Month: November 2008

I feel like I’m on Mars or something.

“The entire Obama campaign seemed to be conducted at a much higher ethical level than that of the GOP.”

What?

Seriously?

The guy who accepted millions of dollars in fraudulent campaign donations, the guy who disabled basic security checks on internet donations in order to facilitate that fraud, the guy who refuses to release basic documents about his birthplace, schooling, or health records, the guy who brought the John Kerry flip-flop back into style, the guy whose campaign facilitated brutal, unwarranted attacks on Sarah Palin and Samuel Wurzelbacher, the guy who first nationalized the use of Chicago-style politics…

A much higher ethical level?

Really?

Of course, the same guy is arguing for the return of the “fairness doctrine,” perhaps one of the most blatant violations of the First Amendment dreamed up in recent history, and a key component in any leftist’s dreamworld.  So maybe he’s not the foremost expert on the topic of ethics.

Still, I can’t help but shake the feeling he’s not the only one taking this brand of crazy pills.

A Change of Pace

I am not, by definition, an optimist.

Shocked yet? Didn’t think so.

I use this blog mainly as a sounding board for my thoughts on a variety of topics, and for the most part, it works pretty well as an exercise in in free writing as well. Not being in school had left me without a direct, mandated reason to write, and so as a result I simply stopped. Not intentionally, but just because I didn’t have to anymore, and it wasn’t a natural thing for me to do.

I love to write, however, and I love to read. I spend a good part of my day every day doing one or the other. And I would like to be able to make this someplace where I am not only writing for myself, but for others as well. As it is, I’m stuck between delusions of grandeur and dejected defeatism when it comes to what to do with this blog – namely, that I quickly get bored with writing if I know that there will be no one reading it. As a fairly new venture, I’m at a loss for how to handle this other than just to force myself to write and hope something will happen. Looking back at the blog you can see how well this has worked – regular updates for a couple weeks followed by a two or three month haitus. Not exactly consistency.

And yet lately I’ve had plenty on my mind to talk about to coworkers, friends, and family that could easily be put to paper and posted here. Most of it involving politics or the Christian’s reponse to modern culture. I feel like I am being heavy-handed when I write on these subjects, though, and as a result I get almost afraid to write what I’m thinking about, because I fear it will drive people away rather than cause them to continue reading.

There’s that optimism again.

But I still want to write. I want to make this blog something that I can be proud of, and the easiest way to do that would be to just start blogging everything that comes to mind and just hope people find a few interesting things here and there. I’m not a brilliant writer, and I’m rarely happy with what I write, but the act of writing is cathartic, and it gives me something to point to as an accomplishment. So what the hell, I’ll just start writing whatever I want, and if you want to stick around and read, be my guest.

Thanks to Rachel for getting me thinking about this, even as she steps away from her genius political posts. I’ll still be there for her scathing wit, though. Oh, and dogs. Gotta love the dogs.

So how ’bout them Cardinals, eh?

Veterans Day

To all those who serve us in the Armed Forces: today we honor you.

Whether you be home or abroad, your willingness to serve this country and risk so much for it and all that it stands for is a shining example of what makes this country great.

Ours is the greatest military the world has ever seen, and you make that possible. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your service. Today is yours, my friends.

On Moral Squirming

Via Leanna comes this link, which got my blood boiling for all sorts of reasons, as it attempts to invoke God’s grace as a reason for being accepting of not just political views based on sin, but the sin itself. The post is copied here almost in its entirety as I dissect it, and you can find the original here. This is going to be a little bit scatterbrained, but I needed to get this written down… Continue reading On Moral Squirming

Further Insight

Iowahawk (recently added to the blogroll along with a few others I’d been shamefully neglecting) has a brilliant piece summarizing what significance this election has in addressing accusations of racism, and other perhaps even less pleasant accusations entitled – and if the title alone doesn’t get your mouth watering, I don’t know what will – America Can Take Pride In This Historic, Inspirational Disaster:

Although I have not always been the most outspoken advocate of President-Elect Barack Obama, today I would like to congratulate him and add my voice to the millions of fellow citizens who are celebrating his historic and frightening election victory. I don’t care whether you are a conservative or a liberal — when you saw this inspiring young African-American rise to our nation’s highest office I hope you felt the same sense of patriotic pride that I experienced, no matter how hard you were hyperventilating with deep existential dread.

Go. Read. Now.