Abraham Lincoln, Friend of the Working Man

by Nomad

Tea Party Candidate Ted Cruz Claims JFK Would be a Republican Today

by Nomad

Few can top Ted Cruz when it comes to bombast and misleading statements. And that's putting it mildly. However, his recent declaration on JFK was one of the biggest lies yet.

I am a little too jaded to roll my eyes every time I hear a politician say something ridiculous. We have all practically come to expect it. Gore Vidal pointed out that only by twisting words, warping the historical record and turning day into night is it possible to get some people to vote against their own interests. 

However, the other day I heard Ted Cruz declare that if John Kennedy were around today, he would be a Republican. In Massachusetts (of all places) he told a few hundred supporters"

JFK would be a Republican today. There is no room for John F. Kennedy in the modern Democratic Party.”

Cruz can get away with making statements like that because too many liberals and moderates are ignorant of history and too many on the Right are living in denial of facts. 

It's business as usual for Ted Cruz who is clearly an expert at disinformation. He has already demonstrated that when it comes to promoting Big Lies, the bigger, the better, However, attempting to convert John Kennedy into some kind of Reagan Republican is really asking the even most naive and ignorant voters to swallow a lot in one gulp.

Here's only one example- but an important one- in which Kennedy in no way resembles candidates like Cruz, or Huckabee or Santorum.

Molly Ivins: War-Mongering is Not an American Tradition

 by Nomad

The Little Spark of Celestial Fire

  by Nomad

Teddy Roosevelt and the Death Knell of the Republic

by Nomad

It often surprises me how clear-sighted so many of our leaders of the past seemed compared to the muddled-headed ideas of the present day. The fight against oligarchy and corporate-rigging of our political system did not begin with this generation. We have walked this way about a century ago. However, because of the general ignorance of our own history, we have been deprived of the wisdom and support of our elders. 

Between Fundamentalism and Tyranny

by Nomad

Quote of Ancient Roman Poet Martial Just as True Today

by Nomad

A cynical observation about economic inequality has been handed down to us from Ancient Imperial Rome. Here are the words- as true today as they were then- of the poet, Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis)

If you are a poor man now, Aemillanus, a poor man you will always be. Nowadays, riches are bestowed on no one but the rich.

Things really haven't changed much since mankind's boyhood days. At one point in Roman history, the state of politics became so corrupted that the position of emperor was actually auctioned off to the highest bidder.  We haven't gotten to that point yet. Or have we?

When it comes to the Congress, the problem is a more basic form of corruption. We can thank the Supreme Court for further opening the doors by its preposterous rulings giving corporations more and more influence in campaigns. Another quote by Martial should have given the esteemed justices pause for thought.

Whoever makes great presents, expects great presents in return.

Seeing From the Outside: A Quote by Gore Vidal

by Nomad

The Quote Game: Who on Earth Said That?

Like a game of "Pin the tail on the Donkey," the Quote Game pins the quote on the person. 

Time for a little game. An afternoon diversion. I have collected these quotes by the famous and the infamous and I realized that without more information, it's becoming harder and harder to know the difference.
Take your best shot. The answers are given at the end.

1. Today Christians ... stand at the head of [this country]... I pledge that I never will tie myself to parties who want to destroy Christianity .. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit ... We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theater, and in the press - in short, we want to burn out the *poison of immorality* which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of *liberal excess* during the past ... (few) years.

a. Newt Gingrich
b. Sarah Palin
c. Rick Santorum
d. Adolph Hitler
e. Jerry Falwell