There is a lot of talk about Christian Zionists these days, but most of it is devoid of a discussion of the motivation of Israel's alleged friends.

The vast majority of Christian Zionists are on the Christian Right. This should be of concern when one considers that Christian fundamentalists in this country despise anyone who does not subscribe to their particular variety of Christianity, much less other views on the subject of religion.

For some, support for the Israeli government's policies is a temporary alliance, based on realpolitik. The followers are understandably outraged by terrorist acts carried out by Muslim religious extremists and foolishly think that all Muslims are responsible. The leaders are more concerned with the growth of Islam, which is resulting from population growth in Muslim countries, many Christians converting to Islam in Africa, and limited successes in conversion to Islam in Europe and the United States. For these supporters of Israel, they are limited in their interest to using Israel as a proxy in their conflict with Islam. Should Islam ever be conquered or even contained, they will revert to their old hostilities toward Jews.

For other Christian Zionists, supporting the expansionist policies of the Israeli government is more about trying to jump-start apocalypse. They think that an enormous war between Isreal and the world's Arabs and Muslims is predicted by the Bible. These militant, Christian fundamentalists think this will bring the rapture they are so excited about.

However, the Christian Taliban who are supporting aggressive Israeli policies are Jew-haters who see Jewish people as “Christ-killers.” The least militant of these people, such as George W. Bush, merely think that Jews will all go to hell. Others among them would prefer to take violent actions in this world against Jewish people. Their willingness to support right-wing Israeli policies is based entirely on a desperate desire to see the End of the World.

The Jewish community of the US and the Israeli government should seriously reconsider their alliance with these extremists. Yes, Israeli leaders would like more land and would like a larger water supply, but do they really want to politically empower people who despise them?

The Israeli public might also want to reconsider the policies that are attracting the support of militant, Christian fundamentalists. Is an enormous war with over a billion of the world's Muslims really in Israel's best interests? Can Israel contain the ambitions for such a war among its Christian extremist “supporters”?

For years, Disney-owned ABC News has had a pervasive right-wing bias. But, that has failed to satisfied Disney. Now they are imposing their extremely right-wing ideology on ABC's entertainment division, spending tens of millions of dollars on the mocku/crocku/propagandadrama, “The Path to 9/11.” They use massive historical distortions and omissions to try to distract attention from the Bush administration's failure to even make a serious effort to prevent the 911 attacks, despite numerous warnings.

This has gotten me to thinking, what would happen if Disney's upper-management people imposed their fringe-right politics on their cartoon universe.

THE NEW DISNEY CARTOON PANTHEON:

ANN COULTER MOUSE:
Forget the charming and cute Mickey, this new mouse has an attitude. When "Mouskateers" dare to express moderate or liberal points of view, Ann Coulter Mouse calls them harpies and accuses them of wanting their parents dead. This new Disney icon also prides herself on calling moderate and liberal children Islamofascists and telling them that their parents would like to put them up for adoption, but can't find anyone who wants them.

MUSLIM MOUSE:
Minnie's replacement, like all believers in Islam, is a villain in the Brave New Disney World. Muslim Mouse refuses to accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God and One True Savior. Muslim Mouse also refuses to make falafels for Bill O'Reilly (documentation).

SNOW WHITE:
Disney will keep the name, but change her costume into white robes and a dunce cap, KKK style. Her dialog will be adapted to primarily include slurs involving other cartoon characters' ethnicities, sexual orientations, and gender identities.

CINDERELLA:
Once again, the name remains the same. However, Cinderella now is a conniving, social-climber who doesn't know that she shouldn't socialize with her betters. The good Prince has her beheaded after accusing her of stealing a rich girl's slippers.

TASTI:
Tasti will replace the cloying Bambi. Tasti will mock politically-correct people who object to hunting. Tasti then will be shot. Disney was considering incorporating Tasti Shooting Ranges into its theme parks, but their legal department nixed the plan on the grounds of liability concerns. Damned Lawyers!

DONALD RUMSFELD:
Who needs a cartoon duck when you have an animated version of Donald Rumsfeld? The new Donald is even more bellicose than the old, and what he says is even less intelligible.

THE GHOST OF VINCE FOSTER:
The Fantasia Ghosts will be replaced by an ethereal fictionalization of Vince Foster. This ghost will tell the kiddies all the bad, bad things the Clintons have done.

THE PERFECT KING:
The Lion King will be replaced by the Perfect King, W the First. The Perfect King will never admit to mistakes and will call anyone who misunderestimates him a terrorist.

DUMBO:
Dumbo will keep the name, but will morph into a donkey. He will keep repeating things conservatives wish Democrats would say (e.g. “I want to give welfare to terrorists.”). Republicans may not be able to win arguments with actual Democrats, but they always will have the intellectual upper-hand with Dumbo.

OLD YELLOW:
The pooch will be replaced by an aging chickenhawk who will tell other people they are cowards if they don't support the war in Iraq. The chickenhawk will be safely past draft age.

Newspapers generally blame television, radio, and the Internet for their declining circulations. These forms of competition may be playing a role, but there is a deeper problem driving away many readers: pervasive right-wing bias.

The press coverage of George W. Bush's confession in front of television cameras that he sent people to illegal secret prisons, where they have been routinely tortured in violation of US and international law, is a blatant example. This is being reported as either a policy story or a political story, when it should be reported as a crime story. The same media that will sensationalize crimes committed by middle-class people often refuses to report on crimes by the wealthy, the powerful, and the Republicans as crimes.

Of course, this is one of many examples of slanting the news to the right. Very few US papers even covered the Downing Street Memo which proves that the Bush regime provided fraudulent “intelligence” in order to lie us into their Iraq war. The corporate media still refuse to report on the theft of the 2000 and 2004 elections. I could go on for far too many paragraphs with more examples, but most people should already know that they are being propagandized to follow the right-wing line.

And, that is precisely the problem. Liberals tend to be more interested in reading newspapers, yet these same newspapers have abandoned their professionalism in order to act as corporate/GOP propagandists.

At a certain point, it just makes no sense to pay people to lie to you.

Steve Jobs, CEO
Apple Computer, Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014

Dear Mr. Jobs:

I am requesting that you resign your position on the Board of Directors of Disney/ABC in response to their decision to broadcast “The Path to 9/11” a dishonest propaganda piece which makes a mockery of the deaths of Americans and others killed in the 911 terrorist attacks.

Disney/ABC has shown itself desperate to try to deflect attention from the fact that the Bush Administration had more than enough warnings, tools, and resources to prevent the 911 attacks. Instead, Disney is distorting the facts or making them up entirely in an unpaid political ad for the GOP which is worth millions of dollars.

If you remain on the Board of Directors of such an incredibly unpatriotic company as Disney, you will severely damage Apple's corporate image, proving that Apple can be at least as evil as Microsoft.

“The Path to 9/11,” a phony “docudrama” developed by a notorious right-wing extremist, Cyrus Nowrasteh, is creating quite a stir. ABC/Disney seems determined to broadcast this unpaid GOP political advertisement, despite an outcry over its numerous inaccuracies.

The main purpose is to try to let the Bush regime off the hook for its failure to prevent the 911 attacks. The main tactics are to make the Cowardly Lion in the White House look courageous and blame to Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton was responsible for some nasty conservative policies (e.g. NAFTA, supporting price gouging on AIDS drugs, welfare "reform," etc.), but his administration took its responsibility to protect the country from terrorism seriously, something the Bush regime still refuses to do.

Here is a smattering of reactions to the ABC/Disney/GOP propaganda film:

Truthout
Commentary by William Rivers Pitt

America Blog
Commentary

Down with Tyranny
Open Letter to ABC

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY-28)
Critical Press Release

Center for American Progress
Action Alert

The Federal Elections Commission really should launch an investigation into this unpaid GOP political ad worth millions.

Everything we said about the war beforehand has turned out to be true.

Iraq had nothing to do with 911.

Iraq had no WMDs at the time of the invasion and had none in the months before the war.

The war turned out to be a hopeless quagmire.

The war has aided and abetted Al Qaeda's terrorist recruitment efforts.

The war has generated global hatred of the US, not just in Muslim countries.

The war has ballooned our budget deficits, giving China more control over our economy.

The war has diverted efforts that could have led to the capture of Osama bin Laden and the rest of Al Qeada in Afganistan.

We are waiting.

This is a rallying cry of so many Republicans posting on Internet message boards. Setting aside enormous ethical considerations, there is an obvious practical problem with this. Muslims belong to all racial and ethnic groups. Most Muslims are not even from the Middle East. There just is not any possible way to profile for Muslims.

The stupidity and ignorance of the political base of the Republican Party is astonishing and dangerous. Remember, that party controls both houses of Congress and illegally occupies the White House.

A posting on Liberal Serving references New York Times photos that are amazingly disturbing. I'm still trying to figure out why these photos make such a powerful statement on the destruction of Lebanon by Isreal's out-of-control war machine.

Maybe I have become desensitized by typical war coverage. I would like to believe that is not the case.

As much as the Christian Right and Hizbollah hate each other, they have quite a lot in common.

- Both hate separation of church and state.
- Both hate lesbians, gays, bisexuals,and transgender people.
- Both hate women.
- Both reject evolution.
- Both oppose abortion rights.
- Both are fanatical in their nationalism.
- Both hate freedom.
- Both hate democracy.
- Both have a murderous rage against anyone who does not live according to their religious beliefs.

Of course, there is a lot of irony involved. Neither group would admit how similar they are to their counterparts.

Also, the Christian fundamentalists also are supporting Israel in its fight against Hizbollah, even though they hate Jewish people as “Christ-killers.” The Christers think that supporting aggressive and militaristic policies by the Isreali government will lead to the apocolypse and rapture they are salivating over.

Yet, people still wonder why atheists think religion is so nutty.

Halliburton is famous as a military contractor tied to former CEO, Dick Cheney. Many folks may not know that they also have their own Political Action Committee.

The FEC Disclosure Report Search Results provide interesting information on who Halliburton Company PAC wants in the House and Senate.

HALLIBURTON COMPANY PAC's Friends

Candidate	Party	State	Office	Net Contributions 2005-2006*
George Allen	Rep.	VA	Senate	$2000*
Joe L. Barton	Rep.	TX	House	$3000
Brian P. Bilbray	Rep.	CA	House	$1000
Earl Blumenauer	Dem.	OR	House	$0*
Roy Blunt	Rep.	MO	House	$1000
Denise Bode	Rep.	OK	House	$2000
John A. Boehner	Rep.	OH	House	$1000
Charles W. Boustany, Jr.	Rep.	LA	House	$1000
Conrad Burns	Rep.	MT	Senate	$2000
Ken Calvert	Rep.	CA	House	$2500
Lincoln D. Chafee	Rep.	RI	Senate	$1000
Tom Cole	Rep.	OK	House	$2000
Michael K. Conaway	Rep.	TX	House	$2000
Barbara L. Cubin	Rep.	WY	House	$1000
Henry R. Cuellar	Dem.	TX	House	$2000
John Culberson	Rep.	TX	House	$4500
Geoffrey C. Davis	Rep.	KY	House	$1000
Thomas M. Davis III	Rep.	VA	House	$3000
Richard Michael DeWine	Rep.	OH	Senate	$2000
John Eric Ensign	Rep.	NV	Senate	$2000
Raymond E. “Gene” Green	Dem.	TX	House	$2000
Charles T. Hagel	Rep.	NE	Senate	$1500
Samuel Robert Johnson	Rep.	TX	House	$2000
John Heddens Kingston	Rep.	GA	House	$1000
Jon L. Kyl	Rep.	AZ	Senate	$1000
Trent Lott	Rep.	MI	Senate	$2000
James Otis McCrery III	Rep.	LA	House	$2000
Charlie Melancon Jr.	Dem.	LA	House	$1000
E. Benjamin Nelson	Dem.	NE	Senate	$1000
Solomon P. Ortiz	Dem.	TX	House	$1000
Ted Poe	Rep.	TX	House	$1000
Richard Pombo	Rep.	CA	House	$4000
Silvestre Reyes	Dem.	TX	House	$0*
Richard J. Santorum	Rep.	PA	Senate	$2500
Olympia J. Snowe	Rep.	ME	Senate	$1000
John Sullivan	Rep.	OK	House	$2000
James Matthew Talent	Rep.	OK	House	$2000
Craig Thomas	Rep.	WY	Senate	$2000
William Thomas	Rep.	CA	House	$2000
David Vitter	Rep.	LA	Senate	$2500
John William Warner	Rep.	VA	Senate	$1000
Roger F. Wicker	Rep.	MI	House	$1000
Heather A. Wilson	Rep.	NM	House	$1000

*When negative contributions were listed, the money was subtracted out to get net contributions for the time period in question.

As you can see, Halliburton Company PAC has a particular fondness for Republicans and Texas Democrats.

During the same time period, the National Republican Congressional Committee received $6500 from Halliburton Co PAC. The National Republican Senatorial Committee received $2500.

Time constraints have kept me from responding to this as quickly as I would like, but I think it is still important to comment on a bigoted ad from the Lieberman Senate Campaign. Queerty.com has extensive coverage of the issue, including screen shots and video.

The technique used in the ad was to make Lieberman's opponent, Ned Lamont, look subservient and dependent on former Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker by putting a pink shirt on his cartoon caricature and giving the Lamont cartoon a high pitched voice. Attacking men by associating female and queer traits with them is reprehensible. It is a personal insult to all queers and to all women.

There is an element of irony. Women like Cindy Sheehan and queers like Harvey Milk have shown more courage and independence than Lieberman is capable of doing.

Lieberman's defenders might point out the Champaign Fund's 100% rating for the incumbent on lgbt issues. However, two terribly important votes on lgbt issues show that such a rating is either outdated or inaccurate. Lieberman cast a viciously homophobic, sexist, and racist vote in favor of confirming John Roberts to the Supreme Court. Joe-mentum cast an equally homophobic, sexist, and racist vote on Alito filibuster, the only Alito vote that affected the outcome of his nomination.

It is no secret that Alito and Roberts have devoted their adult lives to attacking all civil rights and to subverting and undermining the U.S. Constitution. Lieberman didn't just betray the queer community with those votes, he violated his oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution.

Hopefully, the HRC will put aside the pressure of rich, right-wing donors who love Ann Coulter's endorsee, Joseph Lieberman, and endorse Ned Lamont who is better on queer issues.