A mixed bag today

Just so you know that Wall Street is not the only recipient of bail-out $ that seemingly fails to understand just why US taxpayer dollars are being given to them. GM is going to use $1 billion in Brazil with the money coming from the financial aid package from us. That's right you and I are going to send $1 billion dollars to Brazil. It is not, apparently, going to be used in the US of A.


Well, my gentle snowflakes, here is where the next financial bust is going to come from...the same people who gave you the current mess are re-grouping/re-forming/changing their coats and coming after the fast, easy money again--at the expense of the poor, of course.


Oh, my, inspiring words from Jim Hightower to make us all feel better. He makes the point about this nation being born from progressive liberalism. An idea usually missed or completely ignored by the base conservatives when they wrap themselves in the mantle of the founding fathers. These men (the founding fathers) were prepared to lose their lives and property just for the idea of freedom. REMEMBER, the conservatives during the American Revolution were all Tories on the side of England. We would not be this country were it not for daring, progressive minded folk.


And, now, for a RANT. You have been warned and need read no further.

Matthew, 25:31-46, New Testament

Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, `Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, `You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Contained in this one passage is a straight forward condemnation of both the political policy and practice of those who claim the mantle of conservative 'Christian.'

You can look long and hard, high and low, at political conservatives and you won’t find much that fulfills these requirements for avoiding eternal damnation. There is virtually not a single point of these requirements which are adequately fulfilled by the conservatives' programs. The hungry, the sick, the ill clothed, the alien, the prisoner, all are abandoned, ignored. There is no way to square conservative political actions on nutrition programs, universal health care, immigration and certainly not on prison policy, with these life guidelines laid out by Jesus.

Conservative ‘Christians’ never tire of condemning other people to eternal damnation citing “Jesus Christ” as their authority. But in this one passage, we’ve got Jesus--no one else--stating absolutely what he expects of those who purport to follow him. And notice, not a single mention of abortion, gay sex, contraception or wealth redistribution as mortal sin.