tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49440895121506051302011-07-31T01:58:32.725-05:00Thoughts about religion, politics, society, sports, and the weather.PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.comBlogger1881100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-42707967709252477552011-04-12T10:32:00.002-05:002011-04-12T10:32:55.723-05:00

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-8815869390817409432011-04-10T23:10:00.000-05:002011-04-10T23:11:41.519-05:00

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-71274619964423046672010-05-31T15:28:00.004-05:002010-05-31T15:45:17.568-05:00

"I'm much too young to feel this damn old." -- Garth Brooks"We're [much] too broke to be this stupid." -- Mark SteynWhat a fantastic article by Steyn. He just crushes it.How did the Western world reach this point? Well, as my correspondent put it, we assumed that we were rich enough that we could afford to be stupid. In any advanced society, there will be a certain number of dysfunctional

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-50261690103835468502010-04-29T11:16:00.001-05:002010-04-29T11:19:30.677-05:00

Apparently, the press has finally started to wake up to the fact that the Obama administration is thin-skinned, controlling, and takes their allegiance 100% for granted. Current White House press corps members -- who recently endured 8 years of antagonism with W & Co. -- are quoted in the linked Politico article as calling the relationship between the Obamists and the press as one of the

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-3953497182680879562010-02-22T10:10:00.001-06:002010-02-22T10:11:38.641-06:00

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-17246136744084329072010-02-07T00:07:00.000-06:002010-02-07T00:08:27.172-06:00

The article title really says it all.

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-33252272255806524052010-01-08T15:56:00.002-06:002010-01-08T16:21:53.879-06:00

Pyrrhus was king of Epirus, a small kingdom in Greece, when Rome was an aspiring superpower. He was immortalized after a costly victory over the Romans broke the back of his army and forced him to give up his invasion of Italy. Ever after, a victory whose cost ruined the victor was termed a Pyrrhic victory.In an unusually astute column, Peggy Noonan describes the Pyrrhic victory Obama and the

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-31293197045573184522010-01-03T08:58:00.002-06:002010-01-03T09:08:43.869-06:00

The words from Heath Ledger's Joker seem to pretty well describe the ongoing effects of the "stimulus" bills: to turn the states into subsidiaries of Federal Government, Inc. and to permanently increase the size of government.This from the Wall Street Journal:Remember how $200 billion in federal stimulus cash was supposed to save the states from fiscal calamity? Well, hold on to your paychecks,

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-51195092895942240902009-12-31T16:24:00.002-06:002009-12-31T16:29:52.699-06:00

Ouch.As a Catholic, that's all I have to say about this post by the pseudonymous Diogenes over at Catholic Culture.Talking about the federal government's foolish and ridiculous response to the underwear bomber (i.e. inconveniencing all travelers instead of using the existing system to focus on actual security threats), Diogenes says,It’s an absurd reaction. It would be comical if it weren’t so

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-40195266151175446162009-12-31T11:40:00.002-06:002009-12-31T11:45:28.732-06:00

Wow. I just at a loss for words over this in the Danish newspaper Politiken.Obama is, of course, greater than Jesus – if we have to play that absurd Christmas game. But it is probably more meaningful to insist that with [the passage of health care reform], that he has already assured himself a place in the history books – a space he has good chances of expanding considerably in coming years.I

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-70455919043472083642009-12-30T10:14:00.003-06:002009-12-30T10:32:07.141-06:00

On Christmas Day, a Muslim fanatic attempted to butcher hundreds of Christians (dead Jews would've been a bonus). Our response? Have airport security analyze the contents of grandma's mini-bottle of shampoo -- we don't want to "discriminate." With our lies, self-deception and self-flagellation, we're terror's little helpers. These are the words of Ralph Peters, NY Post columnist. Until recently

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-73297022579949828962009-12-29T16:24:00.002-06:002009-12-29T16:31:16.120-06:00

Erin Manning has a great post over at Crunchy Con relaying a Swiftian case for Temple Prostitution.What are the biggest problems, practical and theological, that ... churches in America face today? I would submit the following: --Inability to retain or reach out to young, single people, especially men. Think about it--on a typical Sunday in a typical Lutheran church, how many 28-year-old single

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-65126943458643288682009-12-27T12:52:00.002-06:002009-12-27T12:56:41.127-06:00

Kierkegaard called the Incarnation "The Absolute Paradox", the joining of the seemingly irreconcilable, mutually exclusive categories of the infinite and the finite. We in the West, especially those of us who are the heirs of Christendom, have heard this mystery spoken of so much that it has lost its grandeur. This is a short video that gives us a better idea of how majestic the finite is -- and

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-20604006891285265142009-12-24T23:34:00.003-06:002009-12-24T23:47:38.169-06:00

Something the Dems should have mentioned -- if, you know, they were really interested in reforming America's health care system, and not just breaking it in preparation for creating a single-payer system.Speaking about the Senate bill's likely effect on insurers, the head of Harvard Pilgrim in MA laid out the likely results of the "reform" that passed today:From the look of the finished product,

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-7621243067674545782009-12-22T23:29:00.002-06:002009-12-22T23:32:22.792-06:00

Um, not so much.This is truly frightening.The Senate insurance company pork giveaway -- er, health care reform -- bill, talking about the elderly care advisory panels (a.k.a. "death panels") says:"It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection."What?

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-25395669608250668622009-12-15T14:17:00.004-06:002009-12-15T14:21:12.184-06:00

From Gregg Easterbrook's latest Tuesday Morning Quarterback column:Heads of State Pause Their Limos at Their Personal Jets to Denounce Fossil Fuel Use:As the Copenhagen climate summit grinds on with -- big surprise! -- nothing specific agreed upon, here's my summary of what you need to know about the global warming issue, bearing in mind yours truly is the author of an 800-page book about

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-74494090274796149942009-12-12T13:36:00.003-06:002009-12-12T13:43:52.233-06:00

Title: The Medicare Buy-In is Dead: Liberals are Now the Swing Votes in Health CareThe Medicare buy-in idea is dead. After Democratic Congressman Weiner's candid comment, “Never mind the camel’s nose, we’ve got his head and neck in the tent," no senator from the likes of Arkansas or Indiana is going to vote for this. ...So it is no longer the moderate Dems who are the swing votes.It is all of

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-10158533988841395542009-12-10T19:28:00.003-06:002009-12-10T20:24:38.002-06:00

"No discrimination" means ... well ... no discrimination.So many people signed onto the idea of non-discrimination as a matter of public policy and then are shocked -- shocked! -- when it finally becomes clear to them that their flavor of discrimination (a Webster's definition of discriminate: "to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit") is no longer

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-28152870548659152072009-12-04T12:39:00.003-06:002009-12-04T12:52:02.606-06:00

It's a simple concept, really. The more we spend domestically on entitlements and social concerns ("butter") the less we can spend on defense ("guns").I hear a lot about how successful the health care regimes in Western Europe and Canada are. Leave out the rising tide of red ink those countries are increasingly swimming in due to their massive welfare states. A major reason why they can devote

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-8855159303362270292009-12-03T16:27:00.005-06:002009-12-04T12:54:50.098-06:00

Same-sex "marriage" isn't a winner -- not even in Liberal New York State.Everywhere same-sex "marriage" has been up for a popular vote in the US -- EVERYWHERE -- it's lost. New York is the 35th state (I believe) to refuse to support it. Yet the pro-gay "marriage" folks still claim that proponents of real -- that is, heterosexual -- marriage are the ones somehow forcing their views on others.In

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-15049287550803001472009-11-23T23:26:00.002-06:002009-11-23T23:34:51.477-06:00

Surprise!Wait, you're not surprised? Ah, I see. You must be rational, so you understand that this just does have to be part of any national health care scheme:Page 25, Subsection (h)(2): "If the Secretary estimates for any fiscal year that the aggregate amounts available for payment of expenses of the high-risk pool will be less than the amount of the expenses, the Secretary shall make such

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-25015408603519375662009-11-10T21:30:00.002-06:002009-11-10T21:34:49.957-06:00

I didn't notice this. Primarily because, if Keith Hennessey's right, pretty much no one reported on it.It's the President's announcement of a 3rd stimulus bill. THIRD!! The first one's been fairly ineffective. The second one promises to be even more so. What good, other than looking like we're addressing the problem (as opposed to actually addressing it), can a third stimulus bill do?Has

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-92143966824182048072009-10-15T21:43:00.002-05:002009-10-15T21:54:55.803-05:00

I'm not a big Rush Limbaugh fan. He's on the Right, which is nice, but he's a blowhard and a hack who carried W's water for way too long.That said, the way he's been blackballed by the NFL and kept from being part of a group set to by the St. Louis Rams -- after he'd received assurances from the ownership group that his participation was kosher with the league -- has been disgraceful.

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-64099969129955049022009-10-15T11:46:00.003-05:002009-10-15T11:53:41.419-05:00

Congressional Democrats are trying to buy off the physicians lobby by shelling out a quarter-trillion dollars to make up for scheduled cuts in Medicare. That $250 billion isn't in the health care reform budget, though. Hence, any bill that comes out adds $250 billion to the deficit before it does anything else. Excellent.Bob Laszewski sums it up quite well:How many times have you heard the

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-67102963425467186152009-10-14T17:10:00.003-05:002009-10-14T17:37:15.181-05:00

One of my favorite demotivator posters -- the cynical, pessimistic posters that mock motivational posters -- is the one for meetings. It's a picture of a bunch of hands put into a circle (sort of like what you'd do before a sports game), with a phrase below it that says, "None of us is as dumb as all of us."I can't think of a more perfect description of most government planning: all of the bad

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-53674477735565224102009-10-11T17:14:00.002-05:002009-10-11T17:19:58.457-05:00

This hour-long film by Colorado filmmaker Craig Bodecker is must-see viewing material. In it, he interviews about a dozen people trying to get at the definition and nature of "racism". The point that shines through more than anything is that almost everyone who uses the term "racism" has no clear understanding of what racism really is, except that it's something that white people do. Some

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-58192710557253451212009-10-09T08:32:00.003-05:002009-10-09T08:45:49.946-05:00

You'll find this front-and-center:Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize in Surprise Pick President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, in a surprise pick from the Norwegian Nobel Committee that cited the president's creation of a "new climate in international politics" and his work on nuclear disarmament.As if we needed more evidence that the Nobel Peace Prize was a meaningless piece of

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-39502974587290287922009-10-06T11:38:00.002-05:002009-10-06T11:40:57.593-05:00

Because it's necessary to remain open to criticism, posts like this are quite helpful:Follies and lies of the MCM (mainstream conservative media) About ten days ago I saw an episode of Sean Hannity's television program that was entirely devoted to Hannity's and his guests' responses to the speech President Obama had delivered to the UN General Assembly earlier that day. Unfortunately, one could

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-23246042104148458192009-10-05T21:30:00.003-05:002009-10-05T21:33:53.341-05:00

Steve McCann over at American Thinker may have uncovered the explanation of much of Obama's naive and thoughtless behavior as President.President Obama apparently wants to do only half of his job -- the part that is the most fun. ...It appears that Barack Obama views himself as the head of state only. As such he cannot be bothered with the day to day responsibility of governance. He is, in his

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-67090270136507117702009-10-05T21:22:00.002-05:002009-10-05T21:26:45.736-05:00

I didn't know it was this bad. I truly didn't.According to Charles Krauthammer Obama deliberately didn't talk about Iran while he was at the Security Council meeting -- despite pleas by France and Britain to do so. Why? To not spoil his image as global reconciler. Seriously. As Krauthammer explains: Don't take it from me. Take it from Sarkozy, who could not conceal his astonishment at

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-76837900424263339732009-10-05T18:39:00.003-05:002009-10-05T19:14:13.426-05:00

One of the really infuriating things about the Left is how they really perpetrate the crimes that they blame on others.For example, Fascism is an inherently Leftist phenomenon because it is an openly statist phenomenon. There is nothing conservative (in the sense of American conservatism -- not neo-conservatism, which is just Right-Liberalism) about Fascism. The common understanding of Fascism,

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-89427553962562116412009-10-05T18:32:00.002-05:002009-10-05T18:37:44.324-05:00

Observing that automobile sales have fallen off a cliff since the "Cash for Clunkers" program stopped, a development predicted by that program's critics, the Journal gets right to the heart of the issue:The basic fallacy of cash for clunkers is that you can somehow create wealth by destroying existing assets that are still productive, in this case cars that still work. Under the program, auto

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-67883810451091546792009-09-29T20:53:00.002-05:002009-09-29T20:57:20.285-05:00

Richard Cohen doesn't think so. A Liberal op-ed writer, Coehn's not the sort to nail a guy like Obama for the fallout from his permanent campaign-style. But man, he sure tells it like it is today.Sooner or later it is going to occur to Barack Obama that he is the president of the United States. As of yet, though, he does not act that way, appearing promiscuously on television and granting

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-9350427998482432242009-09-24T22:26:00.001-05:002009-09-24T22:28:45.935-05:00

The snide saying is apparently true: BC stands for "Barely Catholic" not "Boston College".

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-84186300426154380882009-09-24T13:29:00.000-05:002009-09-24T13:30:25.732-05:00

Good to see she's spending all that time with her family.

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-34917814267074218262009-09-23T21:04:00.003-05:002009-09-23T21:08:12.368-05:00

People are starting to realize that the Emperor has no clothes. The intro to the article says it all.It is lovely to feature in other people's dreams. The problem comes when they wake up. Barack Obama is an eloquent, brainy and likeable man with a fascinating biography. He is not George Bush. Those are great qualities. But they are not enough to lead America, let alone the world.

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-39269371276139809742009-09-18T21:50:00.003-05:002009-09-18T21:59:10.047-05:00

An 18-year old Hofstra freshman girl had group sex with five guys. Then she lied to her boyfriend about it and said that she was raped to keep him from thinking that she was easy. (This seems like Bill Clinton lying so that people wouldn't think he was dishonest. I don't know this girl personally, so I can't say that she's a slut. I can say that she apparently had no problems acting like a slut

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-29318585341185563662009-09-14T01:09:00.003-05:002009-09-14T01:13:43.664-05:00

Walter Russell Mead is a stone-cold Liberal, not the type of person one would expect to hear sensible talk about Obama and the Democrats from. Well, life is full of surprises.But there is, I think, a cold dark fact at the heart of [popular opposition to the agenda of Obama and the Democrats] that means trouble for incumbents of all kinds, but especially for Democrats. The fact is that the liberal

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-35915270750656277762009-09-14T01:00:00.002-05:002009-09-14T01:08:40.145-05:00

Maybe Britain isn't all-dead after all. Maybe Britain is like the mostly-dead Wesley. If so, Peter Davies, newly elected mayor of Doncaster, has officially auditioned for the role of Miracle Max.In his first week in office [Davies] cut his own salary from £73,000 to £30,000 ... He also scrapped the mayoral limousine. ... He intends now to reduce (that’s right, reduce) council tax by 3 per cent

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-46096327664858124422009-09-12T21:58:00.003-05:002009-09-12T22:06:49.203-05:00

I admire people who have a way with words. I like to write, and I enjoy things that are well written. "Well written" is a broad phrase, though. There's "Cormac McCarthy/Mark Twain/C.S. Lewis" well written and then there's "eye-catching, good PR" well written.This synopsis of the President's speech on health care last week definitely falls in the latter category.President Barack Obama showed [

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-21106742857009168732009-09-12T14:20:00.002-05:002009-09-12T14:32:07.924-05:00

At least that's what ACORN should stand for.Don't take my word for it. Take theirs.Two people, posing as a prostitute and a guy running for office, used a hidden camera to expose ACORN workers breaking the law without hesitation. And not in ways that people don't often care about (like teaching people how to break into their foreclosed homes). They openly asked the ACORN workers to help them

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-78420016736970210372009-09-10T15:25:00.002-05:002009-09-10T15:44:39.199-05:00

Everyone's talking about Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) today, because of this:Was Wilson right to call Obama out as a liar? Yes, I definitely think so. Was it appropriate for him to do so in that context? Probably not. Hence, Wilson's apology afterwords.This isn't the House of Commons. It was inappropriate for him to say what he said. Understandable? Absolutely. Appropriate? Probably not.But was it

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-50922038933835041982009-09-09T09:32:00.003-05:002009-09-09T09:57:55.709-05:00

Kaleb Eulls is a star defensive end on his high school football team in Mississippi. He's now a local hero because he acted decisively in a dangerous situation.A girl got on the school bus he and his sisters were on, pulled out a pistol and began threatening everyone. Eulls distracted her and then tackled her, wresting the gun from her hand. Problem solved. What a kid.One statement in the article

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-28303436249774767132009-09-08T23:06:00.003-05:002009-09-08T23:28:16.792-05:00

In the '60s, so I'm told, some popular slogans of the Leftist counter-culture were "Question authority!" and "Never trust anyone over 30." As the ever-spot-on Camille Pagilla notes, however, those days are loooong gone.Why has the Democratic Party become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans? Though they claim to speak for the poor and dispossessed, Democrats have increasingly become

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-35013713386324376642009-09-07T17:09:00.002-05:002009-09-07T17:17:35.514-05:00

I'm not usually a defender of Victor Hanson. He's a neo-con of the rankest kind, and I'm no fan of the neo-cons (who are just Liberals who want to use government power for allegedly conservative ends, instead of for Liberal ends).He really nails it when talking about the broader implications of the Van Jones scandal for Obama:The Jones mess brings up a larger issue. Americans were assured that

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-61734988095149032122009-09-05T10:15:00.003-05:002009-09-05T10:22:10.599-05:00

Written by David Goldhill, a businessman in New York City whose father was killed by medical negligence. His death drove Goldhill to figure out what is really wrong with America's health care system. His conclusion, a 6-page article in The Atlantic, is well worth your time. Well worth your time.I can't say I agree with all of his recommendations at the end of the article, but his diagnosis of

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-5205488400895602242009-09-04T16:14:00.002-05:002009-09-04T16:23:50.458-05:00

This is Phil Lawler's position, anyway, and I'm strongly inclined to agree. The great, unanswered question hanging over the congregation in Mission Church, and in the minds of the millions who watched the funeral Mass on television, was how the Catholic Church could arrange such a highly public tribute to a man who, over the years, was arguably the most powerful political opponent of the Catholic

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-16243674873108947292009-09-03T15:14:00.003-05:002009-09-03T15:20:59.540-05:00

The federal government already controls Medicare and (to a lesser extent) Medicaid. Doctor reimbursements for those programs are abysmally low, and fewer providers are accepting Medicare/Medicaid patients.Now it turns out that the Feds are set to make Medicare an even worse deal for cardiac doctors, by slashing $1.4 billion in reimbursement. This is the stuff that state-run health care is made

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-5170422418134068492009-09-03T10:48:00.002-05:002009-09-03T10:53:06.088-05:00

Social media sites are trying to drum up support for Obama.The language is creepy: "I pledge to serve Barack Obama." Isn't he supposed to serve us? He's our president, after all. That would be like my boss taking a pledge to serve me. It only works if you buy into the Obama personality cult.Well, a fascist state needs a strongman to idolize. The US long ago became comfortably ensconced within

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-28386475535375057372009-09-01T11:43:00.003-05:002009-09-01T12:08:08.206-05:00

A 10-year old New Hampshire girl has been ordered to stop being home-schooled and to attend public school, for no other reason than that the court disapproved of her mother's inclusion of Christian faith in her education. Seriously.Although the marital master making recommendations to the court agreed the child is “well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising, and

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-55453161319408487352009-08-21T17:34:00.003-05:002009-08-21T17:44:19.659-05:00

The ObamaCare debacle is in danger of becoming a full-fledged train wreck. Charlie Cook, a moderate Democrat described by some to be one of the best political handicappers in the business, has a shrill note of warning for Obama & Co. (as reported by Politico):Reviewing recent polling and the 2010 election landscape, Cook can envision a scenario in which Democratic House losses could exceed 20

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-49236043591173925512009-08-19T23:48:00.003-05:002009-08-20T00:39:49.233-05:00

One of the biggest drums the Left is beating these days concerning health care reform is that the entrenched interests -- Big Pharma, insurance companies, doctors, and hospitals -- all oppose it, with only the saintly government left to work on behalf of the people. It seems to just be assumed by nearly all Liberals that this is the case.Not surprisingly, it's completely wrong.Case in point: I

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-61165262432240786032009-08-18T23:39:00.002-05:002009-08-19T00:33:01.022-05:00

So Brett Favre's officially a Viking. Most of the football talking head universe is rejoicing. Minnesota fans seem to be generally hopeful.I'm disgusted. Brett Favre? Gag me with a spoon.The man is the biggest freaking prima donna behind center today. He's well past his prime. Talking heads who worship the ground he walks on have in their minds the Brett Favre of 8-9 years ago: the 30

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-37268566828503985572009-08-18T10:24:00.001-05:002009-08-18T10:31:11.905-05:00

Taken from this article on "death panels" that would be inevitable under ObamaCare:Free people can treat each other justly, but they can't make life fair. To get rid of the unfairness among individuals, you have to exercise power over them. The more fairness you want, the more power you need. Thus, all dreams of fairness become dreams of tyranny in the end. --Andrew Klavan

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-5981265674630546472009-08-15T15:17:00.003-05:002009-08-15T15:43:00.252-05:00

Mark Steyn discusses a new book by Chris Caldwell, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West. Their words, while pertaining to Europe, speak to our situation in the US.[D]ecades of multiculti squeamishness have stripped us even of a language with which to discuss the subject. What benefit is it to France or French taxpayers to fund Islamic welfare imams? To pose

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-8171772398343931322009-08-15T11:18:00.003-05:002009-08-15T11:54:26.203-05:00

During the '08 election, the Obama press corps -- er, the press -- lauded Obama for his rational, post-partisan style and waxed rhapsodic about the change he would bring to Washington.Less than a year later, how the tune has changed.Newsweek, part of the Obama administration's unofficial Dept. of Propaganda, has joined other Democratic voices urging the Dear Leader to act more like George Bush --

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-30761280721850199802009-08-14T15:08:00.003-05:002009-08-14T15:16:27.395-05:00

I have to say, this is the first article I've read that answered that question in the negative. And quite strongly so.Calling John Paul II's papacy "a glorious failure", Eric Giunta saysThough Catholics and others are loathe to admit it of an otherwise beloved Pope, John Paul II oversaw a church which deteriorated in both its inner and outer life. His callous indifference toward the victims of

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-54116425704981794622009-08-14T10:50:00.003-05:002009-08-14T10:56:28.174-05:00

I don't always agree with the man, but when he's on, he's on:Imagine you’re in charge of bringing pie to a company picnic. You’re planning to provide dessert for 100 people. Then, your boss says you need to hand out pie to 150. Fine, you say, I’ll make more pies. But — oh no! — you can’t, because you’ve also been told costs must go down. Okay, then you can cut slices of the existing pies smaller

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-70006909709379277462009-08-12T16:54:00.002-05:002009-08-12T17:02:03.735-05:00

People get outraged when they think that you're trying to change things that are important to them without getting their input or thinking that doing so is in any way important. Such has been the case with the public's increasing anger and outrage over ObamaCare.However uncivil some of the town-hall interruptions have been, the palpable irritation on the part of so many disgruntled citizens is

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-82698715604723846252009-08-11T14:32:00.002-05:002009-08-11T14:36:48.668-05:00

Lawrence Auster does a great job of gathering the quotes that seem to describe our Dear Leader's opinions about those of us covered in a whiter shade of pale.The words were like a fist in my stomach, and I wobbled to regain my composure.... The earth shook under my feet, ready to crack open at any moment. I stopped, trying to steady myself, and knew for the first time that I was utterly alone.--

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-43095321756231573202009-08-10T16:57:00.003-05:002009-08-10T17:06:35.572-05:00

Funny how an election can lead to a shift in morals.If George Bush's head of communications had asked citizens to turn in people they thought unsympathetic to Medicare prescription drug reform or Social Security reform, the Left would have gone ballistic. And rightly so. (Of course, if folks in the Bush administration had actually asked anyone for permission before spying on them, that would

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-32837103884262554052009-08-06T22:36:00.002-05:002009-08-06T22:48:06.677-05:00

He called Obama out for being racist. The media has excoriated him. He has refused to back down.Awesome.My take on Obama's "the Cambridge police acted stupidly" statement is that Obama didn't carelessly blunder. He just let his self-control slip. He let the curtain covering his real personality slip aside for a moment. He sat still for 20 years listening to Fred Phelps' -- er, Jeremiah

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-67704465461507825712009-08-06T22:29:00.002-05:002009-08-06T22:35:25.571-05:00

Listen, I don't have problem with the White House playing political hardball with health care reform. I don't. I strongly disagree with their positions, but they're doing the rough and tumble politics thing and that's what you have to do to get your way sometimes.Can we please, then, jettison all the talk about Obama bringing any kind of change to DC? He's a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal from the

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-27290208405997441152009-08-06T22:06:00.002-05:002009-08-06T22:19:38.286-05:00

What Would France Do?That's what a lot of folks in the pro-national health care crowd are asking. France, they claim, has squared the health care circle and found ways to cover everyone adequately without exploding costs.Not so fast.France claims it long ago achieved much of what today's U.S. health-care overhaul is seeking: It covers everyone, and provides what supporters say is high-quality

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-28899463046040965562009-07-27T20:01:00.004-05:002009-10-02T23:33:05.620-05:00

These are a couple of my favorites from the pictures I've downloaded recently.I've put this one up before, but it's worth revisiting.I saw this on Facebook (which apparently exists in the nexus of narcissism and stalking). Another "demotivator".

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-81699324116597220952009-07-24T16:32:00.003-05:002009-07-24T16:36:41.045-05:00

Jonah Goldberg does a good job of crafting a very pithy explanation:Let us for a moment adopt the proposition that health care is in fact a “right,” as pretty much every liberal politician has told us for at least a generation.Now let us consider how President Obama's proposed health-care bill would work. Under his plan, an official body — staffed with government doctors, actuaries, economists,

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-60770352661768289352009-07-20T22:55:00.003-05:002009-07-21T09:51:42.527-05:00

I saw The Half-Blood Prince tonight. I have two words.Oh my.Oh, and three more words: What a letdown.The Half-Blood Prince lives up to its name in a most ironic fashion. It's a mixed-blooded movie, 3 parts excellence (or at least "really, really goodness") to 1 part utter mediocrity. As films go these days, that's not a bad ratio. Unfortunately, the mediocre part is at the end, where the

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-15148344217181684972009-07-20T14:49:00.003-05:002009-07-20T15:21:50.033-05:00

Rachel Maddow had Pat Buchanan on her show recently to excoriate him for opposing Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court -- oops! -- I mean, to discuss his opposition to Sotomayor's nomination, that is.You see, in the world of the Left, excoriation is called "debating". For example, look at the heading of the linked article, which is a transcript of Maddow's and Buchanan's "debate".

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-71926395531572884682009-07-16T22:42:00.003-05:002009-07-16T22:49:17.677-05:00

So apparently, the language of the House health care "reform" bill makes it a crime to buy private health insurance other than the care you have the day the bill becomes law (if it becomes law). Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal. ... The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-24639241057931323732009-07-15T08:52:00.003-05:002009-07-15T09:14:15.183-05:00

Heather MacDonald makes some great points in her latest column in City Journal (copied at Front Page magazine) about the implications of the Supreme Court's recent Ricci decision and the racial grievance industry that created the case in the first place.Ricci, of course, is the now-famous decision in which a group of 18 firefighters (17 white, 1 hispanic) sued the city of New Haven for

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-55111857180641310522009-07-02T23:30:00.002-05:002009-07-02T23:41:20.294-05:00

... comes Nigaz, the joint Nigerian-Russian international corporate gas venture. I'm serious. Gazprom, the Russian petroleum conglomerate, has merged efforts with the Nigerian government to form a new natural gas venture. And they called it Nigaz.Apparently, the folks in charge of branding at Gazprom are, as they say in Korean, 바보들. That is, they're freaking idiots. I understand that the

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-49697479587086794172009-06-27T12:50:00.005-05:002009-06-27T22:36:55.488-05:00

Since writing my previous post, I've done some serious thinking and reflecting and sought the advice of people whose opinion on the matter I respect. I now no longer feel conflicted.I'd felt deeply ambivalent about IL's impending budget crisis, with Gov. Quinn playing a combination of hardball politics and chicken with the state legislature. I work with people who depend on state services to

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-21326018864296668552009-06-24T22:38:00.002-05:002009-06-24T23:30:09.048-05:00

My wife and I live in Illinois. I work for a nonprofit that serves a population heavily dependent on state aid for lots of services -- housing, drug treatment, medical needs, psychological counseling and treatment, etc. Thus, I'm not jazzed about Gov. Pat Quinn's disingenuous "50% budget" gambit. But I don't necessarily disapprove of it. I am, in fact, quite ambivalent about it. Let me

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-44716320064130723362009-06-23T11:47:00.003-05:002009-06-23T12:02:30.353-05:00

In fact, it's all my fault. It's never your fault, because I fooled you before.That, as Bruce Thorton's argues in this interesting and informative article, is the double standard that applies to the West when historical grievances are aired. Thorton's basic point is that, while the grievances of Islam against the West are real, they are outweighed (or are, at least, no worse) than the

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-89040448488886022162009-06-10T15:37:00.002-05:002009-06-10T15:45:17.256-05:00

His latest column, on the apoplexy and hyperventilating by so many BNP (British National Party) critics upon the BNP's winning two seats in the EU government, is pure genius: insightful, timely, biting, and witty.In yesterday's Twittersphere the talk was of little else [beside's the BNP's victory] and the subtexts of every Tweet could be loosely translated thus: "See what a caring, lovely,

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-68827473454118235762009-05-31T17:36:00.002-05:002009-05-31T17:47:01.845-05:00

I don't know how I missed this. I'm not usually a fan of Derbyshire, but he asks some very pertinent questions.Most people still think of human-science controversies in terms of nature/nurture. As a matter of real scientific dispute, that is all long gone. ... The dust of battle has pretty much settled now, in science departments if not in the popular press, and nature is the clear victor. ...

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-46595755082729543732009-05-31T16:07:00.006-05:002009-05-31T16:39:54.991-05:00

A major newspaper has run an intelligent, well written article that's highly critical of Hispanic immigration.Lawrence Harrison, a self-described "lifelong Democrat ... [and] early and avid supporter of Obama", lays out a clear, persuasive case for why America needs to dramatically reduce the number of Latino immigrants it takes in.The principal beneficiaries of our current immigration policy are

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-38224639237704784012009-05-28T15:46:00.002-05:002009-05-28T16:02:58.641-05:00

A conversation over at View from the Right that gets right to the heart of cultural foundations, and what it means to live as an immigrant in another culture. Here are some choice excerpts:At bottom, all societies are institutions whereby people come together and agree--voluntarily--to be bound by certain laws and customs. This is true of Europeans in Americans, villages in China, tribes in

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-20920407074612464712009-05-26T19:58:00.004-05:002009-05-26T20:44:11.645-05:00

Well, he's a Trojan Horse for people who lack (or at least failed to use) the critical thinking skills to seriously analyze the man's actual record. He's a Trojan Horse for people who checked their brains at the Democratic door, got caught up in the vapidly meaningless rhetoric of "hope", and believed -- in the face of crystal clear proof to the contrary -- that Obama would lead us to a

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-7609782804828437122009-05-23T15:33:00.002-05:002009-05-23T15:35:45.959-05:00

More confirmation -- if any was necessary for people with common sense and an IQ over 70 -- that the whole Jobs American's Won't Do movement (which advocated for amnesty for illegal immigrants on the grounds that they do all the jobs that [small "n"] native Americans refuse to do) was a bunch of nonsense.

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-74630181259102114992009-05-22T23:53:00.004-05:002009-05-22T23:57:15.358-05:00

A lot of folks, really.As Daniel Larison so trenchantly points out, however, the ones most to blame are also the ones receiving the least condemnation.As the cliché goes, there are three main factions in the conservative movement: social conservatives, economic conservatives and national security conservatives. Each faction has received blame for the right’s electoral troubles in inverse

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-89430788351177578842009-05-21T22:17:00.003-05:002009-05-21T22:43:05.156-05:00

No, I didn't think the new Star Trek was Hell. Actually, I thought it was really great and I intend to see it again soon.No, what got me thinking of Hell was Eric Bana's character, Nero.Nero's world is destroyed, and he is sucked through time to the past as a result of the tragedy that engulfed his world. (Yeah, it sounds dumb. It's a sci-fi flick -- what can I say? Well, one thing, I suppose

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-46300367816804303282009-05-21T21:41:00.002-05:002009-05-21T21:48:36.127-05:00

He's not always on, but he is here.Talking about the New York Times's ridiculous account of the would-be terrorists in the Bronx, Dreher says,You read and you read, and not until after you've plowed through nine paragraphs and 476 words -- longer than most editorials -- do you come to the following sentence: They are all Muslim, a law enforcement official said. This is what is called "burying

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-39556740214575636712009-05-15T14:20:00.003-05:002009-05-15T17:06:22.252-05:00

Spengler (a.k.a. David Goldman) has written an excellent article about what the torture debate tells us about ourselves and our enemies.What Spengler calls "radical evil" -- evil acts committed for their own sake, instead of for a selfish motive (as in most rapes or thefts) -- differs qualitatively from regular evil in its effect on those fighting it. Resistance to radical evil must be

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-82391882143265801512009-05-11T15:15:00.002-05:002009-05-11T15:18:53.179-05:00

A few weeks ago, there was a special on 20/20 called If I Only Had a Gun, the explicit purpose of which was to convince viewers that guns are bad and citizens should never use them to protect themselves.Through misinformation, contradictory examples, and outright lies the crew of 20/20 went out of their way to create the impression that one can almost never use a gun responsibly in self-defense

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-44514807751112282722009-05-05T14:01:00.004-05:002009-05-05T14:29:55.819-05:00

The UK, which has already become a far Left, quasi-fascist PC regime, is also in the process of becoming a sharia state due to the massive influx of Muslims (who have lots of kids). The British government is very tolerant.It won't refuse entry to folks from Eastern Europe or North Africa who put a drain on public finances (by living off the dole) or represent a clear and present security threat

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-75207609696632535222009-05-01T23:48:00.003-05:002009-05-01T23:55:40.436-05:00

The World Bank's own reports admit that pro-promiscuity efforts to fight AIDS in Africa -- handing out condoms instead of educating people about abstinence -- are failures.See for yourself.The World Bank points to weak bureaucracies as the culprit for the programs' failure. Well, it's true that most African governments tend to be ineffectual and corrupt. It's also true that putting an

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-54222273788926521992009-04-30T23:45:00.003-05:002009-04-30T23:48:14.196-05:00

The new "Greatest Tea Party Sign".

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-1377879510918177522009-04-30T23:23:00.003-05:002009-04-30T23:41:16.651-05:00

I've been an inveterate Warren Harding basher for as long as I've been politically aware. The man who let Teapot Dome happen under his nose wasn't worth my admiration, I thought.I'm a little confused after having read this article, however, which paints a picture of Harding utterly unlike those I've seen before. The article analyzes Harding's handling of the Depression of 1920. I know -- I hadn't

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-46398595391911000602009-04-30T20:38:00.002-05:002009-04-30T20:57:36.259-05:00

Not that that's much of a surprise. He's the Pope, after all.Still, it was encouraging to see this report about his meeting with a contingent of Argentinian bishops where he basically told them to focus on people's souls, not on political activism:After then encouraging them to stimulate "the practice of charity, especially among the most needy" in their dioceses, the Pope highlighted the

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-37825346414390235812009-04-27T20:08:00.002-05:002009-04-27T20:21:24.492-05:00

Geert Wilders, the head of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, has been a stalwart critic of the Islamization of Europe. I've blogged about him before. He's a courageous man, and much to be admired.He recently gave another major speech on the threat of Islam in Europe (at the Free Speech Summit in Palm Beach, FL), and it's a doozy. Lots of great stuff.Maybe you see immigration as

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-20539281703514624952009-04-26T14:21:00.004-05:002009-04-26T14:28:24.868-05:00

The 65th anniversary of D-Day is about 6 weeks away. Still, I thought this post was pretty hilarious. It's a parody detailing how D-Day would be covered today. It's a little too pro-Bush in terms of the strained parallels drawn between the Iraq War and the invasion of Normandy, but it's still worth reading:NORMANDY, FRANCE (June 6, 1944) Three hundred French civilians were killed and thousands

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-81303249920343087352009-04-26T10:00:00.002-05:002009-04-26T10:12:32.316-05:00

I realize that I'm late to the party with this one (although I've meant to write about it for the past 10 days), but I'll post about it anyway.Let the record show that April 16, 2009 was the date when folks on the Left began equating opposition to Obama with racism.Given the identify politics that pervades the Left, this reaction was almost inevitable, quite frankly. (One of the most interesting

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-28810464696532371462009-04-26T09:43:00.002-05:002009-04-26T09:54:58.429-05:00

Talking about the Tea Parties (protesting high taxes, wasteful government spending, and unconscionably high deficits) across the country 11 days ago, Ross Douthat made a good point:They resemble nothing so much as the anti-war protests during Bush's first term. ...[A]nd just as George W. Bush benefited from having opposition to his policies identified with peacenik marchers in Berkeley and Ann

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-57992507638386197052009-04-26T09:36:00.001-05:002009-04-26T09:39:45.704-05:00

There are many who have credible reasons for claiming that it is not at all improbable.Put Rod Dreher (he of Crunchy Con fame), in the "there's something to this wild rhetoric" camp.I'm not sure how much I accept his arguments, but I must admit that I can't discount them. And that's something to think about.

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-5040781053159282632009-04-17T16:59:00.007-05:002009-04-19T23:05:55.209-05:00

Did you vote for Obama? If you did, do you consider yourself at all politically or socially conservative, or religiously orthodox? And, finally, are you white?If so, congratulations! You've officially been betrayed.Yes, friends. Your President -- the Great Black Hope -- has officially thrown you under the bus.(I guess you guys should feel good. It's been almost three full months. It took half

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-84377421223983465592009-04-17T15:12:00.003-05:002009-04-17T15:55:18.782-05:00

I'm a life-long Red Sox fan (having grown up 30 miles from Boston), so you wouldn't think I'd have a dog in the Cubs-Sox rivalry here in Chicago. But I must say, I share a lot more in common with White Sox fans than with Cubs fans.I've found a disturbingly large number of Cubs fans to be inveterately fair weather fans. (This was before they got good in 2003, by the way, so it can't be chalked up

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-34547837495185791532009-04-15T13:40:00.002-05:002009-04-15T13:46:57.425-05:00

Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, has called support for traditional sexual morals "perhaps the most perverse disease impregnated in the human head", and has called for opposition to homosexuality in Brazil to be criminalized. I'm not joking.How far away are we from this in America? 10 years? 20? If we continue on the course we've set as a culture, we will get there.Don't believe me? Look at

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-18250665555821833402009-04-15T10:03:00.002-05:002009-04-15T11:00:08.597-05:00

Does this surprise you? It shouldn't.In a private e-mail to a student last week, Abdul-Basser [the chaplain in question -PHG] wrote that there was “great wisdom (hikma) associated with the established and preserved position (capital punishment [for apostates]) and so, even if it makes some uncomfortable in the face of the hegemonic modern human rights discourse, one should not dismiss it out of

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944089512150605130.post-6137237166764258592009-04-14T20:34:00.004-05:002009-04-14T21:16:12.331-05:00

Caroline Glick has a long and detailed account about the rapidly exploding Iranian sphere of influence. Apparently, things have gotten so bad that Egypt has joined common cause with Israel in opposing Iran's extension of its power through proxy states like Lebanon, Palestine, Eritrea, and Somalia. (If that doesn't make you do a double-take, just think of it as if Keith Olberman and Bill O'Reilly

PHGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02059947427927996287noreply@blogger.com0