RANDOM #1 - CRUZ/CHRISTIANITY, SNOWDEN/OLIVER/WIKILEAKS/SONY & REAGAN/CLINTON/OBAMA

CRUZ/CHRISTIANITY

Ted Cruz is reported to have said that there is no longer room in the Democratic Party for Christians. If I were a practicing Christian, I would be pissed that the litmus test for being a Christian has become adherence to the laws of the Old Testament rather than an understanding of Christ's message of grace.

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

SNOWDEN/OLIVER/WIKILEAKS/SONY
Folks like Jon Stewart and John Oliver appear to delight in insisting that they are not journalists, even as they do the very jobs that journalists ought to be doing but are not. For instance, it took Oliver just minutes to burst the bubble of righteousness Eric Snowden and his admirers have erected around his actions. Having admitted to Oliver that he hadn't read all of the documents that he leaked and that it is at least possible, perhaps likely, that bad things will happen to good people as a result, Snowden admitted to having to own causing collateral damage. One has to suppose that those canonizing Snowden would be among the first to condemn the military when a drone strike harms the innocent. What about Snowden, then?

Transparency can be a bitch when it applies to you, can't it?

And now we know that transparency applies to anyone and everyone. The personal information of thousands of Sony employees are publicly available - in a searchable database, no less - thanks to the determination by the folks at WikiLeaks that Sony, like the US government, qualifies as a suitable target for transparency. Who's next? Certainly not the folks at WikiLeaks. Why not? Good question. Maybe John Oliver will get to ask it one of these days.

REAGAN/CLINTON/OBAMA
On an internet discussion board recently, one writer gave Bill Clinton credit for presiding over the best American economy in a good long while. One naysayer insisted Clinton was not responsible. Rather, a Republican majority in Congress was responsible for the good times in the late 90s. One wonders if the same writer would be as quick to credit a Democratic Congress for Reagan's successes. Of course, just as Clinton's good times have grown better than they actually were when viewed through the lens of history, so have Reagan's good times...if indeed a judicious look at the Reagan years can be characterized as good times.

And what of Obama? By the numbers, Obama has presided over the best times of all. Which just goes to show, modern history is written by those with the most powerful microphones.

THE TRUTH ABOUT BENGHAZI - IF YOU CAN HANDLE IT

I am sick to the death of the calls for the Truth About Benghazi. Here is the Truth About Benghazi - if you can handle it.

Beginning in 1955, American political elites and the military-industrial complex put bulls eyes on the backs of American sons and daughters in service and sent them to southeast Asia. It was a place that they didn't belong, a place where no European has ever belonged. 20 years later, 60,000 Americans were dead.

In 1983, American political elites and the military-industrial complex put bulls eyes on the backs of American Marines and Navy personnel and sent them to Lebanon. It was a place that they didn't belong, a place where no European has ever belonged. 250 Marines and sailors died.

In 2001, American political elites and the military-industrial complex put bulls eyes on the backs of American sons and daughters in service and sent them to Afghanistan. It was a place that they didn't belong, a place where no European has ever belonged. 10 years later, 2,300 Americans were dead.

In 2003, American political elites and the military-industrial complex put bulls eyes on the backs of American sons and daughters in service and sent them to Iraq. It was a place that they didn't belong, a place where no European has ever belonged. 10 years later, 4,500 Americans were dead.

In 2012, American political elites and the military-industrial complex put bulls eyes on the backs of American sons and daughters in service and sent them to Libya. It was a place that they didn't belong, a place where no European has ever belonged. 4 Americans died.

And since 1955, American political elites and the military-industrial complex have participated in the deaths of millions - that's MILLIONS - of civilians in southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

The Truth About Benghazi? The Truth About Benghazi is that it was the least egregious blunder in a history of American blunders that goes back 50 years and continues today. The Truth About Benghazi is that OUR American political elites and OUR military-industrial complex are at fault. And, having been warned by Eisenhower before these events unfolded of the dangers inherent in the military-industrial complex, and having participated in the American political process to one degree or another over the interim, WE are at fault.

Can you handle that Truth?