I’m guessing a professional political consultant would advise against this, but here’s something like what I’d like to hear each of the leading Democratic presidential candidates say. From Barack Obama: “Sen. Clinton would make a fine president. Now I know there are some voters who might not want to vote for a woman for president. If that’s you, if you’re going to vote for me because you just don’t want to vote for a woman, then let me say this... Read more
Or, Tribulation is a force that gives us meaning. Left Behind, pp. 418-421 Meanwhile, in the suburbs outside of Chicago, a warm, domestic scene with the remaining members of the Steele family. Newly converted Chloe Steele voraciously reads in her dear departed mother’s Bible and her father, immensely pleased, sits watching her. But not at all in a creepy way: Rayford Steele was a happy as he had been since his own decision to receive Christ. To see Chloe smiling,... Read more
That photo is by Dean J. Koepfler of The News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash. Their caption for it reads: With his son Steve at his side, Doug Donery breaks down following a Pierce County Council meeting about the impending closure of his mobile home park. Doug Donery, 60, is disabled. His wife Pattie “is recovering from two heart attacks and has a brain tumor.” They have one year to move, Scott Fontaine reports: Their manufactured home is likely unmovable, and... Read more
Geraldine Ferraro, please shut up. The first link there is to the Daily Breeze article in which former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro said this: “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position,” she continued. “And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is.” Being black in America is all win, see? There’s no downside. No obstacles to overcome.... Read more
Here’s NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston this morning, describing a beloved woman, a fixture of her community who’s been driving children to school for 28 years: She is so popular her nickname is “Dollar;” she says that is because everyone is chasing her to drive their children. [She] is a big woman — both tall and round. She has long, wild red hair and is partial to tight-fitting, leopard-skin tops and oversized gold costume jewelry. She is the kind of woman who... Read more
From The New York Times’ Steven Lee Myers, “Veto of Bill on C.I.A. Tactics Affirms Bush’s Legacy“: Bush vetoed a bill that would have explicitly prohibited the agency from using interrogation methods like waterboarding, a technique in which restrained prisoners are threatened with drowning and that has been the subject of intense criticism at home and abroad. Many such techniques are prohibited by the military and law enforcement agencies. … The bill Mr. Bush vetoed would have limited all American... Read more
The pattern is the usual one. Step 1: Someone gets his (usually “his”) username/IP address banned from an online forum for generally acting like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. Step 2: He gets a new username/IP address to sidestep the ban and his first post, always, is some variation of “I won’t be ignored, Dan!” Step 3: Lather, rinse, repeat and demonstrate four out of five of Kubler-Ross’ stages of grief in long angry-denying-depressed-bargaining screeds that demand a detailed response... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 415-417 Nicolae Carpathia has super powers. Usually, I don’t have a problem with stories involving super-powered characters. I’ve been reading and enjoying such stories my whole life. Whether it’s Peter Pevensie or Peter Parker, Harry Potter or Buffy Summers, I’m game. Just provide some kind of explanation (radioactive spider, the Chosen one, cosmic rays, the effects of our yellow sun on the last son of Krypton) and set out some basic rules and limitations so that the... Read more
she will always try to guess how much but never why “America,” Prince and the Revolution “America,” Simon and Garfunkel “America,” Vigilantes of Love “America, What’s Happened to You?” Spicewood Seven “American Girl,” Tom Petty “American Idiot,” Green Day “American Love Affair,” Tonio K. “American Music,” Violent Femmes “American Roulette,” Robbie Robertson “American Tune,” Paul Simon “American Without Tears,” Elvis Costello Read more
Earlier, I linked to Adam Weinstein’s “Stop the Press Releases!” I was reminded of Weinstein’s worries yesterday when uploading the pages for one of this week’s niche publications for the paper. It included an upbeat little story about a local college freshman who has put her studies on hold to pursue her modeling career (she’ll be on the runways in L.A.’s upcoming fashion week). The story, submitted through the paper’s “Get Published!” function online, was written by her mother. As... Read more
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