Musings of a Liberal Texan

Josh will be gone mid-August. Gone to UT. He graduates on June 6th and then we are mere months from his departure. It's crazy. The images I have of that kid, the memories are fantastic. From the nights when I would have to lay in the crib to comfort him back to sleep when he was just a tiny guy to his crazy climbs to the top of just about anything from the age of 18 months to the look on his face when he got an Iphone to My God! There are too many strong, vivid colorful memories of a boy that was so ill fitting to this world - that felt out of step, felt inferior, and odd in comparison to his peers to a confident, funny, bold beauty. His easy going demeanor veils a driven, ambitious motivated kid that has found what he loves to do. At 17! What a gift.  I adore him. I adore his humor. His empathy. His out of nowhere flash of kindness. I love who he has become. I love that others have found him and have brought him around to the realization that he has a lot to offer. He is braver so...

Are you fucking kidding me? The rightwing has gone off the deep end. Biden and Obama go out for a burger which I think is beyond belief that this is considered news. Regardless, they are in an absolute frenzy with Obama NOT having ketchup and having the audacity to request a spicy mustard which transforms into an elitist request for Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard.  Are you getting this? This is all they got? I am continually stunned by what people will allow into their brains via their ears.  I can only imagine what kind of national crisis it would cause if he requested a veggie burger.  God forbid.  I know. I know. I shouldn't even listen. When Rush is talking about the purity of the party damning the moderates, I have to say, it's like all my dreams coming true. Here they are literally opening the exit door and tossing people out because they aren't conservative enough. They don't even get that the democrats won because they were seen as the party of inclusion. Instead of ...

Believe Me, It’s Torture What more can be added to the debate over U.S. interrogation methods, and whether waterboarding is torture? Try firsthand experience. The author undergoes the controversial drowning technique, at the hands of men who once trained American soldiers to resist—not inflict—it. by Christopher Hitchens August 2008 Here is the most chilling way I can find of stating the matter. Until recently, “waterboarding” was something that Americans did to other Americans. It was inflicted, and endured, by those members of the Special Forces who underwent the advanced form of training known as sere (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape). In these harsh exercises, brave men and women were introduced to the sorts of barbarism that they might expect to meet at the hands of a lawless foe who disregarded the Geneva Conventions. But it was something that Americans were being trained to resist, not to inflict. Exploring this narrow but deep distinction, on a gorgeous day last May I fou...

All this nonsense about America being founded by Christians establishing a Christian nation. The Founding Fathers John Adams"The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." Thomas Jefferson"Christianity...[has become] the most perverted system that ever shone on man....Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers led by Paul, the first great corrupter of the teaching of Jesus." "I wish it (Christianity) were more productive of good works ... I mean real good works ... not holy-day keeping, sermon-hearing ... or making long prayers, filled with flatteries and compliments despised by wise men, and much less capable of pleasing the Deity."--- Benjamin Franklin, Works, Vol. VII, p. 75