It is amazing how the Corporate-Owned-News never even mentions what voters want, only what the big donors want. It could not be a more blatant admission that there isn't a shred of democracy in the US. Speaking about a "democracy" where the big donors choose, and then change their minds and re-choose the candidate, is ludicrous at this point. The worst two candidates of my lifetime are running against each other, AGAIN! That tells you all you need to know about the state of democracy in the US. We need a second 4th of July, this one where we gain our independence from the oligarchs.
I don't think it is even possible to have honest news in a capitalist system because money will always distort and obfuscate actual news in favor of distractions. There is no way to unbias news that is controlled by big capital. Our news has always been highly biased in favor of capital and war because it has always been controlled by the oligarchs. This was true even during the Spanish-American war and in the lead up to every war since then. Plus, the Corporate-Owned-News spends a lot of time now bashing independent news as "fake", so many Americans avoid going outside the CON sphere.
Here's hoping the American people can figure out how to gain their independence from the crooked oligarch overlords. It's going to be a lot harder than kicking out the Brits was.
First of all, again, yet, and still, John, America does not have a “Capitalist System.” It has a Corporatist System.
And second of all ~ as You point out ~, there are many, many sources for News, Information, and Facts beside just the Corporatist MSM CON [and con].
At least at present.
But that could change with the stroke of a pen if this Government decides that censorship is the best way to stop all the mis-. dis-, and mal-information "fake news" ~ to say nothing of the “conspiracy theories” ~ put out by that Alternative Media.
My guess is that that is in the planned, programmed, and in preparation stage, even as we speak.
At this point, Biden's intransigence looks so incredible I don't see how anyone can put forth the notion that he gives a tinker's damn about the country. It is all about him. Shame on him and on his family and those that persist in this train wreck. As BV's last post stated well, there is a constitutional way forward that should happen now. No oligarch interference required, though I have to say, they don't seem to be gaining any ground against Biden's insistence of remaining in office and in the election. I'm sure tonight's prime time ABC interview will reassure the world once and for all. "Sure!"
We have before us a second "Stonewall" after the historic Jackson, it is Stonewall Biden. In this way he is duplicating his opponent who is all out for himself alone.
Biden is on the way out - the donor class, per recent reporting, has already begun moving its money into House and Senate races. This is all Kabuki theater to allow him to get out with 'dignity' (or at least Doctor Jill's dignity and her efforts to preserve the illusion she helped create).
His legacy will be remarkable.
He has exposed the incompetence of both US diplomacy and the military and its weapons systems.
He has shown the total subservience of the US to Israel.
He has ensured the final steps in the destruction of the US dollar.
He has shown, as described above, the total corruption of big money in politics.
He has pushed a "vaccine" that more and more is being shown to be a bioweapon.
His appointments have shown the idiocy of identity as the primary criterion for any appointment or job.
He has taken whatever is the reality of climate change and used it for pork-barrel spending programs - thus making any future reasoned debate out of bounds.
He has destroyed whatever is left of young people's hopes for the future.
I gather there is some list out there putting Biden in the top 14 presidents of all time. Someone responded that he is third on their list: Lincoln; FDR; Biden. I have to put such on the hopeless list.
Wow! Really? 45 people have served as president. There have been some bad ones, for sure. I've never put together a ranked list of all of them, but I can't see how Biden would be in the top 3, let alone the top 14.
If we imagine four tiers: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, I think Biden at best would be Fair, and in some ways he'd be Poor (e.g. genocide in Gaza).
Biden has not done all of those things by himself, TomR. Or even any of them.
The ONLY reason Biden has been able to “accomplish” all those things is because he built on what Trump and the Congress did before him.
And the only reason Trump was able to do that was because of what Obama and Congress did before him. Who built did what Cheney/Bush II and Congress did before him.
Who in turn did and built on what every President and Congress did from Clinton, Bush I/Reagan, Carter, and on back thru Eisenhower, Truman, Roosevelt, and ultimately Wilson who, in 1913, established the Fourth Branch of the US government: the Federal Reserve System.
And ultimately, the only reason any of these politicians, their bureaucrats, and anointed political appointees have been able to do all that is because the American People let them do it and get away with it.
When asked what was the result of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia back in 1787, Benjamin Franklin responded: “We have given you a Republic. If YOU can keep it.” [EMPHASIS added.]
At this stage of The Game, the American People are well on the way to losing it.
And when that happens and America moves on to “tyranny and dictatorship with American characteristics,” there will be no one to blame but “We, The People.”
The question at this point is not whether or not the United States is going to disintegrate into chaos or its only alternative tyranny. The question is: When is that going to happen?
The question for today, 5 July 2024, is NOT whether or not the United States will survive to celebrate its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, 729 days from today. And if the American Peoples will be in any condition or mood to celebrate anything.
The question is “Can it survive?”
And given what America has inflicted, perpetrated, and perpetuated on this Planet since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Korea, Vietnam, Central America, Iraq and Kuwait, the former Yugoslavia, and then since 9/11, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq again, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and currently, Ukraine and Gaza [and soon Taiwan], the real question is: “SHOULD it survive?”
Who do you think is in charge of Trump? His mega donors! It's the $$ interests who run this country and choose the candidates of both parties. It's time everyone discard the illusion of democracy. This country has been taken over by the big corporations and wealthy moguls. It's now a plutocracy, with neocon disciples of Brzezinski running the National Security State. It's important to grasp the big picture and not see the forest for the trees.
Trump, it seems, is less owned than Biden since Trump has his own money and sells Bibles, golden sneakers, and related products. But of course he has mega donors (maga donors?) and they want something in return for their dough.
It's corruption all the way down, made "legal" by the SCOTUS.
If by "legal" You mean Citizens United, there has been corruption virtually all the way down since this system of Government and Governance was launched in September 1788 when the new Constitution was sufficiently ratified to go into effect.
The longer this story goes, the more surreal it all seems. In my mind, it played out that Biden would do the right thing and resign. We'd move on. If I'm reading this right, it looks like the public has pulled its support; Wall St. has pulled its support; and many Democrats who are down ballot from Biden are correctly concerned that their chances of winning are diminished. Even Obama is questioning having Biden remain in office. And yet, in the face of all this, the media and the Biden family are still holding firm. The damage being done to the country is inestimable. Pile on top of all this the word that Hunter Biden, a convicted felon, is now advising his father AND sitting in on meetings? Is the cabinet so loyal to Biden that they can't see their way clear to trigger the 25th Amendment?
In simple words this shows the utter corruption of USA democracy that I have watched in dismay for almost sixty years. Will sanity ever prevail in US politics?
Starting to wonder if all this is really just a distraction as it seems both the left and the right are pushing the same narrative. Meanwhile, war goes on. Linking today as usual @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/ as well as Simplicius' excellent article which I saw earlier.
Definitely more war, perhaps not nuclear and the ultimate goals of the U.N.'s Agenda 2030, which in a sense does cover all of the above to some degree plus more such as total surveillance, 15 minute cities, digital currencies and so on.
Your opening line, "The Biden Presidential Bot that was bought and paid for by rich oligarchs" as I read it Bill, is totally related to and consistent with these Bible words: Then Jesus said to his disciples, Truly I say to you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
There are so many Bible verses in both the Old and New Testaments about the rich juxtaposed with the poor. Remember the rich man and Lazarus?
The Other Prophet Ezekiel of the OT in 16:48-50 is the only one giving the details on why Sodom was destroyed. It had nothing to do with gay sex.
As I live, says the Lord God, Sodom your sister has not done as you and your daughters have done.
Behold this was the iniquity of Sodom your sister: pride, abundance of bread, and careless ease were hers and her daughters', and SHE DID NOT STRENGTHEN THE HAND OF THE POOR AND NEEDY.
And they became haughty and did abomination before Me, and I removed them when I saw.
That reads like it describes the NOMINALLY Christian Nations Today.
Jesus doesn't exclude the rich. He knows with the existing system of the Material World, they love and serve MORE MONEY for themselves.
I see MONEY as the Image of the Beast of the Revelation, essential for buying or selling any merchandise in this Material World. Tough if you don't have any to keep up with the COSTS of the FREE WORLD our Earthly Leaders tell us we're blessed to be living in.
James is very EXPLICIT in Chapter 5 of his book in the Bible: Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for THE LAST DAYS (Establishment Christianity preaches we are in THE LAST SAYS but do not touch on the Biblical systematic reasons for that approaching time of Tribulation for the World)
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by FRAUD, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord Almighty.
You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
You have condemned and killed the just; and he does not resist you.
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman wait for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
You also be patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws close. (these lines suggest when the Spirit of Christ returns in POWER, it will be the beginning of the regime change of the rich and powerful at the top of the Pyramid of the Economic Structures ruling over us the Masses have sustained for Millennia. For those who have noticed, it's not just in the people in the US and Canada seeking change of government. It's Global among the Masses of People in Democratic and Authoritarian systems.)
In the eye of the hurricane, the Children of God will know PEACE, no matter others will be freaking out seeing what is happening in the World exterior to them.
I have often seen the Biblical story of Jesus calling his Disciples to follow him, even walking on the turbulent Sea, as an allegory the great OT Prophet Isaiah wrote about so long ago. That was before Jesus called out the abbreviated NT version of this OT prophecy:
Woe to a multitude of many peoples, like the roaring of seas they roar; and a rushing of nations, like the rushing of mighty waters they rush. Nations, like the rushing of many waters, they rush, and He shall rebuke them, and he shall flee from afar, and he shall be pursued like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the thistle blossoms before the tempest.
Bill, I wrote this just on your opening line. I read the whole article were many other lines I wanted to extrapolate and incorporate in one comment, but I got carried away in the Spirit with this long exhortation that maybe be too long for some other readers to digest already!
Yes, Ray, Jesus wasn't about money and might. Jesus was about love and doing right.
Jesus, for believers, is the way, the truth, and the light. And what we have today is deception and lies. Lies presented as truthful. And these lies are sold to us as beneficial, e.g. Biden is a capable president and commander in chief. Believe it! Because Trump is the alternative.
Believing a lie is never a good idea. Especially when that lie empowers people driven by money and power.
Important correction, Bill. Jesus still isn't about money and power!
Personally I think this is among the most important insights in Scripture the Masses haven't grasped yet and Establishment Religion doesn't highlight it's significance and implication.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him that overcomes WILL I GRANT TO SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
There could be a Higher Power, but where is the "Evidence?"I do tho. hold a firm opinion that the Bible is /was not a message from any higher power. The Bible is rife with errors, and is the work of flawed men.
The Bible is called "THE GOOD BOOK" for good reasons.
Yes, it does have good and evil scenes and situations in it to give People the choice of how they want to live themselves and to use their imagination to create the Nation in the word.
This Biblical line makes good Common Sense in our Times;
"This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying: 'Not by military force and not by physical strength, but by My spirit,' says the Lord of Hosts.
Unfortunately, US Christian Pro Life Nationalism stops with the unborn.
It ignores that most significant insight in their Bibles and doesn't go Pro Life at the other end of the spectrum with so many Living People being killed when the US Military-Industrial-Congressional is the BIGGEST ARMS MERCHANT in the History of Nations, making a KILLING off the Ukraine WAR and Gaza genocide. NATO Nations have to buy US weapons. It's just MONEY, Business and American jobs!
If that's what the people want, God will let them have it, as the LEADING INDICATORS point to this Material World being at the precipice.
i'm curious. Dennis: Would You say what has emerged around Trump is a religion, the Prophet, Savior, and Guru of which is one of those folks driven by money and power?
Dennis, I cited the plain Bible English as the words apply to the CURRENT World situation. Obviously that's way over your head you refuse to acknowledge.
This is a lie, " Especially when that lie empowers people driven by money and power. As religion does every day."
If you read my comment with an open mind, what I posted does not reflect the Christian Establishment, but you can't do that with your closed mind. You can't even refute anything I post with cogent counter-arguments except to be in denial of Biblical Common sense Truths that are apt descriptions of what's happening in Today's Material World.
All of what Jesus taught rested on something that we have no evidence is true - that there is an afterlife that will make things right.
If one thinks this earthly life is only a trial and another one will follow before which there will be ultimate justice, then it makes sense to let the mighty do as they please. I, for one, am not a believer. Hitler is not roasting in hell, Gandhi is not kicking back in heaven. We have to act to make this one and only world we have livable in every way for everyone. Even if that is impossible, we have to try because this life is all we have and each one of us knows that just as we can suffer, so can others.
Afterlife Cliff, is next week, next month and next Year. A believer starts living Eternal Life the Day one starts believing. I'm not waiting until my flesh gives up the ghost.
In my Faith and Belief in God and the Spirit of Christ, I believe this, especially the part where we have to try at least!
"We have to act to make this one and only world we have livable in every way for everyone. Even if that is impossible, we have to try because this life is all we have and each one of us knows that just as we can suffer, so can others.
VERY Well said, Clif. Thank You for articulating Your perspective on this so clearly and concisely. It is a mindset and worldview that needs to be as widely disseminated ~ and then lived ~ as possible.
It is well past time to turn the Panopticon to gaze at the powerful. Representatives' or senators' visitor logs should be made public in the same way that political contributions to their campaigns are. Every action by the military must be transparent. Wikileaks proved that the data is available, but it's legally sequestered and the press has to beg for via FOIA requests or wait for whistleblowers. Every decision by the federal bureaucracy needs to be published instantly, and, to their credit, except for what we might consider the Deep State of the military-intelligence complex, it often is. But those agencies that lie in the shadows are what's going to bring this nation down.
There was a organization called the Sunshine Project that was an attempt at what you suggest. I've always marveled that there is documentation for everything and it eventually comes out usually long after it could be useful. You'd think there would be many more cases of destruction of evidence. Nixon even made his tapes and those did get exposed in time, only partially erased. There should be a very impressive monument in DC devoted to whistleblowers, but that would be a mighty blow to our mythology.
Speaking of turning BV into a “Trump Bashfest,” Dennis, i’m curious if You have any answers to the following questions i’ve asked a bunch of Your fellow-MAGAts, none of whom deigned to have answered:
Given that “MAGA” ~ Make America Great AGAIN [EMPHASIS added] ~ implies that America was once “Great” ~ whatever that means ~ and is now no longer “Great”:
1. When exactly did America become “Great,” and How and Why did that happen?
2. When exactly did America stop being “Great,” and How and Why did that happen?
3. When and How will Americans and the World know that America is “Great Again,” as promised by Trump and his Cult of True Believers?
"There has been a secret group of high-level government leaders who control Biden and who will soon set in motion their plan to replace Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee."
Now tell us something we haven't known for a long, long time.
Having put that issue to bed, don't think for a moment that the same thing isn't true for the Republican Party, i.e., there has been a secret group of wealthy leaders inside and outside government who control Trump (and all Republican candidates for that matter). The only difference is that they don't intend to replace him.
This is the nature of partisan politics. There is always an "inside" group, sometimes overt and sometimes covert, that make all the important decisions - who's the candidate, what policies he will will support and what policies he will oppose.
When you hear people talk about the deep state - that's the real deep state.
I'm not sure they control a president directly as they do need to get his ok as the final word. I'd say the control comes more in presenting him with only the options they decide to present. They being the wealthy as you describe, the options will never include something for we the people. A good example would be GW Bush. He was proud to be "The Decider" but look who was giving him advice - Cheney and Rumsfeld with their acolytes.
The control the money and they control the information flow. And in both Biden's and Trump's cases, they probably provide what few brains are required to get things done.
It is amazing how the Corporate-Owned-News never even mentions what voters want, only what the big donors want. It could not be a more blatant admission that there isn't a shred of democracy in the US. Speaking about a "democracy" where the big donors choose, and then change their minds and re-choose the candidate, is ludicrous at this point. The worst two candidates of my lifetime are running against each other, AGAIN! That tells you all you need to know about the state of democracy in the US. We need a second 4th of July, this one where we gain our independence from the oligarchs.
YES. And of course those same big donors own the media, which is why the media ignores what voters want.
I don't think it is even possible to have honest news in a capitalist system because money will always distort and obfuscate actual news in favor of distractions. There is no way to unbias news that is controlled by big capital. Our news has always been highly biased in favor of capital and war because it has always been controlled by the oligarchs. This was true even during the Spanish-American war and in the lead up to every war since then. Plus, the Corporate-Owned-News spends a lot of time now bashing independent news as "fake", so many Americans avoid going outside the CON sphere.
Here's hoping the American people can figure out how to gain their independence from the crooked oligarch overlords. It's going to be a lot harder than kicking out the Brits was.
First of all, again, yet, and still, John, America does not have a “Capitalist System.” It has a Corporatist System.
And second of all ~ as You point out ~, there are many, many sources for News, Information, and Facts beside just the Corporatist MSM CON [and con].
At least at present.
But that could change with the stroke of a pen if this Government decides that censorship is the best way to stop all the mis-. dis-, and mal-information "fake news" ~ to say nothing of the “conspiracy theories” ~ put out by that Alternative Media.
My guess is that that is in the planned, programmed, and in preparation stage, even as we speak.
At this point, Biden's intransigence looks so incredible I don't see how anyone can put forth the notion that he gives a tinker's damn about the country. It is all about him. Shame on him and on his family and those that persist in this train wreck. As BV's last post stated well, there is a constitutional way forward that should happen now. No oligarch interference required, though I have to say, they don't seem to be gaining any ground against Biden's insistence of remaining in office and in the election. I'm sure tonight's prime time ABC interview will reassure the world once and for all. "Sure!"
Exactly. How reassuring it is to know that Joe is "running the world".
We have before us a second "Stonewall" after the historic Jackson, it is Stonewall Biden. In this way he is duplicating his opponent who is all out for himself alone.
Biden is on the way out - the donor class, per recent reporting, has already begun moving its money into House and Senate races. This is all Kabuki theater to allow him to get out with 'dignity' (or at least Doctor Jill's dignity and her efforts to preserve the illusion she helped create).
His legacy will be remarkable.
He has exposed the incompetence of both US diplomacy and the military and its weapons systems.
He has shown the total subservience of the US to Israel.
He has ensured the final steps in the destruction of the US dollar.
He has shown, as described above, the total corruption of big money in politics.
He has pushed a "vaccine" that more and more is being shown to be a bioweapon.
His appointments have shown the idiocy of identity as the primary criterion for any appointment or job.
He has taken whatever is the reality of climate change and used it for pork-barrel spending programs - thus making any future reasoned debate out of bounds.
He has destroyed whatever is left of young people's hopes for the future.
That's some legacy.
I gather there is some list out there putting Biden in the top 14 presidents of all time. Someone responded that he is third on their list: Lincoln; FDR; Biden. I have to put such on the hopeless list.
Wow! Really? 45 people have served as president. There have been some bad ones, for sure. I've never put together a ranked list of all of them, but I can't see how Biden would be in the top 3, let alone the top 14.
If we imagine four tiers: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, I think Biden at best would be Fair, and in some ways he'd be Poor (e.g. genocide in Gaza).
He who governs best governs least. By that metric, the greats are Calvin Coolidge and Grover Cleveland.
Heh. And my guess is that there is also a List by somebody who puts Trump if not as #1, certainly in the top 2 or 3.
Biden has not done all of those things by himself, TomR. Or even any of them.
The ONLY reason Biden has been able to “accomplish” all those things is because he built on what Trump and the Congress did before him.
And the only reason Trump was able to do that was because of what Obama and Congress did before him. Who built did what Cheney/Bush II and Congress did before him.
Who in turn did and built on what every President and Congress did from Clinton, Bush I/Reagan, Carter, and on back thru Eisenhower, Truman, Roosevelt, and ultimately Wilson who, in 1913, established the Fourth Branch of the US government: the Federal Reserve System.
And ultimately, the only reason any of these politicians, their bureaucrats, and anointed political appointees have been able to do all that is because the American People let them do it and get away with it.
When asked what was the result of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia back in 1787, Benjamin Franklin responded: “We have given you a Republic. If YOU can keep it.” [EMPHASIS added.]
At this stage of The Game, the American People are well on the way to losing it.
And when that happens and America moves on to “tyranny and dictatorship with American characteristics,” there will be no one to blame but “We, The People.”
The question at this point is not whether or not the United States is going to disintegrate into chaos or its only alternative tyranny. The question is: When is that going to happen?
The question for today, 5 July 2024, is NOT whether or not the United States will survive to celebrate its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, 729 days from today. And if the American Peoples will be in any condition or mood to celebrate anything.
The question is “Can it survive?”
And given what America has inflicted, perpetrated, and perpetuated on this Planet since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Korea, Vietnam, Central America, Iraq and Kuwait, the former Yugoslavia, and then since 9/11, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq again, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and currently, Ukraine and Gaza [and soon Taiwan], the real question is: “SHOULD it survive?”
Who do you think is in charge of Trump? His mega donors! It's the $$ interests who run this country and choose the candidates of both parties. It's time everyone discard the illusion of democracy. This country has been taken over by the big corporations and wealthy moguls. It's now a plutocracy, with neocon disciples of Brzezinski running the National Security State. It's important to grasp the big picture and not see the forest for the trees.
Trump, it seems, is less owned than Biden since Trump has his own money and sells Bibles, golden sneakers, and related products. But of course he has mega donors (maga donors?) and they want something in return for their dough.
It's corruption all the way down, made "legal" by the SCOTUS.
If by "legal" You mean Citizens United, there has been corruption virtually all the way down since this system of Government and Governance was launched in September 1788 when the new Constitution was sufficiently ratified to go into effect.
The Constitution was a bloodless coup, as I see it.
Never quite looked at it that way, ikester8. Thanks for the seed.
The longer this story goes, the more surreal it all seems. In my mind, it played out that Biden would do the right thing and resign. We'd move on. If I'm reading this right, it looks like the public has pulled its support; Wall St. has pulled its support; and many Democrats who are down ballot from Biden are correctly concerned that their chances of winning are diminished. Even Obama is questioning having Biden remain in office. And yet, in the face of all this, the media and the Biden family are still holding firm. The damage being done to the country is inestimable. Pile on top of all this the word that Hunter Biden, a convicted felon, is now advising his father AND sitting in on meetings? Is the cabinet so loyal to Biden that they can't see their way clear to trigger the 25th Amendment?
In simple words this shows the utter corruption of USA democracy that I have watched in dismay for almost sixty years. Will sanity ever prevail in US politics?
That depends on what You mean by "sanity," doesn't it Karl?
And depending on Your definition, has sanity Ever prevailed in US politics?
I go with the common sense definition. Your last question is answered by my last sentence.
Got it. Thank You.
I am glad you are satisfied.
Starting to wonder if all this is really just a distraction as it seems both the left and the right are pushing the same narrative. Meanwhile, war goes on. Linking today as usual @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/ as well as Simplicius' excellent article which I saw earlier.
I've been wondering the same. What do you think we're being distracted from?
Climate change?
Nuclear war?
Over population (depopulation)?
Diminishing resources?
None of the above.
All of the above.
Definitely more war, perhaps not nuclear and the ultimate goals of the U.N.'s Agenda 2030, which in a sense does cover all of the above to some degree plus more such as total surveillance, 15 minute cities, digital currencies and so on.
Your opening line, "The Biden Presidential Bot that was bought and paid for by rich oligarchs" as I read it Bill, is totally related to and consistent with these Bible words: Then Jesus said to his disciples, Truly I say to you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
There are so many Bible verses in both the Old and New Testaments about the rich juxtaposed with the poor. Remember the rich man and Lazarus?
The Other Prophet Ezekiel of the OT in 16:48-50 is the only one giving the details on why Sodom was destroyed. It had nothing to do with gay sex.
As I live, says the Lord God, Sodom your sister has not done as you and your daughters have done.
Behold this was the iniquity of Sodom your sister: pride, abundance of bread, and careless ease were hers and her daughters', and SHE DID NOT STRENGTHEN THE HAND OF THE POOR AND NEEDY.
And they became haughty and did abomination before Me, and I removed them when I saw.
That reads like it describes the NOMINALLY Christian Nations Today.
Jesus doesn't exclude the rich. He knows with the existing system of the Material World, they love and serve MORE MONEY for themselves.
I see MONEY as the Image of the Beast of the Revelation, essential for buying or selling any merchandise in this Material World. Tough if you don't have any to keep up with the COSTS of the FREE WORLD our Earthly Leaders tell us we're blessed to be living in.
James is very EXPLICIT in Chapter 5 of his book in the Bible: Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for THE LAST DAYS (Establishment Christianity preaches we are in THE LAST SAYS but do not touch on the Biblical systematic reasons for that approaching time of Tribulation for the World)
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by FRAUD, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord Almighty.
You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
You have condemned and killed the just; and he does not resist you.
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman wait for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
You also be patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws close. (these lines suggest when the Spirit of Christ returns in POWER, it will be the beginning of the regime change of the rich and powerful at the top of the Pyramid of the Economic Structures ruling over us the Masses have sustained for Millennia. For those who have noticed, it's not just in the people in the US and Canada seeking change of government. It's Global among the Masses of People in Democratic and Authoritarian systems.)
In the eye of the hurricane, the Children of God will know PEACE, no matter others will be freaking out seeing what is happening in the World exterior to them.
I have often seen the Biblical story of Jesus calling his Disciples to follow him, even walking on the turbulent Sea, as an allegory the great OT Prophet Isaiah wrote about so long ago. That was before Jesus called out the abbreviated NT version of this OT prophecy:
Woe to a multitude of many peoples, like the roaring of seas they roar; and a rushing of nations, like the rushing of mighty waters they rush. Nations, like the rushing of many waters, they rush, and He shall rebuke them, and he shall flee from afar, and he shall be pursued like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the thistle blossoms before the tempest.
Bill, I wrote this just on your opening line. I read the whole article were many other lines I wanted to extrapolate and incorporate in one comment, but I got carried away in the Spirit with this long exhortation that maybe be too long for some other readers to digest already!
Yes, Ray, Jesus wasn't about money and might. Jesus was about love and doing right.
Jesus, for believers, is the way, the truth, and the light. And what we have today is deception and lies. Lies presented as truthful. And these lies are sold to us as beneficial, e.g. Biden is a capable president and commander in chief. Believe it! Because Trump is the alternative.
Believing a lie is never a good idea. Especially when that lie empowers people driven by money and power.
Important correction, Bill. Jesus still isn't about money and power!
Personally I think this is among the most important insights in Scripture the Masses haven't grasped yet and Establishment Religion doesn't highlight it's significance and implication.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him that overcomes WILL I GRANT TO SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 3:
There could be a Higher Power, but where is the "Evidence?"I do tho. hold a firm opinion that the Bible is /was not a message from any higher power. The Bible is rife with errors, and is the work of flawed men.
"The greatest story ever told."
The Bible is called "THE GOOD BOOK" for good reasons.
Yes, it does have good and evil scenes and situations in it to give People the choice of how they want to live themselves and to use their imagination to create the Nation in the word.
Nuclear armed Israel is no myth, Dennis!
This Biblical line makes good Common Sense in our Times;
"This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying: 'Not by military force and not by physical strength, but by My spirit,' says the Lord of Hosts.
Unfortunately, US Christian Pro Life Nationalism stops with the unborn.
It ignores that most significant insight in their Bibles and doesn't go Pro Life at the other end of the spectrum with so many Living People being killed when the US Military-Industrial-Congressional is the BIGGEST ARMS MERCHANT in the History of Nations, making a KILLING off the Ukraine WAR and Gaza genocide. NATO Nations have to buy US weapons. It's just MONEY, Business and American jobs!
If that's what the people want, God will let them have it, as the LEADING INDICATORS point to this Material World being at the precipice.
We are Materially rich, but Spiritually poor.
Well said, Ray.
If that's what the People want, they will let it happen.
And if that is what the People do not want, then they will stop it from happening.
It's really no more complicated ~ nor simpler ~ than that.
But, Dennis, Trump said the Bible is his "favorite" book. Trump loves the Bible so much he printed his own version, which you can buy for $59.99.
Do you agree with Trump that the Bible is vitally important to America? If so, have you bought your Trump Bible?
i'm curious. Dennis: Would You say what has emerged around Trump is a religion, the Prophet, Savior, and Guru of which is one of those folks driven by money and power?
Trump: Prophet or Profit? And by "profit" I don't mean only in dollars.
Dennis, If Trump is living "rent free" in anyone's head, it would seem to be yours, given your support of him and frequent mentions of him.
You didn't answer my question: Do you support Trump's trumpeting of the Bible and his selling of the same (his special patriotic version) for $59.99?
I think Trump, the man who knows nothing about the golden rule but certainly is driven by money, wants only to be the golden ruler.
Heh. The best he can hope for is to be a Bronze Ruler, to borrow a term from BV's Trumpatista In Chief, Dennis. If not of Wood and Stone.
Dennis, I cited the plain Bible English as the words apply to the CURRENT World situation. Obviously that's way over your head you refuse to acknowledge.
This is a lie, " Especially when that lie empowers people driven by money and power. As religion does every day."
If you read my comment with an open mind, what I posted does not reflect the Christian Establishment, but you can't do that with your closed mind. You can't even refute anything I post with cogent counter-arguments except to be in denial of Biblical Common sense Truths that are apt descriptions of what's happening in Today's Material World.
All of what Jesus taught rested on something that we have no evidence is true - that there is an afterlife that will make things right.
If one thinks this earthly life is only a trial and another one will follow before which there will be ultimate justice, then it makes sense to let the mighty do as they please. I, for one, am not a believer. Hitler is not roasting in hell, Gandhi is not kicking back in heaven. We have to act to make this one and only world we have livable in every way for everyone. Even if that is impossible, we have to try because this life is all we have and each one of us knows that just as we can suffer, so can others.
Afterlife Cliff, is next week, next month and next Year. A believer starts living Eternal Life the Day one starts believing. I'm not waiting until my flesh gives up the ghost.
In my Faith and Belief in God and the Spirit of Christ, I believe this, especially the part where we have to try at least!
"We have to act to make this one and only world we have livable in every way for everyone. Even if that is impossible, we have to try because this life is all we have and each one of us knows that just as we can suffer, so can others.
Afterlife is nearer than next week, month, or year, Ray.
It is tomorrow, the next hour, minute, and second.
Because that is ALL that there IS: That which is Right Here Right Now.
We are all living in the "afterlife" of our young adulthood, adolescence, childhood, and infancy.
And here we are.
Of course jg. Anyone could not wake up Tomorrow!
VERY Well said, Clif. Thank You for articulating Your perspective on this so clearly and concisely. It is a mindset and worldview that needs to be as widely disseminated ~ and then lived ~ as possible.
Who has been running the US?
Apparently, our own American Politburo answering to America's corporate oligarchs.
No longer, even, a bully pulpit!
Who is running the US? Like i said a couple of days ago here on BV:
The same people that ran the government when Trump was President.
Who were the same people who ran the government when Obama was President.
Who were the same people who ran the government when Cheney/Bush II was President.
Who were the same people who ran the government when Clinton was President.
Who were the same people who ran the government when Bush I/Reagan was President.
Who were the same people who ran the government when Carter was President....
And so forth, all the way back thru Eisenhower, Roosevelt, and Wilson,
As Walter Kirn said, it's whoever is Biden's pharmacist right now!
It is well past time to turn the Panopticon to gaze at the powerful. Representatives' or senators' visitor logs should be made public in the same way that political contributions to their campaigns are. Every action by the military must be transparent. Wikileaks proved that the data is available, but it's legally sequestered and the press has to beg for via FOIA requests or wait for whistleblowers. Every decision by the federal bureaucracy needs to be published instantly, and, to their credit, except for what we might consider the Deep State of the military-intelligence complex, it often is. But those agencies that lie in the shadows are what's going to bring this nation down.
There was a organization called the Sunshine Project that was an attempt at what you suggest. I've always marveled that there is documentation for everything and it eventually comes out usually long after it could be useful. You'd think there would be many more cases of destruction of evidence. Nixon even made his tapes and those did get exposed in time, only partially erased. There should be a very impressive monument in DC devoted to whistleblowers, but that would be a mighty blow to our mythology.
Once in a while, the Globalist elites have to take out the trash.
Speaking of turning BV into a “Trump Bashfest,” Dennis, i’m curious if You have any answers to the following questions i’ve asked a bunch of Your fellow-MAGAts, none of whom deigned to have answered:
Given that “MAGA” ~ Make America Great AGAIN [EMPHASIS added] ~ implies that America was once “Great” ~ whatever that means ~ and is now no longer “Great”:
1. When exactly did America become “Great,” and How and Why did that happen?
2. When exactly did America stop being “Great,” and How and Why did that happen?
3. When and How will Americans and the World know that America is “Great Again,” as promised by Trump and his Cult of True Believers?
"There has been a secret group of high-level government leaders who control Biden and who will soon set in motion their plan to replace Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee."
Now tell us something we haven't known for a long, long time.
Having put that issue to bed, don't think for a moment that the same thing isn't true for the Republican Party, i.e., there has been a secret group of wealthy leaders inside and outside government who control Trump (and all Republican candidates for that matter). The only difference is that they don't intend to replace him.
This is the nature of partisan politics. There is always an "inside" group, sometimes overt and sometimes covert, that make all the important decisions - who's the candidate, what policies he will will support and what policies he will oppose.
When you hear people talk about the deep state - that's the real deep state.
I'm not sure they control a president directly as they do need to get his ok as the final word. I'd say the control comes more in presenting him with only the options they decide to present. They being the wealthy as you describe, the options will never include something for we the people. A good example would be GW Bush. He was proud to be "The Decider" but look who was giving him advice - Cheney and Rumsfeld with their acolytes.
The control the money and they control the information flow. And in both Biden's and Trump's cases, they probably provide what few brains are required to get things done.
What else do they need?
Did You come up with that all by Yourself, Dennis? Or are You simply quoting somebody else without attribution?