotes from letters and historical documents to link major historical figures such as George Washington to a Christian vision, and to suggest that the courts and scholars in the last century have deliberately undermined the original intent of the Founding Fathers. …
Continue reading god bless amerika →

NADA - New American Dark Ages

Shouts of ‘Treason’ Repress Any Debate

Note: I’m moving this up because the Journal published it 7/3/06 and I think it says something about freedom and independence in America today. peace, mjh

In so very many matters these days, reactions are binary. You see black, I see white. You say yes, I say no. Worse, the notion of “let’s agree to disagree” is long gone. I’m right and you are not only wrong, you are an idiot without morals. Or vice versa.

So, it is no surprise that some people think the Bush Administration should do absolutely anything it deems necessary to fight the War Without End: spy, arrest, torture — anything. Similarly, it is no surprise that some people find these “cures” worse than the disease.

The latest installment in this is the program involving sifting through financial transactions looking for something. To some, this is a no-brainer, to others, this is intrusive. More importantly, it is just one more example of a President who believes he has no limits so long as he’s “protecting” us like a Big Brother.

To tell you the truth, I don’t really care about this latest assault. I rather doubt any of my financial transactions rise to the level of notice. If Bush wants to spy on rich people, he has my blessings. I doubt they’ll tolerate it for long.

What troubles me is the Radical Right’s tactic of shooting the messenger. To the Radical Right, the discussion is not about civil liberties or even appropriate tactics in the War Without End, it’s about treason — the New York Times has committed treason in revealing these details, as the Washington Post committed treason in revealing our CIA prisons, etc.

You and I cannot agree or disagree on something kept secret from us. Nor can we have any intelligent debate if we reduce it all to a matter of treason.

Secrecy is unavoidable in all human matters. However, secrecy is a great tool of totalitarianism, as is a populace that wants to be kept safe and in the dark and is willing to destroy anyone who wants things discussed in the open. mjh

Think Progress » VIDEO: Snow Lashes Out at Media, Suggests NYT Has Undermined Americans’ ‘Right to Live’

Press Secretary Tony Snow followed up with another attack at today’s press briefing:

[T]he New York Times and other news organizations ought to think long and hard about whether a public’s right to know in some cases might override somebody’s right to live, and whether in fact the publications of these could place in jeopardy the safety of fellow Americans.

Think Progress » Rep. King: NYT Reporters Should Be Charged Under Espionage Act

Rep. Peter King (R-NY): [N]o one elected the New York Times to do anything. And the New York Times is putting its own arrogant elitest left wing agenda before the interests of the American people, and I’m calling on the Attorney General to begin a criminal investigation and prosecution of the New York Times — its reporters, the editors who worked on this, and the publisher. We’re in a time of war, Chris, and what they’ve done has violated the Espionage Act, the COMINT act.

GOP Measure Slams NYT for Bank Story By Ben Pershing, Roll Call Staff

The House will vote on a resolution today or Thursday that is expected to criticize The New York Times for its recent disclosure of the government’s secret use of information from a massive international finance network to fight terrorism.

Think Progress » Hardball Guest Says NYT Editor Is Guilty of ‘Treason,’ Advocates ‘Prison For 20 Years’

[MSNBC’s Hardball Chris] MATTHEWS: Let me ask you Melanie, do you really mean treason? You mean put them in jail for life? I don’t know what treason carries as a sanction, but I assume the penalties are incredible severe, 20 years perhaps.

[radio talk show host Melanie] MORGAN: Yes.

MATTHEWS: You are saying to put Bill Keller and his associates in prison for 20 years?

MORGAN: Absolutely. I am absolutely advocating that. What has happened is shameful If he’s the one that is ultimately responsible for making this decision. …

When you break the law, you break the law. And the press, the media in this country have to learn one thing. They have to operate under the same laws and the same rules and regulations that all of the rest of the American people do.

Piling On the New York Times With a Scoop By Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer

Even by modern standards of media-bashing, the volume of vitriol being heaped upon the editors on Manhattan’s West 43rd Street is remarkable — especially considering that the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal also published accounts Friday of a secret administration program to monitor the financial transactions of terror suspects. So, in its later editions, did The Washington Post. …

[R]arely if ever has any White House mounted such a sustained public campaign against a single news organization. And a vast array of pundits on the right have responded by escalating their rhetoric.

Heather MacDonald, writing in the Weekly Standard, called the Times “a national security threat” that is “drunk” on its own power. …

Despite the stories that appeared in competing papers, the New York Times is still bearing the brunt of the criticism at the White House, on Capitol Hill and throughout the media world.

Dump Duhbya

Bush Sharpens His Attack on Democrats

Bush Sharpens His Attack on Democrats By Peter Baker, Washington Post Staff Writer

President Bush attacked congressional Democrats and the news media at a Republican fundraiser Wednesday night….

“There’s a group in the opposition party who are willing to retreat before the mission is done,” he said. “They’re willing to wave the white flag of surrender. And if they succeed, the United States will be worse off, and the world will be worse off.”

NADA - New American Dark Ages, The Atheist's Pulpit

This week on BILL MOYERS ON FAITH & REASON

Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason | PBS

Friday, June 30, 2006 at 9PM on PBS (Sat, 7/1, 5am in Albuquerque)

How is it that two reasoned minds can come to such different conclusions on faith? Provocative authors Mary Gordon and Colin McGinn bring their views on religion to this week’s Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason. Gordon, the well-known American writer, brings her viewpoint as a Christian. “I like a religious perspective,” she says. “It seems to create a language that explains more things about human beings than other languages do.” McGinn, a philosopher, who talks about his own journey from belief to disbelief, sees the world differently. “I think there’s too much tolerance of faith, and there’s not enough respect for reason,” he says. “For the last 30 to 50 years reason has been under attack.”

Dump Duhbya

An Alert Press

An Alert Press Washington Post Editorial

Oversight of the government’s national security policies is needed now more than ever.

THE DECISION on whether to publish information that government officials assert would damage national security is one of the gravest choices a newspaper can face. There may be times when editors get it wrong, either printing material that proves harmful or withholding information that should have come to light. But these are risks that the Constitution contemplated and that the Framers were persuaded were worth tolerating to ensure a free and vigorous press.

Justice Potter Stewart stated this trade-off well in a concurring opinion in the Pentagon Papers case 35 years ago. “In the absence of the governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry — in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government,” he wrote. “For this reason, it is perhaps here that a press that is alert, aware, and free most vitally serves the basic purpose of the First Amendment. For, without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people.”

The wisdom and perspective of Justice Stewart have been conspicuously lacking in the recent uproar over reports about secret government programs. …

All administrations jealously guard secrets, often for important reasons. But this administration, more than any since the one that prosecuted the Pentagon Papers case, has resisted disclosure and effective oversight, whether by Congress or the press. This across-the-board aversion to scrutiny makes it all the more difficult for responsible media organizations to separate the legitimate claims of national security from the overblown.

Those who complain about disclosures assert that the war on terrorism has changed the calculus of risk. They would prefer a media meekly obeying official demands for secrecy. But in the end, as Justice Stewart understood, the nation stands to benefit far more than it could lose from a press that is “alert, aware and free.”

Dump Duhbya

You Are Welcome to Disagree As Long As No One Knows What You Think

President Bush ordered the disappearance of the editors of the New York Times to Guantanamo and the appointment of Fox editors in their place. “We cannot allow the Fatherland to be threatened by the Press and other traitors,” he said. mjh

Surveillance Disclosure Denounced By Peter Baker, Washington Post Staff Writer

The president used a White House appearance with supporters of troops in Iraq to lash out at newspapers that revealed the program, which has examined hundreds of thousands of private banking records from around the world. His remarks led off a broader White House assault later amplified by Vice President Cheney and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow.

“What we did was fully authorized under the law,” Bush said in an angry tone as he leaned forward in his chair and wagged his finger. “And the disclosure of this program is disgraceful. We’re at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America, and for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it, does great harm to the United States of America.” …

“Some of the press, in particular the New York Times, have made the job of defending against further terrorist attacks more difficult by insisting on publishing detailed information about vital national security programs,” Cheney said at a Republican fundraiser in Nebraska.

Referring to the NSA program, he added: “What is doubly disturbing for me is that not only have they gone forward with these stories, but they’ve been rewarded for it, for example, in the case of the terrorist surveillance program, by being awarded the Pulitzer Prize for outstanding journalism. I think that is a disgrace.” …

Neither Bush nor Cheney raised the prospect of investigating journalists, as proposed by Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), who called on the Justice Department to prosecute the New York Times for “treasonous” action. …

“It’s not designed to have a chilling effect,” White House press secretary Tony Snow said. “If the New York Times wants a spirited debate about it, it’s got it. But certainly nobody is going to deny First Amendment rights. But the New York Times and other news organizations ought to think long and hard about whether a public’s right to know, in some cases, might overwrite somebody’s right to live.”

Critics said Bush was trying to divert attention from his own actions. Bush, Cheney and other Republicans “have adopted a shoot-the-messenger strategy by attacking the newspaper that revealed the existence of the secret bank surveillance program rather than answering the disturbing questions that those reports raise about possible violations of the U.S. Constitution and U.S. privacy laws,” said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).
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Press Conferences of Ari Fleischer

“Americans,” Fleischer warned, “need to watch what they do and watch what they say” (in 2001)

NADA - New American Dark Ages

Is That a Bottle of Viagra in Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

1 Comment

Can there be a better poster child for the Radical Right than Lush Limbaugh? I’m not talking about his impotence — there’s no shame in that, unless you’ve built your entire culture around your “strength.” I’m not talking about his repeated drug abuse — we’re all one pill away from that, which is precisely where the Drug Industry wants us. I’m talking about deception, both self- and public. It’s not just hypocrisy, which is what we call flexibility we can’t stand. It’s LYING, endless lying. It’s like Wm Bennett berating us all for our declining morals but having no trouble excusing his own gambling addiction. It’s like Tom DeLay moralizing and genuflecting while filling his own pockets and subverting democracy. This isn’t just “A Culture of Corruption,” this is a gang of out of control thugs and thieves. It’s the Puritans At Tammany Hall. It’s disgusting.

At the same time, the only thing that makes incipient American Fascism tolerable is seeing Conservatives fall victim to it. Gotta check every prescription — you could be an Enemy Combatant in the War On Whatever. Anything you do can and will be used against you. mjh

PS: I don’t really want to know, and yet, I can’t help but think about the missing pills and Lush’s time in the Dominican Republic. Anybody know where Ann Coulter was this weekend?

MiamiHerald.com | 06/27/2006 | Rush Limbaugh halted over Viagra at airport BY CASEY WOODS, The Miami Herald

A Customs inspector going through the baggage of conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh on Monday afternoon found 29 small blue tablets — a supply of the impotence drug Viagra.

Trouble is, the name on the bottle wasn’t Limbaugh’s.

”Limbaugh said it was for his own personal use and that the name on it was his doctor’s,” said Sgt. Pete Palenzuela, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Possession of drugs prescribed to someone else is a second-degree misdemeanor.

Limbaugh, 55, arrived on a private plane at Palm Beach International Airport from the Dominican Republic at 2 p.m. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents discovered the drug while making a routine inspection of his bags. The agents turned the investigation over to deputies from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.