They can't back it up!

Here is an interesting and informative example of the mind of a neo-conservative, a conversation that I was party to very briefly.

The Conservative Hammer:
 If your life - in or out of politics - isn't grounded in the historical morality of the Bible, then you will become corrupt -- and this is EXACTLY what our politicians have become in the good ol' secular US of A
 
Don Rice:
 If you're consulting the alleged "historical morality" of the Bible, please tell us what is moral about the passages in Deuteronomy and Leviticus telling us to torture and kill our loved ones. And compare those passages to the Christ teachings on love, fair treatment, compassion and forgiveness of our fellow human beings.

The Conservative Hammer:
Don, you do not understand the Old Testament in historical context with the New Testament and God's wrath upon the idolators of ancient Israel prior to the advent of Christ, which cleansed believers of sin and ushered in a New Covenant based on Grace and not law.

The Conservative Hammer:
But thanks for cherry-picking the liberal's favorite scriptures... Well done.


I commented that "What you call "the liberal's favorite scriptures" is the Christ teachings."  I also suggested that if he/she doesn't accept this, then perhaps he/she needs to rethink the claim to be a follower of Christ.

I made a couple further comments. One stated that this person's claim that I can't use OT examples to oppose his/her position was not consistent with his own use of OT excerpts to bolster his/her position.  I stated that "...either the OT is valid to this discussion or it isn't.  You cant have it both ways."

The other politely asked him/her to not tell me I didn't understand the material, because he/she doesn't know me and doesn't know what I may or may not have studied.

When I came back later, I found my last three comments had been deleted.  So I wrote another comment:

"Fascinating. Like a typical neoconservative, rather than address the very valid statements I made concerning your position, you deleted my comments. And here I thought I might have actually found someone who resembles a real conservative who wasn't afraid of debate when facts may be inconvenient to your position. I guess I was wrong in my estimation."

When I tried to post it, I discovered that I had been blocked.

This happens often with people who put themselves forward as conservative intellectuals.  When they encounter opposition based on facts rather than supporting their beliefs, the run and hide.  And make no mistake, that is exactly what happened here.

I have no remedy for that frame of mentality.  I can only hope that such hypocrisy dies a swift death, so that we may get on with the task of improving life in these United States.

 © 2013 Donald C. Rice Jr.

Is it really about policies?

The sign posted by a Facebook friend of the conservative persuasion
said, "It's not the color of your skin but the content of your policies."

My response:

Oh, you mean like preventing a recession from becoming another Great
Depression? 

Preventing the end of the American auto industry?  Catching and
killing Osama bin Laden?

Sending SEALS to rescue Americans and others held hostage by
pirates? 

Or is it the refusal to give in to rightwing blackmail after trying
to compromise with them for three-plus years?
 
Or maybe it's the idea that every American is entitled to affordable
health care and health insurance.

Let's be real here for a minute.  The vast majority of Americans
have applauded many of the things Barack Obama has done or tried to
do.  Which of his policies do you disagree with?  And are you aware
that many of those are the same policies that Republicans were all
for when they were proposed by other Republicans?

Many say that this is proof that they hate a black man in the White
House.  I disagree.  It's proof that they hate a Democrat in the
White House.  It's proof that they no longer care about the will of
the people but cowtow to the will of their corporate masters donors. 
It's proof that their Party is on a fast downward spiral into moral
and ethical oblivion.

The supporting evidence?  Barack Obama has taken the same basic
tack as Bill Clinton: he's tried to push through ideas that Republicans
only talked about and said they support but did nothing to pass.  They
hate Obama for the same reason they hated President Clinton.  But
they're to cowardly to admit it, or to even admit the truth of why they
hate both men.

You want proof of racism?  Look deeper.  Put it all together.  No
other President has ever had to deal with the massive level of
disrespect, innuendo, accusation, prevarication and intentional
misrepresentation as has this President.  No other President has had
to deal with an absolute refusal to compromise from an entire
opposition party.  None other has ever had to even defend the fact
of his citizenship as a prerequisite for holding the office.  None
other has had to put up with a total refusal to accept evidence that
none of the accusations had any validity.

The tone of the claims against President Obama is telling.  Kenyan. 
Muslim.  Food stamp President.   Blatantly racist terminology and
images portraying him and his wife and children as monkeys,
watermelon eaters (I don't get this at all; who DOESN'T like
watermelon?), and more.
 
If all of that combined isn't enough to prove an overall tone of
racism toward this President; if you still, in spite of all of this,
don't see the racism, both blatant and covert, then perhaps you need
to take a good look at yourself.  It's as clear as day to anyone who
has half a brain.

This is not to say that all who oppose President Obama are racist. 
Indeed, there are some who honestly disagree with many of his
policies.  I, for one, am not happy with some of the things he's
done as President.  But nobody is going to be able to please
everyone, or to even please one other rational person all the
time.  So to those who claim to not be racist, I suggest you state
clearly exactly what it is you dislike, and why you dislike it,
especially if it's something you agreed with when someone else
proposed it.  Someone white, perhaps.

In other words, as the gamblers of old said, put up or shut up.

© 2013 Donald C. Rice Jr.

Family Sanctity

Family Sanctity
(This is a true story)



(Authors' note: No names are given here, in order
to protect the innocent from revenge actions by the System,
and to protect the guilty from violence by others.)

In an un-named small city in upstate New York, a
married couple with one son were planning their first
vacation together since they met. They were going to
Florida for two weeks, and the wife was going to meet
her in-laws for the first time.As they were scheduled
to arrive in Florida on the day of their 5th wedding
anniversary, the man had arranged a surprise. As the
family got off the train, the woman was going to be
presented with a bouquet of roses by a man singing
"Happy Anniversary."

This planned event never came to pass. Two weeks
before the start of their vacation, the man awoke in
the morning to find that his wife had died in the early
hours of the morning. She had been epileptic most of
her life (she was 31 years young), and had, according
to the autopsy report, had a seizure during which she
vomited, and she choked to death.Several months
later, the man was building a successful business,
when a worker at the day care center decided she
wanted to adopt the son. Knowing the man would
refuse, she called the State of New York Child
Abuse Hotline, and reported that the man had beaten
his son.  The case worker assigned to investigate the
complaint ordered the man to take his son to the
hospital to be examined. The man complied,
knowing the charge would be proven false.

Instead, the doctor, who was under contract with
the local Child Protective Services, claimed that
he found "significant bruising" on the childs'
back and buttocks, and the case worker wrote
in his case notes that he, the caseworker, had
taken pictures of this bruising.  After the boy
was taken into protective custody and placed
in foster care, all on the basis of this one case
workers' statements (even the Family Court judge
didn't see the pictures until nearly 3 years later),
the father asked to see the pictures, and was refused.

Instead, the case worker informed him that his son
had accused him of sex abuse (the boy had just turned
5 years old).To make a long story short, the father
enlisted the aid of another man he was introduced
to specifically to deal with this situation. The two
became fast friends, even to the point of considering
each other family. The Child Protection Service then
took that mans' children from him, making similar
sex abuse claims.

Together, the two men file a civil rights lawsuit in the
Federal District Court. The suit was dismissed only
because they could not figure out how to break the
"qualified imunity" of the child protective workers,
several of whom were by then involved in the case.
That "qualified immunity" assumes that the case
workers are only doing their jobs, unless concrete
evidence to the contrary is produced. However,
the suits' paper chase provided enough data in the
form of legal briefs, answers to causes, and case
notes, for the two men to request "fair hearings,"
that is, to have the case heard on a point by point
basis by an administrative law judge, and to bring
up clear evidence of false allegations in the family
court.  The evidence, including the pictures, showed
that there was no beating, no sex abuse.
NO ANYTHING! 

In this manner, the two men got their respective children
back. Most of the people involved on the side of "the
System" were either fired or transfered to different
jobs; one child protective supervisor wound up on the
lowest level of the Medicaid department.

But the laws have not changed significantly! 
This and other forms of systemic abuse still
occur on a regular basis! And not just in New
York, but thoughout the country! 
THIS MUST STOP!

 FAMILIES, BY DEFINITION, ARE SACRED!
THOSE WHO WOULD DESTROY THEM
MUST BE PUNISHED BY THE LAW!
   
Donald Charles Rice Jr.

 (If anyone has current information on
Child Protection laws in any state,
or on any current systemic abuse cases,
please email or PM me!)

© 2013 Donald C. Rice Jr.