GOP SPENDS BILLIONS FOR A HANDFUL OF JOBS

I've heard the right-wing politicians claim that President Obama's fiscal policies are driving the U.S. economy down the tubes, but things can't be as bad as they claim if people have four billion dollars to shell out for political campaigns to spend on TV ads and billboards, which is how much has been spent during the current congressional campaigns. And let's not forget the fact that only 1/3 of the U.S. Senate is up for election, so 66 senators are watching from the sidelines.

Four billion dollars, if spent on creating jobs that paid $30,000 apiece, would place 133,333 workers back on the job. That's no small number.

Instead, the four billion dollars will simply enrich media outlet owners and create 469 congressional jobs…albeit a majority of which are Republican jobs. That's the Republican version of sound economic policy, which is why I'll be voting for the other guys.

GOVERNMENT ISN'T BROKEN...IT'S DOING EXACTLY WHAT WE ASK.

I'm probably one of the few people in America who believes that Washington, D.C. isn't broken. The government created by our so-called Founding Fathers works just fine. We Americans are a different story.

Over the past two decades, Americans have become more politically divided than they've been during any period since our nation's civil war. Abortion, gun rights, taxation and social program spending have become hot-button issues that polarize the electorate to such extremes that few are willing to seriously listen to the valid concerns and objections of their political opponents. Compromise has become a dirty word. Hence, we send our representatives to Congress with clear instructions – make no concessions and refuse to compromise. The result: gridlock!

It turns out that Congress is doing exactly what we ask it to do. Serves us right!

BULLYING IN OUR SCHOOLS

Is there really any wonder why bullying is so pervasive in our schools? Can we honestly expect our children to recognize the dignity and value of their fellow students when the grown-ups they see on a daily basis are failing to value fellow citizens who possess differing viewpoints?

Children are malleable in their social development and very often exhibit in their behavior the kinds of attitudes they observe at home. When diversity of thought and tolerance of others is openly valued and practiced in a child's home environment, those same values are transported to a child's school. Similarly, when bullying, intolerance, dehumanization and narrowness of thought are displayed in a child's home environment, children living in those homes carry those attitudes to school too.

In today's American society political extremism has grown immensely and intolerance of opposing ideas has reached new heights. Diversity is considered an ugly word. Political opponents are vilified, dehumanized and equated with the purest of evil. Fellow citizens with different political ideas are labeled the enemy and calls for their annihilation fill our airways. We can call such actions political sport, but in the end, all it really amounts to is bullying on a far grander scale than what happens in our schools.

Given that grown-up bullying is so rampant in our society, it really shouldn't come as any surprise that bullying in our schools is rampant too. After all, children usually mimic the habits and attitudes we adults teach them.

THE TEA PARTY AND CIVIL WAR

American politics has often been a rough and tumble sport, but an escalation of physical violence at Tea Party events raises a legitimate question about the willingness of the Tea Party activists to remain a peaceful political movement.

In March of this year, a mob of Tea Party protesters physically assaulted a Parkinson's victim in Ohio who was peacefully holding a sign favoring President Obama's Health Care reform.

In my own hometown of York, PA, a mob of Tea Party supporters verbally assaulted a postal carrier as he walked by their rally on the steps of the old courthouse.

On October 17th, an Alaska newspaper editor was assaulted and handcuffed by the security entourage of Alaskan Tea Party senatorial candidate, Joe Miller.

Yesterday, a group of Lexington supporters of Kentucky Tea Party Senatorial candidate Rand Paul violently wrestled a woman to the ground and stomped on her head. The woman, Lauren Valle of MoveOn.org (a liberal watchdog group) was trying to present the Tea Party candidate with an award when the Tea Party mob stepped in and took her to the ground.

The angry rhetoric of the Tea Party is moving beyond the scope of political rhetoric and quickly taking on the dangerous overtones of physical violence. Placards stating, "Kill Obamacare", "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy", "Death to Tyranny" and "The Time for a Second Amendment Solution is Now" have become staple signs at Tea Party rallies, as have calls for a second revolution using any means necessary. Angry Tea Party chanters leave no doubt that the Tea Party is advocating a complete overthrow of the government, and Tea Party supporters have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to use physical violence to accomplish that end.

Newt Gingrich's proclamation that the Tea Party is the militant wing of the GOP appears to be right on point.

Can civil war be far behind? I hope not, but that sentiment is not shared by the Tea Party and it should give us all a reason to be concerned.

ANOTHER REMINDER OF SEXUAL ABUSE BY PRIESTS IN THE UNITED STATES

Documents from the Catholic Diocese of San Diego that are about to be released by a San Diego judge for public inspection are reportedly going to reveal what has become an all too frequent scenario – officials in the Roman Catholic church returning pedophiles to active duty in parishes and exposing children to sexually predatory priests. One has to wonder whether these kinds of revelations will ever end.

As bad as the sexual abuse by priests has been, I wonder how much additional harm the Catholic Church has caused by its efforts to stonewall litigation here in the United States and around the world.

THE CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL GOES BANKRUPT

Although I've regularly criticized televangelists and the ministries they operate as being little more than con artists operating under the banner of serving God's will, I find no solace in hearing that Reverend Robert H. Schuller's mega-church, the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California and its "Hour of Power" TV show are bankrupt. That predicament is likely to shake the faith of many of the church's followers and leave thousands of its supporters in a state of bewilderment. I wouldn't wish that type of crisis on any congregation

Still, you have to question how any church congregation or religious ministry could allow itself to become mired in $43 million dollars of debt. That's $4,300 worth of debt for each of the church's ten thousand members. Granted, that's not as bad as the national debt, but that's still a significant amount of debt.

Leaders at the Crystal Cathedral blame their situation on the drop-off in donations that accompanied the latest economic downturn, and there's no question that the economy has put a damper on charitable contributions in general, but I can't help but think that the opulence of the Crystal Cathedral itself is a testament to the long-time excesses of Reverend Schuller's ministry.

For years, Reverend Schuller preached a message of prosperity built upon the notion that positive thinking leads to prosperity, but that message is now suspect because all the positive thinking of his congregation was not successful in creating the necessary cash to meet the ministries' financial obligations or find a way to cut costs and still carry out their mission. And though many members of the Crystal Cathedral may feel that their own lack of positive thinking contributed to the current economic mess that faces their church, the real problem rests not with the members, but with the gospel of prosperity that their church leaders preached.

Positive thinking does not permit a person to ignore the workings of our financial world or operate as if God is a printer of money and will furnish all the cash a congregation needs if only a congregation maintains the proper mindset. For spreading that kind of false message, I blame Reverend Schuller and the rest of the leaders of the Crystal Cathedral. As a result of their misguided preaching, the members of their congregation must now suffer.

CITY STUDENTS IN SUBURBAN SCHOOLS

A local newspaper asked whether our City's school district should be subsumed by neighboring suburban school districts as a way to address the problem of sub-par performance by inner-city students. This was my response:

Those of us who live in the suburbs around the City might be tempted to think that the problem of underachieving students in the City school district is the City's problem and not something that concerns us, but the education of every child in this Commonwealth is mandated by state law and funded in part by state taxpayer dollars, so the education of those students is every bit our business. When City students succeed and become productive members of our society, we all benefit from their contributions. Conversely, when they fail, every one of us pays a steep price for that failure. If we who live in the suburbs turn our backs on City students, in doing so, we become complicit in their failures.

I do not pretend to know the exact reason for what has become an annual and unacceptable event - underachieving standardized math and reading test scores by inner-City students. I surmise it involves some degree of many factors, including but not limited to a lack of parental involvement in the student's education, a lack of educational resources in the schools, the City's higher poverty rate and a high truancy rate. What I do know is that students who attend schools in the suburbs perennially achieve acceptable standardized testing scores, which means that whatever the suburban districts are doing is working.

I refuse to accept the notion that City students are dumber than their counterparts in the suburbs or any less capable of being educated. It behooves us then to insure that inner-City students are given the same education afforded students in the suburbs. If that means absorbing City students into the suburban districts, I'm all for it.

As I type these words I can imagine a host of complaints in opposition to such a plan. Some will moan that they don't want drugs, violence and teen pregnancy infiltrating suburban schools, but they'll be kidding themselves because the schools in suburbia already face those problems. Some City residents will complain that they'll be losing a voice in their child's education, but that argument lacks merit because residents will continue to vote for school board members who make those decisions.

Unfortunately, what are really at the heart of many objections are racial biases and the discomfort created by the specter of racially integrating our suburban schools to a much greater degree than already exists. We cannot allow these kinds of objections to stand in the way of our students' educational progress. We owe that much to inner-City students. We owe it to our own students too.

THE CASE AGAINST 72 VIRGINS

Islamic extremist suicide bombers have been told they’ll go to heaven as martyrs and spend eternity in the company of 72 virgins. What could they possibly be thinking? At first glance, the promise of eternity with 72 virgins sounds like a blissful sexual romp through the ages, but nothing could be farther from the truth. The promise of “eternity in the company of 72 virgins” is nothing more than a cruel hoax.

Let’s consider the “72” portion of the promise more closely. Suppose Abdullah el-Maddabomber blows himself to Kingdom come and awakens in a place he thinks is Heaven. Suddenly, seventy-two virgins show up to accompany him around the place. The noise level of that mob alone would disturb anybody’s peace and quiet, but you have to figure the blast from the “bomb-belt” probably blew out the bomber’s eardrums, so the guy doesn’t hear a thing. Now, if Abdullah el-Maddabomber stops and immediately has sex with one of the ladies-in-waiting, does that mean he’ll spend eternity in the company of 72 virgins? Hell no, the numbers wouldn’t add up. Assuming he leaves the other 71 alone (unlikely, as it seems), he’ll spend eternity in the company of 71 virgins and one very tired concubine. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be 72 virgins! Under to that scenario the promise of “72 Virgins for Eternity” would be hollow and that wouldn’t be theologically acceptable.

Now technically, I suppose the “deflowered one” could always be replaced with a new virgin, but that doesn’t seem likely given the fact that the promise quotes a specific number and not an unlimited supply. Besides, offering “all the virgins you can deflower” isn’t something a Deity would want to commit to producing these days. Accordingly, 72 virgins meant just that – 72 pure flowers – no more, no less.

The word “virgin” in the promise doesn’t sound like it would give rise to any questions. Most people would agree the word applies to a person who has never had sexual intercourse. But does the word include both comely and homely maiden? Don’t forget that alcohol is forbidden among adherents to Islam and can’t be used to blur the lines. I only raise this issue because it doesn’t seem fair for a suicide bomber to have one vision of beauty and end up with 72 versions of another variety.

Okay, here’s where the hoax comes into play. Since the number of proffered virgins stands at 72 and if the suicide bomber has sex with one or more of them that number would decrease and render the promise hollow, it stands to reason that Abdullah el-Maddabomber never actually gets to have sex with any of the 72 virgins. He just gets to spend eternity in their company! That’s right! Go back and read the fine print: “spend eternity in the company of 72 virgins.” You see, it never actually says they get to have sex with the virgins, only that they spend eternity in their presence. What kind of fun is that?

I doubt whether Abdullah el-Maddabomber has ever been in the company of 72 women at the same time, let alone 72 virgins. I’m guessing the suicide bombers haven’t thought this thing through. Then, it struck me. The suicide bombers aren’t going to Heaven. They’re going to Hell…where incidentally, they’re going to spend eternity with 72 virgins.

ME OVER WE - THE ESSENCE OF THE TEA PARTY

The Tea Party is essentially a movement of "Me, the person," rather than "We, the people." The movement focuses on bettering the lives and conditions of a group of individuals rather than improving the lives and conditions of an entire nation. When one hears the vitriolic Tea Party jeer that Obama is leading this country toward socialism, nobody seriously believes Communism is what the shouters have in mind. No, they are angry because our nation calls upon them to help their fellow citizens in need.

The Tea Party vehemently opposes such a nation. They believe the concept counters America's long-professed ideals of rugged individualism and self-sufficiency, and they argue that looking out for the least of our brethren will sound the death knell for America's belief in hard work and the necessity of taking personal responsibility. Sadly, these otherwise valid concerns mask the true aim of the Tea Party movement – the elevation of narcissism at the expense of the weakest members of our society.

To be sure, many in the Tea Party would deny such a claim, but those denials ring hollow in light of the movement's rhetoric. According to that rhetoric, America's greatest enemies are not the tyrants and dictators of the world who seek to bring death and destruction to our nation's shores. They believe the country's greatest enemies are Obama and Pelosi and anyone foolish enough to think that raising the conditions of the weakest in America is a noble pursuit for the nation of America.

Franklin D. Roosevelt once noted, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

In that regard, America's Tea Party does not advocate for movement toward progress. Rather, it advocates movement toward selfishness, and away from the virtue of charity that motivates the better angels in all of us.

The rise of the Tea Party movement is a sad chapter in our nation's history. In America's prior darkest hours, we banded together for the good of "We, the people," not just "Me, the individual," and we as a nation were better for it.

SPRINGING FROM THE WELL

There is something tremendously exhilarating about watching the Chilean miner rescue operation as drilling teams slowly bring miners to the surface, one by one, in a special capsule built to extract the trapped miners from what would otherwise have been their final resting place. At a time when anger and turmoil has seemingly brought our nation's progress to a halt, it's good to take stock of the fact that struggles of the highest magnitude can be overcome with cooperation, determination, ingenuity and the human will to survive.

Here in America, we all too frequently reject and dismiss the beliefs and ideas of our political opponents as evil notions that possess no merit or value. In doing so, we deprive our nation of an opportunity to overcome major obstacles and feats that can only be accomplished through the collective wisdom and efforts of all our people.

The political affiliations of the Chilean miners and their rescue workers have never been an issue during this entire saga. Their goals were simply to save and survive, and in their unity, they accomplished both.

A SEPTEMBER 11th AFTERTHOUGHT

Servicemen and women from every branch of the military will confirm an unspoken, though nearly universal desire – if one has to make the ultimate sacrifice, let it not be made in vain.

I spent this past September 11th pondering that desire, not for the 2,819 innocent Americans who lost their lives in that horrific tragedy, not for the thousands more who lost a relative or friend that day, not for our cherished country, but for the 19 suicidal soldiers of al-Qaida who visited their destructive hatred upon our nation's shores. Did they die in vain?

Some people claim the U.S. was attacked because al-Qaida hated our liberties, but instead of responding to their attacks with an overwhelming reaffirmation of personal freedom, we systematically, and often cheerfully, surrendered our rights in the name of maintaining public safety. Twenty years ago, submitting to a search of one's body to gain admission to a public building would have been viewed as an intolerable invasion of an individual's liberty. Today, people are glad to be searched.

Others claim that the al-Qaida attack was motivated by their hatred of our society's tolerant attitude, but instead of meeting their attack with an unwavering defense of religious freedom for all, hoards of angry American mobs protest the construction of a mosque blocks away from Ground Zero, and a venomous preacher attracts world attention by pledging hatefully to burn the Quran.

Still others claim that al-Qaida attacked us because of our wealth and our generosity, but instead of holding true to those noble words inscribed on the Statute of Liberty – "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.." we treat our immigrants as scum-of-the-earth criminals, and seek to choke the very breath of freedom from their bodies.

Finally, some insist al-Qaida attacked us over their hatred of our principles and values, but instead of holding steadfast to them, we responded by declaring war against a nation not responsible for the 9/11 attacks, tortured our prisoners and abandoned the very rules of law we claim to hold most dear.

Looking back, I wish I could claim those 19 angry soldiers of al-Qaida died in vain, but I can't.

We only have ourselves to blame.

STARVATION OF AMERICA'S POOR FINE WITH NEWT GINGRICH

GOP standard bearer, Newt Gingrich has been traveling around the country and advising GOP candidates to declare war on Food Stamps. While that message is sure to energize hard core anti-social program zealots like members of the Tea Party, the fact that a party standard bearer like Gingrich would make killing the food stamp program a central focus of his campaign to elect an all-GOP Congress is quite telling of the lack of empathy and the contempt the Republican party has for the poor in America.

Food stamps are the only lifeline that separates millions of poor Americans, most of which are under 18 or over 65, from hunger and starvation, yet the likes of Gingrich and his cohorts are happily traipsing around the country advocating the starvation of America's most needy citizens. The only thing more disheartening is the applause Gingrich gets from those who pay to hear him spew his disdain for the poor.

HONEY, I WAS JUST ON A MISSION FOR MOSAAD

If a cartoonist was drawing this story, the cartoon would depict a woman in bed with a man, not her husband, and the illicit couple would appear surprised by the husband as he opened the bedroom door and caught his cheating wife. The cartoon's caption would read: "Honey, I was just on a mission for Mosaad."

Mosaad is Israel's intelligence agency, the equivalent of America's C.I.A.

Recently, one of Israel's leading rabbis, Ari Schvat issued a decree of sorts that legitimized the practice of female Mosaad agents, even married ones, engaging in illicit sex with enemies of Israel, if the sex was part of a mission meant to protect Israel's national security. The Rabbi's edict suggested that married women get a divorce before their mission and then remarry after the mission is completed, but that just seems like they're splitting hairs if you ask me. Once more, there weren't similar rules issued for married male agents. I guess in Israel that just goes with the territory.

Sleeping with the enemy is certainly not something new in the espionage game, but the Rabbi's pronouncement underscores how willing nations and people are to sacrifice their morals and values in the name of maintaining public safety or advancing a nationalistic goal. Islamic extremists frequently break their own religious rules during terrorist missions to allow them to carry out their jihad. Here in America, our own government acknowledged torturing terrorist prisoners to acquire information.

Given that, in the world of espionage, the ends apparently do justify the means, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the Rabbi's public edict. I wonder if husbands in Israel feel the same way as I do.

NO FRIEND OF FRED PHELPS

I am no friend of Fred Phelps, the so-called Pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. He and his hate-driven band of relatives picket military funerals around the country and their practices are front and center in a case being heard by the United States Supreme Court this coming Wednesday. Once more, their practice of carrying hate-filled signs outside churches and cemeteries while mourners grieve the loss of loved ones is one of the most repugnant and insensitive practices in America today. Phelps is certainly no man of God.

The Phelps case pits two important freedoms – freedom of religion and freedom of speech, against one another as our highest Court grapples with the limits of both rights as they apply to disputes between private parties.

A 'friend of the court brief' submitted by Democratic Senator Harry Reid and 40 other senators in opposition to the Westboro Church is worth reading and can be found at the following web address:

www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs/09-10/09-751_PetitionerAmCu42Senators.pdf

Similarly, a 'friend of the court brief' submitted by the Scholars of the First Amendment in favor of the Westboro Church is worth reading and can be found at the following web address:

www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs/09-10/09-751_RespondentAmCuScholarsFirstAmendmentLaw.pdf

Both sides present powerful arguments for and against the practices of the Westboro Church and highlight the fact that the question being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court is not as cut-and-dry and people might assume.

KILLING FOR SPORT

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman famously noted during the Civil War that "War is Hell", and no more profound a statement can be made to describe the horrors involved when two or more armies of humans set out to kill one another, but even a general as ruthless as Sherman could not take pleasure at witnessing the death of fellow human beings, lamenting in a later speech that "War is Cruelty."

People join the U.S. military for a host of reasons. Many enlist out of a sense of patriotic duty. Others join for the opportunity of world travel. A number seek a chance to gain job training and skills that will help them later in life. Some seek the military's discipline. Others sign up for a chance to go to college. A few join because it's the only job opportunity available to them, and unfortunately, a very small cadre of individuals enlists to satisfy their own personal lust for killing. It is toward this latter group that I focus my attention.

Soldiers with a lust for killing do not share Sherman's belief that war is hell or war is cruel. Rather, they view war's theater as a welcomed stage upon which they are granted license to carry out their darkest desires. They seek not the end of war's depravity or the cessation of human bloodshed. They seek only the thrill of the kill and the adoration of an approving audience. That is why a small band of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan randomly murdered several Afghan civilians and distributed photographs of their selves standing triumphantly next to their Afghan victim's corpses. In some cases, the soldiers even kept the fingers of their victim as souvenirs.

In prosecuting the soldiers involved in these Afghanistan atrocities, our military leaders have rightfully decried the actions of these soldiers as the unsanctioned work of a small group of depraved individuals, and not reflective of the intention of our military or our nation, but if we truly wish to dissociate ourselves from the atrocities committed by those soldiers, we must take affirmative steps to weed out like-minded soldiers from our military ranks. Otherwise, we become complicit through our failure to act.

War is hell and war is cruel, even under the best of circumstances. That is why there is no room on the battlefield for those who kill for sport or take pleasure in doing it.

GOING POSTAL IS NOT AN OPTION

Last week, the Independent Regulatory Postal Commission denied the U.S. Postal Service's request to increase the price of a first class letter from 44 cents to 46 cents, but considering that the Post Office lost $3.8 billion dollars last year and is expected to lose almost $6 billion dollars this year, just how does the Postal Commission expect the Postal Service to meet its expenses? After all, money doesn't grow on trees, and the Postal Service has to compete with the likes of U.P.S. and FedEx in the parcel shipping business and cope with the loss of letter traffic to the Internet.

Essentially, the Postal Commission is requiring the Postal Service to deliver mail six days-a-week on five days worth of income and is not being realistic about what it takes to provide the service they demand. Plus, 2-cents per letter will not break the bank.

I do the grocery shopping for my household, and I can name at least twenty items that I regularly buy that have risen more than 2 cents in price over the past 2 months. I haven't seen letters in the newspapers decrying those companies for passing on their expenses to the consumer, who in the end, can choose whether or not they purchase those products for consumption. Once more, the store shelves are not suddenly overstocked with those items because consumers refuse to buy them. That tells me that American consumers recognize that product costs have increased and are willing to absorb those increases as a necessary cost of purchasing the products they desire.

The same rules of supply and demand should apply to the Postal Service. If a person does not wish to pay the two additional cents for mailing a first-class letter, it is their prerogative to opt not to use the Postal Service to make their delivery. In the same vein, people should not expect, nor should the Postal Service be required to render a service for which they are not being adequately compensated.

At 44 cents per first class letter, the U.S. Postal Service is not being adequately compensated for the service it is providing and the Independent Regulatory Postal Commission is doing a disservice to the nation by jeopardizing the ongoing financial health of this important service provider.

Going postal shouldn't be an option when it comes to a 2-cent rate increase, but you wouldn't know that by listening to the Postal Commission. Then again, they probably never delivered the mail.

MEALS-ON-WHEELS

Can you afford to donate 2 hours of your time, one morning each month? If so, you can make a huge difference in helping to eradicate a serious, but seldom mentioned nationwide problem - senior hunger.

In a November, 2009 study released by the Meals On Wheels Association of America, researchers found that between 2001 and 2007, the number of American senior citizens facing a risk of hunger increased substantially, and in several states, the percentage of senior experiencing hunger was as high as 12.5 percent of the senior population. Those numbers are unacceptable. Once more, people should know that hunger among the senior population is not just confined to seniors living in poverty. A substantial number of seniors with income above the federal poverty guidelines still struggle to put food on their table and are frequently faced with the prospect of not eating in order to pay for their housing and/or medical bills.

How can your two hours help address the senior citizen hunger crisis? The answer is simple: Become a meal-on-wheels driver. For a commitment of only two hours a month, you can make a huge difference by delivering meals to home-bound senior citizens who otherwise face a very real risk of senior hunger. The sacrifice of your time is easy, and the satisfaction to be gained by your helping neighbors in need is extremely rewarding.

Plus, your volunteer efforts help reduce the taxpayer's load when it comes to paying for hospital and nursing home care for our nation's senior citizens. The cost of providing a year's worth of meals to a senior citizen through the meal-on-wheels program is less than the cost to the government of placing a senior in a nursing home for one month. That’s because helping seniors avoid hunger allows them to stay in their homes far longer than would otherwise occur. In that respect the meals-on-wheels program is a win for seniors and a win for taxpayers.

America owes a debt to its seniors for their years of hard work and sacrifice. Being a meals-on-wheels volunteer is a great way to help repay that debt.