Bernard Ries | Inaugural Excess
This is the wrong time for a lavish celebration.

The Presidential Inauguration Committee intends to forge ahead with its resplendent plans for the second Bush inaugural. At the risk of sounding like a Grand Old Party pooper, I'm not thrilled.

What gives me pause is the decision to spend some $40 million-plus at this moment in history. When I first began mulling over this expenditure, I thought it quite unseemly that, at a time when so many Americans and countless Iraqis have been and will be killed and maimed, we should be mounting a spectacle said to celebrate our troops, replete with nine official balls, many unofficial affairs, a youth concert, a parade, a fireworks display, etc. (and, at the Ritz-Carlton, white chocolate cowboy boots). But now, with the appalling misery in Southeast Asia added to the scene, it seems even more obvious that an extravaganza is wholly inappropriate.
(FULL STORY)
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Messages From Beyond The Grave
http://educate-yourself.org/mw/index.shtm
...Along with this, I want to tell you the two crucial reasons that the outcome is far, far more advantageous than is logical for you to think. I say “logical to think” because so few are aware of what has been going on behind the scenes. Eventually the truth about the deception of the president and his cabinet throughout their years in control will come forth. When it does, the impact will be infinitely greater on a "sitting" administration than a former one. This is necessary so that Bush’s adherents will be shocked into reconsidering everything that has transpired under his leadership. They will realize that deliberately creating fear has been his intent and his power over them—they will be shaken out of their blindness and forced to start thinking more deeply than formerly.

The second reason is of equal importance. If Kerry had emerged the victor, his adherents—indeed, much of the world!—would have held great hope that his policies would lead to peace, to environmental protection, to greater economic stability, to kinder, more just treatment of those who, under the former presidency, were disenfranchised in many areas of basic needs...
http://educate-yourself.org/mw/message04nov04.shtml

Editor's Note: Personally I find it sickening how many so called Christians think our soul only lives one human life...
witch of course is absurd.
[Rev. Neil Colton]
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From www.democrats.com on - 1/7/2005
We - the broad progressive movement - won a huge victory today in Congress.
No, we didn't win the vote to reject Ohio's Electors - but we never thought we would.

We did win the debate.
(C-Span: http://tinyurl.com/672p9 )
Our side won the debate because we talked about the fundamental basis of Democracy: the right of everyone to vote, and the right to have every vote counted.

Republicans could not challenge our facts. So they viciously attacked our motives. If you missed Tom DeLay's closing argument, you must watch it. It was pure poison - like everything Tom DeLay says and does. We're counting the days until his theft of the Texas legislature puts him behind Texas bars - where it won't be "Camp Cupcake."

But our champions did not wither under withering fire. They stood their ground. They stood tall.

What now?

First, Ohio is not over. There are two cases still in the courts. They raise crucial substantive questions that go to the heart of whether Ohio's election was fair or fraudulent. We will continue to track these cases, to make sure justice is done.

Second, Election Reform is not over. Every Democrat - and even a few Republicans - emphasized the voting problems that need to be fixed. If Republicans block action on basic reforms like paper trails, they will confront millions of very angry voters.

Third, Bush's "legitimacy" is not over. Millions of Americans know that he certainly stole Florida in 2000, and possibly stole Ohio in 2004. The dark cloud over Bush's head will not be lifted until the questions raised in the Conyers Report are answered. As long as Ken Blackwell refuses to answer those questions, Bush's second term will be as illegitimate as his first.

Finally, the pro-Democracy movement is not over. We fought for this debate against infinite odds, and we got the debate we demanded. We fought against the fear of Democratic leaders and the rage of Republican leaders, but they could not silence us or repudiate our cause. Our champions have stepped forward, and we will work with them until we guarantee every American has the right to vote.

My Reply
If you really think you are doing so well... Where have your news headlines been ever since election day ?
Personally I think every congressman who didn't vote on the 6th of this month, should be arrested for dereliction of duty. That includes all republicans who walked out and 80 democrats who didn't do the job they were
sworn in to do just 2 days earlier !
 Sincerely,
    Rev. Neil Colton
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1/8/2005  - While the sea may have killed tens of thousands, western policies kill millions every year. Yet even amid disaster, a new politics of community and morality is emerging.
The west's crusaders, the United States and Britain, are giving less to help the tsunami victims than the cost of a Stealth bomber or a week's bloody occupation of Iraq. The bill for George Bush's coming inauguration party would rebuild much of the coastline of Sri Lanka. Bush and Blair increased their first driblets of "aid" only when it became clear that people all over the world were spontaneously giving millions and that a public relations problem beckoned. The Blair government's current "generous" contribution is one-sixteenth of the £800m it spent on bombing Iraq before the invasion and barely one-twentieth of a £1bn gift, known as a soft loan, to the Indonesian military so that it could acquire Hawk fighter-bombers.
(FULL STORY)
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FEAR FACTOR
Robert Marquand, Christian Science Monitor
As an estimated 1.5 million displaced Sri Lankans head inland, new logistical problems crop up
-- worsened by a paralyzing mentality of fear.
http://www.alternet.org/story/20868/
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"WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PEACE ON EARTH?"
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, AlterNet
Willie Nelson's song does not confuse peace with passivity or promote acquiescence to
violence in the guise of championing democracy.
http://www.alternet.org/story/20867/
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