The Audicity of Hope DELIVERED!!!

The Audacity of Hope. What a week for Decency. Next week, the conservative attack on decency begins. Hopefully, media collusion will not be a part of the equation. This is the time for people not to let their guard down.

Healthcare is not a Right according to Wall Street Journal and Fox News

I watched with interest a discussion on Fox News regarding Healthcare. The debate was centered on the issue of, "Is Healthcare a Right or Privledge?" The debate involved the head of the Wall Street Journal and a Fox News Commentator. (Fair and Balanced?) As I expected, with any debate on Fox, the commentator adamantly claimed that no where in the Constitution, does it say that Healthcare is a Right. This whole argument lacks any merit.
Beware intellectual debates involving the Bible or Constitution because often, conservatives use quotes only in their context. The Bible and Constitution are evolutionary documents (I know that term stinks of irony.) If they were meant to be seen literally instead of figuratively, then lets count blacks as 3/5ths as a person like the original Constitution says. While we are at it, people should be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction, after all, they have the right to bear arms. In fact, Iran has the right to have Nuclear Weapons according to our original Constitution. Ron Paul and conservative Republicans would agree that our Constitution strictly forbids us policeing the world as a Foreign Policy.
FDR called healthcare a right almost 80 years ago. Conservatives have successfully used the Constitution to argue that it is not a right. It is time to create a new reality.

Saddleback Disgrace

How our media missed the real story of the Saddleback conversations with McCain and Obama. Yes, McCain was well rehearsed. That was evident to anyone who watched the program. I was bothered by the questions. It was brave of Obama to attend a national question and answer program anchored by a right leaning pastor. I wonder if McCain would attend a Planned Parenthood debate format? My guess is not.
American audiences have a tough time disseminating information. When a Pastor asks, "do you believe in evil?" and the candidate responds, "yes" and begins the usual rhetoric about Osama Bin Laden, then one has to wonder. Will the Pastor compare the lives lost on 9/11 - roughly 3000 to the 600.000 lives lost since then to American Aggression? Will he pose the question in context. He did not. Where was the response by the media to question the legitimacy of such a format?
Christians should be ashamed of this Pastor's lack of doctrinal analysis into thou shall not kill. Instead, I get a sense that they embrace his format. This is the challenge of 08 that fails to get media attention.
When will we embrace a format the digs deeper into human decency?

Political Affairs and Media Manipulation

Here we go again. I am so disgusted by the John Edwards coverage. I understand he made a horrible choice. Yet this is a private matter. This is used by the Republicans to distort our attention. Ever wonder how John McCain met his wife Cindy. Check out the new post in Media Bias called "Political Affairs." Interesting how we react to what we are told versus reality.

The School Shopping List - Mercy Me.

The one chapter in my book that is timely this time of year is "The Dreaded School Shopping List." It is the little inequities we create as a society that have long term consequences. It is good to see that Wal Mart and Staples have turned back to school into a profit making scheme. Yet do we understand decency and how the free market model impacts schools? My shopping list for my daughter is at least $120.00 this year. How with the high cost of gas will parents be able to afford such amenities?
Some of this years items are Toilet paper and tissues. Is this the 1930's? Think about the impact on student's from less affluent homes and ask yourself, "How did we get into this mess?"