On the surface, it would appear that Soros would be opposed to many positions of the Catholic Church.

A major financial backer of the ACLU, Soros supports such causes as drug legalization, the rights of "sex workers" and felons, euthanasia, radical feminism, abortion rights, and homosexual rights. He does all of this in the name of promoting an "open society."

But a review of the records of his Open Society Institute finds that a group calling itself

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) has received $200,000 from them over the last several years.

James Todd of Pewsitter.com, which represents traditional Catholics, calls such groups "CINOs," or Catholics In Name Only. He explains, "This group and several others have sprung up recently-I suspect purposely organized and funded-to counterbalance the growing influence of the faithful Catholics AND to try to deceive and mislead the middle of the road Catholics that have determined the last 13 Presidential elections." 

An AIM investigation also finds, however, that Soros money has gone into the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), an organization established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops back in 1988. It has received at least $530,000 from the Open Society Institute.

The two issues merge in the fact that the Catholic Bishops are demanding that national health care legislation cover illegal aliens.

In a story headlined, "Religious Leaders Seek Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants," the Los Angeles Times recently quoted Kathy Saile, director of domestic social development with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as saying that illegal immigrants should be included in any healthcare reform plan. Father Richard Estrada of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Los Angeles was described as being part of a religious service and phone bank "to urge congressional leaders to include illegal immigrants in any healthcare reform plan." His church has in the past offered sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

CACG played a role in House passage of H.R. 3962, the bill known as Pelosicare and boasts that it had joined with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Health Association, and "dozens of other Catholic and faith-based groups in celebrating this historic vote."

The group's blog even offered a "Health Care Reform Prayer," asking for God's help in passing federal legislation.

John Gehring, CACG media director, told AIM that "We have been primarily focused on highlighting the moral dimensions of this issue and articulating how Catholic social teaching addresses health care as a human right central to a just society. Along with other faith-based groups like PICO National Network, Faith in Public Life, Sojourners and others we brought citizens and faith leaders to Capitol Hill several weeks ago to meet with representatives and they emphasized the urgency for reform and specifically the critical issue of affordability. For example, Fr. Joseph Shad, S.J., a hospital chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine, came to Capitol Hill and met with representatives. He shared stories we have collected from citizens across the country as part of our project, Voices for Health Reform."

On the passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962, CACG said, "As Catholics, we applaud the efforts of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Bart Stupak, and others who helped extend current restrictions on federal funding of abortion to health plans participating in the public [health] exchanges."

But Judie Brown of the American Life League says the provision doesn't go far enough and accuses the Bishops who lobbied for passage of wanting "mandatory, government-run health care for one and all more than it desires the protection of all vulnerable human beings' right to life."

The anti-abortion restrictions, Brown points out, still permit federal funding of abortions in some circumstances. What's more, she says the bill: 

• Expands access to and funding of abortifacient contraception (section 1714). 

• Promotes federal funding of Planned Parenthood-style permissive sex education programs (section 2526). 

• Allows euthanasia through withholding or withdrawing "medical treatment or medical care" and withholding or withdrawing of "nutrition or hydration" (section 240). 

• Has only vaguely worded references to conscience rights and only partial protection of the same (section 258 and 259). 

• Contains language that forces a "participating health benefits plan" to not "discriminate" against any facilities that provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions (section 304).

Meanwhile, Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute says that "Catholics should be outraged at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops" because while they succeeded in getting a pro-abortion provision dropped from the bill, they "abandoned the Church's doctrine of subsidiarity by endorsing the rest of the Democrats' plan to centralize power in Washington." Cannon says his grandfather served as counsel to the Bishops.

But the Soros-funded Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good has high-level connections of its own. The Treasurer-Secretary is Francis Xavier Doyle, a former top official of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Executive director is Victoria Kovari, a former organizer for the Gamaliel Foundation, the same group that helped launch Barack Obama's career as a community organizer in Chicago. The chairman is Alfred M. Rotondaro, a senior fellow at another Soros-funded group, the Center for American Progress.

Although CACG describes itself as "a lay Catholic organization that works to promote the common good and the broad spectrum of Catholic social teaching," Frank Walker of the conservative Pewsitter website labels it a religious and political Trojan Horse designed to mislead Catholics and produce votes for the Democratic Party.

One purpose of the Soros money, Walker says, is to play down the importance of the abortion issue to Catholics and even make abortion rights a "respectable" Catholic position.

Walker notes that "The CACG is run and advised by powerful Democrats. Their board, staff, and advisory committee include top fundraisers and strategists as well as major labor union representation." He adds, "Catholic Church Leadership from the Sisters of Mercy, the Jesuit order, the government-funded Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services are also represented at CACG. Catholic academia has a strong presence."  

Indeed, the CACG advisory council includes figures from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AFL-CIO, Catholic University of America, Georgetown University, and Boston College.

In addition to health care reform, other big issues for CACG are "immigration reform" and "worker justice." The latter links to a group promoting a bill, the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for unions to gain members.

The SEIU representative on the CACG board is Tom Chabolla, who serves as assistant to SEIU President Andy Stern. Before joining SEIU, he was associate director of programs for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the agency of the Bishops that funded ACORN to the tune of $7.3 million over the last decade. Funding of ACORN-but not of groups like Gamaliel-has been suspended by the Bishops.

Gamaliel says on its website that "Barack H. Obama, former Gamaliel organizer, is the 44th president of the United States," and that this makes the organizing community proud. It also has a story about Obama friend and White House adviser Valerie Jarrett speaking to a Gamaliel event in Washington, D.C. of 2,500 activists. Jarrett is the official who said that "we" had recruited communist Van Jones to the White House. Another speaker was Melody Barnes, Obama's Director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Before coming to the White House, Barnes was the executive vice president for Policy at the Soros-funded Center for American Progress (CAP). Van Jones also worked at CAP before going to the White House. CAP CEO and President John Podesta, who served as President Clinton's chief of staff, is a major "progressive Catholic" and member of the ACORN advisory council, and served as a professor at Georgetown University. 

Interestingly, Tom Chabolla of the SEIU and formerly of the CCHD was on the dinner committee for the 33rd Annual Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award Dinner, which was held on May 7, 2009 in Washington, D.C. One of the award winners was none other than Van Jones.

On Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22, Catholics across the country will be asked to support the CCHD with their financial offerings. Gamaliel is appealing for support, saying that it is "under attack from those with a partisan agenda to de-fund groups committed to organizing for social justice." It says: "Many Gamaliel Foundation affiliates rely on funding from CCHD to serve their communities."

But Gamaliel also relies on George Soros. His Open Society Institute provided $300,000 to the organization in 2008.

            Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of Accuracy in Media, and can be contacted at cliff.kincaid@aim.org

There is a division of the house. On one side are the politically correct in government, the leftist mainstream media, and a raft of Islamist apologists. One and all are tripping over each other in reassuring us the mass murderers such as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and suicide-bombers who detonate their explosive vests in crowded marketplaces and even mosques are individual anomalies and Islam is not responsible for what they do.

On the other side are those fed up with the innumerable daily horrific acts throughout the world that are clearly committed under the banner of Islam. In all fairness, there needs to be a distinction. Numerous criminal acts are also committed on a daily basis by non-Muslims. The critical difference is that non-Muslim criminals do not hoist a religious banner to justify their misdeeds, while the Muslims proudly claim that they commit their heinous acts in obedience to the dictates of their religious faith.

Would someone please explain what motivated Nidal Hasan, who at taxpayers' expense was educated from college all the way through medical school and post medical-school training, to turn his deadly weapons against the nation that gave him everything he had?
If Islam had nothing to do with what Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan did, then why:

• did he repeatedly preach the ascendancy of Islam over the U.S. Constitution?
• did he publicly support Islamic suicide-bombing?
• did he proclaim his highest loyalty to Islam?
• was he in contact with violent anti-U.S. Islamists and a virulent Yemeni Imam?
• did he distribute copies of the Quran to people the morning of his bloody attack?
  
• did he keep screaming "Allahu akbar" as he heartlessly sprayed over a hundred bullets, killing thirteen and injuring some thirty innocent men and women?

Here is the truth, as bitter as it may be: Islam is the culprit. Islam is anything but a religion of peace. Violence is at the very core of Islam. Violence is institutionalized in the Muslims' holy book, the Quran, in many suras:

Quran 9:5 "Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war."
9:112 "The Believers fight in Allah's cause; they slay and are slain, kill and are killed."
8:39 "So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world)."
8:65 "O Prophet, urge the faithful to fight. If there are twenty among you with determination they will vanquish two hundred; if there are a hundred then they will slaughter a thousand unbelievers, for the infidels are a people devoid of understanding."
9:38 "Believers, what is the matter with you, that when you are asked to go forth and fight in Allah's Cause you cling to the earth? Do you prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? Unless you go forth, He will afflict and punish you with a painful doom, and put others in your place."
47:4 "When you clash with the unbelieving Infidels in battle (fighting Jihad in Allah's Cause), smite their necks until you overpower them, killing and wounding many of them. At length, when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind them firmly, making (them) captives. Thereafter either generosity or ransom (them based upon what benefits Islam) until the war lays down its burdens. Thus are you commanded by Allah to continue carrying out Jihad against the unbelieving infidels until they submit to Islam."

And the Quran is considered by Muslims to be the word-for-word literal edicts of their god, Allah.
Right from the start, violence served as the engine of Islam under the command and supervision of Muhammad himself. For one, the Prophet's son-in-law cousin, Ali, was titled the Commander of the Faithful for his unsurpassed feats of butchery. With the assistance of one or two of his thugs, Ali beheaded some seven hundred captives, most of them Jews, in only one day. This man, highly esteemed by the prophet of Allah, carried a sword that had its own name -- Zolfaghar. Ali's portrait, holding the menacing sword, adorns the homes and shops throughout Shiite lands. And Ali is revered by the Shiites at the same level as Muhammad.
On the Sunni side, Muhammad's co-revered is Umar, another unabashed killer of untold numbers. And of course, the choice weapon of these champions of the religion of peace was the sword. To this day, a sword adorns the flag of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of the religion of peace.
And Islam, by the very nature of its doctrine, appeals to man's base nature. It promotes intolerance, hatred, discrimination, and much more:

Quran 61:2 "O Muslims, why say one thing and do another? Grievously odious and hateful is it in the sight of Allah that you say that which you do not. Truly Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in a battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure."

In reality, Islam is like a deadly, contagious disease. Once it invades the mind of its victim, it is capable of transforming him to a helpless pawn that has no choice but to execute what he is directed to do.
Of the reported 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, millions are already trapped in the terminal stages of this affliction, while millions of others are rapidly joining them. The people enslaved with the extreme cases of Islamic mental disease are highly infectious. They actively work to transmit the disease to others, while they themselves engage in horrific acts of mayhem and violence to demonstrate their unconditional obedience to the dictates of the Islamic cult.
The savagery and variety of the actions of these Islamic captives are seen daily around the globe. Many of these acts, committed under the banner of Islam, have become so commonplace that the world has come to view them as part and parcel of a troubled humanity. And, from time to time, the world is shocked into a passing and momentary realization of the evil deeds these Islamist robots commit. However, people quickly get over it, and they do nothing to seriously address this affliction.
The recent and dastardly mass murder at Fort Hood, committed by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, will be forgotten by the public before long. Life will continue on its deadly course, pushed along in a variety of ways by Islamists, the agents of death. Only the families who lost their loved ones and those who survived the bullets have to live the rest of their lives with incapacitating injuries. They likely won't be able to put the episode behind them.
The mass-murderer Hasan did not riddle people with bullets under the pressure of momentary insanity. The insanity -- ironic in a man who was trained to help people with sanity -- was introduced in him from the moment of birth and from the very early years when he prostrated himself five times daily toward Mecca in expression of total submission to the dogma of hate called Islam.
A true Muslim does not and cannot believe in freedom of choice. In the religion of Islam -- "submission" -- everything is up to Allah, as clearly and repeatedly stipulated in the Quran. The raison d'être for the Muslim is unconditional submission to the will and dictates of Allah. Everything that a "good" Muslim does is contingent upon the will and decree of Allah, in which the Muslim is indoctrinated to believe.

Humanity is facing a deeply troubling dilemma. On the one hand is the desire of enlightened people to forge a diverse world into one society ruled by peace and justice, while on the other hand, Islamists are hellbent on imposing their stone-age system on everyone. Tellingly, the Muslims themselves are at one another's throats regarding which of dozens of Islamic sects' dogma should rule.

For now, Islam is busy with what it did from the time of its birth: fighting the non-Muslims, and infighting.

Truth be told, violence is the animating force of Islam. Islam is a religion born through violence, raised by violence, which thrives on violence, and which dies without violence.

DC Independent Examiner

CNN newsman Lou Dobbs, an increasingly strident voice against the epidemic of illegal immigration had his last show on CNN last night. Although this has apparently been in the works for a while, he tendered his resignation suddenly, only telling his staff this afternoon. Watch his excellent resignation announcement here.

MSNBC, quoted Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN/U.S. as saying "Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere." That's funny. CNN never heard of "advocacy journalism" before? What is it that they do?

He added that he wanted:

MALDEF, The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, has a whole page of videos and articles attacking Dobbs and challenging his assertions. MALDEF also supported the horrendous Hate Crimes Legislation, that unfortunately was just signed into law, in addition to being at the forefront of defending illegal immigrants.

But ad hominem attacks are par for the course in the rare instances public figures stand on principle these days. In a way it is discouraging that Dobbs is leaving CNN, for he represented a reed of hope that CNN might retain a shred of integrity in its reporting. More likely they made the working atmosphere too unpleasant for him to continue. Such is the way of the open-minded liberal.

Dobbs spent thirty years at CNN. Let's hope this move helps him to become a more effective agent of influence for America. There are too many agents of influence in this country that want to see America fail. Our President is one of them. Tough roads ahead.

Godspeed, Lou Dobbs.

to contribute positively to the understanding of the great issues of our day ... in the most honest and direct language possible.

Good!

Dobbs listed all the issues he thought critical to our time, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, illegal immigration, and so forth. But more importantly:

...each of those issues is in my opinion informed by our capacity to demonstrate strong resilience of our now weakened capitalist economy and demonstrate the political will to overcome the lack of true representation in Washington DC. I believe these to be profoundly critically important issues...And as for the important work of restoring inspiration to our great free society and our market economy, I will strive as well to be a leader in that national conversation...

So Lou recognizes the broader picture that our entire country, our government, our very way of life, is threatened. As go those bedrock issues, so goes everything else. With the exception of the radio talk show hosts we know and love, practically no one in this country, certainly few among the political class, are doing much of anything to defend the concepts of freedom and free market which were the foundation of our greatness and our wealth.

According to the AP Dobbs said some leaders in media, politics and business "have been urging me to go beyond my role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem-solving." If such options include running for the U.S. House of Representatives, or even better, the Senate, he will find enthusiastic support here. That tepid body is screaming for someone willing to lead on the critical issues of our day. Let's pray the GOP doesn't miss an opportunity to encourage him.

Not surprisingly, at Dobbs' announcement, all the illegal immigration advocates were out in force declaring victory. The home page of one particular site, Bastadobbs.com, shouted: "We did it!" Go to their "Who We Are" page to see all the radical affiliated sites. The only ones I didn't see up there were National Council of La Raza (NCLR), MALDEF and MEChA.

But that doesn't mean they weren't active in opposing Dobbs. On their website NCLR proudly proclaims participation in a boycott against Dobbs' CNN advertizers.

The National Council of La Raza is one of the most radical illegal immigration proponents out there. In a fashion very similar to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), they disguise underhanded Alinsky tactics with slick PR, which has managed to co-opt some gullible -- or maybe just self-serving -- GOP Senators (like Lindsay Graham and John McCain) into supporting their agenda.

They ardently claim for example, to only be interested in legal immigration. But they were a very big partner with George Soros, ACORN, MALDEF and MEChA in the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, who together lobbied hard for the Amnesty bill that fortunately went down in flames two years ago.

A 2007 article in Truth & Consequences exposed the radical nature of this organization. For example, regarding California's Proposition 187 barring illegal immigration, former NLCR President  Raul Yzaguirre called supporters "bigots and xenophobes." He dismissed Republican efforts to court the Hispanic vote by saying "a knife in the back is deadly even if it's delivered with a smile." This despite the fact that NCLR gets annual appropriations from the federal government to assist them in their activities and enjoys bi-partisan support. So much for moderation and honesty, or gratitude for that matter.

NCLR can further be considered a player in the Crisis Strategy promoted by ACORN, Soros, and our wonderful President. This aspect of the group was described in a 2007 article that appeared in American Thinker.

MALDEF, The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, has a whole page of videos and articles attacking Dobbs and challenging his assertions. MALDEF also supported the horrendous Hate Crimes Legislation, that unfortunately was just signed into law, in addition to being at the forefront of defending illegal immigrants.

But ad hominem attacks are par for the course in the rare instances public figures stand on principle these days. In a way it is discouraging that Dobbs is leaving CNN, for he represented a reed of hope that CNN might retain a shred of integrity in its reporting. More likely they made the working atmosphere too unpleasant for him to continue. Such is the way of the open-minded liberal.

Dobbs spent thirty years at CNN. Let's hope this move helps him to become a more effective agent of influence for America. There are too many agents of influence in this country that want to see America fail. Our President is one of them. Tough roads ahead.

Godspeed, Lou Dobbs. 

------------

Your only Son
No sin to hide
But You have sent Him,
From Your side
To walk upon this guilty sod
And to become the Lamb of God

Your gift of Love
They crucified
They laughed and scorned him as he died
The humble King
They named a fraud
And sacrificed the Lamb of God

Chorus:
Oh Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God
I love the Holy Lamb of God
Oh wash me in His precious Blood
My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God

I was so lost I should have died
But You have brought me to Your side
To be led by Your staff and rod
And to be call a lamb of God

Chorus

Oh wash me in His precious Blood
My Jesus Chris the Lamb of God

 --------

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!
-----

-----------------

=======

On the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 12 Moon Landing.

"Eight years before the Apollo 12 touched down in the cold lunar dust, in the hot summer days of the year 1961, a dimwitted hippie from Kansas and a Kenyan philanderer gave birth to a little boy at some undisclosed location. That boy was born into a far different America, an America where no one thought that a little black boy could travel to the moon, let alone become President. Today America can no longer travel to the moon, but that little boy sits in the White House... and 40 years from now when we are celebrating the 40 year anniversary of my presidency, who is to say which accomplishment will be seen as the greater one? I am. It's me. Me!"

Statement on the Great California Quake of 2010

"Let's open this up with a shout out to my good buddy Joe Crowfoot, there in the back row. Joe knows what it's like to party. Okay back to the earthquake. I've been on record before as being opposed to earthquakes. In the Senate, I voted for the "Opposition to Earthquakes and Sexual Predator Empowerment Act" that would have devoted a million dollars to earthquake prevention by sending convicted sexual predators into schools to talk to children about earthquake safety. No Republican voted for that Act. Very few Democrats did as a matter of fact. I was the only one willing to go out on a limb and take a stand. But the Republicans as usual didn't care if a lot of little kids die in an earthquake. And today that is exactly what happened. That's why it's urgent that we pass health care reform. Because Republicans can't protect you from earthquakes. For that matter Republicans don't care what happens to you in earthquake. Only my health care reform plan can stop earthquakes."

Remarks on the opening of the Amelia Earhart Exhibit at the Museum of Air and Space

"Like me, Amelia Earhart was a great historic figure. When Amelia Earhart made her famous 1928 transatlantic flight, few people believed that she could accomplish that feat. Similarly when I ran for President, few people besides my billionaire backers believed I could do it. Sure I had two best selling biographies and a lot of catch phrases, but like Earhart I had to sit in the back while someone else did the flying. And even though I was never tragically lost at sea, as Amelia was, I think that to many people I represent an Amelia Earhart for the 21st century. An Amelia more representative of a changing America, more open and willing to listen to other people's experiences and eager to pass health care reform. A Bill that I truly know Amelia would have approved of and lobbied for."

Comments During the Visit of the Special Olympics Basketball Team

"Folks, let's welcome some truly superb athletes today. These special little guys are athletes with real heart and soul. Of course they can't sink a basket like I can. In a game between me and their entire team, I bet I would beat the pants off them. But that's because I have something special that they don't have. No, not just working legs. I mean real drive and determination. The same drive and determination that took me from smoking pot in Hawaii, to smoking pot with Vice-President Joe Biden in the White House. Even if some tragic accident were to somehow deprive me of the use of my legs, I bet I would figure out a way to make them work again. And then I would write a best selling book about it to teach other people how to do it too. Now that's what real determination looks like."

Speech on the Extinction of the North American Gray Wolf

"Once upon a time they hunted the wide prairies and mountainous regions of North America, fearsome predators, yet devoted and intelligent animals. Today they are no more. And there is a simple but tragic reason for that. Poor adaptation skills. I can relate to the Gray Wolf because gray is a color in between black and white. When I was growing up as a mixed race teenager in Hawaii with a confused  identity and no real skills besides compulsive lying, I quickly learned to adapt to any situation. Whether I was mixing with white people or black people, I quickly learned to blend in, to repress who I really was, in order to be part of the crowd. That is a skill that the North American Gray Wolf tragically lacked. And that is why it is extinct today. Had the Gray Wolf been more like me, Barack Obama, then he too might be sitting in the White House."

Statement During the Reopening of the Smithsonian Museum

"I was pleased to be able to appropriate 100 million to the renovation of the Smithsonian, the institution which holds within its walls so much of our prized and treasured history. To walk the halls of the Smithsonian is to walk through American history and finally to stand here in my presence at the culmination of American history. The history of our nation is the story of our rise from intolerance to tolerance, and my historic election is the fulfillment of that striving as embodied in the Declaration of Independence. One might even say that I make American history meaningful and that America would be a far worse country without me. Therefore in the spirit of that greatness, I rededicate this museum to American history, to myself."

Greetings to the Visiting Delegation from the Londonderry Church of Satan

"On behalf of myself and Michelle, I want to extend my heartfelt welcome to the honored delegates from the Londonderry Church of Satan in Ireland. The Church of Satan is an honorable religious organization with a long history of promoting fellowship and goodwill among people who like to dress in dark clothes. Growing up as a fatherless boy, casting around for male role models, I found Satan to be a compelling and dramatic figure. Like me he was a community organizer bringing awareness of injustice to those around him and fighting for change. He wasn't satisfied with just being in the background, he wanted to have the top job even though he wasn't qualified for it. I'm sorry that I was never able to meet Satan in person to tell him what an inspiration he has been to me."

On the Landing of a UFO on the White House Lawn

"We are convened here to welcome earth's first visitors from outer space. This is a tremendously exciting opportunity to encounter the first lifeforms from another world. And like you, I have a thousand questions for them. What do they think of me? Have they read my books and which of them did like better? Do they find me as poised and leaderly as I find myself? What race are they? Will they be willing to lobby for universal health care. Of course they would, they're from the universe, aren't they. Can donations from extraterrestrials be accepted for the DNCC? Wait, why are they leaving? The aliens must have been too in awe of me to stay. But never fear citizens of America, our alien visitors may have departed, but I am still here with you."

Speech at the Dedication of the Abraham Lincoln/Barack Obama National Memorial

"Ladies and gentlemen, today is a great day for our country, as our collective dream has finally come true, and  Congress has agreed to spend the last few dollars the Chinese agreed to lend us, in order to remember the greatest moment in history, me. Initially there was a great deal of controversy over the redesign of the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate my presidency. My initial humble suggestion was to keep the focus on our second greatest President (after me) by changing the memorial to depict Abraham Lincoln sitting and reading a copy of my book, "Dreams From My Father" and being inspired by it. Some historians however pointed out to me that Lincoln died before 1995, which means he was never able to read my book. So instead the design of the monument was changed to remove Lincoln from the seat and instead depict me, reading a copy of Lincoln's Greatest Speeches.

But there was still something wrong. I had trouble figuring out what it was, until Michelle pointed it out to me. There was still too much Lincoln. So the Lincoln Memorial was redesigned once again to show me reading a copy of my own book, Dreams From My Father. And so now I give you the new Lincoln, Obama memorial. I am sure that if Abraham Lincoln were here today, he would have been proud to have his name on a memorial featuring me."

---------------------------------------

Sultan Knish - From NY to Jerusalem, Sultan Reveals The Stories Behind the News

INAToday.com

The celebrations are now over. Leaders from 28 nations -- President Obama sent Hillary Clinton -- commemorated the fall of the Berlin wall, which initiated the collapse of the Soviet Union. The fall of the wall was the beginning of the end of the Cold War and the dawn of a new freedom for all humanity - or was it?

If we understand the fall of the wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union as the product of error rather than as an expression of the human desire for freedom, then the years following the end of the USSR take on a radically different significance.

Twenty years after the destruction of the Berlin wall Russia is in the early stages of a re-sovietization, communist governments are strengthening their hold on their populations, communist guerrilla movements remain determined to force their way to power, and the crimes of the Soviet Union are beginning to fade from memory.

The collapse of Soviet power is not even an embarrassment for today's communists, nor is it an impediment for former Soviet officials in Russia. No trials for Soviet crimes against humanity were held in Russia after the USSR ingloriously evaporated on December 25, 1991.

Not long ago, Vladimir Putin, now Prime Minister but then President of the Russian Federation, boldly declared that the end of the USSR was the "worst geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century."

Putin's dramatic sense of tragic loss certainly shows no fundamental remorse for a government which systematically killed tens of millions of its own people beginning with the first days of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

In a tantalizing comment on the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba's Fidel Castro has stated that the demise of the USSR was "naïve and inadvertent."

Castro's remark does not point to a "capitalist victory," but, rather, the incompetence Soviet leadership. During the celebrations commemorating the fall of Berlin the wall, German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, for not interfering in the popular uprising which brought down the Berlin wall, and later led to the undermining of Soviet authority throughout Eastern Europe.

While Merkel was right about Gorbachev's lack of action, but It would appear that inadequacy rather than virtue accounts for the end of what U.S. President Ronald Reagan called the "evil empire."

Moscow's deep cover espionage against the U.S. continued without any difficulty, China's tremendous military build-up was possible in its early stages only with Russian assistance, and every nation hostile to the U.S., including North Korea and the Islamic Republic of Iran, found a support in Moscow.

The years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the increasing sovietization of the "new" Russia and its tangle of anti-American allies - all but ignored in the general media -- is examined with extensive notation in Lies, Terror, and the Rise of the Neo-Communist Empire: Origins and Direction, available at this website or at various online book sellers -- locate by title.

What Reviewers Say: "fast-paced and highly readable"; "provides a broad, encompassing panorama..."; "if you are interested in how we got to the point we are today...this is the book you must read." 

=========
LIES, TERROR, AND THE RISE OF THE NEO-COMMUNIST EMPIRE: ORIGINS AND DIRECTION,  By Toby Westerman.
The author reveals the origins and direction of the terror alliance between militant Islam, resurgent neo-communist nations and revolutionary groups. This work focuses on questions the media dare not ask, including: Who controls Russia? Did the Cold War really end? Is it possible to negotiate with radical Islam? How does radical Islam work with neo-communist nations and rebel groups? What does history teach us? West

They fail to note that Hasan was in a position of power. He was a doctor and an officer. In no way was he a victim, as the press and our President would maintain. This represents a lack of reality testing ability.

Reason, logic and faith are all useless against the willfully ignorant.

Leftists in the media, in politics, and in academia have become infected with the doctrine of moral relativism.

Moral relativism states that all viewpoints are equally valid, and there is no standard of truth to measure against. The trouble is that moral relativists denounce morality, and fail to give it the equal value that their pseudophilosophy would seem to grant it. Moral relativism theoretically gives any and all falsehood equal value with truth, but in actuality, it sets up its own illogical standard of "truth" and equates actual verified truth with falsehood. Truth and falsehood become inverted, which is known as the "Luciferic inversion." Once this has been accomplished in the minds of the people, the door is opened to the "Satanic inversion," wherein all of the repressed, animalistic tendencies of man are unleashed, resulting in the kind of psychotic behavior evident in terrorism and war.

So, the barbarians don't have to come through the gates of the city, they can come in the back door of our learning institutions and undermine our values, invert right and wrong, and then we will open the gates ourselves. Moral relativism is the Trojan Horse by which militant Islam has been given special status. Traditional religion of the enlightened variety gives people a means to develop spiritually, and encourages right behavior.

Islam, by contrast, tells its adherents to kill or convert the rest of us. That puts Muslims in a tricky situation. They are required by their faith to be at war with everybody else in the world. This is why they keep blowing things up and killing us. A discerning person will note that there are and never have been any Buddhist suicide bombers.

Islam views the rest of us as infidels, and we comprise "the House of War." We are not seen as neighbors, friends, or foreigners. We are seen as enemies.

When Mohammed was 35 he took up the sword and started the war that is still ongoing. It never ended.

• Adobe Acrobat PDF file of Nidal Hasan 2007 presentation
  http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/documents/nidal_hasan/Hasan_2007.pdf
• addresses "Offensive Jihad,"  Says "Fighting to establish an Islamic State... is condoned"
  -- Nidal Hasan Slide 49: "Fighting to establish an Islamic State to please God even by force is condoned by the Islam"
• Nidal Hasan Comments Slide 48 ends with "We Love Death More Than You Love Life"
• Nidal Hasan Offensive Jihad Slide 44 quoting verse that Muslims should fight non-Muslims (with bold by Nidal Hasan) "until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection."

• Nidal Hasan Slide 35 on Qur'an "Later verses abrogated former ie: peaceful verses no longer apply"
• Nidal Hasan Slide 4 "Islamist: Advocates rule by Gods law - Islamic political rule/Sharia law i.e. (No separatation of Church and State)
• Context on "Islamism" from U.S. 9/11 Commission Report:
  ---- 9/11 Commission Report states "Islamism is defined as 'an Islamic militant, anti-democratic movement, bearing a holistic vision of Islam whose final aim is the restoration of the caliphate.'"
  http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/9/11_Commission_Report/Notes/Part_12
  http://clusty.com/search?input-form=simple-clusty-gov&query=Islamism&v%3Aproject=clusty-gov&v%3Apersonality=&v%3Asources=911
  --- April 2008: "The Inconvenient 9/11 Commission Report" - by Jeffrey Imm
  http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/081.html#911_Report

Hasan Warned Army of "Adverse Events" if Muslims Not Released [from military service as "conscientious objectors"]
-- ABC News: "The Post first reported the briefing Tuesday morning and said Hasan had been required to make a presentation "on a medical topic of his choosing" at the conclusion of his residency program in psychiatry.
--- "On a page of 'comments' in the presentation, Hasan wrote 'We love life death more then (sic) you love life!'
--- "He warned that 'If Muslim groups can convince Muslims that they are fighting for God against injustices of the "infidels"; i.e. enemies of Islam, then Muslims can become a potent adversary i.e.: suicide bombing etc."'"
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/suspected-ft-hood-shooter-gave-warnings/story?id=9043497

Fort Hood suspect warned of threats within the ranks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110903618.html
-- Hasan on Islam
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110903618.html

========================

Still, Meacham should be lauded for his cunning here. Newsweek lost almost $20 million in the first quarter of this year; in response, Meacham said that he would attempt to cut readership in order to increase profits (see the link to Howard Kurtz's article).  His plan involved "discouraging renewals," ostensibly by creating a magazine so far to the left that no rational human being could take it seriously, and "targeting a more highbrow audience" (the term "highbrow" being used in the loosest possible sense).  By claiming it was his plan all along to isolate the vast majority of readers, Meacham can still grasp at the elusive straws of credibility. 

It may be safe to say that Newsweek has never needed that credibility more.  For example, the November 9^th edition of Newsweek (The Thinking Man's Thinking Man) calls Al Gore a "prophet" several times, in multiple articles.  Newsweek contributor Sharon Begley writes glowingly of Gore, praising him for everything from his optimism to his spirituality in her article The Evolution of an Eco-Prophet.  She calls him "fact-filled," largely ignoring the growing scientific dissent with his claims, and essentially admits her unquestioning faith in the "eco-prophet": "One has absolutely no trouble-none, zero, nil-believing him," she writes. 

On the other hand, Meacham doesn't bother explaining how easy it was for him to believe Al Gore, and he doesn't need to.  He made his own faith in Gore all too clear with his own November 9^th article, Recycling Won't Save Us, But Greed Might.  The entire article presumes that Gore's claims are all correct, and calls Gore a prophet twice. 

This eco-alarmism from Newsweek is truly fascinating, considering the fact that as of October 26, 2009, according to statistics from the Pew Research Center, more Americans believe in haunted houses than believe in manmade global warming.  Given that fact, perhaps Newsweek would have been better off if they'd focused their November 9^th edition on ghost stories rather than the alleged global warming and Al Gore's "evolution."

On the other hand, Meacham's apparent goal is to make at least a million and a half people think Newsweek is worthless this year.  So in reality, he's actually doing a great job when it comes to courting American readership.

Meacham's suicidal strategy may defy all logic, but those striving for accuracy in media shouldn't stand in his way.  If he wants to drive Newsweek into the ground, by golly, let's help him.  He might think that "Joe is no joke," but in reality, his publication is the punch line.

--------------------------------------------

Allie Winegar Duzett is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.

Lloyd Blankfein (pictured), the chairman and chief executive, of Goldman Sachs, has claimed that bankers do "God's work". Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, the son of a Brooklyn postal worker, believes that banks serve a "social purpose" and argues that the return of big profits and bonuses should be welcomed as proof the economy is recovering. Speaking to The Sunday Times, he argued: "We're very important. We help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth.

We have a social purpose." While he says he understands people are angry at banker's actions, he continued: "Everybody should be happy. Companies are looking to grow again and raise money. That's where we come in. The financial system may have led us into the crisis but it will lead us out." Goldman Sachs is exempt from President Barack Obama's cap on bonuses because it paid back its £6 billion loan from the US government. As a result the average pay this year for the bank's UK staff will be around £440,000. Last month, Goldman Sachs said it had performed so well that its pay and bonus pot for the first nine months was up 46 per cent at £10.2 billion. It was reported that they were considering donating in excess of £627 million - Telegraph

Dominant Social Theme: And Goldman Sachs guards the pearly gates?

Free-Market Analysis: A further, and very strange, squeak of protest from another banker. (We have been cataloguing them, see article in yesterday's Bell.) There is no question that bankers are uncomfortable with what is going on. A PR blitz is apparently being organized (or what passes for one in the understated world of international banking).

The other day, top execs at the Bank of England blamed the merger of investment and commercial banks for the ongoing economic disaster. At about the same time, John Reed, formerly of Citigroup, apologized for building such a large and ubiquitous financial firm. And now Lloyd Blankfein has in some sense compared Goldman Sachs to God.

Banking is a fairly indefensible industry generally at this point in the 21st century. Bankers generally make too much money to complain, and they are not good at it. The problems come during times of economic difficulty - as have occurred recently. Then there is only so much that even a banker can take in terms of opprobrium and general bad press. A determination is made. And so do they - valiant men in good gray suits! - venture out onto the hustings and compare their enterprises to God's.

There really is no defending what Goldman Sachs does, which is to operate at the center of American mercantilism, greasing the wheels of its manifold and stupendously profitable enterprises by backing voluminous laws and burnishing government relationships. Goldman almost constantly seems to have one of its senior people at the forefront of the American Treasury, and in other high government places as well.

Is American enterprise ineffably better off because of Goldman's services? Goldman is an intermediary. It puts together buyers, sellers and partners in business dealings. Goldman's main profit comes when it benefits from one of the incredible booms that central banks seem to engineer at least once a decade, and for a good portion of each decade (present decade perhaps excluded).

Goldman's fees go up commensurately during these periods. It is therefore a main beneficiary of the ruin that central banking visits on much of the Western world on a regular basis. Its business becomes even more profitable when the economy heats up as a result of excessive fiat money printing. Subsequently its fees, including trading margins, go down during a bust. It is to Goldman's advantage to encourage the kind of central banking difficulties that the world currently suffers from because during better times Goldman's profits are huge.

Of course, we suffer inordinately during bad banking downturns, dear reader, as do you. The bills mount up and maybe the mortgage is threatened. But, we can assure you, we do not generate billions in profit as Goldman does when the economy overheats prior to yet another weary bust. Thus, we have limited reason to support Blankfein's sentiments.

Not only does Goldman profit a good deal from central banking practices, its top execs have also figured out how to exploit the government of the country for which they do numerous fundings and provide endless regulatory input. The air and train shuttles between New York and Washington are thick with Goldman functionaries.

Surely those at Goldman Sachs would protest that government work is a "service" that senior execs undertake to "give back" for all they have gotten from the United States. Perhaps before the War Between the States, this sort of rationale made some sense. The hard-working, successful businessperson went to Washington to do his civic duty. But, today, such a journey accomplishes no more than to further certain incestuous business relationships between America's larger industrial players and those who grind their nourishing legislative sausage.

This process is called mercantilism - when leading large enterprises use government relationships to shut out competition and gain competitive advantages that they otherwise would not be able to secure. The relationship that Goldman has managed to obtain with the United States government are so voluminous and seamless as to make it virtually a 51st state - with all the benefits accruing thereto.

Rarely if ever does one hear of a Goldman Sachs senior executive being charged with one of the thousands of infractions that can be leveled at Wall Street execs these days. Is this because Goldman Sachs execs are simply closer to God - or is it because the relationships are better (and thus executives better insulated)? And the profits that Goldman rakes in year-in and year-out have grown ever larger as Wall Street shrinks and Goldman's governmental position expands.

There is yet one more reason why we have a hard time believing that Goldman does God's work. This is because the Western world is incredibly overbanked thanks to central banks that tend to take care of their own during inevitable economic downturns. It is rare that a big bank goes out of business - though they do get merged. The result is that big banks get bigger and more powerful, controlling the lion's share of transactions and relationships in the good times and acting as virtual gatekeepers of what gets funded and what does not.

Conclusion: Goldman Sachs exploits mercantilist relationships, supports the expansion of central banking and stands at the center of American commerce as a kind of financial gatekeeper, helping determine what worthy enterprises get funded and which ones don't. If Goldman Sachs' business was bereft of government relationship and advantages, if it had achieved its current position by competing fairly in the free-market we might be more inclined to agree with Blankfein's statement. But Goldman is a ruthless exploiter of government for private gain. In doing so it has distorted and continues to distort the tattered fabric of American free-enterprise. This is not God's work.

-----------------------------------------------

Public Option must go.  Public Option will not be a part of a Senate Health Care bill.  That is a good thing.  An even better thing would be for there to be no Health Care Bill at all!

Now, I am just an ole country boy, with limited book learning, but even I know that Americans don't want the monstrosity the US House was congratulating itself on passing last Saturday.

I could not help but think to myself, as I watched them preen and parade their pride before America that many of the Democrats had just committed political suicide.  Their façade of smiles and backslapping will crumble soon, especially when they get home for the holidays and their spurned, and burned, constituents begin to "button-hole" them and explain to them why they can expect this to be their last term in the Congress.  And that, too, will be a good thing.

NEXT November the American voters will have their say officially and it is going to be a democrat massacre at the polls.

Why is it so difficult for the democrats to understand that Americans would have settled for insurance coverage for those unable to afford it? THAT we could do.  It would be a strain but we could manage to pay for it.  What Americans do not want is Universal Healthcare with a trillion and a half dollar price tag, which we cannot pay for!

Americans also do not want the so-called public option.  Americans do not want anybody, or anything, or any entity, between them and their doctor!  Period!  When the government announces IT will be the gatekeeper between all Americans and their sacred relationship with their personal physician, the national ire began rising.

Allow me to give you an example of what Americans fear.  Today I was experiencing a problem with my eyes. I picked up the phone and dialed my doctor's office and explained the symptoms.  I asked when I could see the doctor.  The receptionist asked how long it would take me to drive to the office.  I replied:  "5 or 6 minutes."  The receptionist then directed me to "come on."  I was seen and treated in short order and was back home in no time. Do you really, REALLY, think Socialized Medicine will provide that sort of medical service?  This relationship with one's doctor will be destroyed by Socialized Medicine... and THAT is what Americans fear!

Today, Americans are finally paying attention to the run-away, rogue, Congress in Washington.  Not just conservative Americans, either. Our congress is out of control and is in desperate need of being reined in.  The way we rein in a congress is by tossing out as many offending Congresspersons and Senators as we possible can.  Unfortunately, in America, we have no apparatus for a vote of "no confidence" with which we could dissolve the Congress and hold new elections.  As a result we must wait until November of 2010 to clean the House AND the Senate!

Many months ago this scribe told you the problem with the democrats is -- every time they come to power they overreach.  EVERY TIME.  They have not disappointed.  This past weekend the democrats stayed true to their history and they overreached again... BIG TIME.  And it will cost them BIG TIME!

J. D. Longstreet is a conservative Southern American (A native sandlapper and an adopted Tar Heel) with a deep passion for the history, heritage, and culture of the southern states of America. At the same time he is a deeply loyal American believing strongly in "America First".

*******************************

J. D. Longstreet blogs daily at INSIGHT on Freedom ...   ...   http://csadispatch.blogspot.com/

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NewsRealBlog

You have to view this segment of the Meet the Press interview with Army chief of staff General George Casey to believe it - to believe that our army could be led by someone as incompetent in national security matters as this man showed he was, first by claiming that the army hadn't "missed anything" in regard to the in-your-face warning signs exhibited by Major Hasan that he was a fanatical Muslim jihadist and an imminent threat to massacre our troops, by admitting that the army's diversity policies had trumped its security policies, and worst of all by making this statement:

 "As horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse."

Sure, let's put weapons in the hands of Muslim terrorists rather than ask whether a Muslim who attends a jihadist Mosque, worships an Imam who openly preaches war against the United States, and who himself calls for the killing of infidels might be a security problem. General Casey's remarks in this interview might recommend him for psychiatric evaluation except that this obvious psychosis (detachment from reality) is a political epidemic that has now revealed itself as the gravest threat to our nation's security after the terrorists themselves.

-------------------------------------

Visit  NewsReal, a blog that deals each day with the reality behind the headlines. NewsReal tells who the day's newsmakers on the political Left really are - exposing their track-records, their worldviews, their key affiliations, and their agendas. You can read the "news" in many places. NewsReal enables you to understand what the news - glib chatter, easy assertions, partisan charges - really means. 

The group Catholic Democrats has hailed passage of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009, and notes that the only House Republican voting for it, Representative Joseph Cao of Louisiana, is a Catholic and former Jesuit seminarian. "The Catholic Church has been at the forefront of advocating for health care as a right for decades, including pastoral letters issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 1981 and 1993," the group notes.

The evidence indicates that the Bishops-and the Vatican itself-are calling the shots behind the scene. In fact, as many media organizations are now reporting, they engineered the "compromise" that deleted abortion funding so the bill could pass the House. The Los Angeles Times reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic, not only "conferred with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to be sure the new restrictions were acceptable" but "consulted by telephone with a cardinal in Rome."

CNN reported that, as a deal was being made between Pelosi and Catholic lobbyists, "Several Democrats, including Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pennsylvania, said they are in touch with their Catholic Bishops back home. Altmire said he must have the approval of his bishop in Pittsburgh before he can vote yes."

Where is the media outrage over "the separation of church and state?" In this case, there is direct evidence of a foreign entity, the Vatican, actually passing judgment on legislation and, in effect, delivering votes for it.

Few in the media, on the left or right, want to raise the issue, apparently fearful of being labeled "anti-Catholic."

But the outcome of the legislation in the House demonstrates that while the Republicans don't have the votes to stop it, the Vatican has the votes to pass it. Could the same thing happen in the U.S. Senate?

It is time for the major media to investigate how the officials of a major religious denomination, with its headquarters in Rome, are affecting the outcome of major pieces of legislation in the Congress of the United States.

This is a matter of great importance because government-guaranteed "rights," in the Vatican's view, don't stop with health care. Man, the papal "Peace on Earth" document said, "has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of ill health; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood."

As defined by the Catholic Bishops, this is a blueprint for a socialist state.

The encyclical said that individuals have the right to private ownership of property but that this right "entails a social obligation as well."

In this context, in a major story largely ignored by the major U.S. media, a London newspaper recently noted that L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, published an October 21 article by Georg Sans that praised the Marxist theory of alienation under capitalism. The article, published in Italian, said that the church "must be grateful" to Marx for explaining the concept of "alienated labor" and "surplus value." Sans also said that "a large part of humanity" remains alienated. 

The article was reprinted by an Italian communist website, complete with an image of Karl Marx flashing a "V" for victory sign.

So-called "surplus value," which is said to amount to exploitation of workers under capitalism, is one of the major concepts of Marxism. It justifies the hatred of and violence against private property owners-the capitalists. "The doctrine of surplus value is the cornerstone of Marx's economic theory," stated V.I. Lenin.

Surplus value may sound esoteric but the concept is absolutely necessary in understanding the appeal of Marxism and the basis for revolutionary activity. The notion of surplus value is supposed to reflect the amount of output that exceeds the cost of the workers to produce a commodity. By definition under Marxism, this "surplus value," the source of what is commonly called profit, constitutes exploitation of the workers. It is the basis for government control of the economy and elimination of the property owners once the workers supposedly take charge.

The Vatican newspaper article is not a complete embrace of all aspects of Marxism. Sans, who teaches the History of Contemporary Philosophy at the Università Gregoriana, the first Jesuit university, is also critical of Marx's materialism and how Marxism has been applied in practice by Communist parties. He calls this "ideological abuse" and says that an understanding of mankind has to take into account man's spiritual nature. Sans says that, "The history of Marxism has taught us, however, that all attempts to introduce communism by force ended up in an injustice and an even greater misery."

On the other hand, the article still puts the Vatican newspaper on the side of the Marxist philosophy of state control in the name of liberating the workers. "We must be grateful to the philosopher for the idea that man should be considered in light of the mode of production and form of economic management which predominate in society," he writes.

However, as Thomas Sowell points out in his book, Marxism, the Marxist analysis ignores the value produced by the capitalists who exercised private property rights in creating the means of production and employing the workers in the first place. Hence, the Marxist concept of surplus value, Sowell argues, is "Plainly arbitrary and unsupported." It is essential to Marxist theory because the abolition of private property is a major plank in the communist platform.

The Sans article doesn't just embrace the Marxist theory of alienation from the economy. On the matter of the natural environment, Sans expands this dubious theory to include another "aspect of alienation" which he said involves "man against nature." Sans condemned the "overexploitation of natural resources and environmental destruction" that are said to characterize industrial societies.

Sounding like Al Gore, he explained, "No need to be materialistic to recognize that we must establish a degree of harmony between man and his natural environment. It is not simply to relate to a living space or obtaining food, but take account of the man who shall be a unity of body and spirit." He goes on to condemn the "overexploitation of natural resources and environmental destruction" that are said to result from such alienation.

As noted by the London Times, "Professor Sans's article was first published in La Civiltà Cattolica, a Jesuit paper, which is vetted in advance by the Vatican Secretariat of State. The decision to republish it in the Vatican newspaper gives it added papal endorsement."

Kevin Clarke wrote a blog posting on the site of America magazine, the national Catholic Jesuit weekly, which declared, somewhat jokingly, "We're all Marxists now!"

Jokes aside, the Vatican newspaper article is embarrassing to many Catholics, for the obvious reason that it exposes Marxist sympathies deep within the Vatican at a time when many Americans, including Catholics, are resisting the Marxist drive for total government control in the U.S. Embarrassment explains why so many conservative Catholic commentators have decided to ignore this Vatican embrace of the key component of revolutionary Marxism. 

To make matters worse, the astute "Reading the Maps" blog pointed out that "The explanation for the appearance of Sans' article may lie in an extraordinary but little-noticed Encyclical which the Pope issued in 2007 called Spe Salvi, or In Hope We Were Saved. Spe Salvi includes a long and surprisingly sophisticated assessment not only of the thought of Marx, but of the whole history of Western thought since the Enlightenment."

The headline over the blog carried the headline, "Is the Pope a Marxist?"

This papal Encyclical explained that the "dreadful living conditions" described by Friedrich Engels, the co-author of the communist manifesto, gave rise to the Marxist view that "the time had come for a new, proletarian revolution," in which "progress could not simply continue in small, linear steps" and that "A revolutionary leap was needed."

The encyclical explained that "Karl Marx took up the rallying call, and applied his incisive language and intellect to the task of launching this major new and, as he thought, definitive step in history towards salvation-towards what Kant had described as the 'Kingdom of God.'"

It went on, "With great precision, albeit with a certain one-sided bias, Marx described the situation of his time, and with great analytical skill he spelled out the paths leading to revolution-and not only theoretically: by means of the Communist Party that came into being from the Communist Manifesto of 1848, he set it in motion. His promise, owing to the acuteness of his analysis and his clear indication of the means for radical change, was and still remains an endless source of fascination. Real revolution followed, in the most radical way in Russia."

However, the Pope also said that Marx's "fundamental" error was that "he did not say how matters should proceed thereafter" and that "He simply presumed that with the expropriation of the ruling class, with the fall of political power and the socialization of means of production, the new Jerusalem would be realized." The Pope noted that Marxism did not lead to a "perfect world" but left behind "a trail of appalling destruction," which is a major understatement. Professor Paul Kengor notes that the seminal Harvard University Press work, The Black Book of Communism, was probably conservative when estimating only 100 million deaths at the hands of communist governments.

On another level, the Pope argued that the "error" of Marx was his materialistic philosophy, which ignores man's freedom and assumed that "once the economy had been put right, everything would automatically be put right."

However, on economic matters, as we have seen in the health care debate, the U.S. Catholic Bishops have embraced Democratic-style universal health care, declaring on the basis of a papal encyclical that health care is a right that should be guaranteed by government.

On the global level, Pope Benedict spoke forcefully in his own "Charity in Truth" encyclical, declaring that we need "a worldwide redistribution of energy resources," more foreign aid from rich to poor nations, and a "world political authority" with "teeth" working through the United Nations to bring this about.

The "teeth" could include the global bank tax that was discussed at the recent meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bankers. 

            Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of Accuracy in Media, and can be contacted at cliff.kincaid@aim.org.

President Obama seems to be having the time of his life, rubbing shoulders with celebrities, hosting star-studded parties at the White House and jetsetting to far-flung destinations. Unfortunately, the rest of America has yet to be invited to the party.

Fifteen million people and counting are currently out of jobs, banks are folding at a record rate, businesses are going under, homes are being foreclosed on, and the looming deficit is worrisome. All the while, our new president is having a ball at taxpayer expense.

For example, during his brief time in office, Obama has:

• entertained NASCAR Sprint Car racers on the White House lawn and talked shop about racing with the drivers;
• thrown the first pitch at an All-Star game in St. Louis, Missouri, and flown to Copenhagen in order to personally pitch Chicago as the site of the 2016 Olympics;
• jetted to New York City for a date night on the town with his wife (on the eve of GM's bankruptcy filing, no less);
• hosted a luau-themed congressional picnic complete with tiki torches and potted palms and thrown a fiesta, featuring Marc Anthony, Los Lobos, and Gloria Estefan, (part of the continuing White House Music Series concerts) apparently as part of Hispanic Heritage Month;
• welcomed the Tar Heels, the Phillies, Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bulls and NBA champions to the White House;
• enjoyed numerous rounds of golf at Fort Belvoir and countless games of basketball on his personal court at the White House, not to mention the weekend trips to Camp David with family and friends and family vacations to the Grand Canyon and Martha's Vineyard;
• flown to California to appear on the Jay Leno Show and to New York to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman (where he was presented with a heart-shaped potato);
• visited more foreign countries than any president within the first year of office (Iraq, Turkey, Great Britain, France, Germany, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Moscow, Italy, and Ghana); he also recently announced plans to visit Japan, China, Singapore, and South Korea in November;
• attended almost 30 Democratic fundraisers in various parts of the country (contrast this with George W. Bush who attended six political fundraisers and Bill Clinton who attended five during their first nine months in office) and campaigned for various Democratic candidates, including Chris Dodd, John Corzine and Deval Patrick, among many others.

The White House provides no exact figures for the costs of presidential trips, yet consider this: the Pentagon estimates that it costs more than $100,000 per hour to operate Air Force One-and that's not even with Obama on board. As CNN reports, "Presidential travel requires much more spending. The president's armored limousine (and its double) must be transferred in advance to the designation, where Secret Service agents may have spent days making preparations. Numerous presidential, military and security aides go with the president, and they must be housed, fed and paid." Thus, these trips cost in the millions of dollars-again, we taxpayers are footing the bill.

This isn't to say that Obama is the only president who has ever enjoyed such lavish perks of the office at taxpayer expense. Ronald Reagan took frequent trips to his California ranch to chop wood and clear brush, while Bill Clinton traveled at taxpayer expense to a variety of glamorous vacation spots. However, it's time for a reality check.

What Americans need right now is a hard-working president, one who stays at his desk and does his job. We certainly don't need a president who's enjoying a jet-setting lifestyle at taxpayer expense-partying while wars rage around us, deficits soar and the economy crumbles. In fact, the money being spent on glitzy White House soirees and foreign travel would be far better spent on other much-needed programs to help the American people.

America is hurting on many fronts, but we're especially hurting for leaders who take their jobs seriously and recognize that we are grappling with critical issues. We need a president who understands the urgency of the situation and reflects that sobriety and represents all the people.

Barack Obama promised to be that kind of president. Thus far, however, he has fallen far short of his campaign promises. Instead, he is busy trying to stay in power, keep his party in power and add to his legacy, but that's not his job. His job as president is to get this country back on its feet economically and to represent all of the people-again, whether they be Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Tea Party activists or people who watch the FOX News Network (a network he has been making war with).

Thus far, a large part of Obama's presidency has been taken with attending fundraisers for the Democratic Party. It's as if he's working for the Democratic Party instead of the American people. In fact, if he's going to raise money, he should be raising money for all the parties because he should be representing all the people.

However, the point is he shouldn't be raising money for any political parties or candidates. That's not his job. That's not what we elected him to do.

Mr. President, it's high time you represented us all and focus on getting this country back on its feet.

It can be strongly argued that American military veterans, through their selfless service are owed an unplayable debt from a nation that would not even exist, had these courageous men and women not stood on the ramparts against almost uncountable enemies.

Today, a nation of more than 310 million people enjoys the blessings of freedom paid for by 25 million veterans now alive, and the one million 200 thousand who died in combat from the Revolutionary War until today.  Not to be forgotten in the tabulation is our debt to the millions of veterans who returned home to live productive lives and then go to their final reward.

There is the 18-year-old farm boy from Iowa, who left part of his right leg in the sands of Iraq believing his sacrifice will keep children in school instead of preparing for war.

There is the helicopter pilot in Afghanistan who flew wounded soldiers to medical units, saving their lives.  She became a warrior so little girls in that country could attend school, just as she had in California.

There is the father of three boys from Montana, who left his family at home while he trudged the hill country of Vietnam, hoping by his duty, those sons would never fight a foreign war.

All of America should seriously reflect upon what its veterans have done for their country and for freedom loving people across the globe.  We should all understand that only one in every twelve of us steps forward in defense of our country and countrymen.  Only one in every twelve of us is willing to place on hold time with family, advancement up the corporate ladder, that place on the college football team, the opportunity to stay safe and young and alive.

All too often we forget that the veteran is not just the soldier with a rifle, the Marine landing on a beach, the sailor on mid-watch about a ship, the Airman sending his fighter plane off on another mission.  It is also the cook, the clerk, the supply sergeant, the doctor, the gate guard, the truck driver...all those thousands upon thousands of men and women who labored around the clock across endless days providing the support those front line warriors needed to accomplish the mission.

If this band of brothers and sisters had not taken it upon themselves to place their own future on hold while they stood guard over the future of their country, the land of the free would be only a distant memory for some of our older citizens and non-existent for everyone else. Every person who calls this country home owes the American military veteran an unpayable debt.  Sadly, that is a debt we often forget to honor...and have failed to adequately honor since the time the first shot was fired in the Revolutionary War.

What is a veteran?  It is a difficult question to answer.  A single standard legal definition of military veteran has never been written.  But, there is an anonymous statement that gives the term more meaning than most writers can place in print. 

A veteran is someone, who at some point has written a check to Uncle Sam that reads:  "Payable In Full Up To The Amount Of My Life, If Necessary, To Defend Our Way Of Life" .  Just how many of us were willing to write such a check?  Very few indeed.

Veterans Day is now here and again Americans will honor those who served in uniform.  But, should it really be restricted to remembering them on November 11 each year.  Shouldn't every day of our lives really be Veterans Day?

Semper Fidelis