Mr. Huckabee frightens me. For many reasons, first of all because It’s quite likely that he will be the next president of the United States.

His presidency would rip this country to pieces.

The Democrats have never understood the rise of the Christian right in this country, and they tend to be dismissive of their agenda.

Unfortunately, it is this very group that gave President Bush the ability to win two terms in this country and put foward a radical right wing agenda.

They are well organized, and will go to the polls, just like soliders marching to war.

Unless the Democratic party figures out a way to counter their efforts they will loose again; maybe by embracing moderate Christian leadership.

I received this email today and thought others might be interested in signing these petitions. 

“Once again, the corporate media is trying to tell you which candidates you’re allowed to vote for.

ABC and Fox News are sponsoring debates just before the New Hampshire presidential primary.

Both ABC and FOX are ruthlessly using their control of these debates to limit the choice of American voters—before the first vote is cast!

Here’s what they’ve done:

ABC NEWS HAS EXCLUDED KUCINICH, GRAVEL, AND OTHERS:  In an arbitrary decision that shakes our democracy to its very core, ABC News has set debate criteria that exclude Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and Duncan Hunter from their Saturday debates.  New Hampshire has a recent history of open debates. As a result of these exclusions the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper has decided not to co-sponsor the debate.

FOX NEWS HAS EXCLUDED RON PAUL: Fox News has done ABC one step worse by calling it’s Sunday debate a “candidate forum” to avoid setting any criteria at all.  They’re using this technicality to exclude Ron Paul - even though the co-sponsoring New Hampshire Republican Party issued a statement saying they want all the candidates included.

FOX and ABC are using arbitrary criteria to exclude the diverse and anti-war voices in the Democratic and Republican primaries and limit the participation of independent voters.

IndependentPrimary.com is the independent watchdog on the electoral process -

Click here to join us in flooding ABC and Fox News with emails and phone calls demanding that all the candidates be included in the televised debates>

Thank you for working to take our country back from the party bosses, big money, and corporate media,

Jim Mangia & Linda Curtis
IndependentPrimary.Com”

**Petition Link:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2489/t/4823/conte nt.jsp?content_KEY=3645

Hmmm ... interesting comments.
For what it’s worth, here’s my two cents.

No mention of Ron Paul.
Lesson here for all you Ron Paul supporters. While it has been fun and amazing watching you throw money into his campaign, it don’t mean squat if you don’t get out and vote. The Paul supporters will scream, Paul was not represented fairly [for a variety of reasons] in Iowa. But if there were no Caucusers there, to caucus for him ... well, he didn’t get caucused.

Duh ...

And speaking of money. Romney’s showing, and Giuliani’s for that matter, should clearly demonstrate money isn’t everything.

No, really? Yes, really.

Money buys space and clout and a lot of exposure, but maybe this time around the exposure will backfire!

Romney’s crack about dumping snow in the driveways of folks who don’t vote for him, for example. In mormon-ville, that kind of remark would be seen as “humor” and dismissed.

In the rest of the so-called Christian world, that remark would have been seen as offensive and a real turn-off.

Not as bad as calling for attack and hate on all gays, people who are the wrong color or religion, single moms, free-choicers, and the working poor. But in the realm of the bible thumpers, “Hate in the Name of Love” is a virtue!

Tough one for Romney. He hasn’t got a clue how those other Christian minds work.

Huckabee has. And apparently pushed the right buttons, according to this article, the women. Which is another “go figure” moment.

I never could understand why “religious” women will so willingly fight to preserve a system that victimizes them!

Maybe it’s the “Well I went through it, you should too!” Factor. Or maybe it’s proof positive how completely “religious” husbands FAIL as husbands. Sending their wives into fits of Devine adoration for that man Jesus, who they cant see, don’t have to clean up after, and doesn’t lamb-blast them every time they open their mouths.

Poor things

All the same, I confess I haven’t paid much attention. So aside from the fact that Huckabee is just another dime-store preacher-man wind-up toy, what exactly does qualify him [if anything] to be president?

Maybe we better find out!

DB- Diagnosis Hate..

You are wrong again here DB. Wrong as wrong can be, and you can’t help it, because you lack the conceptual capacity to understand what HUMAN RIGHTS really are.

So, we’re aren’t going to discuss this again. If you are one of the few people, (and there aren’t many of these people, even among the ‘pro-lifers’) who believe abortion to be state sanctioned murder, then there is no point in having a conversation with you on the issue. It means that you have no way of understanding what HUMAN RIGHTS are.

I know that, because we’ve had these discussions before, and we all know, that you would have ZERO problem, denying a living being housing, food, life or liberty. And, THOSE ARE are basic HUMAN RIGHTS! So, lets face it. You’re either a hypocrite, or you’re mentally ill. There seems to be an inherent mean-spirited essence to you, that compels you to do mean things, and to look for people as objects of your hate.

As for homosexuality, it is NOT a choice. If you believe that, even though medical science has long since proven otherwise, then there’s really no hope for you. Nobody wakes up one day and says, oh, I think I’ll be homosexual. Rather, from my lengthy conversations with many homosexuals of both genders, it is NOT a comfortable thing at all, because society has made them feel that there is something inherently WRONG with them.

What an irony. There’s nothing wrong with THEM. It’s people like YOU, who are left totally dysfunctional, because of the hate.

The only clue I can really offer you, is to tell you that it’s about the hate. If there were a way for you to free yourself from the hate, you might have a chance. But, I don’t know how to tell you to do that.

For some people, I could suggest, well…’religion’ or some quest for spirituality. But, we also know from multiple conversations on this blog, that you’re already firmly committed to the bible (at least you say you are), and so I guess you’ve missed the whole part that preaches AGAINST hate, and encourages us to love and accept each other, and NOT TO JUDGE.

No doubt there’s that basic contradiction and dichotomy with which you’re attempting to live. Until you can work it out, you’ll keep hating, (yourself first) and you’ll keep trying to push that hate off onto others. You’ll blame everybody else in the world for your hate, and so it’ll always be there, because you can’t control everybody else, and that means that you’ll always have someone to hate. If it’s not the immigrants, then it’ll be homosexuals, or protestants, or Arabs, or Muslims, or women, or the kid at the market, or the school street crossguard, or someone you don’t even know, who you THINK might have an abortion.

And, as long as you aren’t able to command FULL control and authority over others, you’ll always be able to find an object for your hate. It’s a drug you’ll never run out of.

So, since the religious thing doesn’t work for you, maybe you could try some professional counseling. It has helped many others like you.

But, we won’t have this conversation again, because I can’t help you, and you can’t change anyone, because you can’t even change yourself. If you can’t learn to accept other people as they are, as long as they are not harming YOU, then you’ll just stay miserable. Guess Jesus can’t help you either. Too bad. So sad. It’s always sad when there’s no hope.

By Ga, January 3 at 7:14 pm #
“And just what exactly is The Establishment?”

By P. T., January 3 at 7:49 pm
“The rich and those who shill for them, the ruling class, the elite”

This is a minimally correct definition.  To flesh it out, a few additional considerations (I hope you will share your own):

Some human beings are born into what they consider “privilege,” which they believe is by divine providence or simply inherited right (a “line” of succession or ascension).  They think of themselves as Special, Extraordinary (not ordinary), Above the rest of us, and rightfully so.  This privilege came about because of ownership of the means of production of the wealth of our country and control of the resources (which really belong to all of us), or the inheritance thereof.  This wealth and power was garnered by the exploitation of the labor of those they deemed beneath them.  Low wages, high profits.  All the power to hire and fire.  Life and death.  Sickness and health.  They believe they know what is best for us and who should have what.

The “elite,” as they loved to be called because it carries an assumption of superiority and “class,” which they define in terms of their own preferences. These preferences become, in some form or other, the assumed highest form of “style,” culture, moral values, laws, position in society, power, and the “establishment” of the rules by which the rest of us are forced to live and conform. 

The Establishment created and controls The Government by which they get everything they want and keep the population under control.  They create the laws and the loopholes for themselves.  They own the politicians.  They always have plenty of lawyers. They also established police (and Intelligence Agencies) to enforce those laws (and maintain a proper level of fear).

The Establishment is that segment of humanity (and a damn tiny one at that) which holds all the power over the rest of us and believes it is all in the “order of things.” They think of themselves as “royalty,” and are, in many countries.  In our country, they hide in the shadows of a false “democracy” which keeps the masses continuing to be their servants, even though they don’t think so.  (Even University Professors are servants.) Their wealth is always made on the backs of the masses (leading, of course, to making money on their money because they also control the financial system).  They don’t work, or at least don’t have to.

They also have the military to do their bidding.  To keep the country safe (and in control) for them.  And the poorest of us (commonly known as “cannon fodder,” to die in that military, to keep their privilege and wealth in tact.  They own and control the weapons of mass destruction.  They keep the population under control with the use of prisons, mental hospitals, low-paying jobs, CONTROL OF THE MEDIA, CONTROL OF EDUCATION, and big doses of FEAR.

They have no conscience, no real compassion, an abundance of arrogance, selfishness, greed, and
no soul.  Whatever charity (they call it philanthropy) they engage in is to salve guilty consciences and, again, do just enough to keep the masses from revolting.

Very likely, The Establishment would not do what they do if they were not filled with fear and loathing underneath all the apparent self-elevation.  But there is no doubt that their addiction to power, greed and control has had devastating effects on the lives of 99% of the population of the world, along with the planet and the rest of its inhabitants.

Ultimately, in order to have real freedom, the people of the world will have to resist and overthrow The Establishment and create something better that responds to the real needs of The People, all of us, with a far more equitable distribution of wealth.

(Don’t you ever wonder who in the hell started all this shit?)

Driving Bear:

Go back and study American history. A nation founded on God and guns? More like lies, deception, murder, trickery, underhandedness, deliberate starvation and diseases unknown to the first peoples of this land before outsiders invaded it and the breaking of most of your ten commandments to steal not only the land but the way of life from the indigenous people who lived in this country first.

You know for all the talk about life being sacred above all else you Christians don’t think twice when eliminating those you chose as inferior. Even when abortion was illegal in America this government went into the reservations and took the girls and women out for medical treatment which included abortion and sterilization and there was no complaints about those women being forced into this. This was forced, not voluntary. But then again they were not real Americans, they were property of the Department of the Interior, who was given domination over these people from the war department when they didn’t know what to do with them. So technically since these women were prisoners of war, anything goes in the elimination of the enemy. In the 1960’s, I no longer have the books with the government statistics, however, it listed the number of births to Native Americans was a few thousand, and the government agencies reported, “that next year it will be even less.” Genocide of a race that the Christians decided were unworthy of existing was and still seems to be the goal of these Christians who still claim they founded this country-another lie that continues to this day.

The Establishment fears Mike Huckabee’s fundamentalist religion and populist campaign pitch.  Mitt Romney’s Mormonism seems to make him not viable.

It seems to me that in part to help ardently pro-war and pro-surge John McCain, the media is really pushing the idea that the surge in Iraq is working, even though southern Iraq (which has over 80% of the oil) has been lost to Shia militants.  And even though northern Iraq is under attack by Turkey.  If the Establishment can get the Republican race down to McCain versus Huckabee in the primaries, they can get rid of Huckabee.

The non believing public will cry foul now. Mike will be ramming Christianity down their throats. All
because he believs in Jesus Christ and opposes abortion and homosexuality. Lord have mercy on America. All I can say is Amen.

I didn’t realize that he too was into the homeschooling and gun toting for all. Thought that was just a Ron Paul thing.

This is pretty scary, unless we keep in mind that it IS...Iowa.

But still, is this creepy or what?

We’ve got a population of those totin’ bibles in one hand, and guns in the other, and standard education is ‘off the table’.

Holy Shit!