Good, Wise, and Honest

Getting Away with Murder

2011-07-10T14:04:00.000-06:00

This past week, Casey Anthony, the so called "tot mom" was found not guilty of killing her 2 year old daughter Caylee. I did not follow the media circus surrounding this case, but apparently many Americans believe Casey got away with murder.

On his Friday night HBO show "Real Time," host Bill Maher openly equated the Casey Anthony verdict with Republican policy.

"And before you accuse me of equating the Casey Anthony verdict with Republican thinking -- save your breath, I am. I'm equating them. If you're a working-class American who still votes Republican then you don't get to bitch about that verdict," said Maher.

"[Half of American voters] say 'I'm with the party that cuts all these programs for real people, for the 99 percent. Planned Parenthood, environmental protection, college, health care, infrastructure, but holds the line on private jets.' Voting for them is as stupid as voting not guilty for the mom who lost her baby for a month and went looking at a wet t-shirt contest.

"We're now being told that if multinational corporations bring home their current overseas profits of $1.4 trillion, they'll only be taxed five percent on it because we're told it will create jobs. It won't. It didn't, just like the last time we tried it in 2004. Companies took the savings and paid it out to themselves in dividends. Yes, Republican base, you are just like that jury. It's pathetically clear who's killing the middle class but you keep letting them get away with murder."

Mission (Finally) Accomplished

2011-05-02T09:29:00.002-06:00

Osama bin Laden was killed yesterday in Pakistan in a focused, 40-minute, US military operation. Today, many in the US and around the world are celebrating. According to President Obama's announcement on television last night, the first intelligence pointing to bin Laden's location appeared last August. This means that the planning, from first hint to successful operation took over 8 months.

I have to say that this careful, precise, well-planned operation is an example of why we need to elect smart leaders. George Bush the younger could never have done it (and, in fact, didn't). Smart leaders hire smart managers; and smart managers plan important, tricky operations carefully. Cowboys ride after the first target they see and start shooting. I believe President Obama should get full credit for this successful operation and that it is an example of clear, intelligent, decisive leadership.

Fire the Rich

2011-03-06T14:30:00.002-07:00

The March-April 2011 issue of UTNE Reader has reprinted an essay from Counter Punch by Davis Macaray entitled, Fire the Rich: A radical fix for the economy that greed destroyed. Here is an excerpt:

Shrinking incomes, fewer jobs ... but bigger corporate profits. Not a good sign.
Yet when you broach the dreaded subject of "class warfare." you get blank stares. When you try to demonstrate, through charts and graphs and scores of real-life examples, that the system is largely rigged to accommodate the wealthy and the powerful -- and that we face an unfortunate us-versus-them dilemma -- people back away.
There's an old joke. An Oxford professor meets a former student and asks what he's been up to. The student tells him he's working on a doctoral thesis about the survival of the class system in the United States. The prof expresses surprise. "I didn't think there was a class system in the United States, " he says. "Nobody does," the student replies. "That's how it survives."

I recommend reading the entire article. The middle class has been under serious attack for some time now. Thanks to the super rich, we are well on our way to becoming a third world country, And no one in the mainstream media is talking about it...

Church and State

2010-10-25T23:50:00.001-06:00

I voted today. Eight days before the official election day. I like early voting. There was no line to wait in. However, the early polling place was in the LDS Bountiful Regional Center. This is the building where all of the many LDS Stakes in South Davis County, Utah, hold their quarterly conferences. It is a "dedicated" church building. I don't believe the County should have arranged for voting to occur in a church building. I don't think the LDS Church should have approved it.

Many Utah citizens already feel that the Mormon Church controls everything in this state. These people already feel politically powerless and ignored. To ask them to vote in a Mormon church building is tactless, at best. I wonder how many will simply refuse to vote? (I even wonder if THAT is why my Republican County officials made this decision).

I didn't let it stop me, though. I've been in that building many times. I proudly went right in and voted straight Democrat!

Designated Driver

2010-08-07T13:04:00.003-06:00

The other day I got a nice letter from President Obama. Of course, it was just a fundraising letter for the Democratic National Committee, but I like the analogy the President used. Speaking of the Republicans he said:

"First, they drove the car into the ditch.
Then they made it as difficult as possible for us to pull it out.
And know they want the keys back."

The selfish, politically-motivated, Republican obstructionism during the past year and a half demonstrates that they don't deserve to govern again. And the years of GeeWhiz Bush proved that they don't know how.

Sen. Tom Harkin - Speaking Truth in the Senate

2010-07-16T10:37:00.000-06:00

Once in a while someone will tell the Truth publicly, plainly, and directly. That person is usually ignored or attacked. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) gave an important speech in the Senate yesterday that should be read by every American. The Congressional elections this Fall should not even be close. That they probably will be is a testament to the efforts of professional liars and the gullibility of the American voter. Please click on this link, read the speech (the transcript is below the video) and send it to others.

Sen. Tom Harkin - Speaking Truth in the Senate

The Truth about the "Big Bad Deficit"

2010-04-09T17:09:00.000-06:00

The right wing folks -- from the tea party crazies, to the radio and TV hate mongers, to the obstructionist Republican office holders -- are all in a lather lately about budget deficits.
EXCUSE ME?
Didn't ya'll support George W. and his "free market" deregulation (ie. the "Free-for-all market" which became the "Free-fall market"), and his tax cuts for the rich, and his two (!) wars?
Here is a link to an analysis of the the true causes of the Federal deficit. Click on it if facts don't scare you.
I have to tell ya, it ain't Obama's policies that put us in this mess....

A conservative Mormon speaks out against "hate mongers"

2010-04-05T10:31:00.002-06:00

Lynn M. Hansen, former Reagan-appointed ambassador and recently-returned LDS mission president in Germany, wrote a guest column in the Ogden, Utah Standard-Examiner this past week entitled "Obama, Reid, Pelosi deserve our thanks." The focus of Hansen's article is on why health care reform is good and was necessary and I strongly recommend everyone read it, print it, and pass it around.

Still, what I found more even interesting was what he has to say about "half-truths," "hate-mongers," and civility in public discourse:

"Until the administration of George W. Bush, I was an avid Republican and served in the Reagan and Bush (senior) administrations as a political appointee. But I will not allow Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh to define conservatism for me, nor will I accept the half-truths and invectives with which they pollute the airways.

Those who listen to these hate-mongers should realize that they have become millionaires by peddling the views they do. I recall Limbaugh frequently stating that he hoped Obama would fail. That is tantamount to wishing America would fail for Obama is our freely elected president.

What has happened to civility in this country? I did not vote for Obama but we, the American people, did.

... For as long as he is president, I will respect the office of president and the person who occupies it."

Paul Rolly wrote an opinion piece about Hansen's article in the Salt Lake Tribune. He said he had contacted Hansen about the response to his article. Hansen told Rolly that he had received more positive than negative responses, but that one woman told him he was "an agent of Satan."

An example of Mormon intolerance

2010-04-04T12:31:00.000-06:00

Paul Rolly, a columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune, reported this past week that Senator Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D, Nevada) was invited to give a fireside talk at an LDS stake center last weekend. Reid agreed to speak about his spiritual awakening and conversion to the Mormon faith.

Rolly goes on to report that when word got out that Reid would be speaking, organizers of the fireside received emails and phone messages threatening that if Reid spoke, they would heckle him inside the chapel and harass him with demeaning signs and slogans. The fireside was cancelled for fear the meeting would turn violent.

Who are these people? What has happened to some members of my church? How can so many Mormons have been deceived by the forces of narrow-mindedness, intolerance, and hatred?

I have often thought that the violence in the world that seems to have its roots in the Muslim faith, could be greatly ameliorated if the believers and leaders of that faith would speak out courageously, strongly, and often, in favor of tolerance and against hatred and violence.

This incident makes plain the need to promote tolerance and civility among our own. Here is a link to an official LDS press release on the topic of civility in civic discourse. Clearly, more of our members need to read it.

Black is White

2010-01-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

I just heard the most astonishing thing on a radio station that calls itself "Family Values Radio." Some "conservative" commentator was going on about how "the liberals" never answer or discuss the "issues" that conservatives "lay down." Instead, he said, "the liberals" just attack the conservative speaker. Liberals, he claimed, avoid discussing issues in favor of just attacking conservatives personally.

The astonishing thing, of course, was that the person speaking was doing exactly what he claimed was so reprehensible. How can he get away with this? Are the listeners of "Family Values" Radio" so naive that they don't recognize when their opinions are being so blatantly and shamelessly manipulated? Scary.

Money vs. Morals

2009-11-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

"The mere presense of large sums of money pushes people past their moral limits, making them more likely to lie, cheat and steal." This comes from a study in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes as reported in the December 2009 issue of Psychology Today ("The Green Monster" p. 17).

It is always interesting when science demonstrates what scripture already tells us. "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 TImothy 6:10)

This scientific finding is especially interesting in the current political climate wherein Utah Mormon Republicans are worshipping corporations and pushing so-called "market solutions" to every problem. At least we now know what the market solutions are: lie, cheat, and steal.

Senator Bennett: Blind or Co-opted?

2009-11-08T14:00:00.006-07:00

Republican senator Bob Bennett from Utah has started the TV ads for his 2010 campaign already. Why not? As a member of the Banking, Appropriations, and Rules Committees, he has plenty of corporate money to start his campaign early. Besides, he is terrified about the crazies in his party that don't think he is "conservative enough." (These are the same people that brought us Congressman "Fence out the Mexicans!" Chafetz).

Predictably, the 76 year old "Junior Senator" from Utah began his campaign by using his TV dollars to stir up fear about "ObamaCare." The line from the commercial that is the most revealing is when he says, "Health care reform should be based on free market principles not government bureaucracy!"

How can he (and most of the Republicans in Washington) have possibly missed the fact that it is their sacred "free market principles" that have created the problem in the first place??? Either the Senator is completely blind to the actual workings of the market, or he is actively working to protect the cruel, selfish, corrupt system we have now.

This morning on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" Democratic National Committee Chair Tim Kane said that the reason the Republicans are universally opposed to health care reform is because they are "shills for the insurance industry." It seems to me that Governor Kane has accurately described Sen. Bennett with this description.

Time for the Republicans to "Go Home"?

2009-09-06T20:56:00.004-06:00

With number of lies being told about health care, followed this past week by the ridiculous fear-mongering about the President's proposed address to America's school children, even some prominent Republicans are growing disgusted at the Republicans.

Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) who is now the conservative host of the MSNBC show "Morning Joe" recently posted the following series of Twitter messages. They were published on the web by the Washington Independent.

"Dear GOP, argue the issues and avoid the insults...or just shut up. Enough with the conspiracy theories. Shouldn't our beliefs be enough?

GOP leaders in my home state are accusing the POTUS of trying to "indoctrinate America’s children to his socialist agenda." Seriously?

WHERE ARE THE NATIONAL GOP LEADERS SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THIS KIND OF HYSTERIA?

Indoctrination of socialism? The president as a racist? Death panels? Seriously? That's all you've got? If so, it's time for you to go home

I'm just naive enough to believe that a party that shows restraint at home, restraint abroad and respect for the Constitution wins elections

Perhaps that party just doesn't exist."

"Dangerous, Dishonest, and Self- serving"

2008-09-14T15:50:00.005-06:00

The following quotation is used to conclude the book Broken Government (p. 200-201) by John W. Dean. He is quoting an "old friend from the Nixon White House" whom he describes as "a life-long Republican." The opinion expressed here is very telling and I believe we should all take the advice given. I added the bold type.

"Just tell your readers that you have a source who knows a lot about the Republican Party from long experience, that he knows all the key movers and shakers, and he has a bit of advice: People should not vote for any Republican because they're dangerous, dishonest, and self-serving. While I once believed that Governor George Wallace had it right, that there was not a dime's worth of difference in the parties, that is no longer true. I have come to realize that the Democrats really do care about people who most need help from government. Republicans care most about those who will only get richer because of government help. The government is truly broken, particularly in dealing with national security, and another four years, and heaven forbid not eight years, under the Republicans, and our grandchildren will have to build a new government, because the one we have will be unrecognizable and unworkable."

Straight Up Lies

2008-09-11T22:20:00.005-06:00

"All politicians stretch the truth, massage it into the best fit with their message. But, let's face it, John McCain is running a campaign almost entirely based on straight up lies. Not just exaggerations or half truths but the sort of straight up, up-is-down mind-blowers we've become so accustomed to from the current occupants of the White House.

"John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest and race-baiting campaign of our lifetimes. So let's stopped being shocked and awed by every new example of it. It is undignified. What can we do? We've got a dangerously reckless contender for the presidency and a vice presidential candidate who distinguished her self by abuse of office even on the comparatively small political stage of Alaska. They've both embraced a level of dishonesty that disqualifies them for high office. Democrats owe it to the country to make clear who these people are. No apologies or excuses. If Democrats can say at the end of this campaign that they made clear exactly how and why these two are unfit for high office they can be satisfied they served their country."

The above is quoted from Josh Marshall at the "Talking Points Memo" blog.

What does Obama stand for?

2008-02-17T12:22:00.003-07:00

"Would we call this a cult of personality?

Today that term is all around Barack Obama — perhaps because there seems so little other way to explain how a first-term senator has managed to dazzle his way to front-runner in the race for the presidency, how he walks on water for so many supporters, and how the mere suggestion that he is, say, mortal, risks vehement objection, or at least exposing the skeptic as deeply uncool."
The Charisma Mandate By KATE ZERNIKE The New York Times, February 17, 2008.

Most of my Utah Democrat friends (I know, that sounds like an oxymoron) seem to be excited about Barack Obama. It seems to me that they have given little thought to just what a President Obama would actually DO once in office. They seem to have bought into his mantra of "change" without asking the critical question "change toward what?" When I try to ask this question, I get back something like "Anything is better that the current administration!" I have to presume that they mean any of the Democratic candidates would be better that the current Republican occupant, because these friends would likely agree with me that Guiliani, Thompson, and Huckabee, at least, have the potential to be WORSE than GWB.

But that still begs the question of which Democrat would be the BEST for the country as President.

I have been following Obama longer than my friends have. I subscribed to his podcast when it was new, just after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, I thought he was intelligent and well-spoken. But as a Presidential candidate, I keep feeling that he is all style and no substance. My Democratic friends seem to be buying the package, but they have no idea what is inside the box.

Than I read the article cited above and I learned that his campaign without substance was a deliberate strategy. Here is the key paragraph:

"Accounts of the campaign’s “Camp Obama” sessions, to train volunteers, have a revivalist flavor. Volunteers are urged to avoid talking about policy to potential voters, and instead tell of how they “came” to Mr. Obama."

This strategy may be effective, but I find it disingenuous. Mr. Obama's campaign strategy is to offer himself as a "savior" to a troubled country. By avoiding any specific policy details, he can appear to be all things to all voters.

I, for one, prefer substance over flash. I want a President that I know and trust. I want a President that will get things done. With John Edwards out of the race, I am supporting Hillary Clinton.

Effective Government

2007-11-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

"In his first Inaugural Address, Ronald Reagan remarked that "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." While the quip has provided Republicans with a cheap slogan for two decades, the philosophy behind it is beginning to box them in. If they govern effectively, they invalidate their own antigovernment ideology. And when you elect people who believe that government won't work, you shouldn't be surprised when government stops working." -- Markos Moulitsas in "Make the Bush Record the Issue", Newsweek, November 26, 2007.

This quotation helps to explain the unrelenting incompetence of the Bush administration.

Later in the essay, Moulitsas says: "Democrats, on the other hand, believe government can be a resource for promoting the common good and thus are invested from the beginning in governing competently, efficiently and fairly. Their ideology demands it."

Understanding these two basic ideological truths makes choosing a political party to support simple.

Full Confidence

2007-04-13T17:15:00.000-06:00

I just heard on NPR that Paul "Let's invade Iraq" Wolfowitz, Head of the World Bank and one of the Bushites, is being investigated by his Board and may be removed from his position. The thing that caused me pause was the spokesperson for Bush saying, "The President has full confidence in Mr. Wolfowitz...."

Haven't we been here before? Didn't Bush have "full confidence" in Donald Rumsfeld? Doesn't he have "full confidence in Dick "Sharpshooter" Cheney and in Alberto "Fire 'Em" Gonzales? Isn't the fact that George W. Bush has "full confidence" in these guys the clearest possible indication that they are incompetent and dangerous?

While I fully agree that Wolfowitz should get canned for using his position to take care of his girlfriend, and Gonzales should be fired for politicizing the "Justice" Department, what I want to know is why these guys weren't removed for sheer incompetence years ago?

Harry Reid speaks to Utah Democrats

2005-05-07T10:15:00.000-06:00

Last night the Senate Minority Leader, Nevada senator (and Mormon) Harry Reid addressed the Utah Democrat's Jefferson Jackson Dinner at the Marriot Hotel in Salt Lake City. He pointed out that while the last election was disappointing for Democrats nationally, Democrats made huge gains in state legislatures across the country.
Reid said that the person who is currently helping the Democrats the most is President Bush. The more Bush talks about Social Security, the more his numbers go down. Read pointed out that there is no "crisis" in Social Security. If Congress does nothing at all, Bush will be able to collect 100% of his benefits until he is 105!
He then made four points that Democrats need to emphasize:
1. Democrats need to pay attention to the rural vote. John Kerrry lost Nevada by 2% because of extremely high pro-Bush turnout in the rural areas even though Las Vegas and Reno make up 92% of the state's population.
2. The idea that Democrats are "bad for business" is a lie. Historically, the economy always does better under Democratic presidents. Clinton's economic plan, which brought down the deficit and created a huge surplus, received no Republican votes.
3. It is a lie that Democrats are immoral and not religious. Reid read a letter from a number of mainstream American Churchs that claimed that the Bush budget was "immoral." The Senator read this letter on the Senate floor a few days before. Reid also pointed out that when Tom Delay's ethics problems first started to come to light, the Republican's first move was to abolish the ethics committee!! Now they want to change the Filibuster rule by breaking the rules (against the advice of the non-partisan Senate parliamentarian).
4. It is a lie that Democrats are against a strong defense. The Department of Homeland Security was created because Democrats insisted. The 911 Commission was created despite strong opposition from the White House. On the other hand, the White House sent our troops into Iraq with half the force necessary, and without body armor or enough armored vehicles!

Wake up America. We need to toss those lying Republicans out of power.

A Nation of Nitwits?

2004-09-12T17:50:00.000-06:00

The following description of George W. Bush is from the book The Dick Cheney Code: A Parody by Henry Beard. In the book, this description is given by Donald Rumsfeld in a conversation with Dick Cheney.

"Is it a bad thing that the President is a nitwit? No, it isn't. It is a good thing. Why? Because it's his greatest strength. This is a nation of nitwits. They love this guy. That's why they elected him. He's just like them. He's average. He's ordinary. He doesn't have original thoughts. He doesn't speak in complete sentences. He can't balance a checkbook. He hates to wait. He wants his cheeseburger now. He's a bit of a bully, and a bit of a coward, and he's shallow, and he's mean, and when he screws up, he does what any other red-blooded American would do--he blames it on somebody else and moves on."

Although presented as "fiction," this strikes me as a pretty accurate description of Dubya. If it also accurately describes the American electorate, Dubya will no doubt be re-elected ...and America will deserve the continued destruction of everything good we used to stand for that will follow.

Dubya finally tells the Truth!

2004-09-09T23:47:00.000-06:00

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
George W Bush August 5, 04

Fahrenheit 9/11

2004-06-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I saw Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 9/11." The theater was packed. Since it was a Sunday, I found mself wondering if I was the only Mormon in the audience. I believe the information in this documentary deserves a wide audience - especially among my fellow Utah Mormons, whom I believe to be politically naive and frightfully ignorant of the lies and horrors perpetrated by the Bush adminstration.

Mormon scripture (The Doctrine and Covenants) tells us that political candidates should be evaluated according to 3 criteria. The candidates we support should be good, wise, and honest. G.W. Bush overwhelmingly fails all three of these criteria. Yet, what are the chances that John Kerry will get Utah's electoral votes in the upcoming election?

EU Expansion Day

2004-04-30T20:56:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow, May 1, 2004 is European Union Expansion Day. The EU is expanding from 15 members to 25. Celebrations are planned all over Europe. Many see it as the most significant historical event since the fall of the Berlin Wall. On NPR today, a spokesperson from Poland said they view it as the most significant historical event since Christianity came to Poland 1000 years ago.

Yet, how many Americans know about this important world event? How many even know what the European Union is? When I saw it mentioned on CBS News tonight, it was not a major story and they even got the number of new countries joining the EU wrong. They said eight.

If and when the great experiment that is the United Stated fails, it will probably be because we spent too much time looking in the mirror.

Electronic voting

2004-04-23T12:53:00.000-06:00

"Those who vote decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything."
-- Joseph Stalin

By the November 2004 election, I wonder how many states, counties, and cities will have moved to paperless electronic voting (ie. voting with no paper trail)? It could be that Bush has already won the next election.

2004-02-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday is the Utah Democratic Presidential Primary election. Thanks to his savaging by FOX and CNN (see what really occured on that caucus night ), Howard Dean is out of the race. However, thanks to his inability to pose as a Democrat, Joe Leiberman is also out of the race. We Democrats seem intent on nominating the "safe" candidate, John Kerry.

My cynical, conspiracy-believing, side, thinks the Bush team wanted to run against Kerry all along. They SAID they wanted to run against Dean because he is SUPPOSEDLY an "out of touch" liberal. However, one must remember that the Bush team is a bunch of pathological liars. I thnk Dean's populist appeal scared them big time. Kerry will let them repeat the race against Michael Dukakis: Massachusetts, Kennedy-connected, big spending, pro-gay, pro-abortion, "liberal."

Then consider the big money folks (the secret combinations!). Bush was fun for them and gave them many treats, but ultimately he is too stupid and incompetent to be President and the country is starting to wise up to the fact. They would have to steal more than Florida this time to keep him in office. If a Democrat should actually become President, and if it can't be "Insurance Company Shill" Leiberman, then whom would they select? How about a big money Washington insider, like Kerrry who knows the game and who can shift liberal/conservative as it suits his political advantage? At least he isn't as likely to shake things up as those "outsiders."

At this point, the best hope for real change is John Edwards. He will get my vote this week. If he can take a few of the small states this week, it will help set him up for Super Tuesday.

2002-11-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

I am in day 3 of my post-election depression. It scares me that G.W. (Shrub) Bush now has control of both houses of Congress. Look for more tax cuts for the rich, fewer jobs and less job security, more hunger, fewer people with health care insurance, reduced education spending (except to buy more tests!), increases in crime, and we will definitely launch a "preemptive" attack on Iraq now. (My prediction is February, 2003). A very sad day for America.

Wasting Utah

2002-07-09T19:03:00.000-06:00

Well, the Senate voted to support the Republican House today and declare Nevada's "Yucca Mountain" to be the country's permanent nuclear waste repository. Of course, Utah's 2 Senators, Hatch and Bennett, voted in favor of transporting the nations's nuclear waste through Utah neighborhoods on trucks on their way to Nevada. The ludicrous thing is that they both claim that they voted for the Nevada site because it made the storage of Nuclear waste in Utah's Skull Valley (upwind form Salt Lake City) LESS likely. This is a joke because the Nevada site will be ready in 2010, at the earliest, while the Utah site will be ready in about 2 years. Is it that hard to guess where the Nuclear waste will be going "temporarily" for at least a decade?

Corporate Irresponsibility

2002-07-09T18:41:00.000-06:00

I just heard on NBC-TV news that G.W.Bush is going to get tougher on corporate wrongdoing. The picture of him standing in front of a backdrop that said "Corporate Responsibility" made me laugh and laugh and laugh...
I'm sure we will all feel much safer now that the foxes are going to watch the henhouse even more closely!
In the meantime, more information is coming out about Bush's insider trading while he was on the Board of Harken Energy. You can read more about it at The Daily Enron web site created by the group American Family Voices

2002-05-09T13:52:00.000-06:00

The cover story of U.S. News and World Report for May 13, 2002 is about War Profiteering. A series of articles point out how money is the name of the game in corporate America, and that tragedies such as 9/11/2001 are cynically used as excuses to grab even more money from the American taxpayer
The article called "The Pork Game," on how wasteful apending is inserted into Congressional money Bills at several stages, is most enlightening -- and depressing. If there is a hero anywhere in the series it is Senator John McCain who regularly stands up against wasteful spending.. However, his regular speechs decrying the behavior of his colleagues are now just ignored as background noise behind the business as usual.
Welfare for the rich is now more entrenched than ever.

2002-03-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Saudis Said To Let Girls Die in Fire
Monday, March 18,
2002

BY TAREK AL-ISSAWI

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Government-run newspapers in
Saudi Arabia have accused the country's religious police of preventing the
rescue of girls trapped in a school fire because they were not wearing the
long dresses and head coverings required in public.
Fourteen girls died in the catastrophe last Monday at the 31st Girls
Middle School in Mecca, about 470 miles southeast of Ri- yadh. Fifty
others were injured, while hundreds escaped.
The religious police, which have offices in every city, are routinely
criticized privately in Saudi society, but this was believed to be the first
time that newspapers in the kingdom have come out with harsh words
against them.
The newspapers accused members of the religious police -- the
Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice -- of
blocking rescue attempts by male firefighters and paramedics because
some of the girls were not wearing the mandatory Islamic dress, which
covers the entire body and hair.

It is difficult to comment on this horrifying news article. Ideally, the implications would be clear to everyone. Unfortunately they are not, so I add my thoughts here. This event was made possible by the fact that Saudi Arabia tolerates the existance of a "religious police" -- a better oymoron than even "military intelligence." I find the translation of the name of this police force, "The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice," to be chilling.
Some may assume that conservative Mormon Utah communities have similiar "committees" -- informally if not formally. The truth is that they do not -- yet. But the seeds are there. Utah is, after all, the only state with a legislature-appointed "Porn Czar." I hope the would-be guardians of "public morality" in Utah will read this news story as a cautionary tale of a type of society we do not want to set up here.

2002-03-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new Blog! My name is Brian Ferguson and I am a Mormon Democrat. I realize that may seem like an oxymoron to some, but I not only believe that the two are not incompatible but that they positively reinforce each other.

I am currently wrting a book called "Why Good Mormons Must be Democrats" in which I will explain the above statement in detail. Here on the Blog I plan to offer commentary on items in the daily news and whatnot. We'll see if I have anything to say worth reading!