Left Behind, pp. 465-468 The final chapter of Left Behind tells us about Buck Williams’ conversion and about Buck’s big confrontation with the Antichrist and about Buck’s confusion as everyone around him becomes tangled in the Antichrist’s web of lies. The big finale, in other words, is all about Buck. And where is Rayford Steele during this end-of-the-book Buckapalooza? Last we saw him, more than 20 pages ago, he was back home, puttering around the house and mumbling about his... Read more
Some unintentional candor, revealing the speaker’s belief in an irreconcilable, binary opposition: “I want to thank my fellow Republicans as we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats and say, America we are with you and we are going to care about these people in their time of need.” — Sen. John McCain, Republican presidential candidate, on plans to downscale the Republican National Convention as Hurricane Gustav approaches the Gulf Coast. A variation of this also... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 461-465 In the seven pages remaining in this book there are six phone conversations, some pager and intercom action, a cab ride, another New York-Chicago flight, and the introduction of a new character who dominates a few pages, turns out not to matter much and goes away without affecting the story. This last is Det. Sgt. Billy Cenni of New York’s finest. He is unnamed when we first meet him, just one of the indeterminate number of... Read more
You pay no attention but it won’t hurt your grades … “The Painted Desert,” 10,000 Maniacs “Painted Moon,” The Silencers “Painter Song,” Norah Jones “Painting by Numbers,” James McMurtry “Pair of Brown Eyes,” Peter Case “Pair of Brown Eyes,” The Pogues “Paisley Park,” Prince “Pale Blue Eyes,” Alejandro Escovedo “Pale Blue Eyes,” R.E.M. “Pale Blue Eyes,” Velvet Underground “Palo Alto,” Radiohead Read more
(I wrote the following before watching Barack Obama’s convention speech, so there aren’t any specific references to that speech here but, wow, there really probably should be.) Rick Perlstein recalls a famous anecdote about Adlai Stevenson and explains why it illustrates a dead end for Democrats: Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic presidential candidate in 1952 and ’56, famously quipped when one of his supporters, overflowing with exuberance after one of his speeches, cried, “Governor Stevenson, you’ll have the vote of every... Read more
Left Behind, 459-461 “Thank you gentlemen,” Nicolae Carpathia says, after mind-whammying a room full of dignitaries into thinking that the double-homicide they all just saw him commit was actually a suicide/murder committed by one of his victims. “While Ms. Durham phones security, I will be polling you for your version of what happened here.” This doesn’t seem like a smart move on Nicolae’s part. Imagine, for example, that you have gone to see a carnival show just off the Midway... Read more
No, this is how it works … “On,” The Delays “On an Evening,” Martin Crane “On Hyndford Street,” Van Morrison “On My Street,” Hoodoo Gurus “On My Way,” Mavis Staples “On the Avenue,” Aztec Camera “On the Bus Mall,” The Decemberists “On the Evening Train,” Johnny Cash “On the Fritz,” Steve Taylor “On the Radio,” Regina Spektor “On the Verge,” Vigilantes of Love “On Your Side,” Pete Yorn Steve Taylor also made another video for “On the Fritz” for a... Read more
Barry Lynn doesn’t think Barack Obama should have agreed to appear at the presidential forum hosted by Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church on Saturday. Lynn argues that the evangelical megachurch was GOP home turf and thus the whole thing was a trap and a set-up the Democratic candidate should have avoided. Lynn thinks Warren’s questions for the two candidates were biased and full of Republican talking points. Alan Wolfe, on the other hand, points out that Warren’s church forum didn’t offer... Read more
“To abolish God!” said Gregory, opening the eyes of a fanatic. “We do not only want to upset a few despotisms and police regulations; that sort of anarchism does exist, but it is a mere branch of the Nonconformists. We dig deeper and we blow you higher. We wish to deny all those arbitrary distinctions of vice and virtue, honour and treachery, upon which mere rebels base themselves. The silly sentimentalists of the French Revolution talked of the Rights of... Read more
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