Tag Archives: Republicans

STEW – Reheated

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2009-09-03-stew_reheated

Reheating The STEW

Barack Obama - 44th President

It’s been nearly ten months since the election of Barack Obama in November of 2008. At the time of the election I was writing a series of pieces comparing the election to the story of the twin brothers, Jacob and Esau, in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles – I called this series STEW.

Last Episode of the Story before the Election Break: Jacob Gets Everything

Like most everyone else who voted for Obama, I was in a state of amazement as I watched his acceptance speech on the night of the election (you can read about my reaction in my STEW election-break posting called “STEW: Part Three – Welcome to the WE generation” ) and ended up pausing the series while I worked on other things.

After a long break, we continue the story…

The story of these two brothers begins in The Book of Genesis, chapter 25, and today we pick up the story in verse 25 and continues until verse 34…

The Twins – Jacob and Esau

The Book of Genesis tells us about the Patriarchs of the Hebrews – the first three males of a divinely chosen people and a line of blessing that will culminate in God’s Eternal Kingdom with His Messiah on the Eternal Throne – and it starts with three generations of one human family; beginning with Abraham – the Father of Faith, his son, Isaac – The Child of Promise and then Jacob, who became Israel, the Father of the Twelve Tribes.

Now Jacob, the third of The Patriarchs, was born with a twin named Esau. [You can find the story in Genesis 25:21-28] and they wrestled violently in the womb causing their mother, Rebekah (played by Madonna in a previous episode) great distress and pain during her pregnancy.

When she inquired of The Lord why her pregnancy was going so bad The Lord told her:

“Two nations are in your womb;
And two people shall be separated from your body;
And one people shall be stronger than the other;
And the older shall serve the younger.”

When she gave birth, indeed she had twins – the first child to be born was Esau, who was already covered with red hair, followed by Jacob, holding onto the heel of his twin Esau.

It’s important to note that there is a tradition that believes that Esau was so restless in the womb that he was literally trying to fight his way out of Rebekah and if Jacob hadn’t held him back Esau would have killed his mother in an effort to be born early, and that is why the struggle in the womb and why Esau came out first with Jacob holding his heel.

This tradition could also explain why Jacob was his mother’s favorite son.

Esau grew up to be a hunter and outdoors-man, was a very hairy man and dreamed of moving to Alaska; while Jacob grew up a peaceful, smooth-skinned man and dreamed of going to Washington DC.

Now, in those days and according to their customs, the first-born male got the entire inheritance – everything – land, animals, money, servants… and in this family it also came with the Divine Blessing that Abraham had first received for El Shaddai, The Almighty God. In this case, that meant that Esau, by birthright, was entitled to the complete inheritance when Isaac died.

Jacob understood this very well, and Esau really couldn’t care less…

stew1

One day Esau (played by John McCain, poor, sold-out John McCain) came back from hunting and smelled something delicious cooking. Following his nose he found his brother Jacob cooking a pot of red lentil stew. “I’m starving, let me have a swallow of that red stuff…” he told his brother, and Jacob, not being in a giving mood, said, “Sell me your birthright first.”

Esau, letting his appetite overcome his good sense, figures that a birthright is worthless to a dead man, and agrees.

After making Esau swear an oath, Jacob served him some stew and bread, which Esau ate quickly and then went on his way.

Little did Esau know that El Shaddai, who watches over everyone, saw what Esau had done and heard the oath Esau made, and knew that Esau despised his birthright, and had also despised The Almighty God.

To Be Continued…

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STEW: part one

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Introduction

I am going to try and share a story I haven’t entirely figured out how to piece together yet, but will play out over the next few days…

I’ve watched it over and over in my head this last week… little pieces, little scenes, the same story, different play, same subject, different players….

It’s as if I’ve been watching T.V. – switching from channel to channel, but even as the program changes, the subject is always the same. Esau and Jacob, the 2008 Presidential race and the future…

It’s a story that moves and changes like a dream; like an episode of Monty Pythons Flying Circus or a History Channel documentary, loosely spliced and wandering from free association to free association like a drunken bee in a flower garden.

The Ingredients

STEW: This is a word with several meanings, from (1) cooking food by simmering or low boil to (2) fussing and fretting to (3) suffering the consequences of one’s own actions.

Beginning with the first meaning, let’s see how we go about making this particular stew.

The broth of this stew is “based on a true story” because I’ve lifted it completely from the story of Esau and Jacob in the Bible.

Notes for those following along at home: You can find this story in any standard issue Bible in the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, ranging from chapters 24 through 27 with extra bonus reading about Esau in Hebrews, chapter 12. Hebrews is one of the books of the New Testament, near the back of the Bible.

More on the broth in a moment, but first…

The STEW Who’s Who

The main ingredients of the story consists of four people…

Esau: The older twin, the big brother, hunter, “man of the fields”, and a rough, hairy man – he’s dad’s favorite. He’s the one who should inherit it all.

He symbolizes the Republicans, the Neocons, the sold-out conservatives hanging on because of sheer loyalty, and, most importantly, “The Religious Right” with a special bonus extra credit shout out to “right wing Christians”, and Christians that call themselves “value voters”…

Esau’s nickname is “Red” and is played by John “Red” McCain.

Jacob: The younger twin. Smooth skinned and a “tent-dweller.” He’s mother’s favorite, ambitious, knows what’s at stake and knows how to get it.

He symbolizes the Democrats, but also symbolizes the future transformation of the USA.

His nickname is “Smooth” and played by Barack “Smooth” Obama.

Isaac: The Second Patriarch in a blessed line of Patriarchs. The Son of Promise that is now an old man going blind and foreseeing his own demise.

He symbolizes the good old US of A. You and me, the vast historical, mythological, cosmic and collective expression of the several centuries of this country we call home.

His nickname is “The Gipper”, and is played by former President Ronald “The Gipper” Reagan in a stunning return from the dead for one last head-shaking performance.

Rebekah: Isaac’s wife. Beautiful, rich and manipulative. She’s the mother of Isaac’s twins, but she prefers Jacob, the younger one.

She symbolizes our Constitution, our Capitalist system and it’s expression through the media (the left-wing media if it makes you feel better) in all it’s glory.

Her nickname is the “Material Girl” and is played by the original Material Girl – Madonna.

God’s Broth – or – the Blessing

Because of the mystical and symbolic nature of the rest of this story, I’m going to have to call in Professor Yarnhead to give us an understanding of the ingredients that have gone into making this broth.

Professor Yarnhead is a self-proclaimed specialist in the field of interpretive Biblical prophecy – always a recession-proof industry.

He is going to try and take us back through the grains of the sands of time…

Visuals: Still images, old-fashioned illustrations and archival clip art floats across the screen here to invoke the feeling of history and antiquity – Otherwise known as “The History Channel Collage Style.”

Professor Yarnhead begins:

It was the time of the Patriarchs, a mysterious time when Man was socially evolving from tribes to nations.

El-Shaddai – also known as God Almighty, had called a descendant from the line of Shem, one of the three sons of Noah, to come out from his family, out from his tribe and lands… and out of this one man, He, El-Shaddai, God Almighty would prepare and bring about the next step for Man.

This man, Abram, followed this call from El-Shaddai and received “The Blessing.”

When Abram received this Blessing, El-Shaddai changed his name to Abraham, which means “Father of Nations” and from this first Patriarch all the nations of the world descended and were blessed.

This Blessing is something we don’t understand anymore, nor do we know the power of El-Shaddai as Abram did…

But this was an earlier time, before many of the mysteries were forgotten, when some people still understood that the Blessing is everything.

This Blessing is not a moral prize which is won by your own virtue. The Blessing of El-Shaddai is the Grand Prize of all the possible prizes in the world, and is a prize of faith.

El-Shaddai gave the Blessing to Abraham because he believed God, and so he also became the Patriarch of western religion and faith.

Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.

Ishmael was born first, but from Abraham’s wife’s maid Hagar (they did that kind of stuff back then), because Abraham was having trouble waiting for God to get around to doing what he promised to do – give him a son.

Thirteen years later, Sarah, Abraham’s wife got pregnant, and had the Son of Promise – Isaac.

Note: Ishmael and the results of this situation launches a whole other subject that’s too big to go into here…

It was during a traumatic camping trip when Isaac was young that he nearly got sacrificed to El-Shaddai by his father, Abraham, only to be saved by the intervention of an angel from God that pointed out a ram caught in the nearby bushes.

They sacrificed the ram instead, and made some stew… and that stew stuck with Isaac.

Years later, when Isaac had grown, Abraham decided that his son needed a wife, but not one of the local Canaanite girls…

History Flash: Canaanite Women Bad: In the Noah blessing sweepstakes (Genesis 9:25-27), Canaan was the loser, Japheth comes in second and Shem grabs the big prize blessing.

So Abraham sent his most trusted servant back to the birthplace of civilization, Mesopotamia, to find a suitable wife for Isaac from among his relatives. [See Genesis 24]

Setting: Professor Yarnhead fades out…

Well, I think I’ll let this stew simmer overnight and add some more ingredients tomorrow, stir it some more…

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2: Journey to Mesopotamia, The Twins, and more…

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Playlist | Music Response To Politics and Bail Outs

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Wow, what a week we’ve been through. I’ve been listening to a lot of Gang of Four this last month, and have been endlessly playing Animals by Pink Floyd. Why? Because the lyrics of the songs like Capital and Poverty by Gang of Four give me a sense of response to what’s going on, listening to Animals makes me remember that there is intelligence in the world, and people who see bigger then the emotional con game being played by the McCain campaign.

I’ve also been spending the week battling the depression monster lurking around my brain cells. A steady diet of political news stories and watching news clips online hasn’t help either. To quote Gang of Four – “Only yesterday I said to myself, the things I’m doing are not good for my health” – from Anthrax by Gang of Four.

Playlist:

1. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye | I bookended this playlist with songs by Marvin Gaye from his outstanding album/social critique called What’s Going On. I try to soften the anger in the middle of the set with Marvin’s graceful voice.

2. Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who | dedicated to John McCain and the Republican party.

3. Capital (It Fails Us Now) – Gang of Four | music to watch Wall Street collapse by…

4. To Hell With Poverty – Gang of Four | “In this land, right now, some are insane, and they’re in charge”

5. Inner City Blue – Marvin Gaye | Makes me wanna holler…

Enjoy…

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

and if you want to buy any of this music, here’s the handy links…

Gang of Four: 2 crucial albums from the early years

Entertainment

Solid Gold

and for extra credit… Return The Gift

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Vice Presidential Debate – John McCain, I’m insulted…

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People, I Just Got To Speak About Something

I am offended by John McCain and what he has done in his craven, last-gasp attempt at the presidency  – Injecting a not-ready-for-prime-time-way-right-wing governor of Alaska into this race in an attempt to use celebrity to make people look past the reality of what’s going on, and get himself elected. I used to like John McCain, and this, my friend, is no John McCain.

Flash Back A Couple of Months…

Anyone remember a couple of weeks before the Democrat convention when the McCain campaign was making a big issue about Barack Obama just being a “Celebrity” – while Barack was out on the campaign trail everyday, talking to people, talking to reporters, discussing issues and his plans… of course Barack is no “celebrity” (a large cultural insult from the Right against the celebrity culture they hate – and crave) – and now being a celebrity is wrong? I thought our nation was crazy about celebrities… but that all aside – it was a stupid campaign trick, but here’s the follow-up…

What Has Happened Since Then…

Barack Obama has a great convention, adds Joe Biden to his ticket and beefs up his foreign policy stand, heck, I even decided to vote for Obama instead of the usual Libertarian candidate (in case you don’t know, I come from a right-wing, Christian, libertarian background – I feel especially betrayed this year).

Then John McCain has his anointing party/right-wing freak show (Drill baby, drill???) and selects who(???) as his running mate. Sarah Palin. She’s so unknown you have to wonder why ol’ John choose her. I mean, if he wanted to “out-Hillary” Obama he could have choose a number of smart, experienced, Republican women for the ticket. But he didn’t. He choose someone only the small population of Alaska knew anything about so this campaign could write the script for her, this is the McCain movie – here’s your lines.

And then they (the McCain campaign) kept her away from everyone – like some celebrity – and only allowed her to appear at carefully controlled events and interviews – like a celebrity… and then I had to watch this debate tonight.

Beauty queen recites carefully-coached lines – not answering questions (is that a celebrity or just an old-school politician?), but instead – again – spouting carefully-coached line. It’s the Stepford-Vice-President. And then when she endorsed Dick Cheney’s view of the VP job and the expansion of executive power I think I heard all I need to know about her worldview… SCARY!

Meanwhile ol’ Joe is being Joe Biden, trying to explain very complex issues in the two minutes he has while trying not to make a big gaff, not look like a mean man beating up on the delicate flower, I mean, celebrity VP candidate. I sat there watching Sen. Biden, who I have often disagreed with, and thought, this man knows what he’s talking about. Nice choice Obama.

Bottom Line

Heart beat away: Just think it through… Joe Biden or Sarah “Oh golly” Palin. Folksy may work in Alaska, but I don’t want my VP talking folksy to world leaders in times of crisis – “Well golly Putin…”. She may be a great hockey mom or whatever, but there are a ton of those, and does that make them just as qualified to be VP? I’m not sold on Palin’s credentials, but Sen. Biden – we know he has the experience.

Right-Wing Idiots: Why do the Republicans keep giving us the useful idiots? Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin. I mean the Democrats don’t do so hot either (what were they thinking with John Kerry, George Dukakis…), but this year they have it nailed. But these Republicans… (sorry, I just had to go off there.)

Killing Christianity in America: As a Christian this is the hardest part for me. We are watching some of the final nails in the coffin of Christianity as we know it in America. The evangelicals have sold out the Kingdom of God for a cheap bowl of political soup. Tax rules will be changed, this power grab will be slapped down by those that are much better at this game. And the cause of Christ? Yet another betrayal by those that should know better… Churches fighting the IRS by preaching politics from the pulpit, come on. That’s just like Jesus would have done, right? (render unto Cesar what belongs to Cesar) – not at all!

Please – do everything possible to help Barack get elected, because if I’ve seen our future leader debate Joe Biden tonight, people like me (you know, those artist types) will be be enjoying the pleasure of extraordinary rendition in the very near future. I wish I was just kidding.

Rant over.

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When Did Lying Become A Christian Value?

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2008-09-18_when_did_lying

I grew up as a Christian, and still consider myself one… I mean when it comes to Jesus – I’m a big fan of His work! But this strange Republican-Evangelical love-in freak show has me bothered – really bothered.

Being a Christian means something, I mean, just on the word-usage level. When you say you’re a Christian to someone who doesn’t know you, it carries a certain kind of shorthand statement about you to that person, based on what the word “Christian” means to them.

I don’t know what to call myself since the 2004 election here in the USA. I mean – those Bush Christians, and now a even worse mutation, Palin Christians, don’t resemble anything like Christianity that resembles Jesus’ teachings. Hate your neighbor, attack first, lie, take advantage of the most vulnerable in society – not your grandfather’s Christianity…

And more of the same has the Evangelical Right Wing going crazy? This is Christianity to them? I’m really confused… or they are.

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