Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion

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.

Living on the border between civilization and the raw power of wilderness, it lowers its head against the prevailing wind and surges forward to meet its destiny. Some may call it prickly, but it doesn’t have the luxury of being soft and cuddly. It’s an endangered species, struggling for survival in a world that has forgotten how to care. Its silent path plunges in and out of the dark side. You have just crossed paths with the Hedgehog of Peril.

It’s not just a hedgehog. It’s an edgehog.

——

Because it is no stranger to peril, this Hedgehog Of Peril t-shirt helps to fund Kiva microloans to people living on the edge in developing countries. It’s also made in the USA, free of sweatshop labor.

The following voice, urging a pullout from Afghanistan next year, came from the U.S. Congress this week: “We’re wearing out our military. Madam Speaker, I hope the President will keep his word and have a timetable to get our troops out of Afghanistan.”

The voice was that of Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican.

In a hearing of the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment yesterday, Chairman Brian Baird declared that, “Whether the moratorium on drilling activities in the Gulf is lifted in 30 days or 30 years, we must accept that the hydrocarbon reserves in these fields will be produced someday.”

Why? Why must we accept that offshore drilling for oil in the riskiest deepwater environments is going to take place?

Don’t we have the freedom to choose another course? Is our government that much in the thrall of the oil industry that our leaders will accept no possibility of an end to deepwater offshore drilling?

Yesterday, on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Ted Poe said, “The Federal Government needs to get out of the way and let us continue safely to drill offshore and provide the energy needs of this country.”

Continue to drill offshore safely? How can something be continued if it hasn’t started yet?

Doesn’t Ted Poe get it? Offshore drilling has been proven to be deadly dangerous. It’s killed people. It’s killed one of America’s natural treasures. It’s killing the American economy.

Sorry, Representative Poe, but no, the government does not need to get out of the way of offshore drilling. The government needs to end offshore drilling.

Today, Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert blurted out the following statement about health care reform: “If you make 133 percent of the poverty level or less, under that wonderful bill, you’ll get forced into Medicaid, like it or not, even if you’ve got an employer who is willing to provide you health care. Oh, by the way, if you’re above 133 percent of the poverty level and you can’t afford the great health insurance policy that is dictated by this Zeus of a Congress and President, then bad news.”

A Zeus of a Congress? What is a Zeus of a Congress?

Is a Sergeant-At-Arms armed with a lightning bolt?

They call it progress. BP is capturing four times the amount of oil that it had claimed was actually leaking from the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling site, and still, huge amounts of oil are gushing out of the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, evading the best technological solution it has, a solution that took a month and a half to put into place.

Look at this, here, a photograph of the water next to the site where BP’s cap is in place. That’s from just a minute or two ago, and as you can see, the water is still a disgusting brown, filled with massive amounts of petroleum escaping into Gulf waters.

They’re saying we should feel good about this, but the way I see it, it’s same kind of progress as a skydiver with a malfunctioning parachute finding that he can reduce the speed of his fall a little bit by sticking out his arms.

No, BP, it’s not good enough.

Here at Irregular Times, we support progressive activism 100 percent, but we also believe that any activist worth their chants is able to enjoy a little laugh at themselves and their own intensity. So it is with one of the most earnest protest slogans of them all, “No Justice, No Peace!”

It was always a little bit off the mark, an excuse for behaving badly in response to others’ bad behavior, not a health way to move society forward. What would be a more healthy alternative?

Well… um… how about some vegetables?

No justice, no peas!

I have a feeling it may be kids who really pick this one up, given their dinner table struggles for justice, though apparently, it’s available in adult sizes too.

On July 16, 2008, Colorado’s Congressman Doug Lamborn declared that the United States had to allow more offshore drilling for oil. “We must lift the moratorium imposed by Congress on offshore drilling,” he said.

Last time I checked, Colorado didn’t have any offshore anything. I guess Representative Lamborn figured he didn’t have anything to lose, proposing that other states put their coasts in danger with the risky operation of offshore drilling for oil.

Now, for three weeks, the Gulf of Mexico has seen an oil spill raging after the oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded, killing eleven workers. So, what does Doug Lamborn have to say about offshore drilling now?

Funny thing – all of a sudden, Congressman Lamborn doesn’t have anything to say about offshore drilling any more. He’s gone completely quiet on the subject since the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon.

Postscript: Doug Lamborn is a Republican. So, what do the Colorado Democrats have to say in response to Lamborn’s craven silence?

Nothing. The Colorado Democrats aren’t even running a candidate against Lamborn this year. Thanks to their inaction, voters in Colorado’s 5th congressional district have the choice to vote for Doug Lamborn, or vote for nobody at all.