Please sir, may I have some more?

By Capt. Fogg

Pecunia non olet said Vaspasian, or so they say. Money doesn't stink, or so you'd think when looking at the way Florida governor Rick Scott laps it up like a cat with spilt milk. Showing up Monday at a  Boca Raton, Florida home of GEO Group CEO George Zoley for his $10,000 a plate fundraiser ( another $3K if you want to come to the reception) would suggest that Scott can't  smell dirty money, as Zoley's company is in the business of running private prisons -- some say the worst in the country -- that squeeze the life and health out of prisoners as well as exposing the guards to unnecessary danger.

Of course it may be that Scott smells it all too well and, like a culture, is attracted to the smell of graft and corruption and human suffering. You'll recall his involvement with the largest Medicare fraud ever exposed. You may not recall that Zoley gave Mr. Scott $20,000 to add to the $800,000 of taxpayer money to pimp up the governor's mansion. Yes, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the great flood of lobbyist money soaked up by the Governor, but Scott is not one to forget his obligations to contributors.


No money doesn't care who owns it and it doesn't stink even though the people and deeds connected to it may reek. The dollars saved by understaffing prisons and serving substandard, sometimes maggot infested food to prisoners adult and juvenile affirm his credentials with his party and particularly because so many of the inmates rotting and starving and being beaten in GEO prisons are immigrants. Last year a group of protesters  chained themselves to the doors of the GEO Group corporate headquarters in Palm Beach in protest over  GEO's "pivotal role in promoting discriminatory laws that target people of color,

immigrants, youth, transgender individuals, and the poor."   There have been hunger strikes.  There have been investigations looking into accusations that inmates were being served rotten food and suffering from food poisoning at the Broward  County, Florida facility. There were also allegations of sexual assault among detainees and reports of several suicide attempts says the Broward/Palm Beach NewTimes blog.  Did I mention that Scott is a Republican?

But we can't accuse old snake eyes of total blindness to appearances.  After all Zoley was a second choice after it became known that the original host, real estate mogul James Batmasian, was convicted of tax evasion in 2008. Batmasian, who spent eight months in federal prison and completed a two-year supervised release program, also had his legal license suspended in Florida. That stinks, even if his money doesn't.   It stinks almost as much as his rather dishonest and scurrilous accusations made against his likely opponent, Charley Crist, but to his supporters it doesn't matter any more than facts do. Rick Scott saved us money by abusing prisoners and a penny saved is a penny you can spend on yourself.  And besides, prisoners can't vote.

A dearth of perp walks

There's a running joke on the internets. I can't remember it exactyly but it goes something like, want to steal a little money, rob a bank. Want to steal a lot of money, own a bank. Sadly, it's not a joke. The same bastards who robbed the world economy and crashed it in 08 are still at it. Foreclosure scams are the new grand larceny.

Big financial institutions continue to foreclose on troubled borrowers in error -- either while a homeowner is awaiting a loan modification or because of fees incorrectly added to the seizure -- according to a national survey of attorneys representing borrowers.

One intent of the recent $25-billion mortgage settlement among attorneys general, the nation's five largest mortgage servicers and certain federal agencies was to do away with such errors, but in recent weeks consumer advocates have raised concerns that borrowers who are in the foreclosure process may still be harmed.

More than 80% of the attorneys surveyed said they had in the last year represented a borrower who was awaiting a loan modification but a foreclosure sale was attempted.

Atrios flagged this story this morning and then finds the new angle in their scam. After they wrongfully take the homes, the Banksters buy the foreclosed properties themselves and become slum lords. They ignore rules and regulations without fear of retribution.

And why would they be afraid? They sucked up most of the money betting on the fradulent mortgages in the first place and the government bailed them out when they lost the bet. None of the major players paid a price for their crimes. As Charlie succinctly puts it:

They will not stop — I mean, they absolutely will not stop — until a couple of hundred of them are thrown into jail for terms so long that they scare the tassels off the loafers of the ones who are left unarrested.

The incentives are fucked up. They arrested a few petty thieves like Bernie Madoff for show. Nothing is going to change until they perp walk a whole bunch of the serious larcenists.

How the Koch heads hedge their bets

As their PR operation at Americans for Prosperity gears up for its newest disinfo tour designed to blame President Obama for rising gas prices, via Karoli, a stellar Lee Fang investigative piece on the Koch brothers revealing how the odious Kochs have been manipulating oil futures since the late 80s.

Karoli sums up the shorter for us:

The timeline is particularly interesting. In a nutshell, the very first oil derivatives were born in 1986, during the Reagan presidency. With the help of Phil Gramm in the Senate, and his wife Wendy Gramm, oil speculation was deregulated and the Kochs were laughing all the way to the bank. Wendy deregulated oil derivatives on the very last day of the George HW Bush administration, just before Bill Clinton took the oath of office.

Read the longer at the Think Progress link, but take your blood pressure meds first. In a sane world these sociopaths would be in jail, or at least in a locked psyche ward. Sadly, in the world we live in, not only do they get away with these criminal machinations, they're richly rewarded for them. It's enough to make me wish for the Apocalypse.

Poster Boy for a corrupted system of government

When Evan Bayh quit the Senate, he said he wanted to do something honorable, like teaching. Well, that lofty sentiment lasted about as long as the life cycle of a fruit fly. Looks like he's going to cash in on full time whoring for the Corporatocracy instead. Bayh's newest gig:

As iWatch News' Peter Stone reports, Bayh has signed on with one of the most corporate-friendly, anti-environment shops in all of Washington, DC: the US Chamber of Commerce. According to an internal memo penned by Chamber president Tom Donohue, Bayh, along with former Bush White House chief of staff Andy Card, are now part of the Chamber's anti-regulation messaging team, doing "speeches, events, and media appearances at local venues."

Add that to list of Bayh's other jobs:

The McGuire Woods law firm, which specializes in representing "national energy companies, foreign countries, international manufacturing companies, trade associations and local and national businesses.”

Apollo Management Group, a giant public-equity firm.

Fox News, as a contributor.

So alleged Democrat Bayh, who was a useless Dem in the Senate anyway, is joining a Bush administration alumnus to fight corporate oversight and work to thwart any reform of the utterly corrupt regulatory system that would protect consumers and might prevent future economic catastrophes. As Booman points out, this is why we can't have nice things. Once they hit that revolving door, party afiliation means nothing. They all sell us out.

[Thanks to Jon Perr from the fabulous Perrspectives for kindly linking in at Mike's Blog Round Up.]

Vincent Bugliosi rips Bush a new one

expatbrian

In case you missed this over at C & L, I think it's the best thing on YouTube today. Bugliosi is given a platform before the Senate Judiciary Committee to defend his new book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. The repubs on the committee got a little more than they bargained for.

Saturday Quickies

by expatbrian

Just have a few minutes right now but a couple of things are worth passing along. First, I just read that Charleton Heston has died at 84. He made over 100 movies in a career that spanned 60 years. I don't agree with his politics on guns but he surely had that acting thing down pat.

Jonolan has this excellent post up showing all the the members of this administration that hold both US and Isreali citizenship. It is incredible. The implications and possibilities are frightening.

And I just read this horrific account of the rape, sexual abuse and associated cover ups that have become part of the civilian contractor life in Iraq. It is an ongoing and pervasive nightmare. This excerpt concernes a 42 year old female civilian paramedic who woke up to this.

That dawn, naked, covered in blood and feces, bleeding from her anus, she found a US soldier she did not know lying naked in the bed next to her: his gun lay on the floor beside the bed, she could not rouse him and all she could remember of the night before was screaming and screaming as the soldier anally penetrated her while a colleague who worked for defense contractor KBR held her hand--but instead of helping her, as she had hoped, he jammed his penis in her mouth.

KBR immediately tried to shut her up and cover up the whole incident. When she contacted an attorney in the US via email to help her out, her computer was confiscated. Read the whole thing. It's just unbelievable that we, the public, have to pay the salaries of perverted shitheads like this. Well, I shouldn't say we. I don't pay anymore.

God Damn America

by expatbrian

Those words surely have caused a lot of havoc lately for the Obama campaign. Why, I don't know given that Obama didn't say them and has absolutely no influence over the preacher who did. But the rightwing saw an opportunity to attack him "by association" because he didn't immediately denounce the preacher or get up and walk out of the church. I for one would much rather be associated with the likes of Reverend Wright than I would with lying, cheating, lawbreaking, traitors like Bush and Cheney.

If I believed in God I would say God damn America, too. Somebody should. Not because the American people are evil. They aren't. They're just apathetic. And not because America is rich and powerful. Give any group of bold and visionary men and women a land of almost endless natural resources and wealth and power will be the result. Our ancestors were such men and women.

No, America should be damned because its government has become like a warlord to its own "subjects" and to people around the world. It ignores the needs of these people while it feeds on the worlds dwindling resources in a desperate attempt to maintain and even enhance the absurdly wealthy lifestyles of its most powerful citizens. Their attitude, like any good warlord's is "let them eat cake".

In America the people cry out for affordable health care. Is it doable and possible? Of course. Do all the candidates, every election, say they will do something about it? Of course again. Are you going to get it? Of course not, stupid. Because for you to get it, the disgustingly rich insurance and drug companies would have to give up a little profit. The government is not going to make them do that. Instead, they are just going to say, "fuck you" to the American people and like they always do, they will get away with it.

Would you like a simplified tax system? Maybe something you could do yourself instead of the unbelievably complicated 200 page "Tax Guide" they send you each year? Of course you would. Is it doable and possible? Absolutely. Do all the candidates promise that tax reform is going to be one of their top priorities? Every year. Are you going to get it?

No, you ignorant fuck, you are not. If you started to understand your taxes and how much of your hard earned money you actually gave away to rich people, you might question it. Even refuse to pay it. Can't have that. The government finds it much easier to control you and your money when you remain ignorant.

How about global warming and those other environmental concerns? Do you want a world that is clean and healthy for your children and grandchildren? Of course you do. Does the government and each of the candidates profess profound concern over these issues? Of course again. Are your children going to inherit a clean, healthy planet?

No, you blithering idiot, they are not. Nobody in this government is going to force any of the mega rich pollution spewing industries to spend the big bucks to clean up their act. No, they will pass just enough cheap meaningless environmental legislation so they can all say they are doing something about it. At the same time more and more species will be wiped out and more poor people will starve and die of thirst and disease while these industries continue to stuff their pockets with your money. And besides, before any big American company has to spend money to comply with pollution regulations, they will just fire you and move overseas where they don't have to put up with that shit.

If another country happens to have a supply of a natural resource that we need should we sit down and hash out a workable deal that benefits both countries? Sounds good. Maybe do a barter of some kind with a plentiful foodstuff like wheat that they could really use in return for what we need? Perfect! Everybody wins! Are we going to do that?

No, you gullible jerk, we are not. We are going to go blow their fucking asses away and take exactly what we want exactly when we want it. And if we find out later on that another country has something else we need, we'll blow their fucking asses away, too. We're America. Fuck 'em.

So if Reverend Wright was cursing the American people or the beautiful country they call home, I condemn him for it. But if he was cursing the behavior of America's corrupt government with its shortsighted economic policies, its domestic thievery and its bullying international arrogance - if he was damning America's insatiably greedy corporations who are allowed to get away with rape and murder, then I for one will echo his sentiment and damn America, too.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

by expatbrian

April 15th is quickly approaching. Please give all that you can. Here is just one example of how your hard earned money is spent and who gets it.

Bad day for accountability

By Libby

I didn't get to this yesterday, but it's bad news for those who care about holding this administration accountable for its corruption.

One of government's chief internal watchdogs resigned yesterday, as Comptroller General David M. Walker, an outspoken gadfly and frequent witness on Capitol Hill, announced his plans to lead a new foundation focused on U.S. fiscal responsibility.

Walker is on of the few holdovers from before the current band of thieves took over the White House and he's been fearless in exposing their pickpocketing of the treasury on behalf of their corporate cronies. It's unlikely we'll get anyone as honest if Bush gets to nominate them, assuming he doesn't just let the office remain unmanned, which would serve his nefarious ends even better.

Mukasey toes the White House lie line

By Libby

I didn't have any illusions that Mukasey was going to turn out to be a paragon of ethical standards but this is rather breathtaking in its support of criminality.

The Justice Department will not investigate whether CIA agents engaged in torture by waterboarding detainees, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said earlier.

Ditto goes for the administration's warrantless wiretapping program, Mukasey added later, when asked by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) whether he would appoint a special counsel to investigate.

The question came after Mukasey had baldly asserted that it was not a "practical view" that the president could order someone to act outside the law. Nadler wanted to know if the president hadn't done just that with his warrantless wiretapping program, which had ignored the constraints of FISA.

Well, Mukasey said, the President had ordered that on the advice of the Justice Department that it was lawful. So, just as he will not initiate an investigation of waterboarding since the DoJ had given its OK, he will also not investigate whether the warrantless wiretapping was lawful, since it was legal, because the DoJ said it was ("there are views on both sides of that" he acknowledged).

Oh, I get it. A heavily politicized Justice Dept, filled with GOP lackeys and headed by a corrupt AG who was forced in resign in disgrace signed off on executive overreach so it's all okay. Nothing to see here -- move along folks.

One can only hope the next administration will take their constitutional duties more seriously and bring these people to account, but I'm not holding my breath. I fear unless we impeach this administration, and I mean now, the next one won't see any compelling reason to disturb what may become useful precedents in extending their own power.

Gambino Family is Dismantled, Again

by expatbrian

I've been fascinated with the mafia in America for many years. Not the movies and TV shows, although many have been great, but with the actual history of organized crime from the early 20th century up to the present. There's not much I haven't read about it and I've even met a couple of "mobsters" along the way.

Shortly after my army stint I was working as a wallpaper hanger while going to college at night. I met Bill Bonanno and his wife Rosalie when I was hired (through a reference from another, lower echelon guy with mob ties) to paper the family room in his moderate home on Minnesota Avenue in San Jose. It was shortly after that that he was indicted in the cheese factory murder conspiracy and eventually did some 12 years in prison. His dad was Joe Bonanno, head of the NY Bonanno crime family and head of the "commission", a group representing the 5 NY families, Al Capone in Chicago and Maggaddino in Buffalo.

Good reads on their family are Honor Thy Father by Gay Talese and Bound by Honor by Bill himself. Bill died last month at age 75. His father Joe (Joe Bananas) Bonanno died in 2002 at age 97 I believe. He was the inspiration for The Godfather trilogy and he and his son were among the rare La Cosa Nostra members who were allowed to retire. They both died at their family homes in Tucson, Az.

Yesterday, the FBI picked up some 50 members of the Gambino family in the New York area and authorities in Palermo, Sicily expect to round up a few dozen more. This group runs the atlantic drug trade among other things.

Senior anti-Mafia prosecutor Francesco Messineo told reporters in Rome: "There was an attempt to rekindle ties between Cosa Nostra in Palermo and New York because the Sicilian Mafia wanted to get back into drug trafficking in a big way."

The Italian arrests included suspects connected with "boss of bosses" Salvatore Lo Piccolo, who was arrested in November and who had taken over after the arrest in 2006 of Bernardo Provenzano who had spent decades in hiding.

As I recall, when John Gotti, who became the head of the Gambino family in the mid 80s, was arrested and went to prison, it was touted by the FBI as the last, crushing blow to that organization. That feeling was enhanced when Gotti, who had continued to run the family from his prison cell, died in 2002. Obviously that was not the case.

La Cosa Nostra (Our Thing) the mafia, the mob, organized crime, whatever you call it, it is part of Americana and a rich, if brutal part of our history. It is also a multi-billion dollar business now as it has been for years. It's tentacles have extended into all of the power bases of our country including the unions, corporations, Hollywood and even the White House.

A good summary of the main players and the five families can be found here.

cross posted from World Gone Mad

It's a fight for our lives on FISA

By Libby

I posted on this yesterday at Newshoggers but the situation is heating up more quickly than I expected and I'm busy at work today so I'm sending you to the experts for the updates. The situation is critical and needs immediate and intenstive citizen response. Glenn Greenwald is on the case and has comprehensive posts on Reid's tricks and Rockefeller's smug boasting that the tricks are working and the Democratic 'leadership' expects to be able to sell us out without a fight.

Yesterday's call to arms in Blogtopia produced some good results. John Edwards stepped forward to make a statement.

"It's time for Senate Democrats to show a little backbone and stand up to George W. Bush and the corporate lobbyists. They should do everything in their power -- including joining Senator Dodd's efforts to filibuster this legislation -- to stop retroactive immunity. The Constitution should not be for sale at any price."

And as Jane points out:

Well...yes. And that includes candidates, you know, leaving the campaign trail to do their jobs. Which Obama and Clinton can -- and should -- do. South Carolina is an hour and a half plane ride away.

Indeed. We need to pressure Obama and Clinton to get their butts on the floor and walk their talk. They say they're going to fight for us. Well now is the time to prove it. They need to put their self interest aside and get to DC and stand with Dodd to fight for the rule of law and accountability for the lawbreakers.

As Kos points out in a piece posted at The Hill, there is only one tiny fix needed to the FISA bill.

A single uncontroversial technical correction, allowing unencumbered monitoring of foreign communications routed through the United States, is required to fine-tune FISA. Yet that simple fix has been hijacked by Republicans in an effort to protect their telco pals. As usual, the GOP hopes that its patented fear-mongering will browbeat timid Democrats into submission.

The Dems knew this when they sold us out in August so they could go on vacation and promised to fix the bill to protect us, not to put in the fix to protect the White House. We can't let them get away with this without a fight.

Christy has the lastest on what you can do to help. Please take a moment and let your voice be heard. This is a battle we can't afford to lose.

[cross-posted to The Reaction]

The seventh level wipe

By Libby

I'm getting a late start today because I seem to coming down with a bug of some kind and I have to go out for a couple of hours right now, so read this and tell me what you think.

Scott Bloch runs the Office of Special Counsel, an agency charged with protecting government whistleblowers and enforcing a ban on federal employees engaging in partisan political activity. Mr. Bloch's agency is looking into whether Mr. Rove and other White House officials used government agencies to help re-elect Republicans in 2006.

At the same time, Mr. Bloch has himself been under investigation since 2005. At the direction of the White House, the federal Office of Personnel Management's inspector general is looking into claims that Mr. Bloch improperly retaliated against employees and dismissed whistleblower cases without adequate examination.

Here's the really interesting part:

Recently, investigators learned that Mr. Bloch erased all the files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said.

The guy calls in Geeks R Us and has them do a "seven-level" wipe on his hard drive making it nearly impossible to retreive the lost data. He also had them scrub two laptops that were used by his associates. He claims it was to get rid of a virus.

Now, I'm not much of a computer geek but that sounds a little extreme to me just to get rid of a virus. Anybody else thinking the guy was really trying to wipe out all evidence of his own malfeasance in covering up the malfeasance of those he was allegedly investigating?

Court issues email order

By Libby

You don't hear much about the Bush administration's criminal circumvention of the Federal Records Act anymore, but the issue is still percolating through the courts. This latest development is heartening.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Monday ordered the White House to preserve copies of all its e-mails, a move that Bush administration lawyers had argued strongly against.

U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy directed the Executive Office of the President to safeguard the material in response to two lawsuits that seek to determine whether the White House has destroyed e-mails in violation of federal law.

In response, the White House said it has been taking steps to preserve copies of all e-mails and will continue to do so. The administration is seeking dismissal of the lawsuits brought by two private groups, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive.

The White House is its usual "trust us" defense, preferring not to be bound by a legal order, nevermind that they already 'lost' 5 million emails that were illegally routed outside of the legally proscribed channels. Fortunately the judge didn't buy it and issued a formal order. Who knows how much good it will do.

The judge's order "should stop any future destruction of e-mails, but the White House stopped archiving its e-mail in 2003 and we don't know if some backup tapes for those e-mails were already taped over before we went to court. It's a mystery," said Meredith Fuchs, a lawyer for the National Security Archive.

One can't help but remember Rove's little April Fool's 'joke' so 'cleverly' designed to deflect inquiry into just what he was doing when he visited the site where the servers were housed. I think we can be pretty sure not only are the tapes erased, but they and the physical servers themselves are resting at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean or have otherwise been rendered irreversibly irretrievable.

Still, at least with this order, any further destruction or obstruction will carry legal culpability.

Corruption pays - well

By Libby

You can stop worrying about how poor old Al Gonzales is going make ends meet now that he's been driven out of the Beltway in disgrace. There's apparently a good market for former corrupt Bush officials. Fredo is scheduled to speak at the University of Florida later this month and the student speaker bureau is willing to cough up $40,000 for the privilege of listening to his lies and evasions.

One hopes there will be a tough Q&A after the speech and some Andrew Meyer type student will take a shot at quizzing the former AG, but this time with a little more finesse so the focus stays on the questions and not on the manner in which they're asked.

Defective

"It's about your child and it's about your pet and it's about food on the table,"

said Representative Rick Larsen, a Democrat from Washington State.

"You can't get more personal than that for Americans, and so it does need to be addressed."

Larson and Representative Mark Kirk (R-IL) are in China this week as co-chairs of the U.S.-China Working Group. Kirk, who had been pushing hard for more trade with China, recently introduced a bill in congress that would increase fines for defective Chinese products by one hundred times.

China has been cracking down on toy manufacturers, according to China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and to a degree that will likely never be seen in the US where unscrupulous or careless business practices do not earn the death penalty and sometimes result in government appointments. I don't think anyone at Mattel will go to jail.

It's been less than a week since a defective Boeing 737 owned by China Airlines blew up on the tarmac in Okinawa. You can't get more personal than that for the Chinese, I would imagine; considering the discomfort and inconvenience of being burned alive. I'm sure that before long, some heads will roll at Boeing so that China does not have to embargo any more dangerous and shoddy American goods as they do with American beef, or begin to demand massive fines of the US Government for what Boeing does and so that some Lou Dobbs equivalent at the Xinhua News agency doesn't become apoplectic about The Americans trying to kill them all.

Capt. Fogg

Quick hits - Brain dead edition

By Libby

The news is just not inspiring me today so here's some reading material while I try to think of something meaningful to say about the sorry state of the union. I'm sure you don't need any help interpreting these stories.

Ted "Earmark King" Stevens is of course protesting his innocence while the FBI and the IRS raid his residence. The agencies aren't telling what they're looking for but one doubts it's tips on home decorating.

I broke this story in Detroit last night and I see it's receiving remarkably little attention. Rep. Jay Inslee will introduce a resolution today directing the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should be impeached. This is from the local Seattle paper. The WaPo chose instead to run a lame-assed column in defense of Gonzales that ignores all evidence that he is a serial liar.

Cheney says he's a unique creature. That's the understatement of the week. Mustang Bobby and Shakes have their own ideas but I'm guessing he's one of these or perhaps he's just boasting and is just a garden variety souless humanoid.

Speaking of souless humanoids, Joe Lieberman is still holding up the works, standing in the door of the Democratic bus and threatening to jump off, however obliquely. Holy Joe seems to be laboring under the misapprehension that anything he has to say really matters and crows that he's having a great time being the center of attention as a GOP Co-dependent. For the love of God and country, can't somebody just kick his ass to the curb and get on with the itinerary?

And there's one place that Bush has succeeded in transplanting US style democracy to the Iraq government. Corruption among the leadership in firmly embedded in the system.

Supplies and medicine in strife-torn Baghdad's overcrowded hospitals have been siphoned off and sold elsewhere for profit because of corruption in the Iraqi Ministry of Health, according to a draft U.S. government report obtained by NBC News.

The report, written by U.S. advisers to Iraq's anti-corruption agency, analyzes corruption in 12 ministries and finds devastating and grim problems. "Corruption protected by senior members of the Iraqi government," the report said, "remains untouchable."

Just like back home except the Iraqis are more honest about their thievery. They just steal outright while our political robbers hide behind earmarks.

The One True Church

Today in a statement the Roman Catholic Church stated and reiterated that it is the one true church and all other Christian churches are lacking.

Anglican leaders reacted with dismay, accusing the Roman Catholic Church of paradoxical behaviour. They said that the new 16-page document outling the “defects” of non-Catholic churches constituted a major obstacle to ecumenism.

The document said that the Orthodox church suffered from a “wound” because it did not recognise the primacy of the Pope. The wound was “still more profound” in Protestant denominations, it added.

Oh yes, can't you look at Herr Pope and see that he is in some way directly connected to St. Peter?

This is a pretty big deal, but also honest. It does not gloss it over and tells it like it is, or like the Catholic hierarchy wants it to be.

Vatican sources said that the document was an attempt to resolve “confusion” caused by the apparent conflict between the Pope’s assertion on his election two years ago that Christian unity was a priority and his insistence in “Dominus Iesus”, issued in 2000 when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – that Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox Christians did not belong to “proper” churches.

Father Augustine Di Noia, a senior doctrinal official at the Vatican, insisted that the Catholic Church was not “backtracking on ecumenical commitment. But it is fundamental to any kind of dialogue that the participants are clear about their own identity. That is, dialogue cannot be an occasion to accommodate or soften what you understand yourself to be.”

This is just a big "We're number one! We're number one!" Of course this is a lot of number 2. It's just a little business like competition between some really big businesses.

I think that churches are kind of like governments or any other big entities. There are a lot of good people, but not very many good churches. The Catholic Church in recent years has shown a propensity to be more concerned about covering up child abuse than punishing sinners amongst those of the cloth.

The Pope can claim some link to St. Peter, but that's not much more than a fairy tale. Although great things have been done by Catholics and their Church, the history of Roman Catholicism is one of corruption and politics. The church has always stated that it is the one true church. More than that, they have schemed, tortured, murdered and conspired with friendly governments to wage war to force the point.

There are good things about all churches and most of them can be seen walking through the door, worshiping their God and paying the bills.

Jim Martin