Mark K: I was listening to Norman Goldman on Friday, and he observed that the reason that people in the Tea Party movement think Obama is a socialist or a communist is not because he is, as we all know he isn’t—it is because their own positions are so extreme that any position a few yards down the field in the opposite direction seems like communism.

However, like Ed Schultz, Goldman does have his flaws. Goldman apparently had praised the Pilgrims for being morally aboveboard and the “ideal” of what Americans ought to be. A caller who wanted to correct that perception noted that the Pilgrims were not entirely the epitome of righteousness; in the early years they obtaimed ample assistance from the Native Americans in the region—and when that wasn’t enough, they stole grain that was stored in Indian grave sites to assist the deceased in the next world. Goldman apparently didn’t believe any of this, and subtly demeaned the caller by asking her if she believed everything she read on the Internet (she wasn’t allowed to respond).

What does the historical record show? It shows that Plymouth chroniclers freely admit to finding “abandoned” corn fields and “freshly buried” baskets of corn in “abandoned” settlements as well as grave yards, the latter perhaps as food for the next world just as the ancient Egyptians buried food with their dead. It is admitted that the Pilgrims helped themselves to these comestibles without asking the owners. The Indian grave robbing charge goes somewhat beyond petty theft, which is why such claims are bound to excite adverse reactions from both the accused and accuser. Commentators from the right and defenders of America’s “heritage” prefer to think that people who point out that white America’s cherished myths are precisely that are engaging in “revisionist” history to appease the “multicultural” element. They would point to Edward Winslow’s account of the settlers who landed at Plymouth Rock (there is some dispute about where they actually landed) as “respecting” one Indian grave site out of fear of sacrilege. Unfortunately for this perspective, there is nothing to revise, since we also have Winslow’s compatriot William Bradford’s contemporary account of a subsequent discovery:

“When we had marched five or six myles into the Woods and could find no signes of any people, we returned againe another way, and as we came into the plaine ground, wee found a place like a grave, but it was much bigger and longer than any we had yet seene. It was also covered with boords, so as we mused what it should be, and resolved to digge it up; where we found first a Matt, and under that a fayre Bow, and there another Matt, and under that a boord about three quarters long finely carved and paynted, with three tynes or broches on the top, like a Crowne; also betweene the Matts we found Boules, Trayes, Dishes, and such like Trinkets.”

Yes Norm, they were engaged in grave robbing. We can thus assume that Bradford and his men were of a more sacrilegious bent that what Winslow would suggest. Bradford also mentions encountering an even larger grave site, which they assumed contained even greater “treasure.” He claims they found a corpse with fair hair, and the assumption was that he was a “Christian man.” However, this didn’t stop them from plundering this grave as well.

Another contemporary account notes that the men of Plymouth defaced the monument of the dead at a site called Passonagesset, robbing the hearse cloth (“two great bearskins”) that was put over the grave of the mother of a local chief named Chickataubut. The chronicler notes that this action upset Chickataubut; after he gave an “oration re vision of mother and appeal re desecration.” He gathered together a band of warriors to wreak vengeance; the chronicler describes the subsequent confrontation as such: “To arms! Plymouth boat landing – ‘battle’ forced them to leave. Chickataubut shot in elbow and fled. All followed.”

Would we not expect Bradford and Winslow to prefer to put themselves in the best light by being parsimonious with details concerning their activities and motives in regard to the Native Americans, given their belief in their own “Godliness?” It stands to reason. Historians note that Winslow’s religious superstitions in regard to their first encounter with an Indian grave site are the only example in their accounts that suggest that the Pilgrims had any moral or ethical reservations about their dealings with the native inhabitants. Robbing Indian grave sites has had a rather long and sordid history in the U.S., so why wouldn’t the Pilgrims eventually be involved in it too? Defenders of the European invasion like to critique the Native American response as being “unfriendly,” so they had to treat them in a “like manner.” Of course the question then is how would they have feel if their lands were invaded by a unknown people from far across the sea, their food stocks stolen, their sacred sites ransacked? Wouldn’t they fight to protect them too?

All of us must uphold social justice as part of our lives. With this, abusive people be are grounded on punishment and respect for dignity is upheld. Jesse James Nazi photo marked person's tolerance for sexual abuse.

We all know that April 1st is April Fools Day-- it's the time of year that pranks, even massive ones, are acceptable, and that means that April Fools pranks are done on the one day where it's acceptable to get someone good. Some of my former favorites were coating a door handle with clear dish soap, the standard jumping out from behind a corner, and the ubiquitous filling shoes with talcum powder – and you don't need payday advances to set up some awesome pranks. A classic for the workplace is to cover a cardboard box with frosting – or the empty pizza box joke.

Another must read article.

http://original.antiwar.com/kelly/2010/03/30/pacified-populations/

America's Prince of Peace!!!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Prince-Of-Peace-In-His-by-Allen-L-Roland-100331-687.html

I remember the original "miss me" billboard was in Minnesota. Is this the same sign after somebody climbed up there and edited it?

I like this version better. Minnesota is where they voted in Michele Bachmann, isn't it? What's in the water up there? Minnesota might be emblamatic of the politcal divide in this country, the Minnesota right elects Michele Bachmann while the Minnesota left elects Al Franken. When you contrast these two Minnesota politicians they couldn't be more opposite.

I remember not too long ago an African radio station was investigated for inciting violence between the hutus and tutsis resulting in thousands of gruesome murders. I can't remember the fate of the people involved at the radio station, they may have been sentenced and killed in a tribunal.

Of course, demonizing liberals and Jews and calling them in effect, heretics, is old history. The Inquisiiton ran in one form or another for over 600 years and systematically targeted heterodox thinkers because independent thought is anathema to Roman Catholic/Nazi and Italian fascisim.

Our son heard Holy Thursday that religions and religious organizations may be taxed. Our government is in short supply of revenue.

It is time to stop the hatred, corruption, and lies.

If I were living in the states, I'd love to go buy a Nascar t-shirt and baseball cap and make some bad pun protest sign against Obama or healthcare or something, and head down to a TparT protest and just kinda nudge people and whisper "How much are they paing YOU to do this?"

One, you'd freak out the real deals, and two, you might actually find some paid protesters.

Was this conversation with Gov. Siegelman on the air? I watch FSTV, was thinking it would be on yesterday, but can't seem to find it.