Another great article from Rolling Stone, this one on gay marriage and how Republican attempts to split the electorate and rally their base may backfire this time (assuming the election isn’t fixed):
Indeed, Bush’s attack on same-sex marriage was so transparently political that even the nation’s most virulently anti-gay activists recognized the president’s insincerity. ”He’s some kind of demagogue without any core values whatsoever,” says the Rev. Fred Phelps, the reactionary, anti-homosexual crusader behind the infamous ”God Hates Fags” campaign. ”His only dominant value is expediency. He’s only doing this because he’s losing what core support he had, and anyone with half a brain can see it. He’s shameless.”
Being called a shameless demagogue by Fred Phelps? Damn, that’s gotta hurt. Of course, it’s sorta like being called a “partisan hack” by Tom DeLay, but still!
Personally, I’m shocked that Fred Phelps can speak. I thought he would drool, mostly, and rattle his chains while hissing at anyone who comes near him, rather like Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. I think I’d still rather have dinner with Hannibal.
”The same rhetoric that’s being used today against the gay community was used then against interracial couples,” says Gavin Newsom, the San Francisco mayor who elevated the struggle for marriage equality to the national stage by presiding over nearly 4,000 same-sex weddings in early 2004. ”Nothing has changed. It is the same playbook, and it is as shameful today as it was then.”
Yeah, when people talk about “traditional marriage”, what exactly do they mean? ‘Cause, traditional marriage, in my book, is arranged marriage, which was commonplace for centuries, and is still the norm in some countries. Is that what they’re harkening back to? Or are they saying that men should own their wives like property? ‘Cause that’s traditional marriage, too. Or maybe they just don’t want any black people marrying white women. I suppose they’re still bitter about that; which means they’re really pissed about two guys marrying each other.
Ah, social conservatives. They’re so fun to tweak. Their tiny brains explode at the slightest provocation. Heck, that’s half the fun, just watching them fume. It would be much more enjoyable if they stakes weren’t so high, however. The views of the social conservatives should not become the law of the land. If they don’t like it, it’s their problem. Accept responsibility, you whiney little brats. They’re so keen on personal responsibility until it’s their problem, then all of a sudden we’ve gotta get the government involved! Hypocrites.
”Homophobia is replacing the set of flag and race issues of a generation ago,” says Kevin Phillips, the one-time Nixon strategist who coined the term ”Southern Strategy” to describe the GOP’s leverage of racial prejudice to wrest the South from Democratic control. ”It’s the last refuge of the scoundrel.”
Basically, that is correct. Just as terrorism has now replaced communism as the new Fear-word, homophobia is the new cultural issue to replace racism. I don’t understand these people who insist upon being wrong all the time. Can’t you see which way the wind is blowing? Gay rights are the new civil rights. As a straight man, I want to be on the right side of this debate, even if I get called a fag-lover. Of course, there are plenty of racists, even today, but a lot of the old ones are dying off and being replaced with a new generation of kids that listen to hip hop and sees Jim Crow laws as ancient history.
When will everybody be free in America? I’m not interested in freedom just for white males who own land. I’m talking about every single person feeling that they have the freedom to conduct their lives as they see fit, no matter what gender, race or class they belong to. It’s a long, hard road, and we’re not there yet. But I hope one day we will be.
In a way, maybe we should thank George Bush and his cadre of neo-fascist goons. They are showing the world the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of their entire movement, and every day more people are waking up and saying, “hey, waitaminute — these guys are assholes! They’re not looking out for me; they just want power!”
Just to prove it, what is the right’s main argument against gay marriage? That it “destroys the sanctity of marriage,” right? Well, instead of a consitutional amendment, what they should do is sue a gay couple in civil court for monetary damages. Let’s put the onus on the gay-bashers to come up with a rubric that shows how having a gay couple in town causes actual, measurable financial or emotional harm. Let’s see it, bitches: Money talks, and bullshit walks.
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Jun.23,2006
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This is a decent article, but Krugman has to recognize that inflation is basically government theft. The Fed controls how much inflation there is by printing cash and making loans. The fact that there’s usually money to be had keeps us out of trouble, but political and economic forces can also cause inflation (oil prices, for example). Even the moderate amount (small by Fed standards) of inflation we’ve experienced lately is too much because it’s so continuous. A few deflationary periods ever now and then wouldn’t hurt. There would be less money in circulation, but the cash you did have would become more valuable.
The Fed’s insistance of constant boom times has created a boom-bust cycle when we should have a normal up and down cycle. I think it’s time we take a look at where the Fed is leading us and ask whether they have people’s interest at heart. After all, they are not elected, yet they control our encomony, which is arguably even more important (read: more powerful) than our democracy (such as it is). I think we need to take a long, hard look at the Fed and wonder if we really need it.
Some quotes about the Federal Reserve System:
“From now on, depressions will be scientifically created.” — Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh Sr. , 1913
“The financial system has been turned over to the Federal Reserve Board. That Board administers the finance system by authority of a purely profiteering group. The system is Private, conducted for the sole purpose of obtaining the greatest possible profits from the use of other people’s money” — Charles A. Lindbergh Sr., 1923
“When you or I write a check there must be sufficient funds in our account to cover the check, but when the Federal Reserve writes a check there is no bank deposit on which that check is drawn. When the Federal Reserve writes a check, it is creating money.” — Boston Federal Reserve Bank
“I have never seen more Senators express discontent with their jobs….I think the major cause is that, deep down in our hearts, we have been accomplices in doing something terrible and unforgivable to our wonderful country. Deep down in our heart, we know that we have given our children a legacy of bankruptcy. We have defrauded our country to get ourselves elected.” — John Danforth (R-Mo)
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs.” — Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President.
“If Congress has the right [it doesn’t] to issue paper money [currency], it was given to them to be used by…[the government] and not to be delegated to individuals or corporations.” — President Andrew Jackson, Vetoed Bank Bill of 1836
“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and it’s issuance.” — James Madison
“The few who understand the system, will either be so interested from it’s profits or so dependant on it’s favors, that there will be no opposition from that class.” — Rothschild Brothers of London, 1863
“Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international money lenders. The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside the control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United States.” — Sen. Barry Goldwater (Rep. AR)
“Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce.” — James A. Garfield, President of the United States
“Banks lend by creating credit. (ledger-entry credit, monetized debt) They create the means of payment out of nothing.” — Ralph M. Hawtrey, Secretary of the British Treasury
“To expose a 15 trillion dollar ripoff of the American people by the stockholders of the 1000 largest corporations over the last 100 years will be a tall order of business.” — Buckminster Fuller
“Every Congressman, every Senator knows precisely what causes inflation…but can’t, [won’t] support the drastic reforms to stop it [repeal of the Federal Reserve Act] because it could cost him his job.” — Robert A. Heinlein, Expanded Universe
“It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” — Henry Ford
“The regional Federal Reserve banks are not government agencies. …but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations.” — Lewis vs. United States, 680 F. 2d 1239 9th Circuit 1982
“We have, in this country, one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board. This evil institution has impoverished the people of the United States and has practically bankrupted our government. It has done this through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it.” — Congressman Louis T. McFadden in 1932 (Rep. Pa)
“The Federal Reserve banks are one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever seen. There is not a man within the sound of my voice who does not know that this nation is run by the International bankers.” — Congressman Louis T. McFadden (Rep. Pa)