Memorable Bushisms from 2005

--"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda," Bush said in explaining his communications strategy last May.

-- "I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?" Bush asked in a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a U.N. Security Council meeting in September.

-- "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table," Bush said in Brussels last February.

-- "In terms of timetables, as quickly as possible - whatever that means," the president said of his timeframe for passing Social Security legislation in March.

-- "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law," Bush said in describing illegal immigrants in Tucson, Arizona, last month.

UN and Halliburton

The United States has always complained about the corruption and inefficiency of the United Nations. That has often formed the basis for not paying our dues to the organization. President Bush might want to sit down and calculate the enormous amount of graft and corruption related to the war in Iraq. According to a recent article in Harpers (January 2006,) fully half of the U.N.'s budget could be "paid out of Halliburton graft alone."

Ten Commandment stats

From Harper's Index December 2005

Number of Alabama state senators co-sponsoring a bill last summer to "protect" public displays of the Ten Commandments: 10

Number of them who could list the Commandments: 1

Perhaps they should "protect" one in their homes.

Bruce Springsteen on Bush

"... We forget that every adult was brought up on fairy tales so it's natural to go on and, politically for example, want to believe that your President is a nice, honest man. The inability to turn to an adult perspective once you get to the age where you have some political weight is a great tragedy, and this is a period of history when it seems the most obvious type of disguise is on display to the entire world and yet those are the people who are still in power."

Mojo, January 2006

Jesus Without The Miracles:

Jefferson, perhaps in a fit of pique after the lambasting he received at the hands of religionists during the election of 1800, took his copy of the New Testament and cut out everything except the words of Jesus. These he published as a book entitled, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. He extracted the "diamonds from the dunghill." His idea was to focus on what the man said rather than the "myths surrounding his life. Reading the dazzling miracles of Matthew and Luke one can find the actual teachings to be rather mundane. Christianity has been hijacked by the religionists who would have us achieve "eternal salvation from this world than with any desire to practice the teachings of Jesus while we are here."

Jefferson's Bible reveals Jesus's teachings in a short list; a list that we would all be wise to follow and practice:
Be Just
Treat others as you would be treated
Work for peaceful resolutions, even if it means returning violence with compassion
Material things have no value
Do not judge
Do not bear grudges
Be modest and unpretentious
Be generous for generosity's sake, not because you expect to be repaid.

"Stop talking about righteousness and be righteous." George, are you paying attention?