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The Clintons Lost Control of the DNC: Hillary's Campaign is Over

Submitted by mark karlin on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 7:34am.

BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG
by Mark Karlin
Editor and Publisher

June 2, 2008

Last year Harold Ickes (a chief Clinton strategist), a member of the DNC Rules and By-Laws Committee that met on Saturday, voted to take away the delegates and superdelegates from Florida and Michigan if they moved up their primaries, which they did.

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A few years back, Terry McAuliffe -- Hillary Clinton's campaign manager this year -- was head of the DNC, appointed by Bill Clinton. At that time he read the riot act to Senator Carl Levin about his desire to move the Michigan Dem presidential primary up to challenge Iowa and New Hampshire. McAuliffe told Levin that if Michigan moved up its primary that they would lose their votes.

Fast forward and now Ickes and McAuliffe have taken positions 180 degrees opposite their former DNC positions. Now, they are saying that a great injustice was done to Senator Clinton on Saturday because the DNC adopted the compromise Florida and Michigan Democratic Party seating and voting plans for the two states. In short, the Democratic Party agreed with the states -- not with Hillary Clinton the candidate -- and resolved the contentious problem.

Although the resolutions on Florida and Michigan that occurred in a Washington Hotel room on Saturday -- unless Clinton decides to challenge the Democratic state parties of Florida and Michigan at the Credentials Committee in order to further ruin the presumptive nominee -- was somewhat eclipsed by the relatively meaningless Puerto Rico vote (residents of the island of Puerto Rico cannot vote in the general election; only Puerto Ricans living on the mainland can), the DNC Saturday meeting (there were two votes; with the Clinton campaign garnering only 8 of 30 committee members to support their electoral heist to strip Obama of the votes the state party deemed he was due in Michigan) was the final coup de grace for Clinton Inc. this year.

Yes, perhaps Senator Clinton's last stand with the likes of one demonstrator at the meeting who was escorted out, who claimed that if Obama got any votes in Michigan she would vote for McCain thus ensuring an overturn of Roe v. Wade, more pre-emptive war, and more tax cuts for the wealthy, wasn't fully understood by the mainstream press.

But this is what it meant in a nutshell: Clinton Inc. no longer can call the shots at the DNC, even in a committee that was headed by two former Bill Clinton administration officials, and a committee on which 13 of the 30 members were pledged Clinton delegates (Obama had 8 and the rest were undeclared at this time.)

It was the final blow to Clinton's presidential aspirations. The institutional vehicle for the legitimacy of Clinton Inc., the DNC, is now more interested in fairness and winning the November elections than the personal, mercurial professional aspirations of Senator Clinton and Bill Clinton.

What it comes down to is this. Delegates are the way an individual wins the Democratic nomination -- and there is virtually no way except for an act of God that Hillary Clinton can attain the requisite number to win (now there is a slightly higher threshold due to Saturday's decisions on Florida and Michigan).

So any continuation of the Clinton campaign after Obama obtains the new threshold delegate figure, which will happen probably by Thursday, if not earlier, will only serve to help McCain and hurt the prospects of the Democratic Party in November, from the presidential ticket down the line to senators, congressmen and congresswomen, governors, and state legislators.

There can only be one winner in a presidential nomination process.

No matter how much one candidate believes that the nomination belongs to him or her, there is a time to give up one's personal ambition for the good of the nation, for the good of the party, for the good of keeping Roe v. Wade the law of the land, for the good of economic justice, for the good of gender and minority equality, for the good of advancing a foreign policy based on international cooperation.

On Saturday, the race was over.

Clinton Inc. couldn't get away with changing the rules at the end of the game. Serious deliberation and fairness won out over entitlement at the DNC.

It was a courageous and just moment for the Democratic Party.

After the last two primaries are over on Tuesday, and after Obama meets the new threshold of delegates and becomes the presumptive nominee, if Clinton stays in the race it won't be about what's better for America or "choice" or economic justice; it will just be about the ego of Hillary Clinton and a desire to ruin the chances of the Democratic Party to win in November.

A lot of progressive principles are riding on her choice.

Perhaps she can finally find her true voice: ensuring the return of a just government to America by asserting her loyalty to the Democratic party, the progressive issues at stake for women, minorities, the poor, and the working class Americans in need.

To do this, she would have to douse the flame of her feelings of entitlement, her personal ambition, her battle cry of victimhood, and her feelings of hurt that her campaign was outsmarted by a junior senator from Illinois.

The choice is hers: what's best for the nation or what feels best for Hillary Clinton.

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The important point

Submitted by wgossett99 on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 9:21am.
I think that too many people are missing the point. We now have a Democratic nominee - Barack Obama. What now matters is getting him elected President. I supported Hillary but I am not going to be so stupid as to vote for a Repugnican out of spite. 8 years of incompetence and illegality must end.
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sign of the times

Submitted by Gregory Lynn Kruse on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 11:04am.
I wonder how many Buzzflash readers watched the rules committee meeting on CSPAN. Robert Wexler, an Obama supporter, made Harold Ickes, a Clinton promoter, look like a fool in front of the whole nation. We should all be glad that such a prick as Ickes will not be in as great a position of power in the democratic party as he would have been had Clinton won the nomination. The universe could now be made right if Hillary would run as McCain's vice president and revert to her Republican roots, and take Ickes with her.
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Absolutely right!

Submitted by Yman on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 1:39pm.

And while they're at it, take those 17+ million supporters with them on the way out!

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Hillary's Choice

Submitted by cagey on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 12:55pm.
I hope that what's best for the nation will eventually feel best for Hillary Clinton too, and that would be UNITY and her important role in a COALITION to fight for women, working Americans and minorities.
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How Many Times Have You Been Forced to Vote

Submitted by Citizen over 50 on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 12:24pm.
For someone you didn't want as the candidate for your party? I think it is hilarious that both parties, democratic and republican (and they both deserve no capital letters anymore), decided that to quell the rising unrest in the nation over the anger of being raped of our wealth; to have a two year election process so that we would focus on the future instead of pay attention to the current batch of back stabbing coming out of D.C. It seems it has backfired and ousted some of the smart folks in the party apparatuses. Finally, instead of having an election season full of puff pieces and hack commercials with the pace of an Indy Race; the nation has been given the time to ponder and talk to one another BEFORE the ballots were shoved under our noses. For the first time since the Kennedy assassination, the people believe they have had a say in WHO is the candidate. I think we should thank ourselves for that. We have begun to stand up for ourselves instead of looking for somebody who is a "leader" to do it for us. I don't have to mention what zombies or sheep the republican voters are. Stick a preacher next to their crook at the front of the room and they will vote for them. Put a flag pin on their label or an elephant on the coffee table, and the queues are there to win that vote. It's a club that says, "WE are not like you! We are better than YOU! We own America and you can go away and live somewhere else or relegate yourself to poverty and disdain!" Nice people. Well I, for one, am sick to death of them being in charge of my nation! The DNC has been leading Liberals around by the nose and kissing up to republicans for FAR FAR FAR TOO LONG. We are completely fed up with the betrayal of our party. It is not about the egos of the self anointed few, it's about the nation and it's people: who by CONTRACT own the government that has been sold to the corporations. Now that our treasury has been looted, our land has been despoiled, our education system has been destroyed from top to bottom, our medical arts have been destroyed, our institutions for public protection have been destroyed, our communications and our very airwaves have been stolen from us; can we now stand together and quit bickering about who is a republican and who is a democrat and just stand against the fascists? We can all see that there are jobs as far as you can see to rebuild the nation. Let's build a nation for the future: and let's get some ELECTRIC CARS! Hillary: You are gone. Barak? You better take note. We know you're a centrist. We are done with that. We want our NEW DEAL back. Now.
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Soviet Union?

Submitted by edpell@bestweb.net on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 11:34am.
Michigan had only one name on the ballot Clinton. I do not call that an election.
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Not exactly.

Submitted by vtjozef on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 11:39am.
It had uncommitted.
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And the Soviet Union had "No" on their Ballots, vtjozef

Submitted by drprodny on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 5:26pm.
for all the good it did....
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Bye, bye bitch

Submitted by GOPHater on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 11:19am.
Period.
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GOP Hater

Submitted by patcoghm on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 12:31pm.
Your words are also just WORDS, like your leader. Name calling is the prefered method used by the Obama supporters. They have troubles supporting Obama with facts as they don't exist. Google "The Curtain falls for Obama" and then lets discuss your untainted canadiate that is going to CHANGE the way we run the government. I hope its not like the way they do it in Chicago.
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Nice .........

Submitted by Yman on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 12:05pm.

Were you directing that at Sen. Clinton, or did your mother leave while you were posting?

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Spoken

Submitted by vtjozef on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 11:39am.
Spoken like a "progressive" democrat.
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Injustice against Clinton? How bout the Michigan Voters

Submitted by therookie on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 10:28am.
I don't undertsand why Hillary lit the Fires under Make Every Vote Count, when she should have just said, Make Every Hillary Vote Count! Why is this about Hillary anyway. It is about the Michigan vote. The Rules Committee, in trying to appease Clinton because of her famous scorch the earth tirades, made concessions, but had to consider all the voters whom they informed the vote would not count (me being one of those voters). Ickes keeps stating that isn't Hillary's fault. Who cares whose fault it is, the Rules Committee got bullied int to makig concessions and they are responsible to more people than Hillary Hillary Hillary. I didn't vote becuase (a) my candidate was not on the ballot (yes, Clinton supporters, I heard - that's not Hillary's fault!) and (b) my vote was not going to count anyway. As Ickes has explained it, the uncommitted votes go to Limbo, the write-ins were disqualified because some people didn't know how to cover themselves, and then, there's the believers, who just simply thought the vote wasn't going to count, and hey, they shouldn't be represented anyway, because for some dumb reason, they didn't vote - which isn't Hillary's fault.
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Yep - It was over on Saturday (For all Intents and Purposes)

Submitted by ERW on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 10:00am.
When 19 members of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee voted for the Michigan compromise proposed by Senator Levin, instead of caving in to the demands of Harold Ickes, and the Clinton campaign..... it was over. The torch has been passed from the Clinton generation of DLC, to the Obama generation of DNC. The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee did an outstanding job. They conducted their business in a professional and orderly way. Not as much can be said for some of the spectators, who were rude, crude, and just were obviously out of their depth, in a business meeting. It is ludicrous to hear 2008 Florida voters talk about "disenfranchisement." That term is applicable to the stolen 2000 election. But not now. The Governor of the State of Florida set a primary date, in violation of Democratic Party rules, and Democratic state legislators in Florida voted for it. All the while knowing they were in violation of what the State Party Chairs of 50 states had agreed upon for the timing of the 2008 election. Their remedy, in Florida, is to replace those Democratic legislators, and the Republican Governor who got them into the mess to begin with. Don't blame it on the DNC. They had a mess to clean up, and that's what they did. By Wednesday, we should have a nominee. It is my sincere hope, that those people who are, for the sake of revenge, going to vote for McCain will consider that they are further mortgaging the future of their grandchildren. That they will be voting for the possibility of those grandchildren fighting in endless wars. And, that if they have grandchildren that will become women, they are throwing away the rights of those women to control their own bodies. The next president of the United States will probably appoint at least two Supreme Court Justices. Think about it.
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Democrats responsible

Submitted by vtjozef on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 10:19am.
Just who confirmed the Bush admin's choices of supreme court justices? The Dems could have blocked any one of them, or all of them. Did they? No. Dems even gave a blessing to Alberto Gonzalez, and then Mukasey. So please, spare us. Obama is another candidate in a long string of politicians groomed and backed to be what the groomers and backers want him to be. The difference between him and other candidates is that he has no experience for the job of president. He is a candidate that expressed his acceptance of Jesus as being his "lord and savior". Wonderful. The president's commitment should be to the U.S. Constitution over everything, not to some mythical "lord". Obama a progressive? Sure he is.
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What, blaming the Democrats

Submitted by patcoghm on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 9:28pm.
The republicans controlled the Congress not the Democrats. Blame them and the conservative agenda. So again, it was the Democrats that changed the Supreme Court. Give us a break...... Ask your leader if he would have stopped it.
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Rambling...

Submitted by thefitconnection on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 11:48am.
...to nowhere. Your post made absolutely no sense, but, then again that makes sense. The Clinton faithful seem to be made up of people who left reason and logic behind long ago. Clinton is also a member of a church. So fucking what? What does that have to do with her or Obama's voting record and their plans for the future? Please try and craft a post that's readable and, at least, somewhat logical.
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it's not too late for Clinton

Submitted by Donnat on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 9:55am.
if she changes her tune, decides to be a real Democrat and throws her support behind Obama. We Dems like the Clintons too much to put them permanently out in the cold. But they need to play by the rules and act like adults. that's not too much to ask of intelligent, capable, sophisticated people like the Clintons Donnat
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Hillary's Campaign is Over

Submitted by Thebigkate on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 9:53am.
Hillary Clinton, please go now It's time to take your final bow! You can go by shoe or go by cow, But for our sakes, Hillary, please go now!!! (With apologies to Dr. Seuss)
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Clinton and Obama

Submitted by DStrinka on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 9:37am.
Dorothy Strinka We have been so disappointed with your pushing of Obama.
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I'm also disappointed, but thats how WE Democrats are.

Submitted by patcoghm on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 12:20pm.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_evelyn_p_080512_curtain_time_for_bar.htm.................... ....................................................................................................................................... Good reading for you Dorothy and those who still want to know the facts.
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Over?

Submitted by vtjozef on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 9:37am.
Like the main stream corporate media, BF, the "alternative" media declares the Democratic primary race over. Hah! You know, BF has the credentials to make it so, eh? Then BF declares regarding Hillary's choice that "A lot of progressive principles are riding on her choice." Just what might those be? As if either Hillary or Obama are progressive. Who are you kidding? Look at BF's vocabulary: "declaring loyalty to the Democratic Party". Ahah! The BF speaketh. Das appartchik sayeth so. Proof positive that BF is a front group for the Obama wing of the Democratic Party. I pledge allegiance to the Democratic Party of America one united party no matter what under duplicity indivisible with corporate backing for us all. Progressive principles have nothing to do with it. This is another example why a voice like Ralph Nader's is necessary, to call it like it is, and wake the intoxicated up from their addiction. BF is BS when it comes to progressive values. The so-called left is nothing but liberals who were part and parcel of creating the mess we are in, and who now present themselves as "progressive" having solutions. Sure they do. Just like Pelosi duped the nation and used the electorate that voted her and her ilk into office, Obama is doing exactly more of the same. May the Democratic Party like its flip side, the Republican Party, waft away from its own rotten stench. Run Ralph. Run!
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VIVA HOWARD DEAN AND BARACK OBAMA!

Submitted by hazmaq on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 9:14am.

Nationalism is not terrorism. And an adversary is not an enemy.

The two short sentences above have been my favorites since Bush came into office. Thanks to him the world's citizens rose up and threw off the chains of their regimes from one end of the earth to the other.

While we were civilized enough to stop just short of dragging Cheney and Bush out into the streets, we did use the tools of our Constitution and Rule of Law to find true justice -for all -in the end.

My deepest appreciations to the few members of Congress who stood up against the injustices, the bigotry and corruption that took over our government and our own Congress, for a short period in history: Rep. Conyers and Rep. Waxman, thank you!

And to Governor Howard Dean and Barack Obama, both who defied gravity and odds by prevailing over the Clinton/McAulife/Schumer/Emanuel machine of the past 16 years, we all owe you a huge thank you for not only rising the citizens of this country up out of it's slumber, but for playing above the belt and according to the rules while you did it!

That's Democracy at it's best - that's the spirit of true nationalism - that's a shining example the rest of the world can see, and the US can be proud of.

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Hazmaq - we would have been MUCH better off

Submitted by drprodny on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 5:30pm.
dragging Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Gonzalez et al out into the streets - with cattle prods. I hardly consider "Impeachment is off the table" Pelosi to be representing the people who voted her into office - do you?

Sometimes, an adversary is an enemy - and is demonstrably evil, and deserving of punishment. Selah.
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Clinton's victory party in

Submitted by ernieson on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 8:28am.
Clinton's victory party in San Juan drew a few hundred participants out of 400,000 while Obama's rally in Mitchell SD attracted 2000 out of a population of 15,000. Hmmmm- how will those numbers be spun?
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Is the party over. The jury is still out.

Submitted by patcoghm on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 12:02pm.
Pleae read and know who your going to put in the White House. The party is just beginning. Curtain Time For Barack Obama - Part I Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 4:24 pm http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00171.htm Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part II Wednesday, 14 May 2008, 11:43 am http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00185.htm Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part III Friday, 16 May 2008, 10:37 am http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00213.htm Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part IV Saturday, 17 May 2008, 10:50 am http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00222.htm Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part V Monday, 19 May 2008, 11:27 am http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00245.htm Final Chapter - Curtain Time for Barack Obama Saturday, 24 May 2008, 6:38 pm http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00325.htm
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Puh-leeze...it's curtains all right...

Submitted by deepseas on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 2:14pm.
...for Clinton and Evelyn Pringle who writes this garbage. Pringle is now putting her lies on scoop in NZ after astute Smirking Chimp (SC) viewers ran her out of town with her nonsense. Not only are these articles full of lies, but they are long, long, long, poorly written and trifling to get through. Don't waste your time. But if you must, visit SC for the full monty...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/search/node/evelyn+pringle

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Forget Evelyn Pringle

Submitted by patcoghm on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 8:47pm.
Forget what Evelyn Pringle put together as you dislike her also. Speak no evil of Obama or your evil. Go to the Chicago Newspapers and check this stuff out. Just google Rezko or the newspapers themselves and just do some reading. Its factual documented information. Sorry the truth hurts. It will be coming out for the rest of America with the general election, so hold your hats and sharpen your caryons kids.
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Mythical

Submitted by MissC on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 2:52pm.
To the one claiming God is "mythical" PROVE IT!
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To MissC, RE: "PROVE IT!"

Submitted by KiiskiDR on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 2:40pm.
I actually registered just to respond to you, because I've reached a point in my life where I'm sick and tired of religious bigotry and superstition stunts the intellectual quality of such an evolved species: Man. I'm not a democrat, I'm not a republican, but I am a rational, clear-minded human being. I don't believe in your god, it's a creation of charlatans and superstitious children who refuse to understand the universe they live in. I'm sick and tired of people who are believers disrespecting those of us who are actually choosing NOT to suspend our wills to a 2 thousand year old cult of superstition, magic, fear, and total disregard for the facts. Do not ask someone to prove there isn't a god, because it's provable to the contrary very easily by examining the facts. (i.e. He/She/It does not exist, and you're going to need something a little better than "because the bible says so".) Your "god" hasn't been "seen" for more than 2000 years, his "son" was a DEMIGOD based on earlier Mithras cults, who in turn was based on much earlier "gods". Jesus wasn't born on December 25th, it was decided to be that day to pre-empt earlier pagan (non-Christian) holidays, to assimilate others. Islam is just as bad as Christianity in it's arrogance of proclaiming itself the "one true religion" Two: How about being original and providing undeniable physical proof that there is a god. Instead of forcing your rhetoric down at the point of a sword or the cries of the unfairly oppressed "I'm being hated because of my religion" babies, how about you stop backpedaling on things like Creation, Evolution, the origin of life, etc, and start acknowledging things like "Intelligent Design", meant to appease the scientific community in order to inject your mysticism and superstition as some sort of established "science", when it's nothing but BULLHOCKEY. No? You can't prove there is a god without a doubt? Then shut up. Humanity will NEVER move forward if we don't shrug off the chains and oppression of religion and accept things the way they truly are.
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Well said!

Submitted by deepseas on Thu, 06/26/2008 - 12:38pm.
KiiskDR,
Having studied religion in college, I came to learn the good, bad and ugly of religion as mainly a creation of man to make sense and order for our lives. It has also been used as a tool to manipulate and control men.

Religion serves a purpose for those who need constant, controlled guidance. The integrity of the guide can distort or make clear the message. But the same principles are all around us and come from teachers, parents, nature, animals and other cultures - love, peace, harmony and doing right by others.

The religious bigotry and superstition you speak of is horrifyingly seen in today's robotic, so-called Christians who allowed a psycho-sociopath to convince them innocent countries were terrorists, while they sit by and watch their complicit representatives lay down on the job. It appears these christians are hiding behind religion to relieve them of responsibility and accountability to themselves, others and the planet. Just pay a tithe, say "God Bless You" and be forgiven your sins.

What a crock!

By relieving ourselves of responsibility for our actions/inactions, our corrupt representatives have robbed us, murdered, pillaged and raped the world, and made slaves out of us - all done in our name. We are now the most hated country in the world. Americans have been led around the nose by religious leaders who are not much different than Jim Jones the cult leader responsible for massive suicides in 1978. Having made a pact with Bush, these leaders sold their congregations on Bush, war, greed and having it all.

If there is a God, he/she/it is within each of us. We have the power to make or break our own lives and the planet. If people don't wake up soon, we can only blame ourselves for this man-made Armaggeddon.

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