Sermon on Courage, Work, and Assurance
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Category Archives: Politics
National Health Care
Much of the fuss over The Patience Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) could have been avoided by a genuine national health care system. The insurance industry is still running the show and doing very well by it. The debacle is NOT about national health care. It’s over a hybrid.
Real national health care is an expression of democracy (“government of, by, and for the people” – ALL the people), not its enemy. Built on the foundation of the old private insurance company system, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was destined from its inception to be a mess.
Do I hear a “Yes!”? A “No!”? A yawn?
Boogie-Man Politics
Senator Ted Cruz
So which is it? Sometimes you paint the President as a Communist. Sometimes you paint him as a Fascist. You can’t have it both ways, Senator. Hitler was a Fascist. Stalin was a Communist. Obama is neither. Somehow the three have been mixed together into a political Molotov Cocktail. It’s reported this morning that a huge crowd in Iowa gave Senator Cruz an enthusiastic 36-second standing ovation.
Is it a coincidence that the President he loves to smear is black? Boogie-Man politics has a sordid history in this country.
Those whose memories are longer see the sneer of former Senator Joseph McCarthy on the faces of those who, like him, use innuendo and character assassination to destroy public figures and elected officials who do not agree that a Right Wing agenda is the definition of “American.” The arrogant sneer always looks the same. Because it is the same.
Paul Robeson testifying,
SOURCE: AP/Bill Achatz
“You are the Un-Americans, and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
Music like this gives me hope. The music director’s introduction and the piece itself speak of the non-violent battle of resistance against the forces that disenfranchise in our own time, as well as in the time the song was first sung. I need this.
Thanks to the Chaska Herald for additional publicity for this Saturday’s celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the ongoing spirit of emancipation. Click HERE for the story. Emancipation Day Celebration, this Saturday, Oct. 26, with guest artists, Dennis Spears, Momoh Freeman, Jerry Steele, and the Chaska High School Choir.
Let my people go – Paul Robeson
Click HERE to read Paul Robeson’s testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956. With courage, he shamed the Congressional committee that sought to shame him. “You are the Un-Americans, and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
Not to be further shamed, the Chairman adjourned the Committee.
The Slaves Speak to Our Time
The voice of Frederick Douglass:
Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false in the future.
– Rochester, NY, July 4, 1852
Sojourner Truth
The evening will begin with Odetta singing “I been ‘buked and I been scorned” and move into the spoken words of 101 year-old ex-slave Fountain Hughes, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman (“Moses”), and Langston Hughes (“The Freedom Train”) portrayed by local residents Yvette Atkinson and Ray Pleasant in dramatic readings.
Group singing of the music that kept hope alive: There is a balm in Gilead, O Freedom, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and Go Down, Moses!
Questions to be discussed by participants:
Frederick Douglass
Who/what are the new owners of human property?
Who are the new slaves?
Where is the spirit of emancipation moving today in the U.S.A.? Continue reading
2013 Berlin Wall
Ronald Reagan to Speaker John Boehner:
“Mr. Boehner,
tear
down
this
wall!”
The Wisdom of Solomon and the Budget Crisis
Today we re-publish this piece from a similar budget show-down in Minnesota.
The Wisdom of Solomon and the Budget Crisis – social commentary published by Minneapolis Star Tribune.
- Photo of NH farm gate
Last week I drove past a sign hanging from the fence of a pasture. It read: “Don’t Cross This Field Unless You Can Do It In 9.9 Seconds … The Bull Can Do It In 10.” I couldn’t help but think of the face-off over the debt ceiling in our nation’s capital. The clock is ticking. Soon we — the USA — won’t have time make it across the field without defaulting….
Balm for Cynicism
Friend and colleague John Buchanon posted this piece last night.
Respect and gratitude for our system of government runs deep in me. I certainly have strong political opinions and commitments and understand the partisan dynamic that makes a two party system work. But I also trust the wisdom of voting citizens, ultimately – not always, but ultimately, to make responsible decisions and elect honest, responsible representatives. I have known a few personally over the years and found them to be persons of integrity, high ideals and a strong sense of vocation in the public, political arena.
My respect and gratitude are being tried at the moment. The federal government is about to shut down and we face a looming credit default in the midst of partisan wrangling and name calling, as one party seems willing to risk economic disaster in order to thwart the other party and humiliate the President. I watched in both amusement and disgust as a United…
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Ted Cruz and demagogic innuendo
Notice how it works in this speech attacking President Barack Obama. The President stood, said Ted Cruz, on the EAST side (i.e. the former Communist side) of the Brandenburg Gate. Ted Cruze’s Subtext: “Obama is a Communist.” That’s the 21st Century voice of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
Views from the Edge 