Month: January 2010

Giving the Benefit of the Doubt?

  

An unusual event took place yesterday as Congressional Republicans held a policy retreat and invited President Obama to come speak with them. He actually came. Afterwards, the Republican leadership said it was a good first step, but no agreements resulted from the gathering. Obama declared to them that he was not an ideologue. I haven’t seen video of the reaction to that statement. It would probably be one of those things Mastercard can’t buy—priceless. The event was televised, unlike the… Read more »

Arrogance Unlimited

  

The big political question now is how President Obama will proceed. Will he moderate or push ahead with his plans to remake the economy in his own image? I think voters are upset by both the substance of what he is pushing and the tacky methods being used. I beg to differ with the president’s appraisal of why Massachusetts voters turned to the Republican candidate. They were angry, yes, but that anger was directed toward him and his congressional allies,… Read more »

A Glimpse of That Which Awaits

  

My post is going to be a little different today. Many who read these daily ponderings share my Christian faith, but I’m sure there are many who do not. Perhaps some are more focused on the political commentary and may even be a little impatient when I deviate from that to concentrate specifically on the Biblical worldview that undergirds all my perceptions on politics and government. Well, today I’m really going to deviate. Some of you may find this marginally… Read more »

The Obama One-Year Evaluation

  

What has President Obama accomplished in his first year? A lot of people are conducting analyses at this point. Many are coming to the same conclusion: not much. Conservatives are grateful for this result; liberals/progressives are angry—they expected more. Moderate Democrats [an almost-extinct species] are having second thoughts: His primary goal—universal healthcare—is in shambles. Deservedly so. Another key piece of legislation he sought—cap-and-trade—suffered from one major problem: people aren’t so convinced anymore that global warming is a real threat. It… Read more »

What Are We For?

  

The Witness of Whittaker Chambers In the aftermath of the Massachusetts Senate victory for Republican Scott Brown, I thought it might be good to reflect a little on the approach we should have for political action. One of my favorite historical figures is Whittaker Chambers, who became one of the most profound ex-Communists of his time [shortly after WWII]. Chambers had something to say in his masterpiece book entitled Witness that I believe has a direct bearing on what needs… Read more »

Righteous Anger

  

I spend a lot of time in this blog critiquing current events: our government and its policies; the unbalanced media coverage; the antichristian aspects of our culture; the way Christians sometimes go along with ungodly practices. It’s easy to get angry when you focus on such things. I can say, though, that most of the time it’s not anger that motivates me, but anguish over the path we have taken as a society—a sadness that we are throwing away the… Read more »

Praising [and Disparaging] the Media

  

When it came time for me to make a decision about my college major [this was about one lifetime ago], I didn’t jump at a history degree. In fact, even though I liked reading history, I was turned off by the poor quality of teachers I’d had for that subject. Instead, I majored in radio, television, and film production. My reasoning? I listened to the radio constantly, and I was a devotee of certain TV programs and movies. Pretty deep… Read more »