Become a Friend of the Indy

Become a Friend of the Indy

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Let no man put asunder...

Oops, nevermind.

Rove: Champion of "traditional" divorce

Move Your Money

Obviously there isn't a bus around that the Big Bank whores in Washington won't throw the American tax payer under. If you do any business with JP Morgan/Chase, Citibank, Bank of America or Wells Fargo I challenge you to move to another bank that isn't a bankrupt ward of the state. We have a rewards card with one of these and will discontinue it's use. Please share this with your friends and family. We the People will do what Washington wouldn't.

Move Your Money: A New Year's Resolution

Greed is God

A philosophical schism has occured in our nation. Many Christians, also happen to be Republicans. In recent years, Republican dogma has been dominated by men like Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, and Sean Hannity. The basis of their thoughts, or the Limbaugh doctrine (as I will call it) can be found largely in the works of writer Ayn Rand. Rand suggests there are certain individuals in our society, who because of their independant spirit, hard working attitude, and vision, are more valuable than others. Many in our society, for numerous reasons, find Rand's notion of individuality to be appealing. This group, mostly Republican, imagine they are the men Rand speaks of, when in fact this is usually (as in almost always) not the case, as these men are neither harder working nor do they have greater vision than any other average individual. The type of man Rand referred to in her books is rare indeed, while the Limbaugh Doctrine would have us believe these types of men are plentiful. In fact, according to the Limbaugh Doctrine one need only be a business owner or other non-government employee to be one of these uber-men. Such teaching satifies a basic flaw in human nature, which is, the desire to believe one's self to be superior to most other men.

As the Limbaugh Doctrine gained popularity, the need to compromise such self centered thinking with the selfless philosophy found in the bible became necessary for many Christians. Thus the rise of the Evangelical movement, and the Prosperity Doctrine.

Prosperity Doctrine is an attempt to compromise the selflessness of biblical doctrine with the selfish "man love" philosophy propounded by the Limbaugh Doctrine. Greedy and giving at the same time. This battle of opposing philosophical ideas has created a great schism in our society as an entire political movement has arisen around this hybrid, Greed is God, movement. We now have a huge portion of our society dominated by men who believe concurrently that they are superior to others because of their hard working and visionary personalities, and secondly they are superior because of their moral selflessnes.

Any attempt to point out that adherants to the Limbaugh Doctrine are no harder working or morally superior than the average man is greeted with scoffing and disdainful suggestions of weakness. The question is, I suppose, if God exists, can one combine the idea of selfishness with the selfless doctrine taught in the New Testement. The combo Limbaugh/Prosperity doctrine seems to suggest that for many, just such a combination is not only possible, but rapidly gaining in popularity.

Amarillo A-hole of the Week, Eddie McMurray

Eddie McMurray, popping up with weedlike predictability, has done it again. In today's Globe News Letter Eddie takes aim at overpaid government employees. According to Eddie, a school adminstrator managing dozens of employees, accountable to hundreds of parents, knowledgeable of reams of bereauracratic regulations, and responsible for millions in tax funds, shouldn't earn as much as the average mid-level insurance salesman. As for retirement money, in Eddie's world, government employees that have spent decades paying into retirement funds, shouldn't have even a slight raise, despite the ever rising costs of food, medical care, and other necessities. In Eddie's world, working for anything other than a "for profit" business, renders your existance of lesser quality and importance.

You see Eddie is worth much more than any policeman, teacher, judge, or soldier. He works at and perhaps even owns the local francise of Bolner's Fiesta Products. We all know the gigantic contributions to society that Bolner's makes every day. The contributions of a teacher that influences the lives of hundreds of kids over the years, or a policeman that provides public safety, or a soldier that protects our national interests all pale in comparisons to the important work done by men like Eddie McMurray at Bolner's Fiesta Products.

Eddie has other opinions that sprout on a near monthly basis. For example read his tacky treatise on "Limousine Liberals" from February of 2005. While Dubyah was diligently blowing trillions of dollars finding WMDs in Iraq, Eddie was concerned about Clinton riding in a limousine five years earlier.

Or how about this racist rant in response to a Leonard Pitt's column that dared to suggest Rush Limbaugh has partisan tendencies.

Or this Teabagger tirade that spews venom on any government program that dares to help the elderly or needy, but makes no mention of the trillions spent on the war in Iraq, or the other trillions in tax cuts given to the wealthiest 1% of Americans during Dubyah's reign of idiocy.

I could go on. Like that bit of crabgrass that cannot be excised from your flowerbed, McMurray appears again and again with predictably hateful opinions aimed at any and all that dare to exist outside of his "for profit" morally superior universe. So, he has earned, with all congruent honors, this weeks title of Amarillo A-hole of the week.

Falling Sky Alert: Full Squawk Needed

Health Care Reform is on its way... Chicken Little Commandos... Curious Texan... Celtic Texan, and recent Chicken Little Lieutenant... Liberal Masterbator... report for full squawk...the sky is falling...the sky is falling...the sky is falling.

Seriously though...the victory isn't all I hoped, but we must ...and I mean must ...remain united if we hope to move forward. I will not stop supporting the people I believe in, just because I didn't get exactly what I felt was needed. To do so would be to grant tacit support to the opposition. If we're going to be the big umbrella party, we have to learn to accept compromise. Otherwise, we're just like the lockstep monsters on the Right.

Recant Amarillo

Is it time to bring back the Recant Amarillo map. Seems like devilish goings on these days. My self righteous zeal is percolating... lets condemn some sinners.

URGENT! Consumer Reports: Senate health bill has sneaky medical underwriting

This is also why I sent the following letter to Kay Bailey Hutchison's office:

December 18, 2009

James Christoferson Deputy Chief of Staff - Hutchison 284 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510

Dear Mr. Christoferson:

Earlier this week, I sent an e-mail to Ms Hutchison through your Web site. The next day, I got a “Dear Friend” e-mail — obviously from you mailbot.

My message to Ms Hutchison was that she represented the right wing of the Republican Party and was a captive of those lobbyists who bribed her. Further, I told her I wished, in the theological sense, she be damned to Hell for her political record.

As an Episcopalian, Ms Hutchison should know the magnitude of that wish. As I am an Episcopalian, I know the significance of that wish and did not make the statement lightly. The Episcopalians I know in Amarillo are far kinder and far more compassionate than Ms Hutchison. They understand that the Jesus we follow as part of a Triune God would disapprove of the coddling of the moneyed and corporate classes so obviously being done by your boss. Jesus would want people in power to take care of the least of us. None of the GOP cronies are doing that. Clearly, it is ludicrous to refer to me as “Dear Friend.”

I recognize Ms. Hutchison has millions of constituents and some may bother to contact Ms Hutchison’s office. But a one-size fits all response sent back under the illusion that we all agree with her politics fails to realize that Texas is becoming a purple state. Even worse, the “Dear Friend” letter is loaded with more bullshit than you’d ever find in the Texas Panhandle and you know how much cattle we have here. The response is a cud-like regurgitation of the talking points from the GOP masters that Ms Hutchison, Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Thornberry repeat interminably. They are following the “Big Lie” theory of propaganda: Keep repeating something long enough and it becomes perceived as truth. Do you know who last successfully used this technique to take over a country?

Ms. Hutchison’s claim that her proposals are fiscally responsible and the right approach to a market-based health care system shows an ignorance of basic health care economics. I would think someone who could get through the University of Texas Law School might have the intelligence to understand the basics of supply and demand theory — unless, of course, she got a pass and it’s her staff feeding her information. It’s clear that neither Ms Hutchison nor any of the Republicans spouting this kind of drivel know anything about supply and demand in health care.

The call for national medical malpractice reform is also a cipher. Texas implemented medical malpractice reform and it’s not yet clear that it has help make things better. The fact is that a national medical so-called reform would protect incompetent doctors and place the public at risk. As long as the National Practitioner Database is exempt from the public disclosures and other peer review and medical credentialing are protected from disclosure, so-called malpractice reform is useless.

To close her letter with the bashing of “bureaucrats” and “government” is so beyond being crassly disingenuous that it is a flat-out lie. Yes, I am calling Ms. Hutchison, your boss, a liar — to your face and to her face. Why? Who is that government? She is. She has been on the public payroll a long time and now is employed by me, but she really doesn’t work for me because I’ve not made a big enough campaign contribution to get her attention. The Republicans ran the government for eight years while the Democrats have held their majority for less than a year. The first stimulus package was at the behest of Bush and the GOP. Don’t tell me it’s anyone else’s fault but her and her cronies.

If the GOP part of the Texas delegation continues to blindly goose-step behind George W. Bush, who I hope at least you have noticed, is no longer president, they will find themselves loosing out more and more. By the way, is Ms Hutchison aware of that fact? The public isn’t as stupid as Ms Hutchison thinks they are and will realize Ms Hutchison can only be bought for so long.

You and your health staff might do well to look at history. P:L. 89-749 did more to control costs and rationalize health care than any other legislation ever passed in this country. I may not agree with some of the things in the health reform measure before the Senate now. In fact, I think it is so watered down that I agree with Dr. Howard Dean that it should be killed and started over. I also agree with Sen. Franken, who said we have a right to our opinions, but not our own facts.

I am writing this letter as a personal one, as a constituent. And you’ll notice that throughout I’ve not referred to Ms. Hutchison as a senator because she isn’t my senator. I have no senators from Texas representing my interests in Babylon-on-the-Potomac just as I have no representative from Texas-13 representing me in the house. In fact, most of the people elected to the Senate aren’t worthy of being called senators. They, like Ms Hutchison, are career politicians only interested in aggrandizing themselves and their cronies.

I hope this takes care of the illusion that Ms Hutchison has broad support in the Panhandle.

Very truly yours,

Swinger’s club loses peace bond fight - exclusive

Swinger’s club loses peace bond fight - exclusive

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Indy Exclusive: Interview with Texas Dem party chairman

Indy Exclusive: Interview with Texas Dem party chairman

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