Texas Sobriety Checkpoints?: MADD vs. Freedom

Mothers Against Drunk Driving just cannot be pleased.

Years ago, they started with a good and noble agenda, to toughen laws against drunk drivers, especially repeat drunk drivers. And MADD had a large degree of success for which they are to be commended.

But, like many do-gooder groups, there is never enough; there is no pleasing them. They proceeded to push to raise the drinking age to 21, a cause which had only a tangential relevance to drunk driving. And when there were a few states that dared say no, MADD used the power of the federal government to impose a 21 drinking age nationwide. States that refused to raise their drinking age would not get federal highway funds. And MADD succeeded in trashing states’ rights for their holy cause.

But that was not enough. MADD pushed to get legal DWI limits lowered again and again, so that now Texas (and I think all states) has a limit of .08. That is ridiculous. Two beers is enough to put many over that limit. So now someone who drinks lightly and is driving well is under fire.

But that still is not enough for the MADD Mothers. Now they are pushing to bring sobriety checkpoints to Texas. Yes, I know most states have them. But randomly stopping and interrogating drivers without probable cause is wrong, period. The Constitution has something to say about that.

By the way, much of the news reporting on this story is little more than MADD propaganda. Check out here and here for samples of that.

There are a lot of things dealing with the roads that are wrong and dangerous. Drivers who do not use their turn signals and yak away on their cell phones cause more danger and aggravation on the roads every day than drunk drivers. But none of these offenses justify turning Texas into a police state where you can be pulled over and interrogated without probable cause. If someone is driving like crap for whatever reason, then, yes, pull them over. (And a pet peeve of mine is that speeders get pulled over, but rarely other types of bad drivers. But that is another rant.) But if you do not have reason to pull me over, then LEAVE ME ALONE.

So I got news for the MADD mothers and their Momma’s boys. Texas is NOT a police state. And us Texans prize and defend our freedoms. So back away from my freedom . . . or else!

----

As for my good readers, may you have a happy and safe New Year. And tonight, watch out, not only for the drunk drivers, but also for the police. DWI laws are so draconian already in pretty much all the states that even light drinkers who drive carefully have to watch out. You can thank MADD for that.

Two tips that have served me well: Don’t wait too long after midnight to drive home. The longer you wait, the more drunks are on the road. And consider keeping that midnight glass of champagne very small or non-alcoholic.

Merry Christmas from the Obama Administration!

Why, look what Santa Obama left under the tree . . . way in back by the wall in hopes we won’t notice that much. Two days before Christmas, the EPA engaged in a power grab, trying to take over industrial permitting in Texas. Yes, red state Texas has one of the better economies in the union. Must put a stop to that!

Governor Rick Perry noticed that lump of coal (or the “clean” equivalent). Expect a good political war between Texas and the EPA.

Oh, and look! Remember when Obama and company promised he would not give us death panels or the like for Christmas? Well, surprise! While we were busy buying gifts for Grandma, Kathleen Sebelius was busy trying to help shuffle her off. The HHS is writing regulations to give incentives for doctors to accelerate “end of life care.”

The timing of these fed regulatory actions is *interesting*, around Christmas when not even I is paying much attention to politics and soon after the last election and as far as possible before the next election.

But I’m sure the Obama regime isn’t trying to sneak these acts past us to avoid political fall out. Nah.

Merry Christmas!

A Chant for Christmas Eve

At the beginning of my parish’s Christmas Eve Holy Communion service, I and a strong voiced acolyte will chant alternatively the following, which I adapted with slight alteration from Pearson’s The Sarum Missal in English:


The Lesson of Isaiah the Prophet

In which is foretold the glorious Birth of Christ

Thus saith the Lord

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by Whom are created all things in Heaven and Earth.

The people that walked in darkness

Whom Thou createst: whom the enemy deceived by subtle fraud, and led captive with him to hell,

Have seen a great light.

And at midnight, strange brightness hath shone on the Shepherds.

They that dwell in the shadow of death, the light

Everlasting, and our True Redemption

Upon them hath shined.

O wondrous birth.

For unto us a Child is born,

Jesus the Son of God, He shall be great,

A Son

Of the highest Father

Unto us is given

So had it been foretold from the Throne on high.

And the government shall be upon His shoulder,

That He may rule Heaven and Earth.

And his Name shall be called

Messiah, Emmanuel, Sabaoth, Adonai

Wonderful

The Root of David

Counsellor

Of God the Father,

God

Who created all things,

Mighty,

Overthrowing the hideous gates of hell.

The Everlasting Father,

King Almighty, and governing all,

The Prince of Peace.

Here and for ever.

Of the increase of His government

In Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,

And peace there shall be no end,

For ever and ever,

Upon the Throne of David and upon His kingdom,

And there shall be no bounds to His reign

To order it,

In the bonds of The Faith,

And to establish it with judgement and with justice,

When He shall come as Judge to judge the world.

From henceforth

To Him be due glory, praise, and rejoicing,

Even for ever.

BOTH:
From the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same, let meet praise resound to the Creator throughout all climes to the ends of the whole world. A-men.

----

In a quiet candlelit sanctuary, I think this will be a powerful start to our Christmas Eve service. It will be a first for my parish, so we shall see.

This chant (again with slight changes, for which I am to blame) is from near the beginning of the Sarum Midnight Mass. But surprisingly, I have found almost nothing about the chant or its history online. Probably, I do not know where to look. Perhaps my learned readers can educate me in the comments?

Have an Episcopalian Christmas!

Someone needs to have a chat with this gentleman about Advent and the rhythms of the church year . . . among other things.

Andy, who is known as Mr Christmas and has celebrated it every day for the past 17 years, claims he's "serious" about wanting to marry his Christmas tree.

The divorcee, from Melksham, Wilts, admits many will think he's had too much sherry but that hasn't stopped him drawing up plans for the ceremony.

He said: "I love my Christmas tree more than anything else, so that's why I want to marry it.

"I've already got a ring, although I'm not sure yet which branch I'll want to hang it on.

"The only problem seems to be finding a vicar who is willing to do the ceremony."

Andy, have you asked the Rev. Martin Dudley? And if he won’t do it, then do we across the pond have the “church” for you!

“Let’s be honest.” Lexus is the Abomination of the Week.

Toyota has for years gone to the edge of decency and good taste and beyond with its Lexus holiday ads complete with the big red bow on top of a Lexus. If memory serves me right, the first time Toyota ran these ads during the Christmas season provoked not a little controversy. Hawking luxury cars as Christmas gifts in such an in-your-face manner screamed holiday excess even for those whose Christmases tend to be secular.

But this year, Toyota is going even more over the top with a campaign that smugly proclaims, “Let’s be honest. No one ever wished for a smaller holiday gift.” Yes, ‘tis the season to be greedy.



Now, for some reason, I cannot remember seeing this ad on TV for the past several days. Did Toyota detect such revulsion at their campaign that they quietly pulled it? I have not found anything definitive but let us hope so. (Grr, I just saw one of the ads on CNBC, the one above actually, before I posted this. My hope is dashed.)

In contrast, Hyundai is running a holiday ad campaign that is so winsome, I stop to watch the ads. Here is one of them:



The campaign has a happy, light-hearted tone that makes me smile. And the music, along with the visuals, is both quirky and pleasant. If there is any heavy-handedness ala Lexus, it is very well concealed.

By the way, the duo in the ads is Pomplamoose. I suspect the quirkiness of the campaign and the use of Pomplamoose is aimed at younger car buyers.

I have not heard of this indie duo before myself (I am sadly not as in touch with the new music scene as I used to be.), but they may have gained a fan.

The "O" Antiphons and Godly Backward Masking

Tonight is traditionally the first night to begin the seven “O” Antiphons, which mark the height of Advent leading up to Christmas Eve. An excellent summary of them with mp3s and the scriptures behind them may be found at fisheaters:

The seven "O Antiphons" (also called the "Greater Antiphons" or "Major Antiphons") are prayers that come from the Breviary's Vespers during the Octave before Christmas Eve, a time which is called the "Golden Nights."

Each Antiphon begins with "O" and addresses Jesus with a unique title which comes from the prophecies of Isaias and Micheas (Micah), and whose initials, when read backwards, form an acrostic for the Latin "Ero Cras" which means "Tomorrow I come." Those titles for Christ are:
Sapientia
Adonai
Radix Jesse
Clavis David
Oriens
Rex Gentium
Emmanuel

It never occurred to me that there might be such a thing as godly backward masking, but there you go.

I intend to include these in my late Advent devotions, beginning tonight – a first for me.

Chavez and Congressional Democrats Hate Democracy UPDATED

I have said before that Leftists only like democracy when it serves their agenda. When it does not serve their designs, Leftists undermine constitutional democracy with all the power they can muster.

Hugo Chavez and Harry Reid and friends are giving us yet more demonstrations of that. In the last elections, both lost some power. So both are seeking to undermine said elections.

Hugo Chavez has already rigged Venezuelan democracy. But not enough for his taste. Before more opposition lawmakers take their seats, Chavez is asking for power to rule by decree for one year.

What could possibly go wrong with such a “temporary” enabling act? Power to the People! . . . unless they vote wrong, of course. Then power to me!

As for Harry Reid, November’s elections were, if anything, a repudiation of profligate spending and of Obamacare. So what are Democrats trying to pass before many of them leave office? An omnibus spending bill that increases already bloated spending and funds Obamacare. Not to mention lots of lovely earmarks.

Election? What election? If the Democrats really were democrats they would pass a simple continuing resolution to fund the government past Saturday’s deadline (when current funding authority expires) and let the next just elected Congress deal with spending in more detail. But no. The Democrats are trying to use that deadline to subvert the will of the people and of their just elected representatives.

I’d rather shut the feds down myself.

A few RINOs share the blame for this monster as well. Defeated Senator Bob Bennett is among these.

By the way, I do not like UK parliamentary government as it concentrates power too much. But I do like that, as soon as the election is over and you form a government, you go have tea with The Queen and, presto, you are in power, not those who lost the election. Giving power for a time to those who are defeated or retiring, as in the U. S. and in Venezuela, and are therefore past being held accountable is a recipe for subversion of democracy. And we are most certainly seeing that now in this lamest of lame duck congresses.

UPDATE: Facing a firestorm of opposition from even John McCain, Reid has backed down and pulled the Omnibus spending bill. Thanks be to God.

Abomination of the Week

This week’s abomination is how Americans turn certain Christmas carols into sugary goo. Away in a Manger and O Little Town of Bethlehem are front and center in that regard.

Here is the proper way to sing Away in a Manger:



Now, with a warning to sensitive ears, here is the American way:



For O Little Town of Bethlehem, there are two acceptable ways.






And, again with a warning, here is the American way:



Why do Americans err so? When it comes to Christmas, if you give Americans the choice between the strong and stately and the sappy and sentimental, they will go for the latter just about every time.

I just might flee to England next year.

Stop Calling Yourselves a Church Already UPDATED

That’s it. Becoming Anglican has taught me to be slightly more polite about such matters than I used to be. But no more. This is the last straw. St. John’s with St. Andrew’s Waterloo is hosting a Sea of Faith conference.

Here’s a taste of the toxic water Sea of Faith serves:

We want to demonstrate that, for all religious traditions, the humanist agenda — of love between people making a better world of justice and peace — must be primary. All else is the fabric of mythology, ritual and ethics for incarnating this ideal.

There is great value in having a concept, or concepts of God, but that's what they are — human concepts. There is great danger in objectifying our God-concept into a supernatural Being.

So Christianity is mere mythology? God is a human concept that is no God at all?

Why is a “church” hosting a conference from this group? Because it is no church at all.

At the risk of repeating myself, Nothing ticks me off like libchurchers pretending they are Christians while they commit such outrages against the faith. And since they will not get off their fence of claiming to be Christians while they are not, I will do my part to push them off the fence. And that not just because of my orneriness, but because these libchurchers are wolves in sheep’s clothing, a danger to many.

Henceforth, the policy of this blog will be to use quotes to identify those who name themselves as Christians or as a church when their own actions and words shout that they are not. If that offends, too bad. I am finished with accommodating those who claim to be of The Faith while they willfully oppose it.

I obviously do not and should not pretend to know whether each and every congregation or person is of The Faith or not. Only God knows. But Jesus did say “you shall know them by their fruits.” And the fruit of some makes it all too obvious who at least some of the phonies are. It is disservice to the truth and to those who are honestly seeking the truth to continue the pretense that these phonies are even remotely the real thing. The church fathers called out phonies and heretics to protect seekers and the faithful. I will do my best to follow their godly example.

So this blog will clearly indentify such phonies with quotes, appropriate adjectives or other identifiers. I have done that at times when in a punchy mood. That will now be my permanent policy.

I should add that, say, when I write “The Episcopal ‘Church’”, that is not at all to imply there are not Christians in the Episcopal “Church”. There are Christians in any number of non-Christian groups for various reasons good and bad.

Also, I should emphasize that my issue is not with those who have issues with Christianity and are not Christians and are honest about it by not claiming to be Christians or of the Church. I appreciate and welcome such honesty.

My issue is with those who oppose The Faith while claiming to be of it by calling themselves “church” or “Christian.” Such is false advertising of the worst and most dangerous sort.


Addendum:

I may from time to time also apply this policy to those whose identity as churches or Christians is so questionable, even if possible, as to merit scare quotes. Again, I do not claim to see all.

BBC Radio 4 to Feature King James Bible on 400th Anniversary

I am heartened to see that the BBC intends to mark the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible by reading and focusing on it on BBC Radio 4 on January 9th. Kudos to BBC for recognizing the importance of the KJV in Western and English culture.

But, of course, cultural luddites that they are, secularists are whining.

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, criticised the decision to give so much time to the Bible readings.

"It is fair enough to have a programme devoted to it, but the coverage is so excessive it beggars belief," he said.

"The BBC is supposed to be for everybody, not just Christians, so to devote a whole day to a minority, which is what Christians now are, is unfair to other listeners who may want something different."

In other words, BOOO HOOOOO! NOT FAIR!

First of all, we are talking about one radio channel for one day. Second, the programming has little to do with any “minority,” but on the impact the King James has had on all of English culture.

But secularists are more interested in wiping out the Bible’s impact on culture rather than recognizing it, so this sort of childish whingeing is to be expected. Again, the BBC is to be commended for rising above such myopia.


(And a tip of the hat also to Stand Firm.)

OUTRAGE: Koran read at installation of Huron Dean

The Anglican Church of Canada should do everyone a favor and stop claiming to be Christian, especially after their latest outrage. The Koran was read during the Installation of the new Dean of Huron Cathedral.

Nothing ticks me off like libchurchers pretending they are Christians while they commit such outrages against the faith.

To paraphrase Elijah, get off the fence! If the Lord is God, worship Him. If Allah or the Spirit of the Age or whatever is God, worship it. But do not even try to do both as a “church”. God will not let you get away with such damnable idolatrous fraud.

(Thanks to St. Nikao for bringing this to my attention.)

Abomination of the Week

Nothing seems to bring abominations out of the woodwork like Christmas. To make money, merchandisers hawk all manner of iniquity and in all sizes, too. After all, “nobody ever wished for a smaller holiday gift.”

To bring shame and condemnation upon such, the Ship of Fools is taking nominations for their Twelve Days of Kitschmas competition.

Already among the nominations are such stand outs as the Miracle Eyes Jesus, the Jingle for Jesus Tamborine, and Jesus Paddle Balls.

Among such a multitude of abominations, it is hard and thankless work to chose just one as the Abomination of the Week. But one rises up above the others:

The Christian Nation CHRIST-mas Tree

“Celebrate Christmas American style.” That’s right! Christmas is all about patriotism and waving the red, white, and blue. Why Baby Jesus waved an American flag in the manger.

Hmm, I think I just got an idea for a manger scene that would SELL!

A Prayer Book Wedding

This past Saturday, my parish celebrated the happy occasion of a wedding between two parishioners. And it so happened it was my first time to witness a traditional Prayer Book wedding (Reformed Episcopal Church BCP, to be exact).

I noticed that quite of lot of prayer book language has been adopted by even very un-Anglican weddings:

. . . for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, tell death us do part . . .

Traditional Book of Common Prayer.

With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship . . .

Ditto.

I also noticed that the traditional Book of Common Prayer is quite frank about the sexual aspects of marriage:

[Holy Matrimony] was ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication; that such persons as have not the gift of continency might marry, and keep themselves undefiled members of Christ’s body.

Combined with lessons from Proverbs 5: 18-19 and the Song of Solomon, the temperature rose in the Sanctuary at times.

This was also the first time I’ve heard the groom say, “I plight thee my troth.”

Special language for a holy and joyous occasion.

St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Ground Zero

This Feast of St. Nicholas is a good time to remember St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in your prayers.

This little church at Ground Zero was destroyed on 9-11. And it has since been treated shamefully by local authorities in its efforts to rebuild.

Abomination of the Week

Observant readers may surmise that I consider the premature celebration of Christmas to be an abomination. You observe Advent, then celebrate Christmas . . . or else.

But now, this morning, I’ve discovered Christmas itself is an abomination to the Lord.

Just letting you know.

Advent Sunday Sermon at Smokey Matt’s

I mentioned that I had the pleasure of worshipping at Smokey Matt’s this past Advent Sunday. Here follows the aforementioned excellent sermon preached by the Rector. (With thanks to Fr. Duncan for passing it along.)


A Sermon Preached by Father Dwight D. Duncan, ssc – Rector, St Matthias’ Church, Dallas, Texas

11/28/2010 ADVENT I Romans 13:8-14, Year A

A new Christian Year begins today. We have entered the season of Advent, four weeks of preparing ourselves to celebrate worthily the nativity of Our Lord and Savior. We mark this new beginning in various ways:

# Some of the prayers and music of the Mass change. They are stately, simpler, expressing longing for the Savior.

# An Advent Wreath stands before us, its candles marking our progress through the weeks of our journey to Bethlehem.

# The vesture of the altar and the Sacred Ministers changes, blue predominating. But this blue is not vibrant. It is soft, sober, expressing Advent’s calm, patient, deliberate progress to Christmass.

Our changes in “here” are in marked contrast to those confronting us out “there”. Out “there”, music bombards us everywhere, its tempo rapid, its tone loud, encouraging us to scurry about the “busyness” of what the secular world makes of this season. Colors have changed out “there” as well: vivid colors of over-flowing decorations, assaulting our eyes sometimes like strobe lights.

In Advent, the contrast between the attitude of the Catholic Christian and modern secular people is at its most radical. My wife and I have already experienced this, during our recent pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England. Whenever we left the precincts of the Shrine, we were confronted with this split. Actually, we were confronted with this radical disconnect even within the Shrine, whenever we turned on the television. It was startlingly to discover how profoundly saturated with the secular world’s abuse of this season England is. Nary a mention or sign of Christ, but most definitely signs, symbols, sounds of a pagan bacchanalia. Everywhere ... everywhere.

The secularist spends this time frantically celebrating a godless winter holiday, speaking much of a “spirit of the season” that he would wish to last the entire year. But that “spirit” relies on the energy and effort of us humans and too often is fueled by the spirits in one’s cocktail, a reason why this spirit can hardly last 12 hours! The Catholic Christian, on the other hand, is called in this season to the same calm pace and quietness which our Lady Mary kept as she awaited the bringing-forth, not of some sentimental spirit of the season, but of the Word of God made flesh.

The “world” – and in saying this I recognize, as must you, how much the “world” is still within each of us – the “world” is comfortable with “the spirit of the season” because this spirit makes no real demands on it’s body, appetites, and indulgences. The spirit of the secular winter holiday encourages us to eat and drink to excess, to stay up late, to overspend, to stay busy, and to try hard to have a good time. Most definitely, this season’s spirit is good for business.

But this world is not comfortable with the God-made-Man whose birth we Christians are preparing to celebrate. The world is uncomfortable with the Christian celebration because it rightly suspects danger to its business as usual. It rightly suspects that a God who chooses to clothe himself in our flesh, our matter, is going to make material demands on us. This God will require that our appetites be disciplined and not indulged, that all his gifts to us be used to his glory and for the common good. And that is bad for business.

The “world” is also not comfortable with the calm pace and quietness of Advent. The “world” wants noise, constant activity, go-go-go. Normally, one of the public places where we can stop for a few moments and have some quiet is a rest-room. Note the word: rest-room. You can’t go there during this season and get that, not with that horrid music pressuring you to get on with it!

The “world”, you see, fears that in the calm and quiet a Voice might speak, a Voice which will ask us to give not things, but to give ourselves. And so the more noise, the more activity, the more spending, the better, for the Voice itself is still and small and easily drowned.

We who profess the Catholic faith have not so learned Christ. No, this is what we have learned, as St Paul puts it to us in today’s lesson from his letter to the Christians in Rome: “Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Exactly. In this holy season, we Christians are called to open ourselves to this Season’s real spirit, the Holy Spirit. We are to put aside the frantic activity of the secular season. Insofar as it is possible, and just a little bit more than is possible, we are to become still and quiet. We are to look at God and into ourselves. We are to seek by the grace of the One-Who-Comes to set right the disorder in our lives, to subdue to him the world that remains within us and to prepare a place where he might lodge.

It is not that we are to shun our secular neighbors and separate ourselves from them during this Season. That would be a gross violation of charity. Rather we are to order our movement with them through this Season so that it is redeemed and sanctified, so that, through us, they are touched within it by the true Spirit of this Season, rather than by the spirit they try so desperately to manufacture.

With this in mind, I give you a few suggestions to help you redeem this Season, for yourselves and our secular neighbors. Taking a cue from our good Curate, who often makes his points by a succession of words beginning with the same letter, my suggestions are four “P’s”: parties, presents, prayer, penance.

PARTIES: You and I are going to be invited to parties before the real party season, Christmass, arrives. What should we do? Well, if you are free and willing to go, accept the invitation. That will be an act of charity towards your hosts. But go to the party with an agenda different from that of most people.

First, drink less and don’t stay out as late. That will be an act of charity to yourself, and also to others who will not have had to endure boorish, inebriated behavior from you and whose roads will be safer when they are on them.

Second, our tendency at parties is to want others to entertain us, to take an interest in us. Instead, look for someone to whom no one else is paying attention or someone with whom you’d rather have little or nothing to do. Go to them; draw them out; take an interest in them. In doing this, you will be imitating your Savior, who came not to be served, but to serve.

PRESENTS: For those personal gifts you wish to give, budget your spending and don’t spend more money than you have. Otherwise you will be a poor steward of the treasure God has given you. And don’t wait until the last minute to select your gifts: by that point you will be in real danger of overspending.

And when you wrap those gifts: give yourself to the recipient and give the recipient to God. What do I mean by this? I mean take your time doing the wrapping; do it the best you can; try to make it something which will be a visual blessing for the one who receives it. But most importantly, pray to God during the wrapping for the person who will receive it.

PRAYER: Spend some time alone with God everyday. Reflect on the Gift he gives you at the end of Advent: himself. Remind yourself why he had to come to us as he did: our sin. Rejoice over all the work he expended to make possible his coming: his labor is testimony of how important to him we are. The Advent Liturgy for the Home is a fine way of observing such a time. Its readings are a wonderful narrative of the plan and action by which God has come to us. And the Liturgy can be done by one person alone or by several together.

PENANCE: Do a thorough examination of conscience before Christmass and make your confession. If you are still too frightened about making your personal confession before a priest (which of course is the Sin of Pride rearing its ugly head!), then for God’s sake and yours do a thorough examination of conscience and offer it up to God at the Christ Mass. Please consider this: when Jesus comes to you at the Christ Mass, you may only be a stable and not a palace, but the stable you are could be/should be in order and its straw clean.

The counsel I’ve just given you for dealing in this Season with Parties, Presents, Prayer, and Penance provide a discipline by which you can prepare room within yourself for the coming King. We cannot do this when we are rushing about frantically, when we are worrying about where we will get the money to pay for extravagant gifts, and when we are burdened with the weight of unconfessed sin. Only when we abide in temperance, in calmness and quietness, and in God’s mercy can we keep the feast which begins on Christmass Day. When we do so abide, then the merriness of Christmass and the quietness of Advent will combine to carry us with joy into the year unfolding ahead. God bless us one and all as we progress
through this most holy and wonderful of seasons.

Apple Bans Manhattan Declaration App

I was too preoccupied to notice this over the weekend. But Apple has removed the Manhattan Declaration app from its online store. They did so quietly, with little to no explanation. And Apple has been asked to reconsider.

I am a long time and usually happy Apple customer. In fact, I had a very pleasant experience returning a keyboard obsessed with the number 2 at an Apple Store on Black Friday of all days. It was very easy and hassle-free. And the store had almost as many assistants as customers. I was impressed. And, like it or not, Apple has the right to determine what will be in their stores.

But this decision reveals Apple management to be too much a part of that Left Coast bubble that considers orthodox Christians of traditional morality to be racistbigotnazihomophobes and just cannot understand why any reasonable enlightened person would think otherwise. I’ve followed the Manhattan Declaration and have signed it. There is nothing hateful about it.

I’ll go further. Ban the Manhattan Declaration, and you are banning me.

Apple may be hearing from me shortly.

An Advent Sunday both Glorious and Hellish

Yesterday morning I had the long awaited joy of celebrating Advent Sunday at Smoky Matt’s. The worship there was glorious as always. The sunny morning added to the atmosphere, sending sunbeams through the incense into the sanctuary. The music was excellent. I especially appreciated the very Adventy selection of hymns, including Lo! He comes with clouds descending - the Helmsley version, of course – as the recessional. Yes, I could only sing part of the last verse. Allergies made me teary-eyed, you know.

As for the sermon, I can get a good rant on about how the world has it all wrong this time of year. You observe Advent, then celebrate Christmas. But I have nothing on The Rev’d Fr. Dwight Douglass Duncan. His sermon contrasting how the world and how the church does the weeks before Christmas was a joy to hear.

So what was hellish? Driving on I-35 afterward to get home. Yes, I am a fool for driving I-35 south of Dallas on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It took me 2 hours longer than usual to get home (and was fortunate it wasn’t worse), whereupon I crawled into bed and am still recovering this morning.

GAFCON Oxford Statement

The GAFCON Primates Council has issued a statement from their recent meeting in Oxford.

The most newsworthy section:

5. For the sake of Christ and of His Gospel we can no longer maintain the illusion of normalcy and so we join with other Primates from the Global South in declaring that we will not be present at the next Primates’ meeting to be held in Ireland. And while we acknowledge that the efforts to heal our brokenness through the introduction of an Anglican Covenant were well intentioned we have come to the conclusion the current text is fatally flawed and so support for this initiative is no longer appropriate.

So the GAFCON Primates make clear they will not abide --Schori’s presence at the Primates Meeting nor ++Rowan’s attempts to indaba that meeting. And we see the split in the Anglican Communion widen before our eyes.

---

I may take a brief break from blogging over Thanksgiving. I wish all my readers a pleasant and safe Thanksgiving and a blessed start to Advent.

+Peter Broadbent Suspended

Back in May, I mentioned that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Bishop Peter Broadbent and that he is “pleasantly straight-spoken.” Well, as many of you are aware, he has been a bit too straight-spoken concurring the upcoming Royal Wedding, creating not a little uproar. He has since made a clear and complete apology as is meet.

But that is not enough for the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, who happens to be a friend of Prince William. +Chartres has suspended Bishop Pete from episcopal duties for an indefinite time.

How many Church of England bishops have spoken and committed outrages against the faith with hardly a slap on the risk? But Bishop Pete, a godly and orthodox man, sounds off about The ROYAL Family and gets suspended.

This suspension is not appropriate and is downright silly.

The Pope and Condoms – Fr. Hunwicke Explains All

Sometimes I come across a blog post that is so good, I must simply defer and exhort my readers to get thee hence. Fr. John Hunwicke’s explanation of the current controversy over Pope Benedict’s comments on condoms is one of those posts.

He explains well with an economy of words what the Pope said:

Having contemplated the BBC translation of the German texts, I see what the Holy Father's words mean. He is saying that if a rent-boy has unprotected sex, he is committing two sins: the mortal sin of homosexual genital intercourse; and the mortal sin of risking communicating a lethal infection. If, however, he uses a condom, while he is still committing the first of those mortal sins, he has to a degree excluded the second. By so doing he has, as we might say, taken a step in the right direction.

Then he critiques the Pope’s Secularist critics on this and other matters deliciously well:

Secularists are, even when they hold Oxford professorships, a generally dim lot ... dim because of a bigoted determination not to understand. They just want to ask blunt and unnuanced questions about "Is it All Right to use condoms?". Within this toddler-level mode of moral discourse, our Holy Father's simple statement of the moderately obvious is bound to seem to them like a "change in his implacable opposition to the use of condoms".

And he says more – and how! Like I said, get thee hence!

Christ the King Sunday – An Innovation I Actually Like

I am looking forward to the Feast of Christ the King this Sunday. And that is something coming from someone who has a tick that precedes “innovation” with “ungodly.”

And this feast is an innovation, instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Ending the church year with this feast on the Sunday Next Before Advent is an even more recent innovation.

So why do I relent in my cranky traditionalism and like it so?

I find it an appropriate end to the church year. For at the end of time as we know it, Christ will rule as king for all to see. He is king now, of course, but he is coming to take more full and visible possession of His kingdom – a theme which leads well into Advent.

Pius instituted the feast in part to counter the rising secularism of the 20th Century. And God knows secularism goes about like a roaring lion today. It is good to be reminded who really rules, to rejoice, and to stand firm.

I have fond memories of Christ the King in Oxford. The solemn Te Deum at Pusey House that morning particularly comes to mind. With the choir heartily singing Britten’s Te Deum, it was a rousing and appropriate end to the church year indeed. For those in or near Oxford, I recommend Pusey House this Sunday.

Abomination of the Week

Suggested Caption:
For the “Come as you are!” Eucharist, Mother Agatha vested in one of Grandma’s quilts.

In Praise of Not Getting Baptized

No, I have not suddenly joined the Salvation Army. But I did indeed do something unusual yesterday. I praised a 15-year-old friend for not getting baptized.

It had come to my attention that a number of youth at his large church are getting baptized, but he decided not to because, although he very much likes his church, he is unsure of the exclusive truth claims of Christianity. (Those aren’t his words, of course, but a summary of where he is at the moment.)

So I took the opportunity over lunch to praise him for his decision. That did surprise him a bit and got his attention. I pointed out that baptism is a sign of faith in Christ and in his death and resurrection and that if he does not have that faith yet, he should not get baptized. I said I very much hoped he would come to that faith someday. But that if he wasn’t there yet, then he wasn’t there yet, and should not get baptized. And I commended the honesty and wisdom of his decision to wait.

And I think that is a good approach to doubting youth. Too often, churches, whether they intend to or not, pressure youth to make “decisions for Christ” they really are not yet prepared by the Holy Spirit to make.

And such “decisions” can lead to deadly self-deception. We all know people who show no fruit of Christ in their lives, yet have “assurance” because they “came forward” or the like at a high pressure meeting. Or, among us Anglicans, those who disbelieve the basics of the faith yet, if confronted on that, assert with indignation, “I’ve been baptized.”

Better that we help youth to be sure about their faith (and have some degree of confidence in their faith ourselves) before encouraging them to receive baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The sacraments should be occasions of faith, not of self-deception. Obviously, priests and other church workers cannot read minds. There will always be those who receive sacraments in a faithless and unworthy manner no matter how careful ministers are in that regard. But we can certainly seek to avoid pushing people to do so.

So with youth and other seekers who are not yet sure about their faith, we should be there to love them with Christ’s love, ready to use every good opportunity to teach and to witness (as I cleverly did with the young friend’s decision not to get baptized) and to answer questions. But we should not pressure any to make “decisions” or to receive sacraments when the accompanying faith is not yet there.

And, yes, this issue is an issue when it comes to infant baptism. Unlike my pre-Anglican days, I am all for infant baptism when the parents are committed to raising their child in the faith. But a possible side effect, if you will, of infant baptism is the self-deception of “I’ve been baptized.”

And that is a side effect for which I have no antidote. With God all things are possible. But the witness of scripture and of experience is that those who have received the sacraments without faith are in a bad way indeed. Let us do our best not to push any into that way – even to the point of encouraging some not to get baptized.

Novel and Blog Update

Yesterday morning was a special one for me. I completed yet another a rewrite of my novel, Pilot Point. In addition to the excitement that brings, I hope to be able to spend more of my writing time and energy on this blog. Perhaps more thoughtful and creative posts are on the way?

As for today, I am quite busy. And the holidays are upon us. And I will pushing to get my novel actually published in the weeks and months ahead. (Please pray!) But for those patient readers who desire more reflection and less ranting from this blog, there is hope.

Well, I would not hope too much for less ranting.

Oh, but I just might post an excerpt or two from Pilot Point.

Taxpayers Get Shafted in GM IPO.

As if the Obama Administration has not ripped off the taxpayers enough already with the GM bail-out, the regime is doing it again. The feds are selling off their shares of GM in an IPO this week. And it is expected to go well.

But if you are thinking that you, the U. S. taxpayers can make back some money by participating in the IPO, you probably have to think again. The average guy cannot participate, and many brokers, including the one I use and Schwab among others, are cut out of the deal altogether.

So us taxpayers foot the bill for the GM bail-out, but we do not get to make some money back by participating in the IPO? That is an outrage.

And it is not only Democrats who have shafted taxpayers that way. I remember way back when the feds privatized Conrail in an IPO under Reagan. Although taxpayers subsidized Conrail for years, most, including me, could not get any shares in the IPO. I still have not forgiven Elizabeth Dole, the Secretary of Transportation at the time.

Maggie Thatcher knew how to do privatizations right. If Joe UK Taxpayer wanted shares in an IPO of, say British Telecom, he got some. And that is the way it should be. If your taxes went to bail-out or subsidize a business, you should get to participate in the privatization.

An important benefit of her policy: when Thatcher became Prime Minister, 3 million British were private shareholders; when she left, the number was over 11 million. She gave working people a real share in corporate profits far more than the Labour Party ever did.

But instead, the policy of the Obama Administration is to force taxpayers to bail out GM and its unions, then stiff-arm those same taxpayers in the privatization.

So how does it feel to get shafted twice over?


MORE:
Past GM bondholders are ticked, too. Behind one of the paywalls at thestreet.com, the normally mild-mannered Tim Melvin fumes:

The more chatter I hear about the GM IPO this week the angrier I get. As a former GM bond holder who took a haircut in favor of the government in the unions I have a question. If this deal is so successful how about you give me back some of the money you took from me and other bond holders against not just my wishes but the basic concepts of contract law? How about just a favorable allocation of stock to those of us who were dumb enough to lend the company money thinking the basics of the bond indenture and bankruptcy laws made our investment safe? Maybe I could flip my shares to all the taxpayers who are shut out of the deal in the aftermarket for enough of a gain of partially offset my losses!

And seeing how Obama favored the unions who helped bring GM down over the bondholders in blatant violation of contract law, I share his anger.

Whither the Primates Meeting? (Or Here We Go Again.)

There is not a little confusion in the Anglican blogosphere, summarized well here, about whether the Archbishop of Canterbury will convene the Primates Meeting in January and, if so, in what form.

One thing is somewhat clear. Rowan Williams is thinking (or has thought) about pulling another indaba on the Primates by having small group meetings instead of one big Primates Meeting. If he does so proceed, the GAFCON Primates must not allow him to pull that off with any success. For to do so would allow Dr. Williams continued success in two aims:

1. Dr. Williams has bent over backwards over the years to avoid disciplining The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. This is a big reason he turned Lambeth into a big indaba. It is a big reason for his current deliberations about the January Primates Meeting.

2. Since the Primates Meeting has been the Instrument of Communion most desirous of actual church discipline (in part because it is not stacked toward the West like the other instruments), he has worked to undermine it in his typical passive-aggressive manner. Indabaing the Primates Meeting would further serve that end.

I therefore hope the GAFCON Primates require either that --Schori not be invited to the Primates Meeting or that there be a vote of the Primates on expelling her. And, yes, “require” means walking out or not coming if that condition is not met.

They should also insist that ++Canterbury’s continual undermining of the Primates Meeting end forthwith. Though there may be nothing wrong with small group meetings beforehand, disintegrating the Primates Meeting itself into small groups should be a non-starter.

Abomination of the Week

The Celebrant did his best to follow the godly example of the Presiding Bishop and ignore the vomit on the frontal.


Thanks to Bad Vestments for bringing this to our attention . . . I think.

A Pastoral Letter from the Bishop of Ebbsfleet

In the wake of his decision to resign his CofE bishopric and join the coming Ordinariate, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, Andrew Burnham, has written a pastoral letter. +Andrew usually writes and speaks with a cheerful tone, and there are hints of that here. But this letter is a sad one, as is appropriate.

I am sad that I will no longer be able to have communion with Bishop Andrew. And that is one thing I abhor about the Roman Catholic Church. Yes, I know “abhor” is a strong word, and am hesitant to use it. I respect the RCC, have worshipped with it, wish it God’s best, and pray for it everyday. But if I were to fly to England right now, I could have communion with Andrew Burnham as I did with joy back in 2007. But after December 31st, even though neither his orthodoxy nor mine will have changed, we will not be able to have communion due to RCC strictures. And that is very sad . . . and very wrong.

OUTRAGE: Illinois Demorats Delay Seating Sen. Kirk

When Senator Mark Kirk (And I will say Senator and not Senator-elect because he is the legitimate Senator now.) was elected to Obama’s old seat on November 2nd, it was a special election to finish an incomplete term. Therefore he is to represent Illinois immediately in the pending lame duck session of Congress.

But Illinois Democrats are hamstringing that process. The state says they cannot seat him until after Thanksgiving due to paperwork. Yeah, riiiiight. And that even though Kirk won by more the 70,000 votes and his opponent has graciously conceded.

Since in the current lame duck Senate, Kirk could be a possible 41st vote to prevent cloture and stop Democrat legislation, this delay is neither trivial nor symbolic. It echoes Massachusetts Demorats’ delaying the seating of Scott Brown in order to assist the passage of Obamacare.

Mayrant takes the words out of my mouth. This is a great example of what I hate about Democrats.

Senate Republicans should not let Democrats get away with this. They should shut down the Senate for all but uncontroversial matters until Kirk is seated.

Five Anglican Bishops Resign to Cross the Tiber UPDATED

Five bishops in the Church of England have announced they are resigning in order to join the upcoming Roman Catholic Ordinariate. Their statement may be found here.

That CofE bishops were going to resign is no surprise although the talk over the weekend was that only two were announcing resignations at this time.

Andrew Burnham resigning is particularly not a surprise. He is has been quite open about his desire to cross the Tiber. Nevertheless, his resignation is a loss to Anglicanism.

I remember sharing breakfast with him at Pusey House (toast and jam, of course). He was relaxed, affable, straight-spoken, and humble, definitely not your typical bishop. In fact, it was someone else who informed me who he was.

I am still benefiting from his clear-spoken erudition as I read Heaven and Earth in Little Space.

The Church of England and Anglicanism needs men like him even if the Church of England shows little sign of knowing it.

MORE:
The blog of Sevenoaks, St. John the Baptist is following this matter closely. Among other things, there is an abundance of links.

Here We Go Again

What do Democrats do when they narrowly lose the voting? Why, find a “missing” bag of ballots from a corrupt Democrat county so they can win the counting! They pulled this off in Washington State to steal a governor’s mansion a few years back.

Now they are at it again in Connecticut.

Gulag UK Makes Children Pay

The past Labour government rammed laws down the throats of the British requiring that adoption agencies adopt to gays and unmarried couples. Let me be clear, Labour did not merely allow agencies to adopt to gays and unmarried couples, but required them to do so. The inevitable result was that Christian adoption agencies were given the difficult choice of somehow defying the law or shutting down. Many shut down. And now children are paying for Labour’s secularist orthodoxy:

Last year, some 4,655 children were adopted in England and Wales, 15 per cent fewer than the peak of 5,477 in 2002, the Office for National Statistics said.

The reduction, to the lowest level for 11 years, follows reforms intended to give couples from a far wider range of backgrounds the legal right to adopt children.

I warned almost four years ago that Labour was putting the gay agenda above the welfare of children. I am sad to say I was right.

What is also sad, outrageous really, is that the current “Conservative” PM Cameron also backed Labour’s gay adoption laws. So he, too, can hardly be relied upon to do the right thing in this area.

Meanwhile, children wait . . .

About That Other California Prop (and George Soros)

No, this isn’t about that pot prop. This is about Proposition 20, which I’m glad to say passed. Yes, California actually did something right on Election Day, man.

Proposition 20 has a citizen’s commission do redistricting for congressional districts. (That is already the case for legislative districts.) Why is that important? California’s congressional delegation is one of the most gerrymandered in the nation. Politicians have *creatively* drawn districts to protect incumbents and elect Democrats.

Ever wonder why California sends so many Leftists and loons to Washington? Well, it is California, yes. But gerrymandering makes it worse. The districts are almost as absurd as the congressmen they elect. Taking redistricting out of the hands of politicians should make the districts slightly less silly.

An interesting cross-section of groups supported Prop 20, including some left-of-center groups such as Common Cause and the CA NAACP.

Prop 27 was also on the ballot. It would have returned redistricting to the politicians. It failed, I’m glad to report.

By the way, George Soros supported Prop 27. As if we need more proof he is evil incarnate. Yep, he is still busy trying to rig democracy.

Voter Intent for Me, Not for Thee UPDATED

There is about to be one messy count of the write-in votes in the Alaska Senate race. But certain votes will not be counted:

Alaska’s Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell, who oversees elections, told the Associated Press that write-in ballots for Miller will be tossed out.

Campbell just happens to be an ally of the Murkowski clan.

Remember this when “voter intent” is cited to count all manner of misspellings for Princess Lisa.

UPDATE:
It appears Campbell is backing down and that write-in votes for Joe Miller will count.

A hat tip to Mark Levin's twitter feed for alerting me.

Another Carnahan Election Theft?

Last night, observant readers may have noticed my disdain for the Carnahan political family in Missouri. My contempt goes back to Widow Carnahan’s stolen Senate election against John Ashcroft. Well, the Carnahans may have done it again. Some St. Louis precincts just happened to come in late to put Russ Carnahan over in the MO-3 race. That after the Voter Verification System just happened to go down. And that after the St. Louis Board of Elections just happened to use Special Services, a security firm having a long relationship with the Carnahan family. Special Services indeed.

Now could these “just happens” be only “just happens”? Could this election be legit? Maybe. I don’t know enough to know one way or the other. But it sure doesn’t pass the smell test. And Ed Martin is contesting the results as he should.

Oh. And Robin Carnahan is the Secretary of State with responsibility over elections. Thank God she will not be a U. S. Senator.

GOP More Conservative and More Diverse

After last night, Republican office holders as a whole are more conservative and more diverse than last decade’s version of the GOP.

I am particularly glad to see we now look less like a bunch of crackers. Strong Black conservatives Tim Scott and Alan West are now congressmen. Hispanic Republicans Brian Sandoval and Suzanna Martinez are now governors. And Marco Rubio is Senator-Elect from Florida and a star already.

In a country where Obama and Democrats try to inflame ethnic divisions for political gain, last night’s results are a healthy development.

But, but, I thought us Tea Party Republicans were supposed to be raaaaacist. Apparently not.

I may further address GOP gains among Hispanics in a separate post.

Rossi-Murray Update

Although Patty Murray *spit* is still ahead, by 14,000 votes at the moment, the count in the Washington U. S. Senate is far from over, largely because of its mail-in system – a method that is asking for vote fraud. But anyway, here is the best explanation I’ve seen of where things stand, even if it is a few hours old:

With 65 percent of “precincts reporting” (nearly all voting is done by mail), Sen. Patty Murray (D) and Dino Rossi (R) are neck and neck:
Murray: 721,742 (50 percent)
Rossi: 707,481 (50 percent)

The remainder of the ballots will be counted in the next several days, but there’s no telling how long it might be before we get an official result. State law mandates a recount if the margin between candidates is less than 2,000 votes.

According to the Secretary of State, there are more than 508,000 remaining ballots to be counted. Exit polling appears to favor Murray slightly; she trails Rossi among independent voters by just eight points, which is less than what a number of pre-election polls had shown. However, the Seattle-area of King County, where Murray draws most of her support, only has 27 percent of the remaining ballots to be counted, according to County Election reports, even though King County accounts for 31 percent of all registered voters in the state. This could bode well for Rossi, as he leads confortably in most other parts of the state.

Yes, I was mistaken last night in saying King County was in.

Also, Buck is narrowly behind in Colorado again with 87.7% of the precincts reporting. I got happy too soon on that one.

Live on Election Night!

Well here goes with the live blogging. I can promise it will not be orderly. I will blog what most grabs my interest on this important night. And, remember, it’s my blog, and I’ll rant if I want to.

A few polls have closed, but no results that stand out to me just yet.
5:21pm CDT

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Something encouraging and possibly very important. Most of the indications I’ve seen so far today, which are admittedly very anecdotal, indicate that Republican areas have turned out to vote today more than Democrat areas.

Now come whispers that exit polls indicate that turn out gap may be more than anecdotal. I don’t rely on exit polls at all, but still . . .

In Delaware, the Coons camps has expressed concern about their turnout, for what it’s worth.
5:34pm

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The early House results are encouraging so far. As Nate Silver notes, the Republicans are kicking some rear in Indiana. And in Virginia 11, Griffith is looking good against Boucher so far. The fivethirtyeight cheat sheet has this as one that would indicate a big red night. Virginia 5 (Perriello-D vs Hurt-R) is very close so far though. And Republicans were supposed to pick that one up.
6:49pm

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Virginia 5 isn’t so close anymore. Hurt-R is up by about 10,000.
6:53pm

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Fox has already called Marco Rubio a winner in Florida.

That brings back one of those small memories that stick in the mind for some reason. I was out slowly driving down Flour Bluff when I heard the radio talking about Crist appointing a crony to keep the Senate seat warm for him. Crist winning that Senate seat was a foregone conclusion back then. And I felt resigned to that outcome. It put a damper on an otherwise pleasant night.

Wow, how things have changed. Crist is not just losing. Crist is history, he has so alienated people with his orange chameleon act. Good riddance. And thank you, Marco Rubio!
7:06pm

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Those of you who see the early returns from Texas 25 and Texas 27 and think Lloyd Doggett and Solobama Ortiz are going down, don’t get too excited. In 25, the People’s Republic of Travis Co. (Austin) hasn’t reported any numbers yet. In 27, most of the votes are from Nueces Co. where Farenthold-R would be expected to do well. And the returns are quite early in both.

If the Demorats do lose these, believe me, I will let you know. I will be more excited than a Pentecostal.
7:40pm

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Grrr. The State of Texas election site has gone down. Heavy traffic I’m sure.

And is it me, or is the Fox coverage boring and tedious?
7:46pm

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Whoa. Fox just called the House for the Republicans with a gain of around 60 seats.

FWIW, I am not that confident just yet.
8:13pm

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Well, NBC has projected a 58 seat gain. Hmm.

North Carolina is not participating. Don’t see any red gains there yet although Price-D vs. Lawson-R is close for now. By the way, David Price was a prof of mine at Duke. No, he was not that good.
8:23pm

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Toomey-Sestak in PA is worrying me. It would be sickening to lose that one.

I also fear America is becoming even more divided. Unless I’m missing something, the Northeast is not riding the Republican wave.
8:37pm

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Looking at Texas 27, I’m thinking if Solobama Ortiz holds on to his seat, he will have Libertarian Ed Mishou to thank – the idiot.
8:42pm

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In PA 11, I’m surprised to see Kanjorski-D go down by a substantial margin. He is a long time incumbent and not that obnoxious. Even I almost like him.

I might have spoken too soon about North Carolina. In the 2nd district Elmers-R vs. Etheridge-D is very close.
9:17pm

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Folks, I think Blake Farenthold will beat Solobama Ortiz in Texas 27. The early vote totals are finally all in. And Farenthold is up by over 4000 in those. On the election day vote, Democrat Cameron Co. has not reported. But only two precincts in Republican San Patricio Co. have reported. So it is looking good. This would be quite an upset.

Ortiz was first elected in 1982.
9:29pm

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In Nueces Co., Texas (Corpus Christi), two Democrat state House incumbents may be going down. One of them is Solobama, Jr. If the Ortiz machine would come crashing down tonight, it would be a beautiful thing.

But Solobama Ortiz, Sr. is doing very well in Cameron Co. Farenthold leads Texas 27 by just over 1000 with most of Cameron Co. still out. Most of San Patricio is still out as well and will offset some of the Cameron Democrat vote.
9:43pm

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Toomey just took the lead in PA! Up by 4000 with 85% in. 11,000 now with 89% in! Rural PA may be putting him over.
9:47pm

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House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) goes down. You think not actually putting out a budget might have hurt?
9:53pm

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Mark Kirk taking the lead in Illinois now. Maybe the Mafia won’t get a senator after all.
9:55pm

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Toomey’s lead is over 30,000 with 91% in. Yes, I am excited about this!
9:59pm

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Ugg, Fox projects for Boxer. California should be ashamed. Disgusting.
10:00pm

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Just heard Elko, Nevada is having trouble with long lines. I think Elko is Republican. So maybe a good sign for Angle. That Nevada race has me nervous by the way. Reid is not called Dirty Harry for nothing.

As for Texas 27, the results seem stuck. I haven’t noticed new numbers in almost a half hour. The Libertarian has just under 5% of the vote. Again, if Solobama Ortiz squeaks through, you know whom to thank.

I doubt I will sleep well tonight.
10:20pm

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I haven’t said much about it, but I soooooo want Patty Murray beat. I have detested that baby-killing Leftist for decades. *calms down* Having said that, she is ahead by over 40,000, but King County (Seattle) has already reported. So there is hope.
10:37pm

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Wow. Kasich came from behind to win the Ohio Governor’s race.

In MO-3, Ed Martin has pulled narrowly ahead of Russ Carnahan. Robin Carnahan got beat in the Senate race. I would love to see the sleazy Carnahan family wiped off the political map.
10:56pm

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FINALLY, some more numbers came in on Texas 27. The good news: Farenthold has increased his lead some to over 2000 votes. The bad news: San Patricio is all in, and no new numbers have come in from Democrat Cameron Co. And this is South Texas folks. Remember Duval Co. and Landslide Lyndon? Democrat Counties which are slow to report make me nervous.
11:02pm

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Fox has joined AP in calling PA for Toomey. Yea!
11:12pm

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Democrat State Reps Abel Herrero and Solobama Ortiz, Jr. have indeed been beat in Corpus Christi, Texas.

And Fox has called Illinois for Mark Kirk (R) over Giannoulias (Mafia). That was Obama’s seat. Rove rightly points out that Illinois Democrats have only themselves to blame for not holding a special election earlier when Obama was more popular.
11:20pm

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Fox projects Nevada for Harry Reid. Disgusting.
11:30pm

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Russ Carnahan (Scumbag) has pulled 500 votes ahead of Ed Martin in MO-3 with 97.1% in.

I don’t trust myself to comment further on that at the moment.
11:34pm

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By the way, I will personally fight a bail-out of California tooth and nail. They keep electing big spending liberals and expect us to pay for their profligate ways? To hell with that.
11:41pm

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Well, I’m going to bed I think. Cameron Co. is still out in that TX-27 I’m sad to say.

But to end on a happy note, Buck has pulled ahead in Colorado as the rural AMERICAN votes are coming. For a while there, he, Kirk, and Toomey looked to be in trouble. It looks like all three are pulling through.

Hold on. . . .

BREAKING: According to the Texas State site, all precincts are now in and BLAKE FARENTHOLD HAS BEATEN SOLOBAMA ORTIZ in Texas 27! With Solobama Jr. losing earlier tonight, the Ortiz Machine has come crashing down!! I’m going to sniff around and verify. . .
11:57pm

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Yes, every precinct has indeed reported and Black Farenthold just tweeted, “Its official. I won by 799 votes. Thank you everyone!”

What a sweet upset! I will sleep well after all.
12:01am

Eugene Robinson Plays the Race Card

Wow, even now that it’s election day, Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post has not gotten the word that the race card is maxed out. Or maybe he does get it in a way. For he plays the race card while feebly trying to appear he is not:

First, I'll state the obvious: It's not racist to criticize President Obama, it's not racist to have conservative views, and it's not racist to join the tea party. But . . .

Here it comes!

. . . there's something about the nature and tone of the most vitriolic attacks on the president that I believe is distinctive -- and difficult to explain without asking whether race is playing a role.

Gosh. I wonder what he will conclude.

Obama has made mistakes that rightly cost him political support. But I can't help believing that the tea party's rise was partly due to circumstances beyond his control -- that he's different from other presidents, and that the difference is his race.

RAAAAAAACISM! Uh, huh.

The Democrats are in denial mode.


MORE:
Victor Hanson takes apart Robinson’s column quite well.

Jonah Goldberg declares it the worst column of the day.

Obama: I “probably” should not have called you “enemies.”

Obama has backed away from his “punish our enemies” comment . . . sorta, kinda: “I probably should have used the word, ‘opponents’ instead of enemies.”

Gosh, you think?

His comment shows he still does not get it how offensive, unpresidential, and inappropriate “punish our enemies” is when referring to patriotic Americans. He thinks he “probably” should not have said that?

His backtracking is weasel words. It is hardly the apology that is called for. And I, for one, will not accept it as such.

And if you think I am hard on “our divisive president,” read what two Democrats have to say.

Political Bloodbath Election Preview

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Frankly, I’ve been as anxious as a kid waiting for Christmas.

And my long-standing prediction of a political bloodbath is looking good. Further, I think matters have gone from bad to worse in the final week for the Democrats. I say that after looking at notable slippage in Obama’s numbers and in a number of individual races. And the last Gallup Poll hints at apocalypse. I think Obama running around and declaring “enemies” and various other Democrat acts of desperation (such as trying to push Meek out of the Florida Senate race) and vote fraud have deepened national revulsion as the campaign concludes.

I may live blog the results tomorrow night. Yes, you may get to watch me rant, agonize, and perhaps even gloat live as it happens. Yes, I know – exciting, tortuous, entertaining or horrifying depending on your point of view.

For those who want something more orderly, a scorecard even, for watching tomorrow night, this cheat sheet may helpful in tracking House returns.

Murkowski, Media Scum Exposed

This has been an eventful weekend in Alaska. First, reporters at a CBS affiliate have been caught plotting against Republican candidate Joe Miller in the most vile way for all the world to hear. Amidst a firestorm, the CBS affiliate’s explanation is lame.

Second, RINO write-in Senator Lisa Murkowski has revealed she might not even be a RINO anymore. She has declined to commit to caucusing with Republicans. Another reminder that the Princess has no principles.

I was very nervous about this Senate race. But I now think disgust at these developments will push Joe Miller to victory. It certainly should.

Abomination of the Week . . . from Oxford

I’m at a loss to describe this abomination in polite terms. And, unlike other abominations, I do not find it amusing. So I’ll just get to the point. Pembroke College, Oxford had a Muslim preach in its chapel:

For the first time in Pembroke College’s 500-year history, a Muslim, Dr Taj Hargey – from the Summertown Islamic Congregation in Oxford – was welcomed to deliver a sermon at its chapel.

The Rev Dr Andrew Teal, of Pembroke College, said he had been trying to get a Muslim Imam to deliver a service at the chapel for many years and he believed it was a first.

“I think what we are doing today is very unusual, certainly it’s the first time I have heard of it being done at the college. . . .

Well, Dr. Teal, there is a reason it had not been done. The chapels at Oxford were founded to be Christian. To have a Muslim preacher contradicts the faith and is surely a gross violation of the foundation of Pembroke if its founding documents are remotely akin to those of other Oxford colleges of long standing. What you have committed, sir, is a betrayal . . . and an abomination.

Thanks to reader St. Nikao for bringing this to my attention.

Obama Slipping Further

For whatever reasons (Perhaps his opening his mouth?), Obama’s numbers are slipping in the final days of the election.

At first, I made a point not to read too much into his slippage in Rasmussen’s Daily Presidential Tracking Poll. Tracking polls have their statistical noise.

But now the decline is unmistakable. Obama’s Approval Index, which nets those who strongly approve and strongly disapprove of Obama’s performance, has slipped 5 points in two days and 10 points in 9 days to -20. You may check the trends in detail here.

At the risk of stating the obvious, this certainly does not bode well for the Democrats.

Democrat Election Theft?

The polls and indications are looking so good one may think the coming political bloodbath cannot be prevented by election fraud. But with several important races still close and with reports of voting “irregularities” around the nation, I am concerned.

In North Carolina, problems include a straight Republican vote being transformed into a straight Democrat vote:

A Craven County voter says he had a near miss at the polls on Thursday when an electronic voting machine completed his straight-party ticket for the opposite of what he intended.

Sam Laughinghouse of New Bern said he pushed the button to vote Republican in all races, but the voting machine screen displayed a ballot with all Democrats checked. He cleared the screen and tried again with the same result, he said. Then he asked for and received help from election staff.

“They pushed it twice and the same thing happened,” Laughinghouse said. “That was four times in a row. The fifth time they pushed it and the Republicans came up and I voted.”

I’ve personally witnessed fishy voter assistance in years past in North Carolina, but this is ridiculous.

Now it appears voting machines don’t like Republican votes in Virginia as well.

In Nevada, matters are worse. I can smell Dirty Harry Reid and his union goons all the way from Texas. A number of Clark County early voters found that Reid was preselected for them. How thoughtful. And I’m sure the fact that SEIU members are the technicians for Clark County voting machines has nothing to do with that. Nothing at all.

Seriously, this bothers me. If several voters are reporting Reid being preselected, no telling how many times that is occurring. Add a close election and reports of Demorat vote buying, and I am very concerned Dirty Harry is stealing this election.

And I could go on. Heck, if I hadn’t voted, I’d get the voter fraud app. In any case, double-check your ballots and verify your vote as much as possible.

Minnesota Democrats Bash Christians

The Minnesota DFL has sent out an interesting mailer against Republican candidate Rev. Dan Hall.

What is interesting about it is that it attacks Christians who do not toe the liberal line and even seems to some to attack the Catholic Church. The front of the mailer is a priest wearing a button that says “Ignore the Poor.”

What a brilliant campaign strategy! . . . for maybe the 1920’s or for certain enclaves in Europe, but not in America today. And I suspect Minnesota Democrats will experience that for themselves on Tuesday.

Obama tells me to “sit in back.” I respond.

Obama, that great “uniter,” was as divisive as ever yesterday:

“We can’t have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.”

Oh. So I “gotta sit in back.”

Allow me to spell some things out to you, Mr. President.

1. You were elected to be President of all the United States. To tell a third or more of America that “they gotta sit in back” is unpresidential and inappropriate. For all his faults, your predecessor, whom you like to blame for your failures, had enough class not to say anything like that.

2. I have no intention of sitting in the back of your bus, sir. Moreover, I will not sit in your bus at all. I am doing all that is in my power to do my part to put up roadblocks to stop your bus before it leads us all off a cliff. And millions of Americans are voting to do likewise. We are not interested in sitting on your bus. It only takes left turns.

And as for those RINOs *coughMurkowskicough* who will not do their part to stop you, I am doing my part to throw them under the bus.

3. You seem to have trouble understanding the concept of “shovel-ready.” (Or, to be more accurate, you used that term to lie to the American people.) Will you understand when I tell you take your bus and SHOVE IT*?


*With thanks to the Democrat nominee for Governor of Rhone Island.

About the Crystal Cathedral Bankruptcy

He who is wedded to the spirit of the age is soon a widower.

The wisdom of this saying is illustrated all too well in the bankruptcy of the Crystal Cathedral.

The Crystal Cathedral was founded in the 1950’s by Robert Schuller, Sr. Schuller was one of the more prominent “positive thinking” preachers popular in the Fifties and Sixties. Heck, I remember watching his Hour of Power as a kid. I did not do that voluntarily, although I admit I liked his goofy smile. So my Mom must have liked him.

And I remember being urged by various people to positive thinking. I was not the most positive kid in the world.

Well, although “positive thinking” was perhaps a precursor to Prosperity Theology, it became passé as many cultural fads do (although it certainly took a while). Then the recession hit the cathedral's income hard in 2009.

I suspect lower contributions were only a symptom of Crystal Cathedral’s problem. Positive thinking preaching became even more discredited as the economy weakened more and more. Positive thinking at least seems to work better during strong economic times, and the Fifties and most of the Sixties were that. Not so much now.

The church must not ignore the culture. She should always seek to address the culture and relate to it. But she should not buy into the culture and especially not wed herself to an aspect of the culture. The Crystal Cathedral did just that and eventually became bankrupt in more ways than one.

Here We Go Again: Democrats up to Vote Fraud

Yes, yes. I realize Democrats engaging in vote fraud may be about as newsworthy as dogs barking. But light is the best disinfectant. And our democracy is at stake. So I will continue to do my part to shed some light on the Democrats efforts to steal elections. And, yes, they are indeed at it again.

So far, the most common tactic that has come to light is stuffing the system with fraudulent registrations in Texas, Arizona and Colorado.

But, of course, there is the usual tactic of abusing absentee ballots such as in Florida and New York.

And I am sure I am only scratching the surface here.

Democrat vote fraud makes it that much more important that right-minded people get out to vote and get right-minded friends and family to vote. We not only have to outvote the opposition, we have to win by margins big enough to overcome vote fraud. It is sad that we are at that point in this country, but we are.

Maybe if we elect enough of the right people, they will do some of the things that are needful to stop vote fraud and protect our democracy.

In a Fog

There is so much to blog about this morning. But I am so sleepy and foggy from allergy medicine, I hardly trust myself to do so.

But now is a good time to remind you that if you don’t get enough of my ranting here, I do have a twitter account linked on the right. I have tweeted this morning.

Have a good weekend. And go Texas Rangers!

Obama Omits “By Their Creator” Yet Again

A month ago, I noted Obama omitted “by their Creator” in quoting the Declaration of Independence. Although I declined to jump to conclusions, I found it disturbing and mentioned speculation that the omission was intentional.

It is no longer speculation.

For the third time, Obama has committed the same omission while (mis)quoting the Declaration of Independence.

An Apology to David Cameron

On this blog, I have not hid my disdain for David Cameron. I thought him a spineless pretty face and hardly a conservative at all.

I was wrong.

Like many, I am shocked by the courage of his first budget. I do not agree with all of it (Who does?!), particularly the capital gains tax hike, but I heartily agree with its massive cuts in government spending and employment. If only Republicans went after big government like that.

I pray his efforts succeed. And I apologize for misjudging him.

Obama the Snob

Yesterday, I briefly mentioned that Obama thinks we are not thinking very clearly because we are “scared.” This suggested to me that he is in denial about the current political situation. It also suggests something else and Michael Gerson unpacks that very well. He is thinking clearly, you might say.

First, a fuller version of Obama’s remarks:

"Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now," he recently told a group of Democratic donors in Massachusetts, "and facts and science and argument [do] not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hard-wired not to always think clearly when we're scared. And the country is scared."

So Obama’s political views are “facts and science and argument.” And his opposition? Their lizard brains are not thinking well because they are “scared.” You see, they are not as evolved as Obama.

As Gerson puts it:

Though there is plenty of competition, these are some of the most arrogant words ever uttered by an American president.

Gerson notes another revealing Obama utterance, from April 2008 before San Francisco donors (By the way, notice how Obama reveals what he really thinks of us before fat cat uberliberals in places like San Fran and Massachusetts?):

"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them."

Gerson then bluntly but correctly concludes that Obama “is an intellectual snob.”

He then wryly says some of his best friends are intellectual snobs, but that “they don’t make very good politicians.” No kidding.

I like Gerson’s conclusion:

Obama may think that many of his fellow citizens can't reason. But they can still vote.

In fact, I just early voted Monday. No, I did not vote for a single Democrat, which is a first for me. You see, I was scared and not thinking very clearly.

Is Obama Losing It?

Some odd behavior from Obama of late makes me wonder if he knows what is about to happen to his power on November 2nd and is having trouble coping with the knowledge.

He seems to be in denial. He refuses to acknowledge that his comeuppance is coming because he took a vast reservoir of good will on his Inauguration and squandered it on unpopular social engineering and massive deficit spending. No, instead he says it is . . . well . . . our fault for being so “scared” that we are not thinking “clearly.”

Not only is Obama in denial and playing the blame game, he is losing his cool. Yes, Our Cool Leader, of all people, seems to be losing his cool. Why do I say that?

These photos.

Now, granted, a well timed (or badly timed) photo can make anyone look a bit silly. But these expressions show a strange anger one would not expect from Obama. I genuinely do not think the man is coping well.

And there are reports that he is battling depression. With his recent appearances gyrating between lifelessness and a strange anger, I believe it.

Pray for Obama . . . and for us.