"Let the Eagle Soar" is No Joke

[Stephanie]

Ashcroft wants to replace the Constitution with Biblical law. Seriously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<snip>

Then there's the music (one of the few "fun" things allowed under Assembly precepts). While in Congress, Ashcroft took part in a barbershop quartet called "The Singing Senators," but his commitment to musical excellence didn't end there.

In the post-September 11 environment, Ashcroft decided to inspire his Justice Department employees by starting each day with song. But such godless standards as the "Star Spangled Banner" just wouldn't suffice. Ashcroft wrote his own song, "Let the Eagle Soar," and forced his hapless subordinates to join him in a daily caterwaul of defiance to such outmoded concepts as "separation of church and state":

"Let the eagle soar,
Like she's never soared before.
From rocky coast to golden shore,
Let the mighty eagle soar.
Soar with healing in her wings,
As the land beneath her sings:
'Only god, no other kings.'
This country's far too young to die.
We've still got a lot of climbing to do,
And we can make it if we try.
Built by toils and struggles
God has led us through."

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/usa/john-ashcroft/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<snip>

The "Constitution Restoration Act of 2004" is no joke, no rhetorical flourish by obscure fringe elements; it was introduced by some of the Bush Regime's most reliable – and powerful – Congressional sycophants, including the renegade Democrat, Bush-backing Senator Zell Miller of Georgia. If enacted, it will effectively transform the constitutional republic of the United States into a theocracy, where the abitrary dictates of a "higher power" – as personally interpreted by a judge, policeman, bureaucrat or president – can override the rule of law.

If you think this is an exaggeration – typical liberal paranoia – think again. Although the very little mainstream comment on the bill has described it merely as a sop to those who want to post the Ten Commandments in courtrooms and the like, the Religious Right knows full well what the true impact of the bill will be. That's why they've mobilized their forces to give all-out support to the measure, even at the expense of other high-profile battles against abortion and gay marriage. Indeed, some hardright commentators are calling the bill "the most important item on the conservative agenda this year – more important than the presidential election," as investigator Karen Yurica reports.

The Act – drafted by a former minion of TV evangelist Pat Robertson – is the fruit of decades of work by a group of extremists known broadly as "Dominionists." Their openly expressed aim is to establish "biblical rule" over every aspect of society – placing "the state, the school, the arts and sciences, law, economics, and every other sphere under Christ the King." Or as Attorney General John Ashcroft – the nation's chief law enforcement officer – likes to say: "America has no king but Jesus!"

According to Dominionist literature, "biblical rule" means execution – preferably by stoning – of homosexuals and other "revelers in licentiousness;" massive tax cuts for the rich (because "wealth is a mark of God's favor"); the elimination of government programs to allieviate poverty and sickness (because these depend on "confiscation of wealth"); and the re-institution of slavery, based not on race but debt. No legal challenges to "God's rule" will be allowed. And since this order is divinely ordained, the "elect" can use any means necessary to establish it, including deception, subversion, even violence. As Robertson himself adjures the faithful: "Zealous men force their way in."

<more at link - Chris Floyd: 'Pin heads: Bush law would convert America into a theocracy'>

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=15321

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[stevedeshazer]

1. kick

:kick:

[rocktivity]

15. Right under Ashcroft's nose

was a way to torture people that is as humane as it is effective!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Stephanie]

27. Rumsfeld designated it cruel and unusual

and forbid the interrogators to use it. They may, however. use vicious dogs.

[LTR]

2. Listen to this bad karaoke job here

Site:

http://www.miserablemelodies.com/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/miserabl/listall.cgi?arg=Artist

"song":

http://www.miserablemelodies.com/ram/ashkroft-eaglesoar.ram

[Octafish]

3. Aschcan and his BFEE masters are complete and utter NUTJOBS!

Thanks for posting the lyrics to a song I just can't get out of my head. I sing it in the backyard for the neighbor's enjoyment. Um, er, I digress. The lyrics have a certain Aryan "Gott mit Uns" KKK-burn-the-Cross tinge that Goebbels would appreciate.

Crisco Sings:

http://www.cnn.com/video/us/2002/02/25/ashcroft.sings.wbtv.med.html

BTW: Stephanie, do you know who was grooming Herr Ashcan for the White House?

I know you don't need a hint, but the initials are "PTL" and they stand for "Pass The Loot."

The "Evans & Novak" Interview: Sen. John Ashcroft

April 18, 1998

SPEAKERS: U.S. SENATOR JOHN ASHCROFT (R-Mo.)
ROWLAND EVANS, CNN
ROBERT NOVAK, CNN

EVANS: I'm Rowland Evans. Robert Novak and I will question a likely major contender for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination.

NOVAK: He is Senator John Ashcroft of Missouri.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOVAK: Discord within the Republican Party is growing with social conservatives highly critical of the congressional leadership.

SNIP...

NOVAK: Senator Ashcroft is emerging as a favorite of the social conservatives and the possible choice to lead them in 2000.

PAT ROBERTSON: I think he'd be a superb candidate. He's a two- time governor, he's a two-time attorney general. He's an extremely moral man, a very brilliant man. He's made an excellent job as senator.

NOVAK: Senator Ashcroft has been hitting the early presidential cattle shows with a strong message.

ASHCROFT: Let us stand with the people and not allow our rights and riches to be hijacked by Washington, D.C. Let us embrace the forgotten middle class and not allow the party of Reagan to become the debt collector for the nanny state. Let us fight those who would steal our freedom in the name of big government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTINUED MADNESS...

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/04/20/transcripts/ashcroft/



Why would Pat the Diamond-Plated Chickenhawk Liquor Officer Robertson want to do that?

John Ashcroft:
Attorney General from the Right

By Bill Berkowitz

EXCERPT...

Flash back to 1998. Christian right activists within the Republican Party are still bitter about the failed candidacy of Bob Dole, upset about what they perceive to be their “disenfranchisement” by Republican Party leadership. Angry speeches are delivered, threats to “bolt the Party” are issued, furious letters exchanged, and secret strategy sessions held. Christian right leaders begin shopping around for an ideologically friendly presidential candidate for the year 2000. Many of them settle on Missouri Senator John Ashcroft. Ashcroft’s campaign got an early boost from Pat Robertson’s family who sent his Spirit of America PAC a check for $10,000. Several right-wing columnists wrote favorably about Ashcroft’s possibilities. Jeff Jacoby, in the Washington Times, called Ashcroft “a born-and-bred son of the Christian right, the only Republican eyeing the White House who belongs to what is arguably the most important, most unified element of the Reagan coalition.” Terrence P. Jeffrey, who managed Pat Buchanan’s 1996 presidential campaign, noted in the conservative weekly Human Events that Ashcroft’s early showing in a South Carolina straw poll “was another sure step forward in the senator’s strategy to preemptively define himself as the first choice of GOP conservatives in the 2000 presidential primaries.”

CONTINUED...

http://zena.secureforum.com/Znet/zmag/feb01berkowitz.htm

[maggrwaggr]

4. nice work as usual Stephanie

:kick:

[gmoney]

5. "Only God No Other King..."

Except maybe Rev. Moon... then again, the right seems to endorse his belief that he's both God and our King.

That's the line of the song they play on Majority report all the time... a frequent earworm for me... oh shit, here it comes again.

[Mnemosyne]

6. I plugged my ears during song, make it stop Mommy, he's scaring me!!!

[Karenina]

7. AAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!

:kick:

[Stephanie]

8. You know all about the Christian Reconstructionists, right Karenina?

And the CNP? Remember when Bush spoke before the CNP during the 2000 campaign, but no reporters allowed and he refused to release the text of his speech? These people are aiming for an American theocracy. And Ashcroft is one of them.

[Karenina]

18. Rushdooney, their little secret meetings in Texas

the whole ball of wax. AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!! They have accumulated SO MUCH POWER and $$$$$$ and THEY ARE FUCKING NUTS!!! SERIOUSLY FUCKING NUTS! Don't even get me started on the Ahmansons...
Any curiosity seekers can go to Politicalamazon.com and just check out a link or two. That is if you can get through them without your head spinning at 78rpm on your neck. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!! :argh:

[Stephanie]

20. "The First Prince of the Theocratic States of America"

This article is the documented story of how a political religious movement called Dominionism gained control of the Republican Party, then took over Congress, then took over the White House, and now is sealing the conversion of America to a theocracy by taking over the American Judiciary. It’s the story of why and how “the wrath of God Almighty” will be unleashed against the middle class, against the poor, and against the elderly and sick of this nation by George W. Bush and his army of Republican Dominionist “rulers.”

http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm

[Karenina]

30. Required reading on DU's front page:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/06/29_unravel.html

[Mandate My Ass]

9. I've never found anything funny about Ashcroft

He is a dangerous and sick individual nothing he does would surprise me. As one of my friends recently said, he's the worst one in this administration because he believes his own bullshit.

This is truly frightening.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. This is extremely frightening.

[mainer]

11. well, at least he had a pretty good voice.

even if the song stank.

[doni_georgia]

12. Dominionism/Theonomy is a real threat in America

I have been screaming this for 10 years now. Anyone who hasn't read up on this theology needs to. I am a Christian, and I have left 3 churches for buying into this doctrine. Here are some links to get you started: (most are Christian, they do the best job of exposing the doctrine for what it is)

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/r10.html

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Dominionism

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/ChRecon.html

http://www.diakrisis.org/Dominion_Theology.htm

And the scariest - read this pro-theonomy site:
http://www.survivalistskills.com/RUSH.HTM

[Stephanie]

19. Thanks for the links!

I followed your first link above to find this:

http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/chrisre1.html

Christian Reconstructionism
The Public Eye Magazine, Vol. VIII, Nos. 1 & 2, March/June 1994
Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence
by Frederick Clarkson

Overview and Roots

The Christian Right has shown impressive resilience and has rebounded dramatically after a series of embarrassing televangelist scandals of the late 1980s, the collapse of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, and the failed presidential bid of Pat Robertson. In the 1990s, Christian Right organizing went to the grassroots and exerted wide influence in American politics across the country.

There is no doubt that Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition gets much of the credit for this successful strategic shift to the local level. But another largely overlooked reason for the persistent success of the Christian Right is a theological shift since the 1960s. The catalyst for the shift is Christian Reconstructionism--arguably the driving ideology of the Christian Right in the 1990s.

The significance of the Reconstructionist movement is not its numbers, but the power of its ideas and their surprisingly rapid acceptance. Many on the Christian Right are unaware that they hold Reconstructionist ideas. Because as a theology it is controversial, even among evangelicals, many who are consciously influenced by it avoid the label. This furtiveness is not, however, as significant as the potency of the ideology itself. Generally, Reconstructionism seeks to replace democracy with a theocratic elite that would govern by imposing their interpretation of "Biblical Law." Reconstructionism would eliminate not only democracy but many of its manifestations, such as labor unions, civil rights laws, and public schools. Women would be generally relegated to hearth and home. Insufficiently Christian men would be denied citizenship, perhaps executed. So severe is this theocracy that it would extend capital punishment beyond such crimes as kidnapping, rape, and murder to include, among other things, blasphemy, heresy, adultery, and homosexuality.

Reconstructionism has expanded from the works of a small group of scholars to inform a wide swath of conservative Christian thought and action. While many Reconstructionist political positions are commonly held conservative views, what is significant is that Reconstructionists have created a comprehensive program, with Biblical justifications for far right political policies. Many post-World War II conservative, anticommunist activists were also, if secondarily, conservative Christians. However, the Reconstructionist movement calls on conservatives to be Christians first, and to build a church-based political movement from there.

For much of Reconstructionism's short history it has been an ideology in search of a constituency. But its influence has grown far beyond the founders' expectations. As Reconstructionist author Gary North observes, "We once were shepherds without sheep. No longer."

<more>

[Eloriel]

13. Oh, this really needs a

:kick:

[TrustingDog]

14. I take his 'Eagles' as fighter planes...

bombing the muslims into Asscracks kind of insane christianity.

[robertpaulsen]

16. Kick and bookmark!

Serious links on this thread regarding our American Taliban. Read it!

[tom_paine]

17. And Zealous Men will beat your Crusdaer Rabbit-asses back out!

Or die trying...

[Stephanie]

23. dupe

:hiccup:

[Stephanie]

24. I love the Zealous Men!

And I know you're dead serious... all of you!

:loveya:

[Zomby Woof]

21. they'll have to pry my ACLU card

from my cold dead hands.

[Zomby Woof]

22. they'll have to pry my ACLU card

from my cold dead hands.

[opihimoimoi]

25. The man is in luv with himself. What a conceited person he is.

He is delusional...only a crazed person would think the way he does. Very Spooky.

Draped a Naked Statue?? WTF?

[progressivebydesign]

26. I saw a bald eagle flying over my yard the other day...

.. It was beautiful. It really did nothing to promote a sense of patriotism in me, nor did it make me want to proclaim Jesus as the King of America. Ashcroft has a screw loose.. actually, many screws. He's a scary, dangerous man. I don't doubt the authenticity of the Restoration Act of 2004, I'm sure it's in the wings.. no pun intended.

[rumguy]

28. This Dominionist stuff scares the hell out of me...

Someone could make a documentary on this issue. I mean these people want to establish a Taliban-like govt. here in this country...

[Hekate]

29. This is sick. Kick it.

I've done some online research on the numbers of Dominionist fellow-travellers in the three branches of US government and it's pretty amazing. From time to time I send links to friends and relatives. Thanks for bringing it up again.

I can't laugh at any of them. When I look at Ashcroft I see the Grand Inquisitor -- the Spanish Inquisition -- the utter intolerance that comes with the belief that you and you alone know what God's Will is for the rest of humanity.

Bumper sticker warning: "The last time we mixed church and state people got burned at the stake"

Hekate

[Stephanie]

32. On the CNP

You know about Tim LaHaye, who writes the "Left Behind" books. Do you know about the CNP?

http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5601&abbr=cs_

If Best-Selling End-Times Author Tim LaHaye Has His Way, Church-State Separation Will Be...

Left Behind

By Rob Boston

<snip>

In 1980 LaHaye was present at the birth of the Moral Majority and agreed to serve on the organization's first board of directors under the tutelage of the Rev. Jerry Falwell, with whom he remains close today.

A year later, LaHaye was co-founder and first president of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a secretive umbrella group of far right leaders who meet regularly to plot strategy designed to advance a theocratic agenda. CNP activists have included Falwell, Pat Robertson, long-time right-wing strategist Paul Weyrich, the American Family Association's Donald Wildmon, Focus on the Family's James C. Dobson and former attorney general Edwin Meese. (Even R.J. Rushdoony, the now-deceased dean of the radical Christian Reconstructionist movement, was a member.)

The CNP is also rife with wealthy far-right business executives and influential Washington ultra-conservatives. The group remains powerful in the Republican Party to this day. During the 2000 campaign, its members summoned George W. Bush to a closed-door meeting, where the future president had to assure the organization that he was a true conservative.

In1982, LaHaye joined the steering committee of the openly theocratic Council on Revival, a far-right group that boldly proclaimed its goal of imposing "biblical law" on America. Many COR members were leaders of the "Christian Reconstructionist" camp, whose advocates favor scrapping democracy and basing all U.S. law on their narrow interpretation of the Old Testament's legal code. Although LaHaye disagreed with the Reconstructionists on some matters of theology such as how the "End Times" would unfold he joined forces with the movement with the aim of bringing about an officially fundamentalist "Christian" America. <more>

[dusty64]

31. The rise of the "christian" reconstructionists

and their control of government and the voting machine companies has been the biggest story ignored by our corporate media. I once saw these two groups as being incompatible, but now it seems one is covering for the other. The corporate theocrats, or as I prefer the American Taliban. Scary, VERY scary.

[Stephanie]

34. Also hand in hand with the Straussian neo-cons

It all gets a little freaky, doesn't it?

Leo Strauss' Philosophy of Deception
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet. Posted May 19, 2003.

<snip>

Second Principle: Power of Religion

According to Drury, Strauss had a "huge contempt" for secular democracy. Nazism, he believed, was a nihilistic reaction to the irreligious and liberal nature of the Weimar Republic. Among other neoconservatives, Irving Kristol has long argued for a much greater role for religion in the public sphere, even suggesting that the Founding Fathers of the American Republic made a major mistake by insisting on the separation of church and state. And why? Because Strauss viewed religion as absolutely essential in order to impose moral law on the masses who otherwise would be out of control.

At the same time, he stressed that religion was for the masses alone; the rulers need not be bound by it. Indeed, it would be absurd if they were, since the truths proclaimed by religion were "a pious fraud." As Ronald Bailey, science correspondent for Reason magazine points out, "Neoconservatives are pro-religion even though they themselves may not be believers."

"Secular society in their view is the worst possible thing,'' Drury says, because it leads to individualism, liberalism, and relativism, precisely those traits that may promote dissent that in turn could dangerously weaken society's ability to cope with external threats. Bailey argues that it is this firm belief in the political utility of religion as an "opiate of the masses" that helps explain why secular Jews like Kristol in 'Commentary' magazine and other neoconservative journals have allied themselves with the Christian Right and even taken on Darwin's theory of evolution.

http://www.alternet.org/story/15935

[dusty64]

37. Freaky ain't the word.

What puzzles me is the cover the corporate media gives to these extremists who are so actively working to ruin our Country and subvert democracy. Certainly the world they envision is NOT good for business and I thought all these Big Business whores only cared about was $$$$. How can they possibly think a theocratic dictatorship would help them hoard more money? My rational thought tells me the aim of these two groups are opposed to each other, yet time and time again the corporations provide cover and help further the goals of the American Taliban. Whats up?

[mopaul]

33. revelers in licentiousness......that's me alright..........n/t

[Bridget Burke]

35. Ashcroft's speech at Bob Jones University

There's a difference between a culture that has no king but Caesar, no standard but the civil authority, and a culture that has no king but Jesus, no standard but the eternal authority. When you have no king but Caesar, you release Barabas — criminality, destruction, thievery, the lowest and the least. When you have no king but Jesus, you release the eternal, you release the highest and the best.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/ashcroft_bjutranscript010112.html

He gave the speech at Commencement, May 8, 1999, when he received an honorary degree. Previous Bob Jones honorees include Lester Maddox, Strom Thurmond, George Wallace & Ian Paisley.

[Hubert Flottz]

36. I think he might have meant to sing:::::::::::::::::

"The Eagle's a$$ is sore,
Cause Dumbya treats her like his whore.
He'll steal everything and still look for more,
Long as the GOPers rule noone's minding the store,
He won't leave your kids a f?ckin' thing,
I said he'll steal everything:
'So the GOPers can all live like kings.'
He'll kill everyone who's big enough to die.
He's still got lots of robbing to do,
And he can take it All if we tries.
But to buy his oil you'll struggle,
It's what the SCOTUS did to you."

Edit}

"The Eagle's future's lookin' poor,
They've plucked away her underdrawers,
You just can't buy eagle at the grocery store,
And now her wind burned ass is sore,
Sore cause they tried to buffalo her wings,
They've even stole the song she sings:
'And named some Moonie king of kings.'
Her proud drumsticks they'll southern fry,
They've still got a little plucking left to do,
They'll turn her breast to ealge pot pies,
Soon in the peanut oil she'll bubble,
God, they'll prolly fry the spotted owls too!

[Hubert Flottz]

38. Let this eagle sore and sore and::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

sore some more,
Shurb just went down to the liquor store,
Cause he can't take his own bullshit anymore,
DA DA DA Da Da,