Two days ago, Irregular Times blogger J. Clifford asked pointedly, “What’s the Point of the Foreign Policy Presidential Debate?”:
Barack Obama says he’s willing to start a war with Iran over issues related to the processing of materials generated in nuclear power plants. Mitt Romney says the same thing.
Barack Obama has promoted the idea that presidents of the United States have the right to start wars without the consent of Congress. Mitt Romney likes that idea too.
Barack Obama has increased the military budget over and over again. Mitt Romney supports increases in the military budget too.
Barack Obama supports the creation of more free trade agreements like NAFTA, despite their role in sending American jobs overseas. Mitt Romney has the same position.
Really, what’s the point of a foreign policy debate between Obama and Romney?
We could add to this list.
Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama support indefinite detention of people abducted by the United States government, with no provision for trial and no provision for full habeas corpus rights.
Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama support the expanded use of military drones to bomb villages in countries where we haven’t declared war, action that regularly kills peaceable men, women and children.
If Mitt Romney and Barack Obama agree on these major points of policy, what can you expect out of tonight’s foreign policy debate other than quibbles over symbolic issues and efforts to provoke gaffes? Why bother to watch the debate?
Here’s one reason to bother: tonight there’s an expanded debate beyond these two candidates, one you most likely haven’t heard about. At 9:00 pm Eastern Time, when Barack Obama and Mitt Romney start their two-person debate, Democracy Now! will start streaming an augmented debate that adds two more presidential candidates — Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson (who interestingly traded endorsements of and from Mitt Romney a decade ago). Every time Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have finished answering a debate question, Democracy Now! will pause the video of that debate and give Stein and Anderson each an opportunity to answer the question as well.
To find a real breadth of foreign policy possibilities, don’t just watch the official debate tonight. Watch the expanded and inclusive debate, streamed live at Democracy Now!.
Thomas Muthee Delivers Sermon: Why Sarah Palin for Higher Political Office?
September 24th, 2008 | Posted by Jim Cook in Election 2008 | Liberty | Politics | Religion | Republicans - (23 Comments)Yesterday we posted raw video and a transcript of the witch hunter Thomas Muthee explaining the religious agenda for Sarah Palin in politics.
Since the raw video is a bit long (and Muthee a bit long-winded), I’ve made a recut version highlighting the central themes of Muthee’s sermon and adding written commentary for emphasis. If you are concerned with issues of the separation of church and state generally and the mystery of Sarah Palin’s agenda particularly, I encourage you — please! — to share this video by e-mail or blog, along with the full transcript for those who need to know Muthee is not being taken out of context.
Here is that condensed, excerpted video:
In the video you can see that Thomas Muthee has moved on from a movement that hounded women out of town for the sin of creating supernatural car crashes. His new target: Sarah Palin.
On October 16, 2005, Thomas Muthee delivered a sermon at the Wasilla Assemblies of God, the subject of which was “Why Palin?” Why Elect Sarah Palin Governor of Alaska? Ignore for the moment that church electioneering is against federal tax law. Let’s focus on Thomas Muthee’s reasons to vote for Sarah Palin.
#1. Vote for Sarah Palin because she is one way for “God’s Kingdom” to “invade,” “infiltrate” and “influence” society.
#2. Vote for Sarah Palin to install the Christian God and the Ten Commandments in control of the Public Schools.
#3. Vote for Sarah Palin to combat and rebuke the forces of witchcraft.
#4. Vote for Sarah Palin to end the separation of church and state in the United States of America.
I have to admit I was at first concerned that discussion of the Thomas Muthee affair might be ill-advised since the U.S. Constitution nixes religious tests for public office. But then came the emergence of this video of Muthee’s sermon explaining the role of Palin’s candidacy in intertwining religious proselytization with political domination, along with Sarah Palin’s presence in the audience, and most of all her decision to come up on stage and take part in public prayer for Muthee’s vision to become reality. These make it clear to me that there is a substantive policy issue here, which is the tension between those who support the constitutional separation of church and state on the one hand, and those who foment for theocracy on the other hand.
Theocracy: Thomas Muthee spoke unmistakably in favor of it. Sarah Palin watched him advocate it in the audience. Then she took to the stage, Thomas Muthee laid hands on her, she bowed her head, and together they prayed for it.
Is that what YOU want for America?
christianity, commentary, education, excerpted, god, mccain-palin, muthee, palin, remix, Sarah Palin, schools, sermon, ten commandments, theocracy, thomas muthee, vice president, Video, wasilla, witchcraft