Live & Let Live “Live and let live” is not an absolute. When Dirty Harry challenges his captive with “Make my day” and is counter challenged, then death is the result. If the Maryland snipers resisted arrest there would be no qualms if they were sent off in body bags. So with “let Muslims be Muslims” is prima-facie for religious freedom, yet does not mean they are free to hate, maim or kill. From the Dark Age to the Puritans, let Christians be Christians had to be qualified in face of fatal...

 Globalization has been kicked around lately as it should be what with China trade dominance and NAFTA in shambles. In itself it is a positive because opening up trade routes since ancient times generated civilization. Yet globalization has always been controlled by thugs, such as in the slave trade and the exploitation of much poorer or less advanced countries. This has not really changed. Since China can exploit its own labor by offering western capital an attractive bottom line to produce o...

 Does it make any sense to rebuild Iraq’s schools when millions of kids here are stuck in obscene portable classrooms? And how about the billions for Iraq’s infrastructure when we’re stuck with pre-WWII railways and inner cities?Why is it that Medicare is an exclusive club for the elderly when untold millions of average citizens can’t afford even basic health care, let alone major medical? Compassionate conservative is a misnomer; rather, it is reactionary with a passion. Nowadays liberal ...

 John Nichols’ [The Nation, political magazine] “...Rural Strategy” is dead wrong for presidential candidates. On the contrary, “If they” [the farmers] ”pay serious attention” long enough to recognize their own distorted psyche, perhaps strides toward their interests will be reasserted. Nichols himself admitted that after the FDR improvement of the farmer’s status, the farmer in the 50s went back to his old rugged individualism ways and the Republican party. Of course, the same can be s...

I’m a believer in political dialogue and debate. There comes a time, however, when too much of a good thing must end, such as the over abundance of Democratic candidates. Sharpton and Kucinich have had their say but are going nowhere. As much as I admire Braun’s magnificent reason and balance, there is little hope for her, though surely if one of the candidates should become president, there will be a place for her. Lieberman with his hawkish posture and tendency to swivel at the slightest hin...

With all the violence rampant in the nation, I find it hard to understand why so many people object to gun control. After all, it has nothing to do with the farm lad or lass shooting down crows over a cornfield, but it does target the criminal mind or the ballistic hunter who wants military firepower. I doubt anyone would object to banning over-the-shoulder missiles to shoot down the bald headed eagle! Do we really want to go back to the mentality of slaughtering buffaloes? C’mon, you gun-l...

 We have not been able to close the book on the Civil War in the wake of Confederate flag waving and racism still rampant in all sections of the nation. Nor will the chapter on Affirmative Action be concluded until we finally empathize with those of color and gender. In fact, another chapter on Affirmative Action must be drafted for unskilled workers who must be given every opportunity to better their lot.  There has always been Affirmative Action for the privilege; for it is seldom what you ...

     The Pledge of Allegiance Case, U.S. v. Newdow, is simply a waste of time. School children have been held hostage of this rote exercise since McCarthyism. This is not to say that children shouldn’t show symbolic patriotism on occasion, nor is it so terribly obnoxious to show as an aside of religion once in a while. The flag, however, has no — implicit or explicit — reference to God; it is simply an allegiance to Stars and Stripes, as is the national anthem, and its implicit sacrifice ma...

 Ever since Roosevelt and Truman were shot down in their efforts to institutionalize health care, the US has been wary of “socialized medicine.” That Medicare in itself was passed is owed to JFK — nostalgia and legacy. Slowly, however, the nation is more wary of the monolithic determinism of the AMA, the pharmaceutical industry and insurance companies dictating the terms of health care. They abhorred Medicare because it acted as a check and balance against the laissez-faire profit motive in as...

 Most of us think the stock market is the sole indicator of a good or bad economy. However, with so much investment going overseas, it doesn’t tell the whole story. More important is labor statistics. The top retailier, for instance always seems to lead the pack in job creation, but most of it is part time and roughly at minimum wage, but its greatest impact on creating jobs is abroad by importing tons of foreign made goods. There was a time when buying American was the patriotic thing to ...

Though a full third of the nation is poorly educated are they without common sense, too? -- hardly. Common sense, however, is constantly bombarded with the amoral static and sophistry of the right wing, such as: Every one should be free to pursue the American dream of wealth -- without stating the odds are equivalent to winning the lottery -- let alone the ultimate dream of good health, happiness and helping the less fortunate. Fifty percent of Americans own stock therefore com...

Brad Wardell pointed out in one his recent articles on the character of America, that the federal government is but a small part of governance compared to all that is done on state and local levels. This is not an isolated view among conservatives who still carry the vestige of rugged individualism in their hearts pumping through their veins governmental malnutrition as though the US were just any country advocating the law of power, rather than enlightened, constitutional law. That locals have ...

In the fifties the slogan for Big Business was “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country.” The inference, of course, is that the largest company and employer is bound to have a beneficial effect on the economy in profits, growth, improving wages and growth of the middle class to sustain business activity. Today this economic concept is lost. “What’s good for Wal-Mart is not necessarily good for the country.” For the implication here is that this current largest company and emp...

I was embarrassed during the 2000 campaign when the Democrats kept harping on the soaring DOW, which to the average person means very little since the books are always cooked to suit the whims of the time. The millions of modest stockholders that politicians are always heralding possess a piece of the action by pensions mainly in mutual funds which seem never to rise or fall very much. There are scandals, of course, where a corrupt company cajole employees to invest in their employer, such as ...

Those that see in black and white and ignore the grays make for far easier problem-solving. It is no mystery the Bush ‘03 State of The Union offers to “confound the designs of evil men...our calling,... a blessed country is to make the world better.” It is far simpler to accept the statement at face value than to delve into its grays. A pesky liberal, however, is driven by some weird “noble discontent” and expects clarification:  Is evil confined to al Qaeda or to all evil men in the “axis” a...