If at first you don't succeed, play the God card.

As a student of Journalism and Mass Communications let me just say...

MATT DRUDGE IS THE SCUM OF THE EARTH!

Wow, that makes me feel so much better. He is an embarrassment to all who strive for more integrity in the media. Playing the pathetic lackey of the GOP- mudslinging Mattey has a story on his page entitled "Kerry not sure God on America's side." The story goes on to quote Kerry from today's Presidential debate in NYC.

Kerry was asked, "President Bush has said that freedom and fear have always been at war, and God is not neutral between them. He's made quite clear in his speeches that he feels God is on America's side. Is God on America's side?"

Here is how Kerry answered, "Well, God will -- look, I think -- I believe in God, but I don't believe, the way President Bush does, in invoking it all the time in that way. I think it is -- we pray that God is on our side, and we pray hard. And God has been on our side through most of our existence."

Drudge is full of shit. There is nothing wrong with what Kerry said. Here is the simple difference between Kerry and Bush. Bush believes that the world is black and white, right and wrong, good and evil. He uses his religion as a tool for divisiveness. He believes that if you don't support the "Christian Right's" conservative policies your are irreligious or evil. Bush doesn't believe God is on America's side- he believes that God is on the side of Christians. While it is not wrong to believe in Christianity, it is very wrong to divide our nation with that belief. There is a difference between being religious and being fascist. Kerry understands this difference. That is what his remarks represent. Kerry believes in God, but also believes that America is a nation of plurality. We are not a "Christian" nation- but one of Christians (Catholic/Protestant), Jews, Muslims, Agnostics, and Atheists. That is why Kerry refused to say that he has God's endorsement; he doesn't need it to be the leader of this country. And because of that freedom- we are all better off.

This country is wonderful. We have been very prosperous. But that prosperity is the product of many faiths working harmoniously. I think that our President has forgotten that.

And as for Drudge, well, I hope he can find better uses of his time than making up new stories about the Democratic candidates every week. Oh wait, that's right... he has- exploiting the most bigoted homophobic stories he can find to bad mouth gays. You will also find a link on his page making it sound as if it is a bad thing that the Olympics may allow transexuals to participate. With all of the sensationalism he devotes towards homosexuality (bug chasing stories, gay marriage stories, etc.)... it leads me believe that maybe he is repressing something.

Why does polling rule my opinion?

Recently I have been skiddish over which Democratic candidate I will support... now that it is down to Kerry and Edwards. The question I keep asking myself is, "What am I basing my vote on for a Presidential candidate?" I guess I would have to put the gay marriage issue near the top, closely followed by income tax plans, and voting record on the war in Iraq. I find all of these topics so important, but in the end they don't even matter. If I don't support the candidate that has the best chance of beating Bush, I will have wasted my vote. Which leads me to an even more difficult choice. When put on the spot, I guess I have to go with the man on top of the polls- John Kerry.

I just hope that all of this ends soon. I think we need to start supporting one candidate. Bush is planning to go nuclear with his campaign advertising in the coming weeks, and the Democratic candidate will need to respond quickly.

1+1+1= Big Trouble!

Yesterday, the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) announced that the Bush Administration's 2005 budget will "produce deficits totaling $2.75 trillion over the next decade."

That came one day after Forbes magazine released its "Worlds Richest People" list. In that issue, there is a timely piece entitled "The Rich Get Richer." It explains that "the collective net worth of the world's wealthiest jumped half a trillion dollars in the past year." President Bush is trying spin this into meaning the economy is getting better. This years average household income (about $42,000 a year) will be lower than last years. Why? Cause the average person is not a billionaire and did not get a huge tax cut. If you have 9 guys with $100 each and 1 guy with a million dollars, the 10 guys have an average of $100,090 each. Oh, and there is the whole millions of people unemployed thing.

And for good measure, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan announced that we must start cutting Social Security benefits. But as the Star Tribune pointed out, Greenspan didn't mention the fact that Social Security is actually running surpluses right now. That means that the Bush administration, instead of saving this Social Security money for when it will be badly needed by the "baby boomer" generation, is blowing it on their massive budget deficit.

Welcome to the Machine...

Well, this is the first posting for Minnesota Liberal. My name is Jacob Carson (Jay or Jake to those who are more familiar with me). I work for the Minnesota DFL Party as the Communications/Research Intern and devote a good amount of my time pulling my hair out over the state of our community, state, and country. I also tool around the web searching for that one piece of information I must be missing that will explain this mess to me. I still haven't found it, but I believe I have a good understanding of how the system works. I hope to use this forum to provide insight into what is happening and how it affects us. In recent days and weeks, we have begun to see the fight for social equality with same-sex couples marrying in San Francisco, the beginning of the 2004 Presidential Race, and the unraveling of our state/national education systems. It is time we fight back against the Republican machine, and we can only accomplish that by being as well-informed as possible. And so begins my contribution.