Thomas Heaney's Comments
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Jul 25, 2008 | comments: 44
Thomas Heaney Jul 28, 2008, 12:05am EDT
Hey TJ,

I'm a progessive, secular humanist. I don't agree with almost anything you say, but that doesn't make you a criminal. If you were a criminal I'm not sure I'd be in favor of trying to rehabilitate you. It would depend on what you had done. I don't believe in trying to rehabilitate all criminals. However, wasting human potential through excessive punishment strikes me as immoral AND impractical. It does get expensive locking up as many people as we do in the U.S. these days!

I certainly don't hate you or anyone else I don't know. I have good friends who are conservatives. We're all good people. Some have different perspectives from others. I enjoy living in a country where you have the choice of more than one political party. This sentiment is shared with my conservative friends.

I'm interested why you think you can know or understand the thought processes of "liberals". There is a huge diversity of opinion among progressive people or liberals. We can't even agree on what we'd like to be called!

...So, please be yourself. I'm glad the world isn't full of people like me. We're all better off to cultivate our individuality based on what makes sense to us as individuals.

I'll look forward to exchanging perspectives with you in the future!
Jul 23, 2008 | comments: 150
Thomas Heaney Jul 27, 2008, 11:40pm EDT
TJ,

Killing innocent people in the name of their own liberation is wrong. No amount of right-wing equivocation can excuse Bush's disregard for the lives of innocent Iraqis. He is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis! This is a conservative estimate.

Bush and accomplices deservesto be held accountable for telling lies to create this war, then for inventing multiple rationales to continue it, and for carrying out the misguided death and destruction he made happen. In no way is this fighting for peace! There has been a Bush-led exercise of evil in Iraq. Even worse, taxpayers have been robbed blind to pay for the fraudulent contracting practices of Bush's cronies.

The majority of Americans oppose the war in Iraq for obvious reasons, now that the facts are known. It is only an ignorant minority who cling to Bush's lies. Barrack Obama's Iraq position reflects the will of the Iraqi people and the will of the American People. To want better than Bush has given us is to stand up for justice and be in favor of democracy for all. You can't get more American than that!
Jul 23, 2008 | comments: 150
Thomas Heaney Jul 27, 2008, 12:34am EDT
Fortunately for the majority of Americans, knee-jerk conservatism is in its last throes. Barrack Obama is a phenomenon because he really does speak truth to power. Patriotic Americans do not want to be at war with the world. We want Peace, not perpetual wars. The solution to terror is not more terror; nor is it world dominion by the US. We need allies and peaceful allies need a peaceful America. Obama will move us toward that vision. Bush has spent hundreds of billions of dollars proving the folly of trying to bomb his way to security. America is fed up and is looking to re-join the safer, saner world where lunatics like George Bush no longer matter.
Jan 27, 2008 | comments: 79
Thomas Heaney Jan 28, 2008, 9:54pm EST
"Do you Chicken Littles worry if the sun is going to come up the next day?"

Au contraire, every day the sun comes up, new evidence comes to light about the house of lies Bush has built his career on. The Anthrax threat used to help whip folks into hysteria has never been connected to foreign terrorists. Yet the question remains, who is responsible for scaring the be-jesus out of people?

Facing this reality is no act of cowardice. It is the serious and somber responsibility of patriots. Only an enabler of corruption would object to getting to the real truth.
Jan 27, 2008 | comments: 10
Thomas Heaney Jan 28, 2008, 9:47pm EST
I'd like to hear more about how returning to the gold standard is even possible, much less a "prescription for prosperity'. It takes considerable faith in Dr Paul to swallow his prescription without reading a whole lot of the fine print.
Jan 22, 2008 | comments: 2
Thomas Heaney Jan 23, 2008, 10:15am EST
Sandy,

thanks for the supportive words! Maybe boycotting advertisers would get the attention of the corporate sponsors of the debates. The Democratic party is not as corrupt as the Republican party, but they seem determined to play the same fund-raising game. Ultimately that corrupts the system and everybody loses.

The first step to changing the current sad state of affairs is to believe that we can and must do better for ourselves. This won't happen by doing business as usual. A targeted boycott of the worst offending advertisers / sponsors would be a great first step, especially if an alternative not-for-profit sponsor would step up. We were much better off when the League of Women Voters sponsored the debates.
Aug 20, 2007 | comments: 7
Thomas Heaney Aug 21, 2007, 9:09pm EDT
I'm still wondering where the reasonable conservatives went. There used to be some folks on the right who appealed to reason.

Conservatives have given their party to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, and Karl Rove. They have become the party of voter suppression and civil rights repeal. How do they retain any populist appeal?
Jul 11, 2007 | comments: 126
Thomas Heaney Jul 11, 2007, 9:05pm EDT
Don,

arguing with your foolishness is a non-starter. Republicans oppose a time line because they have nothing to offer but continued pointless bloodshed. They have failed to achieve their own benchmarks. It takes REAL CHARACTER to admit you've made a big mistake and killed thousands of people while wasting tax payer money. Yet Republicans can't face it.

Democrats can be blamed for not opposing these policies enough. Yet that blame pales in comparison to the evil perpetrated on the American people, the Iraqi peoples and the world by the likes of Bush and his minions!
Dec 26, 2006 | comments: 2
Thomas Heaney Jul 11, 2007, 8:58pm EDT
Thanks, this was a lucky shot I got on a warm winter day in Wisconsin.
Aug 1, 2006 | comments: 5
Thomas Heaney Jul 11, 2007, 8:55pm EDT
Sorry to be so slow responding. I've been away from gather for a while.

...This is a Kenny Hill Classical guitar. Kenny based his design on a German guitar [Hauser?] made in the 1930s for Andres Segovia. Mine has a cutaway on the treble side and a battery powered preamp that delivers a signal through an end-pin jack. It has a very balanced, somewhat dark, yet clear nylon string voice.

I play Latin-influenced jazz, blues, Bossa Nova and other improvisational music on this instrument. Right at the moment I own about 15 guitars. My main guitar is a Paul Reed Smith chambered 'standard' electric. I also own a Gibson Les Paul, several Fender Strats, a Taylor steel string, a Music Man Bass, and several others.

I write eclectic jazz, blues, and other styles which I hope to put together in a recorded collecton some time. Thanks for asking!
May 4, 2007 | comments: 11
Thomas Heaney May 11, 2007, 1:19am EDT
You're welcome Sandy.

P.s., I'd much rather hear from people unlike me than those like me. I tend to learn more that way. Hopefully so does the other person!
May 10, 2007 | comments: 32
Thomas Heaney May 10, 2007, 10:44pm EDT
Christopher,

please stop repeating the tired talking point "The majority of Democrats voted for the Iraq War...." This half truth alone neglects the larger fact that the President had a pre-existing plan to go to war [PNAC] and was actively looking for intelligence, any intelligence, to massage into a case for invading Iraq.

That Republicans were successful certainly demonstrates the limits of what Democrats were willing to challenge. But more than that it demonstrates what depths the war mongers in the neo-conservative movement will go to satisfy their urge for power.

This was one of the darkest chapters in American history as we wasted a ton of good will, hundreds of thousands of lives, and hundreds of billions of dollars in pursuit of the sick dreams of a few misguided boys.
May 4, 2007 | comments: 11
Thomas Heaney May 9, 2007, 11:51am EDT
Tony,

unfortunately you're right. Demonstrations are not without risk!
May 7, 2007 | comments: 3
Thomas Heaney May 9, 2007, 11:49am EDT
Albert A & Jerry,

I agree there is too much greed in the US due to importing cheap labor, even as most Americans self-identify as Christians. I'd like to see us do better remembering the poorest among us and strive to bring them up.
May 6, 2007 | comments: 41
Thomas Heaney May 7, 2007, 4:18pm EDT
David,

thanks for your vigilance. We need more people of conscience speaking up.

...if we're going to invoke "God". How about "God's speed to the peace-makers!"
May 4, 2007 | comments: 5
Thomas Heaney May 7, 2007, 9:30am EDT
Joe,

I and the majority of the American people aren't buying your line about "...It's the right thing to do." It isn't right to award no bid contracts to your friends. It isn't right to lie a country into war. It isn't right to kill hundreds of thousands of people just by saying it will lead to democracy. It isn't right to spy on Americans because of there were massive failures in Bush's own CIA operations and in his staff's ability to interpret facts.

...Your first statement about the President having to want or request the powers is even more foolish. Congress has the authority to declare war. The President does not. In this case the President lied in order to dupe Congress into granting him power illegitimately. It was the wrong thing to do. Impeachment is one possible remedy!
May 5, 2007 | comments: 40
Thomas Heaney May 7, 2007, 9:23am EDT
Don,

Newt cold lecture us all on family values! Yes, we'd have something to talk about. It would be which Dem would have the privilege of kicking Newt's lecherous ass!
May 4, 2007 | comments: 11
Thomas Heaney May 7, 2007, 9:15am EDT
Jerry,

sadly I have to agree with you. People are "brand loyal" to political parties just as they are to makers of breakfast cereal. That some folks are aware allows me to hold out some hope. If we started having economic boycotts and more mass actions like "A day without Latinos" I think we'd make progress is taking government back from corporate interests.

One immediate step I'd like to see is a requirement that all US government contracts are valid only when the company is headquartered in the US. Halliburton's plans to relocate in Dubai after fleecing the American taxpayers are truly criminal and shameful.
May 6, 2007 | comments: 64
Thomas Heaney May 7, 2007, 9:05am EDT
Your poem is a wonderful expression of the multi-dimensionality of humanity. We all have many natures and the potential for amazing and terrible things. Thanks for pointing out how rich the human experience can be. It seems few ever acknowledge the insights you so eloquently put to verse!
Apr 20, 2007 | comments: 11
Thomas Heaney May 5, 2007, 4:11pm EDT
The series of pictures is incredible. We have some Blue Herons in Wisconsin, but they are unusual and definitely hard to get close to.
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Thomas Heaney
Madison, WI
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