How Hate Became and Remains the Reigning American Virtue

Gerry Spence wrote a decisive dissection of the the "Politics of Hate" emanating from the American rightwing(nutters) in 2006, Bloodthirsty Bitches and Pious Pimps of Power, that answers in full all the questions we have today about how the Biblical "people of love, charity and patrons of the poor" came (in America) to have an almost bragged-about agenda of hate, greed and enrichment of the already rich (in the chapter "Hate for the Love of Christ"). You should read it if you have any time available at all. It strikes to the heart of where we are today with our loveless, megachurch, cupidity-driven crowds and the hands-in-the-pocket-of and outstretched-to-the-military-industrial-complex-for-donations, Christ-crying, Faux Noise screamers. (You'll notice that the screaming about homosexuals "destroying the moral fabric" of this country doesn't extend to the Log Cabin Rethugs. And if you want to try to figure out how a group supported by the money from the Bush group (both of whose grandfathers made big money from activities that enriched Fritz Thyssen, banker to Hitler) could call anyone else Nazis or Nazi supporters . . . .) (But first, I'd like to say "Thank you" to the gentle people at The Wulfshead for asking me to be one of the writer/reporters at their exceedingly fine gathering place.

I'd also like to say at the outset of this exposition of facts from this book, that it will seem like a very bad fiction story. The problem is that almost all of it has already come true, and portions of it like the Patriot Act, which took away so many so-called unrevokable Constitutional rights, had been ready for instituting long before the event known as 9/11.)

As I was taught by a devout Christian mother, Jesus loved us all, even us sinners. Yes, especially us sinners. One might argue that Christ was a liberal. Today I'm stunned by the phenomenon that permits a self-proclaimed Christian clergy to pervert the teachings of Christ - an enlightenment brought about by love, one now forsaken by the Christian right for hate. In short, how can these born-agains claim to be followers of Christ, the champion of love, when their primary offering is hate? It's not that we are born without the capacity to hate. Freud showed that hate is the expression of a deep, unrelenting instinct of destructiveness against which love, also a profound and nascent instinct, offers a response. "Die we must," says the psychoanalyst Karl Menninger, "but in the meantime we can live, if we can love." These two instincts abide in the same house. But why those of the Christian right have attached themselves to the dark side, the side of hate and destructiveness, rather than the enlightened side of love as espoused by their acclaimed "savior and Lord, Jesus Christ," seems a mystery couched in hypocrisy, ignorance, and an insidious and malevolent agenda.

Some folks are trying to decipher this riddle today by documenting the ways in which the outspoken "Christian" part of the Right is being enriched by this stance of anti-Christian virtue. Others, like myself, wonder about the psychology of those leaders who originally worked so hard to make this agenda-led "Christianity" so powerful in the USA (power being one thing that Jesus promised you would not have on earth - only after death in your Father's arms). (How many remember that as far back as 1988, the so-called Christian Coalition coalesced around Pat Robertson (son of ultra-rightwing Senator (who wasn't elected originally but was appointed) Willis Robertson (who believed that he was American royalty from a long European line)) as a Republican candidate for President and how odd his political/religious speeches sounded regarding his thoughts for American perfection under his knowledgeable leadership?))

The attack against liberals by such nationally known evangelists as Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, is a case in point, Robertson is a partisan of the Republican Party and campaigned to become the party's candidate in the 1988 presidential election. In an interview with Molly Ivins, Robertson said, "Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media, and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."

Digest that for a moment. And then go get your own copy as there is much, much more (although everything could just be a joke at the expense of twits, but then you'd have to ask yourself "Why would they have gone to the trouble of putting this charade together if it didn't have some deeper meaning - at least pecuniary if not signifying some much greater consideration of major importance to unknown players?). And, silly as it seems (although a very clever silly is you ask me), if you really wanted to know about who, how and why these powerful and perverted people are involved in Skull & Bones - a society at Yale University where many of these players matriculated (including both candidates for President in 2008 (and Obama's current favorite econo-ghoul) - no wonder Michelle has been so quiet since the early PR community-building activities - except for some cookie baking, of course) see below. Speaking of good videos, when I saw the Matt Damon character in the movie The Good Shepherd several years ago, my first thought was "Wow! This should be too close for comfort for the ruling class. Or do they think people are just too stupid or lazy to make the connections and not care?" And how many more ghouls can we take (Austen Goolsby)? Wonder if John Kerry's antiwar posture was a reaction against his own membership in the group or just another false flag set up to further the interests of these very well-connected Bonesmen (not that I would have a clue)? But it didn't hurt his economic standing very much did it? And was he really "miles apart on the issues" from Dubya, his worthy opponent as the video below proclaims (and don't miss the others if you are not fwowing up enough yet)? Oh, and I almost forgot that my hero Joe Stiglitz (Nobel prize winner also) has revealed the depth of debt we now owe to someone. (Your guess.)

the Iraq war will cost $3-5 trillion dollars . . . has increased the threat of terrorism. See this, this, this, this, this, this and this.

And we launched the Iraq war based on the false linkage of Saddam and 9/11, and knowingly false claims that Saddam had WMDs. And top British officials, former CIA director George Tenet, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and many others say that the Iraq war was planned before 9/11.

. . . Sure, the government apparently planned the Afghanistan war before 9/11 (see this and this). And the Taliban offered to turn over Bin Laden (see this and this). And we could have easily killed Bin Laden in 2001 and again in 2007, but chose not to, even though that would have saved the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars in costs in prosecuting the Afghanistan war. But this essay is about dollars and cents.

Increasing the Debt Burden of a Nation Sinking In Debt

All of the spending on unnecessary wars adds up.The U.S. is adding trillions to its debt burden to finance its multiple wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, etc.

Two top American economists - Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff - show that the more indebted a country is, with a government debt/GDP ratio of 0.9, and external debt/GDP of 0.6 being critical thresholds, the more GDP growth drops materially.

. . . You may have even heard that the U.S. may very well have suffered a permanent destruction of jobs.

But did you know that the defense employment sector is booming?

As I pointed out in August, public sector spending - and mainly defense spending - has accounted for virtually all of the new job creation in the past 10 years.

The U.S. has largely been financing job creation for ten years. Specifically, as the chief economist for Business Week, Michael Mandel, points out, public spending has accounted for virtually all new job creation in the past 10 years. . . . Private sector job growth was almost non-existent over the past ten years. Take a look at this horrifying chart . . . . Between May 1999 and May 2009, employment in the private sector sector only rose by 1.1%, by far the lowest 10-year increase in the post-depression period.

It’s impossible to overstate how bad this is. Basically speaking, the private sector job machine has almost completely stalled over the past ten years. Take a look at this chart.

Over the past 10 years, the private sector has generated roughly 1.1 million additional jobs, or about 100K per year. The public sector created about 2.4 million jobs.

But even that gives the private sector too much credit. Remember that the private sector includes health care, social assistance, and education, all areas which receive a lot of government support.

So there's that too. Suzan _______________