Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
Since Professor Turley is snowbound in the Winter Wonderland, the weekend warriors are back to bring your blood pressure up!
I have been critical of the Right Wing Mass Media for its continual banging of the drum of hate towards President Obama and the Democrats in general. Now, there are times that the Democrats and President Obama should be called on the carpet. For instance, for not confronting the Bush torture crowd and for claiming that the President has the authority to kill American citizens without due process, just to name a couple. However, the civility that President Obama has asked for in his latest speeches, have gone unheeded by many on the Right and some on the Left.
We all succumb to the emotion at times and say things that we shouldn’t, but the Right seems to carry these statements to an extreme and they are unapologetic for it. Yesterday, fans of Rush Limbaugh faxed death threats to California State Representative and San Francisco Mayoral candidate, Leland Yee, because Lee had requested Rush to apologize for Rush’s ill-tempered and racially charged comments about the Chinese President during his recent visit to the United States. Rush mocked President Hu Jintao’s speech and Mr. Yee “..said Limbaugh owes the Chinese community an apology for his “pointless and ugly offense.” ‘. http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/crime/2011/01/leland-yee-receives-racist-death-threat
You can guess the result of State Rep. Lee’s request for an apology from Rush Limbaugh. He continued his rant and mocked Rep. Lee on the next program. I know some of you will want to know why the authorities believe that Rush’s fans are behind the death threats. Take a look at one of the faxes on the link below and you will understand. Rep. Lee received similar threats in April of last year that are also being investigated.
I would put the fax on here, but the language is a bit “rough”. See below for a link to the faxes in question. Those who continue to voice their ugly rhetoric in the mass media have a responsibility for the result of that rhetoric. I for one think they are getting the response that they are looking for. What do you think?
http://www.sfexaminer.com/files/blog_files/Yee%20threat%20flier.pdf
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
Elaine:
I forget why I said “filthy” a couple of days ago. But it annoyed Rafflaw, so I’m making sure to say it.
🙂
Chen,
I don’t have a point. I have a question. That’s why I ended it with a ? instead of a .
So, in your view: if it’s a legal way to gain money it’s honest?
Stamford:
What are you blathering about?
You wrote:
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Okay. I’m not rich. Now what?
“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”
I’m not throwing a stone. Now what?
“Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. Love others as well as you love yourself.”
I’m real tough on myself. Now what?
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.
Okay, I give to charity and offer everyone what I’m eating. Now what?
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
Okay, I don’t avoid the needy. Now what?
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
I don’t turn away from my brothers (Christians). Now what?
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brothers eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
I make a huge effort not to judge unjustly (which is what the passage above commands. Now what?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother eye”
I left the GOP after 20 years because I didn’t want to be a hypocrite. What have you done?
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?”
I love everyone. Now what?
Chan,
Of course there is no CASH in the trust fund. It is in US Treasury certificates. Unless the Government reneges on it’s treasury securities, this is better than cash because you are actually earning some “interest”. You are not reading or do not care to admit the facts in front of your face. The Treasury certificates are not IOU’s that steal from another generation.They are investments. A corporate bond is very similar but instead of the government backing them that particular corporation is guaranteeing them. You need to stop listening to the Right wing hacks who are feeding you a pile of crap or you may never learn. Talking points are not facts.
Gyges:
pretty simple, you work for a living or you rob banks. What is your point?
What do you do for a living? I assume you are honest. You don’t rob banks or sell drugs to 10 year olds. So you have entered into a mutually agreeable employment contract, your employer didn’t force you to take the job did he? Neither did you force your employer to hire you?
I am assuming you work for someone else and the work you do is legal.
Again what is your point?
rafflaw:
OK, I read your link. Sounds exactly like I said above. There is no money, no silver, no gold in that account. There is an IOU to be paid by future generations.
Seems like a Ponzi scheme to me.
“I’ll have a hamburger for which I’ll gladly pay you.. Tuesday.”
It used to be a joke, now it is the law of the land.
Economics according to Wimpy.
yes we like Popeye.
Slarts.
I don’t mind the one year reduction for the stimulus purpose that you mentioned, except the Dems will never be able to raise it back to where it was politically and that plays into the Repubicans hands on trying to claim that Social Security is “bankrupt” if the incoming tax funds are reduced for a long period of time.
Chan,
Alright I’ll bite. How does one distinguish between honest and dishonest ways of making money?
For fun, let’s assume that I don’t want Galt’s or Roark’s speeches quoted to me.
Somewhere, a Fundie is bursting into flame.
Buckeye:
“Tootie is an Old Testament Christian not a New Testament Christian. Clever of you to have noticed the difference.”
Tootie’s Jewish? 🙂
Stamford L
Tootie is an Old Testament Christian not a New Testament Christian. Clever of you to have noticed the difference.
Tootie:
It does not surprise me that you’d come back with “Jesus says to be petty, childish and bitter.” And all this time I thought the main point of his teachings went like this:
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”
“Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. Love others as well as you love yourself.”
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'”
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brothers eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother eye”
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?”
You are no more a Christian than Christopher Hitchens is.
Chan L.,
I can’t believe how intelligent you are and still so young. Sir, will you ever consider running for president? You could teach everyone. Will you ever teach school? I am just in awe of your capabilities.
Raff,
Reducing SS payroll tax for a year is both progressive and stimulative (if you’ve got to give Republicans tax cuts to get votes, this isn’t a bad one). I’m not sure how you raise taxes politically, but if we don’t find a way we’ll wind up like Greece… Personally, I think President Obama is playing the switch between stimulus and deficit reduction fairly well. I wanted about 2 years of spending like FDR followed by 6 years of saving like Clinton and ending in a surplus and I think that President Obama is going to be about as close to that as is reasonably possible in this environment.
Slarts,
you may be right. Additional evidence is reducing the Social Security payroll tax for “one year”. I can’t believe that Obama got sucked into that one! Good luck in “raising” taxes down the road.
Chan and other conservatives just want to eliminate Social Security so that they can wipe out the enormous part of our national debt that is owed to the trust fund (which has probably been their plan since they started to borrow from it) – that way the debt can be reduced on the backs of all of those unproductive old people…
Stamford:
Oh please. Jesus referred to people as pigs (swine).
He wasn’t a mealy-mouthed wimp unafraid to challenge evil-doers or fools. I don’t know where the fictional Jesus is you have invented, but please don’t make him out to be Mr. Rogers with a runny nose and bunny slippers.
Job 15:16
How much more abominable and filthy [is] man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
Psalm 14:3
They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one.
Jude 1:8
Likewise also these [filthy] dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
Revelation 22:11
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
And John isn’t talking about taking a tubby.
Chan,
you should really learn to look things up and not listen to the right wing lies that you seem to be mimicking. Here is a link to a Wikipedia thread about the Trust fund. There are many other articles that you can choose from if you want to know the truth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_Trust_Fund
rAFFLAW:
“There is a Social Security Trust fund where all of the SS taxes go into. If you were older you might be more interested in finding out about it. It is pay as you go, but you have to put those funds somewhere.”
No disrespect intended but you are wrong sir. There is no physical money in that “account”. SS is funded by current funds taken in. It is a Ponzi scheme, the only paper in that fund are IOU’s to be taken on future earnings of your grandchildren. 30 year olds are supporting you, the government didn’t take your money and put it into a real account like you would have done. They spent it on something else and put an IOU into your account.
I wish you were correct.