Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion

They say that the economic recession has ended. When they say that, they’re talking about the reality of wealthy investors on Wall Street.

In the rest of America, the recession continues. That fact is illustrated by the following graph, recently released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office:

This graph shows the rate of long term unemployment – people who have been looking for work, but unable to find any, for over 26 weeks. In the last half century, the long term unemployment rate hasn’t been anywhere close to where it is now – not even under the economic disaster America suffered when Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

Congressman Charlie Dent likes to adopt an anti-Europe posture when he’s talking in front of right wing voters in the 15th district of Pennsylvania. He frequently warns that Democrats are trying to lead America into a “European-style Welfare state”, adding the comment about Europe in order to cast Democrats as somehow unAmerican in character.

It turns out that Charles Dent has some rather strong European political connections himself, though. Just last Thursday, Congressman Dent had a special fundraising event arranged for him at 201 C Street, the home of an influential lobbyist. That lobbyist, David D. O’Brien, is the head of his own firm, which represents several European interests, including the embassies of European nations and Wartsila Defense, a company owned by a Scandinavian technology company.

Representative Dent may insult Europe with his words, but he’s happy to have cash slapped in his hand at parties arranged for him by the agents of European power elites.

Proof that prayer has no power to make concrete changes came from Episcopal priest Kurt Gerhard, who stood before the U.S. House of Representatives to hold an unconstitutional official government prayer worship ceremony. As part of this congressional worship, Gerhard called upon the powers of his deity to manipulate the minds of the members of Congress.

His mystical incantation:

“O Lord our God, creator and sustainer of all nations and people,

On this day, bless the Members of this House with anger at the injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that they can work for justice, freedom and peace.

Bless them with enough foolishness to believe that they can make a difference in the world so that they can do what others claim is impossible.

Bless them with the humility to know that they can be wrong so that they can respect the perspectives of others.

Bless them with frustration with the way things are so that they will be motivated to create new solutions.

Send Your Spirit of courage and understanding upon each Member of this 111th Congress so that they will hold fast that which is true and serve these United States of America with glory and honor.

We ask this all in Your Holy Name.

Amen.”

So, what happened? Were the members of Congress infused with new supernatural dedication toward doing their jobs?

No. After Kurt Gerhard’s prayer ceremony, members of Congress worked for about three minutes, and then went home. Gerhard’s prayer proved to be profoundly impotent.

“During the stifling hot summer of 1787 the framers of the Constitution were meeting at Independence Hall in Philadelphia…” So begins the U.S. Senate web site’s statement on Constitution Day. Yes, back in 1787, those legislators were hard at work on September 17.

So, how did America’s legislators honor that history of hard work? They took the day off.

Instead of working to uphold and defend the Constitution from the ongoing unconstitutional programs developed under George W. Bush, the House of Representatives went into recess – just four days after it had ended its summer recess. The Senate closed up shop, too.

What did all those senators and representatives do with their spare time? They used Constitution Day to go begging for money from corporate lobbyists.

I wish that Congressman Ted Poe had stopped to consider his words more carefully before he spoke this week in an angry speech denouncing Islam. Poe said of the Cordoba House, a Muslim community center with Christian, Jewish and Muslim worship spaces and a memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001:

“That piece of land in New York City took on a whole new meaning. Ground Zero is no longer just a location in New York. It is a symbol of America as powerful as the stars and stripes. It is hallowed ground of the victims who were victimized because of hate.”

A hallowed ground of hate? Is that really what Ted Poe wants to establish in New York City? Does he really mean to say that hate has the power to make ground religiously sacred?

Congressman Ted Poe is suggesting that we give terrorists the power to create religious shrines in the United States through their violent acts. I can’t think of a better way than that to encourage more terrorism in the future.