United Liberty

A year and a half into office, President Obama still has many of the same problems that were waiting for him on day one. The economy is horrid, we’re fighting two wars, and Americans are apathetic about government just to name a few. The President, and his supporters, have pointed out that he inherited many of these problems. They weren’t of his making, they argue. This is may be true, many of them they were waiting for him on day one, so indeed he inherited them.

But at some point, you’ve got to stop blaming Bush and take some responsibility on your own. A year and a half into office, the economy is fully yours. The wars are yours too. It sucks, but they’re yours anyways.

You see, I’m not fan of George W. Bush. The only time I remotely liked him as a president was after 9/11, and that was short lived. I felt hope when President Obama was inaugurated, hoping against hope that he had a more libertarian bent than I expected. Yes, I too got caught up in the hope that was Barack Obama.

It didn’t last.

In short order, the President began showing that he and President Bush weren’t all that different. TARP II was just one example, since it wasn’t much different than TARP. Bailouts aplenty were the cause of the day, just as it had been in previous administrations. But these were hardly the most egregious examples of the similarities between the two men.

Those examples fall into his refusal to close down Guantanamo Bay, despite campaign promises to do so. It’s his refusal to draw down Iraq, and his desire to escalate Afghanistan. So much for that Nobel Peace Prize, huh?

His economic policies have failed to bring about the recovery hoped for. The second stimulus was geared towards public works projects, improving infrastructure, etc. But it hasn’t really brought about the job growth necessary. It’s just spent money like there was no tomorrow.

In a special podcast, Jason and Brett discuss the Iraq war and the anti-war movement with Angela Keaton, well-known anti-war activist and Development Director at AntiWar.com.

As the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches on March 20th, we here at United Liberty would like to encourage you to participate in some form of peaceful protest. writing about it either in a note on Facebook, on a blog or letter to the editor of your local paper, participating in a demonstration or simply donating to AntiWar.com or another anti-war organization.

While engaging in protest, please keep this in mind: The disagreements on foreign policy should be directed at policymakers, such as the president and Congress. Please be respectful to our men and women in uniform. They deserve no less.

Dissent against policies and actions of our government is a right. Use it.

You can download the podcast here. The always lovely Aimee Allen graces us with “Silence is Violence” in the music that opens the interview.

You can subscribe to the RSS of JUST our podcasts here, or you can find our podcasts on iTunes here.

Within the podcast, Ms. Keaton references a list of links which have been included below:

Jason, Brett, and Eric got together for this week’s podcast to discuss:

• Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize award.
• The ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
• Update on Georgia pastor killed last month by police in Toccoa (mystery woman speaks out)
• America’s “War on Drugs”
• Kentucky police’s warrantless use of GPS devices to track locations and travels of suspects in ongoing investigations.

You can download the podcast here (just over 64 minutes/59 MB). The intro music is once again “Silence is Violence” by Aimee Allen.

Dr. Paul, once again, outlines the real culprits of the current economic crisis, and points to the real solutions- less government, lower taxes, decreased spending, the end of devaluing the dollar.

H/T: Matt Chancey

Part of our school day today included watching a DVD of the classic School House Rock cartoons that many of us grew up watching on Saturday mornings.  I was delighted when, after watching the one that talked about the wonderful opportunity we all have to pay our fair share of income taxes on April 15th, my daughter exclaimed, “Mom, this is wrong.  They’re saying that taxes are good!”

Music to my ears…

However, I found the next video interesting- Tyrannosaurus Debt- which compared the national debt to the appetite of a rather sizable dinosaur.  What surprised me was the direct correlation made between wartime and the increase of debt.

What if we wake up one day and learn that the terrorist threat is a predictable consequence of our meddling in affairs of others and has nothing to do with us being free and prosperous?

One of my duties as Music Associate at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Birmingham, AL, is to play the organ for the annual Veterans Day service. The first of these for me was one year ago. The one part of the service that really struck me was the reading of the names of all U.S. military personnel who had died in all wars during the past year. A staggering 336 names were printed in the program and read, amidst the background of a snare drum roll, with the ominous boom of a bass drum after each name. With each boom of that drum, a penetrating, sinking feeling came over me as I thought of how the loss of that one life impacted so many loved ones. It was the longest part of the service, and it went on and on, for some 45 or 50 minutes.

Author and Director Eugene Jarecki appears on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, talking about his latest book The American Way of War, his film Why We Fight,  and the reaction of John McCain’s campaign staff to the Senator’s candid interview in that film. We need more mainstream media discussion of the problems that have arisen due to the industrial complex that has formed around our permanent army/navy/airforce.