Paid to Lose

John Stauber has an interesting new article in Counterpunch: Paid to Lose - The Progressive Movement is a PR Front for Rich Democrats
"There is good news in the Boston Globe today for the managers, development directors, visionaries, political hacks and propaganda flacks who run 'the Progressive Movement.'   More easy-to-earn and easy-to-hide soft money, millions of dollars,  will be flowing to them from super rich Democrats and business corporations.  It will come clean, pressed and laundered through Organizing for Action, the latest incarnation of the Obama Money Machine which has recently morphed into a 'nonpartisan non-profit corporation' that will  ‘strengthen the progressive movement and train our next generation of leaders.’

Does this information concern you?  If not, you need to get out of the propaganda bubble of your Progressive Movement echo chamber and think.  Think hard.  Think about fundamental, radical, democratic, social and economic change, who might bring it about and how?  Ask yourself if the rich elite, the 1%, are going to fund that?   Leave The Nation and Mother Jones on the shelf;  turn off Ed Schultz, Rachel Madow and Chris Hayes;  don’t open that barrage of email missives from Alternet, Media Matters, MoveOn, and the other think tanks;  and get your head out of the liberal blogosphere for a couple days.  Clear your mind and consider this:

The self-labeled Progressive Movement that has arisen over the past decade is primarily one big propaganda campaign serving the political interests of the the Democratic Party’s richest one-percent who created it."

I've been thinking this for a while; nice to see someone else noticing.

For me the interesting thing about all the calls from radical Democratic party-associated groups to punish the fat cats of Wall Street is that it never actually happens, no matter how many Democrats are elected, or how much noise they make about justice.

I can't think of even one person who's actually been indicted, let alone gone to jail for any of the actions that led to the crash of 2008. Instead, most of the 1%ers who did that were bailed out by two successive administrations, leaving all the pain to be borne by the 99%. Progressive friend Paul talks a lot about growing injustice in America. Well, here's our smoking gun of how that keeps happening.

Might be time for the 99% to look more seriously at third parties. Sure they'll lose, at least at first, but how is that different for them from what's happened under both current major parties' 1%ers?

HT Top the News

Please focus on debt and deficits and getting the Senate to finally pass a budget, rather than trying to take away our new target pistol

I read a rumor yesterday that our state's only Republican Senator is going wobbly on the issue of gun control, so decided to send him a note, as follows:

"First, welcome back to the Senate! I'm sure it's been a long hard road
back, so congratulations! My sister had a stroke too a few years back, in
the best possible place - in her doctor's office, while being examined.
Even so, she too has had a tough road back.

I'm one of your precinct committeemen, and looking forward to supporting
you again in your next election.

Meanwhile, now that you are back, I hope you will focus on what matters,
rather than on each new distraction our opponents dangle before us.

I'm disgusted, but not surprised, that after four years of not even trying
to pass a budget as required by the Constitution, leaders of the other
party would still rather talk about anything and everything other than how
our nation and its future are going rapidly bankrupt. If there is to be a
free and prosperous America for our grandchildren, that's the topic the
Senate needs to discuss.

Instead, this week it seems they'd rather discuss all the useless
meaningless ways they can act in the name of preventing mass murders
without actually having even a tiny effect on their already-decreasing
numbers. And to do this, our opposition would be happy to completely
render meaningless the Second Amendment by outlawing, regulating and
registering pretty much anything citizens currently use to deter either
criminals or a potentially-despotic government.

Although the secret ballot is our most precious civil right, the right to
keep and bear arms is almost as sacred because it helps guarantee all the
other civil rights.

There's a reason pistols in the last century had names like "the
Peacemaker" and "the Equalizer," because they did indeed defend both peace
and equality for groups that would otherwise not have known either,
including Martin Luther King, Jr, a proud gun owner as a deterrent against
the Klan.

When trouble erupts, there's a tendency for politicians to feel they have
to do something, no matter how useless. But Pogo was wiser in the old
cartoon, when he said "Don't just do something. Stand there!"

Focus on the big issue - making sure there is still a free and
non-bankrupt America for our grandchildren to inherit. And never mind what
the media and the opposition say. They hate us both already, and nothing
we do or say will change that. If you're going to be blamed regardless of
what you do, you may as well do the right thing.

My wife and I are thoroughly enjoying practicing with our new 10 shot
.22LR target pistol. Please don't cooperate in making them any harder to
buy or use legally than the already-difficult and time-consuming process
it took to buy them and find ammo for them.

I've always thought the NRA was a bit over-the-top, but not after the last
two months of constant attacks on our Second Amendment rights. I'm now a
paid-up member, and have their bumper sticker on our car. That might get
it keyed by the other side, but sometimes you have to have the courage to
speak up in spite of such threats.

Thanks much for considering these thoughts, and once again, welcome back!"

What I didn't say in the note, is that if he does decide to go wobbly on this issue, I won't be supporting him again. Why bother? If I wanted my life micromanaged, we already have a party for that. If all that his being a Republican meant was that he'd drive a bit slower on the road to perdition, then voting for or working for his election would be worse than wasting a vote on a currently-unelectable but more principled alternative candidate. Just as it makes no sense for blacks to let their votes always be taken for granted by the Democratic Party, it makes no sense to let the Illinois Republican Party to think their path back to power is over the dead bodies of conservatives, libertarians and TEA partiers -- the only people still supporting them at all, so far as I can see.

Update: Looks like Senator Kirk has decided not only to go wobbly on the Second Amendment, but to act as though it doesn't exist. He's sponsoring not one but two anti-gun bills in the U.S. Senate (S. 179, and S, 480), neither of which would have prevented any of the recent tragedies in which guns were used, but will be another layer of cost and trouble for ordinary law-abiding citizens. And as usual, the poor and weak will be harmed the most, no longer as able to legally defend themselves.

Bobby Jindal leads the way

Here is the text of Bobby Jindal's recent speech to the Republican National Committee:

Ideas that impressed me:
"We must not become the party of austerity. We must become the party of growth."

"first you must win the argument, then you can win the elections." (quoting Margaret Thatcher)


"we will not win elections by simply pointing out the failures of the other side."

"solving problems closer to home should always be our first, not last, option."

"Get rid of the loopholes"

"reject identity politics"

"quit 'big.'"

"focus on real people outside of Washington"

We also need to stop funding media, companies and institutions that always and only support our opposition. Not a single ad or subscription or tuition or purchase dollar, ever again. Put that money to better use buying and supporting new media, institutions and products.


We can never out-promise or out-demonize those willing to say and do anything to win. All we can do is ignore their latest distraction and stand up for Truth and Freedom, knowing we'll be hated and attacked even if we say and do nothing.

Anything I can do, short of a loan

Excellent summary by Rev. Donald Sensing, on why cash is rarely the right way to help strangers in need, even for a Christian. I long ago learned that if a stranger approaches me downtown with a need that can apparently only be met with cash, that is the one thing I must never give if I truly care. This is really sad too, as a dear friend once found herself downtown without CTA fare home, and had to beg for hours, because professional panhandlers so often abuse the generosity of strangers.

Armed Pastor?

I just read this interesting blog entry by fellow United Methodist pastor Donald Sensing on why he recently bought a small pistol to carry on walks:
"I am not really worried about a human attacker but I am legitimately concerned about the four-legged kind."
That seems right to me. I love to hike, but not in areas where I share the path with creatures capable of killing humans that I may not be able to avoid. Fortunately, that isn't an issue locally yet.

Sensing also makes interesting related points:
"1. I carry a pistol to defend myself and my loved ones, not to defend you. A carry permit does not make me the Fist of Justice. It does not give me police powers. If I face criminal danger in public, my number one choice will be to flee, not fight. Having no other choice, I will draw or use my pistol to save my children, my wife, myself. Not you. (Relevant: See my posts on why permit holders could not have saved the day in the movie theater murders in Aurora, Colo., last summer.)

2. I will not put my life at risk to protect property. Nothing I own is worth risking death for. Nor is it worth killing for. So I will not shoot someone just to protect property. But if someone attempts to rob me or invade my home, my default setting is that they also mean to do me and/or my family harm. "

As an Illinois resident, where carrying a pistol by ordinary citizens is never allowed, I was particularly interested in this comment:
" If you are an adult, no one is more responsible for defending you than you. If you find yourself unarmed and needing defending, it is because you decided to be. Bluntly put, I am not going to put my life at risk to subsidize your stupid decision. I might be morally justified in defending you with lethal force, but I am not morally obligated to do so."
I've never owned a gun, other than a BB pistol once, but Sensing makes a good point. My only counter-argument is that perhaps he might consider also defending poor tourists from the only state stupid enough to still forbid carrying a pistol either openly or concealed. Oh, and he also might want to defend widows and orphans. God seems pretty cool with that throughout the Bible.


Sensing enjoys sport shooting, as do I. Taking an NRA class recently was great fun, as was another recent civilian police academy class. For now, I can rent guns when I visit a range, but the selection is limited enough that I'd prefer to just buy a .22 pistol (cheap to operate) and learn to use it well, as soon as I'm comfortable with getting it legally to and from the range, and have friends with whom to shoot often enough to maintain skills. (If that's you, let me know please.)

Fortunately, a U.S. appellate court decided yesterday that the Illinois total ban on concealed carry is unconstitutional, and gave the legislature six months to pass a more reasonable law. Here's hoping they do!

Update: I was delighted to meet a Catholic brother in vestments at the range yesterday. He mentioned serving in a tough neighborhood. There IS precedent - Peter carried a sword, at Jesus' request.

I was less happy to read a letter from fellow retired United Methodist pastors in Central Illinois in our conference newspaper yesterday, basically asking for lots of guns and stuff to be banned and for whatever isn't banned to be registered and regulated by the Federal government and the U.N.

Ironically, the very next page featured stories about churches being closed because folks are no longer giving as much to U.M. churches. If I'd read such a letter from the pulpit of any of the churches I served there, I'd have been lucky if anyone even showed up the next week, let alone put anything in the offering.

(I was once dumb enough the preach against eating too much meat, and had to let the head of the local Farm Bureau preach an opposing view the following week. Fortunately, that church saw breaking the rough edges off new pastors as part of their job.)

My advice to anyone sympathetic to the idea of any additional regulation of guns or ammo to first go spend an hour at a range. (If you know me, consider yourself invited.)

And fellow Methodists, before trying to ban anything else dearly loved by fellow adults, patriots and Christians, ponder deeply the consequences of your previous attempts to ban something millions of Americans didn't want banned (alcohol.)

Update#2: Rev. Sensing has posted another entry about specific four-legged pit bull attackers that have now inspired him to carry a 9mm pistol on his walks. Details here.

Update#3: The retired UM pastors whose views on gun control so bothered me above have apparently also gotten an earful from others, as they put a more sensible letter in this week's conference newspaper.
This time they note (correctly and relevantly) that "99 of the 102 counties are not reporting persons to the [National Criminal Background Check System] database, and out of 130,000 clinicians, only 83 of them make reports to the database."

They also correctly note that "There was a time in the 1970s and 1980s when Illinois had one of the finest mental health systems in the nation and then it began to be dismantled," though I find myself suspecting they were in favor of that at the time as a way of respecting the rights of mental patients.


I chuckled as I read of one of the writers saying "Pastorally, I do have to tell you that the level of your anger causes me to be concerned for your soul because anger will eventually destroy you."

Sadly, they also repeated such inaccuracies as that "30,000 Americans are killed each year by gun violence," either not knowing or not caring that most of those deaths are suicides, and most of the rest criminal-on-criminal violence using illegally-obtained guns.

Update #4: Another pastor, John Linneham, just supported the second amendment by wearing a Ruger 9mm as he preached:, saying “I don’t normally pack a gun. I don’t usually do it, but today I wanted to take a stand so there’s no misunderstanding as to where we stand.” Picture and more here.

Update #5:  An area church responded to the recent outrage of a boy suspended for chewing a Pop Tart into what he said was a mountain but a teacher thought looked like a gun, by having a Pop Tart gun-making contest in Sunday School as part of Second Amendment Sunday. What got my attention most was this:
"The reason this country is in this condition is not because sinners act like sinners, it’s because Christians don’t act at all.  And pastors?  They’re notorious cowards … anything that will come between a filled pew and a filled collection plate … the hirelings scamper away.  Having said that, I have been contacted by three other pastors each from a different state who want to know more and asked me to send them material.”  The pastor went on to say, “There will always be a remnant …"

Snowbird checklist

As birds and neighbors depart for warmer climes, I've recently been working up a draft snowbird checklist of ways to worry less if I'm ever away from home more than a few hours in winter. Here's the list so far. Additions and corrections are welcome:

If leaving for up to a month:
Hold mail
Hold newspapers
Make arrangements for someone to remove flyers and free newspapers that might be left at your door, mailbox or driveway while you are away.
Put away loose objects from yard, along with patio furniture that doesn’t stay out all year.
Turn heat down to 55.
Turn off water for the whole house. Leave taps open.
Turn off the furnace humidifier and close its air damper to summer position. 
Turn water heater to Pilot only. (On returning, turn on water before restarting.)
Turn off power to central air conditioner (saves energy, and keeps mice from wintering in it.)
Turn off breakers for circuits that don’t need power while away.
Turn off ice cube maker in refrigerator
Throw away any food that won’t last until your return.
Leave your curtains set as usual. However, that should not let anyone see into your garage to see if your car is there, even when you are home. Similarly, don’t leave valuables in plain sight of open windows.
If you have jewelry, do NOT leave it in the bed or bath room. Consider packing it with ornaments in the attic, or some other non-obvious place. On the other hand, don’t leave it in anything you or an heir might ever accidentally donate to charity without first removing the valuables.
Turn some lights on via timers, even when home.
Turn on a fake TV.
Set a radio alarm to turn on music or talk for an hour daily at lunch.
Get a fake dog (bark sounds when motion detected.)
Get a temperature, water, etc. alarm that phones when triggered.
Set up cameras to record motion in or near the house.
Ensure smoke, CO and gas detectors are working and have fresh batteries, if not powered by AC.
Unplug everything that might be damaged by lightning or start a fire.
Unplug cable outlet from TV.
Let local police, trusted neighbors, alarm company (if any), and association office know when you’ll be away, and who if anyone will be going in. Give them contact info and tell how to get access.
Leave a key, ideally with someone who occasionally goes into the house to ensure all is well. Tell them your alarm disarm code, if any. If you don’t leave a key with anyone, hide one somewhere non-obvious (not under a mat) in case you have to authorize access via phone.
Pack and take with you medications, glasses prescription, important papers, checkbook, phone numbers and email addresses you may need, money, checks, credit cards, debit cards, car registration and car and health insurance cards. Take along important contact info for family members, friends, doctors, utilities and financial institutions.
Store other important papers in fireproof or bank safety deposit box.
Unless a safe contains valuables, consider leaving it open, lest a thief destroy it and walls trying to gain access.
Renew anything important that expires before your return, such as car registration, drivers license, credit cards, memberships, or prescriptions.
Autopay bills, and do online banking.
Leave ICE (In Case of Emergency) contact number in a conspicuous place inside your house, such as kitchen counter.
Leave garage door opener in same spot.
Make sure all doors and windows (including screen doors and windows) are locked, and can’t be pried open.
If you have houseplants, either loan them to someone to care for them while you are away, or arrange for someone to come and care for them. Don’t trust automatic watering systems unless you already use them while at home.
Do not announce (Facebook, email away message, voice mail, etc) that you are away (such as by posting photos from elsewhere while away.)
Make sure stove and oven are off.
Make sure toilet water isn’t running.
Empty all wastebaskets.
Dispose of final garbage.
Arm alarm, if any, as you leave.

If leaving for several months:
Forward mail. The U.S. Postal Service offers a premium mail forwarding service. The fee is $14.75 a week, plus a $15 enrollment fee. But you’ll get all your mail once a week (including magazines, catalogs, etc.) in a priority mail box. Your permanent address is not changed, and your temporary address is not provided to mailers.
Disconnect and put away hoses.
Clean and cover outdoor grill.
Make sure gutters are not full of leaves. Check roof for leaks.
Annually spray or spread pesticide around the outside of the house.
If leaving a car or gas mower, leave it with fresh oil, top off  its gas and treat with Stabilize. Put its battery on a trickle charger.
Flush toilets 3-4 times, then add cleaner, and cover bowl and tank with plastic wrap to minimize evaporation. Also seal sinks with covers and plastic wrap.
Also open outdoor faucets if turning off heat entirely. If turning off heat entirely, also turn off gas for the whole house, put RV antifreeze in plumbing elbows under sinks, toilets, tubs, showers, dishwasher, and disconnect and drain any refrigerator ice maker water line.
Run ice cubes through disposal. Then flush with baking soda and water, spray with WD40, and put stopper in place.
Clean out and turn off the refrigerator and freezer. Leave doors propped open with a towel, with a fresh box of baking soda in each.
Clean dishwasher, including door edge. Blot up residual water in bottom after last load. Prop door open.
Clean all appliances, including toaster and stove.
Make sure washer is fully drained.
Open cabinet doors under sinks to help keep pipes from freezing.
Remove batteries that might leak from devices that don’t have to stay on while you are away.
Pull furniture away from walls, and pull out loose cushions.
Open all closet doors and dresser drawers so air circulates. Leave no clothes on wire hangers or in garmet bags, unless unzipped.
Notify insurer if will be gone over 30 days.
Spray wastebaskets with disinfectant.
Empty vacuum cleaner.
Clean or replace furnace filter.
Ensure air conditioner condensate line is clear of dirt and algae
Replace water filter, if any.
Take along tax return info if you will be gone until April 15.
Pre-pay all current non-auto-pay bills that will be due before mail can be forwarded to you before leaving
Take a cell phone photo of, or email yourself a scanned copy of drivers licenses, passports, medical cards, etc.

Start with truth

A woman wrote to Bel Mooney in the Mail Online, upset that "My prudish husband has left me because I lied about my sex life."
"When I met my husband 40 years ago I knew he was 'the one.' He had firm opinions on sex before marriage (outdated even then) and was a virgin. ...I'd been having sex for four years. Madly in love and wanting him to marry me, I lied."

OK, I get it. You pretended to be something you weren't, and don't think lying about sex is any bigger a deal than Bill Clinton did in the '90s. You still, after 40 years of marriage, don't respect your husband's "prudish" and "outdated" views.

And as it turns out, neither does Bel Mooney, who responds
"'Unreasonable and stubborn, even stupid' is my opinion too.

Then Mooney begins to get a clue:
"I know no one who would discover that they had been lied to for 40 years, and think it didn't matter."

Sadly, it doesn't last long, as she ends her advice with
"Why not write to say you are trying to make up your mind whether you want him back at all?"

Speaking as a man who has been married 42 years, and was a virgin on his wedding night, as was (so far as I know) my wife, it would not be in any way amusing to suddenly overhear that I was not her first. It wouldn't upset me to the point of moving out, as it did this man, but I would definitely wonder what else wasn't true about our marriage.

I just finished reading Every Bush Is Burning. One of the main points it has a modern Jesus make to a man who cheated is that he must tell his wife the whole truth immediately, and then start over from scratch to show why she should ever again have anything to do with him, because after all, why should she trust him?

I would advise this woman to tell the whole truth to her husband, in person if possible, but not until she can do so without a shred of snark, sarcasm or criticism. She can then humbly ask for forgiveness and another chance, and begin again to both say and show love however long it takes.

As for Mooney's final advice, threats, along with insults, might only confirm he's better off alone.