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| Credit: Steve Lovelace |
“When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
"As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter." General George Washington, 1st President of the United States' Farewell Address.
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"The GOP isn't a political party: it's a mental condition," Jesse Ventura on Piers Morgan, when he had a show on CNN.
Also here: Actor and comedian Richard Belzer tells “Say Anything!” host Joy Behar why he thinks President Barack Obama is headed for a “landslide” victory in November noting:
“The Republican Party is not a political party – it’s a mental condition. And I mean that seriously because if you are for crushing the poor, unprovoked wars, there is no climate change, immigrants. It’s like ‘who are we’?”
Who are we?...
The National Academy of Sciences was founded on March 3, 1863, at the height of the Civil War.
The immediate roots of the NAS can be traced back to the early 1850s and a group of scientists based largely in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The group enlisted the support of Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson, who helped draft a bill for the incorporation of the National Academy of Sciences. Wilson brought the bill to the Senate on February 20, 1863, where it was passed on March 3. It was passed by the House of Representatives later that day, and was signed into law by President Lincoln before the day was over. The National Academy of Sciences had officially come into being with 50 charter members, who over the years would be joined by the election of the nation's most distinguished scientists. NAS History
We erroneously assume that the absolutely insane, the inane cannot possibly get elected to public office, then surprised when they do.
We assume that we are the grandchildren of Jefferson and his trinity of three greatest men; we assume our Civics and Social Studies is universal and understood by our political leaders.
“To err is human,” wrote Seneca. “To persist is diabolical.” Everyone makes incorrect predictions. But to be that consistently, grossly wrong takes special effort. So what’s this all about? Nobel Prize-Winning economist Paul Krugman opines in the New York Times on the ideological persistence of one party on the "sins" of the Affordable Care Act despite evidence to the contrary.
Who are we, and who do we want representing our views after any election?
1979:
150 corporations control television (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, UHF); radio and print media.
2014:
6 corporations control television (more stations than I can list), radio, print media and Internet and social media. That is a 25X reduction if you wanted the math.
Washington nor Jefferson had to contend with lobbyists or corporations, nor influence peddlers that use marketing firms to direct our thoughts online and convert us into sheep commodities for profit.
It is not just a denial of climate change or science: it's a denial of reality itself; allowing larger forces to manipulate that reality for gain or profit and purposely seed doubt on institutions designed to act in our best interests, getting us to vote or behave not in our best interests.
If one party denies reality, HOW can we extend to it the reigns of power governing the most significant country on the globe? Mutually Assured Destruction was never meant as a goal.
I want a resurgence of the party of science - the previous Republican Party before the current takeover by bigots, extremists, terrorists and apocalyptic zealots. That would be a "return to principles" I think everyone could support.
Tomorrow: Tea, Earl Grey
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