Well, "our Emperor" is perhaps naive. He's not, however an exhibitionist.

Hey Bod,

I tried that when I first started posting to this site, and got chastised for spouting "Hallmark Crap", your words if I remember right. I agree with you that both sides have their people with faults, but on a Right Wing website, the fault often falls on the Left, with no recrimination of the right, so excuse me if I point out that YOUR emperor has no clothes.

"Don't you think that the 'Jesusland' map is a bit funny, or are you screwed on too tight to see the humor?"

Actually, rather than funny, I see it as a bit childish...and revealing.

They see their enemies as cyphers, all of them bigoted enemies, relgious fanatics whose craftiness is only matched by their "life in biblical blinders" naivete.

I say enemies because it's gone far beyond mere "disagreement", beyond "opposition", to a point approximately where the abolitionist fanatics were in the election of 1860, when they were willing to themselves rend the nation of "their guy" didn't win. They spend 20 years by the time Mr. Lincoln showed up alternating between wanting to throw out the Bible and the Constitution because both documents contenanced slavery. We remember the fire-eaters among the pro-slavery crowd, but seldom remember that the abolitionist crowd was at least as fanatic.

Today, we DO have our religious fanatics, but on the other hand have equally (at least) wacky folks on the other side of the spectrum. Unfortuately, both extremes have voices among the glitterati.

Speaking of 1860, I DO think it amusing this talk of emigrating and seceeding, becoming "southern Canada", etc. As a fellow at the beginning of the first secession event said, let them go. The self-amputating members are all diseased beyond cure, and they're better off not infecting us with their silliness.

You might want to stop harping on the faults of folks on the Right. There're an equal number of faulty people on the Left, in spades, and focusing on damaged people doesn't rebut anything. Focus on what they say, what they propose, not what they are. We're all sinners, after all.

-- B

Bod-

Don't you think that the "Jesusland" map is a bit funny, or are you screwed on too tight to see the humor?

On to other points.

The mastery of the Repub's this election was to take small, insignificant issues and turning them into huge things(not to mention that the Dem's ran one of their weakest canidiates of the original 7). I give you homo marriage, an issue that affects a small segment of the population that managed to get on and defeated on 11 ballots. Thats fine, its a state issue and those states spoke, but that still doesn't mean that its a significant issue. As for the morality of Repubilcans, I give you the poster children for the Right, Jimmy Swaggert(adulterer), Newt Gingrich(ditto), Rush Limbaugh(Junkie extrordanaire), Bill O'Reilly(alledged sex fiend), Dubya(drunk and alledged cokehead), Dr "Im not really a psychologist" Laura(adulterer, posed nude for photoes)....so where is your moral superiority? Why, because you are Christian, because you are Conservative? How many people profess to be Christian, but then you find out that they are embezzling from their job, or beating their wives, or diddling their children. HOW DARE YOU sit up here and lecture people like me, who obey the laws, pay my taxes, and take care of my family, and want the best for my country. That doesn't mean paying lip service to Homeland Security(our chem factories, nuke plants, and ports are woefully unprotected),
or sending other poeples children to die when you don't have the balls to serve yourself. Its time for you "morally superior" individuals to come down off your high horse and get a quick dose of reality, 51% is not mandate, its a lucky break.

Just as an FYI, Dennis Prager has had some GREAT columns, from the Jewish standpoint, on the Hebrew components of "Judeo-Christian morality." Recommended reading for all...

Hmmmm...the Republicans (a by-word for some for Christians) are "dividing" the country...when the homosexual marriage issue is being driven by homosexuals as an "equal rights" issue; when, at the drop of a hat, there's talk of "disenfranchising" minorities; when John Edwards himself spoke of there being two Americas; when, on any given election cycle day, there'll be some Democrat purveying the "politics of envy"; when the Democrats have set themselves up as the "party of color", with a clutch of little brown and black fiefdoms; and when "true believers" amongst the Democratic fold are now talking about secession, emigration or (*yaaaaawn*) voter fraud because they didn't get their way (it's impractical to roll 'round on the carpet and hold your breath, kicking your legs, in a $2000 suit); then you just go ahead and tell me that it's the REPUBLICANS who're dividing America.

Go ahead. I could use a laugh.

-- B

Of course, this post was not to say Jews are (were) an issue in the 2004 Presidential election. It is rather to point out the fitting testimony that a Jew would give regarding that election: morality vs. economics. I find that apropos, in a significant way.

If morality is an issue, then one would expect a Jewish comment...

Tonight Chris Mathews was interviewing Wesley Clark about the election, and sure enough, Clark was lamenting the fact that the Republicans "divided" the country in ways that were very profound and inimical. Republicans did this through morality issues, like abortion and homosexual marriage. Clark was clearly doing exactly what we can expect from the Democrats here on out--to blame the Republicans for morality issues.

The Dems would dare admit that people, particularly women, just felt safer with Bush at the helm. The war or terror issue is what made the difference.

The Dem, however, are going to try and show some kind of superior understanding and wisdom in handling morality issues, just like Clark are others are doing. "Morality should be handled this way, not that way..." etc., as if their understanding of morality is superior.

Clinton said to the Dems, "We need to come to the point that we feel comfortable expressing our convictions." Misericordia! What convictions? that you shouldn't have any convictions?!

Doublespeak is jacked up a notch, as the rhetorical leeches have gone mad in defeat.

Taking things on another tack from a defense of Jews, leftist and otherwise, allow me to say that Jews are hardly the issue.

The ones we need to keep an eye on are the failed Christians. You know the type: squishy or no moral instruction during their upbringing, or whining about too strict an upbringing, who have a visceral hatred of religion in general, Christianity in particular...Islam excepted in some cases.

In short, socialists.

There's a map bouncing around the Internet, which some have said represents a wish by some to remake the US in their own image...to seceed. It shows the "blue" states riven off from the "brutish, homophobic, unenlightened" red states and united with Canada.

The blue states and Canada are labelled "United States of Canada", while the red states are labelled "Jesusland". You can find this map by searching for "jesusland"...or you can go to the first hit I found in doing that, at:

http://www.kenlayne.com/2004/11/jesusland.html

Well...it would seem that there're some who feel betrayed by their fellow citizens, who don't feel as if they can live in "Bush's America" in good conscience, and who wish to emigrate to Canada. Then, there're some wags who wish instead to bring the Canadian border southwards, saving them having to sell their condos.

It's all a matter of maturity...and loyalty, really. There're some around who're only conditionally loyal, the condition being that they get what they want when they want it. That's the maturity part.

-- B