Stand Against Prejudice

Congressman Peter King’s hearings on radical Islam have been criticized as bigoted and un-American. The critics are right. Congressman King is wrong, and anyone who values freedom of religion should speak out against anti-Muslim bigotry.

King says he will hold more hearings; we need to stand up for freedom and say no! Consider the quote below and see just how far from our first amendment rights King and some other right-wing politicians have drifted:

"Here in the United States our Muslim citizens are making many contributions in business, science and law, medicine and education, and in other fields. Muslim members of our Armed Forces and of my administration are serving their fellow Americans with distinction, upholding our nation's ideals of liberty and justice in a world at peace."

President George W. Bush, December 5, 2002

And Congressman King is a hypocrite as well. The link below documents his ties to the Irish Republican Army, a religious terror group that killed hundreds of civilians.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/us/politics/09king.html

Our First Death Panel

During the debate over health care reform, Republicans warned us about the impending “death panels.” What they forgot to tell us was that it would be Republicans setting up the death panels and deciding who lives and dies.

Since Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer cut the state’s Medicaid budget, 98 people have been denied state Medicaid funding for potentially life-saving transplants. Two of those people have died.

From Reuters: “Most states are not proposing to trim Medicaid rolls because the new federal health reform law requires that they maintain current Medicaid coverage. But the U.S. Health and Human Services Department has said Arizona can drop coverage because the state is providing it through a temporary waiver, and the new law does not require extending that. … Taking an ax to transplant funding is backed by many Republicans in Arizona, some of who sympathize with Brewer.”

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/us_arizona_transplants

Our first government death panel comes not from “Obamacare” but from Tea Party Republicans working through a loophole in Obamacare.

Truth Should Matter

Recently, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee repeated statements about President Obama that were disproven before the last election. In one interview, Huckabee falsely claimed that Obama had been raised in Kenya; in another, Huckabee implied that Obama had attended a madrassa as a child. Huckabee is not stupid, and he must know that both of these claims had been thoroughly investigated and proven false.

While it’s not shocking for politicians to slander their opponents, two aspects of this story are especially troubling.

First, Huckabee’s statements seem to be an attempt to appeal to the fears and prejudices of the worst elements of the Republican base. 

Second, this is further evidence that the truth no longer matters in American politics. “Birthers” refuse to believe Obama was born in the U.S., despite having seen his birth certificate. In 2009, opponents of the health care reform law repeated lies about the legislation that were widely believed. Climate change deniers continue to ignore the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting man-made climate change.

Sensible people change their opinions when contradicted by facts; honest people do not make statements they know are false.