The Party of Commons Senate:
Progress * Tradition * Ecology
Senator Mark Greene (chairman)
Unique among U.S. political parties, the Party of Commons Senate was temporarily established at the party's inception on November 23, 2006 and was given permanent status on March 7, 2009. The Senate will consist of established and meritoriously honored ex officio members of the Party of Commons, who are either appointed by the chairman or who receive a two thirds majority vote by the Nomination Committee and approved by the chairman.
Please send an e-mail, if you're interested in applying to be a member of the Party of Commons, send an e-mail to PartyofCommons@yahoo.com. Please, put the phrase "party membership" or the name, "Party of Commons," in the subject heading.
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
An Ages-Old Civil Guidepost
Given the choices of candidates, in 2008, that had a viable chance of winning the presidency, we endorsed Barack Obama for president in the general election, but that doesn't mean that we don't differ with the policies of his administration sometimes. "Commons" tries to be respectful when we differ with anybody about politics, but being courteous and respectful in political debate doesn't seem to be the case in some surprising places in the corporate media.
Some media broadcasters have made villainous and vitriolic statements about politicians and others with whom they disagree with, even the president. Some of the statements have gone beyond common decency and some others seem to have gone beyond 1st amendment rights and protections. Money and status apparently puts some above the law, not to mention in violation of their alleged faith. Some of these broadcasters seem to have an open or slight Christian facade, which is even more surprising, but it is not just broadcasters caught up in duplicitous behavior these days, of course.
Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said that anybody who says, "You fool," could face hell. In our society, which unfortunately seems to be more and more undisciplined, the word "fool" seems relatively tame, and this instruction often is neglected, but Jesus's instruction in this matter is a lesson in civility and godliness, and societies and individuals who heed this lesson pave the road to peace.
[Revised on same day as first posted.]
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Some media broadcasters have made villainous and vitriolic statements about politicians and others with whom they disagree with, even the president. Some of the statements have gone beyond common decency and some others seem to have gone beyond 1st amendment rights and protections. Money and status apparently puts some above the law, not to mention in violation of their alleged faith. Some of these broadcasters seem to have an open or slight Christian facade, which is even more surprising, but it is not just broadcasters caught up in duplicitous behavior these days, of course.
Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said that anybody who says, "You fool," could face hell. In our society, which unfortunately seems to be more and more undisciplined, the word "fool" seems relatively tame, and this instruction often is neglected, but Jesus's instruction in this matter is a lesson in civility and godliness, and societies and individuals who heed this lesson pave the road to peace.
[Revised on same day as first posted.]
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The Theologian
The daughter of a middle class auto worker family in Detroit during the Great Depression, as a teenager, she was sent to a Catholic school for girls on the east coast for a time, and converted to Catholicism from her original Baptist upbringing. Upon her first opportunity to vote for president of the United States in 1956, she cast her vote for Adlai Stevenson. In 1960, raising two children by herself, she was impressed upon seeing John Kennedy campaigning at the Michigan State Fair, and cast another presidential vote for him. Particularly, in the 60's and early to mid 70's, she immersed herself in educational pursuits and clerical (as relating to the clergy) interests, befriending academians and priests. As a mother and clerical activist, she and her two kids were heavily involved in church activities, including going to the ordination of priests.
Going to colleges in the Midwest, she received a master's degree in theological studies along the way of becoming a teacher, counselor and theologian; fields in which she received many accolades from her colleagues. As the campaign manager for her son's run for Congress in 2002, she helped him win a major party nomination in Alaska, his second in a row. She was among the American dissenters that opposed Bush's drum beat for war in Iraq and influenced Mark to speak out against the war resolution in Congress during his '02 campaign. As the major influence of her son's political career, and thereby the rise of the Party of Commons, we are proud to name Ellen Elizabeth Greene (1933 - 2006) to the Party of Commons's Hall of Fame.
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Going to colleges in the Midwest, she received a master's degree in theological studies along the way of becoming a teacher, counselor and theologian; fields in which she received many accolades from her colleagues. As the campaign manager for her son's run for Congress in 2002, she helped him win a major party nomination in Alaska, his second in a row. She was among the American dissenters that opposed Bush's drum beat for war in Iraq and influenced Mark to speak out against the war resolution in Congress during his '02 campaign. As the major influence of her son's political career, and thereby the rise of the Party of Commons, we are proud to name Ellen Elizabeth Greene (1933 - 2006) to the Party of Commons's Hall of Fame.
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Memorial
Heavy does the news of the befallen come to our nation's heart.
Thus falls heavy (sadness) in their faraway nation where their journey began, if not far from the vision and the dreams that their (our) nation bespeaks.
Thus falls heavy in the hearts of their beloveth, if not the stranger whose admiration of their service brings us together (e pluribus unum).
Thus falls heavy in the stirrings of the universe, a mightiness that sometimes seems indifferent to the passions of the earth, let alone the passing of one that shakes the vision of the earth, if not the universe anew.
Thus falls in the arms of the Almighty, where heaviness ceases to dwell, and inspiration transcends for generations to come.
[In honor of our fallen troops.]
[revised on 5/25/09]
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Thus falls heavy (sadness) in their faraway nation where their journey began, if not far from the vision and the dreams that their (our) nation bespeaks.
Thus falls heavy in the hearts of their beloveth, if not the stranger whose admiration of their service brings us together (e pluribus unum).
Thus falls heavy in the stirrings of the universe, a mightiness that sometimes seems indifferent to the passions of the earth, let alone the passing of one that shakes the vision of the earth, if not the universe anew.
Thus falls in the arms of the Almighty, where heaviness ceases to dwell, and inspiration transcends for generations to come.
[In honor of our fallen troops.]
[revised on 5/25/09]
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Crossroads
The news has been depressing in the last week, a little more than the usual mere depressing. Still, as a nation, we must muster up some spirit and go forward. We have no other good choices besides learning from our history and trying to do the right thing from here on out.
Where to begin? Well, let's start with Kenneth Cockrel, Jr., a person whom most of the nation has never heard of, although he was the mayor of Detroit until this week. By all accounts, Cockrel is an honest, sober man who took over the daunting task of being mayor of one of America's most beleaguered cities after a scandal ousted the previous mayor. To be honest, the Party of Commons hasn't followed Detroit politics hardly any, seeing that we have all we can handle keeping up with Washington state politics, but from what tidbits we know, Cockrel did a good job in the short time that he was mayor, restoring confidence and integrity to the mayor's office.
Then the former National Basketball Association star, Dave Bing, decided to uproot himself from a suburban gated community to move to Detroit for the purpose of running for mayor. All the ingredients for winning in American-style politics were there: money, fame, celebrity and ambition. Unfortunately, Mayor Cockrel couldn't outdo the N.B.A. Although, we doubt that the carpetbagger, Bing, who had innoculated himself from the problems of the city through his former gated community, will turn out to be anything except another dime-a-dozen politician. Kenneth Cockrel, Jr. has decided to return to the Detroit City Council; the best of luck to him.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, we found out that the Gates Foundation is continually trying to make inroads into the continent of Africa through starting hundreds of think tanks or something like that. It must be intoxicating being kind of imperial grand dukes of the world by waving billions of dollars around with the strings that your conditions must be met, such as promoting and planting controversial genetically modified seeds in that part of the world.
In the national political world, the Republican faithful, and more than a few Democrats and others, can't seem to decide whether Cheney-esque barbarity or the "Sermon on the Mount" is more fitting.
Finally, things keep leaking out from sources other than the Corporate Mainstream News Media that otherwise would be covered up entirely. Yesterday, we listened to a non-corporate media radio report about something so outrageous about the conduct of contractors at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad some time ago, in which the U.S. military brass was in charge of at the time, that we almost didn't believe it. However, we believed every word of it, and our nation has more serious problems than we ever imagined. Especially, very serious problems of the soul, the sort that wilted and broke the Roman Empire.
[Originally published in our "Commoner" blog, same day, with the title, "Notes From the Nation."]
Copyright 2008 - 2009, Party of Commons TM
Where to begin? Well, let's start with Kenneth Cockrel, Jr., a person whom most of the nation has never heard of, although he was the mayor of Detroit until this week. By all accounts, Cockrel is an honest, sober man who took over the daunting task of being mayor of one of America's most beleaguered cities after a scandal ousted the previous mayor. To be honest, the Party of Commons hasn't followed Detroit politics hardly any, seeing that we have all we can handle keeping up with Washington state politics, but from what tidbits we know, Cockrel did a good job in the short time that he was mayor, restoring confidence and integrity to the mayor's office.
Then the former National Basketball Association star, Dave Bing, decided to uproot himself from a suburban gated community to move to Detroit for the purpose of running for mayor. All the ingredients for winning in American-style politics were there: money, fame, celebrity and ambition. Unfortunately, Mayor Cockrel couldn't outdo the N.B.A. Although, we doubt that the carpetbagger, Bing, who had innoculated himself from the problems of the city through his former gated community, will turn out to be anything except another dime-a-dozen politician. Kenneth Cockrel, Jr. has decided to return to the Detroit City Council; the best of luck to him.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, we found out that the Gates Foundation is continually trying to make inroads into the continent of Africa through starting hundreds of think tanks or something like that. It must be intoxicating being kind of imperial grand dukes of the world by waving billions of dollars around with the strings that your conditions must be met, such as promoting and planting controversial genetically modified seeds in that part of the world.
In the national political world, the Republican faithful, and more than a few Democrats and others, can't seem to decide whether Cheney-esque barbarity or the "Sermon on the Mount" is more fitting.
Finally, things keep leaking out from sources other than the Corporate Mainstream News Media that otherwise would be covered up entirely. Yesterday, we listened to a non-corporate media radio report about something so outrageous about the conduct of contractors at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad some time ago, in which the U.S. military brass was in charge of at the time, that we almost didn't believe it. However, we believed every word of it, and our nation has more serious problems than we ever imagined. Especially, very serious problems of the soul, the sort that wilted and broke the Roman Empire.
[Originally published in our "Commoner" blog, same day, with the title, "Notes From the Nation."]
Copyright 2008 - 2009, Party of Commons TM
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Parable of the Sower
As the debate about torture goes on, some are putting forward the "ticking bomb" exception to what they otherwise admit is evil. For those of us who say that torture is never right, the "ticking bomb" exception is hard to counteract, because it is human nature to want to take desperate measures in order to save life in emergency circumstances.
Then there are those who say we have to make one other exception, and that being to do whatever is necessary to thwart the ruthless enemy. This exception is easier to oppose, because there is no condensed threat that must be challenged on the spot, but a metamorphic one in which measures taken to fight it can be thought out and reasoned.
When it comes to exceptions, however, there are no exceptions in the Sermon on the Mount.
There is also the parable in the Gospel of Luke: the parable of the sower, where Jesus talked about the farmer who went out to sow his planting seeds, and some fell along the path he was walking and it was trampled on, and the birds ate it.
The seed that fell along the path stands for the ones who hear the word of God, although it is taken away from them by the devil so that they won't believe it.
Then some of the planting seed fell on a boulder, but the plants dried up because they had no moisture.
The seed that fell on the boulder stands for the ones all accepting of the word with great smiles, but they have no root and thus they do not follow through. They fail the test of time.
As the farmer traversed along the path, some of the planting seed fell among thorns which grew up with the plants, but ended up choking the plants.
The seed that fell among the thorns stands for the ones who hear the word, but as they make their way in life they are choked by life's concerns, riches and pleasures, and therefore they do not mature.
For all the falling seed going willy-nilly, some fell on good soil and it produced a yield a hundred times greater than what was sown.
The seed that fell on good soil stands for the ones with hearts that are noble, who hear the word, keep it, and by persistence and follow through their crops are produced.
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Then there are those who say we have to make one other exception, and that being to do whatever is necessary to thwart the ruthless enemy. This exception is easier to oppose, because there is no condensed threat that must be challenged on the spot, but a metamorphic one in which measures taken to fight it can be thought out and reasoned.
When it comes to exceptions, however, there are no exceptions in the Sermon on the Mount.
There is also the parable in the Gospel of Luke: the parable of the sower, where Jesus talked about the farmer who went out to sow his planting seeds, and some fell along the path he was walking and it was trampled on, and the birds ate it.
The seed that fell along the path stands for the ones who hear the word of God, although it is taken away from them by the devil so that they won't believe it.
Then some of the planting seed fell on a boulder, but the plants dried up because they had no moisture.
The seed that fell on the boulder stands for the ones all accepting of the word with great smiles, but they have no root and thus they do not follow through. They fail the test of time.
As the farmer traversed along the path, some of the planting seed fell among thorns which grew up with the plants, but ended up choking the plants.
The seed that fell among the thorns stands for the ones who hear the word, but as they make their way in life they are choked by life's concerns, riches and pleasures, and therefore they do not mature.
For all the falling seed going willy-nilly, some fell on good soil and it produced a yield a hundred times greater than what was sown.
The seed that fell on good soil stands for the ones with hearts that are noble, who hear the word, keep it, and by persistence and follow through their crops are produced.
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Friday, May 1, 2009
Crime Against Speech
Back during the presidential campaign of 2004, we never understood the admiration that some Democrats had for the former general, Wesley Clark, who was mostly famous for prosecuting the Clinton regime's unwarranted bombing of the Serbian population in 1999, and he is still fawned upon to this day by Democrats.
Now, we just learned from the website, "Counterpunch," that Amnesty International has just gotten around to declaring the deliberate bombing of a Belgrade radio and television station, under Clark's orders, a war crime. That is hardly news to people who keep abreast of Uncle Sam's imperial march across the planet, but better late than never as far as Amnesty International is concerned. The people working at the Belgrade station that day were civilian journalists and media workers who were conducting their duties of speech, under extreme pressure, as they saw fit, not combatants, which makes the case even more succinctly that some Clinton-ites are as culpable for war crimes as the Bushians whom succeeded them.
[revised on 5/2/09]
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
Now, we just learned from the website, "Counterpunch," that Amnesty International has just gotten around to declaring the deliberate bombing of a Belgrade radio and television station, under Clark's orders, a war crime. That is hardly news to people who keep abreast of Uncle Sam's imperial march across the planet, but better late than never as far as Amnesty International is concerned. The people working at the Belgrade station that day were civilian journalists and media workers who were conducting their duties of speech, under extreme pressure, as they saw fit, not combatants, which makes the case even more succinctly that some Clinton-ites are as culpable for war crimes as the Bushians whom succeeded them.
[revised on 5/2/09]
Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM
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