In January 2001, President Bush by Executive Order created the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, no Congressional funding, on ruse it would carry the homeless, immigrants, and hard-pressed with money and acts of kindness corporations, neocons, and others would pile on...as Bush worked as a master of intelligence and otherwise to rid the world of poor infrastructure, dwindling employment/income opportunities, dwindling educational funds, fraud, lost savings, high prices, bona fide terrorists, corruption, and the like.

What resulted was quite the opposite, including leading the pack in global government-authoring of religions to preach "those badly off or innocently brushed away are vessels of wrath doomed by God from birth anyway, and that's why Allah/Jesus/Lao Tzu/Buddha/Brahma/et al let US sin like crazy and go to Paradise"...of course, every other faith belief or lack of one became a threat to this or that nation's officials, then chased away on ruses like "practicing unlicensed psychology", or outright outlawed even in countries with religious guarantees and despite the UN charter on religious freedom...see, anyone peaceful but not a globally commingled government religion contains "those of MOST interest" rather than say those Prince Harry's Britain or Bush's USA fund, as in al-Qaeda haven Pakistan or "Destroy Israel As Part Of Manifesto" Hamas, or Janjaweed in Darfur, or on the list goes.

In a word, Bush and neocons and many global leaders replaced, not augment, the delivery systems of social programs, in a lopsided way such that they are always of say-so, if not Divine, powers, whereas anyone at all not them was curious just for not wanting to be satisfied with a culture that tells people to be satisfied with "house arrest" ala living in a habitrail with television, DVD's, treadmills all you need to be happy in this life. Worse, rather than identify terror or any crimes as the personal mentality of actors (whoever and wherever found), Bush and Prince Harry types kept on funding Janjaweeds and terror havens like Pakistan, as if a deal were struck to all perpetuate themselves via calling ALL of each others' races and religions this or that "bad people"...when everyone knows that's not true...why then would Bush, or especially Prince Harry (or his Pater, Grand Mater, or Prime Ministers, or Parliament) want Muslims waved into European and American New Urbanism at a rate almost identical to Hispanics in the USA? Sounds more like a way to keep large populations under suspicion while you design a permanently more...sedentary?...culture sterilized of democracy.

And the capper, of course: shouldn't Presidential or government-faith clergy control standards of news, media, and re-educational contents, so no "national securities" are disturbed and the "real targets of the terror war" get no voice or hope (sure isn't Bin Laden, Mumbai killers, Janjaweed, Hamas, and so forth...hey, those dudes kill Muslims and others too, as if even OTHER races and faiths had "useless vessels of wrath"; gosh, they sound like only they can see Muslims who need scourging together with Jews and everyone else, ala the way USA and European Calvinist/Small TRUE Church of Christ officials and their clergy preach).

For these reasons, as a traditional Conservative, believer in a universal God, respecting person of ALL peaceful faith's right to freely practice (and atheists to abstain), believing in NO religious OR secular Calvinisms or racisms at all, I respectfully look forward to the hope and potentials of incoming USA President Barack Obama.

There are a number of faith strands (and further pan- or quasi-pan-faith mindsets) in Christianity; ditto in Islam, and in Judaism…there really is no “go to” guy who speaks for the whole of any said faith, insofar as mortals.

As concerns religions and race, Christianity has had followers spanning the entire globe; Islam has had followers of many walks, but seems predominantly made up of Arabs, Africans, and nations such as Pakistan…itself partitioned out of Hindu India by the UN in 1948, same year the UN created Israel, many Hindus then informed as new Pakistanis the State religion would be Islam run by the State leaders. What I mean by this is that neither Christianity nor Islam has any one race to which their faith is exclusive. In contrast, whereas Judaism has Orthodox and Reform strands, still it seems mostly comprised of people of Hebrew ancestry.

This is not sufficient to say most Jews, or ethnically diverse Israel, practice(s) religious bigotry against the globe’s non-Jews.

In 1907, then emergent Reform Jews, in their “The Pittsburgh Platform”, said of other Abrahamic faiths: “We recognize in Judaism a progressive religion, ever striving to be in accord with the postulates of reason. We are convinced of the utmost necessity of preserving the historical identities with our great past. Christianity and Islam being daughter religions of Judaism, we appreciate their providential mission to aid in the spreading of monotheistic and moral truth. We acknowledge that the spirit of broad humanity of our age is our ally in the fulfillment of our mission, and therefore we extend the hand of fellowship to all who operate with us in the establishment of the reign of truth and righteousness among men”.

These Reform Jews in the same “Platform” said of Christianity and Islam: “ We reject as ideas not rooted in Judaism, the beliefs both in bodily resurrection and in Gehenna and Eden (Hell and Paradise) as abodes for everlasting punishment and reward”, their point being ala Orthodox/Conservative Jews God chastises Jews while on earth, on opinion a Messiah (and such Messiah only) would come only to set up a true Zion for Jews.

So Reform Jews saw Christianity and Islam as Heaven-breathed (“providential”), just wanting to go on record as saying that God had sent such people apart from Judaic prophecies, yet Jewish hearts were open to goodwill notwithstanding.

Conservative Jews of the 20^th Century chafed at Reformers. In his address “The Charter Of The Seminary”, Solomon Schecter (1847-1915) as president of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, said: “Nay, the very seer or prophet must bring his imprimatur from the Torah”…his point being belief that not even Providence authored anyone respectful of Jewish faith unless Jewish prophecy specifically identified all the how’s and why’s, and simply were not to be either provoked or religiously entertained. In other words, he rebuked Reformers through representing nothing could relieve a JEW of wholly Mosaic traditions and Law.

Now, curious as the squabbling of Reform and Conservative Jewish majorities are re outsiders, one notes that whether expressing desire to reach out or desire (ala USA Amish) to completely disengage from the rest of the world, there seems to be no manifest modern Jewish desire to conquer or eradicate any race(s) or religion(s) of any kind; contrast that with, say, Hamas, being but one group within Islam, which like 1930’s mobsters running towns insists ALL their folks adore them, and actually makes exterminating Jews part of their manifesto.

To recap, Islam and Christianity are too racially diverse to say they also qualify as singular races; modern Jews show no credible plan to conquer or eradicate anyone; and amid weak global economies, everyday oppressive regimes invent whatever cheap rhetoric they can to reinforce their poor domestic behaviors…killing even Muslims in 911, in attacks in diverse Israel, or otherwise.

Indeed, malice is a personal mindset, not a racial or religious protocol or trait.

It's good to incentivize with tax cuts, and of course as-is each WORKER actually working or running a business would have $500 more in their pocket this year and corporations could DELAY but not eliminate eventual layoffs for a little bit, but this is the SAME "incentive" we've had under Bush.

As to all spending dedicated to infrastructure, again...yes, some bridges need rebuilding and a relatively few aggregate towns and Counties are re-doing into New Urbanism first now, but again...how does that help those in the vast rest of the USA find work, create their own incomes; Bush era sleght of hand was to say "if we build it, they and $$$$ will come to you and to us", but obviously that's a huge fallacy.

Lastly, I don't think we're a nation of basket cases, so "healthcare" huge spending sounds like continuing Bush plans for State/monopolistic healthcare/drug control administered to every of the world's comers who will, ala Bush, need to transit to America, then of course have this or that real or imagined reason(s) they can't safely return home abroad...and wouldn't you know, New Urban infrastructure includes housing just for immigrants and refugees...again, under the same Bush era foodstamp, social care, and mortgage snafu protocols.

Unless the goal is to have the USA be molded into jobless, purposeless Socialism under complete government control, it might be a good idea to encourage so many other New Urban nations (even Vietnam and African nations almost indistinguishable from the West these days re community design motifs) from sending their "surplus" out of their own lands, encourage them to let their own people and "surplus" democratically evolve self-betterments, and ditto that change into the USA mindest re our own people and Hemisphere.

Again, too much of America and other nations everywhere have ALREADY "been there, done that" re New Urbanism and the personal curtailments increased governmental say-so or tolerance of say-so breeds, i.e. rather purposeless lifestyles with prisons ever easier to land in and inventing "offenses" the drive of GNPs, so some way of encouraging personal work and equity at least concurrently with healthcare and infrastructure seems necessary if change from the last eight years is to seem credible.

I am a USA national and traditional Conservative (non-neocon); I strongly believe in all human rights, including the right to responsibly exist.

While I defend adamantly the right of responsible, peaceful participation and ideation in localized and global democracies, there is no way I can countenance support for ANY nature of anarchy, whether it be USA anti-abortion bombers like Army Of God, or al-Qaeda, or the KKK, or neo-Nazis, ad infinitum through Hamas.

I for one find it disappointing that under Bush, my nation has failed to include or produce better results against such terror...in fact, overlooking Army of God sending white powder many times after 2001, funding militants in Somalia, and of course famously funding Pakistan's government non obstante same's coddling of Qaeda and anti-India terror groups.

Wherefore, I wholly support Israel in taking the initiative to disrupt actual, bona fide terror in the geo-politically intended definition of same...in my opinion, they are helping not only Isreal, but perhaps the USA, European Union, Russia, and any other nation which has lost innocent people to the power-plays of amorphous totalists buoyed by terror "loose cannons".

Again, I am grateful to Israel for its role in protecting not only its own State, but the world, and look forward to Isreal being brought into global dialogues which could better pinpoint that when you hit a hitman, you're hitting a criminal enterprise, not an ethnicity, race, or religion.

The most people of earth don't want ANYBODY killing for them, and I believe that more light needs to be shed on the fact one cannot claim "political differences" due to mere fact one is of this or that persuasion(s), even if they kill their own too, somehow they then have "rights" blocking capture/trial, while then some stereotype relevant persuasion(s) as "reasons" for expanding Gestapo/KGB-like powers over everyday citizens. 

Just want to say I find it inane of Bush, neocons, and media to interpose that just because Rahm Emmanuel and Obama talked with Blagojevich immediately after election as to who should replace Obama, this is de facto, prima facie, and controlling proof of ANYTHING in itself, other than the lunacy of those who actually push it and imply four MORE years of neocon rule and Bush rights and economy would have led to greatness and uber-national security...which "dadgum, corrupt Democrat folks are lousin' up!".

Plenty of Governors and such ask around and consider opinions when making vacancy appointments of Judges, Senators, et al...how does merely doing so de facto and perfectly constitute actus rea proving impropriety?

I will NOT promulgate against Obama, Emmanuel, Blagojevich, or anyone else based on the self-serving twaddle of neocons scrambling to remain important "or else!"...about time we all start holding our ground when political smackdown  and PSYOPS artists pounce.

I was glad to see posted to change.gov Obama's earlier stance on faith; in the Christian strands, and limited to issue of God's universality, the old Roman Catholic Archbishop Fulton John Sheen, Baptist Harvey G. Cox, and Lutherans Martin Luther (q.v., "The Three Walls" part of Luther's "An Appeal To The Ruling Class Of Germany For The Amelioration Of The State Of Christendom", 1520 AD) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (AD 20th Century) need to be reflected upon, as they all spoke to the universality of one God...as Sheen said of the whole world we shouldn't seek melding of governments just meeting of people reflecting on God; said Lutherans also said incarnation of Christ perfectly joined God to all mankind without need for ANY religion othe than Christ's rather simple and COMPLETE "directions".

Of course, anyone familiar with Christ's sayings themselves, and I charge this against anyone wearing a collar on precept He is God, has to know even Christ said no one disciple can ever be "better" than another, that ALL people on earth who simply do God's will as Christ might define are Christ's brothers and sisters, and for those not into Baptisms or listening to Christ, Christ Himself in John inter alia asks His Father to not destroy such people but still protect them from the evil one.

Christ Himself also doesn't sound like much of a hair splitter on many people other than any nature of hypocrite...which even then are to be left alone by man's hands but are warned of one day meeting God for explanation at judgment...again, something like any nature of Calvinism or Calvinsit-like "better you than me" seems to be not Christ's idea, since He says God will judge the heart not the physical person...and Christ makes no mentions about sexuality either. You could also say there's nothing about a DIVINE Christ that would find Him "visiting most bestes buddy preacher folk" in non-parousia ways to "amend what He plumb forgot back when"...by implication of divinity, Christ cannot be "known" more "perfectly" by Benedict XVI, Jimmy Swaggart, Tony Perkins, me, or anyone else.

Again, this July I myself switched to the Universal Life Church, and enjoy its social issue and universality worldview. It's refreshing to see a man like Obama emerge, to the view of Buckley Conservatives such as myself, from an imagined totalist atheist spectre to a visage of a man better understanding most assorted religions better than many of their own government-installed, or government-pressured, or self-serving  clergy do.

Insofar as faith initiatives, like Buckley I say government and charity do best with lives of their own; however, I trust whatever new pathways Obama will decide upon re faith in his Presidency...there are plenty of voluntarily "unchurched" millions in the USA, mainly as they are tired of decades of advancing political psyops under guise of true original faith, and really, government should not restrict survival of peaceful religions to those best able to channel the spirit of Sigmund Freud rather than the Holy Spirit.

I recall, back in the 1980's somewhere, some in the Bush League implying Islamic terror re the West was most usually plied via OPEC; I do not say it's true or not, just that such was partisan politics then.

I recall, back in the 1980's, a man by the name of John Hinckley (q.v., e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley_Jr. ) gunned down President Reagan, and then Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush ("41") chomped to take over the plenary powers of the Presidency...and Mr. Hinckley, inner circle type of the Bush family, has always gotten the kid-glove treatment.

I recall that throughout the George Walker Bush Presidency ("43"), same has said it uses planted/stagecraft news events for whatever reason(s); it says it has hardcore evidence against GITMO detainees and separate politicians, but that trial isn't that necessary in ANY venue for GITMO types and that pols are best tried by slamming in media also looking to be bailed out or "all you'll get is our aider of those slapping at you until you cave"; the same Bush has said his plenary funding to Iraq and Pakistan are about all that keep them going, even if Pakistan admits using Qaeda for its own purposes and grows sites where Mumbai (inter alia?) attack planners can concentrate; the same Bush team constantly invents new reasons why if anyone questions his Presidency at all about anything, they are or are emboldening terrorists; and now it appears Bush had a foreign reporter just sashay into a "secret farewell" to Iraq which press knew about, throw his shoes at Bush, and the neocon grapevine chants "terrorist, if you criticize a Commander In Chief again attacked by an Islamic hothead IN IRAQ!!!!!!!!!!!!".

By coincidence, today it's USA media buzz that Bush wants to use the plenary Presidential powers to bail out an auto industry Congress AS WELL AS AND SEPARATELY FROM the People don't want bailed out; worse, Bush just told us the other month TARP would save our economy and a penny less as TARP spends sends jobs and homes into the abyss, yet now he wants to use TARP funds for it...like somehow that's belt-tightening.

Well, this Conservative agrees with Lefties like Levin and Righties like Ensign and Corker...there is no reason(s) demonstrated why the consuming global let alone USA public yet could be expected to purchase or even need as many vehicles as such TARP-twisting infers in theory; surely, one hopes this isn't some ploy in the nature of "our Commander In Chief was attacked with shoes ala Random Task in Austin Powers, another international man of mystery, this proves need to preserve tool-up military use of auto plants despite base and recruitment center closures...and hey, only a free-trade hating, anti-democracy terrorist of some stripe or Socialist would fail to support oilmen making huge pump profits again, what with all the zillions of vehicles that surely will now roll onto the globe...hey, ask Hayek, increased demand means increased costs to keep up...heh, heh, heh".

For the record, if there IS evidence to cook GITMO folks or otherwise cook Federal Defendants in everyday matters, get them to a trial pronto, and ask the maximum penalties if any are found guilty, otherwise release whoever is just "media stagecraft"; also, why did Bush let Iraq hold the goofy reporter, when it's obvious he DID in front of zillions of viewers actually at least try to commit aggravated battery on a USA official...shouldn't that be a matter of USA sovereignty, or at least collateral sovereignty; and maybe, like he says GITMO DOES have real benefits in fighting anything at all, there is a reason(s) tethered to sense that the automakers need a bailout.

But at present, I respectfully submit more re benefits to personal economies needs to be more fully explained, rather than relying on the opinion only of one man and those he pays or funds, can reach through media attacks, or both.

Okay, let’s try to balance right-wing (actually, amorphous neocon ) Christmas gay bashing hysteria with reality…or more likely, at least let the vast majority of folks know what’s being said.

To start, one neocon voice has recently claimed that Washington State atheists are tantamount to Osama bin Laden because they dare to have a Constitutional right to NOT believe in ANY deity(ies) whatsoever; it appears the atheist group simply wants to have a “disclaimer” adjacent to Nativity scenes on public property…if you can’t stand that, don’t agree with them…just like atheists simply can look at your crèche and pass on. Story currently at http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/guest/2008/fmb_12131.shtml .

Notice that most neocon yappers deal exclusively in emotionalism over, say, RESULTS: “When we hit Afghanistan, our economy will recover”; “When we remove Saddam, our economy will recover”; “When we delete Tom DeLay, our economy will recover”; “When we delete Rod Blagojevich, our economy will recover”….you get the idea.

When it comes to neocons now emotionalizing over atheists, well, how much “influence” would these folks have without neocon objectivists engaging 24/7 hammer-time money to scare us with (note, the ONLY kind of “jobs” they seem to create…or KEEP). Perhaps neocons fear their grip on dogmatic Pavlovistic control via auto-God-pilot is slipping; no, there’s still a difference between atheism and agnosticism/apathy…you can still believe in God (as many of the hundreds of millions “unchurched” on Sundays now do), but be turned off by Calvinisms such as “all people in Africa or Asia live in huts”, or “almost all Muslims are nomads and killers”,  or “all Latinos are but Mexicans living in mud”, or “all but the most useless American nationals have plenty and should share THEIR wealth with the rest of these global hut-dwellers, even if the USA already for decades gives foreign aid to their leaders”…again, you get the idea.

Such Calvinism is most odious when it preaches “God is NOT punishing this or that nationality through their being in the same boat as those in say America, but God IS punishing or viewing as a plaything vessel of wrath gays, or Americans, or whoever needs to do as benefits government leaders globally”; note that many of these preachers in every faith are the government-installed or faith-initiative/funded types, and would never suggest THEY need to give up a mansion (as many USA Cardinals live in), limousines, platinum cufflinks, what have you. In a word, listening to such stereotypings and commandments for sharing, if following ipse dixit preachers’ own words, self-proves that doing things their way for decades accomplishes nothing more than continuation of the status quo they claim they’re trying to defeat…and for those believing in “vessels of wrath God destroys anyway”, how do THEY know their God isn’t sending them for pronto destruction via some abortions, which they oppose?

Sorry for that last one…but it carries another dynamic: it would seem not atheists, but uber-right pan-Christian Calvinists are the ones with fundamentalist, “God tells us who to destroy” Laden-like emboldenment.

Which brings me to conclude that recent neocon efforts to hook up homosexuality with abetting terrorism (q.v., e.g., http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/colson-gay-marriage-causes-terrorism , http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fill-blank-gays-are ) are just an extension of pure emotionalism tethered to no reality(ies) except to perpetuate the influence over the minds and pocketbooks of people by neocons; the only “results” their troupe as President and once majority Congress brought was emotionalism to distract from attention they were themselves doing everything they could in opposition to what they emotionally screamed and promised.

Sure…gays are more an aid to terrorists than calling Pakistan, which for some time has housed the USA UN Permanent Mission of Iran in the USA Embassy of Pakistan, a “let them be, do as see fit partner in war on terror”…even when under Mushareff they admitted using Qaeda well post 2003 to “destabilize” Pashtun chiefs, and then speaking of Mumbai… .

We’ve heard just about everything an American can conceive of doing or saying be tacked on as an “aider of terrorism”; if we sacrifice our intentions of change with the new Congress and President and fall for making gay life the end-all/be-all definition of the legislative/executive calendar, we’ll be chasing our tails, opening the door to further claims like State/County-issued vital record abstracts are “renditionable/say-so detainable non-proof of anything”, and see little if any change to anything; now, who would that benefit, heh heh heh?