Bush expresses resolve and a deep conviction about [TBA] "Four more years!" is the traditional chant on the incumbent's campaign trail, but as Dan Balz reports in today's Washington Post, this also seems to be the only substantive item in President Bush's contentless campaign for a second term: … with the election less than four months away, one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the president's campaign is what he would actually do if he wins a second term. Bush's failure... Read more
Why some Christians hate gays but love bacon The third book of the Bible, Leviticus, has some wonderful passages. The Jubilee laws outlined in chapter 25, for example, provide an inspiring vision of liberty and justice for all. The 10th verse of this chapter even supplied the inscription for the Liberty Bell: "proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." The Jubilee laws and the ideals they embody, unfortunately, are nearly wholly neglected and forgotten. Most of... Read more
More things I probably should've gotten around to posting sooner. * * * Of Falstaff, Abu Ghraib and bad apples: KING HENRY V We would have all such offenders so cut off: and we give express charge, that in our marches through the country, there be nothing compelled from the villages, nothing taken but paid for, none of the French upbraided or abused in disdainful language; for when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the... Read more
In the comments to this previous post, about the Rev. Al Mohler — mullah/president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary — the Real Live Preacher reminds us of Mohler's notorious takeover of that school and purging of its faculty: He fired men who were so beyond him in scholarship that he really shouldn't be mentioned in their circles. He set himself up as king there and ran the institution into the ground. Southern used to be the scholarly center of Southern... Read more
Sad news from Connecticut: Former NBA star Manute Bol, the 7-foot-7 sensation from the Sudan, was seriously injured in an auto accident. Bol was riding in a cab Wednesday when it rolled over, killing the driver and throwing the former University of Bridgeport star from the car, authorities said. Bol, 43, suffered a head injury and was taken by helicopter to Hartford Hospital, state police spokesman J. Paul Vance said. "The doctor said, for his age, he's in extremely good... Read more
"It's the Hypocrisy, Stupid." — Sign on the door of the Bush/Cheney campaign's "war room," a 24/7, facts-be-damned, attack-John Kerry nerve center responsible for coordinating what The New York Times' Jim Rutenberg reports, "some presidential scholars have called the most relentlessly negative re-election campaign in memory." Same paper, same day, different article: "Medicare Law Is Seen Leading to Cuts in Drug Benefits for Retirees." New government estimates suggest that employers will reduce or eliminate prescription drug benefits for 3.8 million... Read more
Regarding denial (see below), a true story: Back in college, junior year, shortly after Halloween, the guys I worked with on the night shift in the dining hall came in all jumpy and agitated. Turns out they had been playing around with a Ouija board and had convinced themselves that some malicious spirit was haunting their dorm room. I tried to convince them that they had nothing to worry about — that Ouija boards are nonsense and it was all... Read more
From a report on President Bush's visit to Lancaster County, Pa., in Lancaster New Era: Veteran Jake Caldwell, 42, of Lancaster, held up a sign that stated "Stop the war" as he loudly questioned the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "I feel the American public’s been duped," Caldwell said. "I think it's pretty obvious. If you don’t see that, I think you're in denial." Caldwell's three points are all exactly right: 1) the public has been duped;... Read more
A basic rule of apartment living is that you can't expect the place to be energy efficient if you, the tenant, are paying for the heat. The places I have lived where I had to pay the heating bill were old, drafty apartments with windows that rattled in the breeze. Since tenants paid the heating bills, the landlords had no incentive to invest in making these buildings more energy efficient. Such investments would have saved tenants money in the long... Read more
My guess is that Paul Cunningham will be sentenced to community service and will have to travel to high schools telling his story. What he can remember of it, at least. This will be a harsh punishment. Read more
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