You forgot to add a recent Dick Cheney quote:

"None of them were drafted, they were all volunteers".

Thanks Mr. Milburn for pointing to the elephant in the room: religion. Maybe because so many people still have personal self-worth invested in their religion, they're unable to allow emotionally for the fact that religion actually plays a role in presidential decisions.

I can't figure out why smart people like Bill Press and Thom Hartmann still feel a need to hang onto their religion when it's responsible for so much evil. Why not just take the good messages Jesus had and live by them without the overhead of the religion founded in his name (without his consent)? By using religious talk (I can't tell you how many times Hartmann says "amen") they give credence to shills like Bush and the Right Wing zealots.

He's just as bad as the guys who are sending those that are blowing themselves up in the name of Allah.

Religion gives spirituality a bad name.

What if there's no god? Then those soldiers would just be mangled and dead miracles of evolution and George would be a muttering psychotic lost in arcane torture/cannibalism cult rationalizations. Impeach, institutionalize, determine fitness to stand trial for war crimes - but get the NUKE BUTTON away from him ASAP! Don't make me come down there.

Faith is believing what you know is not true. bushs true faith is in the corp-govt class, his class, and profit. The rest is bullshit to be spoonfed to the buy-bull beaters,he has used them like shit paper and they feel so much the better for it.As long as a pol professes to have invisible friend in the sky he will get these peoples vote. Don't say much for the American sheeple.

After reading Bush's comment which the Media will never talk about as they care only for the money they make and they have no conscious, I am sickened.

Do the American people realize that over 27,000 ex-military people are disabled due to fighting in the war? That over 40,000 of them have mental illnesses? Over 4,000 military men have died on the ground...this doesn't give us ones that died in Military hospitals in Germany. That is why Bush doesn't want Cameras showing bodies coming back as the death toll is WAY HIGHER!

It is disgusting that death is better than life. That religion which isn't reality but MANMADE is embraced. Why doesn't Bush go fight over there if he thinks death is better than living? How could so callous of a human being who golfs enjoys his life could degrade others lives as less than his by saying they are better OFF DEAD!?

He is a sick person and with this kind of thinking, I don't think he is even human.

Nothing new here leaders have been using religion to justify and stir up peasants to fight since the begining of time. No difference in Bush and Bin Laden who promises his followers 72 virgins

JaneM wrore:

"He's just as bad as the guys who are sending those that are blowing themselves up in the name of Allah."

Let's be very clear here. It is expected that religion is going to be invoked in most suicide attacks. (but not in all cases - the Tamil Tigers are athiest Maoists and they use suicide tactics).

BUT, please, anyone who knows anything at all about the reality of occupation and opression in the Mddle East should know that they are NOT "blowing themselves up in the name of Allah". They are blowing themselves up as acts of desperate resistance againse a hopelessly better-armed opressor.

Have we forgotten or haven't we heard about the 1000 military people who attempt suicide every month?

About half succeed.
Half fail and continue to live.

Which is the better off half?

To me it looks like those suffering serious PTSD may indeed
be better off dead than experiencing the agony of PTSD for decades to come.

Milburn says,"Some call it faith. What do you call it when the leader of an ostensibly secular nation uses his position of power to spin an unverifiable tale to justify and celebrate the deaths for which he is responsible? " IF your "god" is Mars, then war is holy homage; and if your god is Mammon, then profit is a fitting tribute. THOSE are the gods of Bush. Jesus is the name used as a PR stunt that obviously works to seduce naive minds into great carnage that would NEVER be Jesus' own doing!

MAPLEFUDGE: It's about WHICH 'gods' or timeless archetypal forces influence human beings. These energies are subtle but profound, and in my view constitute a celestial form of "DNA" for want of a better analogy.

GBYOTX: Yes. The pattern HAS existed, but one would think given education, the study of history, the exposure of motives that have previously led to unjust wars, and the present Internet that KNOWLEDGE would overcome massive stupidity. That's where religion as OPIATE of the peoples, combined with extremely cruel economic policies ("Let them eat cake," 21st century style) works against progress.

bush is not the President. He's a Supreme Court Appointed Military Governor. A president would be someone that actually won an election in this country.

So, boys and girls, join up for the exciting chance that you, too, will have an opportunity to meet your Creator! If you are lucky you won't be physically or mentally damaged for life and you might, maybe,perhaps, come back and have some small part of your college education paid for. Or not.

"None of them were drafted, they were all Muslims."

A desire for simple answers leads to a desire for simple questions.

Although everyone is a bit short on the troops that have died by about 812 since last DoD confirmation, so add quite a few to that.
Today the Sociopath in Chief was addressing graduates of the Air Force Academy and told them how we were able with our increased technical abilities to fight, okay here we go, "MORE HUMANE WARS", WTF, Humane Wars???????????
I hate him more and mor every damn time he opens his piehole, every damn time.

Thank you USAn for the explaination of why there are some suicide bombers that are Muslim, 'cos it seems today on alot of posts there have been many anti-Islam untrue posts by certain people. I thought many had started to get a grasp on the followers of al-Islam and what some call Muslims I find are not, according to this Qur'an to my left they aren't.

I just hope that Little Shrub doesn't decide (after all he is the Decider) that we all should be "delivered out of the agony of war to meet their Creator.".

The last time I saw him, he was doing an NBC interview, he seemed a little pressured and a little crazed.

When I was younger I remember talking with people about Ronald Reagan and the fear that he would turn the Earth into a nuclear fireball. I really worry now that Little Shrub is stupid and crazy enough to actually do it.

Siouxrose re: celestial DNA. I feel I know whereof you speak. "the force that thru the green fuse drives the flower..." I've heard it called 'the self-organizing principle' in a book called COMPLEXITY (that it took me about four months to read) and it struck even cynical old me as a holy thing. The assembled Deities will be relieved to hear that I am not anti-God per se, I just don't like the ones that are overseeing the current slaughter of innocents worldwide.

Actually Cheney's statement about the military being all volunteer make a little more sense than M. Bush's statement. I assume that some of the volunteers knew that this war is illegal and that being the case you would hope some would have the courages to exercise their freedom of choice and just say "No!". We should celebrate and defend those who did.

Would it not be interesting to hear Bush himself meeting his Creator some day and explaining how his actions as Commander in Chief fit with being a "born again Christian"? Surely the Creator will be very impressed with his peace keeping and his concern for the poor and needy among us.

Douglas Milburn writes that in "this one sentence, [Bush] revealed in total clarity, the extent to which he has bought into the most bedrock, faux reality of the right wing religionists". Yep, the Prez sure did.

But how strange it is that Bush's words convey a clarity of theological meaning to the author, and to all of the previous commentators, that I interpret quite differently in terms of religious codespeak.

According to Milburn, the phrase in question was that the 4,000 dead American soldiers were "delivered out of the agony of war to meet their Creator."

Well, my mother once delivered me out of the agony of her labor. I hear a neo-con Calvinist call of predestination.

What Little George was perhaps really saying was that these brave souls were born to die in battle - not so much that a merciful God had relieved them of a life of toil and tears in the Green Zone, spiriting them away to peaceful repose in heaven, an act of divine intervention from which the faithful arguably should take comfort or even rejoice.

I discern more the language of a Spartan warrior cult, rather than a twisted message somewhat coherently drawn from somebody's reading of the New Testament.

Bill from Saginaw

The local nincompoops in my town are raging against the mortal sin of homosexuality and gay marriage. They are quoting out of Levicticus - The same book that allows for the ownership of slaves and calls for the stoning of nearly everyone for everything.

It is very difficult for me to understand why, but the believers of this nonsense, really believe it. It isn't just a front or an act. They put aside the New Testament and Jesus and concentrate on the really wicked, Old Testament, wrath-o'-God stuff.

I think they have more in common with the hard-core, Muslim extremists than they do with any of us.

Whatfools - good one!

USAn - Exactly right. Many of us tend to view the desperation of occupied Muslims in the simplest of terms. It is easier for us to assume they are willing to die for "72 virgins" or because they are all religious extremists (they're all crzy fuckin' Ay-rabs) than to acknowledge their actual, real, long-standing and unrecognized grievances and admit that it is a political struggle, not a religious one.

BILL from SAGINAW offered, "I discern more the language of a Spartan warrior cult, rather than a twisted message somewhat coherently drawn from somebody's reading of the New Testament." Hey, c'mon Bill, say it with me, to these force first zealots it's ostensibly MARS RULES!

MAPLEFUDGE: I totally agree. The ancient astrologers understood an amazing gridwork of correspondences. The planets with signs, both with body parts and their functioning organ systems, specific traits that ARE archetypal and appear as redundant themes within the human experience of probably every culture. Why? Because these forces are intrinsic to the plan for mankind. The wisdom of the CIRCLE which utilizes 12 sign-positions is that it probably is analogous to Jesus' utilizing 12 disciples and Abraham founding 12 tribes. The traits consistent with each of these positions have positive and negative applications. The persona of Saturn, the angry/punitive god of the Old Testament, so beloved by authoritarians is a valid and necessary principle and portion of the human psyche (on individual levels) as well as basic society. The key is it must be counter-balanced by OTHER equally important components found within this Divine circle.

Without Saturn there is no personal accountability or realization that one learns from their mistakes. Without Mars there is no sense of the separate self or ego, but too much of that and the person loses all sight of OTHER and in cases where the Mars is truly raw and primitive, the individual gravitates TO violence. Our society is lessening the voice and counterbalance of the other ESSENCES and ringing UP the volume on Saturn (punishments/Calvinism) and Mars (violence, war, aggression, competition). It seems to me that a recognition of the power and beauty of ALL 12 paths of "discipleship," the basic STORIES human beings are by their natures equipped to express, we'd have a basis for balance and the forces within ourselves that can do such damage would not be let loose.

The astrologers were destroyed because they understood how these facets work together, and that basic harmony is anathema to a class-based society where authority and hierarchy prevail over just and egalitarian expressions of public life. The LOGOS or stellar blueprint offers a map that leads minds out of redundant feedback loops that express as recurrent historical patterns, what I term "homage to the old gods." It seems you get it, and from your posts, I salute your depth of intelligence.

He said the 4000 service members who are with "jebus" now are better off but how about those who have been maimed, disfigured, and shattered psychologically? where is jebus for them?

"delivered out of the agony of war to meet their Creator."
Sounds like every other terrorist to me !

Why are you outraged ? You must understand the arrogance of some of the elites. They believe they are superior, and regard the masses as pathetic "little people". These same arrogant elites consider themselves "winners", and that there must be "losers" to balance out the universe.

They really believe this. They are true believers, just like all those who believe they are "losers", who is there to argue with either of them ?

However, there is a third way, and this way does not require losers, and is win win for all. This way is know as the "Robotic Wageless Economy" where humans only serve themselves as free will decisions, and systems of robots & computers, which can never have a soul or free will, serve humans. Yes it is a remarkably simple concept whose time has come. ...read more about that here: http://RoboEco.com/itsAboutTime and read about the "SUPERCLASS" whose truly powerful leverage can make it happen: http://teaminfinity.com/COMMUNICAE-12556.shtml

There are good elites too, reach out to them, and help let them prove they deserve to be called elite by fast-tracking the Robotic Wageless Economy in your and your childrens' lifetimes !! Be well, be strong !!

"...The basic tenet of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do. It is the freedom to refrain, withdraw and abstain which makes a totalitarian regime impossible. Those addicted to action do not probably feel unfree in active totalitarian regime. Hitler won over the generals, technicians and scientists not by preaching to them but by giving them more [to do] than they asked for and encouraging them to go the limit..."

BOTH "Faith" and Terror are instruments for the elimination of individual self-respect.
Terror crushes the autonomy of self-respect, while "Faith" obtains its more or less voluntary surrender.
In both cases the result of the elimination of individual autonomy is - automatism.
Both "Faith" & Terror reduce the human entity to a formula that can be manipulated at will.

MAN is indeed a fantastic creature; and nothing about him is so fantastic as the alchemy of his crushed soul which transmutes shame and weakness into pride and faith.

IT HAS been often said that power corrupts. But perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the fruits of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from the sense of their inadequacy and impotence. They hate not wickedness but weakness. When it is in their power to do so, the weak destroy weakness wherever they see it. Woe to the weak when they are preyed upon by the weak. The self-hatred of the weak is likewise an instance of their hatred of weakness.

To any rational mind, Bush and his fellow travelers are stark, raving mad. Crazy. Certifiably insane.

Faith isn't fact, fact is fact.

There is absolutely NO proof Jesus or any miracle making Jew existed. The Romans had incrediblly good historians. The first mention of "Jesus" came decades after the so-called event. Do your homework.

SOOO...what this means is you, Bush, and anyone else who calls themself "Christian" are identifying with a non-existant being. That means there can't be an "anti-Christ" because there was none to begin with.

It is just us folks and it is time for taking some responsibility and not banking on some sort of evangelical miracle to intervene.

And that's the fact, Jack...

Bush is an idiot. His handlers know this. He is rich. Face it people the powers that be don't give a DAMN about the little guy. They just don't care. They say they do and everybody believes them. Not me, I don't believe anyone anymore They ALL could care less. Just face it.
Now something really important. About those 72 Virgins. No matter how you space it, sometime or other your going to run out of virgins. Then your stuck with 72, yes 72! cranky old ladies for eternity. Sounds more like Hell than Heaven to me. Maybe thats what Bush needs. Maybe his Creator will see that fit for him. One things for sure. The powers that be need to be sent to their Creator. See what He thinks of what they have done and what they have been up to. Let them get their just rewards NOW and leave us alone. I think we would all be better off.

It's called DENIAL, and it's the bedrock of religion--all religion.

Excuse me--Bush is NOT a Christian! I wish people would stop with that disinformation because it makes REAL Christians look bad! Bush is a cult member--think Skull and Bones.

I am a fundamentalist Christian. Because of that I am also pro-Constitution. We need to do away with the Department of Homeland Security. We need to worry about our OWN country first and stop handing over our rights in the name of "national security" (whatever THAT means anymore). We need to stop meddling in the affairs of other nations.

I don't know what god Bush is following, but it sure isn't the God of the Bible!

Alexandra, you're absolutely right. We need to make a distinction between "Christians", who follow the teachings of Christ, and "Khristians", who follow the teachings of the "Left Behind" series of books.

"Khristians" who lose their lives fighting in the "Khristian Krusades" get to jump the line on the "KRapture". They may not get 50 virgins, but they get their pick of SUVs and Plazma TVs up there on the "Khrist Kloud".

Must be such a blissful way to live and let die.

Bush has no qualms whatsoever about sending people to death who aren't part of his super rich "base." He sent at least one retarded man to his death while he was governor of Texas.

You'll notice he wasn't too anxious to go to Vietnam and possibly meet his maker, so he got Pa Bush to get him into the the Nat'l Guard and stay here safe on U.S. soil, in Texas.

He's quite the hypocrite.

Did sombody mention Leviticus? What a great demonstration of a loving God and a few neat ideas for potential sinners especially those with wicked thoughts towards their relatives and the hot lady next door.

Read some of those items in Chapter 20. Especially 2:9
"For everyone that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death."
Great motivation to control kids. Beats no Nintendo for a week as punishment. "Oh shit mom, I don't want to do this fuckin' homework." The Bible does not specify the method of execution but does seem rather fond of stoning.
Art

The Rothschild cabal seems to have an endless supply of these moron puppets to run all of their countries.

Okay, I got it now. According to George Bush, the dead soldiers and their families owe him one since the dead soldiers were delivered from the agony of war, the war that Bush invented. It's true Bush sent them into "war" which they subsequently died in, but their deaths cancel his action since they met their Creator, thanks to Bush. Gee, isn't Bush a wonderful person to do big favors like that?

I'd recommend reading "War Prayer" by Mark Twain. As always he has the pulse of the hypocrites and unmasks them mercilessly, in this case more angrily than humorously. I don't know the difference between religion and spirituality, except that the first is perhaps a collective delusion and the second involves fanciful individuals still trying to bifurcate the universe into matter and spirit ( or "spiritualize" matter, whatever "spiritualize" is --nobody ever really says) thus creating unproven oppositions that all too quickly lead to violent antagonism. Let's all leave God and spirit, phantoms and spooks, and dogma -- official or personal -- out of the equation and focus on poor, bleeding humanity. The plain facts demonstrate that George Bush, along with his family, has no sense of common decency. Remember his mama chuckling about the poor of New Orleans and suggesting that, really, having lost their homes and lives, THOSE people really hadn't lost much, since what they had wasn't worth much to begin with. Sounds like George learned well at his mother's knee. But do read "War Prayer", where the whole parade of superstition justifying atrocities against our fellows is uncovered and skewered.