While perusing the web today, I stumbled upon these two articles that really scared the hell out of me.  I think every right-leaning Independent and every Republican should read these.  So please share them with whomever you know:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_09/025622.php

Right around the time President Obama was presenting his vision for the economy at a White House press conference, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), the vice chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, spoke to disgraced lobbyist Ralph Reed's right-wing confab, and offered a vision of his own.

If Republicans take back the House, Westmoreland said, they would use their new majority to force a budget battle akin to the fight staged by former Speaker Newt Gingrich with President Clinton and shut down the federal government. Westmoreland cautioned that he was fully aware that such a move would close down hospitals for veterans and shut down National Parks. But, Westmoreland argued that taking down the government is worth "the pain" because health reform and government programs are like a "gangrene" that "need to be cleaned out."

I mention this for two reasons. The first is that the mainstream American electorate probably has no idea just how radical the Republican agenda would be next year. By one credible estimate, the GOP now has about a two-in-three chance of claiming a House majority, and it's very likely that much of the country will ask themselves, in early 2011, "Wait, we voted for what?"

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_09/025619.php

.... At yesterday's White House press conference, Bloomberg reporter Hans Nichols asked President Obama about the likelihood of appointing Elizabeth Warren to the new consumer financial protection bureau. The president certainly seemed to be leaning in that direction. Nichols followed up, asking if Obama's concerned about the Senate confirmation process.

"I'm concerned about all Senate confirmations these days," the president responded. When the reporter chuckled, Obama added, "Hans, I wasn't trying to be funny. I am concerned about all Senate nominations these days."

What the heck - show these two stories to your left-leaning friends, your fellow Democrats, too.  Be sure they all understand why it is to important we get out and vote this year.  If you can volunteer for a local campaign, or make donations to one (or several),  that's even better.  But please, send these articles around so that everyone you know understands what we're up against.

Cross-posted at http://onceuponatpm.wordpress.com/

...when the fuck does this place fall down, anyway? 

Hee.  Okay, my last post here, for now, I think....but we've been saying this for a week.  All night.  And we're still here.

Whether or not we are still here tomorrow, WE ARE STILL HERE in life beyond the Readers' Posts.  And so many of your lives have touched mine, and I can't lose the dashboard and the Readers' Posts page without telling you so.

I am grateful to you all for letting me have a voice here, and for all the friendships formed.  And for all the arguments and the posts that made me learn and think and question what I have learned and about how I think.

We'll all come back here, if Josh allows.  Until then, we all know we have places to go, and people to follow. 

And we all know we have work to do, come tomorrow.

Let's work on keeping Congress intact - mostly Dems.  Let's work on keeping the important things on the front burner.  Let's work on loving one another and helping our fellow man and his causes as well as our own causes.

Let's work on working on ourselves and helping others, and not so much on helping ourselves to whatever's next.

Let's work on love, peace, and understanding.

And VOTING, dammit!!

Vote!

Much love and peace to you all.  Good night.

And, hell, if there was ever a God, I'm sure he's said the same thing too.  I'm sure he'd say, "Chill, people.  But write what you want until I take you away....for a short time, and then land you back on your feet again...when things settle."

The good news is that Josh is working to let us stay here, and that's what counts.  This poem of mine, it's garbage. But, then again, it ain't.

So, um, here's a poem I wrote about two years ago, about two people, tending a garden:

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We haven't done this in a while.

Remember the rules:  Five syllables on the first line, seven on the second, and five on the third.

The right cannot hold
the right is in disarray
Boehner has no plan

That's my contribution.  It's my hope you'll contribute too. 

Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

From Wiki:

At various times in the more than 100 years that have elapsed since the song as we know it was born, particularly during the John F. Kennedy administration, there have been efforts to give "America the Beautiful" legal status either as a national hymn, or as a national anthem equal to, or in place of, "The Star-Spangled Banner", but so far this has not succeeded. Proponents prefer "America the Beautiful" for various reasons, saying it is easier to sing, more melodic, and more adaptable to new orchestrations while still remaining as easily recognizable as "The Star-Spangled Banner." Some prefer "America the Beautiful" over "The Star-Spangled Banner" due to the latter's war-oriented imagery. Others prefer "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the same reason, or for the reason that it does not directly invoke God. While that national dichotomy has stymied any effort at changing the tradition of the national anthem, "America the Beautiful" continues to be held in high esteem by a large number of Americans.
Popularity of the song increased greatly following the September 11, 2001 attacks; at some sporting events it was sung in addition to the traditional singing of the national anthem. During the first taping of the Late Show with David Letterman following the attacks, CBS newsman Dan Rather cried briefly as he quoted the fourth verse.
Ray Charles is credited with the song's most well known rendition in current times (although Elvis Presley had success with it in the 1970s). Charles' recording is very commonly played at major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, and WrestleMania; Charles gave a live performance of the song prior to Super Bowl XXXV, the last Super Bowl played before the September 11 terrorist attacks. He places the third verse first, after which he sings the usual first verse. In the third verse, the author scolds the materialistic and self-serving robber barons of her day, and urges America to live up to its noble ideals and to honor, with both word and deed, the memory of those who died for their country.
Symbolically, Marian Anderson (a noted opera singer of her day) sang a rendition of America on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 after being refused use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of her skin color.
The words of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution can be sung as verses of "America the Beautiful", an appropriate mnemonic for the amendment which in 1868 declared African Americans to be full citizens of the United States.
An all-star version of "America the Beautiful" performed by country music singers Trace Adkins, Billy Dean, Vince Gill, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Toby Keith, Brenda Lee, Lonestar, Martina McBride, Jamie O'Neal, Kenny Rogers and Keith Urban reached #58 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in July 2001. The song re-entered the chart following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
When Richard Nixon visited the People's Republic of China in 1972, this song was played by Chinese as the welcome music. The Chinese characters for United States literally mean "Beautiful Country."
The song is often included in songbooks in a wide variety of religious congregations in the United States.

Just seems to me that our country has lost its bearings, and everything is getting fucked up.  You feel the same?

I think the antidote is to keep talking sense to everyone we know.  Keep trying to talk sense. 

Because there's so much nonsense going around lately. 

Our country, our people, our planet, our every stuff, was made for cooperation.  And lately, we haven't been getting it. ..nor giving it.   Only if we start trying to spread it, will we see it come around.

So please....try to do or be something beautiful. 

Try to keep our every stuff healthy, and here.

Thanks.

Yay!  It's Friday!!  Time to let the hair down, relax some, and have a little fun with friends.

Come chat?

If you don't feel comfortable chatting, just say hi here in comments, and feel free to add your favorite new songs/videos (or old ones).

Also feel free to wish a lil chicken a happy birthday in comments as well. 

I had wanted to write my next post about the book I ordered from our fellow TPM writer Hesham Hassaballa.....I had wanted it to be a book review, as well as a thank you post.  Hesham was kind enough to include a handwritten note to me in my copy of his book after I ordered it through his FaithPen.com site (although, he does that for anyone who buys the book, but still).

For me, religion has always been a deep mystery.  A riddle.  A fairy tale.  A hope.  A curse. 

Something to avoid, and yet something that attracts.  Kind of like a bad boy in leather, I suppose.  But, I digress....

Religion, in my eyes, is unanswerable, unsolvable, and -- depending upon whom you speak to about it -- it's more malleable than my mother's new plastic knee (and Mom's new knee is doing great, thanks....she'll be climbing stairs again in about three weeks if she has her way about it).

Getting down to the nitty gritty, all of those who adhere to religious beliefs tend to agree that prophets came along and shared the message of one god.  Now, just who that one god is, well, that gets kinda fuzzy.

Christians and Muslims actually believe in one God.  Catholics, well, they believe in three, but they like to confuse everything else so I'm gonna discount them, for now.  Native Americans believe in a Spirit (I like this belief the best, by the way) and Buddhists believe in a Middle Path (my second fave).

That's my understanding of world religions, so far, but I obviously have a long way to go.  As most of you know, I'm not a college grad, so all that I've learned of religion so far is self-taught.

Seems to me, though, that all of religion is based upon one golden rule:  Love One Another.

For me, that's usually an easy rule.

I love humankind, I love animals, I love our planet and try to do what's best for all whenever I can (unless I get angry, but even then, I feel like crap the next day and try to make amends).  I believe that what goes around comes around.  From what I understand most religions say that God or his angels keep a tally sheet of our good deeds as well as our bad deeds and, come Judgment Day, we get a wake up call kind of trial wherein we have to be reminded of all our crappiest moments as well as our best, and then accept our punishment or reward depending on what God has decided about us.

Wow, what a busy God.  I hope he has a good Administrative Assistant.  Not to mention a great IT Director.  Shit, I thought Santa was busy keeping lists.  Oy!

Anyway, here's my thoughts on Mosques and everything else under the sun.

A church is a church is a temple is a temple is a mosque is a mosque is a closet is a closet is a community center is a community center is a YMCA is a YMCA is a YWCA is a YWCA is a whatever.

Whatever you pray to, let you pray to it.  Whatever you believe, believe!!  If you want to wear a veil, if you want to wear a cross around your neck in 14K gold, if you want to be a Wiccan or you want to shave your head.....

.....it's your right.

It's YOUR faith, and my understanding of this here country I live in says that no one should mess with your faith or your religion. 

If any state wants to suddenly declare that a mosque is a mosque and that's not the same as a church is a church, well......that state has some answering to do to me, let alone you.

We are all one people, on one earth, and until God declares that America (or any other country) is his and his alone, we are one species on this planet and we all should get along peaceably. 

God dammit.

/gets off soap box
 

When I was three, my parents divorced.  This kind of upset my two older sisters and I.  Well, it upset a lot of people, but, looking back from an adult's point of view into a child's, it just upset us kids the most.

We lost our foundation.  All the grandparents, on both sides, rushed in to help, as did so many others.  And, eventually, we got through it.  But to say that there are no scars left would be ridiculous.

My ability to trust others, even loved ones, was shaken.  My feeling of safety and security in daily routines was forever disrupted.  My inner sense of worth was constantly questioned.  And that's just me.  My sisters have their issues as well.  We each handle them differently, but we have our issues.  My father's subsequent daughters do too.

Because of this, there was, in my family, throughout the years, a lot of talk.

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Dick and I were just chatting tonight about Avalon. Not only the excellent Roxy Music song and album, but of course Avalon and the Arthurian legends. The Mists of Avalon (Orlando's favorite book). Viviane, Igraine, Morgause, Morgana, Guinevere, et. al. The apple orchard.

Excalibur the film, somewhat cheesy, was still a very heady and fun film, yes no?

And Roxy Music videos were just as cheesy, but beautiful.

Hey, it's Saturday night and TPM is quiet, just thought I'd toss a few apples out there, hee.

Y'all enjoy the links and have a great weekend.

And thank you, Mr. Day, for inspiring this. 

Chameleon, did he give you my email address like I asked him to?  I told him you sound like someone I could definitely be friends with, and asked him to pass it on to you.

Hobbes, thank you for coming to Chat that night and letting us all get to know you.  Good luck this coming year with your studies.  As I said, I think you're going places.

Lars, I always appreciate your comments at DC and am now following you.

Rider, same to you but you comment so much I can't follow you because you clog up my dashboard.

Ruta, nowhere in Marinus' invitation to the bar in Malibu did he mention any ill intent towards you, as you are very well aware.  He simply invited you to talk to him in person.  Scream in his face, is how he put it.  Seeing as how you are addicted to the Bold and Italic buttons in Movable Type, I can see where someone could read your posts in a screaming tone if read aloud.

Quinn and Gasket and others, you all read way too much into that interaction.

Wendy Davis, please don't psychoanalyze me and comment about my being in love with uniforms or anything else.  You don't know me and never will.  

Bwak, I apologize profusely for jumping into the thread without reading all the comments from the top.  You were absolutely right to call me out on that.  And I am sorry.  

To those who were offended by Marinus' language, I'm not going to apologize for him, nor should I have to defend my friendship with him.  I can be friends with whomever I damn please and don't need anyone at some internet website judging me for my heart.

Okay, I feel better now.

A few weeks ago, maybe it was a month ago...another former Republican and I in the Cafe were told that perhaps we are too used to the Republican ways to be real Democrats.

We're too used to following our party lock step.

I cannot tell you how much that hurt me.

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With guitar!!!!!!!

Marinus and anyone else awake and on the PC, come join us in Chat.

It's always fun to meet new people.

Okay, first, before God and Job, and jobs....there's cats.

Cats don't trust easily.  I had a feral cat named Jupiter that used to jump into my lap every night when I got home from work, and stick his nose into mine, and demand kisses.  My ex-BF used to be jealous.  But then I found out that the ex-BF used to shoot rubber bands at Jupiter when I wasn't looking.  For no reason at all, except for target practice, or kicks.

That's why the ex-BF is an ex-BF.

But that's beside the point.

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This weekend I drove up to PA to celebrate the birthdays of my mother and my 10-year-old niece.  I got to visit with my two sisters and my mother and my niece - and for a brief time, my nephew.  During the visit, we invariably got to discussing politics, because my family is pretty interested in politics.  We don't always agree, of course, but we do love to talk.

We all came to the agreement that Washington is too deeply entrenched in special interests, money, and power.  It was harder, however, to come up with any answers.  My one sister made a great comment about how she wants to start her own party, perhaps calling it the Piece Party.  She'd take pieces from the Dems here, pieces from the Libertarians there, pieces from the Green Party, pieces from the Republican party, that make sense.  Everything else will be tossed.

We all found ourselves agreeing on which pieces to save, and what we want to see.  Problem is, it ain't gonna happen.

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Went into Manhattan yesterday.  Met a new and now beloved friend.  Attended Paul Winter's Summer Solstice concert with my new friend at 4 fucking 30 in the morning, amen.

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