“KABUL — A NATO helicopter was shot down during an overnight operation against the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, a U.S. official said. The crash killed 31 U.S. service members and 8 Afghan troops, according to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, making it the deadliest incident for the coalition in the nearly 10-year-old war.
“The U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said the aircraft was most likely, brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade and that many of the dead were Navy SEALs. The Taliban asserted responsibility for the crash, which occurred in Wardak province, just west of the capital, Kabul.”
“Standard & Poor’s announced Friday night that it has downgraded the U.S. credit rating for the first time, dealing a symbolic blow to the world’s economic superpower in what was a sharply worded critique of the American political system.
“Lowering the nation’s rating to one notch below AAA, the credit rating company said “political brinkmanship” in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances “less stable, less effective and less predictable.” It said the bipartisan agreement reached this week to find at least $2.1 trillion in budget savings “fell short” of what was necessary to tame the nation’s debt over time and predicted that leaders would not be likely to achieve more savings in the future.”
“Perry says the day is inspired by the words of the Old Testament book of Joel, in which the prophet calls on the Hebrew people to pray, fast and ask for God’s forgiveness. The Texas governor argues that America similarly needs to ask for God’s help today because it is a “nation in crisis.”
“We have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters,” Perry writes on the event’s Web site. “As a nation, we must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles, and thank Him for the blessings of freedom we so richly enjoy.”
““Governor Perry’s decision to sponsor a ‘Christians-only’ prayer rally is bad enough,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “That he turned to an array of intolerant religious extremists to put it on for him is even worse.”
“Organizers don’t detail positions on any major policy issues on the event Web site; instead, they list seven religious points they agreed on, such as “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.”
Cassi Creek:
I’m saddened by the loss of our troops in Afghanistan. They are being used in a war with no way to define victory. We need to bring them home and admit that we can’t police the world or redefine the culture of other nations to match the ideology of our congress or their corporate owners.
The Congress needs to be pruned of anyone who voted with the teavanagelists or GOP ideologues. Their idiocy has effectively levied a new tax on all Americans. It will land most heavily on the backs of the poor, the unemployed, the once-middle class; those who can least afford it. No incumbent should be free from fear of losing his seat. So much for the GOP/teavangelist mantra “no taxes.” What liars they all are.
The governor of Texas is badly overstepping the boundaries of the 1st Amendment’s establishment clause. His “Christians only” gathering under the auspices of his elected office are exclusionary and, to my mind, illegal. The whole “Response” is an open invitation to single our all those Texans who are not evangelicals and to exclude them from the commonality of Texas citizens. Those who fail to agree with the literal interpretation of the Christian holy book as a valid source for government need to loudly and repeatedly challenge the process of allowing hatemongering by religious demagogues over the tacit approval of the Governor’s office.
Such a challenge may likely result in open hostility and conflict within the state and its communities and towns. The Texas thumpers take great exception to anyone challenging their image of an all-powerful, blue-eyed, English-speaking Jesus dictating how to teach creationism instead of evolution and deciding which team wins in local high-school athletic games. As with the GOP’s base never asking, “Where are the jobs from the Bush tax-cuts?” Very few Texans are going to ask, “Where’s the rain we prayed for?” I guess they have yet to figure out that praying for rain only works if it is going to rain anyway. Either Perry hasn’t discovered that, or he’s pissed off Jesus and there won’t be any rain until he leaves office. Place your bets. As we’re fond of singing, “Texas needs rain!”
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