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 »

True Truth

  

I’ve just finished reading a novel by Randy Alcorn entitled Deadline. I’d heard of Alcorn previously and was told he was good, but now I can say from personal experience that the recommendation was accurate. Alcorn has an ability to write from a thoroughly Biblical perspective about the reality of heaven while simultaneously reflecting the reality of earthly life. I won’t make this a review of the plot of the book or of his writing style, but I do want… Read more »

The Decade: A Personal Review

  

As a historian, I have to evaluate what has transpired over time. This past decade, as the cartoon above indicates, has had some pretty rough spots: the contested 2000 presidential election; the horror of 9/11; the War on Terror that divided us as a people; natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina; the massive financial crisis that came to the forefront just prior to the 2008 elections; the ushering in of a president and Congress that believes we should spend our… Read more »

Two Types of Independents

  

I’ve been watching the poll numbers for President Obama. While he’s on a downward slide overall, he’s in particular trouble with what the politicos term “independents.” Just who are these people? Actually, there are two groups I would call independents. The first group is less numerous—people concerned that the political parties are not holding firm to their principles. This group is comprised of probably equal numbers of those on the left and the right of the political spectrum. They tend… Read more »