Do not expect Republicans to end abortion

Republicans are not the road to the abolition of abortion. bush junior*, when he wants something, gets people to do his bidding — the Constitution be damned. His campaign to war, and grab power, flouted the Constitution. This is what impeachment is supposed to remedy.

He and his party had no similar press to end abortion. bushjr, in most of his reign, had a subservient Congress and press. The going to war was diagrammed, planned and relentless. No such drive to end abortion. The administration was staffed with incompetent and arrogant criminals, whom completely served the moneyed interests. bush junior followed and pushed his dreams and desires. There were many shills and enablers, in the media, that served his ends.

There is Republican rubbish about judge selection. Does anyone notice, that, these stellar pro-life judges, always, side with the moneyed interests. Now, if they were deficient in the latter, and fervent in the former, would they be selected? Is it Moloch they oppose, or Mammon they support? There is no, specified, fixed, constitutional, number of Supreme Court judges. The number has varied, from six to ten, in the past. When Republican justices stymied Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, he proposed fifteen. They relented. Bush had his way with everything for several years. Abortion was not ended by the court.

I being against abortion, why should I support Republicans? Because they say they are against abortion? They swear an oath, to obey, and defend the Constitution. They lied about that prime legal directive for their office. They say what they say, to garner votes. The status quo, vis-à-vis on abortion, politically benefits them. They do what they will. It is true, and so very sad, that, the majority of Democrats on the federal level, support abortion. Does not logic suggest, that, some do this to garner votes, also? An effort to find Democrats, and recruit Democrats, whom believe in life, may be a better strategy to end abortion.

In Puerto Rico there is one, public hospital that performs abortions. The law permits, medical personnel, conscientious objector status to follow their personal conscience. The number of abortions are less than half, of what they had been, since the nurses have invoked their right. A similar legal right for doctors, to be conscientious objectors, in Italy has, about, 70 % of gynecologists and a slim majority of anesthesiologists refusing to co-öperate with this infliction of death. Do not co-öperate with evil, in any of its forms. There are many things that we should, conscientiously, object to.

If doctors and nurses obey the Hippocratic oath, and their consciences, abortions would be reduced without the force of law. When society finds the practice abhorrent, the lawmakers will follow.
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*Postscriptum: There is an oft repeated, but not in the corporate or mainstream media, and certainly not in the fascist and wingnut media, tale, but, which, was portrayed in the movie, W, of bush junior’s paramour having an abortion arranged by bush senior. The story is there, as was Larry Craig’s perverted proclivities, but has not made a full public exposure. But, gross hypocrisy is, often, hushed up.

Postscriptum: 13 March 2009
The current chairman of the Republican party, Michael Steele, had a lengthy interview with a reporter from GQ, in which he let slip the truth. He may be punished for that. Now, there you have a former catholic seminarian, who is "pro-choice" and welcomes that view in party members.

4th week after Pentecost — Draught of Fishes

Rafaël. Miraculous Draught of Fishes. 1515. London.

AND it came to pass, that when the multitudes pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And going into one of the ships that was Simon's, he desired him to draw back a little from the land. And sitting he taught the multitudes out of the ship. Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon: Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said to him: Master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing: but at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net broke. And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking. Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken. And so were also James and John the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And Jesus saith to Simon: Fear not: from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him. — Luke v. 1-11.

Jesus and the boys are found on the Sea of Tiberias, Sea of Galilee, Lake Genesareth, often. Peter, his brother Andrew, and the brothers John and James are in the fishing business. Jesus changes their catch. People are to be gathered in as were fish, in the past. Now, the picture tells us where in the Gospels we are. Supra, Jesus is in Peter's barque, with the miraculous draught of fish; we are in Luke's Gospel. The draught is the drawing in, the pulling along. If Jesus is on the shore, it is after the Resurrection; we are in John's Gospel. Jesus is the highlight, and not the fish. If everyone is on the shore, or Peter and Andrew are leaving the boat to go, to Jesus, on the shore; then the apostles are being called. If Jesus is asleep on the boat, a storm is coming. And there are other pictures, where Jesus or Peter are walking on the water. This one is not that. Then there is the fish that has a coin in it, which, pays the tax of both Peter and Jesus.

In a fine little book, In Peter's Footsteps, Father Pennington, makes the observation, that, the boys, only, seem to catch fish, when Jesus is about. Peter is called by Jesus to be a disciple, and he is the chief of them, that, call upon us to be disciples.

There, at least, among the Slavs, there are several comical stories of Jesus and his blustery and comical sidekick, Peter. Jesus loved Peter, and Peter, Jesus, but Peter has characteristics of a Sancho Panza. Peter can make us laugh. Peter gave up a few damaged nets and a beat up boat, for the keys of heaven. We are also called.

Peace and Reciprocity in Religious Practice

An acquaintance posed the question, to me, “Is Islam a religion of peace?” He said, that a moslem friend of his, maintains that it certainly is. I am not convinced. I would have to argue to the contrary. History, more than suggests, that its initial spread, beyond Mahomet’s original converts, was done by the sword alone, and has been enforced by the sword. Charles Martel, Don Juan of Austria and Jan Sobieski were preventative agents.

It is not accidental that the Sa’udi flag has a sword and many christian lands and provinces (Greece, Georgia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, England, Scotland, Quebec, Switzerland, Dominican Republic, Iceland) have crosses. To non-christians the cross is a scandal, to christians it is the vehicle of salvation. One can dismiss this as a symbol on cloth. The mohammedan is iconoclastic, against images, yet this one state, that contains Medina and Mecca, chose the sword as an icon. The cross was suffering, passion. The sword is an instrument for killing. It can be said that is making too much of a metaphor. We speak with the symbolism that our words convey. Our words are not physically tangible.

The following is a too, common notice:

Muslims Attack Christians in Indonesia

Madrid, Jun 3, 2008 (CNA).- Muslim extremists who are members of the Islamic Defenders Front recently attacked 200 moderate Christians and Muslims who protested for religious freedom in the Indonesian capital, threatening the protestors with death and attacking them with machetes and sticks. Twelve people were left wounded as the extremists shouted, “Repent or die.”

According to the Spanish daily, “La Razon,” the extremists also attacked children and the elderly who were present at the protest. Between the years 2004 and 2007, Muslim extremist groups and local governments closed 110 churches in Indonesia.

La Razon also pointed to the case of Habiba Kouider, a Muslim convert to Christianity in Algeria who was arrested and sentenced for having copies of the Bible in her possession. In addition to her case, seven other Christians are on trial.

The Spanish daily also denounced that in Egypt, two Catholic Coptic priests were wounded by drive-by gunfire against the Monastery of Abu Fana in the southern region of the country.

It can be said, this is just an aberration. Well, it is a pattern of cascading aberrations, then. It can be said these are the acts of extremists. Well, the vast majority of all people are inactive. Where is the mohammedan Saint Francis, or Gandhi?

Virtually all moslems make the argument, that, they will be peaceful, unless Mahomet or the Koran are insulted. Those two caveats are of sufficient rationale for violence. An insult is subjective and even false claims can be made. However, that may be, it is an avenue of permitted violence.

Mohammedan death penalties are meted out for “un-Islamic behavior”. That is a vague, open and unending list. People are convicted of blasphemy, often on the accusation alone, and mob violence breaks out if the penalty is not severe, the violence is expanded to relatives of the accused. Two hadiths are quoted to justify death for apostasy. Where is the state or the clerical establishment to prevent, discourage and abolish this behavior?

The Vatican calls for reciprocity. Mohammedans share civil rights in the christian west and have religious equality in practice and even in proselytism. How many mohammedan lands tolerate christianity? The Koran allows for this. When is reciprocity spoken by mohammedans? To the contrary, there are only demands that non-mohammedans, in non-mohammedan lands grant or accept increasing demands. If one activist, moslem is in a country, then, he would have, all other people to act as dhimmis.

Mahomet and his followers will never be in full peace with christianity. For its existence, as mormonism and other forms of protestantism, can only make claims of theological legitimacy by falsifying the historical record of christianity. In this country, in a less successful effort, Joseph Smith, likewise, created a new religion.

McCain fears a new Bryan

“If it was simply style, William Jennings Bryan would have been president.”
— John McCain, in USA Today.

Extremely interesting, Bryan was, last, the candidate of the Democracy — a hundred years ago. It was the third time he was so. A comic would immediately think, “McCain remembers?” No, but Bryan must have been negatively evoked by those whom raised John McCain.

Bryan was an anti-imperialist and anti-war man. Such ideas are directly contrary to Republican military circles. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone.* Panama had been part of Colombia, and the United States government was active in its “independence” from Colombia, and then carved out the Zone for a 99 year lease. Bryan opposed Theodore Roosevelt’s imperialism. That Roosevelt was considered a maverick within the Republican party, and that is why he was put as McKinley’s vice-president, where he could do nothing. History and fate intervened, when McKinley was assassinated in 1901. Roosevelt was president for nearly eight years. In 1912 he left that party and ran as a Progressive for president. Wilson won and Bryan, for a time, was Secretary of State.

I would suppose McCain, and his family and their friends, adored Teddy and disliked Bryan. Bryan was the best orator of his day. His “Cross of Gold ” speech won the convention for him in 1896, he was 36 at the time. The parallel is being acknowledged by McCain, he knows something of history, unlike bushjr, although it may not be a good tactical move. Bryan was the candidate in ’96 of a dozen or so parties, and William Hanna used a huge war chest, and every dirty trick available, to take the election for McKinley. It is interesting to note, that, Hanna is a hero to Karl Rove.

A little while ago, Obama spoke at the convention of the Democracy, and people saw he was a candidate to come; as earlier, when Cuomo gave a convention speech, and in between; William Jefferson Clinton attempted a good speech, to get notice, and gave a long, windy and boring one. It was so bad that Johnny Carson needled Clinton so strongly, that, in a spirit of graciousness, he had Clinton and, I think, his saxophone on the show. That was Clinton’s first national reconciliation and his campaign was on again.

William Jennings Bryan had plenty of substance. Herbert Hoover remarked, of the good Roosevelt, that the New Deal was simply Bryanism.† The play and the movie of “Inherit the Wind” has blackened and ridiculed Bryan. If one were to actually read Bryan’s undelivered speech‡, that Darrow manœuvred not to be spoken, they would see how evil the use of darwinism is, when, it is used to govern human society. Bryan saw that such a system, were it to be used, in Germany specifically, would bring something much like Hitlerism!
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noto bene: At the Cleveland Rock and Roll Museum, there is an audio loop taken from an early phonographic record, that is, of the voice of Bryan speaking on a piece of railroad legislation.
*McCain’s father and grandfather were admirals. McCain had been the navy’s liaison to the Senate.
†“Bryanism under new words and methods”. See: A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan, by Michael Kazin, perhaps also, Party Ideologies in America, 1828-1996 by John Gerring.
‡see my post of 4 September 2007.

Christian Duty and This War

"What the world expects of Christians is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear, and that they should voice their condemnation in such a way that never a doubt, never the slightest doubt, could rise in the heart of the simplest man. That they should get away from the abstraction and confront the blood-stained face history has taken on today." -- Albert Camus

I used the above, in three consecutive essays, in November. It is still at point devis. In towns and burgs throughout America, there are events of sadness and protest of this illegitimate war, now turned into an occupation, that bush junior is the author to. The corporate media, national and local, has censored this by malignant ignoring. This ignorance is then passed on to the public. When McCain or bush address the war of occupation, the media presents their words. We who want an end to it, and peace, are invisible outside of our own cognizance.

The bishops of this country may get an audience. They have not sought it. There were german clerics, some martyred, who spoke against the german war program and pogroms of the last world war. Here in bush’s America, they do not face the camps or the guillotine, and yet, they are more silent. I know of a few american priests who have spoken and written against the war. I do not know of an episcopal critic.

Robert Finn, the archbishop of Kansas City, spoke at a Republican event, advertised as Catholic, in the capital, in April. Did he speak out on this Godless war of occupation? McCain, John Roberts, bush junior, General Pace, Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, Bishop John Smith of Trenton, New Jersey, Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington, Virginia were there. Political, military, and governmental Republicans met together. Did anyone speak of the Prince of Peace and how this country is not imitating Him, in this important regard?

It seems, that our national episcopate, are struck with bureaucratic timidity and not with prophetic courage on all the issues incumbent upon them. They are making a habit of it. Of the little latin, that, people remember from the old mass, they must remember: Pax vobiscum, and Et cum spiritu tuo.

Bobby wins California and South Dakota

What was to be a victory party became a wake. Robert Kennedy, on the day that ended, Tuesday 4 June 1968, had won two state primaries. The big state of California, in which chicanos, negroes and the young voted for JFK’s brother, and the birth state of HHH voted Kennedy. There were thirteen primaries that year. The convention was to be held in Chicago, Illinois, and the mayor, Richard Daley was an ally. Daley ran, perhaps, the last party machine, and he might deliver Illinois. Then, disaster hit. The country changed for the far worse. We are still living in that wake.

Sinae Annus Memorabilis

Many commentators on history look at certain years as years of significant tumult and turmoil. 1968 was one, a more recent one was 1989, the fall of european communism and the intransigence of Sino-commuism. In Europe they fell like dominoes and in an accelerating pace. Almost by a märchen formulæ 10 years it took in Poland, 10 months in East Germany, 10 weeks in Hungary, 10 days in Czechoslovakia and 10 seconds in Romania. Bulgaria just quit.

Reagan was out of office and in advancing senility. Lee Atwater, and the Republican party slime and sludge machine, extended his third term to the first George Bush, whom was quite slow in realisation of the world’s unfolding drama, but soon Republicans gave all credit, for the fall of communism, to Ronnie Reagan. It was an european event produced by the people themselves.

In China communism had been changing. The apparatus of state was firmly in the grasp of the party and the coterie of men whom ran the party. Capitalism and the desire for wealth was melded into communism, an unification of godless materialism with the brutality that entails. The military might was controlled by the state and the party, which differ only in paper drawing.

In the first few minutes, of the 4th of June, a military slaughter began in Tiananmen Square, Beijing *(Peking, Peiping). There was an incipient movement beginning in Beijing and also in Chengdu (capital of the Szechuan province). Peaceful dissent and free speech was thoroughly and brutally crushed. The next day, in a most brilliant moment, a young man carrying a shopping bag stopped a column of tanks. Truly, a rememberable , remarkable and uttering inspiring moment, that lasted only a moment. There he stood undaunted and the military paused and the moment was gone. His fate is unknown to us.

Was there a chance that a democratic air would flow in China? The chinese communists have embraced capitalism. Propaganda, in this country, has linked democracy with capitalism as virtual synonyms. The chinese, the largest population and a growing power have shown how, absolutely, false that is.

When I was first introduced to the internet ether, I found this iconic photo on a Vatican site, available as a poster:
This year, the chinese have cracked down on the tibetans and have spoken in a unity about the nefarious Dalai Lama. No sensible person believes in that campaign. The chinese want to project a grand face. They have a great desire to display the Olympics as a triumph of China, and one triumph of many. In 1936 the Olympics was used this way in Berlin, Germany. The torch run was to bring the pagan aryan glory through the, soon to be conquered, lands to the modern teutonic glory. The trek for China has been scuttled by protest.

Now a great and continuing, natural catastrophe is shaking the ground, literally, in Sichuan (Szechwan). The chinese government is being uncharacteristically open with reporting and some people are voicing their minds. Is this year going to be a year of annus horribilis or annus memorabilis for China.
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*The spelling of chinese words, into english, has been done in several (at least three) systems. Who knows what form is accepted to-morrow.