One nice thing about blogging is it gives us ordinary citizens the same prerogative that members of Congress enjoy to "revise and extend" our remarks. Several commenters argued that the previous post blurs the distinction between "motive" and "intent" — and that rather than use these terms interchangeably, I ought to have used only "intent" throughout. Fair enough. Let's do a universal search and replace: * * * * * * * * * Intent is a monumentally important part... Read more
Suppose that Tony Perkins is walking down the sidewalk in front of the Family Research Council's Washington office when he is struck by an SUV and instantly killed. Police arrive and find the driver of the SUV dazed but not seriously injured. They take him into custody. What happens next? Well that depends on what just happened. The basic outline — Tony Perkins killed by impact from an SUV on the sidewalk — doesn't begin to tell us what really... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 259-261 This section of the book reads like a flashback, as though it were set years ago. Apart from the absence of Rayford Steele's wife and son, nothing in this section seems like it could possibly have occurred after the Event. But it's not a flashback: Rayford pulled into his driveway with a sack of groceries on the seat beside him. … Nothing unusual about any of that. And that, of course, is the problem — there's... Read more
Hmm, what if we did this Friday music thing as a kind of quiz? 1. "patience is like bread I say / I ran out of that yesterday" 2. "You float like a feather / In a beautiful world" 3. "All your compliments and your cutting remarks / Are captured here in quotation marks" 4. "Like a Christian fearing vengeance from above / I don't pretend to know what you want / But I offer love" 5. "The light was... Read more
I'm not at all pleased to be linking to The American Spectator, but they've published a piece by William Tucker that's worth reading: "Iraq and Counterinsurgency." Tucker isn't optimistic about America's prospects in Iraq: What we have in Iraq is a series of American fortifications where soldiers live a life that reasonably mirrors conditions back home and then once a day or week put on "full battle rattle" and risk their lives by venturing into what is essentially hostile territory.... Read more
Well this is good news: "Iran Says 15 British Captives Free": TEHRAN, Iran – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a surprise move that defused escalating tension in the Middle East, announced the release of 15 captive British sailors and marines Wednesday in what he called an Easter gift to the British people. Ahmadinejad also took the opportunity to emphasize his appreciation for Dinesh D'Souza's The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11. Referring to British sailor Faye... Read more
March 30, 2007. White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino: Q So specifically on this one — this will be the highest-ranking U.S. official to go to Syria since the Hariri assassination, even before that, and apparently she's going to meet with President Assad. Would you have a specific message to the Speaker of the House about meeting with President Assad at a time when the administration has even withdrawn our ambassador from Damascus? MS. PERINO: Well, again, I don't... Read more
Yesterday we noted Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council amusing himself by mocking Al Gore's concern about global warming. Perkins is the head of a "pro-family" special interest lobby, so why is he so obsessed with pretending global warming is, as he puts it (quoting Sen. Head-in-the-sand Inhofe), "a hoax"? What does any of this have to do with being "pro-family"? Well, like most of his colleagues on the religious right, Perkins long ago put all of his pro-family... Read more
Some things I take very personally. Salon's Samuel Fromartz asks "Is this the end of organic coffee?" (via Avedon Carol): Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly released a ruling that alarmed organic certifiers and groups who work with third-world farmers. The decision tightens organic certification requirements to such a degree that it could sharply curtail the ability of small grower co-ops to produce organic coffee — not to mention organic bananas, cocoa, sugar and even spices. Kimberly Easson,... Read more
Here's a little nugget from Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, mocking Al Gore and climate change: During the session, Gore's "Chicken Little" scenarios were met with skepticism, particularly from Senate Republicans like Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who said he, like many scientists, believed the dire global warming projections were a "hoax." On the House side, the former vice president was called a prophet by some Democratic members but his revelations were challenged by others. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas,... Read more
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