FEAR AND LOATHING IN LOST GREATNESS

James Dobson's flying monkeys are at it again. The Word from the King of Chaos, the Wicked Pitch from the West is here--the Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America--designed to scare the beJesus into us. I wondered how long it would be before JD would once again offer us a toxic blend of bad theology, Rovian politics, and hide-under-your-covers fear appeals. Praise God and pass the gunpowder. This man likes the smell of gaypalm in the morning.

Dobson's Focus on the Family Action (Don't you remember that passage in chapter one of II Bealiah where Jesus encourages us to create cultural hit squads in case anyone disagrees with us and threatens our power?), feeling the pressure of being Left Behind, or Behind the Left, felt the need to use the power of time travel to scare us straight.

Sorry Barack. Dr. Dobson gave us the news: we got a bad case of loving you. Apparently, no pill's gonna cure our ill; and, in fact we are probably going to die miserable deaths at the hands of pornographic terrorists.

When faced with the likelihood of a Christian man being elected as a Democratic president, What Would James Do? It appears that he would scare the shit out of you.

According to Focus on the Fantasy, an Obama administration will result in a hijacking of the Court, ushering in nearly mandatory gay marriage, public elementary gay factories, the shuttering of Christian schools, adoption agencies, and publishing houses. Christian doctors and nurses, counselors and soldiers, teachers and broadcasters will all be out on the street. The Boy Scouts will be abolished. The streets will be littered with exterminated fetuses. We will terminate unwanted newborns like roaches. Our gunless citizens will be overrun by porn-juiced criminals. Americans will be killed abroad, and several major U.S. cities will be destroyed by terrorists. Our country will become communist, but for some reason at war with Russia. Israel will virtually cease to exist. Health care will become so rationed we will start euthanizing the old and infirm. Our economy will collapse, we will suffer electrical blackouts, while buying $7 gas.

Honestly, in the midst of all that, $7 gas doesn't sound so bad.

The letter is prefaced with a statement that includes a call for mutual respect.

Of course, there are many evangelical Christians supporting Senator Obama as well as many supporting Senator McCain. Christians on both sides should continue to respect and cherish one another’s friendship as well as the freedom people have in the United States to differ on these issues and to freely speak their opinions about them to one another.

Oh, yes, let's be respectful of the infidel wolves masquerading in sheep's clothing. Respect them until you get a clear head shot. If this is how you cherish friendships, all your enemies should shave their heads, move to Tierra del Fuego, and change their names to Chris (unless their name is already Chris, in which case they should change it to Terry).

Dobson and his kind are driving thousands of people out of the faith. They do so by devouring their young. They observe that young evangelicals may make up the margin of difference in this election. Then they tell them they are wrong. "We want you to be part of our Family, but everything that matters to you is crap. Now, sit up straight and repeat after me...."

On behalf of young evangelicals (one of which I'm not) told by Dobson they are wrong, let me say: "Are not. You are."

WHEN THE MAN COMES AROUND

Last summer my family had the opportunity to attend an Obama town hall meeting. It was great. Not as exciting as tens of thousands of people at an outdoor rally, but a solid, reasonable display of intelligence and leadership. At one point during his answers to audience questions, my 15-year-old daughter sighed and said, "I feel calm listening to him. He makes me feel safe." Back then I took that to be the words of a teenager who is more than a little intoxicated by this good-looking, charismatic man. But, reading Joel Klein's article "Why Barack Obama is Winning" in Time magazine, I now understand what she was feeling.

Klein closes with this assessment:

His has been a remarkable campaign, as smoothly run as any I've seen in nine presidential cycles. Even more remarkable, Obama has made race — that perennial, gaping American wound — an afterthought. He has done this by introducing a quality to American politics that we haven't seen in quite some time: maturity. He is undoubtedly as ego-driven as everyone else seeking the highest office — perhaps more so, given his race, his name and his lack of experience. But he has not been childishly egomaniacal, in contrast to our recent baby-boomer Presidents — or petulant, in contrast to his opponent. He does not seem needy. He seems a grown-up, in a nation that badly needs some adult supervision.

REPRESENTIN'

This and many more here and here.

BOOM...BAM...POWELL!!

Over 50 major newspapers have endorsed Obama.

Big deal. Many of them would endorse a shoe with cheese on it if it was running on a Democratic ticket.

But, when you combine the growing number of print endorsements with the cacophony of conservative voices lining up behind the Democratic ticket, a national consensus begins to emerge.

Today's nod from Colin Powell is more significant than most. As a lifetime Republican, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Security Advisor and Secretary of State in the Bush administration, Powell brings a bucketful of credibility to the table.

I KNOW SIZE DOESN'T MATTER, BUT...

100,000 in St. Louis...

...and 75,000 in Kansas City

Didn't know there were that many socialists in the Midwest, not to mention Missouri.

LOOK. THEY'RE FUNNY, MY FRIENDS

TIPPY TURTLE

No time to write up an analysis at the moment. For now, picture...worth...so...many...words...


'Nough said.

***Update***

My friend Matt sent this prescient video:

FRANK SCHAEFFER: AN OPEN LETTER TO JOHN MCCAIN

Senator John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.

At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.

Shame!

John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.

You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.

Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever.

We will hold you responsible.

This post first ran in the Baltimore Sun as an op-ed on Oct 10, 2008. Frank Schaeffer is the author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back.

JOE AND AMANDA: JUST BIDEN TIME

I had the privilege of attending a Biden rally today. I got to share the concomitant experience with my daughter, who was a volunteer for the same event a day earlier in another city. She got to have a pleasant conversation with a Secret Service agent named Allen, and a private meeting with the senator, who called her "honey." I have to admit the honey reference struck me as a little creepy at first, but I passed it off as a generational thing: a term of grandfatherly endearment. I was not so fortunate at my event, in that while I thoroughly enjoyed the speech, I only got looks from Secret Service agents that said, "Move wrong and I'll kill you;" and I got no love from the future VP. I was kind of hoping I could get him to call me "stallion."

Joe Biden has a way about him. He is very believable and seems extremely competent. I particularly like how he breaks down complex economic analysis for regular folks. He clearly explained how McCain's most recent $300 billion plan to bail out mortgages would only work to rescue the banks, and encourage their irresponsibility by rewarding their failed policies. He also repeatedly demonstrated, in surprising detail, how the McCain/Palin economic policies are showcased to feign help for all taxpayers, but are strategically designed to further empower the powerful at the expense of the middle class.

I know someone else who is good at unpacking this stuff for dummies like me. My good friend and economist, Amanda Watson Boles. She teaches college in Florida, and she gave me this schooling:

I am SICK of hearing that lowering taxes on big business and corporations fosters job creation. It is patently false. Here's why.

According to the International Monetary Fund, over the last 20-30 years, job creation in the U.S. has come mainly in the retail and services sectors---shopping, manicures, and baby-back ribs. The fastest job growth in U.S. history occurred during the Clinton administration, despite higher corporate taxes and higher marginal income tax rates for wealthy individuals.

Why? Because what keeps the retail and services sectors afloat is when the majority of Americans have money to spend on retail and services. Companies hire people and create jobs when they know their product/service will be bought, not when they think taxes are low.

On top of this, the largest part of our gross domestic product (72%) is consumption—which just means every day people spending money on stuff. Want to stimulate GDP growth? Make sure low- and middle-class Americans have money to spend. (See: JM Keynes. It still applies, now more than ever!)

Also something to consider: Our per capita GDP is about $47,000, but our average national income is in the mid-$30's—lower than it was in 1972 (adjusted for inflation). In other words, whenever you hear the Republicans talk about income redistribution, they're right—middle-class prosperity is being redistributed to the wealthy, and that's why McCain wants to continue the Bush tax cuts and continue cutting taxes for the rich and big business.

Amanda and Joe--two people I am inclined to trust on these issues--sketch out one of the fundamental differences in this election. We can continue to use the halls of power to create more privilege for those who already have it, and, in many cases, have squandered it; or we can put some new kids in them halls.

ABORTION DISTORTION

This post is back. I originally sent it to a newspaper, but heard nothing; so I put it up here. The newspaper eventually published it, and I took it down from the blog until it ran its course on the paper's website. Now it's back here for posterity. I'm sure you don't care about all that, but I said it anyway.



Last Sunday a few dozen evangelical pastors across the country defied the IRS by publicly endorsing John McCain from their pulpits. I will leave the constitutional implications of that move to other commentators and the courts for now. What I found interesting was the exclusive emphasis on abortion as the central issue prompting many of these congregations. It is not my intention to question their moral stance on abortion; however, it seems important to examine the practical realities under a McCain presidency.

There have been six terms and 23 years of Republican presidents since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in 1973. Abortion is still legal. The most significant declines in abortion rates were during the George W. Bush and Clinton administrations with the steepest increases coming under Carter and Reagan. When we consider the historical trend and the fact that, according to the National Right to Life Committee, Senator McCain has only voted pro-life 66% of the time, it seems highly unlikely a McCain presidency would outlaw abortion.

Even if McCain developed some uncommon resolve to change this law, let’s examine the likelihood of court action. If McCain were to nominate activist judges committed to overturning Roe v. Wade, they would have to pass confirmation by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Not going to happen. The Democrats will solidly control the committee after this election. Even if a nomination made it through committee, all indications suggest the Democrats will have a nearly filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. It is very unlikely the balance of Senate power would shift during a first, or even a second McCain term, since Senators serve for six years. Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that a constitutional amendment is also out of the question, since both houses of congress will be in Democratic hands. It is virtually impossible that any serious threat to Roe would come during a McCain administration.

So, voting for McCain will have no impact on the availability of abortion in this country.

None.

That leaves Christian pro-life voters two alternatives: continue to fight a culture war to the serious neglect of other important issues, or vote for Obama.

Barack Obama is a follower of Christ. He recently told Christianity Today, “I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful.” Obama went on to say he was committed to reducing unwanted pregnancies and making abortion less common.

A McCain vote is not a vote for life, it is a vote for a futile hope. It seems to me, if we care about faith, peace, the environment, our family’s economic health, a culture of life, and caring for “the least of these,” Senator Obama represents a hope worth believing in.

A hope that behaves like this.