The Happy Face of Hell?

Learn more about the "Happy Face of Hell" in Pam Dewey's latest post to her blog about the Pop Culture of Hell in NonDante. As always, Pam's posts on this subject are very informative and entertaining. 

Bush And Bible Prophecy

I will just admit it and get it behind me. Bush was a terrible president-one of the worst ever. But even with this as a granted position, I have trouble believing a lot of the things that are said about him. For example, I have never believed that Bush let his view of Bible prophecy affect his policies. I have been wrong:

In 2003 while lobbying leaders to put together the Coalition of the Willing, President Bush spoke to France's President Jacques Chirac. Bush wove a story about how the Biblical creatures Gog and Magog were at work in the Middle East and how they must be defeated.

I still have a problem thinking this is true, but unfortunately for me it is now confirmed by Chirac:

The story has now been confirmed by Chirac himself in a new book, published in France in March, by journalist Jean Claude Maurice. Chirac is said to have been stupefied and disturbed by Bush's invocation of Biblical prophesy (sic) to justify the war in Iraq and "wondered how someone could be so superficial and fanatical in their beliefs".

Those of you who know me know that I have no trouble having something to say. But I was struck dumb when I read this. First, the God and Magog prophecies really do not have anything to do with Iraq. In the Pop Theology way, it is often interpreted as Russia invading Israel. If this prophetic scenario is correct, then you would not want any troops in Iraq as that would prevent the Russians from attacking. The way Pop Theology gets the Russians in this prophecy is to mangle Hebrew. The word for head or leader in Hebrew is ro'sh, and the prophecy in Ezekiel 38 that mentions Gog and Magog mentions the leader, the “rosh.” Which sort of sounds like “Russia.” Or not. One of my pet peeves in addition to Pop Theology is Pop Etymology.

The whole point of the prophecy is that God directly intervenes. There is no need for American troops. Here is the reference in Revelation 20:

7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The reference in Ezekiel 38 is similar:

18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ...  22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.

How either of these can be used to support a war in Iraq is beyond me. In an interesting twist, some Jewish rabbis, using their own version of pop theology, declared Bush to be the ro'sh of Gog. This actually makes a little more sense. 

In a weird coincidence, all Skull and Bones members (the secret society many presidents have belonged to) are given special names:

The name Magog is traditionally assigned to the incoming Bonesman deemed to have had the most sexual experience, and Gog goes to the new member with the least sexual experience. William Howard Taft and Robert Taft were Magogs. So, interestingly, was George Bush.

George W. Bush's name was "Temporary" since they never got around to giving him a nickname. I wish he had been temporary, but his policies continue in president Obama.

“You Can’t Fight the Evil of the World from the Belly of the Beast”

The quote in the title above tells us why we need to distance ourselves from the beast, from Babylon. It is very easy to be co-opted. And from the beast's perspective the cost is rather cheap, most of us will settle for our MTV.

One step that needs to be considered is to "cut the cable." I just received my monthly call from Time Warner, confused and hurt as to why I do not have cable—it is only $50 a month more! All those channels. I said that I was happy with my lack of cable, and no, I did not want a telephone. I wonder how they train their operators to get that perfect combination of enthusiasm and disappointment. I get everything I want from Netflix, and it is cheaper too.

We just watched That Darn Cat. Watching it reminded me that there is so much fun entertainment in older movies and shows. One additional factor is that my Russian wife has never seen any of these movies because she was raised on Russian movies. She summarized the plot the next day for some friends. They had not seen it for years. I think we will watch the Parent Trap next, the original one, of course—then some Perry Mason, the old black and white one. Maybe we will watch some more old Disney. I do not need Charlie Sheen. No one needs Charlie Sheen.

One reason I started this blog was my meditation on the need to leave the system as much as possible, to do as Jesus suggested, to be in the world but not of the world. But alas, I fear that my recent emphasis on politics is a symptom of being too much in the system. The crisis in the debt ceiling is an important topic, but so are the other issues I want to talk about. But on the other hand, understanding the wacky world we live in and its politics is a part of the process to leave the system.

I am not saying that we cannot have some "guilty TV pleasures." The title of this post was actually said by a popular TV vampire. Even a fictional vampire understands the "violence inherent in the system."

The poor Time Warner lady is going to be so disappointed in me. I plan to switch to DSL.

Rat Out Your Neighbor

I found the following video rather odd. 

I guess everyone who wears a hoodie and drives a van is a suspect. Yes, I would have called security in these cases as well, except for the lady snooping on a man doing nothing more than using his cell phone. In a odd reversal the lady appears to be Arab and the man white. In fact all the "terrorists" except one were white. 

I thought we did not make filmstrips any more. Well at least we will be well trained to duck and cover just like Bert the turtle. 

Sugar Coated Satan Sandwich

The "budget deal" has a huge tax increase and has no budget cuts. I know this is not what you have been hearing as the rhetoric is in high gear. Emmanuel Cleaver called the budget deal a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich.” 

Another congressman said this:

Cedric Richmond from New Orleans, said he feared it would have a "devastating impact" on working and middle class families, whom he said would bear the brunt of the cuts.

The final absurdity from Politico:

“We have negotiated with terrorists,” an angry Doyle said, according to sources in the room. “This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.” Biden, driven by his Democratic allies’ misgivings about the debt-limit deal, responded: “They have acted like terrorists.” 

Impossible to spend any money? Congressman Doyle we are spending trillions. So the rhetoric is devastating cuts, republicans as terrorists, the deal being a Satan sandwich, with Pelosi adding that there were Satan fries on the side.  

So much angst—however the budget deal has no budget cuts. None. Zero. Imagine that your family is spending $40,000 a year with a $30,000 income. You plan to spend $45,000 next year. So you "cut" the amount you plan to spend to $42,000. Voila. You have cut $3,000 from your family’s budget. Nonsense. You have added $2,000 to your budget deficit. This is the way Washington does math. There are no spending cuts.

No doubt you are hearing that there are no tax increases in the "compromise." True to a degree, but there is a huge tax increase scheduled for 2013 when the Bush tax cuts expire. This will be $4 trillion over 10 years. This is the biggest tax increase in American history. It is certainly possible the tax cut expiration will be extended. It already has been extended once, but there is a big problem with an extention of the tax cuts. The estimated deficits of $13 trillion (or ten trillion depending on who you talk to) already include that $4 trillion tax increase. So if the tax cuts are extended then the deficit will be $17 trillion over the next 10 years.

Were the Budget Negotiations a Kabuki Dance of the Absurd?

I said I was an "optimist" on Monday because I think it likely we will have a number of these deals that will kick the can down the road. This will work for a while. If we gradually slow down we will not go off the cliff. I hope that is what will happen, but with the Democrats howling when there are no budget cuts, and the Republicans not understanding that we need to cut defense and raise taxes, it is not certain what will happen.