In an interesting story on CNN the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to the Senate insisting they include the harsh language of the abortion-banning Stupak Amendment in the health care bill.

And while the news media seems to focus on the Stupak Amendment (even though Federal Funds already are banned from being used in elective abortion, and even though the RNC and other Right Wing organizations like Focus on Family provide abortion coverage to THEIR members), they are not reporting on what the rest of the letter says:

We support the inclusion of all immigrants, regardless of status, in the insurance exchange. The Senate legislation forbids undocumented immigrants from purchasing health-care coverage in the exchange. Undocumented immigrants should not be barred from purchasing a health insurance plan with their own money.

So while on the surface, this letter seems to push the interests of the GOP, we see clearly there is still much fragmentation on the Right.

Clearly, the right has no unified set of ideals. I think this letter, while scary in its assumption that a Church can dictate the Law, also shows how split the Right is when it comes to morality.

What do you think? Will other media outlets pick up on the fact the Catholic Church insists on coverage for illegal immigrants? Will the Right embrace this letter, or reject it? I think I know what Joe Wilson would do ;-)

Thanks for listening and thanks for all that you do, fellow Democrats!

Best,
D. Tree

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Murder Inc, and the New World Disorder

At first blush, one would think that the Republican Party is making much ado about nothing with their staged outrage over the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his 9/11 conspirators in the U.S. Federal court. Considering the macho stance that they generally take against Al Qaeda, one would think they'd say "bring it on", and be anxious to drag the conspirators back to the scene of the crime to face the consequences of their horrific act. After all, being forced to answer for their crimes before the people of New York represents the epitome of poetic justice.   Read More »

Clearly there are some posters on this blog in need of information (that is, information provided from sources other than Glenn Beck).

So, perhaps we should start posting little facts to keep the more combative members of this site informed. That way we can help them to either make better arguments, or perhaps we'll even persuade them to our side. Think its impossible? Well, one must remember even the most belligerent trolls come here for a reason: they must be confused or insecure about their own beliefs and they must be curious about ours.

So let this be the first installment of a series of posts sharing information that will hopefully educate us all.

Claim: most of the Founding Fathers were "Deists."
Fact: True
Question: but what exactly is Deism anyway?

The implications of Isaac Newton's physical theories of mechanics, which treated the universe as if it were a machine (hence the term "mechanics") built by a creating god yet running on its own principles independent of the interference of the creating god (though Newton never denied that God couldn't interefere, just that he didn't), encompassed much more than physical change and movement. Soon other areas of experience came to be regarded as mechanistic and independent of divine interference: social structures, economics, politics, and so forth. Each of these areas could be understood and manipulated solely through rational methods, since they operated through consistent and orderly laws and principles

The philosophes of mid-eighteenth century France developed this mechanistic view of the universe into a radically revised version of Christianity they called deism. Drawing on Newton's description of the universe as a great clock built by the Creator and then set in motion, the deists among the philosophes argued that everything—physical motion, human physiology, politics, society, economics—had its own set of rational principles established by God which could be understood by human beings solely by means of their reason. This meant that the workings of the human and physical worlds could be understood without having to bring religion, mysticism, or divinity into the explanation. The Deists were not atheists; they simply asserted that everything that concerned the physical and human universes could be comprehended independently of religious concerns or explanations.

LINK

People who don't really understand what Deism is like to use it as a way to claim the Founders saw America as a decidedly Christian nation, and that there should be no separation between church and state.

The fact is quite the opposite.

The Founders, inspired by the Philosophes of the Enlightement, believed that religion and laws should absolutely be separate. They also believed religion was a bad influence on societies and was the cause for much war and suffering. They believed in the power of rational thought, laws, and government, to improve the quality of life through scientific progress, rational behavior, and improved social structures (a.k.a. what conservatives lamely call "entitlement programs").

So I hope that clears it up for anyone who is curious or confused about the Founders intentions, and about what Deism means.

Before I go, I'll leave you all with one more definition of Deism

Deism: Deism is a term coined in the philosophe movement and applies to two related ideas: a) religion should be reasonable and should result in the highest moral behavior of its adherents; b) the knowledge of the natural world and the human world has nothing to do whatsoever with religion and should be approached completely free from religious ideas or convictions.

Best wishes to my fellow patriotic Democrats, and thanks for all that you do to make the world a better place.


Best,
D. Tree

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

The Teabaggers Want their Country Back - Preferably, Circa 1860

I just saw another one of those videos. You know the ones - the kind that Fox "News" loves to show of the clueless teabagger with tears in her eyes, complaining that she wants her country back. They're designed to tug at our heartstrings, but they have just the opposite effect on me. What I see is a social bigot who thinks the world is about to come to an end because Barack Obama is the president instead of the White House butler.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

It's Time for America to Stop Claiming to be a Great Nation, and Start Becoming One

I want to begin this article by thanking Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her responsible Democratic colleagues, and one Republican, for standing up for the American people in their historic passage of the health-care bill in the house. I've bitterly criticized Speaker Pelosi in the past, and I'm still smarting over her "impeachment is off the table" stance during the Bush administration, but she stepped up to the plate in a very big way in this, the most significant legislation that the house has pasted in a generation. So thank you, Madam speaker.

But that said, now is the time for progressives, Democratic supporters, and all citizens who care about a congress "of the people" to also step up to the plate - not by weeping and begging the Liebercrats in the Senate to do what's right by the people, but by showing them the consequences of not doing so.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Could GOP Leaders Possibly Believe Their Own Rhetoric?

Is it possible that Republicans truly believe that President Obama is both a socialist, and a fascist, who wasn't born in the United States, and that providing affordable health-care to American families is a plot to destroy America? Could they possibly believe that Dick Cheney kept America safe, or that George Bush was protecting the American way of life? And is it possible that they consider their incendiary rhetoric simply innocent speech, and don't recognize that during this time of severe hardship they could very easily incite insurrection within the country? It's not likely.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Could Obama Fall Victim to a Change We Can't Believe in?

At this point Obama's presidency could go either way - he can either become one of the greatest presidents this country has ever known, or go down as an exciting experiment that went bad. It's all up to how he handles the expectations of Independents.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Joe Lieberman: To Hell with the American People

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has announced that if the senate includes a public option to healthcare reform he's prepared to side with the Republicans in a filibuster to prevent the bill from coming up for a vote. In other words, he's prepared to fight to block the will of the American people.

This is the same Joe Lieberman that Democrats sweat blood and treasure to support in his bid for vice president in the 2000 election; the same Joe Lieberman who signed a pledge with seven Republicans and six other Democrats not to filibuster any of Bush's judicial nominations in 2005; and the very same Joe Lieberman whose own Connecticut constituents polled 21 to 68% (a 47% margin) in favor of a public option. But he doesn't care about all of that. All he cares about is protecting his cash cow - the insurance industry.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

ODE TO A BLEEDING HEART

The one factor that contributed most to the downfall of the Democratic Party during during the seventies and eighties was allowing conservative Republicans to seize control of the political rhetoric. The Democrats simply sat back and allowed themselves, their constituency and their agenda to be redefined in the eyes of the American people by conservative "spin doctors" without rebuttal. As a direct result, they've allowed the term "liberal" to become a bad word in the political lexicon.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Conservatives Waking Up in Droves

Well, it seems that the GOP is finally coming into its own. Both its numbers, and its rhetoric, reflect that its rapidly becoming more of a cult than a political party. Recent polls indicate that now only 20% of the American people will even admit to being Republican these days. That's down from 32% in November. If its current rate of decline continues, after the 2010 election there won't be enough Republicans left in Washington to throw a card party - and that's with good reason.

History doesn't lie, at least, until Republicans get a hold to it. But with their desperate attempt to regain power at any cost, this current crop of GOP 'leaders' have inadvertently betrayed their true agenda - to promote the interest of big business at the expense of the American people. Every initiative that they champion is transparently designed to do just that.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

GOP 'Patriots' Strike America Once Again


My computer is still warm from my last article where I pointed out that the GOP is no longer conservative, and has become anti-American. Now, reinforcing my position, they've struck out against America again. In last week's column, "Limbaugh-Beck and the GOP Patriots Against America", I pointed out that you can say what you will about true conservatives, but they are fiercely patriotic, and will ALWAYS, support America, regardless to what the circumstances.

But this current group of renegade Republicans are clearly demonstrating not only that they're not true conservatives, but they're not even loyal Americans. With every day that passes it becomes increasingly clear that their only concern is making money, regaining power, and accommodating their own self-interest, and they're more than willing to throw America under the bus to achieve those goals.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Limbaugh-Beck and the GOP Patriots Against America

If anyone had any doubt about whether or not the GOP has become anti-American, all doubt should now be laid to rest. Rush Limbaugh, the titular head of the Republican Party, slipped into an altered state of bliss after hearing the news that the United States lost its bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The man was completely beside himself with glee. God only knows what would have happened if we'd also been attacked - his body fluids would've had to be cleaned off the studio floor. I watched the video of Limbaugh's antics over and over again in total disbelief. It's literally unbelievable what's happened to the Republican Party.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

The Republican Agenda: Keep America Ignorant and Miserable, at any Cost

The Republican Party is a coalition of three separate constituencies with confluent interests. The first group is made up of traditional conservatives. These are highly patriotic Americans who believe in limited government, the primacy of the people over government, and fiscal responsibility. But the other two groups that have coalesced within the GOP are much more malevolent - international business interests, and social bigots.

It is the former of these two, international business, that controls the GOP. It's made up of highly educated individuals with huge resources and plenty of clout - and they use every bit of their resources and clout to manipulate what has become their citizen army - the social bigots. The social bigots are the people we see armed to the teeth at presidential speeches, disrupting townhall meetings, and fighting against their own interests. In short, these are the Joe the Plumbers of the world.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN · ERIC L. WATTREE

The Religious Right: A Threat to America

When I became of age one of the first things I did was to reassess all of my previous beliefs and attitudes. Thereafter, I discarded as invalid anything that didn't stand up to logical and objective scrutiny, because even at that young age, I'd lived long enough to recognize that most of the problems in this world are a direct result of our failure to re-examine our illogical views of reality. Most religious zealots not only fail to go through that process, but refuse to as a matter of religious doctrine. It is due to that kind of zealotry, along with their doctrinal obligation against even considering the fact that they might be zealots, that makes the religious right a clear and present danger to both the United States, and the world.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE


The Ironies of 911


While viewing America's solemn commemoration of the eighth anniversary of 911, I began to reflect upon its many ironies. The very first thing that came to mind was Dick Cheney's claim that the Bush administration's policies have kept us safe. My second thought was, he must think we're crazy - and far too many of us are.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Lofty Ideals are Only as Meaningful as the Backbone that Supports Them

Is it just me, or is anyone else curious about how the GOP managed to suspend the United States Constitution, thrust us headlong into a costly and unjustified war, ravage the global economy, and destroy America's moral credibility throughout the world, while the Democrats, even after being handed the White House and a huge majority in both houses of congress, can't even manage to pass a healthcare bill that would benefit every family in America?

If like me, you've been curious about this issue, scratch your head no more. The answer is screaming at us right before our eyes, but like the angry medicare recipient boisterously demonstrating against socialism, we simply refused to believe our lying eyes.   Read More »

That is the question I am asking myself. Watching little snipets of the news( I don't watch the news anymore, I read it online) , I'm worried. Town hall "tea baggers" who carry loaded guns outside of presidential events, shout "Death To Obama" and other degradations all because President Obama wants to change health care for the better. There are also the "birthers" who want to deny President Obama's US citizenship because they still cannot believe that an African American man is president of this country. And the frosting on the right-wing backlash cake, manipulating the American public, scaring them into thinking that Obama is a socialist, Sarah Palin's "death panels," etc.

We all know who is running this whole backlash, the Republican Party. Here's the proof: Rupert Murdoch has a monopoly on American mainstream news media, and every cable news station is either connected to him through mutual CEO friendships/funds. What Murdoch thinks is broadcast on every network in every shape or form. Murdoch is a registered Republican. To add to that, investors in these networks who are politically conservatives have the last say in what narratives and perspectives get put on screens. Why is Dobbs, Beck, and Cramer still on the networks when they screwed up so much and scare people to death? Think certain Arabian leaders who fund al-Queda and you have another form of domestic terrorism. Republican Congressmen and women are ordered by Steele to do whatever means possible to prevent universal health care from happening in this country "by any means necessary." Tap on Murdoch's shoulder, and we have our population scared shitless and left even more ignorant and uneducated on how Obama's health care will help us. Who is running this operation? G-O-P, who want to run this country from the backseat. Old strategies indeed. The GOP won in 1994, they shouldn't win in 2009.
Another aspect of the GOP's desire to lynch President Obama is inherent racism. With everything Obama does, he is inspected and thought of differently because of the color of his skin. Former president Bush made this country so close to fascism, yet everyone is viewing his efforts as light and favorable. Now, an African American man is president and they are giving him the Malcolm X treatment. Talk about a double standard! Not to mention, if anything, this health care thing and people's misunderstandings on it have wakened the sleeping dragon, of racism. All this is hype and fear, what is this? The Bush Administration?!

If anything, people just need to educate themselves or at least someone should start a bumper sticker campaign, "Eight Years We Lived With An Idiot, Time To Start Thinking Again." I don't want to see President Obama hanging from a noose outside of the White House.

Amidst the foreign policy failures of George W. Bush, North Korea has got to be one of them. Throughout the Bush Administration, all Bush did was warn against North Korea and use weak diplomacy regarding them. This is another previous administration leftover that President Obama is dealing with.

Obama needs to send a diplomatic team over there just to show that Obama is not Bush, that seems to be why Kim Jong-Il is testing him by threatening a nuclear attack on Hawaii. We can work this out people, because I don't want the worst to happen. I don't think anyone wants the worst to happen. I do not want to feel afraid anymore, like I was with George W. Bush, who went in and out of his way to scare the shit out of me.

Obama is not Bush, he'll do the right thing. Strong diplomacy, which we now have, is our way out of this mess.

A while ago, President Obama said that he would like the world to no longer have and use nuclear weapons. Obviously, it is easier said than done.
In the wake of North Korea's attitude, however, I feel like as busy as we are with reviving our strong diplomacy, we need to use that again towards North Korea and use our resources properly to prevent any immature actions from taking place.
As someone who just experienced eight years of weak diplomacy and a man who only knew how to exploit them for his and an exclusive fews benefit, it is VERY important to stress that we need to use our diplomacy and not ending up prematurely exhausting it just to prove who's the man here. It is time to make peace a priority. We don't have to lead nations through conservative imperialism, we can lead by example. If we make peace a priority, we can energize our diplomats to encourage the same thing.
In the past, America has gone through a Cold War whose leftovers we still have in the refrigerator of our collective minds, and Bush did set up a Reaganite international standard before leaving his presidency. This American does not want 20th century reruns to determine the course of action for the next 4-8 years. If we make peace a priority, and actually work towards achieving that, then we can not deal with unfriendly countries and their nuclear experiments. Personally, I think Kim Jong-Il is bluffing when it comes to the whole "let's test nuclear arms on Hawaii so I can be taken seriously," but the mentality I have applies not only to him in this circumstance. Any male world leader who is trying to prove his masculinity through nuclear arms is not a man, but a coward with ammunition. George W. Bush was a coward with ammunition by trying to prove his masculinity through invading Iraq. I think President Obama is saying one thing and working out ways of preventing the worst from happening, which is good. It's pragmatic. We need pragmatism.

Because I for one, could live in a world without nuclear arms.

I was watching Wall Street last night, the Oilver Stone movie, and it suddenly hit me that the past 8 years, with Bush in office has been like a Ronald Reagan wet dream in regards to the three fundamentals of government.

Economically, it was all about spending money, giving tax breaks to the better off, corporate tax breaks, and flushing our money down the drain into a guaranteed quagmire of foreign policy excrement(Iraq).With the rich getting richer and being allowed to break the rules for personal gain, we had an economic culture of Gordon Gekkos running around.

How this transpired into our foreign policy is this: Bush's Iraq was Reagan's Iran-Contra realized. By invading a country and using an unjustified,invalidated excuse(Reagan-communism; bush-terrorism), Bush was able to sponge benefits from Halliburton and disguise it as "bringing democracy to the world" but in effect giving communists in Nicaragua the same juice of support the way Bush the same ideological juice to support their activities through this distraction. By making sure Nicaraguan Communists got weapons from Iran with US taxpayer money, in the end it would supposedly make America come on top, the same way by making sure Americans originally believed the lie that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and thus, flushing our money down the drain with the support of top CEO bigwigs in our economy to "make the world safe for democracy." With weak diplomacy and overseas investments, the American economy was bound to get into a recession sooner or later. But, unlike Reagan, who totally fixed it so that his number 5 would get the blame(Oliver North) and not him, Bush just pressed away and faded out, thus making it safe to give Obama all the problems he is currently trying to solve.

Reagan and Bush had the religious right to back them up and expanding media conglomerates to convince the supposed uneducated masses that they were the big man in charge and that if you weren't okay with it, demonization and being called unpatriotic.L ike Reagan's Moral Majority's effect on the social climate of America, the values we stood behind we, as a country, were ready to trample on so long as the big man kept us scared shitless. Abortion, habeus corpus, Geneva Conventions, the Constitution, free election. We are currently experiencing what was literally leftover from the Bush administration.
and Bush made it safe to put all the blame on the guy fixing all the problems left behind: President Obama.After 8 years of unregulated economic activity, it makes sense why people are so uncomfortable and ready to play the fascist card because Obama is regulating again.

What Obama is doing is not as bad as people fear it to be. The companies he bought are only temporary buys until the company can independently function again, and some have recently graduated from that temporary fix. His plans of cutting off overshore accounts has to do with stimulating gross national product within the nation, the key to making America independently economically successful again. By limiting CEO's indulgent behavior, he is preventing another recession from happening in the next 25 years.and, another great thing, delegating the transference of national gross product from oil to alternative resources, which is sorely needed, because it will produce jobs and it will make the grass greener, so to speak. By universalizing health care with public and private options, Obama is creating healthy economic competition in the long run because with options come picking who has the best for you, etc. So far, amidst all this, his only competition is weak mass media propaganda paid for by the beneficiaries of the status quo and their affiliates and lobbyists who are dependent on their last financial fixes from oil and coal.

Just thought I'd share.