LOVED every frozen vowel and ice-covered consonant of it!!!

i want the full richard nixon. what say you mag?

It is hard to see anything he has done that warrants a pardon. The most that could be said against him, with any basis in evidence, is that he went absent without leave, and with no intent to be gone for more than a few hours. A pardon presupposes someone has committed a crime, and either been already convicted or, in the sort of pre-emptive immunity granted Nixon under title of pardon, is known to have committed crimes he is sure to be convicted of if brought to court.

i think he was not at all sure it was really nixon's crime, and that impeachment would have been the punishment any rate. i dont know this for fact, just surmising, but
at any rate, i think the notion was that he had suffered enough punishment by losing his office.

so why drag people through a hollow blood ritual? that was ford's thinking, and mine.

of course, i suppose the young man could, at a later point, refuse the pardon and contest his innocence. but there are other way to clear one's name in the court of public opinion.
he could hire ollie north to represent him, for example.

sometimes the best thing is just to slam the lid down on this kind of shit.

I was at the time, and for a long time since, of the view that Ford's action was the best course, but over the last few yers have come to question it. A conviction for obstruction of justice tallied up against Nixon might have prevented some of the excesses of the modern right.

I would have no objection to a Presidential pardon being given the young man, and would certainly consider any prosecution of him a miscarriage of justice regardless of outcome. I do not expect a military investigation of the circumstances of his capture will result in charges. I would point out that, for the vile scum howling for the young man's blood, a pardon would only be an excuse for further bayings, and serve as proof both of his actual criminality and of the President's complicity in same, on a cosmic scale....

and barbarian Fox News, because that is one fine human being you have there, and the parents of
Bergdahl are similar people.

If the RW want to play political football with this, Obama may well choose to have them please proceed, because the vast majority of American see through this attempt to destroy another foundation of American exceptionally that actually exists, leave no man behind is well understood.

despite all the lies and fearmongering, rumors accusations innuendos and insults
courtesy of the million minion march every day on Fox News & elsewhere,
courtesy of their great god: Fear Itself.
People want to know this is a good boy, and a good family,
and a good president. More do than don't, and that's the truth.

Oh loving and compassionate Dog, please save us,
one warmhearted moment at a time.

Those monsters couldn't get to President Obama directly, so they hanged Sgt Bergdahl and his family instead.

The only thing missing from her condemnation is the media. They brought the rope.

the usage of the term "lynching" in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

Why does a person being an asshole automatically assign them the title of non-believer?

Or if you prefer, the sort of God Jesus purportedly
introduced us to: merciful, generous, forgiving.

Or do I believe in a God who would act and think
exactly like I would, if I were It?
Mean, judgemental, selfish, punitive?
Lazy sloppy indifferent, ignorant?

I suppose people may believe, but in What? Seriously.
Many believe in Fear, and call it God.

but I didnt read it that way. I read it as they don't live by their beliefs. I didnt read it as a shot in my direction

The question is binary: people either believe in a god, or they lack a belief in god. Being an asshole or not-an-asshole is also binary. That gives us four potential conditions:
1. An asshole who believes in god.
2. An asshole who doesn't believe in god.
3. Not-an-asshole who believes in god.
4. Not-an-asshole who doesn't believe in god.

The writer says:

fucking PATENT on "Belief in THE Supreme Being, Who IS a Christian, But We Will Let Select Jews in the Club Too--but Muslims? ONLY for photo ops!!!" No other party knows a thing about it--in fact, they must be accused, on a regular basis, of being "godless" or "heathens" -- like it's a bad thing, to rile their base.

Heavy for the irony-impaired or anyone who doesn't see the nuance of my comments.

hypocrisy. Their beliefs are words only.

Only care about gaining power and don't care what they have to do or how low they must sink. If they think it is going to help them they will say/do it.

A good friend knows him. She told me this the other day:

I've talked with Bowe--he used to cruise by the library often to study or check out books. X knew him well--he was a friend of her son's, they used to do SCA* tournaments together, mock fighting. And yeah, a ton of irony there. We all didn't feel good about his enlisting--he was too starry eyed about some things, too … strongly ethical, without any leavening. He was bright, philosophical, creative, curious, but he was not…canny.

There was more than a touch of the old Victorian romantic adventurer in his attitude--highly optimistic, but totally clueless. And just as tragic. (I do not know, but I would not be surprised to hear he had read Richard Burton travelogues.)

And fuck the Brothers K and Faux driven media attackers and vicious idiots. I want him back home and out of the line of fire of the war and the crap fake for-hire journalists.


*Society for Creative Anachronism, I assume

if this family never agreed to be interviewed on TV. But if, after awhile they did want to get their story out, please, please let an authentic journalist sit with them. Who might that be? Someone who wouldn't put words in their mouths, or interrupt or have his or her own agenda. Someone who would actually talk minimally. In our whacked out media, I can think of NO ONE.

There is a way to deal with corporate media -- stop watching it, urge others to stop watching it and turn to the alternatives.

He went on at length in his sermon about why this is most UN-Christian behavior, and ended each theological point with, "For shame! For shame!".

I believe the great silent majority of our own time
is not stupid, is not fooled by Fox news, has a
conscience.

If they HAVE TO get political - they should rail against this kind of sin. And that's what it is. It's a sin.

On the other hand, if one is ever uncertain about how to react to various stories in the news, and wants to do the genuinely right and proper and decent and noble thing, it's become a very reliable strategy by now to check out what the GOP/POX/wrong wing/bagger machinery says. And then do and speak the exact opposite!

Now THAT is righteous wrath!

Many thanks for bringing it here!

I want to know who foot the bill for this crap. I have a couple of ideas, but it's just speculation on my part.

However, this entire smear campaign was orchestrated. There can be no doubt about that. Too many Republican politicians and right wing pundits shifted into high gear with red herrings about Mr. Bergdahl's beard and outright falsehoods about how exchanging prisoners when a war winds down is "unprecedented." Even Republican politicians decent enough to put up yellow ribbons for SGT Bergdahl must have had whiplash at the speed which they changed direction and covered any tracks of even showing that they were civilized human beings. And they did it on cue, all within hours of each other.

There is something wrong with the Republican Party that this kind of nonsense has become so expected of them.

Who's funding this? Who's behind this? Who's putting all the words into the various mouths that take it to TV and cable and radio? Who's massaging and shaping and framing and pushing this angle? Who's been coordinating it? The same people who did the Brooks Brothers Riot in Florida in 2000? They sure did jump on it, didn't they?

I don't know what you've heard, but I'm not inclined to believe it. Whoever funded it made sure the A team was sent in to do it.

James O'Keefe is a juvenile delinquent that some might think about, but he's an amateur. If they asked him to do it, he would have wasted his time trying to get the Bergdahl family on tape so he could edit their words into something seditious.

This thing had elements of the Swift Boat Liars for Truth from 2004 and the government shutdown from last Fall. For good measure, there was a dash of the Valerie Plame outing. People like that, although not necessarily the same ones, are the people they should be looking at. Get ready to follow the money.

ALWAYS a good idea! It could certainly be simple rumor-mongering. I've done so much reading about this story that I can't remember where I saw this, but I remember john bolton being mentioned. There was a second name with it, another of the legions of usual suspects, but I don't remember that one.

I regret to say it wouldn't surprise me to hear this had been "helped along" by fill-in-the-blank-here GOPer. ANY of 'em. Lots of 'em. Dating back to Watergate and the nixon White House "Plumbers" and scheming political nogoodnik donald segretti and a host of other sneaky-ass trouble-makers, dirty tricksters, and would-be political assassins. From what I've observed over the decades, that side of the aisle seems characteristically to be a devious lot. They developed and shared a lot of political black arts. It is encouraged and even taught within their circles. Started in earnest, in the modern era, with then-RNC chairman lee atwater, during the waning days of reagan and then george h w bush. Lovelies like kkkarl rove learned from lee atwater. rove had already learned a lot of it during his younger days as a member of the infamous "College Republicans."

lee atwater finally owned up to doing some tremendously shitty things. Dare I suggest his conscience must have been bothering him? He did make a deathbed confession to ghwb's Dem opponent, Michael Dukakis, and apologized for the ruin he caused Dukakis over the flatly racist and hideous Willie Horton ads he (atwater) originated. Felt compelled to ask Dukakis to come over so he could apologize to him personally. He was dying of brain cancer at the time. Remarkable occurrence, that one. Somebody evidently felt a rather time-sensitive need to try to make amends.

I would NOT be surprised. I heard several MSNBC hosts speak of it late last week, so it apparently started getting out that the GOP was pushing this swift boating strategy and actively coordinating and manipulating its spread across the American media.

special forces dying in a failed rescue attempt...and a plan for Bergdahl coming home safely. In the first scenario, it would be "why did Obama abandon this soldier?", the second would have been "Jimmy Carter Failed Hostage Rescue OMG!!" and the third, as we see, is "BERGDAHL'S A MUZZIE TRAITOR WHO KILLED MEN AND THE TALIBAN WILL GET US!" I found it interesting, reading right-wing blogs such as Hot Air when Bergdahl's release was announced, that some of the posters initially expressed happiness over Bergdahl's release, but it quickly became clear that they weren't supposed to be happy. Same with the Congresscritters who initially expressed happiness and then deleted their messages. It's fascinating to watch the message spread and evolve among Repubs, and to see them respond like zombie sheep.

I am so sick of these pious, greater than thou Christians spewing arrogant, sinful and slanderous comments against Bowe to show the world they are SO much better than that scoundrel and his parents. Shame on them and their egos.

In mentally reviewing their actions over the last 5-6 years, I think many of them have broken just about all the normal Christian commandments and rules of civility/compassion. All because the POTUS is black.

Incredible.

but grab a Bible and Cross to fool the easily fooled into being their little unthinking dittohead footsoldiers.

can not allow a sick segment of our population to claim ownership of our dreams. imho

about bowe. what soldiers face when there, and then once home is bad enough, even under the best circumstances.

but this? i do worry this might drive him to take his own life at some point.

and do you even think for a second even this would shame them? after sandy hook?

the republican party is devoid of a soul. they are hallow, horrible, deserving of hellfire, nothing more, nothing less.

Glad you're here! You make a good point. This kid is in danger. What's to keep some nut-gunner from trying to seek some cockeyed incomprehensible do-it-yourself vigilante justice? I don't have a lot of faith in my fellow Americans in cases like this. I see how too many of them vote.

Thanks for the thread, DonViejo.

Recommended. Thank you for this.

doing the kicking was driving.

He was pissed off, and I mean spit-slinging, red-eyed rage, pissed off - because I was telling him all the good things about my union and how Democrats help people instead of corporations.

Do folks actually think that Republicans believe in Jesus? Collectively, they do not espouse one single idea that would make Jesus happy.

Deborah Weiss!

Calvinists also don't think they can mitigate their sins by dishing up soup.

Ayn Rand: "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me?"

She packs a hell of a punch in her finely honed prose. Righteous outrage, beautifully expressed.

Wonderful and intelligent comment! And as a Presbyterian, I totally get what s/he says about this family, and I totally agree.

More people are starting to speak up against the status quo. As they do the other side, the religious hypocrites, the ignorant authoritarians are starting to get more hostile. I am hoping Democrats will take the House and retain the Senate. But they need to be progressive, not the Republicans that call themselves Democrats.

She's an excellent social commentator and sister of one of my good friends. If you're ever in Chicago, she gives oral commentary in a funnier vein at the Green Mill bar on Saturday afternoons, at a free show called the Paper Machete show, 3pm - 5pm. It's a "weekly magazine" variety show, fast-paced killer satire on current events not covered by MSM, complete with muppets and live music, and is the best running show in Chicago.

Yes, I'm shamelessly plugging.

eom

A Christian who believes and lives according to the NT is one of the least likely people you will bump into.
In fact, most of the people I run into who mirror those beliefs (Of sacrifice for the greater good, living by a higher moral code, acting in defense of the defenseless, protecting God's creation, praying in solitude, never appearing higher than the least among us, not killing people or hoarding gold and always giving the poorest the best seat in the house.) Are rarely of the Christian faith at all.

I'm really not sure what faith many of these people are even practicing at this point. It's not Satanism. It's Anti-Christian. For it seems every action they take from the moment they wake is one of selfish, ignorant destruction of all those values.
From clocking at in at some monolithic, planet consuming, people exploiting corporation or joining up with the killing spree against the poorest of the world, spewing venom at everyone who comes within earshot, judging people not through personal knowledge but through a distorted spectrum of perpetual self delusion and loathing, building up only wealth for themselves and cutting me off and giving me the finger.
About the only time they do ascribe to some semblance of their faith is between the hours of 8-11am on Sundays, and most of the time, not even then.

All of the reasons for this, I know not. I recall reading about abandoned, unfired muskets on battlefields, Sgt. York grappling with being conscripted into service and going against his faith and mass refusals to obey the orders to kill only for the sake of profits and empire expansion. It feels like those days, those people, those moral codes, are long gone.
I feel like the only thing that has trickled down has been the morals & ethics of those who led us.
Now through following the examples of those in charge we have become a nation only for ourselves, only for today, only for money and those leading the charge today, just as yesterday, are those claiming to be most pious.

I hope the VILE McCain reads it.