I’m not sure I agree with the entire piece, but there is something undeniable in Jeffrey Kuhner’s piece Friday in the Washington Times:

[Obama's] proposal seeks to create a centrally planned medical economy that will erect a gigantic government bureaucracy based on massive taxes, subsidies and regulations. Mr. Obama is willing to sacrifice his partys political fortunes in November – and even his own re-election in 2012 – because he understands one fundamental fact: Nationalized health care is the heart of cradle-to-grave statism. No country that has ever embraced socialized medicine – Canada, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy – has ever been able to regain economic freedom.

Basically, his point here is that here’s a lot more than just health care for uninsured at stake here… our freedoms, our opportunities, our free market system is at stake.

Now, the incredible Irony here is that back in 2003, when Obama was a state senator and the issue of abortion came up… Obama’s view was that:

I voted uh, uh, no, on uh,the late term abortion ban not because I don’t recognize that these are not painful issues but because I trust women to make these decisions.  To the degree to which we presume as governments to make decisions in the most intimate, uh, basic, uh, decisions of uh, a individual’s life I think we are making a mistake.

So when it comes to abortion… Government has no role to play AT ALL in the choice of women in their medical decisions.  But when it comes to every other medical decision we face… Obama wants to make sure his breaurocracy, his funding, his rules, his limitations all apply to all of our uh basic, uh, intimate, personal decisions… which is all this health care bill ever was… a piece of legislation designed to force most Americans into giving up control over their health to a health-care system run by Obama.

And you wonder why people are angry.

via KUHNER: The United Socialist States of America – Washington Times.

A friend of mine posted this link on her facebook page a few days ago.  Without going into great detail, the article (written by Mark Lux) is basically a litany of stereotypes by a self-described “progressive” lamenting how backwards and frightening the modern conservative movement seems to him.  I’m not sure if my friend found it convincing or just interesting, but I thought it might be worthwhile to pass my comments along to the rest of you.  Here is a segment of my response:

I love how he starts… he puts forth his credentials as someone capable of critiquing the Conservative movement because he “flirted” with being a Republican when he was 8 years old…

He then makes the most absurd claim imaginable… that REPUBLICANS were anti civil rights (when in fact it was Lincon, a Republican, who freed the slaves… and it was Democrats who voted in far greater percentages against the Civil Rights bill than Republicans ever did. [Wikipedia people]).

He then goes on to label terrorists in Guantanamo as “political prisoners”… (political prisoners even Obama can’t seem to be able to give a trial … or release for that matter)…

He then goes on to quote the BIBLE… interpreting calls for personal generosity as some dictate for state-based welfare redistribution (while ignoring the fact Conservatives are *empirically* far more generous than liberals in terms of charitable giving)… interpreting freedom from spiritual bondage with freedom for terrorist detainees… and forgiveness of sins with (presumably) mortgage forgiveness.

Wow… talk about being out-of-touch.

Thank God for the british press.  From The Daily Mail:

for the past 15 years… there has been no “statistically significant” warming… according to Professor Phil Jones… former director of the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit.

Wait… I thought there was a “consensus” on warming.  Looks like there is a lot more complexity to the issue than people are willing to admit.

For those of you who are unaware, I read the Wall Street Journal Editorial pages with near religious relgularity… (In fact, it is not at all unusual for me to collect weeks worth of back-issues and finish them off on a nice long reading session at the local coffee shop… but I digress).

Nevertheless, I read the paper for a reason… within its pages contain some of the most enjoyable and thought-provoking articles and ideas in printed media.  As I was looking through the February 6th issue, a particular article caught my eye–it was titled “Before I die”… and as I skimmed the subtitle I discovered that this article was actually written in 1938 by a 17 year old student by the name of N.J. Carpenter.  As I began to read his words, I could only help but think how wonderful it was that such an innocent mind could be so honest about life… how such a young person could have such a clear view of what really matters in life… and what does not… and perhaps most importantly, what constitutes a life well-lived.

I would hope copyright law would allow me to quote a short excerpt for the benefit of the reader.  He begins with an introduction:

It may seem very strange to the reader that one of my tender age should already be thinking about that inevitable end to which even the paths of glory lead. However, this essay is not really concerned with death, but rather with life, my future life. I have set down here the things which I, at this age, believe essential to happiness and complete enjoyment of life. Some of them will doubtless seem very odd to the reader; others will perhaps be completely in accord with his own wishes. At any rate, they compose a synopsis of the things which I sincerely desire to have done before I leave this world and pass on to the life hereafter or to oblivion…

He then talks about one of life’s most universal desires — the desire for love..

Before I die there is another great desire I must fulfill, and that is to have felt a truly great love…  [i know that] my life will not be complete until I have actually experienced that burning flame and know that I am at last in love, truly in love.  I want to feel that my whole heart and soul are set on one girl whom I wish to be a perfect angel in my eyes…  I know that when I am at last really in love then I will start living a different, better life, filled with new pleasures that I never knew existed…

And finally, and perhaps most amazingly, he desires to feel great sorrow… a telling admission that shows, in my opinion, a profound insight into the human heart…

It is my belief that, as in the case of love, no man has lived until he has felt sorrow.  It molds us and teaches us that there is a far deeper significance to life than might be supposed if one passed through this world forever happy and carefree.

I’m not sure if this is at all relevant, but it is perhaps for this reason that Jesus tells us on the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.”

Of all the things I have read this year… this piece is, without doubt, one of the most worthwhile… feel free to read the whole thing.

While it starts a bit on the slow side, this interview with Christopher Hitchens is superb.  One thing in particular that stuck me was how I feel his attitude towards religious believers — particularly Christian believers — has seemed to moderate somewhat over the past few years.  While Hitchens sill sees religion as a problem in the sense that he does not see how such beliefs can exist within a secular, democratic system without the danger of those very beliefs being “imposed” on everyone else, it seems to me he has found a certain bit of humility and has developed a curiosity of sorts at the scores of very intelligent people who have looked at the arguments in favor of and against the existence of God and have decided that they find God’s existence to be a more convincing argument.  Gone are the disparaging remarks about his intellectual equals (which are few and far between to be sure) who disagree with him.  Gone is the rhetoric about how religion is irredeemably destructive to society.  Perhaps there is still some hope for Hitchens after all!

For those of you who “regularly” read my blog… I apologize, I have nearly abandoned my passion for political commentary and nuanced discussion due to my hectic work schedule, my desire for fellowhip, and a series of unfortunate events that have taken alot out of me the past 6 months.  You will be pleased to know then that I hope to resume blogging on a much more regular schedule from this day forward.

I did want to pass along a short story, however, in the hopes that it might be just as much of an encouragement to you as it has been to me.  Today at work, a co-worker handed me a book and thought I would get a kick out of the rather crazy writing style of the author (which is itself almost an oxymoron when it comes to books about marketing… but I digress)

In a chapter discussing experimentation and failure in the business world, he referred to a quote by Michael Jordan… it really floored me:

I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.  I’ve lost almost 300 games.  26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life…

… and that is why I succeed.

- Michael Jordan

There is some degree of comfort to be garnished from someone who has failed so often… but who has persevered through those failures to become a success… I think we can all learn from that.

Some Guy named Jake does a pretty good job explaining what’s wrong with the “coexist” bumpersticker.

Click here

also read his case for infant baptism… rather interesting stuff.

I found out something interesting over the weekend.  From the Washington Times:

It turns out that Harry Reid using the ‘N’ word in reference to Obama’s dialect (or lack thereof) is actually a statement “[I]n the context of saying positive things about Senator Obama” — according to Tim Kaine, DNC Chair.

Um… O.K.

So as long as we are using the N word in a *positive* context… and you are a Democrat… you are cool.  Everybody forgives you.  The Media accepts your apology and moves on.  Grace is extended to you and explanations of how you “really meant to say it in a positive context” are proffered from Liberal leadership.  If, on the other hand, you are Trent Lott, and you tell an old congressman that you are proud of him for his accomplishments… you are unquestionably a racist…  no apologies or excuses could possibly suffice.

Harry Reid should resign… Immediately.

I can’t decide whether to love or lothe this sort of prose.   It’s… it’s just SO READABLE.

America is a constant tug-of-war between order and chaos. When you smoke, that just shines out at you as a fact. People glare. They hustle past. Nonsmokers. Bah! To them, my smoking represents lawless inconsideration. The brainlessness of an animal. The order of the world once lay in the absolute calming pleasure of the smoke. But they reordered it, and now smoking is the upset, the smokers stand on street corners, at the fringe of everything, stamping their dead soldiers against their shoe bottoms. When I drive past, I feel them. That’s my country right there. They remind me of the updraft, of the stovepipe of heat, they make me want to smoke! And yes, I even like the coughing. I actually like the hurt in the chest plate. It lights up my brain. It sets me into a state. But — that’s just because I’m new to it. For a real smoker, it provides calm, it provides order against the chaos of their lives. Columbus! He didn’t discover anything, except cigarettes. There were no cigarettes in Europe before him. That fucking guy. And the Puritans! Those guys made rules. They wanted to lay order on the land and stamp out what they didn’t understand. That’s the smoking-ban people. Puritans. Black and white. Smoking is the essential American rip — the need for moral order versus the instinct for exploration.

It’s a long article… but it’s worth reading…  via First Time Smokers – How to Start Smoking Cigarettes – Esquire.

I couldn’t have said it better myself:

Notice that Washington is pictured as the heart of nation, where tired, oxygen-depleted blood is replenished and returned to the hinterland. Its a perfect illustration of the worldview of the Left.

via The Beating Heart of America – Mark Krikorian – The Corner on National Review Online.

Wow.  Howard Dean and I finally agree on something… we both want to kill the health-care bill (albeit for different reasons).

Can it really be worth voting for if Howard Dean and Rush Limbaugh are on the same side of the fence?

Health-care bill wouldnt bring real reform – washingtonpost.com.

Public-Sector employes and Unions are bleeding our country dry… creating a two-tiered system where those in the Public sector enjoy salaries, benefits, and leisure time far in excess of their private-sector counterparts.  From the City Journal:

The old deal seemed fair: public employees would earn lower salaries than Americans working in the private sector, but would receive a somewhat better retirement and more days off. Now, public employees get higher average pay, far higher benefits, and many more days off and other fringe benefits. They have also obtained greatly reduced work schedules, thus limiting public services even as pay and benefits shoot ever higher…

The story doesn’t end with the imbalance in pay and benefits. Government workers also enjoy absurd protections. The Los Angeles Times did a recent series about the city’s public school district, which doesn’t even try to fire incompetent teachers and is seldom able to get rid of those credibly accused of misconduct or abuse. Misbehaving teachers are sometimes kept from teaching, but they may spend years, even a decade, getting paid while they fight attempts to fire them…

The media have finally started to take notice… News reports have also focused on scandals at CalPERS, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which has faced record losses after making risky leveraged investments in bizarre real-estate deals. (The government pension system encourages such risky behavior: with defined-benefit systems, union members stand to gain if the investments go well, while taxpayers shoulder the burden if they don’t.) Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported on a politically connected insider who received $53 million in finder’s fees from CalPERS, raising questions of pay-to-play deals.

But the real scandal is a two-tier society where government workers enjoy benefits far in excess of those for whom they supposedly work. It’s past time to start cleaning up the mess by reforming retirement systems and limiting the public unions’ power. If we don’t, California’s financial problems will become insurmountable.

via Plundering California by Steven Greenhut, City Journal 23 November 2009.