All Posts Tagged With: "Republican"

The Senate’s longest serving Republican and recently convicted felon has lost his bid for re-election, the AP reports. Another sign that true change is coming in this country.

Stevens’ ouster on his 85th birthday marks an abrupt realignment in Alaska politics and will alter the power structure in the Senate, where he has served since the days of the Johnson administration while holding seats on some of the most influential committees in Congress.

The crotchety octogenarian likes to encourage comparisons with the Incredible Hulk, and he occupies an outsized place in Alaska history. His involvement in politics dates to the days before Alaska statehood, and he is esteemed for his ability to secure billions of dollars in federal aid for transportation and military projects. The Anchorage airport bears his name; in Alaska, it’s simply “Uncle Ted.”

The infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” project probably best symbolizes (and memorializes) Stevens’ legacy of obscene congressional pork. Good riddance to this legendary Pork King.

Congratulations, Alaska, you’ve at least partially redeemed yourself. Now, if only my own state would wake up and give our infamous senator the boot, perhaps Oklahoma could redeem itself.

Last week, I wrote about one of my most faithful readers, Jim Martin of Fried Green Onions, who frequently attacked some of my posts both in comments on this blog and in commentary on his own blog. While I welcome passionate debate about any given issue, I took issue with the manner in which he disagreed, especially the prevalence of vitriolic ad hominem attacks and extremely personal aspersions.

Yesterday, Mr. Martin seemed to offer an olive branch of sorts with this post:

Yes I am a daily reader of the Brad Neese…living large in Oklahoma site

I find Brad to be the most articulate spokesperson in Oklahoma blogging for his current view of things politic.
I think he will go far in liberal progressive circles.
The vast divide that separates us can be measured in years (perhaps 40 years between us). The vast difference between those reared in Tiny Town or Urban Utopia could figure in to the equation.
Brad really believes almost opposite to the views I hold. Unlike the other liberal bloggers I run across he appears to have no personal axe to grind other than his belief system.
I count him along with Oklahoma Lefty as a Worthy Adversary.
God bless and keep our country free!

I am grateful for his kind remarks. I certainly welcome respectful, reasoned discourse and disagreement about the issues we face here in Oklahoma, in our nation and in the world. It is indeed possible to have a great divide in political positions and yet respect and even admire our political opponents. And it is possible to have honest disagreement without making it a bitter war filled with animus, insults and slanderous insults. I would hope that we can have this type of dialogue here in the Oklahoma blogosphere as well as the American and worldwide blogospheres. Continued

The following map has become quite popular amongst right-wing bloggers, seemingly to demonstrate that the country is more “red” (or right-leaning) than the last election’s results would indicated.

It looks pretty impressive, doesn’t it? But it really doesn’t tell the whole story. The above map is a winner-take-all representation for each county, which is okay except it’s not a very accurate gauge of the “temperature” of the nation. Here’s how the map would look based on actual voting percentages.

Not quite so stark anymore is it. No longer are there large areas of red with only blue fringes. But wait, there’s more. Mark Newman, Department of Physics and Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan, explains. Continued

…nor is he a Democrat. He cannot be boxed in, or appropriately represented, by any political party — especially in the American political system. But that doesn’t stop some Christianist pastors from projecting divine partisan preferences upon the Almighty.

Evangelical pastor’s opening prayer at a McCain-Palin rally in Bethlehem, PA, last week —

“O God, we are in a battle that is raging for the soul of this nation. You, O God, have raised up Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin for such a time as this … Help them, O God, to strengthen our economy, to keep our taxes and spending low … and grant them the privilege of being elected the next president and vice president.”

Pastor Arnold Conrad at John McCain’s rally in Davenport, IA, last week —

“I would also add, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god — whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah — that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons. And Lord, I pray that you will guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and election day.”

If God’s reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, was it not involved in everything between now and January 2001? Was His reputation honored and guarded with an unjust war that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children — His created beings? Was His reputation honored and guarded when our country abandoned its fundamental principles by suspending basic human rights — including habeas corpus — and engaging in torture (and blatantly lying about it with legalistic euphemisms)? Was His reputation honored and guarded during one of the most dishonest and secretive administrations of my lifetime?

I agree with the pastor on one thing: “God, I pray that You will step forward and honor Your own name with all that happens between now and election day.” It just might not be the same results this pastor is expecting. I just don’t presume to know what preference God actually has, if any. Both men and both parties fall woefully short of His plan, His desire and His reputation.

It’s very dangerous to inject partisanship into the Christian faith. God is not partisan. God is holy and just. God’s agenda is far bigger than any election or any political party. I don’t believe that God has chosen sides in this election. And pastors should be careful in doing so; to do so unwisely in the name of God is unwise and foolhardy indeed.

I echo what Abraham Lincoln said,

“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

That is chiefly why I am no longer Republican… and I am assuredly not a Democrat. In my humble opinion, it’s unwise for God-fearing and Bible-believing churches to do otherwise. Partisan loyalty can divide allegiances. And as Christians, we are to have but one allegiance. Tony Campolo summed it up best:

“Evangelicalism getting wedded to any political party is like ice cream mixing with horse manure. It’s not going to hurt the horse manure, but it sure will mess up the ice cream.”

Think Progress posts a brief transcript along with the corresponding video of a simple question asked by Katie Couric that elicited a very convoluted answer from Sarah Palin:

COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media —

COURIC: But what ones specifically? I’m curious.

PALIN: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.

COURIC: Can you name any of them?

PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news.

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Can you name at least one of the publications you read for news?

How tough can this question really be to provide at least one bloomin’ example of where she gets her information? Even if she said Fox News, which would surprise no one, at least it’s a simple, straightforward answer. Does she really not know? Or is it she just doesn’t get her information from any newspapers or magazines? Perhaps she gets her news directly from Sean Hannity.

This is who the Republicans want to be their next vice president? Seriously?

Politico reports that the RNC sent out this bulletin yesterday:

“The Honolulu Star Bulletin reports Barack Obama ate popcorn and watched the 3:40 showing of the Dark Knight in theater 9 yesterday.”

Seriously? This is worthy of a bulletin? It is if you’re desperately grasping for straws for anything to smear your opponent with. Jonathan Martin explains:

Seeing a summer action flick and eating popcorn is hardly elitist, but wait, there is more.

Obama has said, the RNC hastens to note, that Batman and Spiderman are his favorite superheroes, citing their “inner turmoil.”

Ahh, there it is.

Real, red-blooded Americans, evidently, are only supposed to like superheroes because they have nifty outfits and beat up the bad guys. To look beyond the surface or glean some larger meaning from the characters naturally implies Obama has the sort of egghead end effette approach to life that would leaad us to analyze our enemies instead of defeat them.

Or something like that.

It would be easier if he just went wind-surfing.

Let’s forget about the issues. Let’s concentrate all our energy on the innuendo. That’s what helps elect the best person to be the leader of the free world. It’s worked well in the past two election cycles, right?

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This just plain irritates me. Jesus is not a Republican (or a Democrat). I believe with all my heart that He cares about more than just the abortion issue and the gay marriage issue.

Indeed, Jesus is pro-life, but pro-life is more than just about pregnancy and birth; pro-life extends beyond the womb and encompasses all the life issues each and every individual all around the world faces, including extreme poverty and obscene disparity of wealth, famine and hunger, genocide and war.

Jesus certainly cares about the sanctity of marriage, but that extends beyond the issue of a union between homosexual couples and encompasses the union and marriages of heterosexual couples, including fidelity and marriage “until death do us part.” Why do the divorce rates within the Christian Church so closely mirror that of divorce rates outside the Church? If fundamentalist Christians, like the gentleman in the video, care so much about the sanctity of marriage, why doesn’t he focus on the truest threat to the “traditional marriage” — rampant divorce rates among heterosexual couples who even occupy our church pews?

Do I condemn those who have been divorced? Absolutely not. I simply want the same standard of “sanctity” to apply to heterosexual couples as these Christianists want it to apply to non-heterosexual couples. I do not oppose civil unions between two adults, heterosexual or homosexual. Marriage is an institution that should remain within the religious context, and it can be defined by the respective religious institution.

What irritates and frustrates me most are that Christianists like this gentleman continue to reduce every election down to these two issues. And how successful has that proven to be. They’ve had eight years of a pro-Christianist presidency with control of at least two branches of government for the first six years. Look at where it has gotten us.

Has there been significant improvement in our nation and in the world with these two issues? Has the Christianist agenda really worked?

There are more issues than just these two that devoted followers of Christ should consider when voting this November. Failing to consider the other bigger issues — poverty, hunger, war, the Gospel message of faith, hope and agape love — is ignoring the larger messages of Jesus and the Bible.

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[Stepping down from my soapbox now.]

This pin was being sold at a booth at the Texas Republican Party Convention in Dallas, reports the DallasNews.com …

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In some ways, this is a good thing. It’s opening people’s eyes to the racism still festering beneath the surface.

Another social conservative who rises above blind party loyalty to support the candidate he believes will best lead this nation going forward despite important ideological differences…

Today I endorse Barack Obama for president of the United States.  I believe him to be a person of integrity, intelligence and genuine good will. I take him at his word that he wants to move the nation beyond its religious and racial divides and to return United States to that company of nations committed to human rights.  I do not know if his earlier life experience is sufficient for the challenges of the presidency that lie ahead.  I doubt we know this about any of the men or women we might select.  It likely depends upon the serendipity of the events that cannot be foreseen.  I do have confidence that the Senator will cast his net widely in search of men and women of diverse, open-minded views and of superior intellectual qualities to assist him in the wide range of responsibilities that he must superintend. Continued

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Tags: Barack Obama, bi-partisan support, conservative, endorsement, Obama, Republican, social conservative

This flag-pin controversy manufactured by conservatives is absurd on its face and ridiculous in its mountain-making out of molehills. The “right-wing smear machine” has questioned Barack Obama’s patriotism and allegiance to this country because he doesn’t wear an American flag lapel pin.

Setting aside the outrageousness of the controversy itself, which I plan to write in greater length about in the next couple of days, one of the standard bearers leading the charge is the always entertaining (because of his buffoonery) Republican Congressman Jack Kingston. In another entertaining foot-in-mouth moment for the Georgia Republican, as he launched into his absurd attack on Obama’s “refusal” to wear an American flag on his lapel during an interview earlier this week with Dan Abrams on MSNBC, the congressman forgot one very important detail… Continued