The Disintigration of the Republican Party And It's Sabotage Operation Against the United States

Frank Schaeffer, the author of CRAZY FOR GOD-How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back calls Republicans: "...the arsonists who burned down our national home. You combined the failed ideologies of the Religious Right, so-called free market deregulation and the Neoconservative love of war to light a fire that has consumed America. Now you have the nerve to criticize the "architect" America just hired -- President Obama -- to rebuild from the ashes. You do nothing constructive, just try to hinder the one person willing and able to fix the mess you created.

Mr Schaeffer, who in "2000 I worked to get Senator McCain elected in that year's primary." Frank Schaeffer has "a file of handwritten thank you notes from Presidents Ford, Reagan, Bush I and II. In the 1970s and early 80s," Mr Schaeffer became a "supply sider" like many Republicans during the Reagan presidency. Mr Schaeffer and his parents, evangelical leaders Francis and Edith Schaeffer played a major role in the Republican Party. Schaeffer and his parents played a major role "creating the Religious Right."

By the mid-1980s, Mr Schaeffer " left the Religious Right," once he "realized just how very anti-American" they were. Members of the Religious Right "wanted America to fail in order to prove they were right about America's "moral decline." Once McCain lost the 2000 election, "Schaeffer re-registered as an independent in disgust with W. Bush. But" Schaeffer "still respected many Republicans. Not today."

Schaeffer asked: "How can anyone who loves our country support the Republicans now? Barry Goldwater, William F. Buckley and Ronald Reagan defined the modern conservatism that used to be what the Republican Party ... was about. Today no actual conservative can be a Republican. Reagan would despise today's wholly negative Republican Party. And can you picture the gentlemanly and always polite Ronald Reagan, endorsing a radio hate-jock slob who crudely mocked a man with Parkinson's and who now says he wants an American president to fail?!"

Frank Schaeffer is highly critical of ideologues "like Limbaugh as the loudmouth image of the Republican Party. But" Schaeffer believes "something far more serious has happened than an image problem: the Republican Party has become the party of obstruction at just the time when all Americans should be pulling together for the good of our country. Instead, Republicans are today's fifth column sabotaging American renewal."

Schaeffer explains that "President Obama has been in office barely 45 days and the Republican Party has the nerve to blame him for the economic and military cataclysm he inherited." Schaeffer emphasizes "economic and military cataclysm because without the needless war in Iraq" Republicans "backed we would not be in the economic mess we're in today. If that money had been spent here at home on renovating our infrastructure, taking us toward a green economy, putting our health-care system in order we'd be a very different situation."

Schaeffer is "the father of a Marine who served in George W. Bush's misbegotten wars" believes: if President Obama's strategy to repair our economy, infrastructure and healthcare fails that will put our troops at far greater risk because the world will become a far more dangerous place. So" Schaeffer admonishes all of the "flag-waving Republicans who are trying to undermine the President at home -- Schaeffer Republicans that if "you succeed more of our troops will be killed abroad."

Schaeffer "warns" the Republicans "new leader Rush Limbaugh" calling "for President Obama to fail he's calling for more flag-draped coffins. Limbaugh is the new "Hanoi Jane."

"For the party that created our crises of misbegotten war, mismanaged economy, the lack of regulation of our banking industry, handing our country to rich crooks..." Republican attempts "to obstruct the one person who is trying to repair the damage is obscene."

Shaeffer warns: "Just imagine where America would be today if the 14 to 20 million voters -- "the rube base" who slavishly follow the likes of Limbaugh -- had not voted as a block year after year thus empowering the Republican fiasco. We would have a regulated banking industry and would have avoided our current financial crisis; some 4000 of our killed military men and women would be alive; over to 35,000 wounded Americans would be whole; we would have been leaders in the environmental movement; we would be in the middle of a green technology boom fueling a huge expansion of our economy and stopping our dependence on foreign oil, and our health-care system would be reformed."

Schaeffer reminds Americans that: "After Obama was elected,... Republican leaders had a unique last chance to send a patriotic message of unity to the world -- and to all Americans." Schaeffer explains that Republicans "could have backed our president's economic recovery plan. Since we all know that half of our problem is one of lost confidence and perception, nothing would have done more to calm the markets and project resolve and confidence than if you had been big enough to take Obama's offered hand and had work with him -- even if you disagreed ideologically. You had the chance to put our country first. You utterly failed to rise to the occasion."

Schaeffer warns that "the worsening economic situation is" Republican's "fault and" Republican's "fault alone. The Republicans created this mess through 8 years of backing the worst president in our history and now, because" Republican ideologues "put partisan ideology ahead of the good of our country," Republican ideologues "have blown" their "last chance to redeem" the Republican Party. Republicans "deserve the banishment to the political wilderness that awaits all traitors."

2008’s 10 Top Breakthroughs in Green-Technology

Alexis Madrigal, writing in the WIRED SCIENCE BLOG posts an entry based on what he considers to include the top 10 examples of progress made in green-technology. It seems that the recent presidential election of 2008 have brought an increased sense for the need for the United States to concentrate on achieving advancements in green-tech. Investors are committing capital and other necessary resources into the green-tech sector. We now have a president, Barack Obama and a Congress that recognizes the benefits afforded by green-tech and it seems the majority of Americans also have a strong sense of will to create workable green solutions; the only factor standing in our way is the current global economic crisis that has created a recession in the United States. That’s why it is so important that the federal government puts its considerable authority behind green-tech and create wise investments in the public and private sectors to push the nation out of its current economic stagnation. So for a look at Alexis Madrigal’s take on the top 10 breakthroughs in green-tech point your browser to this link that I’ve provided and see if you agree the choices!

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Global Climate Crisis

Ban Ki-Moon, secretary-general of the United Nations has issued a plea for cooperation among the nations of the Earth to formulate a unified strategy to solve the worsening global climate crisis: "The past year will be remembered for the global financial crisis. But next year will be no less dangerous, albeit for a different reason. Lost among the economic headlines is an even more important fact: emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, rose by an unexpected 3 percent in 2007.This revelation means that the 50 percent targets for carbon cuts set by Europe and elsewhere by 2050 are already out of date. Scientists now say reductions of 60 to 80 percent will be needed to avoid a catastrophe. There is other bad news. Everyone knows about the accelerated melting of Arctic sea ice. Now recent U.N. reports offer evidence of less visible but equally troubling changes. Our planet's species are going extinct at an unprecedented rate, according to the U.N. Environment Program. Massive "dead zones" are multiplying in the oceans as pollutants are absorbed, killing off coral reefs and decimating fisheries. Incidents of extreme weather, such as the hurricanes that devastated Haiti and Myanmar, have grown more frequent. Insurers predict that 2008 will set yet another record for economic losses. Meanwhile, U.N. refugee agencies believe that as many as 50 million people will be displaced by climate-related disasters by 2010, and the figure could hit 200 million by 2050. All this points to a stark truth: though we can overcome the financial shocks of 2008, we will not overcome the climate-change crisis unless we act fast. This means 2009 will be the critical year for the critical challenge of our era."

A recent meeting in Poznan, Poland brought world leaders together to lay the foundations for future climate strategies that will be extensively discussed in 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark when the nations of the Earth will attempt to establish an extensive agreement of principles to deal with global climate change. It is hoped that developed and developing nations can agree to establish a unified front in which the new United States Administration of Barack Obama takes the lead in solving climate change. With the United States in the lead, it is hoped that nations such as China, Brazil, India and other "newly developed nations" can follow the United States lead and work to combine various methods and technologies that will foster global economic growth while finding practical ways to slow down and solve global climate troubles.

Ban Ki-Moon realizes that the path to solving the climate crisis presents world leaders with many tough choices: "Some experts advocate strict emissions limits. Others favor voluntary targets. Still others debate the pros and cons of "cap and trade" carbon markets versus taxes and national conservation regulation. In truth, there is no single solution to climate change. We need all of the above. The important thing is to act, and to act now. When it comes to climate change, it's make-or-break time."

NASA's Troubled Path for Manned Missions to the Moon and Mars Faces Uncertain Future

JOHN SCHWARTZ reports in the New York Times that NASA's attempts "to replace the nation’s aging space shuttles" with a newly designed and never flown rocket system known as the Ares I rocket and the space craft known as the Orion is proving to be technically difficult, expensive and politically vexing. "The issues have become a focus of the members of the presidential transition team dealing with NASA, and the space program could undergo a transformation after Barack Obama takes office." Another significant problem regards the transition from the current space shuttle fleet to the new rocket and space capsule system. There is the definite possibility that there will be a five year long window between the retirement of the shuttle systems and the completion and launch of Ares I and Orion. During this estimated five year period, the United States will not have the ability to put humans into space. The U.S. would have to rely on other nations; Russia being most often mentioned, to get our astronauts to the International Space Station. This situation has caused a great deal of concern among many Americans and alternative means for U.S. controlled missions into space using current Atlas and Delta rockets are being hastily discussed. In addition: "Pressure has grown to keep the shuttles flying. In July, former Senator John Glenn of Ohio said in testimony before the House Science and Technology Committee that he favored flying the shuttles until the Constellation craft were ready to fly" explains Mr. Schwartz. Glenn also remarked at the hearing that: “I never thought I would see the day when the world’s richest, most powerful, most accomplished spacefaring nation would have to buy tickets from Russia to get up to our station,.." Mr. Schwartz further explains similar views expressed by the Obama team Assessing NASA: "Continuing shuttle flights has also been proposed by the New Democracy Project, a group with strong ties to John D. Podesta, a co-chairman of the Obama transition team.” The most pressing question asks; which path into space in the near term and over the long range of years will the United States decide upon?

American People's Trust in Government and Business Frayed

Eric M. Uslaner is professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland-College Park and author of "Corruption, Inequality, and the Rule of Law: The Bulging Pocket Makes the Easy Life."Mr Uslaner comments in Newsday: 2008 was a year of scandals in America." Yet by world standards, the United States is relatively "clean." It ranks 20th out of 180 countries in the annual Corruption Perceptions Index produced by Transparency International, an anti-corruption organization based in Berlin." In other country brides often keep the accused out of prison. "In the United States, guilty parties in both politics and business go to jail, and politicians charged with dishonesty almost always lose their seats...We have not faced an economic crisis of this magnitude since the Depression - and then there were few charges of corruption. If the economy does not rebound within a year, we could be entering uncharted territory - or at least a situation unknown since the Depression. The public could demand far more widespread regulations of business, and the stage could be set for a more serious challenge to both political parties by populists of the left and the right."