About Judas

Over the last few days in the Catholic blogosphere, the case of assisted suicide, it's legality and morality, have been a hot topic. My response has been as follows:

"The Church should offer compassion, hope and care to the dying, but having the power of the state weigh in on this matter is the issue at hand. Laws against suicide are designed to prevent people from seeking a permanent solution to a temporary problem and to force treatment on the mentally ill who are too sick to seek it.

It was never meant to interfere in the right to end a long term illness because people would often die more quickly. We must also allow people to give up when doctors will not. We are a resurrection people. Some truly believe that God is an Ogre who damns us for ending pain. That is the implication if you start talking about sin in this context."

Of course, the unsaid truth is that comatose patients are heavily sedated to ease pain or to make ventilation easier, although hastening their passing is not seen as such a bad thing.

Most people who pass normally have simply stopped eating, but have had to go through a season of pain to get there. If pain is not redemptive except as a reason to call on divine mercy, then there is no reason to endure it.

Not eating is hard, although after a few days it is less so. A compassionate injection is much less work and an act of surrender as well. If one has faith, it shows confidence in redemption. If not, surprise once on the other side. There is no data but the resurrection of one who took wine laced with hyssop before dying.

The discussion about the fate of Judas Iscariot came up in the discussion about the quoted remarks. Did his suicide damn him? Was he a Sadducee at heart and sought escape or a Pharisee overcome with psychotic grief, or was his suicide simply a part of the narrative?

One of the recent obvious forgeries was the recently discovered manuscript, reportedly from the fourth century, of a gospel which portrays Judas as part of a plot with Jesus to deliver him to the authorities as part of the plan of salvation. It is obvious fiction, although the truth may be stranger.

The current teaching is that the Synoptic Gospels were a product of the post diaspora Christian communities, though coming from apostolic teaching. Let us assume that apostle means witness, not shepherd/bishop.  My personal belief is that John may have been authored by the real person. 

Mark was a narrative, possibly by one of his diclsciples in Alexandria (maybe they were bishops). The addition of Q, or Quirrel, adds to later gospels. Q is a lost collection of the sayings of Jesus, with no author attribution. What if that was not entirely true.

The sayings may have been contemporaneous. There was a scribe among the party. Maybe he was taking notes. If so, we know exactly who that scribe was, but the manner of his death and betrayal would have made naming him decidedly inconvenient. That would be the ultimate irony.

Trump-Russia and Emoluments

Given what The Last Word just reported, #
Oligargh Cosigners would be more damaging than McGahn. There is no way that Senate GOP will weather this storm for him. They are not stupid and Trump is if he thinks otherwise. McConnell is about to rid us of the Trump problem. 

Tom Steyer needs to switch now. Time for all GOP candidates to redouble their campaign to make it about their message. As importantly, they must be ready to run against Pence and his moral cowardice in not invoking the 25th Amendment Now . Talking about it now changes the narrative. This is how you beat Pence on letting Trump be Trump and the Pro-Birth Movement.

Emoluments are not a problem, although making deals to put his name on properties may be. They call this self dealing, although the Trump name is not worth much. Trump toilet paper may be the only thing he can sell, with his face in every sheet.

The Emoluments Clause is enforced with the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act. It gives blanket permission, requires reporting every significant gift over $300, in this case that is profit, not revenue. Reports are to be published every January 15th and there are no criminal penalties for not doing so.

Absent using self dealing to enrich the Trump organization run by Don Jr. And Eric, there is no violation of law or ability to demand Trump tax returns (or disclose them). The latter would be illegal. If they can publish his, they can publish yours.

Here is the link to the law, aka 5 U.S. Code§ 7342.Receipt and disposition of foreign gifts and decorations. Of course, impeachment does not require violsting statute, but it gives the smell of Kangaroo Court. 5 USC § 7342

Also, there is a 1 year lag. The first Trump related report is listed above. Year 2 comes in Jan 2020. God willing, Trump will be gone by then If McGahn is the Trump version of the Nixon tapes. Only Senate GOP must agree. Jay Sekulow can have charge dismissed, if not disbarred.

This is the latest Federal Register Report The Department of State should do a press release on this. There is no legal issue. Even Treason has a Statute. People are tried under US Code, not the Constitution.

There may be a false statements violation. With Trump, that is dog bites man. If Trump gets a deal, make sure this is the one he admits to.

Abortion, Eugenics, Euthanasia and Execution

My latest comments needed wider posting. I think I covered the water front in a few paragraphs.

Since some have asked, yes I've read Roe. It relies on federal power claimed from Hernandez to Box v. Planned Parenthood. Box was unanimous, but the Concurrence by Thomas was a review of eugenics.

The day has come to shame anyone trying to repeal it by voting GOP and possibly those on the left who also do so.

The way to stop abortion is to throw money at families. The average household of 2.6 persons would, on average get $19,200, give or take a child or six. Such sizeable credits should be distributed with pay. Anyone who refuses to is neither pro-life or anti-poverty. I wanted to run for President to get this point across. This has been my mission in life, both religious and professional.

Government mandated eugenics violates privacy rights. I have heard of the courts mandating birth control, but that is likely unconstitutional. Private birth control and sterilization cannot be banned. It should never be encouraged for environmental or economic reasons. If we can send a woman to Mars, we can feed and hydrate everyone.

Any state ban (laws against suicide or assisting in a suicide) may be challenged on privacy grounds. Euthanasia could banned federally, for adults, children and the unborn. Capital punishment is a form of euthanasia and is allowable constitutionally. I suggest fentanyl. Offer it to death role inmates and lifers who admit to guilt and are sociopathic and shift everyone not a sociopath to treatment and eventual release. The jail thing has gotten old.

Understanding the Catholic Communion Poll

The Pew Poll of Catholics on the Eucharist was discussed by Jesuit Fr. Matt Malone's Of Many Things column in America Magazine, “If we want Catholics to understand church teaching on the Eucharist, we need a fresh approach.”  The question is  more substantial than we think. 

Are the sacraments faith or magic?  They are not the same. Transubstantiation sounds more like transmografication alchemy  than an experience of Jesus. What about adoration? While adoration & iconography can be a focus for prayer, grace is conveyed by reception. It is an encounter with God. When my Baptist former boss went to Mass with me and received, he felt the Presence that was not there for him in his own Church. Jesus said his flesh is real food. He never said this food is real flesh.

Does absolution work on an unconscious person? Is infant baptism really effective or a sign of sacredness? We know adult baptism & confirmation are real, but they are experienced. 

Are we a Church or a coven? Is papal infallibility relative to the Church or absolute? If the former, then there is no real bar to the ordination of women but sexism.

Morality is part of this question. Does God reward us for our beliefs or our relationships? Is morality for God or for us? Was the Crucifixion vision quest or a requirement for bloodshed? Is God an Ogre? This question says everything about ourselves as well as our beliefs. The one question leads to them all.

About Pell

Reacting to today's essay from Michael Sean Winters from National Catholic Reporter, bloviations from the reactionary Catholic press are unworthy of comment. They become more irrelevant with time. Pell's politics within the Church is also irrelevant. At least Burke is silent. The state of the Australian justice system, or for that matter, of the Church's is also a mere detail.

The sex of the victim is a part the issue. Abuse is a crime of opportunity. Pell had more opportunity with boys because the clergy shuns girls, especially the reactionary clergy.

Most important is that a horror beyond sin was visited upon a real person. It is so horrible that not even the perpetrator cannot face it.

Jesus said he would it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a milestone around his neck. Jesus may have been talking about suicide, not punishment. Pell will have ample opportunity for suicide in prison. His fellow inmates will make sure he suffers, although he does not deserve the release of death for now.

The victim is now almost as badly afflicted. Great compassion toward him will be required to get him back to fine, including forgiving Pell,  but for his own sake.

The sexuality of Pell is important to understand why this happened. To this day, Pell, his friends, and the Church have no clue. Indeed, their focus is how to spare him from justice. It shouldn't be.

It is unlikely Pell is gay. Sexually integrated gay men are not abusers. This is not a question of celibacy. Abuse is pathological. To have a chance at stopping most abuse, we must understand that pathology. This is not a question of heterosexuality gone wrong. Sexually integrated heterosexuals are not abusers either.

While Pell chose celibacy, which is essentially an asexual lifestyle, his demons followed him into the priesthood. Whether he was abused or simply running from himself, there is little chance of escape. The Church offered him no help, just organized repression. This is no release. It only tortures and often explodes.

The Church makes the problem worse by covering it up publicly and considering it an incidence of sin privately. The laity let's it happen and is also clueless on how to stop it.

Laity and clergy see the denial of sexually as holy. It is not. Asexuality is simply a different sexuality on the LGBTQIA spectrum. Well integrated asexuals can indeed be holy if they are well integrated, finding celibacy fulfilling, not burdensome.

Sexual self-acceptance, or rather asexual self-acceptance, provides a peace from which to love others. Well-integrated homosexuals and heterosexuals have the same peace, which is why celibacy need not be a job requirement. Sexual self-acceptance must be. The Church realizes this but has little clue in how to get there. Denying that sexual identity is a thing makes matters worse.

Condemning homosexuality and offering priesthood is no solution. Well integrated gays do well in male fellowship, especially if they ignore the demand of chastity. Those who are not may become abusers.

Well integrated gays and lesbians can also do very well on the outside, especially in a monogamous relationship. For this reason, the Church should embrace gay marriage. Sexuality is for humanity, not for God.

The assumption that sexuality is a sin leads some to promiscuity because if you think you are once damned, two is no problem. Promiscuity is a sin against oneself, not God. Every incidence hurts more, not less.

Some unintegrated gay men and unrealized asexuals who pushed into marriage, as well as unintegrated heterosexuals are all equally as likely to be abusers. It is even more ghastly to abuse your own child or the child of a sibling.

The key to sexual integration is honest self-awareness. Accepting that there is an LGBTQIA spectrum is a start, although maybe we should add an S on the end for straights.

Everyone who is self-fulfilled is healthy. Being in the center of the normal is statistics, not morality or health. Likewise, being sexually different is not sinful or unhealthy. We are what God made us. How we respond to it is what makes us well or pathological.

This is the truth upon which to base our sexual morality. As long as asexual priests are considered holy, rather than simply different, they will assume that their truth is true for the rest of us. In accepting that, they will find happiness for themselves. Happy people do not abuse children. Knowing this allows the Church to care for unhappy people in their own ranks and the world at-large.

Sadly, it is too late for Pell and his victim, at least for now. Christ does offer us healing, but not until we are honest with ourselves

The Civil War, Abortion and Gun Control

Nothing so separates the sides of the culture war as attitudes over the Second Amendment and Abortion Rights. These are just the latest battles over state v. Federal power, which date back to Slavery, America's original sin.

Slavery was found in much of the world in the world by the middle of the 17th Century. Indeed, in parts of Northern Africa, like Niger, it is going strong. It was found in all of the colonies from Cape Cod to Cape Fear.

At the founding of the United States, the question of slavery almost killed the nation at its birth and again when the Constitution was crafted. The expectation was that slavery was not economical and would soon die out.

That changed with Eli Whitney. Whitney invented the concept of interchangeable parts, which allowed for the industrial revolution, especially in the manufacture of guns, and the cotton gin, which led to the manufacture of humans as a commodity.

The concept of State's rights, which is better understood as State government power, enabled the Slave Power with it's endemic racism, to thrive. The militia rights under the Second Amendment had two purposes: keep the Federal government in check and slaves in bondage.

Without guns, the poor whites and African slaves may have found common ground and brotherhood in revolution. The planter class would have quickly gotten a lesson in how to pick cotton. State power kept southern  abolitionists quiet or dead. Southern Senators  kept the federal government in check. Without an even split in the Senate and armed State militias, slavery could not have lasted.

Reactionaries always over-correct. It is necessary to avoid the pangs of conscience. This led to Dred Scott and the Fugitive Slave Act.  Both radicalized abolitionists and led to the election of Lincoln, who corresponded with Marx.

The Civil War resulted. Northern manufacturing, a commitment to putting Nation before State and the Marxist income tax were ultimately stronger than Southern honor and its commitment to State over Nation. For all practical purposes, the question of the right of militias to stand against federal power was solved. The 14th Amendment codified this, especially Section 3. It states that

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Also Section 4, which states that

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Revolution was outlawed in all cases, unless you win. During labor riots later on, one state militia sided with the workers. The result was the establishment of the National Guard and any rationale for an armed citizenry.

The other reason for the passage of the 14th Amendment were to overturn grandfather clauses and assure birth right citizenship for Freeman (and for all future generations - there was no limitation in the text, nor was one intended by the authors).

Sadly, Grant lost the peace by letting the Confederate soldiers keep their guns. This allowed the slave power (under the guise of peonage) to reassert itself once federal troops left the South as part of the deal to keep a Republican in the White House in 1872, rather than to allow counter-revolutionaries control  the entire nation.

The flaw in the 13th Amendment led to peonage because it allowed involuntary servitude for commission of a crime. This loophole allowed the reinstatement of bondage on black men and women until FDR was informed that peonage would give the Fascists something to throw back in our faces. Even then, it persisted in the share cropper system until automated cotton harvesting replaced the need for human bondage.

Had the federal government been given the resources to police Southern labor practices, share cropping could not have lasted. The same reluctance and theory of state power in enforcement keeps Latino migrants in slavery today. Without weapons in the hands of Southern law enforcement, few migrants would stay in the factories to whom they were sold by coyotes.

The main victory for State power was Plessy v. Ferguson. The result was not just seperate but equal, but the Orwellian theory of the case that States had the authority to police themselves in matters of 14th Amendment enforcement, favoring majority tyranny over individual rights.

The majority was not actually represented in state legislatures, thanks to the lack of interest in local elections and the consequent impact of financing by local elites. Minority tyranny extended from voter intimidation to the rights of husbands over the bodies and finances of their wives. Recent history shows that it exists just below the surface in some Red States.

The Civil Rights precidents, from Hernandez v. Texas and Brown v. Board of Education through Roe v. Wade and Perry v. Schwarzenegger and Box v. Planned Parenthood are all a rejection of the State Power regime of Plessy.

Reject Roe and they all fall. Of course, there are many reactionaries who consider this a feature, not a flaw - including many Catholic bishops and traditionalists.

Of note are the facts that the  gun rights movement and brandishing the Confederate Battle flag began as State power declined. When the Black Panthers armed themselves, white conservatives suddenly started to talk about gun control. The Panthers went away, but in the present day, police will shoot Black youth and men they think might be armed, even if they cannot see a weapon. Gun rights seem to be about guns for Whites only.

Two cases of note and one possible case would end the last vestiges State Power forever. If June v. Gee is decided without certiorari, it will show that the recent spate of Abortion laws will die quietly in federal district court. They will not even be heard by the Circuits.

The other case is the question of whether sexual identity is included in sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act. This one may go either way, as Chief Roberts is usually against pushing federal statute further than intended, although he has no problem, nor do the other justices, with crushing state legislative violations of individual liberty. ENDA could otherwise be enacted by Congress, allowing it to define exceptions for religious groups. I suspect the Catholic bishops would jump at the chance. They always get mean right before they lose.

Section 5 of the 14th Amendment gives Congress (and Congress alone) the power to modify the terms of the Amendment, thus taking the heat off the Court. It states that

The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Under this power, and with the establishment of the National Guard, the Militia rights under the Second Amendment can be officially voided in a way the Courts would never challenge.

On Abortion, Congress, not the States, may move the start of legal status from viability (which is synonymous with birth as the ability to be born) to an earlier point in pregnancy, say assisted viability, assisted healthy viability, reaction to stimulus or embryonic blood circulation (early heartbeat). They will never go as far as the pro-life movement wants. Going anywhere near the first trimester hits the 5th and 14th Amendment rights of women and their doctors under due process rules. Selective enforcement is not allowed. If the government investigates elective abortion, it must also investigate therapeutic abortion. That is politically impossible.

Seizing guns for home protection is likely also a bridge too far. The battle goes on, but as time goes on it will likely occur on a much smaller scale should truth telling take precedence over rabble rousing on both sides. Courage and truth could make things better than our current politics.

Assault weapons and ammunition can be restricted by debarring federal contractors who sell to civilians. Goodbye NRA.

Abortion can mostly be prevented if its financial causes are ameliorated, providing respite care for Down's parents, lifetime income for its victims and an indexed middle income level negative income tax for each child as an offset to a subtraction Value Added Tax on employers. If both sides settle on this, the controversy ends. Goodbye NARAL and the NRLC. We won't miss the debate.

While we are on the subject of ending controversy,  Section 4 of the 14th Amendment could justify ending the debt limit and allowing for automatic appropriation of funds subsequent to budget caps or a joint budget resolution.

Agree to a 22.5% Asset Value Added Tax on asset sales, dividends and even rent and the battle between the 20% Republican Party rate and the 25% Democratic Party is over. We are already at a 37% marginal rate, which sits in the middle of the 40% Obama and the 31% Bush rates.

The only thing lacking is the realization that there is no per capita debt. Debt is owed to the Treasury based on income tax liability. The top 10% owe more than half the debt, which they are leaving to their own children. Once they are made to realize this, they will beg for higher taxes.

Immigration is a GOP battle with itself. If the fight continues, the Republican coalition dies off. Giving every migrant the status they would otherwise be eligible for, save for the requirement of current legal status, makes objective sense. Only racism prevents this and MAGA racism is 20 funerals away from being irrelevant. Ever look at the age spread at a Trump Party event? Maybe only 19 funerals. The problem will not outlive its most vocal participants.

Oversight and local control of discretionary spending could be handled by regional caucuses and vice presidents. National enforcement of civil and worker rights and environmental laws could be funded by fines. We could then go back to 90 day congressional sessions. The Republic would finally be safe from demagoguery.

Getting to the Big Debt Crisis

I do not know if this information was missed by Dalio or the summary, but it needs to be mentioned either way.

The genesis of 2008 was 1965, when the JFK tax cuts began to take effect. The top marginal rate went from 91% to 70%. Lower rates gave the CEO class an incentive to cut labor costs and workers more money to spend on the same goods.

In the late 70s, Burns and Volker attempted to use monetary policy to control inflation, however the tax cuts on the CEO/donor class exceeded the cuts given to others, decreasing the top marginal rate to 50%. The CEO class cut labor costs and union rights. Investors received a normal profit so the CEO/Donor class received the lion's share of the savings.

On the fiscal side, record spending fueled GDP while deficit bond sales dampened speculation, although trade policy that favored consumption over production ate less of the tax cuts than a closed system would have, so assets inflated. Note that GDP investment has little to do with asset speculation, although asset inflation fueled household debt.

In 1986, marginal rates declined further and tax benefits were eliminated, save for second mortgage interest, which was a central precursor to 2008. Too much money for investors began to chase too few investments, so savings and loan instruments, fed by liquidity freed up by the tax cuts, crashed. Austerity on the spending side increased funds available for investment, contributing to the bubble.

Bush rationalized the tax rates, which increased marginal rates at the top from 28% to 31%. His failure to emote, however, cost him the election. Clinton increased marginal rates on the wealthy, which decreased savings at the expense of asset inflation as the peace dividend savings were absorbed by higher taxes. The capital gains cuts, repeal of Glass-Steagall and the decision not to regulate dividends fueled the tech boom, which was more about IPO offerings than innovation.

This gave Bush 43 an excuse to cut marginal tax rates, followed by a second round of tax cuts on capital gains and dividends. The rich had an incentive to invest, or rather to inflate or create assets that required the Fed to expand money so that second mortgage holders could use debt as the illusion of income.

In 2007, bad NYMEX oil bets crashed when Congress looked under the hood, forcing speculators to tap mortgage securities and CD Is, showing the car had no engine. Bailouts helped banks, but did not get to household debt, with Resistance from investor/brother populism rather than the real thing. Obama's failure to let tax cuts expire kept the deflation and depression at the household level alive until ATRA put limits on wealth concentration, allowed spending to increase as baseline discipline was shredded.

Trump has tried to take credit for the Obama recovery, but current growth does not come from the Tax Cuts, which hurt workers. CEOs again tried to keep a lid on wages. It is the increased spending which is leading to much needed wage growth while related bond sales mute asset inflation. This put the brakes on Bitcoin, our latest scam. The Fed is loosening the brakes. It should not. We have learned nothing from 2008.