The reason the Nazi connections to the Bush dynasty are taboo in the mainstream media is probably that we try not to blame the sins of the forefathers on their offspring. Gov. Schwarzenegger refuses to repudiate Nazi war criminal Kurt Waldheim, and his Austrian father volunteered for the Nazi SA and became a ranking officer. This isn’t brought up in the mainstream media, either.

I do think that the Nazi connections to the Bush dynasty are relevant, as W's privilege is what got him everywhere in life - and that privilege is rooted in the dynasty of wealth passed down through his family.

On another topic …

Huckaby’s comments in front of the NRA are despicable – and the fact that he is a pastor is an insult to the example of Christ; But keep in mind Richard, that more and more liberals are buying guns. If the Democratic Party wanted to stay in power for a few decades, all they’d have to do is relent on this one issue that is such a sticking-point with many. Screw the hunting angle - the fact is that police can not be everywhere at once, and there are times when one must assume personal responsibility to protect oneself and loved ones. Emphasis on "responsible."

The greater issue is that after 8 years of this corrupt government imposing on our rights and liberties, creeping incrementally towards fascism, taking away habeus corpus, privatizing the prison system and building massive detention centers ostensibly for “illegal aliens,” even many of us liberals are seeing sense in taking steps to protect ourselves from our own government. When Katrina hit, one of the first things that happened was that KBR / Blackwater and the National Guard went door to door to confiscate the licensed guns of citizens trying to protect themselves and property against looting and worse. … And, speaking of Nazi’s – it’s a historic fact that one of the important increments towards the Third Reich in Germany was disarming the public.

So, like it or not – guns are a part of our culture. Huckaby and the NRA do not speak for all of us who own guns.

I like the attitude I think I see from Obama. The usual Democratic response on foreign policy and national security is to concede the issue to the Republicans, and insist the public is more concerned about the economy. This strategy has long been a loser, but there's no shaking the faith of campaign consultants who keep convincing losing candidates. Bush lost easily on every issue in 2004 except terrorism, but that was enough to get him close enough to Kerry that some fraud in Ohio was all he needed to win. Obama is smart to link Bush and McCain and take them on over their strongest issue. Taking it as about him even if it wasn't makes it Bush vs. Obama. If only Kerry had been so smart.

The Raven's Blog: May the Better Bird Win
http://www.ravensblog.net

Richard, since you use the blog to gauge listener interest in your different topics, I just want to mention that I try to never miss Greg Palast. If I had to pick one segment in a week to listen to, my choice would easily be Palast's appearances. Brent Bodowsky is a second choice, and whatever is third is way back there.

The Raven's Blog: May the Better Bird Win
http://www.ravensblog.net