Thomas Muthee, it was revealed, held a special ceremony to obtain the intervention of Heaven to make Sarah Palin Governor of Alaska, and now, according to breaking news from Irregular Times, that ceremony included the attempt to protect Sarah Palin from witchcraft used by enemies in Alaska. They have actual video footage of this ceremony, a video made in 2005, but made available just today!

Sarah Palin stood there and eagerly accepted this protection from witchcraft from her campaign. Apparently, Palin really believed that witches might be trying to use magic spells to attack her campaign for Governor. That explains why the McCain campaign is trying to keep Sarah Palin away from reporters. They didn’t want this Alaska witchcraft story leaking out.

There’s a lot more to this story, including possible violations of IRS law as Sarah Palin’s church participated in partisan political campaigning while claiming tax exempt status, and what sounds like a plan to “infiltrate” the American government with a religious campaign to establish a theocracy.

Here’s just one more point on this story for now. Yet another newly released video, of a sermon of Thomas Muthee preaching at Sarah Palin’s church this very weekend, shows Palin’s pastor, Ed Kalnins, explaining that the Wasilla Assembly of God church sought out Thomas Muthee because of his history of persecuting women accused of witchcraft. See below, and then a short explanation:

Ed Kalnins said last Saturday,

“Bishop Muthee is no stranger to us. He is a friend. He preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ, and so I want people to know that this is not some sect in a far away country. We are joined together with a worldwide church who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ as savior and lord… This is not this little thing here. We are connected to many like-minded believers, and so I’m really thankful to Jesus that God is somehow going to be glorified and his will is going to be done in our land and in your lives. And, so, Bishop Muthee, I got my first chance to know of him through a ministry, that he had a prayer ministry out in Kiambu. Kiambu, Kenya was really inundated with a lot of crime and a lot of deceit, and it began to burden his heart, so he began to pray and he began to pray to call out to God, because that which is out of order, God desires to put into order. Amen. He prayed, and there was a breakthrough.”

This requires some background knowledge of the Thomas Muthee scandal. The “deceit” in Kiambu that Ed Kalnins refers to was witchcraft that Thomas Muthee accused a woman named Mama Jane of conducting. Thomas Muthee actually claimed that Mama Jane was causing automobile accidents through the power of her magical spells.

The “prayer ministry” that Ed Kalnins refers to was a campaign against Mama Jane, which included so-called spiritual warfare, but also mobs that surrounded Mama Jane’s place of work, threatening her with stoning to death. Thomas Muthee threatened Mama Jane, saying that she had to agree to convert and join his church, or else. At the instigation of Muthee, police broke in to Mama Jane’s clinic, fired their guns, and hauled her off to jail. Mama Jane then fled Kiambu in fear of her life.

Ed Kalnins knew this, because he had seen the Transformations video, which refers to the campaign of persecution against Mama Jane. Ed Kalnins was so enthusiastic about this real witch hunt that he flew to Kenya himself, and went to Kiambu to see where the with hunt had actually taken place.

Kalnins shared the Transformations video with church members, which included Sarah Palin, who shortly afterwards submitted herself to the ceremony to grant her the supernatural protection from witchcraft, so that she could become Governor of Alaska.

I cannot for the life of me understand why the mainstream new media has failed to report this story. The documentation is all very clear. There’s nothing uncertain about it. Yet, the only journalists that are reporting on the story so far are from Switzerland.

Let’s review the facts.

1. In the following video, Sarah Palin claims to have been made Governor because of the “bold” power of a prayer that Thomas Muthee made with her through the Wasilla Assembly of God
2. Sarah Palin praises Muthee, and suggests some familiarity with him personally
3. Thomas Muthee has gained his power and fame by targeting vulnerable women in Kenya, accusing them of witchcraft, and inciting local populations to engage in campaigns of intimidation. Muthee claims special anti-witch spiritual powers.

Yes, I know it sounds crazy. It is crazy, but Muthee really goes on modern day witch hunts. Muthee’s actions are frighteningly similar to the actions of the people involved in the Salem witch trials.

Earlier this year, Barack Obama was forced to justify, and finally repudiate, Jeremiah Wright. Why is the Press suddenly silent on controversial pastors? Why are reporters remaining silent about the connection between Pastor Thomas Muthee and Sarah Palin?

Sarah Palin’s own church, the church that she grew up in and still visits to this day, teaches that God’s plan is to throw homosexuals and anyone who is not a Christian into a lake of fire, where they will be tortured without any chance of escape for all eternity, under the approving management of Jesus himself. Palin’s church teaches that that’s a good thing.

Contemplate, for a moment, the kind of mind that can look forward to the torture of people, and think of it as a holy act. Think of Sarah Palin’s mind.

Speaking before the Wasilla Assembly of God church this summer, Sarah Palin spoke of her work in the government, and told the congregation, “As I’m doing my job, let’s strike this deal… we can work together to make sure that God’s will be done”

Sarah Palin embraced the plan of God as taught by the Assembly of God: “What comes from this church I think has great destiny.”

Sarah Palin also said this week that she is willing to send the United States to war against Russia if she becomes President.

I wish Americans would keep one question in their minds on Election Day: Do I want to help give someone who believes in a divine plan to torture non-Christians, who is willing to start a war with Russia, the power to press The Button, and start a nuclear war?

In 2007, Chevron, a big oil company, asked the Bush Administration for a special waiver of the Clean Water Act, so that it could dump billions of gallons of toxic waste created as a byproduct of its oil drilling operations. They wanted to dump the toxic waste, which contains poisons like arsenic, cadmium and lead, in the Cook Inlet, a large body of water where commercial fishing takes place.

In order for that waiver to be approved, Chevron needed to get the approval of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Palin said yes. She thought that dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the Cook Inlet would be a great idea.

The endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale lives in the waters where Chevron’s toxic wastes were dumped. Sarah Palin didn’t think that mattered. Oil company profits come before whales, she said.

The truth is, though, that the issue isn’t really a matter of humans vs. whales. You see, a lot of fish and crabs sold as Alaska seafood to the rest of the United States comes out of the Cook Inlet. That seafood has been found to contain the same poisonous contaminants that are in Chevron’s toxic sludge.

That means that with Sarah Palin’s permission, Chevron’s toxic wastes are poisoning people across the USA. It also means that Alaskans who fish the Cook Inlet are in danger of losing their livelihood. If they can’t sell the fish they catch any more, because that fish is a health hazard, then they will go out of business.

The real story is that Sarah Palin is willing to sacrifice the health of the American people, the livelihood of working Alaskans, and the survival of Alaskan wildlife just so that big oil corporations can keep on making record-breaking profits.

The United States has already suffered eight years under that kind of President. We must not elect another corrupt politician in the back pocket of Big Oil to the White House.

If you care about the health of your children, and about the economy they will inherit when they become young adults, Sarah Palin is an unacceptable choice for Vice President.

You see, the Democratic National Convention has been setting up special meeting to cater to religious Americans, giving religious leaders special access to power. Leaders of organizations representing non-religious Americans, however, have been shut out of the Convention. They are being told that they can’t have the same access to Democratic Party leaders. For the Democratic Party, access to power is gift given exclusively to religious Americans.

One speaker at the convention expressed this discriminatory attitude with a rally cry to the heavens: “Unite us as a party, oh God!”

The Democratic Party is to become a political party united by God?

What about those Americans who don’t believe in God?

Democratic unity doesn’t include them. There is now only place in the so-called big tent of the Democratic Party for those Americans who go to church.

There’s a word for this special kind of unity: Division.

Barack Obama was eager to submit himself to the test of whether he was Christian enough to be President, and so he embraced the fundamental idea of theocracy - that the duty of leaders like himself is to carry out the will of God. Obama said,

“I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and that I am redeemed through him. That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis. Yeah, I know that I don’t walk alone. And I know that if I can get myself out of the way, that I can maybe carry out in some small way what He intends… a sense of obligation to embrace not just words but through deeds the expectations that God has for us.”

It’s stated less blatantly than George W. Bush’s claim that “God speaks through me”, but the meaning is the same. Barack Obama has stated that he thinks it’s possible for him to serve as a channel for the will of God.

Is that what Barack Obama intends to do as President? To serve the expectations of God?

I thought that the job of the President of the United States was to carry out what the American People intend, and embrace the expectations of the American People.

So, who does Barack Obama really intend to represent in the White House? God or the American People?

Here’s an important speech on the subject. Can you guess who gave the speech?

“In what’s become a bit of a regular occurrence in this campaign, Senator Obama once had a different position on offshore drilling, and it’s clear why he did. It would have long-term consequences for our coastlines, but no short term benefits, since it would take at least ten years to get any oil.

Well, the politics may have changed, but the facts haven’t. The accuracy of Senator Obama’s original position has not changed. Offshore drilling would not lower gas prices today. It would not lower gas prices tomorrow. It would not lower gas prices this year. It would not lower gas prices five years from now.

In fact, President Bush’s own Energy Department says that we won’t see a drop of oil from his own proposal until 2017, and in fact, you wouldn’t see any full production out of any oil drilling off the coast until 2030. It will take a generation to reach full production, and even then the effect on gas prices will be minimal, at best.

So, let me just repeat: Barack Obama’s proposal, George Bush’s proposal to drill offshore here in Florida and other places around the country would not provide families with any relief this year, next year, five years from now. Believe me, if I thought there was any evidence at all that drilling could save people money who are struggling to fill up their gas tanks by this summer or the next year or even the next few years, I would consider it, but it won’t, and Barack Obama knows that.

The fact is, Senator Obama’s decision to team up with George Bush on offshore drilling violates the bipartisan consensus that we have had for decades that has protected Florida’s pristine coastline from drilling.”

Did you figure out who gave this speech? It was Barack Obama - only he was attacking John McCain for flip flopping on offshore drilling. The speech was delivered by Obama just a month and a half ago, in Jacksonville, Florida,

All I did with this speech is replace John McCain’s name with Barack Obama’s name. Sadly, the criticism that Barack Obama sent McCain’s way now applies to him as well.

If Obama would measure himself up against his earlier standards, he would find himself failing. Bit by bit, Barack Obama is becoming an embodiment of the dirty old politics he promised us he would change.

How disappointing Obama has become.

Yesterday, in the House Judiciary Committee, there was a hearing organized in response to the effort by Dennis Kucinich to impeach George W. Bush. At that hearing, Frederick Schwarz of the Brennan Center for Justice summarized the constitutional crisis caused by the kind of false patriotism that supports the President even when the President attacks the constitutional foundations of liberty. Schwarz said,

“Based on what we know now—about torture, about extraordinary rendition to torture, about permanent detention, about warrantless wiretapping, and about the Administration’s “monarchical” theory of presidential power—it seems clear that the course we have chartered over the last seven years has in fact made us less safe, as well as less free.”

“in the nearly eight years that have passed under the current Administration, and especially in the seven years since the tragedy of 9/11, the White House has arrogated to itself unprecedented powers of coercion, detention and surveillance. All the while, it has tried to use a patina of legal and constitutional excuses to disguise the degree to which it has abandoned the very ideals in whose defense these immoral tactics have been employed. The result has been a distortion of the Constitution, an evisceration of the rights and liberties of individuals, and a perversion of American values. All of this has done grave harm to our nation’s reputation and has reduced our security here and abroad.”

(Read the rest of his testimony)

We here at Progressive Patriots stand with Mr. Schwarz in criticizing the government’s program of undermining the authority of the Constitution in favor of the authority of individual political leaders in the Executive Branch. We engage in this criticism because we love the promise of America, and we want our liberty back.

Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.

In this movie, you can tell who’s good and who’s bad, because the bad people look bad. They have frightening costumes and sinister voices. The good people, on the other hand, are strong and noble. The law is weak, and so what is needed is a big strong, super-powerful person to pass judgment and deliver punishment without a trial. Fair trials are for sissies.

Batman gets to sneak around too, eavesdropping on criminals, breaking into their private buildings without any proof that anything criminal is going on. Gosh, if Batman were to wait for a search warrant, and have to provide proof to a judge, then it would be too late, and the criminals would get away with it and destroy the whole city!

Batman’s vigilante justice, his illegal invasion of privacy, and his disregard for the law is justified by the fact that he’s big and strong, and filthy rich. These qualities, it’s assumed, bring Batman a sense of justice that is superior to anything that democratic government could provide.

To anyone who truly believes in the vision of freedom and democracy established in the Constitution of the United States of America, it’s a disgusting insult to liberty. Dark Knight is a slick justification for all the abuses that have taken place in places like Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and the National Security Agency. It’s a celebration of the legalization of a vigilante government legalized by Congress through corrupt laws like the Patriot Act, Military Commissions Act, and FISA Amendments Act.

But then, little children don’t know about freedom or democracy. They’re just afraid of bad people, and they trust big people with power to protect them.

Children don’t understand that Batman is himself a criminal, and a threat to the security of the people of Gotham. They’ll never see a movie in which Batman makes a mistake, and persecutes an innocent person he suspects of being an arch-villain. In real life, government agents given the dark vigilante role that Batman represents make those mistakes on a very frequent basis.

Yet, to childish America, complaining about such abuses seems unfair. It’s picking on Batman, who is a good guy, and as all children know, anyone who picks on a good guy must be a bad guy.

Welcome to the regressive cartoon politics of 2008, in which John McCain and Barack Obama are fighting over who can adopt the pose of the baddest Dark Knight.

Now, Senator Mikulski is voting for the FISA Amendments Act. The FISA Amendments Act does not uphold the Constitution. It attacks the Constitution.

First, it’s an ex post facto law, changing the consequences of a crime after someone has been caught committing the crime, for the very purpose of protecting the criminals. That’s strictly forbidden in the first section of the Constitution, but Barbara Mikulski doesn’t seem to care about that.

Second, the FISA Amendments Act establishes some legal standards for some people, and different legal standards for others. Giant telecommunications companies get off the hook for violating the privacy agreements they made with their customers, but others who may have committed the same crime don’t get off the hook. That’s against the fourteenth amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.

Third, the fourth amendment guarantees protection against unreasonable search and seizure and requires a search warrant against a specific person in a specific place if government spying or physical searches are to take place. The FISA Amendments Act doesn’t do that - it gives blanket permission to spy, without requiring the specification of any particular people or places that will be spied against.

Furthermore the FISA Amendments Act gives the Attorney General the power to make declarations that the Attorney General’s spy operations against the American people are legal - and those declarations cannot be challenged by the FISA court or anyone else. So, in effect, any spy program against Americans that the Attorney General declares to be legal can not be challenged, even if it actually breaks the law. That’s not just a violation of the fourth amendment. It’s also a violation of the concept of the separation of government power into coequal branches that provide controls on each other. That concept is at the core of the Constitution. Without it, the Constitution means almost nothing.

Barbara Mikulski supports the FISA Amendments Act, and that means that she supports all these attacks on the Constitution.

Senator Mikulski has become one of the enemies of the Constitution she swore an Oath to work against. That’s why Democrats who still care about the Constitution are turning their backs on Barbara Mikulski, and organizing to challenge her right to represent the Democratic Party in the United States Senate when she is up for re-election in 2010.