American Way Of Life Is Blessed!

Chumly, I was thinking about the same exact thing. Isn't gluttony supposed to be a sin?

One of the seven deadlys, at that. I'm not sure if I should start chanting "USA! USA!" or hang my head in shame.

Yeah! Where does White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer get off on claiming "The American way of life is a blessed one?" Did god tell him? Does that mean all of "The American way of life is a blessed one?" What about the war on drugs and the prison system, are they blessed just like " bounty of resources" (remember a lot of oil comes from the Middle East)? Wouldn't that mean an un-American way of life is a sinful one?

gluttony may be a sin ... but it tastes sooo good while it lasts .
...apres nous deluge... (SP?)
hbg

Don't look at me. I'm a consumption conservative.

It's true, I tellya.

Buuurp!

This image comes to mind. George Grosz had it figured out some decades ago.
.
http://www.texaschapbookpress.com/magellanslog32/grosz/capitalist.htm

yes , he sure did !
i have an old german book - a review of the german magazine 'simplicissimus' - that contains many of his quite scathing illustrations . he was of his time , and is still timely ... even so he's long been dead .
this is another one of his illustrations - he made it shortly after WW I -
unfortunately pretty much forgotten by now .
hbg

THE WAR HERO

Nah. Just a not-blessed way of life.

If the Christian god is the ultimate creator.
How can something be sanctioned by god without god's blessings?
And if it does not have the sanction of god, how can it be still be good from a Christian position?
And if it is not good from a Christian position, mustn't it then be bad?
Does Christian theology give room for moral neutrality, (it does not seem tot)?

God wants me to burn more gas, destroy the planet and wage war for oil. Thats not what it says in the Bible. This is a new thing, he channeled it through Bush.

Bush must have an awfully big smelly channel for all that oil and war.

Yeee<f'n>haw!

Question: "Does the President believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita, how much it exceeds any other citizen in any other country in the world, does the President believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?"

MR. FLEISCHER: "That's a big no. The President believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one. And we have a bounty of resources in this country. What we need to do is make certain that we're able to get those resources in an efficient way, in a way that also emphasizes protecting the environment and conservation, into the hands of consumers so they can make the choices that they want to make as they live their lives day to day."


Seriously, I think this is the single most disturbing thing I've heard come out of Bush. This explains alot.

That Fleischer statement is the sickest thing I have read in years.

It explains the fact that Americans are not very popular in the rest of the world.

The quote by Fleisher is five years and two press secretaries ago. As far as the political world goes, it is eons ago. What is its relevance today, except to bash Americans?

Poor Americans!

The same attitude that was espoused by the then press secretary is the same attitude as espoused now. Nothing has changed. Unless you have demonstrable proof that not only has America changed its perspectives on energy, but that US officials have stopped calling on the supernatural.

Go ahead I challenge you to show a sea change in the American perspectives on:

a) US officials calling upon the supernatural, over the time period in question.
b) Protecting the energy gluttony of the "American way of life", over the time period in question.

Well, first in regard to the calling of the supernatural:

Fleisher states, "The American way of life is a blessed one. And we have a bounty of resources in this country." This appears to be a quite benign statement. You may see the Christian God nodding approvingly over the United States, waving his hands in the air. I don't, nor do I believe it was the intent of the speaker. He more likely appears to be saying the U.S. has a bounty of natural resources to tap into, which it does, god or no god.

My only reason for responding to this thread was to question why an ambiguous statement in an ordinary daily press briefing over five years ago by a junior member of the presidential staff warranted a thread about how fundamentalist wackos have seized the political reins of America. I have no other dogs in the fight, and could even provide this thread with more shocking, current statements by more senior administration members about theocratic motives.

As to the "sea change" in American perspectives since: That's quite a ways to move the goal posts. No government that I'm aware of has been able to effect a sea change in energy policies within five years. However, energy policy by this administration certainly has changed in the time period.

This thread's true intent in the S&R forum is what?