Nurturing a Seven-Year-Old

This blog had a birthday yesterday.  Rather than celebrating the blog I was celebrating life with a busy day. 

So today I find myself tending a seven-year-old.  I had dreams this blog would be a long-lived experience, contributing in some way to finding a pathway out of some dark times following the September 11, disaster.  Those were days when a Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense, a Richard Cheney was Vice-President of what some called -- well -- vice, and a G. W. Bush was in some sense the inheritor of the office of the Presidency. 

One of my first major efforts was a review in serial form of a video entitled "Theologians Under Hitler."  This important video, put out by the United Methodist Church, was based on the book of the same name by Robert P. Ericksen.  The content of both book and video are still very relevant today.  When I think of the early days of this blog I always think of this series, how refreshing the video and book were amidst the general darkness of 2006.  And what darkness there was then with the Iraq War seeming never to end, and the still-ongoing Afghan War only in its first half-life.  I was proud of that series of posts.

I have written my way through two Presidential elections now, several voting controversies, and various kinds of sociological issues.  In terms of events the most important was the Occupy movement beginning in September 2011, and continuing in different form today. 

And there has been humor, some music, a little of it even patriotic music. 

Patriotism still means as much to me today as it ever did.  Sadly, I am not quite as confident of the power of the U.S. Constitution as once I was.  Still, I am not in the camp of those who see it as mysoginist, or capitalist, or invalid due to pro-slavery passages.  One recent blog dealt with an important op-ed piece in The New York Times, entitled provocatively, "Let's Give Up on the Constitution," then went on to advocate no such thing.  Yet provocative it was, and in a mostly useful way.

The blogs over the last few weeks have been a little more personal than usual with fewer hyper-links attached.  After reading two books by Professor David Ray Griffen on the lies told by the U.S. government relative to September 11, 2001, I have seen my purpose gravitating toward warning my fellow citizens about the hideous nature of what can only be called a suspected crime against democracy. 

If the present post has whetted your appetite to want to delve further into this blog, I am most gratified.  You will find here a style that is essentially sober, but not allergic to true passion when a bit of fire is called for.  At all times, I hope you find a seeking after the truth wherever it may lead.  So, welcome to the birthday party. 

Following the Truth Wherever It Might Lead

Recently I have been reading the Warren Commission Report on the John F. Kennedy assassination.  This is the first time I have read the full report.  I am very impressed with the completeness of the report, its sterling quality of thought and the coherence of its narrative.  Along with Vincent Bugliosi's exhaustive book on the subject, Reclaiming History, there really is no doubt about the basic conclusions of the Warren Commission report that Lee Harvey Oswald was the one and only individual who shot and killed President Kennedy.  And, as Bugliosi wrote, it can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Oswald acted alone in the planning of the assassination.

I mention this by way of showing that I am no conspiracy nut.  Like any other thinking individual, however, I do believe that the assassination of Julius Caesar was a conspiracy, along with many, many other similar incidents in history.  Thus, it is no stretch of the imagination to believe in false-flag operations, which are conspiracies non pareil.  To state one's belief that the events of 9/11/01 were a false-flag operation is no more a belief in a conspiracy theory than is the belief that nineteen inexperienced pilots flew planes into buildings in New York and Washington causing destruction and collapse. 

CBS, ABC Guilty of Violating Basic Journalistic Principles

Comes now the revelation that CBS and ABC violated basic journalistic standards by referring to hand-written summaries as "e-mails."  This in the case of the supposed White House e-mails on the Benghazi situation.  It seems that reports the White House was manufacturing the truth in this matter were themselves so poorly documented as to amount to fabricated "information."  There is more about this at the link below. 


The Scandal at ABC News

Call for Information

Your Musical Patriot finds himself in a strange position.  With the "blogosphere" and now even respected jouranl articles full of various allegations regarding the Boston massacre, including doubts of the official story, I am very interested in the truth but find I do not have sufficient information to draw any conclusions.  All I know is every defendant is to be considered innocent until proven guilty under our system.  The media is clearly not following this and the common citizenry is even worse. 

As the TV show detective used to say, "Just the facts, ma'am."  If you have any credible information regarding this tragic and horrific event please sent a comment through the comment feature below.  I will be grateful for all leads.

Answer to Yesterday's Quiz

From yesterday --

George H. W. Bush, "the first Bush," wanted to be America's "education President" in the 1988 campaign.   It is not known whether "Bush 41" ever did education in America any lasting good. 

Daily Quiz: Who Is or Was the Education President?

Which President was called the "education President?"  Was it a) FDR;  b) Dwight Eisenhower; c) John F. Kennedy;  d) Jimmy Carter;  e) Barack Obama;  f) None of the Above?  If memory serves, the correct answer is f), none of the above.  Check next post for the correct answer.  

Obama's Betrayal of Teachers

Workers Rights Under Attack and Some Possible Solutions

As part of my series on the problem of workers' rights in America today --

Rush Post:


It is well-known that for years workers' rights in America have been under attack.  The article at Truthout linked to below describes how the current situation came to be.  Goodness knows, this vast problem needs addressing. 

How to Restore Workers Rights

Off-Base Thinking by The Post

Yesterday's Washington Post contained a rather half-baked article about something they claimed was the Second Term Curse.   Can Obama avoid it?, the paper asked. 

As part of the article some right-wing figure was quoted as saying it might be time soon for "the I-word."  He meant of course "Impeachment," and he was referring to the President.  First, if Obama is to be impeached, we must also impeach Bush and Cheney, Rumsfeld -- the list would go on.  (And, yes, persons can be impeached after leaving office.)  Second, we don't need another impeachment trial, only fifteen years after the last fiasco. 

But beyond this, such talk is impertinent in the extreme.  We should be talking about accountability.  We should be talking about living history.  We should be talking about what caused the wars and how future wars can be prevented.  If we cannot deal with our own history of corruption and failure, we have no business claiming to be any kind of world leader.  If a public official deserves to be impeached, by all means, let's look into it.  But everyone who is guilty deserves his own impeachment.  It's going to be a long list. 

Issue of False Flag Attacks Suddenly Heats Up On Line

The matter of government false flag attacks is suddenly heating up on the Internet.  This subject is much too big for me to credibly speak to at the moment.  However, I am watching the situation and will have more to say about this later.

As David Ray Griffin has pointed out, the United States government has been involved in "false flag" attacks before -- the most notable recent one being the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, which led to an escalation in the Viet-Nam War. 

It is not hard to predict that this subject of false flag attacks is not going to go away.  Articulate people, some well-educated, are beginning to speak out on this subject.  I wish I could say more now, but with information breaking so fast I want to preserve reliability.  Please watch for more posts on this important matter soon. 

From "9/11 Ten Years Later"

From David Ray Griffin's 9/11 Ten Years Later comes the statement that anti-war groups cannot and will not be successful unless they can address the falsity of the causes for those wars.  Griffin is here thinking of Iraq and Afghanistan among others.  His point is an important one.  The wars of the last ten years must all be seen in the context of the false-flag operation known as "nine-eleven." 

Griffin has here rendered an inestimable public service.  I agree with him on this and most everything else (one exception being the John Kennedy assassination).  A fully independent and responsble investigation of the fateful events of September 11, 2001, will have to come to be in order for American democracy to be healthy. 

Truth That Won't Give Up

I continue my research into the events of September 11, 2001.  As I continue to read the works of Prof. David Ray Griffin, and seeing the facts from different angles, it becomes quite clear indeed that a truly thorough and independent investigation has never been done.  This for an event that so transformed the world, sending thousands of Americans into harm's way and shriveling civil liberties at home. 

There is so much to say about this subject and Griffin has said things so well it seems superfluous for me to cover the same ground.  In time, after I have been able to digest the information I may be able to put more of my own stamp onto the subject.  But for now I highly recommend the books of this most dedicated and careful researcher and author.

President Says the Right Things

Recently, I posted a news item regarding the hunger strike at "Gitmo," the Guantanamo Bay prison where alleged "enemy comatants" have been held for more than eleven years.  At the time very few news outlets were covering this news.

Now, President Obama, in an unexpected statement has called again for the closing of Guantanamo Bay.  Mr. Obama is to be congratulated for speaking out.  Let us hope the American people will accept the challenge, see the truth of the Guantanamo situation, and call their legislators demanding the closing of this un-American gestapo-like prison.