The Republican Party Today Is Not The Party Of Eisenhower, Or Sadly, Even Richard Nixon

Sarah Palin did not know what the Bush Doctrine was when she ran for the second highest office in the land. Herman Cain, running for the highest office in the land, does not know that China has had a nuclear arsenal for 45 years.
My great grandfather was a Republican state senator. My grandfather was a Republican county officeholder. My father is a Republican civil engineer. They would be, and are, horrified and disgusted by the Republican Party today.
Being stupid and ignorant is one thing, being proud of being stupid and ignorant is another. Exalting stupidity and ignorance while denigrating intellect and reason is downright moronic. But that describes the Republican Party today, a party whose base seems to be the most moronic people in the country.
These Morons, about 20 to 25 percent of the population, used to vote Democratic. They were opposed to equal rights for women. They were opposed to equal rights for people of color (is that what you're supposed to say today? It changes every five minutes). They were opposed to desegregation. They were opposed to equal rights for immigrants (especially the Irish).

Beginning with Richard Nixon, a lot of things began with Richard Nixon, the Republican Party started courting the Morons. They took over the country in 1980 with one of their own, Ronald Reagan. Reagan's IQ didn't register when he was living but goes up every year now that he's dead.
Fast forward to 2000, when a former alcoholic and cocaine addicted bike riding Ivy League cheerleader, nicknamed 'Dubya' especially for the Morons, became president. Americans like genial idiots. It's the Forrest Gump thing.
When I worked in the newspaper business most people assumed I was a Democrat because they were. When I accepted a job working for Republican Agricultural Commissioner Cleve Benedict, many of my colleagues jokingly called me a traitor. They didn't know my background.
I'm proud of being a Republican. America is a republic, not a democracy. It matters to get that right. I liked and admired William Buckley. He was not a Moron. In 1974, I defended Richard Nixon. I knew then, and it has since been demonstrated, that Watergate was a CIA setup. Richard Nixon was many things, but he was not a Moron. He was a Quaker.
My speculation is that in the 1960s, after getting rid of JFK, the GOP leadership decided to go for the Moron Vote. They have been successful. The Democrats, with most minorities continuing to vote for them, have remained competitive. Have I pointed out that most of the Moron Vote is white?
The Republican Party used to be the country club elites, dispensing wisdom to the unwashed masses. This wisdom was usually ignored. Today, these elites have conspired with the Morons to destroy the middle class in America. The middle class will never recover.
I can't figure out why the country club elites decided to turn on the middle class. It is obvious they have done so. In response to the Occupy Wall Street movement, I have to say income disparity in this country is a failure of our republic (reread the preamble to the constitution, please).
I don't blame the Morons. I blame those who have manipulated them. I blame those who keep putting forward the Sarah Palins and Herman Cains as their mouthpieces. They have ruined this once great country.

An Insider's Take on Corporate America's Decline

At least once a year I trek to Blacksburg, Virginia, where I grew up and some family still resides. I make a point of visiting a friend from my parent's church who retired to Blacksburg in the 1990s. He served in WWII, helping perform autopsies for the Army Medical Corp. After the war, he went to college on the GI Bill and became a chemical engineer.
He was a pioneer in computer programming for oil refineries, using emerging technologies to modernize the way refineries produced oil and other petroleum products. He recalled that in the 1940s and 1950s the CEOs of the giant oil companies (he worked for two in his career) were gentlemen who treated their employees with dignity and respect. They also didn't make outrageous salaries or bonuses.

In the 1960s, he remarked that the CEOs started coming from Ivy League business schools (rather than working their way up the ladder in the industry). They were primarily lawyers and accountants.
In his own inimitable style (he's from Texas) he called them a 'bunch of bastards' that didn't know anything about how to run a refinery. They were only interested in making money. By the time he retired in the 1990s, he considered the oil industry hopelessly inept and stupidly managed. He has especially harsh words for BP, a company that had been cutting corners and ignoring the advice of engineers for decades.
The statistics bear out his personal experience.
At the beginning of the 1960s, average CEO pay was 10-11 times that of the average worker. During the Bush administration, 2000-2008, it rose to 319 times. The Bush family oil companies are a good example of competently run businesses in the 40s and 50s ruined by an Ivy Leaguer coming out in the 1960s.
My friend worked directly with vice presidents and CEOs. He had insider's knowledge. I take his perspective seriously. It is more informed and more knowledgeable than what you will find in the media, where bobble-head dolls mouth talking points and play cutesy with each other.
I encourage people to seek out those in this generation (those who started working in the 40s) and ask them what changes they have seen in their lifetimes. It's chilling. What kind of stories will we be telling in 30 years? Will we be proud of this generation of CEOs? Don't think so. They're a 'bunch of bastards.'

Why I Am Not A Protester

I am not a protester. I do not join protests. I do not pick up signs and walk picket lines. I do not chant slogans. Not because I don't agree with some of the positions espoused in picket lines, but because I think protesting primarily is intended to make protesters feel good about themselves.
I do not have a 'Spartacus complex.' I theorize the 'powers that be' encourage protest movements to get those who disagree with them in one place so they can subdue them. And then they crucify them and line the Appian Way with their crosses.
I do not have a 'Martyr complex.' I do not feel a need to be dead like Jesus or Gandhi. People die every day for causes they have been manipulated emotionally into believing are worth dying for.
Throughout human history one percent of the people have controlled everything. It has always been thus and always will be. No amount of chanting slogans, carrying signs and camping out is ever going to change that.
The rich and powerful do not care if you protest. They do not care if you call them names. They can not be shamed, because they have no shame. You cannot appeal to their better natures because they have no better natures. The people who run the world are cold-blooded, ruthless, soulless entities that are far more intelligent than we will ever be.
It is also clear that these powerful people rule through puppets (our elected officials) who are brain-dead stupid but do what they are told. The president of the U.S. or the Prime Minister of Britain is far more worried about what their masters will do to them if they don't obey than they are whether some peasants are carrying pitchforks.

Let's look at American history. This country was founded by spoiled rich kids who had no future in Europe because of certain hereditary laws (mainly primogenitor) and wanted to make a fortune overseas. Don't take my word for this. Do some research on the land grants given to these wealthy families in the colonies.
For example, a young George Washington got paid to survey the immense lands in Virginia granted to Lord Fairfax.
Because these spoiled rich kids didn't get their hands dirty, they needed cheap labor to accompany them to the colonies. Do you see where this is going? What started with indentured servants was bound to end in a system of slavery because the people in charge were primarily interested in cheap labor (think immigration policy today).
The Constitution, or Scripture for Rich People, institutionalized the money making machine for these spoiled rich kids (glamorized today as Founding Fathers, most of them were horse's arses). Which is why to this day, the toadies for the wealthy genuflect before the constitution and get all weepy.
To keep the peasants from storming the castles, a variety of methods have been employed. 'Divide and Conquer' works very well. So does 'Deflect and Distract.' When those methods fail, the legal system is used to snuff out discontent or rebellion.
The 'Occupy Wall Street' movement will not suceed. It will fail. Those who have power will not give up power. Those who have wealth will not share it. If leaders emerge form the movement, they will be co-opted. If they can not be bought, they will be eliminated.
The only change is going to come from those who have power. What makes FDR so astonishing and remarkable is that he came from the privileged class. He did not obey his masters. I do not know why. Maybe because of his experience with polio. For reasons we may never know, FDR promoted policies that showed concern for the welfare of those who were not descendents of the rich families who founded this country. Ever since FDR, the spoiled rich kids have been trying to overturn FDR's New Deal.
Another anamoly is LBJ's Great Society. LBJ was put in power by those who thought it necessary to nip JFK's policies in the bud. (what is it with these initials?) LBJ backfired on them. He gave the 'Masters of War' (Bob Dylan's words) the war profits they wanted, but his social policies were too-FDR like. LBJ had to go.

In comes Nixon, setting the stage for the genial puppet of the wealthy, B-movie actor Ronald Winston Reagan (or 6-6-6 as Bill Hicks pointed out). Like fellow actor Roddy McDowell, Reagan was most known for a movie that had a chimp in it. And with the genial 'aw-shucks' Ronny as lead puppet (check out the British puppet show Spitting Image), the assault on FDR's policies began in earnest. The attacks continued through the Bush/Clinton/Bush years.
My liberal friends who thought Obama would be another FDR or JFK have been profoundly disappointed. It matters not who the president is, any more than it mattered who the prime minister was in the Harry Potter books. The muggles are not in charge. Never have been, never will be.

Time To Grow Up, America

The level of political discourse in America has become increasingly juvenile. As our problems escalate, as people lose their benefits, their jobs, and their homes we call each other names and yell at each other. How is this working out?
New Jersey Star-Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine, a conservative and libertarian, wrote recently about what he would do if he were in charge. He would make sure that  "anyone who tries to be witty by using terms like "Dimmocraps" or "Repuglicans" or by calling the New York Times "The New York Slimes" or calling current president "Obummer" or "Nobama" or some variant thereof" would be publicly humiliated.
Those who make the following statements would also be publicly ridiculed:

• Any invocation of children. "We must do this for the sake of the children.The children are our future."
• Any promise to balance a budget by targeting "waste, fraud and abuse."
• A double-dunking for anyone who compares a political opponent to Hitler.

Let's be real for a few moments, if you would be so kind. Let's talk about pensions. When my dad retired as a university professor he was making a six-figure salary. His retirement income exceeds 50K a year. After attending seminary, if I had decided to work as a minister, I would have earned 25K.
Put aside that would be around one-fourth of the income my dad made. Think instead about the 50K pension. Who is going to pay for it? If I'm earning 25K, I'm probably not paying much in taxes.
When you add up the taxes all my brothers and sisters are paying, we're still not close to 50K. Again, who is going to pay for my dad's retirement?
Extrapolate this throughout the country where a lot of people who made decent bank during the 60s and 70s and are now retired are drawing decent pensions. Who is paying for this when their children aren't even making half of what their parents did? When tax rates have plummeted since the 1970s?

Putting aside political rhetoric, if you could see your way clear to, let's discuss possible solutions. One, we could cut pensions. Two, we could raise taxes. These are not the only options, however.

But given how juvenile our political discussion has become, this is all you hear in the media. Raising wages without raising taxes would bring in more revenue as people climb into higher tax brackets. Creating more jobs, lowering unemployment in conjunction with this would create even more revenue.
When the housing crisis hit, I wondered why the banks were the ones who were bailed out. It made more sense to me to bail out homeowners.
I thought owning a home was part of the American dream. Isn't it the government's job to help Americans achieve the American dream?
If the billions of dollars handed out to the banks were instead given to homeowners as mortgage subsidies, people could have made their payments and kept their homes. And guess what? The banks would have continued to receive mortgage payments. They wouldn't have failed and people could have kept their homes.
That this option wasn't even discussed by Democrats and Republicans confirmed that they don't care about working America or average Americans. They don't care at all. THEY DON'T CARE AT ALL!
The growing protest in Manhattan called 'Occupy Wall Street' is based upon this growing realization that neither political party cares about average Americans.
But turn on the telly and what do you hear? Political pundits calling the protesters names. It didn't take long for some commentators to bring out the Hitler and Nazi metaphors. Grow up, already. We are all adults here. Let's start acting like adults.

Dealing With Death, Grief and Loss - Every Day We Write the Book

When my mother died and I checked the paper to read her obit, I also read every other obit. I did it to remind myself that I wasn't the only one who lost a mother that day. Every obit in the paper that day, and every day, was a reminder that all of us lose those we love. We lose parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents and children.
None of us are exempt. We are all affected. And some day, we will all die. Maybe not on the same day, as so many seem to want.
When I was training to be a minister I spent a summer visiting seriously ill people with the senior minister of our church. The senior minister had suffered great tragedies himself. His sister was raped, tortured and murdered.
After a month of meeting with people, offering comfort and prayer, he shared with me how much it amazed him that people faced with imminent death chose not to talk about it, preferring reciting worn out cliches and vague niceties.
Maybe because his sister died so horribly and suddenly, he appreciated being given the time to reflect and prepare. He knew first-hand that not everybody gets to say goodbye.
My mother died within a week after suffering a stroke that took away her ability to speak. But we could, and we did, say goodbye. She died surrounded by her husband and six children. We understood we were fortunate to be able to say goodbye.
Every day, I look at the obits. I don't read them all, there are so many it would take all day. But  it reminds me that the human condition is to be born, to live and to die. My understanding now in middle age is that these categories are not as separate and distinct as I once believed them to be.
Being born, living and dying are a continual state of being. They are actually aspects of the same condition, occurring simultaneously. Every once in a while, I get paid to talk about the afterlife. I mix Mark Twain, the Bible, quantum physics, personal experience and anecdotes to arrive at conclusions that go beyond cliches and generalizations.
Afterwards, I enjoy hearing other people's experiences. Every one has their own views on what the afterlife is, or if it even exists. This indicates to me that people who allow only one perspective are most likely incorrect.
In late June, my dad and his wife visited us for our son's graduation. On the last day of their visit, my dad received news from his doctor that he needed surgery, it looked like he had a spot on his pancreas. His surgery revealed the cancer was so widespread it was inoperable. He is now receiving hospice care at home.
Sadly, his older brother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer several months ago. My aunt and uncle, my cousins and their families are in my thoughts and my tears.
I understand I am not alone in my grief. Last week, Linda and I were invited to a friend of our son's 'going away to college' party. Earlier in the summer, they lost a family member in his 40's without warning. They had two weddings during the summer and they talked about how much it hurt not to have their brother/uncle/friend there.
None of us are spared tragedy. Seems that avoiding it, or not having it, isn't as important as how we cope and how we help others cope.
There are people who can help us. There are nurses, doctors, social workers, hospice workers, ministers and volunteers. The immediate and extended family may be so grief stricken as to be unable to help as much as they would like. Religious communities can be vital in this regard.
I would go so far to say, that given the human condition, this is the greatest service religious communities can provide. Theology is pretty much useless (this is coming from someone who has spent a lifetime studying theology) in helping people cope with grief and loss.
Another reason I look at obits every day is to keep the logistics of death in mind. I realize that it is never all about me. It's about all of us. We are all interconnected, we are all affected by each other. We all need each other. All the time.

Note: The picture is a 'Mandelbrot set' fractal based on a complex quadratic polynomial. It supports the thesis that within defined parameters there are infinite possibilities.

A Few Random Thoughts on Why Rich People Don't Want to Pay Taxes

The latest manufactured crisis/phony/fake melodrama concocted for our distraction is the 'debate' over the debt limit. This phony crisis also has invoked the wrath of the religious right, (i.e. those people who worship manna/money), who chant with the zeal of religious extremists that the wealthiest people in our country should not pay taxes.
This has me thinking, why? When I learned civics in school we were told that taxes are what civilized societies pay to be, well, civilized. Taxes pay for schools, roads, bridges, waste treatment plants, libraries, parks and for our communal defense. Individually, we can't afford these things. Communally, through paying taxes, we can. So why are rich people opposed to paying taxes?
Some reasons may be:
#1 Rich people, through most of history, have never paid taxes.
True. Think of the Dark Ages with the lord sitting in his castle and peasants working the fields. Who paid taxes? Yes, it was the peasants. The lord of the manor owned everything of value, including any woman about to be married (I'm not making this up, in England, the lord could sleep with a bride on her wedding night before the groom could).
In ancient societies, where 98 percent of the people were slaves, did the rich pay taxes? No. Rich people don't think they should EVER have to pay taxes.
#2 Rich people are not human.
I have seen little evidence that rich people are anything other than cold-blooded, ruthless predators that lack compassion and remorse. We are said to have a brain that is part mammal, part reptile. The reptile part is older. Rich people, in my view, are descendants of an earlier humanoid race that is mostly, if not totally, reptilian.
#3 Rich people do not believe in God.
The greatest evidence that God does not exist is that rich people throughout history have behaved as if there is no God.
#4 Rich people think they are gods.
The reason for number #3. Most of the writing of what Protestants call the Old Testament is about rich people who have deluded themselves into believing they are gods. Monotheism is an idea promulgated by a pharaoh in Egypt to consolidate his power and reduce the power of the priesthood that was opposed to him. The Christian version of monotheism (later modified by Islam) was initiated by a Roman emperor who wanted to consolidate his power by merging many religions that existed in the Roman Empire into one.
The gist of this is that rich people, whether they are monarchs or Murdochs, believe that they are gods that are entitled to all the wealth and benefits they receive.
#5 Rich people think most of us are bloody peasants.
Monty Python spoofs this concept savagely in their film 'The Holy Grail,' where King Arthur acts like a horse's ass throughout the film, especially toward people that don't recognize his authority.
#6 The prosperous American middle class of the 1950's and 60's was an anomaly.
This is the most difficult part to understand for those of us born in that period. The America we grew up in did not exist before the 1940s and hasn't existed since 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan. It ain't coming back either. We are going back to feudal times where the vast majority of us live like serfs. A prosperous middle class threatens those on the top of the pyramid. The middle class throughout history has been firmly under the control of the wealthy.
An independent, literate, educated middle class is the greatest threat to the rich. Since 1980, government policies have sought to eliminate whatever the middle class had going for it. To this regard, the rich have been very successful.
#7 Taxes benefit the poorest and most vulnerable members of society.
Rich people don't give a crap about other people. Remember when Enron executives were caught on tape laughing about how many old women would die because they would be unable to afford higher energy costs? They thought it was funny. I'm not making this stuff up!
#8 Rich people have better things to spend their money on than paying taxes.
If rich people paid more in taxes they couldn't afford that 8th Hummer, 5th mansion or all those trips to Thailand to have sex with children.
#9 Rich people are so inbred they no longer have the intellectual abilities to understand their actions are becoming increasingly mutually destructive.

It's a just a matter of time before this planet is no longer able to sustain a high level of life for most humans. Most rich people aren't intelligent enough to care about the environment. If we understand them as reptiles then it becomes apparent that a high quality of life for predominantly mammalian species is not a priority.
#10 It's only going to get worse.
This is the most depressing part. Remember Spartacus? Remember Jesus? What happened to them? Rich people crucified them. The same rich people whose descendants are running our country today. Enough said. Time to check out whether Jennifer Lopez is having an affair and Will and Kate's wedding gifts. No strike that, think I'll reread the Sermon on the Mount. Thank you, Jesus.

Think Globally, Act Locally - Take Care of Business in Your Hometown

Former Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell Convicted of Bribery

I went to a Protestant seminary that is considered liberal. That means that liberals AND conservatives could go there. If it was a conservative seminary, then it would mean ONLY conservatives could go there. My understanding/experience of religious conservatives is that they are intolerant of ideas and concepts they do not agree with.
Religious liberals maintain they are tolerant of ideas and concepts they do not agree with, but they make it clear that they believe their ideas are superior to yours if you disagree with them.
Since my main interest is in the exchange of ideas it matters not to me if people agree with me, but whether they are capable of having an open and intelligent dialogue. I don't have everything figured out, and I strongly distrust anyone who claims they have ANYTHING figured out.
In this spirit, when some of my liberals friends in class one day got all vexed over Third World Debt, I pointed out that being manipulated to spend time, emotion, energy caring about something thousands of miles away benefited the systems that allowed the conditions they were upset about to exist in the first place.
The biggest impact a person can make is locally, in their own hometown. I am more concerned about the former mayor where I live being convicted of bribery (see photo above) than I am Casey Anthony.
I would suggest that if a banker lives in your hometown has contributed to the environment that has created massive debt in the third world, that you picket his house. If the local politicians that go to your church are found to be corrupt, make them stand before the congregation and explain their behavior.
Better yet, vote them and their cronies out of office. That's what happened here in Secaucus. All of the former mayor's cronies on council have been defeated. The various town officials that have embezzled town funds are being indicted and removed from their positions.
In a reaction to the way the high school principal and school supt. treated a high school student who questioned school policies, the town voted down the school budget by a wide margin. Secaucus is one of the few localities in the state that had regularly voted for its school budget, even if it meant tax increases.
Corruption in New Jersey is rampant, but in a movement that transcends partisan politics, voters are working to clear out the miscreants. If they are successful, it will be because they have spent time and energy working on the local level rather than worrying about the latest distractions on FOX News, CNN and other national media outlets.

No One Can Sing the Blues Like Blind Willie McTell - A Nearly Perfect Bob Dylan Song

By 1983 Bob Dylan was emerging from his Born-Again period and returning to his prophetic roots. Dylan's work had always been biblical, but from 1979 to 1981 it narrowed to the 'end-of-times' evangelical born-again variant. He toured the country for three years encouraging his audience to repent of their sins.

The critics reaction to this was scathing. Audiences booed (not for the first time in Dylan's career).

Because my background is Pentecostal, I understood it thoroughly and was painfully familiar with it. My hope was that Dylan was intelligent enough to work his way through it. We all have to crawl through shit sometimes to get to freedom (see 'Shawshank Redemption').

Dylan worked his way through it, and musically, what he created was stunning and breath taking. The album 'Jokerman" was greeted with relief by critics who thought Dylan had renounced his Pentecostalism. They didn't understand what had happened.
Dylan did not abandon it, he incorporated it within his being and became stronger, wiser and more connected than before to the Divine Force that flows through the universe. The songs he wrote in 1983 that weren't included on Jokerman were stunning, powerful and spiritual. Many of these were included in the Bootleg Series released in 1991.
One of those songs was 'Blind Willie McTell.'  Dylan on piano and Mark Knopfler on acoustic guitar are the only musicians. The song evokes the ghosts of slavery while lamenting there is no one left to sing the blues to confront those ghosts.
Dylan surveys the landscape amidst these ghosts of past oppression and sees only greed and corruption today. The only appropriate response is to sing the blues and nobody could sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell. The images Dylan invokes are haunting and disturbing. Plantations are burning, whips are cracking, rebels are yelling, tribes are moaning and the undertaker's bell is tolling.
 Filled with despair as the blues singers who reminded us of our spiritual bankruptcy are now all departed, Dylan struggles to take their place. In doing so, he does not abandon his born-again Pentecostalism. He takes from it what is true and prophetic and incorporates it into the biblical vision he always had (see 'Hard Rain's Gonna Fall' and 'I'm All Right, Ma'). What emerged was something powerful and profound. Dylan didn't think the songs belonged on the album released in 1983. The only reason Dylan has given that he didn't include 'Blind Willie McTell' on Jokerman was that he didn't get it quite right.
We never get things perfectly, we never do. But sometimes we get close. This song gets very, very close.

Dylan's 'Foot of Pride,' A Prophetic Call For Judgement 'That We'll Never See'

When the first Bootleg Series came out (vol 1-3) I was struck by how many incredible Dylan songs never made it to record. 'Foot of Pride' is one of them. The lyrics are so stunning I print them in full.

Foot Of Pride

Like the lion tears the flesh off of a man
So can a woman who passes herself off as a male
They sang “Danny Boy” at his funeral and the Lord’s Prayer
Preacher talking ’bout Christ betrayed
It’s like the earth just opened and swallowed him up
He reached too high, was thrown back to the ground
You know what they say about bein’ nice to the right people on the way up
Sooner or later you gonna meet them comin’ down

Well, there ain’t no goin’ back
When your foot of pride come down
Ain’t no goin’ back

Hear ya got a brother named James, don’t forget faces or names
Sunken cheeks and his blood is mixed
He looked straight into the sun and said revenge is mine
But he drinks, and drinks can be fixed
Sing me one more song, about ya love me to the moon and the stranger
And your fall-by-the sword love affair with Errol Flynn
In these times of compassion when conformity’s in fashion
Say one more stupid thing to me before the final nail is driven in.

Well, there ain’t no goin’ back
When your foot of pride come down
Ain’t no goin’ back

There’s a retired businessman named Red
Cast down from heaven and he’s out of his head
He feeds off of everyone that he can touch
He said he only deals in cash or sells tickets to a plane crash
He’s not somebody that you play around with much
Miss Delilah is his, a Phillistine is what she is
She’ll do wondrous works with your fate, feed you coconut bread,
spice buns in your bed
If you don’t mind sleepin’ with your head face down in a grave

Well, there ain’t no goin’ back
When your foot of pride come down
Ain’t no goin’ back

Well, they’ll choose a man for you to meet tonight
You’ll play the fool and learn how to walk through doors
How to enter into the gates of paradise
No, how to carry a burden too heavy to be yours
Yeah, from the stage they’ll be tryin’ to get water outa rocks
A whore will pass the hat, collect a hundred grand and say thanks
They like to take all this money from sin, build big universities to study in
Sing “Amazing Grace” all the way to the Swiss banks

Well, there ain’t no goin’ back
When your foot of pride come down
Ain’t no goin’ back

They got some beautiful people out there, man
They can be a terror to your mind and show you how to hold your tongue
They got mystery written all over their forehead
They kill babies in the crib and say only the good die young
They don’t believe in mercy
Judgement on them is something that you’ll never see
They can exalt you up or bring you down main route
Turn you into anything that they want you to be

Well, there ain’t no goin’ back
When your foot of pride come down
Ain’t no goin’ back

Yes, I guess I loved him too

I can still see him in my mind climbin’ that hill
Did he make it to the top, well he probably did and dropped
Struck down by the strength of the will
Ain’t nothin’ left here partner, just the dust of a plague
that has left this whole town afraid
From now on, this’ll be where you’re from
Let the dead bury the dead. Your time will come
Let hot iron blow as he raised the shade

Well, there ain’t no goin’ back
When your foot of pride come down
Ain’t no goin’ back

Copyright © 1983 by Special Rider Music

Bob Dylan's Desolation Row - A Masterful Masterpiece Of Misery and Misadventure

'Highway 61 Revisited' was the first Dylan album I owned. The first side began with 'Like A Rolling Stone' and ended with 'Ballad of A Thin Man.' Breathlessly, I flipped the vinyl over to listen to the second side. I thought to  myself, how can we top that first side?
'Queen Jane Approximately' starts the second side off well. Then it just kept getting better. When the acoustic guitars launched into Desolation Row, I was exhausted. I just laid back and listened, already treated to the most amazing musical experience of my young life.
'They're selling postcards of the hanging, they're painting the passports brown.'
Wow, that's how the song started. After a blind commissioner and a restless riot squad, we get to the refrain 'as Lady and I look out tonight from Desolation Row.'
Cinderella and Romeo inhabit the second verse, ending with Cinderella 'sweeping up on Desolation Row.' The song continues with a cast of characters culled from the Bible, Shakespeare and Classic Literature. The penultimate verse begins with a nod to Roman/Greek Mythology 'Praise be to Nero's Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn.' The Poets Pound and Eliot are invoked and 'nobody has to think too much about Desolation Row.'
The last verse lets us in on the joke 'I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name.' The weariness and depression sets in as the writer states 'right now I can't read too good, don't send me no more letters, no, not unless you mail them from Desolation Row.'

I had forgotten about this song for years until I watched the brilliant, dystopic movie 'Watchmen.' The soundtrack featured a version of Desolation Row by the band My Chemical Romance. The song did not feel out of a place in a movie that reminds us that the American dream is really a nightmare.
I gravitate toward the dark and the deep. Pop mainstream Top 40 music makes me ill. Cotton candy for the brain. I need music that feeds the soul and stimulates the gray matter. I can't tell you what 'Desolation Row' means. But it seems to capture some basic elements of the human condition, hopelessness and helplessness.
Rather than sugarcoat how awful life can be, this song stares into the abyss and triumphs through sheer will power. Listening to it allows us to do the same.

Top Five Bob Dylan Songs - 'Like A Rolling Stone'

This is the one you hear on the radio all the time. Written in 1965, it still resonates. Here's a link to the lyrics.

http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/like-a-rolling-stone

When I heard it on the radio yesterday, what blew me away was how good Dylan's vocals are. I have gotten so used to his now 70-year old scraggly voice that to hear the 20-year old at full throttle was a wonderful reminder that he had one of the best rock voices ever.
The rhyming schemes are incredible as well 'juiced in it - used to it'; 'didn't you - kiddin' you'; 'princess on the steeple and all the pretty people.' Musically, it was directed by Tom Wilson with the best studio musicians Columbia records had. The song just rocks. It has become part of our culture 'when you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.'

I still have the vinyl lp that 'Like a Rolling Stone' is on. To say it is a classic is trite.One of the reasons I am the way I am is I grew up reading the liner notes to Dylan's albums. If you have read them, you understand. If you haven't, well then, you haven't.
Legend has it that on the day Dylan recorded this song in the studio that Tom Wilson used the same musicians later to record the electric version of Simon and Garfunkel's 'Sound of Silence' that became the breakthrough hit for them.
This was an easy pick, the other's are harder. Stay tuned!

Bite Lower Lip, Spend More Time With The Family, Maybe Shed A Few Tears

What is it with these guys who get caught with their pants down that they think they have to look like old men who can't find their dentures? In press conference after tearful press conference, this is what you see:

Bite that lower lip, dude, till it hurts. Till it bleeds. I guess you have to pay for your sins by looking as stupid as possible. Is that look supposed to show remorse?
And it's not just politicians. Here's a football coach:

Grandpa lose his dentures?
And yet another. Here's a former governor:

That's painful to look at. What, a TV station hired him?! You gotta be kidding!! It has been said that people in California are more laid back. It's true. Here's a former CA Gov. with his soon to be ex:

Did anybody really think that Arny and Maria were anything but a political arrangement? Really? There is a reason that actors become governors. Don't feel sorry for Ms. Shriver, she will get paid quite well for playing her role.
What I want to know is who is the PR person advising these jerks on how to look when they get caught behaving the way politicians and celebrities behave. Does anybody really think they are genuinely remorseful?They are sad but only because they got caught.
But these lip biters have no worries. They can go into Rehab or find Jesus. Maybe both.  Just to be sure. Just to cover all the constituent bases.
In the meantime, our country is involved in military operations in three locations that we know about, our drinking water is almost undrinkable, our air is almost unbreathable, most of us have crappy jobs with crappy benefits and now we are going to lose our social security. It's enough to make you want to bite both lips, ain't it?

Weiner Texting and the Emergence of the American Surveillence State

I don't believe in coinicidences. I believe powerful people create events. I believe powerful people have agendas. I undertsand most of us react to events and leave things to chance. We go with the flow. We let things happen.
A lot of us have reacted to Congressman Weiner's texting scandal. Myself included. But I also believe things happen for a reason. So I pay attention and read everything I can. Sometimes within a week, often times within a day when a scandal breaks, an agenda emerges and we can see clearly the reason for the scandal.
The scandal makes the front page and leads the news, but the agenda story is buried. You have to look for it. In my case, I know it's coming within a week and I have never been disappointed.
Congressman Weiner has been a pervert for a LONG time. The timing of the the release of the scandal is the real question. A question which the media rarely, if ever asks. The media is too busy concentrating on the sensational aspects of the scandal. That's their job, to prepare an environment where the agenda can be carried out with minimal dissent.

It was definitely within a week of the Weiner scandal breaking, maybe even the same day, that the FBI released the details of the new surveillance powers FBI agents will be trained to use. You can read the articles online, the gist is that FBI agents can search without any evidence. That's right, no evidence.
The Weiner texting scandal is designed to get us outraged so we will allow the government to monitor our conversations to prevent 'sexting.' The FBI can now search your databases, your trash, your trashy databases, etc, without there being any evidence that you are linked to any terrorist group. Only the ACLU appears outraged. The rest of us are chuckling over Weiner's weiner.
Remember former NY governor Elliot Spitzer? He also had been a pervert for a LONG time. The timing of the release of the scandal that led to his resignation was interesting. He was about to charge banks in New York with violating several state laws that led to the banking collapse.
Remember the movie Godfather II? The self-righteous US senator who despised the Corleone family? Remember what happened after he got in trouble? I know it's just a movie, but the Godfather movies were a pretty accurate depiction of the way things are.
Most, if not all, politicians and celebrities are perverts. They all have skeletons in their closets (some insist on staying in those closets). They are all vulnerable to blackmail. Especially in a surveillence society where the most powerful people have access to everybody's information.
Yes, I laughed at the jokes about Weiner. But I'm also paying attention. My liberal friends who thought Obama would return the civil liberties and freedoms the Bush administration took away were naive. The Obama administration has continued the trend, accelerated under Bush, of turning this once, great, proud nation into a surveillence state of wimpy tattle-tales and voyeuristic perverts.
Wave your flags, chant your slogans. It's all good.
Stay tuned for the next installment in "Your Government Cares About You and Wants to Keep You Safe."

A Family History - Half-Breeds and Heretics

I come from a long line of Republicans. The Grand Old Party was founded in 1854 with its principal platform opposition to the expansion of slavery. My ancestors, several of whom fought in the Revolution against the British, lived primarily in New England. My great-grandfather, Henry Freeman Barker (pictured above) was born in Naples, Maine in 1850. He moved to Minnesota in 1868, where he practiced law. He was a big supporter of Republican politician James G. Blaine, who was also from Maine.
Blaine led a faction of the GOP known as the Half-Breeds. The Half-Breeds were the moderate wing of the GOP, opposing political patronage and favoring civil service reform and a merit system. Blaine, an early supporter of Abraham Lincoln, opposed the Radical Republican approach to Reconstruction. He favored voting rights for freed slaves and was primarily responsible for the 14th amendment. But he was opposed to military occupation of the South, a position he shared with Lincoln.
Blaine was also primarily responsible for federal laws promoting separation of church and state. This support probably cost him the presidency in 1884, losing narrowly to Grover Cleveland. Though he never said it, the phrase by a minister labeling the Democrats as the party of 'Rum, Romanism and Rebellion' was attributed to him (much the same way Rev. Wright's diatribes were attributed to Obama in 2008).
My great-grandfather was elected to state house and then senate. He named his oldest son, my grandfather, after Blaine. Blaine Barker was elected to various county offices until the backlash against Republicans in the Great Depression ended his political career. He then worked as the Postmaster of Cambridge until he retired.
'Grandpa Blaine,' as we called him, told wonderful stories about Barker family history. He claimed we missed getting on the Mayflower because we overslept. He also claimed our family left England because we were horse thiefs on the lam from the law.
According to Grandpa, the Barkers were run out of Andover, Mass. on a rail in the 1640s because we opposed the Witch Trials. Some Barker women were also accused of being witches. Even way back then, our family was opposed to extremism. I come by this heretical stuff honestly.
Regarding theology, I remember Grandpa's saying that early Christians were Communists. As a Republican and Baptist, I interpreted Grandpa as being opposed to both early Christians and Communists. Today, I'm not so sure. I'd love to be able to talk to him about it. To talk about Half-Breeds and Heretics.
Sadly, he died in 1976 when I was too young to be aware of the full meanings of what he was sharing. I wish he could read my book and we could 'cuss and discuss' it. From one heretic to another.
I don't think my great-grandfather or grandfather would appreciate Michelle Bachmann today. Just a guess.

The Gumbys are in Charge in America

American leaders are a bunch of inbred, idiotic, elitists. That's on a good day. On a bad day, they are inbred arrogant, ignorant elitists.

This past week, we have had the chance to see a couple of American idiots in action. A congressman, by the name of Weiner got caught being a wanker. I expect that kind of behavior from the idiots-in-charge that run this country (more accurately, have run this country into the ground).

If congressman Wanker had admitted his mistake, we might have given him a pass. His family might not have. But then, he probably needs to spend more time with his family.

But no, he denied it. Lied about it. When he got called out, he held a press conference. He choked back tears, he apologized for being a wanker. Arrogant and ignorant.

Too late. You don't go on every news station, deny something, make stuff up and then the next day - whoops, my bad. I was wrong. I lied.

I love history. I understand that not everybody does. That's OK. That's fine. But most people who don't know anything about history don't go around the country making stuff up.
Unless you are an inbred, ignorant elitist. Half-term governor Palin made up some stuff about Paul Revere on her latest "Tour."  Rather than admit she made the stuff up when called on it, she proceeded to make her ignorance painfully clear by insisting that she was right.

Arrogant and ignorant.

We deserve better. But it's the same everywhere. Good decent hard-working people with morons for leaders.
My brain hurts. Brain-dead partisans on the left yell at brain-dead partisans on the right. The Gumby's are in charge. Congressman Anthony Gumby meet governor Sarah Gumby. Choke back tears, spend more time with your families, make stuff up. It's OK, USA! USA! USA!

Got Rapture? May 22 Meet October 22, the Great Disappointment of 1844

As you all know by now, I'm a Heretic. But I'm also pragmatic. Logistics matter to me. Logistics are why I didn't believe in Santa Claus when I was five years old.

The concept of a fat man in a sleigh driven by reindeer landing on my roof, sliding down a tight chimney and delivering presents never made sense. First, we didn't have a chimney. Second, while it might make sense on an individual level, it made no sense on the collective level. There would have to be thousands of Santas to deliver the amount of presents bought in my town alone, much less the country or world.

Logistically, the rapture makes no sense whatsoever. Classifying it as 'religious' does not excuse it for being profoundly wrong.

A preacher in 1844 prophesied the end of the world and the rapture, ala Harold Camping. He picked a date, Oct 22, 1844. People sold everything they had and waited for Jesus to 'come on the clouds and lift them up to heaven.' It didn't happen. It was the called the Great Disappointment (May 22 needs its own moniker, doesn't it?)

If you do the research, you can find hundreds of other 'disappointments' throughout history. Remember Y2K? What amazes me is that anybody pays any attention at all to any prediction of the end of the world. Obsession with the 'end of the world' is psychologically unstable, emotionally unhealthy, spiritually unsound and logistically challenged.

Remember James Watts, Reagan's Secretary of Interior? Google him. Have fun.

The problem with the rapture is conceptual. It's a bad idea. Good people can get caught up in bad ideas and do bad and stupid things.

First, it shows the dangers of basing a theology on one biblical quote, taking it out of context, and then projecting our own emotional and psychological needs on it.

Second, according to one religious group obsessed with the rapture, only 144,000 will be raptured. Since the faithful dead go first, and more than 144,000 faithful have died, why would anyone join this group? All the slots are filled.

The debate over the rapture is a ridiculous waste of time. Please observe that Christian leaders did not say that Harold Camping was wrong about the rapture, they just said he got the date wrong. This is because the kind of Christianity that became dominant in the west after the ninth century is psychologically unstable (see Mel Gibson), emotionally unhealthy, and spiritually unsound.

There are many Christianities. The type that we pick and choose says more about us than it does God or Jesus. Not all Christianities are psychologically unstable, emotionally unhealthy and spiritually unsound. But the kind that is obsessed with the rapture is.

Next: Christianity has nothing to do with Jesus. Really. Check it out.

Harmon Killebrew Died Today

Harmon Killebrew died today. He was 74. He was a professional baseball player from 1954 to 1975. He hit 573 home runs. He started out playing for the Washington Senators. The Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961. Harmon played for the Twins until 1974.
Instead of retiring when the Twins management thought he should, he played one more year for the Kansas City Royals. As a kid collecting baseball cards and playing Strat-O-Matic baseball, I kept Harmon on the Twins. It didn't matter that he batted .199 that year, he still hit 14 home runs in 369 at bats.
Like a lot of Twins fans, I loved Harmon Killebrew. Even though he was born in Idaho, he embodied many things Minnesotan. He was humble. He was a team player. And he could hit a baseball farther than anyone.
My first baseball memories were in 1965 when the Twins played the Dodgers in the World Series. Sadly, we had just moved from Minnesota to Virginia and I didn't get to go to any of the games. But my grandfather went. He showed me the programs later.
The Twins lost to the Dodgers in seven games, as they couldn't hit Sandy Koufax or Don Drysdale (well, Harmon did). I remember I was a teenager in Virginia and listened to the game on the radio when Harmon hit home run number 500 against Mike Cuellar of the Baltimore Orioles in 1971. Back then, the Orioles were a great team, they beat the Twins in 1969 and 1970 in the American League Championship series.
Harmon never did win a World Series. But he won the hearts and minds of Twins fans forever. He was the heart and soul of the team. The following quote from umpire Ron Luciano summed up what people who played with him thought about him:
"He was one of the most feared sluggers in baseball history, but he was also one of the nicest people to play the game. He was one of the few players who would go out of his way to compliment umpires on a good job, even if their calls went against him."
In an era before steroids and rampant drug use, Killebrew had some remarkable seasons. Here's the stat line on his 1969 MVP season:
Played in 162 games, 109 runs scored, 49 home runs, 140 rbi's, 145 walks and struck out only 84 times. For those who love stats, his OPS was 1.011 (on base percentage plus slugging percentage)
Harmon Killebrew will be missed. He was a Hall of Fame player and world-class human being. A role model for many. He was for me. Thanks, Harmon. For all the memories. For everything.

Wassup Bin Laden? Random Thoughts on Osama/Obama

RANDOM THOUGHT #1

Apparently, George Washington slept a lot. When he wasn't running away from the British. New Jersey is full of places where George Washington slept. One of them is outside of Morristown. In a park. Well, it's a park now.

In 1999, when Dad and I visited Morristown to check out Drew Seminary in nearby Madison (yes, Drew University is on Madison Avenue) we went to this park. The locals said on a clear day you could see the tops of the Twin Towers. It was a clear, windy day. We saw the tops of the Twin Towers. It was impressive.

RANDOM THOUGHT #2

I have enjoyed listening to conservatives twist themselves into pretzels over Obama being president when Osama got whacked. Just a reminder that partisans don't make very good Americans.

RANDOM THOUGHT #3

I have enjoyed listening to liberals sound like a bunch of jingoistic thugs. Killed the bastard, yeah! Just a reminder that partisans don't make very good Americans.

RANDOM THOUGHT #4

The Sunday after the Twin Towers went down I was scheduled to preach a sermon as a guest preacher at a small congregation in upstate New York. The minister there, a good friend of mine, thought it best that we cancel our regularly scheduled program and deal with what just happened. He invited me to do the New Testament reading.

I read Matthew 5:43-48. Nobody shook my hand after the service. Nobody even looked at me as they filed out. Just a reminder that when push comes to shove, religious people can abandon core principles in a heartbeat.

RANDOM THOUGHT #5

I don't think there's any truth to the rumor that it was Dick Cheney that shot Bin Laden in the face. That's not fair. It's well known that Dick Cheney only shoots FRIENDS in the face.

RANDOM THOUGHT #6

There may be some truth to the rumor that former Navy SEAL Jesse Ventura shot Bin Laden in the face. I met Jesse Ventura at a book signing last month. He still looks like he could kill people. With his bare hands.

RANDOM THOUGHT #7

Secular rulers and religious extremists are often allies. The Saudi Royal family probably funded Osama Bin Laden. The Saudi Royal family probably ordered the attacks of 9/11. Most of the those alleged to have hijacked the planes on 9/11 were Saudis.

RANDOM THOUGHT #8

Since the oil crisis in the 1970s, our government has taken orders from the Saudis.When our leaders meet their leaders, it is apparent who is giving orders and who is taking orders.

RANDOM THOUGHT #9
The Israeli intelligence service knew about the 9/11 attacks beforehand. They were there to film it as it happened. This was widely published in Israeli newspapers. Not so much in American newspapers.

RANDOM THOUGHT #10

Offered as evidence that the American government takes orders from the Saudis, the Bin Laden family was picked up in various locations throughout the country and flown to safety while air traffic was shut down across the country.

RANDOM THOUGHT #11

I don't think President Bush knew about the attacks beforehand.

RANDOM THOUGHT #12

I remember in 2001 Jesse Ventura saying we needed to send a SEAL or Ranger team in and whack Osama.

RANDOM THOUGHT #13

I remember a seminary professor telling me on 9/12 that he was worried the Bush administration would take advantage of the situation and do away with a lot of our civil rights and civil liberties.

RANDOM THOUGHT #14

It makes sense that the U.S. invaded Iraq because the Saudis wanted Hussein out of the way. The reasons the U.S. government gave the American people never made any sense.

RANDOM THOUGHT #15

The American people have acted like brain-dead zombies the past 10 years. Maybe now with Osama Bin Laden out of the way, we can regain our composure and realize how badly our government has screwed us over the last 10 years.

RANDOM THOUGHT #16

Speaking of zombies, 'Zombieland' is a really good movie. Any movie where one of the heroes gets a Twinkie at the end rocks. Bill Murray is awesome in his cameo as well.

Understanding America - The Venture Capitalist Coup Against FDR in 1934

Previously, we discussed that America was colonized by venture capitalists to create massive profits. When the King of England started to cut into these profits by asking the venture capitalists to start sharing the burden for their security, they responded with the Declaration of Independence.

Fast forward to 1934 in the middle of what was then called 'The Great Depression.' President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a member of the venture capitalist class and cousin of reformer president Teddy Roosevelt, was accused of betraying his class by enacting several measures to ease the suffering of working class Americans.

FDR's perceived betrayal lay primarily in three parts. First, FDR abandoned the Gold Standard. Second, he instituted a minimum wage law. Thirdly, and possibly the last straw, he authorized collective bargaining among federal workers.

The venture capitalists were convinced FDR had gone socialist. From their perspective, nothing cut into their profits more than social programs that helped workers. They felt they needed to 'take their country back.'

In Germany and Italy, international venture capitalists were funding Fascist movements led primarily by groups of WWI veterans. American venture capitalists decided to try the same thing (many American bankers and industrialists were funding German re-armament and supporting Hitler's rise to power).

In 1932, around 40,000 veterans and their families marched on the capital, demanding payment of the bonuses they had been promised. The veterans were led by much decorated retired Marine Corps general Smedley Butler.

Then president Herbert Hoover ordered the army to disperse the protesters. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was in command of the operation, assisted by Major Dwight Eisenhower and Major George Patton.

Gen. Butler was a hero to many veterans for leading the march and supporting their efforts (one can speculate as to what the veterans thought of MacArthur, Eisenhower and Patton). So it was Butler that the venture capitalists approached to lead the military coup against FDR.

Butler, approached with the possibility of leading a military dictatorship with the president left as a mere figurehead, responded by secretly contacting a journalist. Butler went along with the coup long enough to collect credible information verified by multiple sources, which he then turned over to Congress.

Congress launched an investigation which concluded the coup attempt was credible. The venture capitalists responded to the charges by ridiculing Butler through their media outlets.

FDR said nothing. However, he was able to enact a multitude of social programs from that point forward with only token opposition. At the time, it was speculated that FDR cut a deal with the venture capitalists.

If the venture capitalists dropped their opposition to FDR's social programs, it was said that FDR would insure that no charges would be brought against the conspirators. If true, it was a brilliant move. It would have been difficult to prove treason against the venture capitalists as they contacted Butler through intermediaries.

FDR's programs helped contribute to the recovery from the depression and fueled working class prosperity after WWII the likes of which the world has never seen. Since FDR, the venture capitalists have sought to repeal these programs.

To this day, collective bargaining and minimum wage are measures the venture capitalists are seeking to contain, diminish or repeal. The problem they face is that these programs are popular with American workers.

It needs to be pointed out that the military coups led by WWI veterans were successful in Germany and Italy. In America, the venture capitalists in their coup attempt failed to anticipate that a Marine general cared more about his country than money and power.

We need to ask why hardly anybody knows who Smedley Butler is and what he did for our country. I don't know, but I'm going to keep watching the History Channel. Maybe between the programs on Hitler there will be one on Butler. Stay tuned.

Understanding America, Land of the Free, Home of the Brave - The Beginning

I tell people I became a history major because I got good grades without working hard. That is partly true.

But the mostly true answer is I want to understand what is going on around me. To do that, I had to understand history. Over time, patterns reveal themselves. Identifying patterns is one of the few things I'm good at. I wanted to be good at baseball. I wasn't.

Let's be honest, it's not an exciting or sexy skill. You get standing ovations for singing songs or scoring touchdowns or hitting home runs. Analysts toil in obscurity. But it is the hand I've been dealt, so there it is.

First, forget everything you learned in school about American history. If you didn't learn anything about American history, that's actually good. I'll make it simple and brief.

The British colonies were primarily venture capitalist enterprises. The English monarchy could not afford the cost of colonization. Private companies took the risks, which were enormous, and footed the bill. Many ventures failed. Roanoke Island is one example of a failed venture.

The colonies were created in America to make money for venture capitalists. In order to make money, colonists were needed.

First, to subdue the native population. Second, to establish trading outposts. Third, to provide security for the trade outposts. Fourth, to make money through commerce.

The venture capitalists (mainly bankers, merchants and landed nobility) used religious freedom as an incentive to recruit colonists. From the beginning, an alliance was formed between venture capitalists and religious leaders.

This alliance exists to this day. It is not new. Religious conservatives and Republican conservatives are the labels for these groups today, but they have always been the same two groups.

The Declaration of Independence, when read from this perspective, lists the ways the English monarch is preventing the venture capitalists from making the kind of profits they feel they are entitled to.

For example, it has been shown that "all men are created equal" does not refer to all men. Nor does it refer to women. The phrase "Safety and Happiness" refers to the ability to make profits and the means to keep wealth secure.

The 'long train of abuses' attributed to the English monarch can be traced to measures that cut into their profits. Basically, the King of England wanted the venture capitalists to help pay for maintenance.

Please note how the document concludes:

"... we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

They all had fortunes, they were all very wealthy people. Because they were venture capitalists, they understood risks, and if they felt it necessary, were capable of taking risks more cautious leaders would not.

America exists to create and maintain Fortunes for a select group of people. Laws, institutions, and customs in America are designed to protect and promote the Fortunes of the families of venture capitalists who founded this country and run it today.

U.S. presidents all come from families that came to America in the 1600s. Four hundred years later, most of them are related to each other. For example, Sarah Palin is related to President Obama. They all belong to the same secret societies. For example, President Bush II and Sen. John Kerry, opponents in 2004, went to Yale and belong to Skull and Bones.

Next: FDR, why the people loved him and the venture capitalists hated him.

Celebrating Simon and Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' Forty Years Later

I was 12 years old when the single Bridge Over Troubled Water was released. The first time I heard the song on the radio I felt it was the best song I had ever heard. Early Sunday morning before church, the local radio station did a Top 40 countdown.

I listened every week and it didn't take long for the Simon and Garfunkel song to break into the top ten. I danced a jig when it got to number one, where it stayed for several weeks.

When the album came out, a buddy of mine and I went to the local record store and 'liberated' some albums. The one I freed from the capitalist grips of its owner was the Bridge Over Troubled Water album.

I snuck upstairs our attic and played it on a small phonograph player. The first song was the title track, I had heard it many times.

The second song, El Condor Pasa, was an Incan/Peruvian melody that Simon had written lyrics for. It was haunting where Bridge had been uplifting. Cecelia, also a hit single, followed. It was sheer fun and included some lyrics that were, for 1970, quite risque.

Another buddy said his dad told him the fourth song, Keep the Customer Satisfied, was about a drug dealer. This, for me, lent an air of danger to the blaring brass sounds. I loved the line "I hear words I never heard in the Bible."

The last song on the first side was far too mellow for my soon to be thirteen soul to enjoy. Garfunkel's delicate voice crooning about a dead architect meant nothing to me at the time.

But after that, one flipped the album over and the first song was The Boxer.

"I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told, I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises; All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest."

I was blown away by the opening lyrics, and the song just kept getting better as it spun on the turntable. The conclusion left me drained but spiritually uplifted.

The funny and fun Baby Driver followed, also with some wonderful cheeky lyrics. "I'm not talking about your pigtails, but I'm talking about your sex appeal."

The Only Living Boy in New York was a song I was not prepared for, it was delicate, beautiful, full of longing and loss. The vocals were probably the most striking I had heard.

Why Don't You Write Me hit a chord in my adolescent heart, visiting feelings of unrequited affections and rejection.

I knew that the Everly Brothers were a big influence for Paul and Artie, but I still couldn't stand the next song, Bye Bye Love. I realize now it's because even then I didn't like audiences that clapped or sang along to the songs. Most people can't sing AND don't have any rhythm, so for me most concerts are unbearable. More on this later.

But after eight truly incredible songs and the architect song, I forgave them for this boo boo. Besides, I am told there are people that like that kind of thing, my partner being one of them. Ahem.

The song that closes out the album, Song for the Asking, is an offertory of love that to this day, moves me. Maybe because it is about giving and not taking.

When I went to Boy Scout camp that summer in 1970, I took Bridge and my portable record player with me. I played the album every night over and over again. To this day, I have the lyrics to the album (except Bye Bye Love and Frank Lloyd Wright) memorized. It's a part of my soul, it inhabits every fiber of my being.

Last year (2010) the 40th Anniversary edition of Bridge was released. I didn't think I needed another copy until I discovered the new edition came with a dvd of the 1969 Simon and Garfunkel TV special. That TV special deserves its own pages. Until then,

"If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind."

Thank you, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Thank you.

Divide and Conquer, Collective Bargaining, and the Tower of Babel

"Let us build a city and a tower ... lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

This verse from Genesis Chapter 11 gives the motive for those who built the Tower of Babel.

The LORD comes down to see the city and tower the children of men had built and reaches this conclusion:

"The people are one ... and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do."

The LORD consults with advisers. They declare "Let us go down and confound their language so they may not understand each other."

The result of the divine intervention in the affairs of the children of men was exactly what they feared. "The LORD scattered them abroad upon the face of the earth."

The Tower of Babel story, besides being one of the many interesting stories in Genesis, also illustrates the method used by those in power to frustrate the plans of the children of men: Divide and Conquer.

This strategy has worked so well for those in charge over the millennium that it has remained largely unchanged. Let's look at the efforts to destroy collective bargaining in Wisconsin. Those in charge in the United States have always feared unions and collective bargaining (anybody seen the film 'Matewan?')

There is a good reason for this. It is the same fear the LORD expresses in Genesis. Collectively, the children of men are capable of accomplishing whatever they desire.

We leave aside for now the obvious question of "what is wrong with that?" and move toward the Divide and Conquer strategy used against unions in the United States.

I was still in college when President Reagan declared war on the Air Traffic Controllers Union. The same arguments, almost word for word, used against the Air Traffic Controllers were employed against public workers in Wisconsin. Since 1980, the wages of blue collar Americans have dropped. Most of this has been due to loss of blue collar jobs overseas and the destruction of blue collar unions in manufacturing.

So when apologists for those in power point out that most American workers earn less than the public employee (largely white collar) unions it is classic Divide and Conquer. Pit blue collar workers against white collar workers.

The end result is that all American workers wages and benefits drop.

The prosperity of blue and white collar workers in the United States following WWII combined with the socialist policies enacted by Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt previously, scared those in charge.

They feared the same thing the LORD feared in Genesis, that the children of men would have the means to fulfill all of their dreams. Employing their strategy of Divide and Conquer, efforts to destroy the prosperity of workers in America have been extremely successful.

Racial Equality, Sexual Equality, Abortion Rights, Immigration Rights, and Marriage Rights are examples of social issues that have served this strategy well.

Popular culture plays a role, serving as a Distraction Machine that keeps workers from spending time thinking about who their real enemies are and what they are doing to them.

Let's return to the earlier question. What do we wish for our children? What is wrong with wishing their dreams will come true?

What is wrong with workers in this country doing well? What is wrong with teachers, fire fighters, policemen getting paid well? What was wrong with Air Traffic Controllers having good benefits?

I don't know, I'm going to check out what Charlie Sheen is ranting about today and complain about how greedy school teachers are to my favorite radio talk show host. I'm sure that it will please the LORD.

It Was a Moving Experience

Moving is stressful. Right up there with grieving and divorcing. The top three stressers, yessir.

I have moved so many times I've lost track. I can only remember two phone numbers, and neither of them are mine. Most of the moving occurred when I was single.

In the last eight years, the three moves have been with a family. Big difference. Four people have way more stuff.

Three years ago, we moved from a suburb in central Jersey to a small community five miles from Manhattan. It was a stressful move. We had to sell our condo and find a place to rent and get moved within a two week window.

If you want to sell quickly, you need to hire a realtor. A good realtor. We were fortunate to have a great realtor. On her advice, we rented storage space and de-cluttered and de-personalized our condo. It worked, we sold our condo in three days.

The move itself was tough, though. Two weeks is just not enough time.

So last December when we decided to downsize, I vowed to make this move less stressful. Renting storage space works well. You can pack stuff up and store it so when you move the furniture you don't have a lot of stuff in the way.

We decided to move over three months and three phases, overlapping one month where we would have two apartments. Phase one - spend a month filling up storage space. Phase two - move everything from apt to apt. Phase three - unload storage space. It made all the difference.

We also took the advice of one of our friends, a former nun who has been a mentor for my partner in the rehab field. Her philosophy is to hire young people whenever possible. We asked Max, the 18 year-old high school senior we live with, to convince three of his friends to help us move. Max is a big, strapping young lad and so are his friends. My partner and I are AARP members who don't do the heavy lifting well anymore. It was a good move.

Young people bring great energy and spirit to their endeavours. It changed the whole chemistry of the move. We rented a 16-foot truck, bought them pizza and had a blast. It didn't matter that there was a couple of feet of snow. I'm from Minnesota and my partner is from Ontario. Snow is no big deal.

Max and his friends came up with a name for their group (The Partial Moving Company) complete with slogans. We just had to take a photo of them in the back of the truck (you can see the snow). They are thinking of using the picture as an album cover for their band.

The most gratifying part came when we had finished unloading the truck and paid them for their efforts. It was wonderful to see their faces light up. They would have done it for just the pizza. We paid them well. They earned it.

I have a tradition going back to my Radford University days where I give away vinyl albums to those who help me move. Max told me his friends were huge Pink Floyd fans. I had several of their albums, including the early Syd Barrett stuff as well as 'Dark Side.' They were well pleased. It made my day. Good music is meant to be shared.

We just finished phase three, unloading the storage space. Now if we can just get everything unpacked ... whew!

One Day in the Deep South in 1966

The scene was a hotel lobby in the Deep South. The year was 1966. A white woman holding an infant entered the lobby with five other children trailing her. The oldest child kept busy keeping track of her siblings while the woman, still holding the infant, waited in line to get a room.

She noticed a black couple in line ahead of her trying to get a room.

"We're sorry, we don't have any rooms," the black couple was told.

"But we have reservations. We made our reservations over the phone last week," the black man stated.

"We're sorry, we don't have any reservations with your name," the person behind the desk repeated. "We don't have any rooms."

The couple left the hotel lobby.

The woman with the infant moved to the lobby desk.

"Yes, ma'am, can we help you?"

She gave her name and received her room keys.

"I know what's going on here. You don't think I know what's going on here?"

A porter moved to help the family carry their bags. He was also black.

"It's not right. It's not right," the woman exclaimed to the person behind the desk.

"We can carry our own bags, thank you," she said to the porter.

The porter watched as the family collected their belongings. A nine-year old boy struggled to carry a suitcase bigger than he was. Somehow, the woman and her six children made it to their rooms. The woman gave the infant to the oldest daughter and sat on the bed and wept.

Eventually, the woman dried her tears and set about the business of getting her children washed and ready for dinner. They were to meet her husband in the hotel restaurant for dinner. He had spent the day in a job interview.

Their rooms were at end of the hall. It was a long way to the elevator. As the family made its way down the hall, the hotel maids, who were all black, came to every door, lining the hall way.

"Good evening, Mrs. Barker, have a nice evening," the maid said.

"Good evening, Mrs. Barker, lovely children," another maid said.

"Good evening, Mrs. Barker, have a nice stay," another said.

The family filled up the elevator and went downstairs to the restaurant. The restaurant staff, who were all black, helped the woman and her six children to their table. When her husband joined them, the chef, who was black, came out of the kitchen and took the family's order for dinner.

One day in the Deep South in 1966. A day in the life of a family. A day in the life of a country struggling to treat all people with dignity and respect. A couple denied a room. A porter. A maid. A chef. A nine-year old boy. A woman whose memory lives on in the hearts and minds of her husband and children.

A Love Worth Waiting For ...

Besides being a heretic, a misanthrope, and a cynic I also admit to being a romantic. A hopelessly optimistic and delusional romantic. If that makes sense to you, it doesn't to me. I don't understand myself at all. This prevents me from thinking I understand other people.

I grew up reading the classics. 'Readers Digest Condensed Classics for Young People' to be precise. My parents had ordered the set and we would get a book every month or so. Each book had four or five abridged classics. I read them all.

Captain Horatio Hornblower, Great Expectations and Beau Geste were my favorites.They were stories about adventure, honor, and romance. I cried the first time I finished Great Expectations. I could relate to Pip's broken heart, his dashed expectations.

Reading these books as a youth I developed a code of ethics and honor that might seem archaic. I was definitely more influenced by these classics than I was by the culture I grew up in the 60s and 70s.

It should be no surprise, then, that I was totally unsuited and unprepared for modern warfare, excuse me, modern dating.

My views on romance were also informed by growing up with a strong-willed, highly intelligent mother and three strong-willed highly intelligent sisters. My brothers and I learned how to not argue at an early age.

I became convinced that a woman would not do anything she didn't want to do. I considered romantic novels and movies where men had the upper hand as utter nonsense and rubbish.

I also believed that if the intelligence that created the universe entrusted the females of our species with childbirth then that was telling. It established a spiritual/biological priority which I strongly felt had to be respected.

My approach, which failed utterly for decades, was to be friends with all the intelligent, strong women I met and someday one of them would find me worthy of their company. I strove to conduct myself in such a way that respect and admiration of the opposite sex were my default settings.

After decades of disappointments, heartaches and frustrations, I was starting to think I might have been mistaken. When I went to seminary in New Jersey my plan was to be an ordained minister, get a small rural charge in western Virginia and bounce around the hills in my pickup truck with my two dogs.

I was not prepared for what actually happened.

I met a child of immigrants. Her father was half Sri-Lankan and half British. Her mother was German. Her parents met in London in a class where they were learning to speak English. She was born in England but moved to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, when she was four.

That meant she had a Canadian, not a Monty Python accent. Although she was one quarter Indian, she passed for white. She had two highly intelligent and wonderful children. She was going through a divorce.

She belonged to a heretical Christan denomination. She worked as an intern at a drug rehabilitation residential facility in Newark, New Jersey.

She had a radical, egalitarian approach to social justice. All of that was stunning. But the most incredible thing was she found me good company.

We never really dated, which was a good thing because I was terrible at dating (see above). We just kept on enjoying each other's company. We took walks. We ate at diners (New Jersey has awesome diners). We talked.

In December 2002 we got married. We didn't have a wedding. We did that justice of peace thing. Afterwards, we ate at a diner and went to a bookstore.

Every day with her has been Valentine's Day. I don't think about the past much anymore, but when I do I realize that for me, it was worth the wait. We have romance, adventure, mutual admiration and mutual respect. Maybe I was right about some things, after all.

"Come with me, go places, once more for the ages."