With one breath, with one flow, you will know synchronicity

A few bright minds have pulled quotes from the Communist Manifesto lately, such as these:

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices

Interesting. Probably all liberal bloggers, damn Communists, want to overthrow this Christian nation...oh, sorry, started to get all riled up there.

Actually, you might be surprised. For those who are browser savvy, a simple mouse-over the links will give you enough information to get the gag. The rest of you can either follow the links, or...keep reading.

Actually 2 of the 3 are indeed from liberal bloggers: tbogg, one of the snarkiest wits in the biz, and BooMan23, one of the contributors to Daily Kos.

But the writer using the other quote from Mein Kampf was Christopher S. Bentley, writing at the really really extra super duper far Rightwing New American. Still don't recognize it?

It's the official organ for the wacky kids at the John Birch Society.

Before we all commit ritual suicide rather than be in agreement with them about anything, hold up a sec. Most things in life, including politics, involve sets, in the mathematical sense. Here's a refresher on sets and Venn diagrams:

Venn diagrams are illustrations used in the branch of mathematics known as set theory. They are used to show the mathematical or logical relationship between different groups of things (sets).

The orange circle (set A) might represent, for example, all living creatures which are two-legged. The blue circle, (set B) might represent all living creatures which can fly. The area where the blue and orange circles overlap (which is called the intersection) contains all living creatures which both can fly and which have two legs - for example, parrots. (Imagine each separate type of creature as a point somewhere in the diagram).

There are areas of overlap among all 'groups', be they Christian or Muslim, liberal or conservative, speed metal freaks and Cure fans...OK, scratch the last one. Still, I think there are certain elemental ideas that virtually all can agree on:

• pretty large amounts of personal freedom
• pretty limited government interference into our lives
• government that doesn't actually harm the country
• military that keeps ready in case something really important needs doing

Beyond that is where the disagreements start. I, like many progressives, want government to be helpful, by doing things only an organization with that vast an infrastructure can do, like universal health care, free education, and bunches of other really neat utopian stuff.

The Birchers venture pretty close to black helicopter tinfoil hat types, and they think the UN is actually the cathedral for the Church Of Satan. But check out some other quotes from them:

Proponents of keeping our soldiers in Iraq repeatedly offer the same rationale for their viewpoint. Here, their most often cited reasons are refuted. [Click here to send online letter to Congress, "Bring Our Soldiers Home From Iraq -- Now!"]

FALLACY: If the United States pulls its troops out of Iraq now, the country will collapse into chaos, civil war, and dictatorship, and will almost certainly end up being ruled by a regime hostile to us.

REBUTTAL: That is certainly possible if we pull out now, but we have no guarantee against that same outcome if we remain in Iraq three more years, 10 more years, or 20 more years, after expending thousands more lives of American soldiers and hundreds of billions more taxpayer dollars. In fact, the current "friendly" regime we have installed is very friendly with Iran, and the growing Baghdad-Tehran axis should be a major concern to all Americans.


When Iran's foreign minister visited Iraq in May of 2005, he was warmly received by Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari. Mr. Jaafari is a radical Shi'ite Muslim and a disciple of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, who, it may be recalled, labeled the United States the "Great Satan," inspired the overthrow of the pro-American Shah of Iran, held our embassy and American citizens hostage, and launched a new age of terror. Prime Minister Jaafari, "our ally" in Iraq, made an historic pilgrimage to Tehran in July 2005, with eight of his cabinet ministers in tow, to lay a wreath on the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini. Jaafari spent nine years (1980-1989) in Iran, and at Ayatollah Khomeini's behest, became a founding member of the Ayatollah's Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

With Shi'ite Muslims comprising 90 percent of Iran's and 60 percent of Iraq's population, and Iraq's pro-Iranian radical Shi'ite "pope," Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, being the most influential religious leader in the country, we are already witnessing the transformation of Iraq into an ally of Iran.

Might have beeen written by Howard Dean. The startling thing is that they do make sense about some things. It's like the old saying goes: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Ewww, not really. But still, nice to know even the really extreme right wing of the wingnut wackjob Right thinks GWBush is wrong.