I Didn't Speak Up - Updated 2009
Topic: Democrat Watch
Inspired by the famous warning by Martin Niemöller.*

In America, they first created the Welfare State and "Entitlements" -- including Social Security, which they promised would be "temporary" -- which have created generations of dependent masses.  But I didn't speak up, because I wanted government benefits and security, too.

Then they created special government programs and rendered court decisions favoring select minorities, setting quotas and giving them advantages in education and jobs.  Then they added de facto amnesty for illegal aliens, who do not pay income tax and who use public services and unpaid medical care disproportionately.  But I didn't speak up, because I didn't want to be called a racist.

Then they declared that women were discriminated against because of childbearing, that a baby was "part of the mother" until delivery, and that a woman had the "choice" to abort her baby for any reason whatsoever.  But I didn't speak up, because I didn't want to be called a sexist.

Then they made trade agreements that increased our trade deficit and exported American manufacturing jobs overseas, increasing unemployment, hopelessness, and poverty.  But I didn't speak up, because I didn't want to be associated with Protectionism, and I like cheap foreign goods, too.

Then they created special rights for certain deviant behaviors and lifestyles, enacting "hate crimes" laws that punish violence against certain persons more harshly -- despite the fact that those laws violate the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment -- and even punish speech.  But I didn't speak up, because I didn't want to be called a "hater" or a homophobe.

Then it became clear that our government had been infiltrated by Socialists, Communists, Statists, and radicals.  They went so far as to say that any opposition to a black president's policies is inherently racist.  So I didn't speak up, because I didn't want to be associated with McCarthyism or the KKK.

Then they decided that the U.S. Constitution was outdated, and no longer applied to modern, "Progressive" America.  But there were too few people left to speak for my Constitutional rights, because they had all "sold out" to self-interest or surrendered to Political Correctness -- all because people like me were too afraid that someone might call them a bad name.

*Niemöller was a Protestant pastor imprisoned by the Nazis from 1938 to 1945.  In a speech in Frankfurt in 1946 he said, "In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.  Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.  Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.  Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.  Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me."
____________________

©2009 Paul A. Hughes. All rights reserved. May be freely distributed for private use, with copyright and proper attribution attached and observed.

Congressman Downplays Protest
Topic: Democrat Watch

Longtime Austin Democrat Congressman Lloyd Doggett apparently thinks very little of constituents speaking out, considering them an unruly mob.

Source:

http://m.kvue.com/kvue/db_19808/contentdetail.htm%3Bjsessionid=EE7A8232599DFEC528025B82705E2CD3?contentguid=P0z1Fbx1&detailindex=0&pn=0&ps=4&full=true

Obama Intends to Eliminate Private Insurance
Topic: Democrat Watch

Barack Obama is reported to have made statements in 2007 that reveal his intention to eliminate private health insurance in favor of government-run socialized medicine:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/08/02/obama-2007-said-he-wanted-eliminate-private-health-insurance

The Obama Joker Poster
Topic: Democrat Watch

A poster portraying Barack Obama as the Joker, a la Heath Ledger, and the word "Socialism" at the bottom, is mysteriously appearing around Los Angeles.

Source:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/08/01/obama-joker-poster-popping-los-angeles

Cash for Clunkers Form Violates 4th Amendment
Topic: Democrat Watch

A story not being reported by the Mainstream Media up to this point (surprise, surprise):

 Government online forms required for car dealers to participate in the "wildly successful"Cash for Clunkers giveaway-bailout scheme were discovered by informed sources and reported by Glenn Beck to contain the following language:

"This application provides to the DoT CARS system. When logged on to the CARS system, your computer is considered a federal computer system and it is property of the United States government. Any and all uses of this system and all files on this system may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected, and disclosed to authorized CARS, DoT and law enforcement personnel, as well as authorized officials of other agencies, both domestic and foreign."

The latest word is that this language, once exposed, was removed from CARS.GOV overnight.

Sources:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/07/31/beck-exposes-cash-clunkers-language-giving-feds-authority-take-control-co

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/31/glenn-beck-cash-for-clunkers-may-be-a-government-scheme-to-take-over-your-computer/

http://www.foxnewsradio.com/2009/08/03/cash-for-clunkers-2/

Lindsey Graham Nails Obama Policies
Topic: Democrat Watch
Lindsey Graham has been on the wrong side of Immigration and other issues in recent years, but truly nailed it on Obama's policies on Fox News Sunday, April 19, 2009:

"If you're looking at what we're doing in Washington and you're not upset, the problem is with you, not the protesters. The Obama budget triples the national debt. In 2019, we'll pay more interest on the national debt than the Defense Department.

"He raises taxes on job creators. He cuts the defense budget dramatically over a 10-year period. This is a budget that's a nightmare for the country. The stimulus bill and the omnibus bill together have spent more money in 90 days than we did in Iraq, Afghanistan and Katrina combined.

"People need to be upset. This is a complete, absolute abandonment of fiscal discipline, and the Obama budget is a road map for disaster that will bankrupt this country. I am glad people took to the streets. There's nothing wrong with you. The problem's wrong in Washington.

"This is not the change people were hoping for. This is unbelievable growth in government at a time we can afford it the least."

Look, Ma, I'm a Right-Wing Extremist!
Topic: Democrat Watch
According to Janet Napolitano's Department of Homeland Security report, I am classed a right-wing extremist because I:

Support freedom of religion and free speech (1st Amendment)
Support the right to keep and bear arms (2nd Amendment)
Support State's Rights (10th Amendment)
Support Only Legal Citizenship, am against illegal immigration (14th Amendment)
Am against homosexual marriage (Genesis 1:27, et al.)
Am against abortion (6th Commandment)
Am concerned about a coming one-world government (Revelation, et al.)

I am not, however, a returning war veteran -- but wish I was.

Read the report while it is still available:
http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf
http://video1.washingtontimes.com/video/extremismreport.pdf

Aren't You Mad Yet?
Topic: Democrat Watch

Aren’t You Mad Yet?  Just Some of the Pork in the Stimulus Bill

The true cost of the stimulus is estimated to be $3,270,000,000,000.00.

As you peruse the list below, you will probably see things that you would approve of, but other things you find outrageous (which will likely vary from person to person).  That is the insidiousness of pork/earmarks:  the authors try to “grease enough palms” with taxpayer money that those who benefit are willing to swallow other things along with it.

The welfare in the bill brings overall federal welfare spending to a total of $1,340,000,000,000, which works out to a burden of $17,400 per household that actually pays income tax in the U.S.  (This does not include state taxes.)

And now the list, which is not exhaustive, in  descending order by dollar amount.

$264,000,000,000                        New federal welfare spending

$140,000,000,000                        The “Making Work Pay” credit (wealth redistribution welfare)

$8,000,000,000                        Harry Reid’s Disneyland-Las Vegas speed train

$6,000,000,000                        Making federal buildings green

$5,500,000,000                        Making federal buildings green

$5,000,000,000                        ACORN Neighborhood Stabilization Programs

$2,000,000,000                        Low-emissions powerplant in Mattoon, Illinois

$2,000,000,000                        Batteries for hybrid cars

$1,500,000,000                         Carbon capture projects

$1,300,000,000                        NASA

$1,200,000,000                         Summer jobs for youth

$1,000,000,000                        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration office buildings

$850,000,000                        Amtrak, in addition to its current subsidy

$800,000,000                        Federal Prison System buildings and facilities

$750,000,000                         National Computer Center

$650,000,000                        Digital TV transition coupon program

$650,000,000                         Abandoned mine sites

$600,000,000                        Hybrid vehicles for federal employees

$522,000,000                        Bureau of Indian Affairs construction

$500,000,000                        Wildland fire management

$500,000,000                        National Institutes of Health facilities

$500,000,000                         State and local fire stations

$412,000,000                        Centers for Disease Control headquarters

$307,000,000                        National Institute for Standards and Technology office buildings

$300,000,000                        Hybrid and electric cars for federal employees

$300,000,000                        Federal Bureau of Investigation office buildings

$275,000,000                         Flood prevention

$200,000,000                        Re-sod the Mall in Washington

$200,000,000                        Workplace safety in Department of Agriculture facilities

$200,000,000                        Leasing alternative energy vehicles for military installations

$200,000,000                         Public computer centers at community colleges and libraries

$200,000,000                        Filipino World War II Veterans

$198,000,000                        Design and furnish Homeland Security headquarters

$180,000,000                        Bureau of Land Management facilities

$125,000,000                        Washington, D.C. sewer system

$110,000,000                        U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service construction

$110,000,000                        Farm Service Agency computer upgrades

$100,000,000                        Grants to Small Shipyards

$100,000,000                        U.S. Marshalls office buildings

$100,000,000                         Lead paint hazard reduction

$100,000,000                        U.S. atomic energy program site cleanup

$88,000,000                        Public Health Service renovations

$75,000,000                        Smithsonian Institution

$75,000,000                        FBI employee salaries

$75,000,000                        State Department Security officers training facility

$65,000,000                         Watershed rehabilitation

$60,000,000                        Arlington National Cemetery

$10,000,000                         Fighting Mexican gun-runners

$10,000,000                         Urban canals

$5,500,000                        “Energy efficiency initiatives” for National Cemetery Administration

The bill also contains:

Temporary Increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit, a wealth-redistributing welfare program

Waiver of Requirement to Repay First-Time Homebuyer Credit

“Build America” bonds to finance public building projects

Sources:

http://blog.heritage.org/2009/02/12/true-cost-of-stimulus-327-trillion/

http://www.reason.com/news/show/131611.html

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm2276.cfm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/12/AR2009021203502_pf.html

http://gawker.com/5153361/harry-reids-disneyland-train

Obama to Allow US Funding of Foreign Abortions
Topic: Democrat Watch

It is shocking that in a time of declared economic emergency, new president Barack Obama's priorties include releasing terrorists from Guantanamo and expanding abortion.

Obama plans to overturn by executive order the policy first instated by Ronald Reagan to withhold US federal funds from funding international abortions.  The policy has been variously labeled the "global gag rule" (by abortion advocates, no doubt) and the "Mexico City policy."

Recall that during the Saddleback forum, Obama refused to define when a baby becomes a baby, calling it "above my pay grade."

Read about it:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_abortion_ban

 

Re: Praying for Obama
Topic: Democrat Watch

I am being told that Christians should pray for Obama and not be critical. 

Fine, but in that case we should pray that Obama has an epiphany, on the scale of a Damascus Road experience, and gets saved, because the majority of his appointees are party hacks, extreme partisans, and/or have huge conflicts of interest (e.g., Hillary), even illegalities (e.g., Geithner).  His appointments telegraph that he is not planning to change the government for the better (meaning personal freedom and empowerment), but to be the reincarnation of FDR (meaning control over business and our personal lives).  Moreover, his placing demands on the media for access smacks more of Stalin.  As we speak, Obama is "getting away with murder" by not having his appointments seriously challenged by the media or the Democrat-controlled Congress.

In short, I know waaaaaayy too many facts about Obama and his cohorts to do anything less than hold his feet to the fire.  I recommend that we all keep a close record of his actions, and judge him strictly thereby.  Trusting his judgment is not an option, much less his rhetoric.

However, I was pointing ultimately to his being regarded by so many as a messiah.  He has not let himself get pinned down on many specifics, yet his followers insist that he is the savior of the country.  All his actions point toward increasing government control over all aspects of our daily lives, deciding who deserves things and who does not, redistributing wealth, expanding the welfare state (already 40% of the population), taking over healthcare, and increasing overall dependence on government.

There were at least two leaders in recent history who were accorded such status.  One was named Adolf and the other Benito.

I note at this point that there are currently calls being put forth for global governance because of alleged Global Warming, as well as a world currency due to the monetary crisis; and further that those of a totalitarian bent see a crisis as an opportunity to exert control (e.g., Rahm Emanuel).

While I am not in favor of date-setting the Rapture or trying to identify the Antichrist, I do see a level of willing deception being perpetrated on American society and the world which, if not the beginning of the actual End-Times, certainly demonstrates how readily a free people can be converted to a mindset that might "deceive the very elect," and a worldview that will accept that "no one can to buy or sell unless they receive the mark."

Doubting Barack Obama
Topic: Democrat Watch
Thinking citizens seem oddly silent regarding Barack Obama's inauguration as president, as well as government moves to take over large segments of the US economy.  Am I the only one appalled at the willingness of so many Americans, led by the nose by the mainstream media, to surrender constitutional rights to government and look for rescue in a messianic figure?

The Press has been remarkably lacking in curiosity over Obama.  Much worse, they have helped provide cover for him rather than uncover facts.  We still do not know what he really thinks, what he has done in the past, or what he plans to do as president, beyond generalities and platitudes.  Masses treat him as a savior, while he has no record of significant accomplishment.

What we do know suggests that he comes from the corrupt Chicago polical machine, he has worked for the controversial agency ACORN, he has had close associations with radicals, he has made statements suggesting socialism and wealth redistribution, he has lied and obfuscated in regard to his past, and he obtained a "sweetheart" home loan through a convicted felon (Rezko).

In regard to Obama's inaugural speech, Rush Limbaugh predicted that it would be lauded no matter what he said.  Afterward, Glenn Beck called it boring.  Some of the best post-speech sense I have heard comes from an unexpected source.  I have often clucked my tongue over statements made by Juan Williams on the Fox Sunday show; he is moderate at best, and seemed so often clueless.  In his analysis, however, Williams (who is black) writes,

"If [Obama's] presidency is to represent the full power of the idea that black Americans are just like everyone else -- fully human and fully capable of intellect, courage and patriotism -- then Barack Obama has to be subject to the same rough and tumble of political criticism experienced by his predecessors. To treat the first black president as if he is a fragile flower is certain to hobble him . . . .

"Yet there is fear, especially among black people, that criticism of him or any of his failures might be twisted into evidence that people of color cannot effectively lead. That amounts to wasting time and energy reacting to hateful stereotypes. It also leads to treating all criticism of Mr. Obama, whether legitimate, wrong-headed or even mean-spirited, as racist.

"This is patronizing. Worse, it carries an implicit presumption of inferiority. Every American president must be held to the highest standard. No president of any color should be given a free pass for screw-ups, lies or failure to keep a promise.

. . . .

"The importance of a proud, adversarial press speaking truth about a powerful politician and offering impartial accounts of his actions was frequently and embarrassingly lost. When Mr. Obama's opponents, such as the Clintons, challenged his lack of experience, or pointed out that he was not in the U.S. Senate when he expressed early opposition to the war in Iraq, they were depicted as petty."

Link:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123249791178500439.html

Samuel Adams Prescient on Obama Election
Topic: Democrat Watch
"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men."

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, — go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"

"Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason."

"How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!"

"A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. . . . While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader. . . . If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security."

"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."

"Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty."

Obama's View of the Constitution
Topic: Democrat Watch
In a 2001 interview with WBEZ-FM radio (PBS), Barack Obama, who has been a lecturer in constitutional law and a constitutional lawyer, inadvertently gave a glimpse of his real opinion of the Constitution:

"If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court. I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed people, so that now I would have the right to vote. I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order as long as I could pay for it I’d be o.k. But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think there was a tendancy to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that.

"I’m not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts. You know, the institution just isn’t structured that way."

In other words, Obama's study of the Constitution has focused on how it can be used, in conjunction with the Supreme Court and civil rights activism, to redistribute wealth and power in U.S. society to the lower classes (those least educated, least accomplished, least self-reliant, and most dependent on government).  The only problem with the Warren Court, infamous for its judicial activism and twisting of the Constitution to create new law, is (to paraphrase domestic terrorist William Ayres) "I wish they had done more."  Obama who, if elected, may appoint as many as three new Supreme Court justices, would like to see the Court "break free" of the "constraints" of the Founding Fathers, and the original intent of the laws, even more than did the Warren Court.  He characterizes the Constitution as a set of "negative liberties," outlining "what the states [and the State] can't do," when in truth the bulk of the Constitution outlines the nature of our government, and the Bill of Rights is an absolutely positive decree of our rights as citizens which cannot be alienated from us.  Obama looks instead for a socialist expansion of government powers to recreate society by redistributing wealth and the creation of special rights for select constituencies.

For a brief history of Supreme Court activism that has already changed the meaning of our Constitution, download:
http://www.geocities.com/westloop/godstrombone/constitution-history.pdf

Financial Crisis: Blame the Democrats
Topic: Democrat Watch
The Democrats are to blame for the current financial crisis by creating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to continue to build a constituency of dependent, ingratiated, and usually ignorant voters.  They have threatened, extorted, and badgered loan institutions to give home loans to people who cannot afford them, including illegal aliens and persons with no verifiable employment.  Otherwise, institutions were accused of "redlining" (read:  racism).  Meanwhile, Fannie and Freddie have been used to funnel contributions to political candidates, especially Democrats, including (in descending order of dollar amount) Christopher Dodd, John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton (not neglecting Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi).

Feminist Compares Democrats to Child Rape
Topic: Democrat Watch
Prominent Berkeley feminist Robin Lakoff, a Hillary supporter, has compared the treatment of Hillary Clinton supporters by the Democrat Party to child rape:

"I am reminded of a particularly chilling passage in Vladimir Nabokov's novel 'Lolita.'  Humbert Humbert, after raping the 12-year-old, is pondering why she has come back to his bed.  'You see,' Humbert tells the reader, 'she had absolutely nowhere else to go.'

"That's just how I feel.  And they want my enthusiastic support?  The Democratic Party can fend for itself."

Read it for yourself:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/29/EDCC120QOH.DTL

Posted on The Hughes Report
https://members.tripod.com/pneuma_music/hughesreport/

Media Ignoring Edwards Affair, Love Child
Topic: Democrat Watch

Amongst the other huge stories that the biased mainstream media is ignoring is this one about failed Democrat vice-presidential candidate John Edwards.  Edwards was allegedly caught by reporters while leaving his mistress's hotel in the small hours of the morning.

Read about it:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391426,00.html
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/sen_john_edwards_caught_with_mistress_and_love_child_in_la_hotel/celebrity/65193
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/john_edwards_love_child/celebrity/64426
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_072308/content/01125115.guest.html
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/john_edwards_love_child_update/celebrity/65199
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/FineOnMedia/archives/2008/07/the_national_en.html
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_072508/content/01125104.guest.html

While Blaming Bush, Democrats Get Sweetheart Loans
Topic: Democrat Watch
In case you missed the major Democrat scandal that has only been nominally reported by the mainstream media:

Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, recent presidential candidate and current chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has been exposed for accepting a preferential home loan from Countrywide Financial Corp.  In a carefully worded statement, Dodd said that he "did not seek or expect any favorable treatment.  Just like millions of other Americans, we shopped around and received competitive rates."

Also implicated is Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee.  He insisted, "If they did me a favor, they did it without my knowledge and without my requesting it."  However, Conrad placed a personal call to CEO Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide asking for the mortgage.  An internal memo from Mozilo indicates that the fact that Conrad is a senator cemented the deal.

Let us not forget about recent revelations of the preferential home loan given to presidential candidate Barack Obama, and his ties to Tony Rezko, recently convicted for improprieties, and Jim Johnson, recently dismissed from the campaign.  Other Democrats implicated in the "new" scandal include Clinton Administration operatives Alphonso Jackson, Donna Shalala, and Richard Holbrooke.

This is the Congress that took power in 2006 on the promise to "clean up Washington."

Sources:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25140560/
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/06/12/Countrywide-Loan-Scandal
http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2008/06/13/D919849G3_senators_vip_mortgages/print.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121332396326070639.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_topbox

"Punished with a Baby"
Topic: Democrat Watch

See John Brody, "Obama Says He Doesn't Want His Daughters Punished with a Baby," March 31, 2008, at:

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/348569.aspx

My reply to Brody's site:

Obama's "punished with a baby" remark was no slip of the tongue.  This is the radical feminist view -- a litmus test embedded in the Democrat Party -- of hostility toward the traditional family paradigm.  They consider motherhood to have been a primary instrument by which patriarchal societies have subjugated women.

Also couched in Obama's rhetoric is his view that if one of his daughters becomes pregnant and she does not want it, the baby has to die.  A baby is a baby, with individual chromosomes at the point of conception.  This is unconscionable, and would be shocking if US society had not turned a blind eye to the truth for these several decades.

The Obamas and Their Money
Topic: Democrat Watch
A recent article reported that the Obamas have made up to $2.6 million a year the last several years, while giving to charity from under 1% to over 5% of their income per year.  It goes on to say that they have saved little.

Read the article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHdvU_NJzIcI&refer=home

Meanwhile, "Once Barack won his senate seat, Michelle Obama was promoted to vice president for external affairs and her salary jumped from $121,910 to $316,962 per year"
[http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/31327.html].

Elsewhere, the Obamas have complained about having to pay off their student loans, and Barack said that he hopes his daughters, being tall, will be able to attend college on basketball scholarships.

PH.

The Liberation Theology of Jeremiah Wright
Topic: Democrat Watch
Christians should rightly object to the teachings of Jeremiah Wright on the basis of his Liberation Theology alone, let alone his racism.  (Just as I will vote against Obama on the basis of his liberalism alone, absent other factors.)

Liberation Theology was spawned by Marxists in Latin America as, among other things, a justification for revolution and other violence, based on social injustice, real or perceived.  The bare fact is that there has been immense injustice in Latin America, the indigenous peoples being historically treated as slaves, and kept as an underclass, by a European elite.

Theologically, however, Liberation both draws from social justice themes in Scripture, especially the Exodus, to an unbalanced degree, and imposes social justice themes upon scriptues contrary to their context and literal meaning.  In short, all Scripture is viewed through leftist-colored glasses.  That which does not fit the template is ignored.  Needless to say, a shaded interpretation of Scripture is neither honest nor a source of ultimate Truth.  But the aim of its practitioners, as noted by the Catholic Church, is not orthodoxy but orthopraxis (which can be defined as Political Correctness).

Both Feminist Theology and Black Theology, the latter founded by Wright's hero James Cone, are foundationally based on Liberation Theology.

It must be said, however, in spite of my introductory statement, that even if Liberation Theology gets a pass, one must take issue with Wright on the lies, distortions, and inflammatory speech readily found in his sermons.