A few weeks ago, #3 Daughter, age 7, was coloring a 4th of July picture. The design was a group of "puzzle" pieces, each with a letter inside it. The task was to identify the color that corresponded with the letter and then color in the piece. #3 Daughter looked at the required colors and decided they were not to her liking.  She picked up another crayon and asked rhetorically: "I can color them any color I want, right? It is a free country."

As she made the remark, her mother was making final preparations for the neighborhood Independence Day parade (which she’s organized yet again), and it all got me wondering. What does a dad say about his country at this particular moment in history, when it our freedom is being flushed down the toilet and our national character is being twisted by those who manipulate our fears for their own ends?

Explaining to the kids the nation’s birthday is simple enough, but helping them understand the holiday’s meaning for their lives is trickier. It’s about patriotism, of course, but talk to five people about how to define that word and you’ll get five different answers – none of which will match the one in your head.

Proof that there is a God:  Rachel Maddow gets her own TV show!

Wanker of the Day: Conservative radio host Mike Gallagher for arguing that lesbian adoptions will inevitably lead to the legalization of adoptions by pedophiles.

Majority of middle class supports progressive policies.

I couldn't have said it better

The first one is gone. #1 Son, now 20, is out there on his own, facing the great big world. It’s not exactly time for the empty nest syndrom, because I still have five more at home and it’ll be at least another 11 years before the youngest can leave, but it’s still a moment that releases a flood of strange emotions.  (Yes, there are political and religious implications in it all, but I'll leave them as undercurrents for your to find on your own.)

Truth is high, but higher still is living it.

-- Guru Nanak

I love these words of Guru Nanak, the 15th century founder of Sikhism.

(Do I need to write anything more?)

Spiritual-religious advice for this week and all time: Go and live the truth!

All right, I could write a little more. . .

I could write how ideals without corresponding action are meaningless.

I could give poignant examples from the Bible and history when innocent people suffered because of the lack of action of people who knew better.

I could quote from Jewish and Christian sources parallels to Guru Nanak's words.

But, what is the point?

The point is ACTION, not words.

So, please, please, GO AND LIVE YOUR VALUES.

Truth is high, but higher still is living it.

-- Guru Nanak

With love,

Rabbi Brian

The Monetary-Industrial Complex

So there you have it. When a Republican is president, the Fed eases interest rates in election years by much more than the objective economic circumstances dictate. Conversely, when a Democrat is president, the Fed tightens interest rates in election years by much more than the objective economic circumstances dictate. And for a while, anyway, the economy responds. And so do voters.

Nice little racket, eh?

Top CEOs Give 10 Times More To McCain Than Obama; McCain Promises Huge Tax Breaks For Them In Return

Troops Abroad Donated 6:1 To Obama  Seems Ol' McSame's message just isn't hitting home.

Unfit For Publication: Obama Camp Debunks Lies In Right Wing Smear Book

Larry King: Media Matters Confronts and Destroys Obama-Smearer Jerome Corsi

McCain's foreign policy

This man is simply too dangerous and unstable to be president. People need to wake up and get a look of the preview he's giving us of a McCain presidency.

Russia & Georgia, US & Hamas, Cheney & Musharraf A good, quick, smart read.

Not a fair trade  For what my home state, Wisconsin, has spent on the occupation of Iraq, we could have built more than 2.7 million homes with renewable electricity for one year.

Rabbi Brian's schedule prevents him from posting here, and I -- for one -- dearly miss his wisdom.  So, with his permission, I'm posting this week's message from the Rabbi.  See below.

Frederick Douglass

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."

EEOC issues New Guidelines on Religious Discrimination

From 'What If' to 'Here's How!'

Destination Home is a permanent supportive housing program built on philosophy of 'housing first'. Now that may sound too much like non-profit, sociology, insider speak, but it essentially means this - we believe that we can help solve the problem of homelessness for a number of people by giving them access to the dignity that comes with having the privacy that comes with a roof over their heads, and a key in their pocket.

McCain question of the day: Do you own your own private jet? McCain does.

Elizabeth Edwards speaks out at DailyKos.

Feingold slams Chertoff for distortions on laptop searches.  My man!

McCain cried over Bambi.  Whatever will his NRA friends make of that?

More below...

Pastor Dan raised the issue here and reminded us that being Christian doesn’t release us from our political responsibilities, and being political doesn’t free us from our Christian obligations.  "br t" asked the question bluntly here: Jesus and Politics: Do They Mix Like Oil and Water? Years ago, I was in a class that tackled the question of whether Jesus (and, thus, Christianity) was purely spiritual or had a political dimension.  I dug out my notes for this post, and I’ll share the core with you, but the short answer is this:  Jesus is, according to the Gospel, a model of radical political action.  

This is just disgusting
John McCain, pandering to a group of boozed up bikers, offers up his own wife Cindy as a contestant in a "topless and 'occasionally bottomless'" so-called beauty contest, complete with "simulated fellatio and banana coddling" and -- reportedly -- "rumors about underage contestants and on-stage sex."  

Buffalo Chip has a reputation for that sort of thing. It holds a Miss Buffalo Chip contest every night, which is essentially a topless beauty pageant. And occasionally bottomless, too. During a drenching rain Wednesday night, the contest broke up into smaller groups and one woman wound up dancing naked on a bar top. Her boyfriend/husband saw her and angrily dragged her away as she struggled to put her pants back on and muttered something about how, "It's only this one week a year."

All poor Cindy could do was stand there with a sick smile on her face and wave to the (mostly male) crowd that was shouting, "Show us your boobs!"
Tell me again how the Hillary supporters are going to flock to McCain.  And how does this square with the Religious Reich and Family Values gang?