Catholic Democrat

Nobody reads this anyway

2011-07-17T00:40:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry but I need to pray right now. I know I shouldn't get too personal on these sights, but nobody reads my crap anyway so let me diverge from my normal writing style and let me take this opportunity to talk to God. He is the only one that is listening anyway.

Dear God in heaven, life is sucking hard right now. I wrecked my car on Monday. I am driving a rental that I have to pay for myself, because it was not covered in my insurance. I have to go to court because it was technically my fault, though I simply cannot not understand why I did not see the car prior to my turning left. Plus I can't help but feel that my time on this planet is drawing to a close. My health sucks. I have a hard time walking because of fractured foot, and right now both my legs hurt.

However, I don't want to make it all about me. I look around me and it looks like our country is sucking pretty hard too. Maybe it is a good time to die. Republicans and Democrats appear to be too stupid to work out a deal on the budget. It seems to me that the Republicans are intent on screwing our economy and then turning around and blaming Obama for the total screw up. It is just sad. How can people be so stupid.

In the meantime I am watching the middle class get crushed, while the super rich get richer.

God when will you return? These people have forgotten you. They have forgotten that you want them help the poor. They have forgotten that you want us to treat strangers on our land like friends and neighbors. They have forgotten how to talk to each other. They have forgotten that you are a God of Love.

Please help me to do what I can, and please help me to stay alive. Have mercy on me oh Lord. Amen.

The Great Ted Kennedy Has Passed Away

2009-08-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

I am saddened to learn of the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. I remember shaking his hand when he visited Cheyenne, Wyoming while campaigning for President. I have always felt that he was a good man who tried to do what was good for the common man.

In the meantime I just came out of the hospital 2 days ago. I had major surgery on my left foot in hopes of eventually walking normally again. It is still a long way to recovery.

President Barack Obama!

2009-01-20T20:13:00.000-08:00

Hallelujah! I am a happy man. It is tempered only by the fact that today I also found out that I now suffer from charcot's arthropathy, and I have several fracture's in my left foot. No dancing for me.

Congratulations to President-elect Obama

2008-11-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama! I feel like our long national nightmare is almost over! God Help us! When Bush was declared the victor in 2004 I wondered if this country would survive, and I feel it almost did not. I think we can thank God for a few cabinet members who had a little bit of common sense: viz., Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I am not normally a big fan Ms. Rice, but from all that I heard she was one of a few top level people who actually spoke against invading Iran. I mean to say that if the President had listened to “the Dark Side” and actually invaded Iran (which I worry he still might do), I think Ms. Rice and Mr. Gates would back him up because they get paid to do things like that. Nevertheless, it appears that they were among the calmer heads that prevailed in the Bush administration. Only time will tell if this was true.

Now Obama is preparing to start his administration, and I can hardly wait. I feel like I am alive again. I just feel like I have been numb for eight long years, just trying to brace myself for the worse of all possible outcomes – and they almost came about. The stock market crash was only the latest disaster thrust upon our country by this administration. Just off the top of my head I can think of some other disasters: September 11^th, Katrina, Going to Iraq on faulty intelligence, Torture and rendition, War Profiteering, Destruction of our Environment, Mass Cronyism, Nuclear Proliferation, Sending Soldiers to war without proper equipment, Stretching our Defense beyond, Incredible Job Losses, and Mass Bankruptcy and Home Foreclosures throughout the country. It is a sad, sad state of affairs.

My oldest son, I am sure, voted for McCain. He is a one issue kind of guy. His issue: Abortion. As a Catholic, I can appreciate that idea, but I feel it is misguided. The Republicans have never, in my opinion, had any intention of doing anything about abortion. For them it is an issue they use to bilk people out of money and provide false hopes. If the Republicans were to outlaw abortion, they know that they would be killing off their golden-egg-laying goose. It is one of two issues they use to promote the idea that the Republicans are where true Christians belong. When in fact they have perverted the idea of what it means to be Christian.

If you hate abortions and gay people, and this is your way of expressing your Christian beliefs, all you have succeeded in doing is defining Christianity as a religion of hate. God is Love people. If you are looking for the God of Hate you are definitely in the wrong ball park.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t like abortions, and I am not a gay advocate. Quite honestly, I can get uncomfortable around gay people. However, as Americans, if we discriminate against one group, you open the door for discrimination of all other groups. As for abortions, even if you outlawed abortions it would not stop abortions. Women are going to get abortions if they really feel the need to get abortions whether we like it or not. If you outlaw abortions, you will only succeed in getting women to have abortions through the black market and that will only increase death and misery. Quite honestly I can’t help but believe that the real reason Republicans want to outlaw abortions is because they hate paying for anyone to get any kind of medical procedure on what they perceive to be their dime. I believe the Republican attitude is that they would like to get rid of taxes all together, and as long as they are doing fine – everyone else can go to hell. Of course if THEY need a bail out, all of a sudden they are all in favor of government intervention.

As much as we might want a "Christian Nation" we should understand that we live under a constitutional representative form of government, and we must learn to work within that government - not control it. Mixing government and religion perverts both institutions. At the very least we should be working to minimize abortions to their very minimum, and that can be done in a Democratic administration.

One Web Day

2008-08-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

RIP - Tim Russert

2008-06-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

To a fellow Catholic Democrat. God Bless Tim Russert. He had a very exciting fulfilling life. I enjoyed watching him Meet the Press. Unfortunately his life was too short. He died Friday at the age of 58 of a heart attack. God be with his family in their time of sorrow.

My Clinton Prediction

2008-06-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

I realize that this may sound stupid to some but I am going to predict (based on McCain's speech today and the way Clinton is not willing to concede to Obama), that she will eventually accept the Vice Presidency with McCain. She still wants to defeat Obama. There. I said it.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

2008-01-21T13:20:00.000-08:00

I was listening to crooksandliars.com today and they a copy of one of Dr. Martin Luther King's speeches. My God I was moved! It really made me feel that America made him a martyr, and his blood still cries out for justice, and his voice is still relevant to where America stands today. It was like he was trying to warn us of where we were going wrong. He was trying to help all of America, and America killed him. He was a prophet of God for our country, and like many prophets of the world we rejected him. His speech brought tears to my eyes and I ached all over, I hope you take time to listen to him too.

New Year

2008-01-01T22:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday around 10:30 PM CST my sister-in-law tried to get her son into the hospital in Midland, TX. They were using my insurance to get him in to the hospital, because he is covered from him living with me for most of the year. However they were rebuffed and told to go home by the hospital staff. I cannot help but feel that it was because the boy's mother does not speak English fluently. Bigotry in America is becoming something terrible.

Well my wife called (from where we live in a different state) and got it straightened out, but she had to get the baby seen by somebody who had actually talked to her. When the doctor finally saw the baby they recognized that the baby had pneumonia. So I guess it was pretty important that the baby was seen right away!

What a way to begin the new year! Bigotry. Apparently this happened at the "West Campus" of Midland Memorial. They had to go to the Main Campus of Midland Memorial to be treated properly. This really ticks me off.

2007-09-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

The poem was inspired by a program I saw on PBS

http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/news/20050824_hispanicheritage2005.html

By Captcoyote:

Taco Poets

A taco,
Is what I need.
A poem,
A jalapeño seed.
Inside of my taco
Burning my soul
Making me wish
Making me whole.
As I feed myself
I feed my mind.
It makes me see
The world is blind.
Like a bunch of sheep
They follow the herd
Over the cliff
With barely a word
I must stand up
I must speak out
Oh Fox Noise
To you I shout.
You promote the war
And you repeat every lie,
It is our children you send
To Middle East to die.
While the rich make profits
Corrupt to the core
Your children too rich
To die in this war.
The war is good
The war is right,
As long your children
Can sleep in comfort tonight.
To hell with the spiks,
The niggers and the fags,
We’ll get rich as they
Fill our body bags.
The war is for oil
As Greenspan has said,
So fill up the graveyards,
With all of our dead.

2007-08-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

I am going to try and revive this blog. (Not that it was ever living anyway, but I see the value in keeping a blog.) Initially I wanted this to be a place where a Catholic could provide some religious and political commentary. To be honest, however, I get depressed when I read what is going on in the world today. It is little wonder that people in America have lost interest in voting. Things are so bad; you almost don’t want to look anymore. People may not be able to keep their eyes off an oncoming train wreck, but once it happens, you have to deal with all the destruction and death, gore and blood, the injured and crying. It makes you sick and you just can’t watch anymore. Yet there is also the obligation of having to help when you are a witness to a tragedy. Like the mine disaster in Utah however, this can lead to even greater tragedy.

Well, I’m rambling but that is what I get for not blogging. There is so many things going through my head that I bounce from one subject to another. I am sorry.

Speaking of the mine disaster in Utah however, it is all part of the frustration I feel. It seems like senseless dying. Why did it happen? Partly because the mine owner was fighting various safety precautions, i.e., corporate greed in America; partly because the president puts people who are actually fighting the programs that help protect the public. And is anyone reporting this? No because America no longer has a “free press”. The corporate media, which is owned by a small handful, is pro-business/pro-Republican/pro-administration, so it avoids criticizing the current administration. The mine disaster has been going on for 11 days and Keith Obermann is the first newscasters to question safety at the Utah Mine.

I realize that huffingtonpost.com is my only source for the articles above but like I said, it is difficult to find true investigative reporting anymore. I remember when I was a boy and how I was taught the importance of having a free press. I was told that in Russia , the citizens were only allowed to read the state newspaper, and they were given state run news on television. I felt sorry for them. I almost wished I could somehow shout to them and tell them that they were being brain washed. Now I realize that in America we have a similar problem, rather than a state run media we have corporate run media. Since Republicans support corporations, they are treated with kid gloves by the media. It is very sad.

Anyway, it is my intention to start writing more. I was thinking of doing a bit of bible study while at the same time looking at current events, and by this I mean doing the bible study in relation to what is happening now. I think some people might be surprised to hear a different perspective when it comes to the Bible.

Stop Summer Gas Price Gouging

2007-05-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Subject: Help stop summer gas price gouging
Hi,
Can you face another summer where a day trip to the lake or the beach costs you an arm and a leg? It's shaping up to be just that if we don't ask Congress to stand up to Big Oil now.But there is a bill in the House this week that could make gas price gouging a federal crime, so we don't pay more while the oil companies rake in record profits. I signed a petition to urge my representative to pass this bill this week -- can you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/

Thanks!

Poem: Working Two Jobs

2006-08-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

In exhaustion I close my eyes,
Or rather they close for me.
Trapped within my own mind,
My brain is its own worst enemy.

For the sake of my livelihood
I must remain alert and conscience.
Yet my brain plays tricks on me,
With misty dreams of nonsense.

It brings my loved one to me
She kisses me on the lips with caress.
Everything seems so good to me,
‘Til my head jerks down in excess.

I look around and I hope I’m safe
I breathe in deep my own deception.
Squaring my shoulders I start my task,
While my mind spins in another direction.

Working two jobs I am at the other,
Still my youth is not something I could save.
Yet life demands that I do what I can
While not losing what little I already have.

In my dreams I am working both jobs,
Doing them both at the same time.
No, it is three jobs I do, as I work
To rest my mind in a peaceful bending rhyme.

They swerve together bending and twisting
Like twine becoming rope, a beautiful braid.
You turn one end, while I twist the other.
Are these the dreams for which I am paid?

Wake up you sluggard and fulfill your job!
Others you love depend on your employ.
Pity those who in debt struggle with less.
Who may never see or taste the fruits of joy.

The rich get richer and piss down on us,
They laugh and sing and dance on our devastation.
They take what little that was given to the poor,
While the middle class is also set for destruction.

Memorial Day

2006-05-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

The readings for Monday, Memorial Day, May 29, 2006 is: Acts 19:1-8; Psalm 68:2-7, and John 16:29-33. And John’s Gospel reads as follows:

Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God."

"You believe at last!" Jesus answered. "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

While in Mass today they announced that my church would have a Memorial Day mass tomorrow at 9 AM. I don’t ever remember going to a Memorial Day mass. Somehow this year it seems very appropriate. Both my father and father-in-law have passed away. Both were men who had served this country in the military during World War II. My father was in the Navy, and my father-in-law was in the Army. I never heard if my father earned any medals because, like most men who served in World War II, he did not talk about it very much. My father-in-law, however, earned both a purple heart and a bronze star with clusters. My father-in-law was a lead scout for a tank brigade in the Philippines and he was hit with a hand grenade.
My father-in-law had a big bump on his left under his left forearm. Fifty years after the war, my father-in-law asked that the Veterans Hospital remove the bump. The hospital found another piece of shrapnel from the hand grenade in the bump. Apparently his body had formed a large blood clot to protect his body from the lead poisoning. Needless to say he kept the shrapnel in a cup, and showed it to everyone saying “Made in Japan.”

From what I have read, minorities were never treated well in the Navy, and maybe that is why my father never spoke about his time in the Navy. The closest thing to telling me about his time in the Navy was when he drove me to California to attend Seminary. I had already spent four years in Massachusetts, and he was somewhat incredulous that I was considering another period of time in school away from home. Finally, when we were alone, he asked me “Don’t you ever get lonely?” I was surprised by his question and told that of course I get lonely at times, but that I just tried not to think about it. He responded that when he was in the Navy he used to get very lonely. Then he repeated it with tears in his eyes as he remembered his feelings. His lips seemed to shudder as he said, “I was soo, lonely!” It really jolted me. My father was not a man who wore his feelings on his sleeve. Like most Mexican-Americans, there was an idea that men had to be “macho.”

His sentiment stayed with me at seminary, and as a result I became very lonely. After my first year, I left became engaged, got married, and never returned to seminary again.
This memorial day I think about my two fathers. I miss them so much.

I also think about all the men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. I feel that Afghanistan was justified. We should be doing everything we can to get Osama Bin Laden. He was the mastermind, we understand, who attacked the Twin Towers. Somehow, however, our President has sent us on a wild goose chase in Iraq. I feel that we went into that war under false pretense, and now we are stuck there. I feel we are wasting American lives for the whims for what is essentially corporate greed.

May God have mercy on the families who have lost loved ones to this war, and may God help us to find a way out.

Raising Two Sons

2006-04-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

I have two sons who have returned from a session with the Psychologist, which my wife arranged. My wife initially set up a slew of appointments with this psychologist for the entire family. My wife and I did not attend yesterday, because we had to work. My sons do not have jobs. One is 20 years old and the other is 25 years old. They are both living in my house. It appears to me that they returned from the session somewhat upset with me. I guess they discovered that they had anger issues as a result of my getting on their case at various times. My son was of the opinion that I did not think he was not “good enough” for me – even though I never used those words toward him. I said he felt this way because of the way I nag him about getting a job.

I guess I should also explain a little about myself. I am a Mexican-American, who grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. My mom was in Phoenix, Arizona, and my father was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was my grandparents who were born in Mexico and made their way to America to escape the trials of the Mexican revolution. I have since read some accounts* about the hardship Mexicans went through to escape the revolution and it sounds gruesome.

When I was small boy I remember growing up in a three room house. By three rooms I mean it had a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room/bedroom. My home was propped up on cement blocks, and you could see underneath the house to the other side. It was my understanding that this happened when the city of Phoenix decided to build a freeway in front of our home. Our home was initially located close to the street, but because of the freeway the city paid my parents to have our home moved further back from the street – for some type of safety reason. (What I could never understand is why other property owners did not have to do the same thing along my street.) As a result our water and gas was disconnected from our home, which I assume should have been paid for by the money the city gave my parents. My parents must have had other financial obligations, because I remember not having running water or gas in our home for years. We took our baths (once a week) in a tub under a tree in the front yard. My mom cooked on a kerosene stove (very dangerous when you think about it).

We also had an out house in the front yard. It was a “two-seater”. There was this big pit under the out house and we could shit and wipe and forget about it. If you know anything about outhouses you know that you don’t flush them. The bugs and larva that craw around down in the pit eat up the shit and kill the smell. If you through stuff down the hole and kill the bugs, the smell builds up, and it starts to stink. Of course you do try and keep the place as clean as possible otherwise. The problem in Phoenix is that – it is hot and as a result there are a lot of bugs. We especially had these cockroaches that were humongous! When you are a little kid they look like something that could just about it you. When you get older you learn to step on them, but it is never something you do with much enjoyment. They make a loud squishing sound, and they leave a mess with their guts hanging out of their shell.

I am the second son of four brothers. I grew up without a sister. My older brother is 4 and ½ years older than me. For the sake of anonymity I will refer to him as “Old Bear”. My younger brother is 1 ½ year younger than me, and I will from hereon refer to him as “Lone Wolf”. My youngest brother is seven years younger than myself. Let’s call him “Rude Dog.” I refer to myself as “captcoyote”

My father was a laborer at an old aluminum factory in Phoenix. My mother was essentially a housewife, but she would find ways of making a little money here and there. Generally she would hire herself out to clean houses.

Eventually my father did connect water and electricity to the house after a few years. He also built, with his own hands, an extra room to the house. He later also built a large room in the backyard, in which I think he planned to keep his tools, but my older brother eventually turned it into his private room. Every room in the house had one electrical plug that came from the center light bulb in the middle of the room. From this plug my father would run an extension cord from which he would plug in a small black and white TV and the swamp cooler. I can’t remember all the things we had plugged into that extension cord but I do remember that it did have multiple sockets that were generally full. Considering that my father also smoked like a train, it is really amazing that the house never burnt down.

You would think that with the extra rooms my father built that things became more comfortable for us, but you would be wrong. Not long after my father built the extra room he was visited by his sister, who was married and had four children of her own. She had arrived from California and asked my father if they could share the home until her husband could find a job. She was married to some white guy who I guessed must have thought himself to be a hillbilly or something. He never went to look for work. They stayed in our home for about two years, until our families finally had a big argument and they left in a huff. My dad’s sister said that she was “dead to the family.”

My dad’s sister resurrected when my mother died. My mother died of liver cancer. (I would guess that she might have survived had she had a colonoscopy at the age of 50 like I did.) Still, for whatever reason, every time I see those cousins they give me a dirty look. I am not sure what I did to them during the time that they stayed at our house, but I guess it must have been bad. (It is a funny thing how we don’t remember the bad things we do.)

I went on to college in Massachusetts. I thought I was going to be a great politician, and maybe be president of the United States. (When Kennedy – a Catholic! – became president, it raised the hopes of all Catholics.) Unfortunately, I never knew that I was poor (because everybody seemed to be the same way I was where I was growing up), until I went to college. I went to one of those fancy “Ivy League” institutions, with lots of rich white kids. It was a real culture shock. I ended up “becoming a Christian”, which I think helped me to survive – but it screwed up my priorities and I changed my major to religion. Even though I graduated from college with a Cum Laude, I did not do as well as I had done in high school and grade school. I determined that part of the problem was: I had gone to schools which had not prepared me for college. So I determined that if I ever had children, I would not allow them to go to inner-city schools that assumed that my children were not going to college. That was my mistake.

I now understand that because I made the effort to live in “good white” neighborhoods, my children were exposed to wealthy white people who had children that could afford new cars every year. Their college is completely paid for by their parents. So needless to say, my children now hold it against me that I cannot afford to buy them nice cars, and pay for their time in college. If I had bought homes in poorer neighborhoods, I might have been able to afford a few vacations with my wife. I might have even been able to afford to pay into my sons colleges, had they actually made it that far after having been tempted by inner-city gangs, drugs, and punks. At least they might have appreciated the need to find and keep a job. Most kids going to inner-city schools (that I knew) wanted to work because that was the only way they could afford things.

Tom Delay Resigned - Hallelujah!

2006-04-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

This is enough to give me a religious experience! Praise God! I am so glad to see Tom Delay gone. Hopefully this is just the beginning. Hopefully more will fall before it is too late. The current administration is getting us further and further into debt. I sometimes worry if there will even be an America left by the time this administration finishes their term. Despite the fact that the run two of the three (and practically all three) branches of the government, slowly but surely their ranks are being taken away in corruption.

This is not to say that I honestly think that the Democrats can honestly do better, because the corporations of America now have too much power. The ultra rich have corrupted our government, and those in power are drunk with money they are wallowing in. The Iraq war has been used to enrich war profiteers and the oil companies. The Democrats may not do much better, and it is time that people started demanding that the constitution be changed to make it easier for third party candidates to get into office. We need an influx of new blood. We need people who really do care about our country, and are not there just to make themselves wealthy and drunk with power.

Recovering

2006-02-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

I am almost completely recovered from my operation which removed 1/3 of my lower intestines. I believe my diabetes has helped to slow recovery, plust the fact that I am fat. Which is reason to encourage everyone to remember to stay healthy. Now a days, children spend too much time playing on the computer, playing video games, or watching TV. Everyone needs to make time to take care of their health. I look back on my life and realize that this was my biggest mistake.

Still I thank God for my wife for encouraging me to have my colonoscopy in a timely basis, and saving me from a painful death. We recently celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary.

Colonoscopy

2005-11-26T21:43:00.000-08:00

On Monday, 21 Nov 2005, I went in for a colonoscopy because I turned 50 years old back in September. It is hard to say exactly what the results were because I will not get the pathology report till this coming Monday but, they found a “pre-cancerous growth in the first third of my lower intestine. I immediately went in for surgery and had that part of my intestine removed. I should get the final results Monday, but everyone was hopeful that I may have beat cancer.

My wife had insisted that I go, even though I was not thrilled by the idea. She ended up saving my life (along with all the doctors involved of course).

I am home now recovering, and it is not great but considering the alternative I guess I am glad I did it. So I would encourage anyone reading this – don’t avoid it. Schedule it. It may save your life too.

It is time for change

2005-11-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

Well I. (Scooter) Lewis Libby is indicted, and Karl Rove is still under investigation. Mr. Fitzgerald the special prosecutor is a fellow alumni of my college (Amherst). I have full faith that he will indict Karl Rove as well.

At the same time, the Republicans in congress are still doing everything they can to destroy the middle and lower classes of our society at the expense of the very rich. Despite the various tragedies that our country and endured (viz., Katrina, Rita, the increasing cost of the Iraq war, etc.), they insist on keeping their tax cuts for the rich, while cutting programs that help the poor.

Yet I can’t help but feel that I am turning a new life leaf in my life. I am finally taking a closer look at my own life and have decided to do some things to improve my health and personal wealth. I think that if I write them down, I will encourage myself to keep my commitment.

I intend to start slowly. I need to walk more often, to become more active and lose weight. I have figured a route, that can help me walk a mile or more. I am committing to walking this route three times a day before I come home from work. If I do this for one month, I will have already done a lot. However I suspect that one thing will lead to another.

The next thing I want to do is write a resume. I have a good job. However I want a second job teaching at night. I must commit to completing this resume by the end of next week.

The US continues to crumble

2005-08-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a heck of a long time since I posted anything. However I look around and things are pretty depressing. Gas prices are at an all time high. Thereby kicking up revenues for our oil and gas corporations (of which George W and TheDick Cheney are members). The Iraq war continues to change it goals and purpose in hopes that Georgie can claim "Mission Accomplished" at some point. It honestly feels like GW has every intention of heading us toward Armageddon before he leaves office. Why not? If I screwed things up this badly, I would want to burn down the house before I left so no one could find any evidence of my wrong doings.

A recent medical review of the President's health found that he is one of the healthiest presidents ever. However maybe that is not saying much about his mental health. Another article that is not getting as much publicity says that his staff is doing everything it can to hide his angry tirades.
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7267.shtml

Fortunately, though maybe too late, people are finally beginning to wake up. This morning reports are out that the presidents approval rating has dropped to 40%. Unfortunately we still have to endure over two more years of this torture. Our environment continues to get mutilated. Civil Rights are taken away. The middle class is destroyed. I would almost swear that Bush wants this to become another Mexico, and have us crossing the borders of China to work their unwanted jobs.

Crying in the Wilderness

2004-11-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

I am very depressed. John Kerry lost the election. Considering that hardly anyone reads this blog anyway, I feel it is relatively safe to express how I feel here.

I am sad for America. It really has brought me to tears. I am very concerned about the direction Mr. Bush is taking this country. I worry because it seems to me he has taken us into a war for which he had plans long before September 11th. I believe he is destroying our economy with the hopes of destroying social programs that help the poor. I believe he supports a racist agenda. I believe he is destroying our environment for the sake of capitalistic cronyism.

Yet what are Democrats to do? They are their weakest point politically. I feel that the Republicans not only control all branches of the government, I also think our country has essentially lost their “freedom of the press.” It seems the media is willing to look over many of the indiscretions this administration is guilty of committing.

I am sure many Democrats are already doing some deep introspection as to why we lost, and why we are losing. One of the major polls identified that “moral values” was a major factor for the way most people voted. That would seem to indicate that we are on the wrong side of what most people consider “moral values.” I believe part of the problem is that, Democrats try not to be offensive by not mixing God into their equations, while Republicans eagerly identify themselves as messengers of God.

Democrats seriously need to understand where they stand in their relationship with the Almighty. I refuse to believe that we cannot do this, simply because we are trying to keep atheist and agnostics happy. Even they have a concept of morality, and how the current administration practically endorses racism, capitalistic cronyism, destruction of the middle-class through lower wages, destruction of our environment, etc.

Ultimately we will need to find not only our message, but our messenger as well. When we rise up again, it will have to be with the forceful impact of a religious crusade. We will need some one who can open the eyes of the public at large to what Republicans are doing to the poor, to the environment, to the economy, to our military, to our world, and our moral values. It must be identified as sinful. All must recognize that it is time to redeem America from the direction that Republicans are taking this country before it is too late.

I recognize that the big moral issues that tend to turn most Christians are gay rights and abortion, and these are very important issues. Democrats are not only more tolerant of gays and abortions; it almost appears that they promote them. The abortion industry is perceived as a big industry that promotes Democratic candidates. Also there are a lot of wealthy gay people who help Democratic candidates. This may be a problem for Democrats, and it will be something for them to consider.

On the other hand, I also consider studies that show that abortions actually went down during the time that Clinton was in office, while they have gone up under the Bush administration. See: http://yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_14332.shtml . I am also concerned about the idea of selecting a particular group to treat as a pariah. Assuming we can ostracize all gay people who will be next? Blacks? Mexicans?

Well on this day, there is not much Democrats can do, except pick up the pieces and reconsider what to do next. God help us!

Catholics are sooo manipulated

2004-10-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons for my wanting a blog, is the frustration I deal with by having a son who has been, in my opinion, deceived by the conservative spin especially with regard to abortion. I agree that the abortion issue is very important. However there are so many issues we must deal with as Americans, this simply cannot be the only issue we should consider during a major election.

Recently the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 came out in DVD, and I have been meaning to watch it. My 24 year old son, who still lives with us and is attending college, has a problem with Michael Moore. In an effort to be polite, while we were at the video store, I asked him if he would not mind if I watched the video (in my own house!) without him making a scene. He said that it would be alright, as long as he was not around. (Oh Thank YOU so much!)

Well I watched the DVD and I found it very enlightening. I recommend everyone watch it. For the first time I feel that I finally understand why Bush turned his attention from the mass murderer who attacked us on 9/11 (viz., Osama Bin Laden), and focused the government's efforts to go after Saddam Hussein instead. It seems the Bush family has a very close connection with the Bin Laden family that goes back to his father's business. Of course there is more to this explanation, but I encourage you to watch the movie to make your own determination.

So now we are stuck with a president who is busy with nation building (which is something he used to criticize Clinton about); who is busy building the biggest deficit ever (when Republicans are supposed to be fiscally conservative); a president who wants a gay marriage amendment to the constitution (when it is already understood that states do not have to recognize gay marriages from other states). Why? Because Republicans have convinced these "single issue" people to side with them on things like abortion. It's maddening!

There is a good article that came out written by Theodore Roszak, which talks about this issue. It is called: "Where did the middle go? How polarized politics and a radical GOP have put a chill on measured debate". I will post a link to the site here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/10/10/RVG1T9289T1.DTL.

After watching the video, guess what happened? My son found some ridiculous reason to get into an argument with me. Personally I know its because he is pissed that I watched the DVD at all. What an idiot!

Kerry wins the first debate

2004-09-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

I watched the debate, listened the various spin masters, and news agencies give their summations, and it is pretty clear that Kerry won the first debate. I have honestly felt that Kerry has been badly portrayed as a flip-flopper by the Bush campaign. I am not sure that Kerry completely shook off that label. (Heck I am not sure that it even bothers him.) Still I thought Kerry was very effective.

One of the thoughts that I have been wondering about is: could Kerry actually be the man that helps us put some sanity into the whole abortion issue? I know that most pro-life people would probably say "NO" to that question, but I actually think there might be a possibility. I mean it took Nixon to open the doors to China. (Who would have ever thought that? Nixon actually working with communist? Nixon actually did a lot for affirmative action too.) Sometimes it takes a guy like Kerry to bring a little sanity to an issue that is primarily owned by the other team.

The reason I think Kerry might actually be helpful is because he is Catholic. I realize that his votes up to this point can be interpreted as being very pro-choice but I am willing to bet good money that Kerry would sign a bills that restrict abortions as long as they leave an opening for health of the mother. Can you imagine if the Republicans tried to work with Kerry on this issue, and Kerry came to some agreement with them? What would the Democrats be left with?

Oh well, the next debate is this Tuesday with Cheney and Edwards. That should be interesting. The evil mastermind behind the throne, and the Kerry's baby brother.

Sounds confusing

2004-09-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog. I am a 49 year old man who is still trying to catch up with the technological venues that our society is racing through. Still I feel I have a voice, maybe not all that unique, but one that I do not hear enough. I am a Catholic Democrat.

Right away this seems to cause some controversy. It seems that nowadays, most Catholics feel a lot of pressure to vote a certain way due to one peculiar teaching of the church: abortion. Due to this one issue, it seems most Catholics are being pushed to vote Republican. It is an important issue, but it is not the only one and it worries me when churches use "litmus test" to determine who is truly faithful and who is not.

Being Catholic is a lot more than just whether or not we feel abortions should be allowed or whether we want them to be abolished. I think most Catholics would agree that we would like to see them abolished, but it is not the only issue, nor is voting Republican the only means by which to stop abortions.

I think the Republican party has succeeded in giving many Catholics a type of tunnel vision. The fact of the matter is, neither party is consistant with Catholic teaching. By voting Republican we are also accepting the use of the death penalty as a form of capital punishment. By voting Republican we give up our desire to see that the least fortunate in our society are assisted to achieve a certain level of dignity economically. Voting Republican, lately seems to be a push for giving the greatest tax breaks for rich people.

There are so many scriptures to consider:

"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." Proverbs 14:31

"He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich-both come to poverty" Proverbs 22:16

"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet,"have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?" James 2: 1-7

So this blog is dedicated to understanding what it means to be both Democrat and Catholic.