No Political Savior

Spidey's ignorant venom will never abate
None can save him, for it's much too late
No wisdom will ever reach him
No compassion ever move him
He doesn't know our Lord taught love, not hate.

To: Gobalone

But we are alive in the world, and we exist in the world, and the physical nature of existence thrusts itself upon on, waiting for our choices, demainding our choices. How must we choose? How would you choose?

I do not believe that Obama has an answer for evil, but I have a choice between two, and of the the two, he is the one I would choose.

To: Gobalone

But we are alive in the world, and we exist in the world, and the physical nature of existence thrusts itself upon on, waiting for our choices, demainding our choices. How must we choose? How would you choose?

I do not believe that Obama has an answer for evil, but I have a choice between two, and of the the two, he is the one I would choose.

The problem is too many people have fallen for the myth of progress. They believe that each politician, or the one they choose to vote for, will mysteriously take us all on some grand march towards utopia. Sound familiar? Hmmm, "change for the sake of change even if we don't have a clue what to change?"

But guess what? No politican can or will do it. Not McCain. Not Nobama. Which is the underlying theme to Mr. Colson's argument.

Not a single politician has an answer for evil.

" kert1

"I can't believe the hatred there is toward Chuck Colson. I would ask anyone to come up with something he has done wrong since being convicted."

Apart from turning the prisons into a privatized profit engine and personal captive audience for Christian conservative agitation, with special privileges offered to those who kneel to his personal interpretation of Christianity?

There's actually some pretty sketchy money trail in there, apart from blatant Unconstitutionality and various other stuff there, but to come around and chastise others about their 'morals' when he thought his absolute morals made Watergate his duty to perpetrate, yeah, that's questionable.

I don't *hate* the man, ...I don't know the man, but certainly all I see is a right-wing fraudster who saw the 'Evangelical' gray train of money and power and hasn't apparently seen fit to challenge any of the *real* social ills that represent his meal ticket.

And, well, he claims righteousness when on the wrong side of every issue... and he attacks innocents over it.

And, if his 'prison ministry' were about more than recruiting out of a captive audience with perks, there's some issues he could be looking at.

There are, for instance, a number of people finding various Pagan paths while incarcerated, and some white supremacist groups taking advantage of the situation to cook up some scary stuff in there, because in the interest of making as many conservative Christians as possible, they keep *real* Pagan clergy out of the prisons wherever they can, people who could help clear up some of the nasty misconceptions some in there embrace.

That's not what the conservative agenda wants... 'Aryan nation' types who think that's really their heritage make useful thugs and scapegoats for the Right, after all.

So I have some *ahem* criticisms, there.

"Actually he admitted to a crime that he wasn't even charged with. You guys really need to read his story, it is an amazing thing."

Cutting a deal to avoid being charged, so he can end up in a position of some influence isn't *necessarily* what I'd call 'amazing,' if by 'amazing' you mean 'Good In Some Way.'

Certainly doesn't qualify him to come hide behind the 'cloth' and continue with the moralistic deceptions.

There are two books in the Bible which are never, ever read from from the pulpit. In fact, they are never, ever even mentioned in church. Most so-called "christians" don't even know that they are in there. I have even heard a few very arrogant so-called "christians" question why they are there.

One of them is a love poem. Its far and away the most beautiful book in the Bible. I suppose that these so-called "christians" don't accept it because they think its x-rated, or else because they don't have the foggiest idea of what true love is.

The other book, the other one, happens to be the longest book in the whole Bible. Right now, it just happens to be the most important one, as well. God made man in his own image. We like to fantasize that God is always happy, always just, always offering hope and healing and good times.
But Jeremiah's message was just a little bit different than that. Right now, God is very, very angry about the arrogance, the greed, the sloth, the stupidity, and the wastefulness of the people of the USA. He has the tools to inflict any pain that He wishes to inflict, and all of them are in his hands right now. For the rich people of the United States, there is going to be no place to run and no place to hide.

Christianity will slowly fade from society as will contemporary Mormonism and Islam because of the obvious problems with the founders of these religions especially their angelic/satanic hallucinations and related prophecies. "Pretty and ugly wingie thingies" simply do/did not exist. Associating the Singularity with these mythical assistants and opponents mocks the concept of God the Almighty.

The Good Words were articulated via reason and common sense by the ancients. These Words of Wisdom were simply repeated with each major race and religion. Unfortunately the Words were attributed to embellished men in most cases as a means of profiteering as noted by the contemporary billions of dollars owned and controlled by the Mormon, Christian, Jewish and Moslem religions. It is time to get our money back!!!!!

hi chuck , i agree with what you have said but must say that we can and will have change the moment the american people insist upon it.. and we are insisting on it now.. the question is not republican or demacrat i think the republicans showed exactly what they would do when they actually had both houses and the presidency .. it was to shameless sell out thier country.. and rape the anti trust and finace regulations, there is something to be said for simpler more compact regualtion that is easily understood by all but not sellout thestore. the democrats were given a clear mandate by the american people to clean up the lobbying mess and they have clearly ducked the responsibility and took the money while pretending they could do nothing. a stupid gutless mistake i predict.. we may well need a party of we the people 2 be the dominant party and let thetwo stepchildren wither or change. of course we know the senate could actually filibuster and require a two thirds majority to overide it but when .. did they actually do that so the american people could actually see who to blame... the fixx is in and the american people know it.. IF THEY ARE OUR REPRESENTATIVES.... AND THEY REPRESENT US..WHY CAN'T WE HEAR EVERY WORD THE LOBYIST ARE SAYING... 2 ....OUR.. REPRESENTATIVES. (please referr to the dictionary here confused representatives ) THEY WILL ACTUALLY NEED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION 4 THE RECORD... also they put cameras we pay for at every public intersection .. for years we have had camereras on cash registers in stores and bank tellers across america... the congress is the american people cash regisiter why not every official duty be on tape and miked just like it is for us. if there was actually something wrong with this we.. ourselves would have long ago complained lol.. they could have thier private life on thier private time and i for one would care if they were having relationships with thier pet sheeps in private if they were actually doing my work honestly when they were at work.. that would actually be between them and god anyway not my problem as long as the sheep is being well fed and taken care of. ;-) maybe laugh them out of office .. THEY DO APPLY FOR THESE JOBS DON'T THEY LOL.. PLEASE CHECK 4 TRUTH i'm just the dyslexic artis son of a blueridge mountain hillbilly eye ait't 2 brite sumtymes

I can't believe the hatred there is toward Chuck Colson. I would ask anyone to come up with something he has done wrong since being convicted. Actually he admitted to a crime that he wasn't even charged with. You guys really need to read his story, it is an amazing thing.

I would at least like someone to give an example of what they hate about him. There isn't anything to defend.

As for his point of the colunn, he is right on. We are in this boat because no get's their house in order. The person who has debt to buy everything, the greedy Wall Street CEO, the Politician who gets pork and then put his name on it, they are all the same. We are greedy and we are motivated by greed. Until individuals stop being greedy, the politicians will be elected and the CEO's will stay in power.

From the tone of this column, I am worried. Everyone wants to blame their enemy (whoever that is), when blame is almost all encompassing. We need a lot of change, not just a different political party in power. Both sides are doing the same thing. We need to wake up as a people are start demanding morality in all parts of society.

If you need to know anything about Spidey's intelligence level, all you have to know is that he believes Wall Street is run by liberal Democrats.

ROFL!!!

Why do people get so angry about this stuff? I think it is because Colson is right - politics and political leaders have become a religion for many who have "grown out of God."

Anyway, I was born too late to buy into hatred of Chuck Colson. His commentary on politics and religion over the last twenty years has been pretty rational and objective. He is in a better position than almost all the rest of us to comment on the futility of the political process to create lasting change in our society. I'm not even voting (taking sides) this year because the damage we do to ourselves, our communities, and our society with this name-calling and irrational hatred is much greater than any good that could possibly result from the election. We are wallowing in the mud and seem to believe that after the election we will immediately cease to be pigs and become enlightened and magnanimous princes.

SPIDERMEAN2:

I get my facts from many sources, including oil industry leaders and petroleum experts. Start with Mathew Simmons, who is a Texas investment banker who finances the oil industry. He knows just about everything there is to know about the oil industry. He has to know, because he makes "Yes/No" decisions on the expenditure of billions of oil investment dollars. He wrote a book called "Twilight in the Desert" about the decline of the Saudi Arabian oil fields. In that book he covers a lot more than just the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia. His book is a good place to start for a petroleum industry education.

Also try "Feeding the Fire: The Lost History & Uncertain Future of America's Energy Addiction", by Mark E. Eberhart. It gives a good introduction to the whole spectrum of energy technologies.

Then Google "oil drilling" "Ghawar oil field" "peak oil" and such subjects for more information.

For some pictorial evidence of how unlimited drilling harms America more than it helps, look at the National Geographic web site, where they document the destruction of the Rocky Mountain landscape by zillions of poorly-producing low-yield oil and gas wells. See:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0507/feature5/
and
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0507/feature5/gallery2.html

orange2, where are you geting your facts? Check and double check coz it's faulty.

SPIDERMEAN2 wishes to blame the Democrats for the oil shortage. Sorry, but that is just a simplistic attempt to find a scapegoat. The real cause of our problems has been 60 years of short-sighted energy policies by both parties. Starting in the late 1940s and 1950s, under Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, the USA set out to make suburbia, freeways, and suburban tract homes the model for our lifestyle. At the same time, General Motors and friends bought up and destroyed the trolley lines so everybody would have to buy a car. Nobody ever seriously thought that the oil supply was finite and would run out in two or three generations, leaving us between a rock and a hard place, with an unworkable living arrangement and worthless tract homes. But that's where we are now.

And no, we cannot just drill our way out of this problem. Offshore drilling is a mere distraction -- a political dirty trick to hide the fact that the USA exhausted all of its major oil reserves more than 20 years ago. Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas, Huntington Beach, they are all dry holes now. The Gulf of Mexico is going fast. And Alaska only produces heavy sour crude which USA refineries cannot process. (They need light sweet crude.) Alaskan oil just feeds Japan, China, and Korea. Drilling in Alaska profits the oil companies, but not the American people. Other offshore drilling produces mere drops in the barrel. There isn't a single good offshore field left. It's like all of the drilling in the Rocky Mountains -- lots of wells that produce just a few drips and drabs here and there -- just barely enough to make it profitable to drill the well.

No, the Democrats are not keeping us from getting more oil. Mother Nature and the laws of physics are doing it to us.

Welcome to the future.
Consider Mad Max and the Road Warrior a documentary.

Let's see. Charles Colson. Spokesman for morality and ethics in government. Colson ... Colson ... Seems to me I've heard that name before ...

Democratic states like California, Massachusettes and Connecticut now allow men marry with men. I hope none of these gay men from these states would run for president and win or else we'll be having a "first male lady" or a male "first lady".

Dems don't want nuke power, no offshore drilling, no clean coal powerplants. What do they expect? Cheap oil? Haven't they heard of the rule of supply and demand? This oil crises started from the Dems. And this oil crises was/is a major contributor to our economic downturn.

Learn something Dems. Learn to blame yourselves.

So now you can't fire an incompetent worker because you'll be charge with abuse of power.

So who's telling the truth? Her liberal faithless accusers or herself, the conservative Christian believer?

No match. I'd rather believe her than her accusers.

"Christians do not resort to shortselling of stocks and other shady deals. Christians want to drill but liberal democrats banned drilling that is why we have this oil crisis."

Forgive me for responding earlier -- I thought you were rational. I won't make that mistake again.

Typo. Too early where I am deployed... LOOKS, not nook.

In these times, perhaps the words of faith have good counsel. I John 4:18 says "Perfect love casts out fear." Indeed, I find we build our lives either on love, or fear. One connects us to others and builds us into community, the other leads us to everything stupid. This is true for one's spiritual life... and political life.

So look at the candidates and ask yourself, who is walking in love and who is not? It doesn't take much to figure out that McCain/Palin do a great job fanning the flames of fear, and Obama nooks to pull us together.

"Governor Palin has 70-80 percent approval rating in Alaska. But the idiots want to investigate her because an incompetent man lost his job. Isn't that silly?"

Alaskans are still supporting indicted felon Ted Stevens. They also elected the Murkowski clan. That should tell you something about who the real idiots in Alaska are, and what such an approval rating for such a transparently obvious incompetent means.

Now we find that she is not only incompetent, but a bi-partisan (10 R, 4 D by the way -- hardly bi-partisan, but tilted way Republican) committee has found she is unethical.

I know that sends a tingle up the pantleg of the few and dwindling number of Bush supporters who think that abuse of power is just dandy as long as it's their person doing the abusing, but the other 80% of America (you know, not the few thousand Alaska residents, but the hundreds of millions of the rest of us) thinks it stinks.

There is no better rationale for taking away the stewardship of Alaska's Federal resources than this pathetic display of electoral "judgement."

Would be nice if once in awhile someone had the stones to say Americans and their appetite for greed and consumption played a major role in this financial fiasco as well.

Your family members, friends, relatives and coworkers remain enamored with conspicuous consumption and too many measure their self worth by the trappings of 'things'.

Colson opines: "People see everything that they've trusted in collapse, and they are mad at politicians. Unfortunately, they're also looking for political savior--and there is none."

I'm not looking for a savior, Chuck. I subscribe to Einstein's observation that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the very definition of insanity.

Your brand of politics has put the wagon well into the ditch, but don't worry. We'll set it right again for all of us, you included, despite your consistent cutting off your nose despite your face.

Governor Palin has 70-80 percent approval rating in Alaska. But the idiots want to investigate her because an incompetent man lost his job.

Isn't that silly?

Too many churchmen want to be politician. They can't win a general election, so they pontificate about that which is Caesar's in the House that is God's - and conveniently ingnore the differences and the truths.

Save us from these bullies whose rich lifestyles are derived on spreading false fears. Go back to doing God's work and leave science and politics to the world's Caesars.

(The mainstream media hasn't pick up on this story in Alaska.) Here is somebody you might want to use in your prison ministry

Majority say Legislature should act against Palin

by Channel 2 News staff
Thursday, October 9, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- In a poll conducted by Channel 2 News, respondents were asked whether or not the Alaska Legislature should take action against Gov. Palin in light of the abuse of power report.

Here is the official question and results.

Should the Legislature take action against Gov. Sarah Palin for her abuse of power laid out in Stephen Branchflower's investigation?

Yes 66 %

No 34 %

All polls conducted by Channel 2 News and KTUU.com are unscientific

(The mainstream media hasn't pick up on this story in Alaska.)

Majority say Legislature should act against Palin

by Channel 2 News staff
Thursday, October 9, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- In a poll conducted by Channel 2 News, respondents were asked whether or not the Alaska Legislature should take action against Gov. Palin in light of the abuse of power report.

Here is the official question and results.

Should the Legislature take action against Gov. Sarah Palin for her abuse of power laid out in Stephen Branchflower's investigation?

Yes 66 %

No 34 %

All polls conducted by Channel 2 News and KTUU.com are unscientific

I'm glad to hear you say this because Christian leaders who rely too heavily on political leaders to solve the world's spiritual malaise betrays their tacit lack of faith that God is in charge. I also hope that the church leaders who are fooling their flocks into believing this PROSPERITY nonsense is scriptural, are beginning to understand that our riches are in our deeper covenant relationship with God - not in the dogma of capitolism - and the false God of selfish greed.

Bartedson wrote "It is you and your ilk that have given us George W Bush, the worst President in history, and Sarah Palin, the least qualified vice presidential candidate in history."

Nope the Dems are destroying this country. The banks which failed were run by mostly Democrats in New York who have no conscience. Christians do not resort to shortselling of stocks and other shady deals. Christians want to drill but liberal democrats banned offshore drilling that is why we have this oil crisis.

Liberal demcrats should start LEARNING to blame themselves.

THE IDIOTS CAUSED US THIS MESS SO LET THE IDIOTS RULE (executive and legislative) TO COMPLETE THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL.

Even this Afghan and Iraq war really started from Clinton's term. He let Bin Ladin's men trained in our soil to fly planes.

Bartedson wrote "It is you and your ilk that have given us George W Bush, the worst President in history, and Sarah Palin, the least qualified vice presidential candidate in history."

Nope the Dems are destroying this country. The banks which failed were run by mostly Democrats in New York who have no conscience. Christians do not resort to shortselling of stocks and other shady deals. Christians want to drill but liberal democrats banned drilling that is why we have this oil crisis.

Liberal demcrats should start LEARNING to blame themselves.

THE IDIOTS CAUSED US THIS MESS SO LET THE IDIOTS RULE TO COMPLETE THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL.

Even this Afghan and Iraq really started from Clinton's term. He let Bin Ladin's men trained in our soil to fly planes.

McCain acknowledged Obama won on second debate! But the new debate, he prepared seriously! Watch interview on CNN here: http://tubedirect.net/index.php?q=McCain:-Obama-won-debate (video) Highly recommended!

"Excellent statement Chuck, and your exactly right. Nevermind the negative criticism. These people hate you because you are a Christian, you stand for something more than selfish ambition and that angers them. They will persecute you just as Jesus was persecuted. Keep up the good work."
-----------------------------------------

I don't dislike and distrust Chuck Colson because he is a Christian. I dislike and distrust Mr. Colson because, given the opportunity, he would force his religious views on everyone. That is not a respect and love of America and the Constitution - that is fascism. Mr. Colson simply has no respect for non-Christian faiths. According to the stories we have about Jesus, Jesus did not act like that.

Chuck Colson is all about power. He got caught serving power one way, and now he uses Jesus to justify his agenda. He and a lot of others are going to have to account for this some day. They betray both their faith and their country.

As for "There's plenty of blame to go around"--It's funny how, after a decade in which the Laissez-faire faithful have had a chance to run amok, (at times not even admitting Democrats to policy planning sessions), Colson and other GOP flacks have decided that accepting blame should be a bipartisan undertaking.

With all due respect to those who have raised objections to Charles Colson, your comments are insulting to the person and typically do not address the topic.

That said, I agree that there is plenty of blame on both parties, on the 'captains of industry', and on the consumers. That said, I prefer not to hear from people like Charles Colson, nor anyone who supported the Bush/Cheney/(and now McCain) policies. The reason is that according to them, anyone who objected to the Iraq fiasco gave aid and comfort to the enemy, and anyone who objected to the laxity of regulation, and the rush to deregulation, is un-American. By the way, this includes all those conservatives who now raise objections to those policies, but cheered them on, or kept quiet, while the outrage was engineered and implemented.

Now that WE have to pay for the f*ck-up by the likes of Bush and Gramm (one of McCain's leading financial advisers), all these conservatives and republicans should just keep quiet, and cheerfully pay along with the rest of us. But they must get out of the way and let US fix the problem they have created.

Colson opens the door to an empty room.

Please shut up and get out of town. Low life who now knows more about God than anyone. A good politician may not 'save us', but a good politician can help a lot of people live productive lives with a semblance of dignity.

Spidey,

"THE END IS NEAR!"

"BE AFRAID AND REPENT!"

"DIE LIBERAL GAY ABORTION PEOPLE!"

It is you and your ilk that have given us George W Bush, the worst President in history, and Sarah Palin, the least qualified vice presidential candidate in history.

Repulicans are the party of the dumb, and Christian rednecks are destroying this country.

Chuck Colson is the master of baloney. For those of us who remember him as the Ratf*** specialist of the Nixon Administration, it's impossible to believe anything he says. His spooky intrusion into the prison population should be great cause for lovers of freedom.

"When we stop feeling superior to others, the anger will subside. But how to do that? I have no idea."

From what I have seen, there is no longer any point in it, it is hopeless. The evil is rampant and the accusations never cease. Who would be associated with people like that, always scheming against others, always trying to tear others down, and they live for the demise of the person that they seek to bring about intentional malicious destruction on. What haters of that which is just and good. And these people say that they have good morals, what a sad example of good morals.

I don't live for revenge, to bring malicious schemes against anyone, nor can I tolerate being a party to such actions. Take care, really.

Good point mbus. But you see, the Bible was very clear with the example of Sodom. The Democrats, although they have many good points, are bringing down this country to be like Sodom. Too much liberalism, abortion, and gay marriage. Sodom was a relatively prosperous city but still their prosperity brought them nothing coz they all burned.

3 Democratic states already legalized gay marriage. More will be following them and all of them will burn. That is the prophecy.

We are nearing WW3 already, believe it or not. And God won't protect us anymore because of the stupidity most of our citizens are doing, Democrats and Republicans. But more so with the Democrats.

The whole of Europe has become unbelievers. They too will burn and much of the world.

Another cause for the toxic anger of many Americans is that we now confuse our political persuasions with moral superiority.

With the exceptions of abortion and the death penalty contemporary American Liberalism and contemporary American Conservatism are, for the most part, philosophies; not truths.

Unfortunately, Ronald Reagan, by denigrating liberals gave rise to the genre of hate-journalism: Limbaugh, Hannity, Air America et al, that so dominate political discourse. We now have a generation of conservatives who feel they are superior humans to liberals, and visa versa.

What nonsense.

We're basically all the same. We're generally good parents, good children, good employees and good neighbors. And good patriotic Americans.

We just have different ideas on how to prevent and solve our problems.

When we stop feeling superior to others, the anger will subside.

But how to do that? I have no idea.

Extreme anger on the campaign trail is coming solely from the Republican Right because:

1. John McCain has lost the presidential race.
2. He has lost to a black man, which drives right-wing conservatives nuts.
3. When Democrats win House/Senate supermajorities, they will eliminate every shred of backward conservative ideology that has nearly ruined America these past 8 years.

God Bless America!!!

matt31 : Pilgrim, "If you think forgiveness is "divine", under your perspective, there would be neither life sentences or capital punishment.

You're naive to think you could ever truly forgive a murderer or child molester (and Chuck Colson's actions come close)."

Do all not sin or do wrong? Yes, some wrongs do not qualify for the forgivness that I think you are speaking of, but remember forgivness is not for the benefit of the person who has committed the wrong, because sometimes the person committing the wrong is not sorry for their wrong.

Forgiveness is for the benefit of the one that the wrong has been committed against, to free that person from internal torment of the pain that the wrong committed caused them.

Justice should take care of the person who committed the wrong, whether it be from the law of the land (judicial system) or from a diety higher then us to imput judgment accordingly. You are very angry and with just cause, I am sorry that you are feeling pain and have been hurt.

The Republicans have had control of all levers of government for almost two presidential terms, and they have stuffed the US govt with incompetent, immoral, and corrupt partisan hacks.

Further, they have had complete freedom to implement every Republican political and economic ideology that any conservative has ever wet-dreamed about, and did so without tedious obstacles like obeying the law, having transparency into their actions, or having any accountablity for anything that went wrong whatsoever.

The final result: the US govt under Republicn rule has suffered catastrophic failure across the board in domestic and foreign policy, and our economy has impledoded.

The Republican response: "THERE'S PLENTY OF BLAME TO GO AROUND!".

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

The final verdict: Conservatism is itself a FAILED "THEORY".

Democrats will now rule this country for the next generation, and god help us all, we need the Democrats to come in and clean up this Republican cess pool of a mess.

RMack1 :
America truly has many False gods. They will in time all be cast down in a heap. The great Dollar god ties some of the other gods together, The MSM god, best resembles a many headed monster, out of control and not accountable to anybody but the god of this world, (Satan Himself).

Be watchful now America, as you see these gods toppled, see if you can identify them as Dr Elliot has started to do here.

Unholy-wood is a seething cauldron of Un Holy gods, full of perversion and every vile imagination. That one will be fun to watch come down.........

October 14, 2008 11:02 PM

SAY WHAT??

No political Saviour, for true, unless you are Louis Farrakhan, founder of "the Nation of Islam". Farrakhan says, "..when Barrack Obama speaks it's the Messiah.."

Now did he mean he was a political Messiah, or the Islamic Maddi?

Is this a couple of empty thought cliché paragraphs, or what? I understand the Charles Colson is an intelligent fellow who has written several books amongst his other achievements. Yet he seems inarticulate or lazy today. He could not possibly have spent more than two minutes thinking about what he wrote above. What is his point? Who is the "we" of "we must put our own house in order?" I do not see anything of substance in what he wrote and thus cannot form a response of my own.

Pilgrim,

If you think forgiveness is "divine", under your perspective, there would be neither life sentences or capital punishment.

You're naive to think you could ever truly forgive a murderer or child molester (and Chuck Colson's actions come close).

You would forgive Robert Hanson, who compromised (murdured) 10+ western agents? Tell that to their families...

You can take your "forgiveness" and shove it so far that you require surgery.

In 1999 when the Republicans had a majority...Phil Gramm got a bill passed that repealed the Glas-Steagle act. An act put in place in 1933...to keep from happening what is happening. Phil Gramm, a Republican,ex-chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and in 2008 McCain's economic advisor. Here is the statement Gramm made when the law was signed...it was passed by a party line margin.McCain at the time was the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
http://banking.senate.gov/prel99/1112gbl.htm

Oh it was this law that they now call the ENRON loophole,that also gave Gramm the vice presidency of a Swedish based bank. Oh and McCain? he voted for it, it passed 54-44.
At an earlier time (11/19/93) while speaking in favor of bank deregulation on the floor of the senate, John McCain said, “This legislation takes a small but important step toward eliminating the tremendous regulatory burden imposed on financial institutions… One principal reason banks are unable to make loans is the bewildering array of statutory and regulatory restrictions and paperwork requirements imposed by Congress and the regulatory agencies.

McCain: “I Am A Deregulator. I Believe In Deregulation.” While speaking about the cable and satellite television during an appearance on CNN’s “On the Money,” John McCain said, “I am a deregulator. I believe in deregulation.” [CNN, “In the Money,” 7/13/03]

So he wants govenment out of the way...gov has been defanged and look what has happened? No regulations...like kids in a candy shop and expecting then not to eat the candy.

The whole Republican philosophy is BS. It has never worked... It is just that there have been enough Democrates to fix things inbetween the Republicans that can not govern. They made somekind of Deity out of Reagan...and he is McCain's hero...but then he said John Lewis was also.

Republicans do not trust or like Government...why put them in power when they continuously prove they are incompetant.

John McCain is a lousy leader. He spent 22 years in the Navy and was never given a Command. Why? The only reason he was allowed to stay in after crashing 4 planes is his Admiral father and grandfather...he is another Bush without the language origami. He can not lead his campaign...he does lurch and is eratic. And Palin? Please old Gods...Lady of Mountians...NO.

terra

matt31,"Forgive all you want Pilgrim, but I think heinous crimes (especially against the U.S.) should not be forgiven."

Sweetie, somebody has to forgive, otherwise there would be no room for recompense for someone to retrieve their wrongs and lead a productive life. We all make mistakes, you, me, and colson. You, me, and the others on this Earth do not have the right to decide who is pardoned from their wrongs, it is not our place to have that type of powerful judgement.

Let it go, unforgivness is emotionally unhealthy and give your heart and soul a rest......I want to see you happy, w/o malice, w/o hate, and at peace internally.

"To err is human but to forgive is divine."

Good night :)

pilgrim2 said to me Matt31:

1. you hate Christians
2. you hate reformed felons
3. you hide yourself by pointing your finger at others making them look like the bad person
4. you hat, hate, and hate somemore

1. I don't "hate" Christians, I look at them more as children.

2. Reformed felon? He was the hatchet man for Nixon, he consciously did horrendous things. Though his crimes are magnified because his unique role in an awful chapter of American history, his crimes come close to treason.

3. He is a bad person.

4. Yes, I do hate Chuck, as I do Robert Hansen and Aldrich Ames.

Forgive all you want Pilgrim, but I think heinous crimes (especially against the U.S.) should not be forgiven.

No hidden secrets! McCain/Palin 08!!!!!!!

Oh what a laugh Samd, made my day, just know that "you" have no power over me to vilify, end of story.

matt31 : "If the world was filled with more Chuck Colsons, the world would be filled with more felons."

October 14, 2008 8:31 PM

Committed any felonies in your lifetime, matt31? Just haven't gotten caught I'm sure. Give it a rest, reform means reform and I can tell by your post that,

1. you hate Christians
2. you hate reformed felons
3. you hide yourself by pointing your finger at others making them look like the bad person
4. you hat, hate, and hate somemore

Yes!!! We're not voting for Savior here--there is only one of those. Both candidates are just politicians and will be bound to disappoint us--which gets us back to the question of their stand on the issues and their relative merits--go Obama!

Chuck Colson?

Is this the Post's idea of hiring the handicapped?

Anger on the campaign trail is closely related to fears about the economy. People see everything that they've trusted in collapse, and they are mad at politicians. Unfortunately, they're also looking for political savior--and there is none.
-----
I think America really needs an infusion of fresh ideas. The old school economic ideas are not working anymore.

George W. Bush gave us so many tax cuts and look where we are now - in the economic recessionary hole, millions of job losses.

What else George W. Bush gave us - Last night I am sitting at a restaurant with an old flame. To my surprise the dark Asian in the booth next to us is discussing my companion's recent purchase of Viag-a. You simply cannot imagine the embarrassment and humiliation we suffered.

Thanks to George W. Bush's policies to outsource data centers to Asia, now every Asian in town knows my penchant for vibrat-rs.

As a democrat who wanted to rip Nixon's lungs out during the Watergate mess, I have to ask how long does a man have to wait for another chance? Charles Colson has done remarkable work in the name of Jesus. What he says here is absolutely correct. I guess it's not only Republicans who can hate irrationally. By the way the New Testament says nothing about Jesus being against giving to the Temple. He wouldn't have lasted even three years in ministry if he had. The Temple priests where in charge of seeing that Roman taxes where paid.

Why does everyone mention Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a primary example of our financial difficulties? Their charter purpose is to offer loans to first time or otherwise risky home buyers. The real question is; why wasn't the Bush Administration watching/regulating the regular banks and financial institutions?

If the world was filled with more Chuck Colsons, the world would be filled with more felons.

If there were many more Chuck Colson's, who have totally reformed their lives and making a tremendous contribution to society, there would be far fewer people with the vitriolic comments and corresponding attitudes reflected in many of the naive comments submitted.

Dear Chuck,

Regretably, your ignorance on economic matters is matched by your ignorance on matters of religion.

So, Chuckie-boy, does this mean you're not promoting fire-bombing as a political solution anymore? You lying sack of sh!t.

It is one of the fundamental truths of this life just like the New York Yankees will always be back to challenge for the AL pennant,if you boil your pasta too long it will taste like paste, women always smell better than men...Christians either persecute or love to persecuted--they need attention or they end up like what is happening to them in Europe--people don't give a d---about them as long as they keep maintaining their cathedrals which bring tourists.

Colson is entitled to his views and his religion--it is the American way, the very American Way he and his old boss tried to destroy.

If, and this is still a big if, American can't raise up and elect an intelligent, decent, black man back to back to electing the clown Colson and his buddies helped to elect and keep in office these past 8-years, then there is hope we'll be around a few centuries more. There is great hope event with all of these "Christians" running around deeply involved in an effort to subvert the United States.

It's really funny how the liberals are calling Republicans "Angry, racist, biggots" ect. Just by reading the posts of this forum it is obvious which party truly has an anger problem!

The ones of you who post hate notes on Mr. Colson should read his entry. Yes, WE AMERICANS are responsible for this mess. We charge everything. We buy houses that we cannot afford and THEN expect the Gov'ment to bail us out!!!! We buy all the toys - for us AND our children. And, when we can't pay the bills, we expect the gov'ment to bail us out. I have seen this country go from being run by ADULTS to being run by CHILDREN! What are we going to leave for our children? Oh, I forgot, we are the children. Waaa, waaa - I don't want it now - I WANT IT RIGHT NOW!! Grow up.

Excellent statement Chuck, and your exactly right. Nevermind the negative criticism. These people hate you because you are a Christian, you stand for something more than selfish ambition and that angers them. They will persecute you just as Jesus was persecuted. Keep up the good work.

Obama announced that he DOES NOT support McCain's plan of RESTRUCTURING the payments of troubled homeowners but supports BAILING OUT THE DEBTS OF BANK. McCain supports both.

OBAMA's idea is tantamount to bailing out the people who FLEECED THE POOR and those who were fleeced are left to rot outside of their homes.

Obama should understand that those FORECLOSED HOUSES cannot be sold at a higher rate except it be given back to its real owners. Those houses are not attractive enough to be sold to anybody else other than its previous owners.

"The face only a mother could love" is also true to houses. The house only the owner could love.

The truth is the TAXPAYERS and the GOVERNMENT actually GAINS or PROFITS more from JOHN MCCAIN'S PLAN.

The plan is good not only in terms of money but also of GOODWILL and the vigor it would give to the homeowners to be productive again.

Why does the Post consult this guy. His crimes against the U.S. make those committed by the then kid Bill Ayers look like small potatoes indeed, especially if you think about might have happened if he and his conspirators would have gotten away with them.

He is also great buddies with Dr. Dobson of Colorado Springs who has been busy (through intermediaries of course) doing Christ's work by financing the lawyers who tried to quash the Palin investigation in Alaska.

Mr. Colson is part of a network of wing nuts no less dangerous to this country than the Wahabi Muslin sect is to the Middle East.

What Mr. "grab your nuts" doesn't say is that the only entity who can save this country is his God--the politicians can't do it.

Well I beg to differ. Politicians called the founding fathers by some launched us on this great experiment in government. Another politician eventually gave his life after saving the Union from dissolving. Another politician served four term in the Presidency first saving his upper class from another communist revolution, saving the lives of millions facing hunger, defeating the dark forces of Facism and launching a government that really cared about its people.

Another politician pointed the nation to the future and was killed for it.

We've had it so good that our situation appears far worse than it is--but that perception is relative and fear is fear.

With a lot of luck some politician(s) will come forward and although they may not be "saviors" they will find a human way fraught with errors of course but nevertheless they will save our bacon.

If we as a species listened and relied only on these witch doctors like Mr. Colson we may have gone extinct or would still be down in Africa wondering if it is safe to leave the trees.

Liddy, Colson, Hunt, Mitchell, Erlichman, Halderman--all should be forgiven in the Christian tradition. Their boss, the American Machievelli from Whittier California should be included too. But to look to these guys for advice especially when they sound like Colson is an exercise in lunacy.

This On Faith commentary is really out of line. Ministers, Priest, Rabbi's, etc. should just stay out of politics. The fact is Jesus Christ did not want any money to change hands in the Synagogue nor any mention of it during services. However, the religious sect has forced their way into the political economic scene and this is just disgusting. This On Faith posting should not be allowed.

Charles Colson wouldn't recognize a savior if they came along and washed his feet.

We are about to elect God, he damn well better be able to solve this little financial problem, heck it is not like we are asking him to part the waters, turn water to wine or raise the dead, I just want to have lots of spending cash.

Charles Colson wouldn't recognize a savior if they came along and washed his feet.

From CCNL,

A reminder about Christian Economics 101 should make the current situations a bit easier to stomach:

To wit:

The Baptizer drew crowds and charged for the "dunking". The historical Jesus saw a good thing and continued dunking and preaching the good word but added "healing" as an added charge to include free room and board. Sure was better than being a poor peasant but he got a bit too zealous and they nailed him to a tree. But still no greed there.

Paul picked up the money scent on the road to Damascus. He added some letters and a prophecy of the imminent second coming for a fee for salvation and "Gentilized" the good word to the "big buck" world. i.e. Paul was the first media evangelist!!! And he and the other Apostles forgot to pay their Roman taxes and the legendary actions by the Romans made them martyrs for future greed. Paul was guilty of minor greed?

Along comes Constantine. He saw the growing rich Christian community and recognized a new tax base so he set them "free". Major greed on his part!!

The Holy Roman "Empirers"/Popes/Kings/Queens et al continued the money grab selling access to JC and heaven resulting in some of today's
richest organizations on the globe i.e. the Christian churches (including the Mormon Church) and related aristocracies. Obvious greed!!!

An added note: As per R.B. Stewart in his introduction to the recent book, The Resurrection of Jesus, Crossan and Wright in Dialogue, ( Professors Crossan and Wright are On Faith panelists).

"Reimarus (1774-1778) posits that Jesus became sidetracked by embracing a political position, sought to force God's hand and that he died alone deserted by his disciples. What began as a call for repentance ended up as a misguided attempt to usher in the earthly political kingdom of God. After Jesus' failure and death, his disciples stole his body and declared his resurrection in order to maintain their financial security and ensure themselves some standing."

How's that strident partisan 'Free Market Moral Values for Political Salvation' line looking *now,* sport?

Oh, right. now it's "Everyone's Fault" when what you *insisted on* blows up, Cal.

Yah. Spiff.

This one ain't about 'saviors.' It's about 'Maybe someone competent would be better than someone claiming it's 'righteous' to screw up government and then claim, 'See, government doesn't work!'

Again, another vapid response from Chuck.

Your wisdom is immense, you disgusting excuse for a human being. If there was a hell, you would rot in it, Chuck.

Why does the Washington Post give this scumbag a forum to post his views?