Political Code Words

Conservative Code Words

States Rights: noun (from the 1960's and 70's) the right of conservatives to oppose civil rights, desegregation, and social and economic equality.

Enhanced Interrogation: verb to torture: 1 a: anguish of body or mind : agony b: something that causes agony or pain 2: the infliction of intense pain (as from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure 3: a means of producing probable false information by violating the Constitution, the Geneva Convention, and the United Nations' Declaration on Human Rights, and the victim.

Our Freedom: noun deregulation of business and financial markets, corporate welfare, no-bid government contracts to military contractors and war profiteers. Also~ freedom from taxes (but only for the corporations and the wealthiest 2% of the population).

Activist Judges: noun any jurist who uses reason, legal precedent and the Constitution to interpret the law, who therefore probably won't be as vehemently and passionately opposed to abortion or equal rights for homosexuals as the Republican party and religious fundamentalists would prefer.

Patriotic: adjective describing anyone who wears a lapel pin or puts a ribbon magnet or sticker on their car.

Blame America First/America Haters: noun 1: anyone who wants America to be responsible for it's policies or who wants accountability in government 2: anyone who wishes to enforce the rule of law or to abide by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Fair and Balanced: adjective skewed in favor of the Republican party and religious fundamentalists to the point of essentially being a tool for propaganda.

Taxes: interjection Boo!

9/11: interjection Boo! Be scared!

Muslim: interjection Boo! Are you scared yet?

Gay: interjection Boo! You're all gonna catch their "gayness," they'll turn you all GAY!!!

Illegal immigrant interjection Boo! Here come Mexicans!

Socialist interjection Boo! BOO! BOOOO! Be scared! BE REALLY, REALLY SCARED!

Fair and Balanced: adjective skewed in favor of the Republican party and religious fundamentalists to the point of essentially being a tool for propaganda.

Liberal Code Words

Empathy: noun the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner ; also : the capacity for this.

Nuance: noun 1 : a subtle distinction or variation 2 : a subtle quality 3 : sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value) 4: an explanation that may be more complicated than a sound bite and that reflects the fact that an issue is complicated, multifaceted and reveals a sensitivity to the fact that the issue may provoke a variety of divergent opinions and may require a variety of approaches which may need to be careful and reasonable.

Change: verb to give a different position, course, or direction to a: to replace with another b: to make a shift from one to another c: to undergo a modification of intransitive verb 1: to become different 2: to undergo transformation, transition, or substitution- as in to change from the failed direction the country was in or the failed policies of the previous leadership. 3: what most Americans voted for last November, duh!

From the soldier who, arguably, saved the world

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Phirst Phlowers of the Photo Season!

2 Kiss me and kiss me again,
for your love is sweeter than wine.
3 How fragrant your cologne;
your name is like its spreading fragrance.

In Memory

Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion Post #66 Homer Hall) 2nd Vice Commander B.H. Meyer plays Taps at the post's Memorial Day observances held at Charter Oak-Ute High School this morning, Monday May 25, 2009.

In Memorial

The following was originally posted on my Spiritual blog, "Prophet Priest and Pirate, " December 3, 2008

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8: 35 & 37-39 NIV)

Neither financial struggles nor recession, neither mid-life crisis nor identity crisis, neither stress nor insomnia, neither your job nor your family, not illness, not accidents, not drugs and alcohol, not sexual identity, not suffering physical abuse, nor sexual abuse, not emotional or mental abuse, not depression, not anxiety, not anger, not even suicide.

That's right. You read it.

Recently my brother-in-law took his own life. He had suffered from alcoholism for decades. He'd been through rehab/recovery programs something like five times in the last 12 years. He'd been hospitalized and treated for depression, both with traditional counseling/therapy and medication. Mind you, I'm not excusing or condoning his decision, but I also recognize that mental illness is no less an illness than MS or Lou Gehrig's Disease, or Leukemia. And I know that my brother-in-law knew Jesus and loved Jesus and felt broken and like there was no escape and no cure. Others might accuse him of not having enough faith, that he just needed to trust God more. He knew he lacked faith, if he had had hope he would still be here.

My pastor offered us a beautiful quote from Martin Luther, "I am not inclined to think that those who take their own lives are surely damned. My reason is that they do not do this of their own accord but are overcome by the power of the devil, like a man who is murdered by a robber in the woods."

So, just like the loved ones of someone who's suffered from any other terminal illness for years, I know that now at last, his suffering is over. He is safe in his Savior's arms, cured and forgiven.

He very well may have felt that he was giving up on God, but God did not give up on him.

NOTHING can separate us from the love of God. Even in our deepest despair, even in our grieving, there is still hope.

Book Report

Heartland by Mort Sahl

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Weird how somebody who wrote jokes for JFK and got blacklisted for helping Jim Garrison scrutinize the Warren Report also supported Alexander Haig's bid for the Presidency. He made fun or Reagan, yet was considered a friend of the Reagans.

Sahl's always been a hero of mine and I just about wore out my parent's copy of his album recorded live at the Hungry i. His book is showing me just how complex and multifaceted he really is.

Mort Sahl was better than Lenny Bruce, because he didn't just want to shock people to become famous. He wanted to challenge people to think about what they believe and why they believe it and he wanted to expose corruption and hypocrisy and have fun doing it. There wouldn't be a Jon Stewart, Steven Corbet, Bill Mahr or SNL Weekend Update if there hadn't been a Mort Sahl. Heck, there might not have been a Smothers Brothers or a George Carlin if there hadn't been a Mort Sahl. Come to think of it, Lenny Bruce, Shelly Berman, a Bill Cosby or Bob Newhart either. He pioneered comedy albums and college shows. He had a late night talk show and radio call-in shows (you owe him too, Al Frankin and Stephanie Miller). He acted, wrote, and produced movies and TV- yet hardly anyone remembers him.

First he endangered his career by being just as critical of JFK as he had been of Ike- then he REALLY endangered his career by working with New Orleans DA Jim Garrison to try to get to the bottom of the JFK assassination. I don't know how many conspiracy theories are out there or how much I agree with Oliver Stone's Kevin Costner movie, JFK- but I do agree with Sahl that we should demand scrutiny and accountability of those who profit from the military. Howard Hunt was CIA connected to Oswald, Ruby and Clay Shaw... and guess what? Howard Hunt was involved in Watergate. Maybe not a conspiracy, but a scary correlation- what with bogus intel, torture and wire tapping in the news again under Bush, maybe it's high time that America gave Mort Sahl another chance.

"This matter of two sides to every question is bad logic and bad practice: sometimes there are no sides; sometimes there are a hundred." ~Mort Sahl

"One reason to keep going is that the country was given to us as a sacred charge. It is, as Stephen Vincent Benet says in 'the Devil and Daniel Webster,' not the only place that created free man- but... Read More its a place that demands that we decide what to do with out freedom. You can only punish yourself, That's the existential view. I don't think there's any reward beyond participating, beyond being here. And the antithesis of reward is punishment, and the only punishment that can come is self-inflicted. I remain optimistic. Whether or not the optimism is justified, I don't know. I want to stay around for the third act." ~Mort Sahl

View all my reviews.

Great Quotes

"We claim we believe in compassion, which is an abstract, and when it's personified we discredit the man"
— Mort Sahl


"The distance between taking social action and having the knowledge is as wide as the mouth of the Mississippi."
— Mort Sahl (Heartland)


"I don't think fascism is dying for."
— Mort Sahl (Heartland)


"That feeling of hopelessness only serves your masters."
— Mort Sahl (Heartland)


"You know what I want you to do? I want you to blow out the candle and curse the darkness."
— Mort Sahl (Heartland)

"Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen."
— Mort Sahl


"The bravest thing that men do is love women."
— Mort Sahl


"You haven't lived until you've died in California"
— Mort Sahl


"Washington couldn't tell a lie, Nixon couldn't tell the truth, and Reagan couldn't tell the difference."
— Mort Sahl


"Reagan won because he ran against Jimmy Carter. If he ran unopposed he would have lost."
— Mort Sahl


"A conservative is someone who believes in reform. But not now."
— Mort Sahl

Love Perseveres

So you call yourself a “Christian?”

A “Little Christ?”
“Little Anointed One?”
Set aside for a purpose?

Are you sure you’re ready for His purposes?

Love perseveres.

Are you patient?
Are you kind?
Do you envy?
Do you ever brag?
Pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?
Are you ever rude?
Are you ever self-seeking? Never? No Ambition? Never any ulterior motives?
How easy is it to make you angry?
Do you keeps track? Are you keeping score?
Oh I know you rejoice in the truth, but do you rejoice with THE Truth?
Do you ever delight when harm comes to others?
Do you always protect? Or do you just over protect?
Do you always trust?
Where is your hope?

Love perseveres.

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
if any comfort from his love,
if any fellowship with the Spirit,
if any tenderness and compassion,
then make my joy complete by being like-minded,
having the same love,
being one in spirit and purpose.

Are you sure you’re ready for HIS purposes?

Love perseveres.

Do you do ever do anything out of selfish ambition?
Are you ever vain or conceited?
Are you humble?
Do you consider others better than yourself?
Or do you look after your own interests?
What about the interests of others?

Love perseveres.

Is your attitude the same as that of Christ Jesus?
Don’t you consider equality with God something to be grasped?
Do you make yourself nothing?
Are you a servant?
Do you humbled himself?
Would you be obedient to death?

Love perseveres.

Do YOU love?
Are you joyful?
Are you a peacemaker?
Are you patient?
Are you kind?
I bet you think you try to be pretty good, don’t you?
Are you as faithful as you think?
Do you let your gentleness be evident to all?
You want to control society, but how much self-control have you got?

Love perseveres.

Do you love your enemies?

Do you do good to those who hate you?
Have you blessed those who curse you?
Are you praying for those who mistreat you?

Love perseveres.

"You have heard that it was said,
'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I tell you:
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

Love perseveres.

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
So you may as well get used to it.

Love perseveres.

Do you love your enemies?
Do you do good to them?
Do you even give them to them without expecting to get anything back?

Love perseveres.

Believe it or not,
Like it or not,

Jesus is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

While we were still His enemies, Christ died for us.
Would you die for your enemies?

Are you merciful, just as your Father is merciful?

Lord, forgive us,
for we know not what the Hell we're doing to each other.

Believe it or not,
Like it or not,

Love perseveres

---

Matthew 5, Luke 6, Romans 11, 1 Corinthians 13, Philippians 2, Galatians 5, Romans 5

Book Report

Heartland by Mort Sahl

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Never judge a book by its cover was never so true. With the Reaganesque cowboy, I figured that this was going to be a western novel which seemed out of character for a San Fransisco beat generation night club comedian.

Duh, turns out it's a memoir of his rise and fall from fame. I think the horseman has something to do with how he was talking with Steve McQueen and James Gardner about Hollywood on McQueen's Texas ranch.

Weird how somebody who wrote jokes for JFK and got blacklisted for helping Jim Garrison scrutinize the Warren Report also supported Alexander Haig's bid for the Presidency. He made fun or Reagan, yet was considered a friend of the Reagans.

Sahl's always been a hero of mine and I just about wore out my parent's copy of his album recorded live at the Hungry i. His book is showing me just how complex and multifaceted he really is.

View all my reviews.

About time, if you ask me

(click here to view)

Nick Anderson Houston Chronicle May 6, 2009 EditorialCartoonists.com

Here's a great cartoon about tax shelter reforms