Howard Dean

[ras_dorje]

Rootsie, so sad to read your article dumping on Dean....
at this juncture in world Istory there is no other greater imperative than to end the reign of Bush. Your drop out mentality and naysaying is pitiable. Certainly your position flies in the Light of HIM's Wisdom, and all i see in your article is a cross that your karma has dropped on your back! Positivism is what this world needs, not rich hippie leftover crap from the '60's, bleeding with guilt that helps no one. If the I Woman really wants change, it will come by Inspiring youths to get out and work for change within Babylon; someone like you could help lead the way and bring Light....not dead end sadness! for shame.....(personal note...inI white, 59 young, rasta-buddhist, with close ties to Jahmaka...living in Texas)

[Ayinde]

Is this how Dean's supporters intend to deal with critics?

I am sure you speak for many, but CERTAINLY NOT for informed people. Of course you don’t mind going back to the same old U.S. policy of doing the same as Bush, but not in such an obvious manner. That will suffice many I am sure, so they can just preach the dishonest and hypocritical, "we are one people" while covertly doing the same as Bush.

If you are a Rasta (I have my doubts there) you should be ashamed to join the forum, and not be able to at least use a little more than your emotions in a response.

Anyhow, you are already part of the majority who view critically examining history as promoting negativity.

When you have some time, please try a real response. How about telling us Dean’s or your plan for ending racism, gender biases, corruption (especially government corruption), and U.S. aggression worldwide.

[ras_dorje]

Greetings to those who overstand rasta is a thing of thing of I-heart....inI have no need to even respond to issues relating to whether inI are or aren't rasta; a true ras does no stand in judgement, seen!
to answer your needs for higher knowledge, inI would direct you to RastafarEye's Utterance to Trini of 1966....inI am sure you TRUE ras know that, right? from that the I's can see no one man, nor any collection of Huemons can be perfect or in full harmony for any length of time...(as to be seen right here)....all that can be striven for is to make it the best INI can. Do not be expecting any President of the USA of any other one person to make it all righteous; but strive together in Positivism, in Faith, with Diligence toward the best peace and Livity that can be had on Earth.  Any ras who can do nothing more than issue diatribes railing agin "Babylon" essentially fits into the same category Islamist pedanticism, of dialectic that feeds on itself and gives no a thing to creation, only reinforcing its on dark side. Babylon is a thing of the human kind, not colors, not societies....inI see Babylon everywhere, even Trini for sho! Since most on this site are not US citizens, all the I can offer is to look into I-hearts and not keep looking for some instant solution to the world's problems...the Yardie need begin in one's own yard! as for whatever Dean say he stand for, ......www.deanforamerica.com.
Funny, but we ras here in Dallas-Fort Worth, along with all people of conscience, ARE working together to replace Bush, peacefully that is. One Luv. i will not say more about this issue, as there is work to be done that is meaningful. Peace. OM HOTEP>

[Ayinde]

Ok, so you are supporting Dean, and want to get rid of Bush. That’s all there is to it in your ‘mind’. Everyone else should do likewise, and without question or challenge give support to Dean. Even if some others on this site do not reside in the US, you should be aware that the US has long been exporting its corruption and Terror, and that is long before the Bushies. They usually use other countries as their testing ground for their weapons of mass destruction. Previous US administrations have also overthrown elected leaders in other countries. I don’t feel I need to go into all the history here, as I am sure if you check the Internet you may see it published all over.

Tell me, which people on earth should not question the caliber of person or moron who vies for leadership in the US? When has the US left any country, except those without valuable minerals, to organize and manage their own affairs? I am simply saying that every person on earth can find reasons to challenge anyone who wants to be President in the US.

From your responses, I gather that you believe support should be given to your preferred candidate because we want to get Bush out of office. Please tell me, how does this deal with the core issues that affect most people, as was highlighted in my first response?

In my mind, Bush and his supporters are the product of the US miseducation system, and media manipulations, and simply changing him does not solve the problem of US arrogance, and terror on many other countries.

Before asking for the support of sensible people, try giving us your plan for a change in foreign policy. How about paying reparations to people who are/were affected? Where is the plan to arrest those who illegally invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, and are now ‘profiting’ from these brutal invasions?

I have highlighted some issues, so how about responding to that?

[Rootsie]

'Positivism' is just another ism/schism to me.
I suppose we should all strive above all to make everybody feel good, especially of course white Americans?  

Where does 'Bush' go after he is deposed? The incredible naivete of Americans is a lot of the problem. Does Halliburton go away then? Or global oil and gas conglomerates? Or Pharmaceutical firms? Or capitalist banking families who have run the game since 1400?

Thanks for your insight about my karma and my cross. Now I see the light.  The way we bring down Babylon is to leave the system the way it is and choose a president who makes liberals feel okay, with no analysis of the deeper problems. Sorry, but this is not how empowered people work.

The 'heart' to our ancient Egyptian ancestors was the seat of the Divine Mind in all of us. Emotionality is reptilian. That's not what heart is about. To enter the House of Rasta was to find oneself at the crossroads, where one fully understands one's power to choose a life of alignment and integrity with the Divine. It's about choosing.

Since I actually have been working  within the system with children for 15 years who are victims of oppression, I know that the only way people can move to the light is to understand the nature of their oppression and then move powerfully against it. There is nothing negative or deathy or sad or guilty about this.

One of the first things I got from Rasta is that intense concern for history, for remembrance, for recalling. Do you remember the days of slavery? Recall! We are called to reconcile our personal and collective history. That is the only way to reveal Zion.

I also reject that Original Sin move of saying 'hey we are fallen so we can only do the best we can.' I'm a Vermonter yo.  If Dean is the best lefties can come up with at this point, that is a shame.

Whose house is Dr. King's 'table of brotherhood' in? Who gets to decide how it's built, and what's on it? That is the problem. Whites drag out Dr. King when they want to sidestep history and say race doesn't matter. Then they can just keep their power and privilege and throw rhetorical bones to 'the masses'.

The real hippie crap is this 'positivism' of yours flying in the face of the facts. But hey we're citizens of the United States of America. We need not concern ourselves with the facts.

[Tracey]

  
 I am no political pundit...so far be it for me to give any great critical analyses into the many debates going on within the upcoming presidential election. However, I am, as Mr. Dean would say, one of those "humans" who are indeed bound by many "human concerns." And..like many "American" humans...I find I can only get so far into the political rhetoric before I begin to fade.

for example:

"We're going to TALK about justice again in this country, and what an America based on justice should look like – an America with justice in our tax code, justice in our health care system, and justice in our hearts as well as our laws....blah blah blah..

"We're going to TALK about making higher education available to every young person in every neighborhood and community in America, because over 95% of people with a 4-year degree in this country escape poverty...blah blah blah...

"We're going to TALK about rebuilding rural communities and making sure that rural America can share in the promise and prosperity of the rest of America."... blah blah blah...

"We're going to TALK about investing in more small businesses instead of subsidizing huge corporations, because small businesses create 7 out of every 10 jobs in this country and they don't move their jobs overseas – and they can help revitalize troubled communities. We're going to make it easier for everyone to get a small business loan wherever they live and whatever the color of their skin."..blah blah blah...

"We're going to TALK about rebuilding our schools and our roads and our public spaces, empowering people to take pride in their neighborhood and their community again." ...blah blah blah...

"We're going to TALK about building prosperity that's based on more than spending beyond our means, a prosperity that doesn't force us to choose between working long hours and raising our children, a prosperity that doesn't require a mountain of debt to sustain it, a prosperity that lifts up every one of us and not just those at the very top.".. blah blah blah...

And that's how we're going to win in 2004!

After awhile it goes in one ear and out the........? put your own favorite adjective there...

I think properly evaluting critical history is KEY to understanding many of the ROOT problems that continue to plague and contribute to our society today. So when mr. Dean says that we all share in the same human "experiences" ..this is where I must firmly and unequivocally disagree...as it is a FACT that many a "human experience" DIFFERS based upon racial history and cultural identity!..What a White experiences cannot even be compared to what a Black, Indian, Hispanic or even Chinese experiences here in the land of the Americas! So to compare one to the other as the same is ridiculous.

Unfortunately, it is all too common to hear these typical knee-jerk reactions coming from White America wanting to skip-jump to the feelings of goodism and postivism without properly acknowledging what true history stands to teach us, or where we are today BECAUSE of it!

Rootsie...you are right to say.."nobody in this country wants to talk about history"..hmmm..I wonder why?? Because..."These empty calls for unity rouse much emotion in ignorant people. But to achieve true unity there has to be a reconciliation with history. Some great truth-telling must take place."...nails it.. and key phrases like.. "reconciliation with history" and much difficult "TRUTH telling."..are indeed THE actions to step up to if we truly want to advance forwards.
 
Statements like "rich hippie leftover crap from the '60's, bleeding with guilt that helps no one." in my opinion..serve only to display how indeed this "emotion" trys to disassociate itself from the REALITY of such history. It then trys to project false accusations onto those who are willing to LOOK at it, take RESPONSIBILITY for their actions, and then hold themselves up to a higher level of ACCOUNTABILITY by confronting it!

Too often do we see the walls of defense build up to react viscerally when a system that one directly benefits from is called into question.and then lambaste someone for NOT being POSITIVE. How can one jump to positivity without truthfully dealing with the past?  The majority of White people DO IT ALL THE TIME...and is why such rhetoric from Mr. Dean, and others, fall on deaf ears.

There is no question that the Bush regime has got to go..but from what to what? I personally believe that real reform will take place from the grassroots up. That it will come from the people who take the time to better inform themselves by many available means through this age of information. I believe a new awareness will rise and make manifest it's Will here on earth. But first, we must be willing to look at the facts as presented from the past...and then take responsibility from each, our own perspectives. Where to go, and what to do with what we now know will depend on what we learn from the past. Hopefully we can make a greater difference by choosing better...

[ras_dorje]

Greetins in HIM Name Unnameable, That Is, ....One LOVE!!! RastaFar-I, yes-I!!!
glad to see such evocative commentary on an issue of paramount importance, one that if the wrong choice is made will exacerbate the current downfall's descent rate expodentially!  We Americans have a choice....Bush or no Bush! regardless of the feelings of the rest of the world the choice is ours to make; and, in politics as in life...as Ivinely taught by HIM in All HIS Uterances Ivine regarding Livity (all ras need study these!)....the I must act out of Inspiration but with practicality:  in this case Dean is the ONLY candidate who can beat the Bushites!
All other issues pale in comparison Brethren and Sistren!!! there can be no change to the better at all until this happens, and to say politrics does not matter flies in the face of Iverting HIM Taught! Babylon and politrics exist and always will everywhere, in every community around the globe until we escape Samsara....
the issues of history is HIS-story....of karma and endless cycles of reincarnation....we are not our bodies....what color our eyes and skin are now and our present condition and status are only a direct result of past life actions and choices, thoughts and deeds....so those suffering now earned that, those not, likewise...but the wise overstand that we are all One, and one souls gain must only be for the interests of the all that is One, for less merely takes the have to the havenot in the next life or whenever. Do not worry about trying to change what is done....live now Positively to change what will be! reality is a state of I-mind only, so is your's half empty or half full? Those who are not US voters should also look in their own yards and begin to correct the evils around them....which is not just caused by the US or WTO or WB....what have YOU done to correct the problems on your own street? what have you done to convince Brethren that women are not chattel merely to cook and satisfy their manly weaknesses? what have you done to educate women and men to STD's....what have you done to try and get more computers and training for your people? Yes, so easy to blame America for the world's ills, but then one must ask why so many of the world would do anything and do to get here??? inI would be one of the first to vote to change so many things....right where inI live there are many people sleeping on the streets freezing nightly....in one of the richest cities in the world....it is sick, we see that and we try to change this condition. Monday inI will go before a city board to try to reduce the militaritization of our Martin Luther King parade; inI also involved in fighting to end the occupation of Iraq, to educate Americans about the hazards of depleted uranium that US weapons use, contaminating everything they hit and causing our own troops and local peoples intergenerational disease and birth defects....YES, much to be done, and the place to get a new foothold is to vote against Bush, by voting for the only horse that can win which is Dean,,,,then we go on from there.  giving thanx for all the Ras around the world, and pleading for true Love and reasoning....we all know what the problems are, so in lieu of just complaining, lets work together, in your country and mine, to change this. If you believe in repatriation to Afrika, inI see you chasing an illusion, however; if you believe in reparations, inI support you wholly.....if this USA can pay Halliburton billions and finance wars around the world, the USA can grant what is due to those of the Afrikan diaspora: the only question is what is the best way to do that, which is being debated and studied in many corners....inI believe one day it will happen! giving thanx again for you all, Beautiful HUEMONS All! RastaFar-Eye IVermore!!!!!!!

[Ayinde]

OH REALLY!

Can Americans really afford to be so naive and ignorant?

If your response is any reflection of the quality of Dean's support then he is already in real trouble. He lost the election before it started.

what color our eyes and skin are now and our present condition and status are only a direct result of past life actions and choices, thoughts and deeds....so those suffering now earned that, those not, likewise...

This thoughtlessness only means that many more will be killed at the hands of the present, and future U.S. administrations.

[ras_dorje]

Peace, my statement is just the way it IS....karma....when one comes to overstand the Iniverse of Mind, as the Buddha and many other teach, then we will begin to take direct action and responsibility for our deeds and thoughts. Yes, many more will suffer....that is the nature of samsara; when we overstand One Love, sunyata....the emptiness of inherent existance of any  being, then we will begin to share and love; meanwhile, those who do wrong and think wrong now will reap the pain in their future lives. Those of us with the merit to be blessed now with the ability to influence the world positively must not miss that opportunity, to do so through prayer, compassion, and following the Eightfold Path taught by the Buddha and later by HIM. all other paths will lead to naught. again, peace and love, and ONENESS>

[Tracey]

How do past actions/karma, thoughts, choices, and deeds determine  color of eyes and skin? ..how does that equate?

[ras_dorje]

Peace and Greetings in Inity,
inI recommend the I's to the Iniverse of literature on rebirth....but, simply put, all is I-mind....conditions lead to conditions, and what we perceive as our body with its features is what our subtle  mind, perhaps 'soul' to you (?),carrying the energies of all past karma, brought together as aggregates of our being for this lifetime; whatever color we are, features, status, and other uncountable conditions our rebirth 'bardo' energy brings into this world; collective karma of groups of beings also shape our present life circumstances; if the I feels this is not believable, then why is just mere birth from 'nothing', believable, and why does is one born into whatever body type, accessories and family etc...mere chance? but enough, this topic is about why Dean is the best choice to replace Bush and why Bush MUST be replaced. Please go study buddhism...much info on the web if you do not have ready access to books. One Love.

[iyah360]

Dean hahahaha. George Soros backs Dean hahahaha. Go look up George Soros on-line, tell me who he is, PLEASE TELL ME. The motherf*****(and I mean that on an esoteric level as well hippie) is in the Carlyle group, same as Bush. He has bankrupted nations with currency speculation. He wants open borders around the world through his open society bullsh** for capitalist pigs such as himself to ransack at will. His problem with Bush is that he is too honest with his intended plans.

Kinder gentler New World Order. ahhh doesn't that feel better!

[Rootsie]

'Kinder gentler New World Order." Exactly. Exactly my point.
And there Dean was wincing with pain in front of the cameras as he said 'this is a great day for America' referring to the capture of Saddam.
I wonder what sort of merit he accrued for his next life in making THAT remark.

By the way the practice of  the poorest of the poor supporting the monks in order to gain merit in their next life was a rather brilliant tool of social control. It kept people from taking responsibility for the ills in their societies that created these huge gulfs between rich and poor.

The Tibetans, whom Americans love so much, burned yak butter in their lamps while people starved. I don't condone the stupidity of the Chinese for trying to strong-arm Tibet into reform. But I see why they were disgusted.

The more I read of the Egyptian Book of the Dead (what they called The Book of Coming Forth By day) the more startling are the parallels to Buddhism. Thousand-petalled lotus and peacefuland wrathful deities and all. The kernel of all world religions is found in those texts.

"Those of us with the merit to be blessed now with the ability to influence the world positively must not miss that opportunity,"  Now there's a stretch.  

I guess I have accrued lifetimes of good karma to have been born white? Such simplifications are a distortion of the teaching. I would say the ones furthest away from benefitting from this system have a one-up in the merit department. Just a guess.  Privilege in Babylon and 'merit' are two vastly different things.

[ras_dorje]

Greetins Rootsie, in Peace and Love, which your site seems to be a little short on when it comes to anything that does not coddle up to your idea of the world order, but it is your site. This is my very last post so will just say Dean remains the best choice; you and your ilk can sit at the back of the bus and throw spitballs if you wish, and regardless of whatever happens in this or any future politrics you will no doubt maintain your negativity of life, entirely missing Livity and the essence of life; which is to find your own personal connection with Jah, annihilate your ego, and experience ultimate bliss mixed with Sunyata (Emptiness). Your views on Tibet etc are off base, and inI would suggest you talk to Tibetans, lay and lamas, before dispensing your edicts. One can also attack HIM for similar reasons if one lacks correct views of HIM's manifestation. This world will never become nirvana without everyone being able to attain One Love, which is so easy by obtaining correct view. Yes, you are correct about ancient Kemit....which projected Tantric views into Southern India, and before Kemit was Kush, and before Kush was the Word made manifest through the arising conscience of HUEMONs.
inI entered this site thinking it was Ras, but obviously even from your own discourse on 'what is Rastafari', you are wandering and seeking still: again when the I is ready for the teacher, HIM will appear, as One Love and the Iwoman's heart will finally be filled with life and not see the world as without light. As for Soros etc, so what? This is not a perfect world, but can be if the I perfects the I's view of it! ..........signing out fo r good so those that like to beat their intellectual chest at the risk of destroying their hearts may do so. Best wishes for Enlightenment!!!

[iyah360]

It seems that your idea of Enlightenment is nothing more than oneupsmanship on which you have pasted on Buddhist philosophy.

"and regardless of whatever happens in this or any future politrics you will no doubt maintain your negativity of life, entirely missing Livity and the essence of life; which is to find your own personal connection with Jah, annihilate your ego, and experience ultimate bliss mixed with Sunyata (Emptiness)."

You are unbeleivably annoying with the way you present yourself.  You are offensive to TRUE sufferers in the world, telling them that they can be happy in the midst of pain and anguish that you HAVE NOT A CLUE as to WHAT THEY GO THROUGH.(i.e. your statement about holocaust victims and Africans with AIDS). With your statements, the MINDSET which you espouse is what appears to be, as you accuse the moderator of this forum to be,  the "rich hippie leftover crap from the '60's"