Sunday, September 14. 2008
Tom Brewton directed us to a new piece by Richard Neuhaus in First Things, A New Order of Religious Freedom. It's about religion and politics. One quote: More than he wanted to be remembered for having been president, Mr. Jefferson wanted to be remembered as the author of the Virginia “Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.” In the text of the bill he underlined this sentence: “The opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction.” In a republic of free citizens, every opinion, every prejudice, every aspiration, every moral argument has access to the public square in which we deliberate the ordering of our life together.
Another: In a democracy that is free and robust, an opinion is no more disqualified for being religious than for being atheistic, or psychoanalytic, or Marxist, or just plain dumb. There is, or at least there ought to be, no legal or constitutional question about the admission of religion to the public square; there is only a question about the free and equal participation of citizens in our public business. Religion is not a reified thing that threatens to intrude upon our common life. Religion in public is but the public opinion of those citizens who appeal to religion in public.
If you are a black conservative, would you consider voting for Obama anyway? Or if you are a white guy or gal, try imagining being an American black guy or gal and ask yourself whether you would vote for Obama, even if you disagreed with many of his basic assumptions, and even if you had some doubts about his preparation for the job. I would be interested in our readers' comments.
The Pope: "The presence of Christian values is fundamental for the survival of our nations" Sipp: My favorite tools. ABC edited the Palin interview to make her look bad. It didn't work. The press is so nuts about Obama it's weird. They are blinded, and failing at their job. Insty found a report of the WaPo's covert re-write. Related: Palin was right. There are 3 Bush Doctrines, and none of them clearly defined. But, may I ask again, why is this election about Palin instead of the goofy Joe Biden, who they have hidden in a closet? Well, back to the charming Palin. Besides banning books, killing defenseless animals, wanting to bomb Russia, loving God too much, and having two heads, she also sleeps with teenage boys. People do ignore how sexist the attacks on her have been, from the photo-shopped junk to the "How can you have a job when you have kids?" Most Americans have figured out how to do that, for better or worse. Real Americans love the gal, partly because she's not a condescending elite who imagines that she is better than you. As we said yesterday, making fun of McCain's POW injuries is a lousy stragegy. Show me your wounds first. How fast things change. Dems are now scared. It could all change again, though.
18:21 Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" 18:22 Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 18:23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 18:24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 18:25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 18:26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 18:27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 18:28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe.' 18:29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 18:30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 18:31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 18:32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 18:33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' 18:34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 18:35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
Saturday, September 13. 2008
That's from 2002. A good verse from this tune: Politician's got on his joggin' shoes
He must be runnin' for office, got no time to lose
Suckin' the blood out of the genius of generosity
You been rollin' your eyes, you been teasin' me The lyrics begin like this: Summer days, summer nights are gone Summer days and summer nights are gone I know a place where there's still somethin' going on I've got a house on the hill, I got hogs out in the mud I've got a house on the hill, I got hogs all out in the mud I've got a long haired woman, she got royal Indian blood Everybody get ready, lift up your glasses and sing Everybody get ready, lift up your glasses and sing Well I'm standin' on the table, I'm proposin' a toast to the king I'm driving in the flats in a Cadillac car The girls all say "You're a worn out star" My pockets are loaded, and I'm spending every dime How can you say you love someone else, You know it's me all the time Entire lyrics here.
 We may be a Yankee website, but we love the South - and the West. The Mid-west too.
We are a bit ambivalent about California, however, except for their wines, because it seems they put something strange in the water out there. THC or LSD or something. Luckily, it doesn't get into their grape juice. A reader alerts us to this site for interesting stuff: Southern Culture and History. "Veritate Superare." By the way, there is nothing racist about that flag. That was the battle flag of a proud but short-lived nation. "Insurgents," as the MSM might term them today.
 A quote from The Censor in the Mirror by Ha Jin in American Scholar:
In the summer of 2004, Yuan Hongbing, a Chinese writer, defected to Australia, taking with him four fiction manuscripts. After Yuan’s novels were published abroad, some top Chinese leaders were flustered. Luo Gan, director of the Politics and Law Committee of the Chinese Communist Party at the time, went so far as to give orders to punish with a death sentence whoever dared to pirate the books. Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, who is in charge of ideology, issued the following directive: “The General Administration of Press and Publications, the Border Police, and Customs must work closely to prevent Yuan Hongbing’s novels from being smuggled into the mainland. We must ponder about this phenomenon: For many years our party has spent a great amount of manpower, money, and material resources in bringing up many writers, but our writers have not created any work that can trump Yuan Hongbing’s fiction artistically.” Regardless of whether Li was capable of literary judgment, he did raise a serious question for the party. The answer is clear and simple: The system of harsh censorship has crippled and “sterilized” the writers and artists who exist within its field of force.
At Pajamas. Is this valuing education or devaluing education? That kind of thing would have done me no good at all. I do best with firm and clear structure and expectations, meaningful rewards and harsh consequences. But that's just me, I suppose.
What Clinton might have told Barack: "It's not about you," and other things. Such as "I am very busy this fall." How autistic kids do not communicate. Classical Why can't McCain use a keyboard? Because the Viet Cong broke his arms so many times in so many places. Can't tie his shoes or comb his hair either, for the same reason. Two supposed Constitutional prof candidates, with supporters who don't like the Constitution. What gives? Schoolkid caught with exposed blade! 30-life, in my opinion. Help! Call Dr. Bliss. Or the UN. It's the global crisis of Post-Vacation Syndrome. Classic liberal: Biden gives $369/year to charity. That sums it all up. I give far more than that, with far less income and no perks. Is Congress competitive this year? Soul deadness at Columbia When journalistic malpractice becomes precedent. Yesterday's WaPo example is unbelievable. EU Referendum takes a closer look at those "world wants Obama" polls Obama is the hedge fund candidate
 The Falling of the Leaves
Autumn is over the long leaves that love us,
And over the mice in the barley sheaves;
Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us,
And yellow the wet wild-strawberry leaves. The hour of the waning of love has beset us, And weary and worn are our sad souls now; Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us, With a kiss and a tear on thy drooping brow.
Friday, September 12. 2008
"Having overthrown feudalism and slavery and then outgrown its own personal and familial form, capitalism has evolved a new political ideology, welfare liberalism, which absolves individuals of moral responsibility and treats them as victims of social circumstance. .. new modes of social control, which deal with the deviant as a patient and substitute medical rehabilitation for punishment. It has given rise to a new culture, the narcissistic culture of our time, which has translated the predatory individualism of the American Adam into a therapeutic jargon that celebrates not so much individualism as solipsism, justifying self-absorption as "authenticity" and awareness." Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism
Overcoming Bias, in a discussion of science and the supernatural, quotes Richard Carrier's definition: A "supernatural" explanation appeals to ontologically basic mental things, mental entities that cannot be reduced to nonmental entities.
Doesn't most of our lives consist of ontologically basic mental things: wishes, fantasies, thoughts, dreams, emotions, ideas?
Dem politico Mark Penn says: I think here the media is on very dangerous ground. I think that when you see them going through every single expense report that Governor Palin ever filed, if they don't do that for all four of the candidates, they're on very dangerous ground. I think the media so far has been the biggest loser in this race. And they continue to have growing credibility problems.
There's a glut in the tiger market. People can't give 'em away. One or two might be good for catching mice around the barn? Or maybe not.
This came in over the transom: .
At VANDERBILT: It takes two, one to change the bulb and one more to explain how they did it every bit as good as the bulbs changed at Harvard. At GEORGIA: It takes two, one to change the bulb and one to stabilize the rolling beer cooler the bulb changer is using for a ladder. At FLORIDA: It takes four, one to screw in the bulb and three to figure out how to get stoned off the old one. At ALABAMA: It takes five, one to change it, three to reminisce about how The Bear would have done it, and one to throw the old bulb at an NCAA investigator. At OLE MISS: It takes six, one to change it, two to mix the drinks and three to find the perfect J. Crew outfit to wear for the occasion. At LSU: It takes seven, and each one gets credit for five Semester hours. At KENTUCKY : It takes eight, one to screw it in and seven to discuss how much brighter it seems to shine during basketball season. At TENNESSEE: It takes ten, two to figure out how to screw it in, two to buy an orange lamp shade, and six to phone a radio call-in show and talk about how much they hate Alabama. At MISSISSIPPI STATE: It takes fifteen, one to screw in the bulb, two to buy the Skoal, and twelve to yell, "GO TO HELL, OLE MISS". At AUBURN: It takes one hundred, one to change it, forty-nine to talk about how they did it better than at Bama and Georgia, and fifty to get drunk and roll Toomer's Corner when finished. At SOUTH CAROLINA: It takes 80,000, one to screw it in and 79,999 to discuss how this finally will be the year that they have a decent football team. At ARKANSAS: None. There is no electricity in Arkansas
Snobbery. But Palin does good with Charlie Gibson. Was it a press quiz? Socialism and laziness A media darling. Is Palin a female? Mugabe is a hero! What's the matter with Michigan? Backgrounds of those in Congress. Too many lawyers, not enough businesspeople, and too many professional politicians making a living off "public service," aka a free ride on the taxpayer. Rove is right! I prefer the prom dress. RWNH How the other half (the MA half) sees the world. Seems a bit hysterical to me. A Dem nightmare?
Now, at the Metropolitan Museum. I will go. The show is titled Beyond the Portait Studio. This is Man and Pool, Florida, 1917. 
Thursday, September 11. 2008
Asked if her son Track who is headed to Iraq was on a mission from God, she said she didn't know about that. "I don't know if the task is from God, Charlie," Palin said. "What I know is that my son has made a decision. I am so proud of his independent and strong decision he has made, what he decided to do and serving for the right reasons and serving something greater than himself and not choosing a real easy path where he could be more comfortable and certainly safer." Link here
"I can't believe I'm losing to this idiot." .
Naturally, the Obamas send their kids to elite private schools. Would not want them associating with the riff-raff or being taught by unionized teachers. That's what wealthy Liberals do. Lefties seem to consist mainly of the condescending and/or guilty elites and the "gimme more" poor - and the young kids who know nothing about real life. Public schools are for us proles, I guess. Us middle-class proles who work hard and pay our taxes and worry about our savings. Palin's kids go to public school.
 They probably faked that proton thingy. Who could tell if they're fooling us, cuz them proton thingys are so teensy-weensy that you can hardly see the dang thing to break it with a 21 oz. hammer.
The growing consensus on global cooling. Yeah, I was for global cooling before I was for global warming...or is it the other way around? OMG. Canadians afraid Palin's example might reduce the number of abortions. God forbid! Palin takes a couple of days off to send off her son to serve the USA. This is real. No styrofoam. Repubs were hopeless two months ago. Now the Dems are fearful. The NYT busts its delivery unions. Nice greedy liberals. Freddie and Fannie had multiple personality disorder Vanishing American barns. Sad. Same thing in New England. h/t, Flares USA Today says Palin busts feminist template. Indeed she does. Foreigners do not understand the real America. And here's Melissa on Sexy Conservative Women From Stop the ACLU: Did you know: Senator John McCain routinely physically abuses his wife, Sarah Palin is a devil-worshiping satanist, Governor Palin wants to secede from the Union, Baby Trig was actually stolen from another couple in a complex scam at the hospital, Governor Palin slashed funding for special needs kids, and (as everyone on this site already knows), banned every book ever written. Where did I learn these things? The Daily Kos? Andrew Sullivan? MSNBC? No, I learned these things from the Barack Obama campaign website.
UK Update: Don't litter, but please kill the old folks Roger Kimball goes after the NYT, and other easy targets. A quote: One lesson–hardly a new lesson, but still worth mentioning–is that Democratic candidates get one sort of treatment from the Times, Republicans get quite another sort of treatment. Sarah Palin supposedly lacks the experience to be Vice-President; but what experience does Obama have to be President? What has he done? What legislation has he sponsored? What executive experience has he had? What does he stand for–beyond, I mean, the calculated political expediency that will advance his career? Where, for example, does he stand on the war in Iraq and the Surge: adamantly opposed–until it became too expensive politically, at which point he declared that the Surge succeeded beyond his “wildest dreams.” Where does he stand on offshore drilling? On taxes? On Russia’s invasion of Georgia? On an nuclear Iran? On Israel?
Roger Stone: Obama hurt himself badly. Americans are not stupid. We may not all study Sartre and Marx, but we know how to clean a carburetor or a deer or a gun, and how to drink beer. We are quite unsophisticated. Obama rattled. Or On his heels. Or flailing. Gotta feel badly for the guy. He's never had a contested election, and he's not ready for this. How's that executive experience going, Obama? The NYT discovers the Annenberg Challenge. One of the few things Obama has done, and it was a failure and waste of $150 million of money another person earned by creating real jobs and real products that people wanted. Dems are smarter than Repubs, right? Further, Bainbridge considers the sophisticated Dems. Me? I am a redneck country bumpkin, moved to NYC and growing more sophisticated and conservative by the day. Gender gaps around the world. A quote: A husband and a stay-at-home wife in a patriarchal Botswanan clan seem to be more alike than a working couple in Denmark or France. The more Venus and Mars have equal rights and similar jobs, the more their personalities seem to diverge.
What is "the war on terror"? We have saved Iraq, and are chipping away at the sick craziness in Afghanistan - but what is it? In my opinion, it's only a "war" in the sense that there is a "war against cancer." It's a cultural cancer: If it stays where it is, who cares? But if it invades us, we do care. Photo: Company A, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment remove concertina wire to clean up Baghdad. It's not needed any more.
Some people are going stark raving mad over politics. Examples: Stark raving mad: Powerline. Holy Mackeral, what a putz. Andrew Sullivan goes over the edge. Not the first time. Obama on Barack the bomb thrower. Why remind us of your buddy Ayers? Noted commentator Matt Damon. Who is this guy? Roger Ebert, unhinged. Good grief. Dem leaders attack Palin for not having abortions. Maybe they wish they had been aborted. Obama updates the Sermon on the Mount. Hey, why not? It's obsolete, like the Constitution and all that old-fashioned stuff. Biden: "I wasn't the best choice." Honest, for once. A faux-feminist's primal scream. They do hate happy women.
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