Find out what YOU look like @ Personas | Metropath(ologies) | An installation by Aaron Zinman.

[T]he Sotomayor nomination shows that Mr. Obama has no idea what a post-racial society would look like. In selling himself as a candidate to the American public he is a gifted bargainer beautifully turned out in post-racial impressionism. But in the real world of Supreme Court nominations, where there is a chance to actually bring some of that idealism down to earth, he chooses a hardened, divisive and race-focused veteran of the culture wars he claims to transcend.

I have called Mr. Obama a bound man because he cannot win white support without bargaining and he cannot maintain minority support without playing the very identity politics that injure him with whites. The latter form of politics is grounded in being what I call a challenger — i.e., someone who presumes that whites are racist until they prove otherwise by granting preferences of some kind to minorities.

via Sotomayor and the Politics of Race – WSJ.com.

Here is an excerpt from a New York Times article five years ago:

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago…

The new agency would have the authority… to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies… and it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ”The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

”I don’t see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,” Mr. Watt said.

Thank you; Barney Frank, Melvin Watt, and the rest of the Congressional Democrats. But this isn’t the end of the story. Not ONLY did Democrats stonewall regulatory reform of both institutions, but they also enacted legislation which created greater risk to both instiutiion’s portfolios.

The untold story in this whole national crisis is that President Clinton put on steroids the Community Redevelopment Act, a well-intended Carter-era law designed to encourage minority homeownership. And in so doing, he helped create the market for the risky subprime loans that he and Democrats now decry as not only greedy but “predatory.”

Yes, the market was fueled by greed and overleveraging in the secondary market for subprimes, vis-a-vis mortgaged-backed securities traded on Wall Street. But the seed was planted in the ’90s by Clinton and his social engineers. They were the political catalyst behind this slow-motion financial train wreck.

What can we say, then? Basically, Democrats concerned about creating “affordable housing” — in other words, using quazi-government institutions to essentially provide well-fare to low income families in the form of below-market loans– created a pyramid-scheme where by increased home-buyers caused housing inflation–which allowed for the sub-prime loans to work–which caused more people to get subprime loans… which crashed the financial system when housing prices hit a market limit. In other words, ‘concerned liberals’ under the guise of providing low-income loans created a monster–a financial system built around loans that were never designed to be repaid.

Look where “good intentios” gets us… well, it gets us with the most expensive taxpayer bailout in US History. And we keep electing these jokers. It’s just a matter of time before Medicare, Medicade, and Social Security meet the same fate, Folks… let’s not let “concerned” democrats ruin our economy again.

So Obama gave this speech in Berlin… here’s exactly what I thought when reading through it… you won’t get a clearer picture in to my mind than this folks…

I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen – a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.

YO, Germans! Don’t worry, I’m not a hard-core American Exceptionalist… we’re cooo… and I totally would have made this speech even if I weren’t a candidate for president… nobody would have came to hear me… but I totally would have done it… my candidacy had absolutely NOTHING to do with it. Just a normal citizen… making a speech… right up.

I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father – my grandfather – was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.

By the way, I’m black (didn’t know if you knew that, so I thought I’d mention it)… and I’ve got European blood in my family… sort of… fyi.

At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning – his dream – required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.

That is why I’m here.

Well, actually, I’m kind of hear for campaign purposes… to prove I’m no newbie on foreign policy…

And you are here because you too know that yearning.

Or maybe because the 2 most popular German Bands gave free shows… but I’ll just assume you would have came anyway… I AM Barack Obama, after all. I’m a rock Staaarrr!

This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. And you know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women from both of our nations came together to work, and struggle, and sacrifice for that better life.

I’m not too kean on Americans and Iraqi’s struggling to accomplish the same dream though… It’s just so not-cool anymore.

Ours is a partnership that truly began sixty years ago this summer, on the day when the first American plane touched down at Templehof…

This is where the two sides met. And on the twenty-fourth of June, 1948, the Communists chose to blockade the western part of the city…

The size of our forces was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin.

All this talk though about radical Islam taking over the Middle East and Europe…. OVERRATED.

**editors note** Obama, you IDOT… you don’t see the same threat Radical Islam posed and the incredible DANGER posed by retreating from Iraq??? How on earth can you use this analogy without grave self-reflection on YOUR Iraq policy positions–policies which would have left Iraq and the Middle East in the very thralls of it’s OWN civil war???? You think retreat from Berlin would have been a disaster but from Iraq would have been the RIGHT THING???? You’re KIDDING me, right!???

And that’s when the airlift began – when the largest and most unlikely rescue in history brought food and hope to the people of this city.

The odds were stacked against success. In the winter, a heavy fog filled the sky above, and many planes were forced to turn back without dropping off the needed supplies…

But in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning.

It wasn’t the 300 tons of food and supplies flown into the country EVERY DAY by British and American servicemen that kept the flame of hope burning… no, it was the people of Berlin–flaming that flame of hope with their own scrap wood they burned to stay warm….

The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city’s mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. “There is only one possibility,” he said. “For us to stand together united until this battle is won… The people of Berlin have spoken.

Pope John Paul the Second? President Regan’s economic and military buildup plan and his “tear down this wall” speech? Pleeeassee… those people were barely involved with the fall of the Berlin wall! ANY historian will tell you it was the people and Mayor of Berlin that caused the wall to fall.

We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty. People of the world: now do your duty…People of the world, look at Berlin

Don’t look at Iraq though… or America for OUR role in “keeping the flame of hope burning”…whatever you do… DON’T LOOK. Because when all is said and done… America just is far more flawed than Germany on these important issues of human freedom…

Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle.

Look at Berlin, where the determination of a people met the generosity of the Marshall Plan and created a German miracle; where a victory over tyranny gave rise to NATO, the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.

Look at Berlin, where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our common humanity.

(*thinks to himself*) Except if that Humanity is Arabic…

People of the world – look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.

Sixty years after the airlift, we are called upon again. History has led us to a new crossroad, with new promise and new peril. When you, the German people, tore down that wall – a wall that divided East and West; freedom and tyranny; fear and hope – walls came tumbling down around the world. From Kiev to Cape Town, prison camps were closed, and the doors of democracy were opened.

**editors note*** YOU THINK??? and who has been responsible for all this freedom and market stuff??? MAYBE IRAQ MIGHT BE one example of this????

Markets opened too, and the spread of information and technology reduced barriers to opportunity and prosperity. While the 20th century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history.

The fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope. But that very closeness has given rise to new dangers – dangers that cannot be contained within the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.

The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

**editors note** REALLY! cars in boston are causing droughts in Kansas… huh, Obama must have taken more science classes than I!

Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all.

What? Did you say the genocide against the Kurds in Northen Iraq after the first Gulf War… ooo, that wasn’t GENOCIDE, that was just… ooo… a military operation… or something…

In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats, or escape responsibility in meeting them. Yet, in the absence of Soviet tanks and a terrible wall, it has become easy to forget this truth. And if we’re honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny.

In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe’s role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth – that Europeans today are bearing new burdens and taking more responsibility in critical parts of the world; and that just as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe.

**Editor’s Note** try supporting it when we DO make these sacrifices around the globe… put your money where your mouth is.

Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more – not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.

** where’s the nuance here? it’s your way or the highway??? you’re kidding me?!

That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.

**no… the greatest danger is if YOU ruin the credibility and undermine the power of the ONE thing keeping our common “humanity” safe… the US military.

This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO’s first mission beyond Europe’s borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.

But we can totally turn back from Iraq… I know we’ve invested more like… American DOLLARS into it… but I’m really talking about a political and personal stake my party and I have in Afghanistan.

This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons

Ya, nuclear weapons brought about the end of WWII… and helped end the Cold war (which I just praised both our countries for winning)… but I can’t POSSIBLY imagine how we will ever need a trump card like THAT again…

This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably.

In other words, i like and want to control the wealth of free markets for my own political advantage…

This is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the Middle East.

I know my entire primary campaign was based on ignoring the call… but that’s just politics..

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

Sure, equality isn’t really an American virtue… it’s really more a socialist virtue… but I think it SHOULD BE an American virtue..

People of Berlin – and people of the world – the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. Let us build on our common history, and seize our common destiny, and once again engage in that noble struggle to bring justice and peace to our world.

WOW… I mean.. this guy… just has NO fundamental beliefs… He’s been against the Iraq War for years, but somehow ended up validating the war in this speech without even knowing it. There’s just nothing turned on upstairs!

“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along… We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.’

“We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

Never mind the fact that Barack was not mentioned at all–he still used the opportunity (as any good politician would) to get in front of the media and defend himself.

“George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the President’s extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.”

But you have advocated for this very thing, Barack! (or does the Iranian regime fall outside your definition of a “terrorist”… which, if true, is about as revealing as anything Bush has said). The funny thing is that Bush is routinely called, well, a NAZI, by many on the left… and not even a finger is lifted in response. When accused of being something quite tame in comparison (i.e. an appeaser), Barack looses it with outrage. How is it that those on the right can be called anything with impunity, but those on the left must be shielded from even the softest criticism??? Is it not funny how the standards of political correctness change from party-to-party?

If anything can be garnished from this small forray, it is that Bush has a much greater grasp of history than Barack does. Those who do not see the similarities between Iran, or other terrorist-sponsoring regimes will undoubtedly make the same mistakes.

If this were not distressing enough, WESTERN leaders also joined with the exreemists in condemning the film.  The EU’s Slovenian presidency said the film only “inflaming hatred”.  The U.N. Secretary-General, Mr. Ban, “condemned” the film “in the strongest terms”.  He also said that, ”The right of free expression is not at stake here… Freedom must always be accompanied by social responsibility.”  Even the Dutch Prime Minister Mr. Balkenende said the film ”serves no purpose other than to offend”.

Mr. Wilders has just proven himself to be one of the gutsiest men alive.  The threats directed at him and at the free press outlets of the world only reinforce and validate his criticisms.  Mr. Ban just doesn’t get it:  Because those exercising free speech are being threatened with violence, free speech is VERY MUCH at stake here.  The basic message of the film film-that radical islamic terrorists are a very real threat-is what terrorists are affirming at every turn and what European leaders are in denial about.  As Eric Cartman so poignantly pointed out, using fear to get people to do what you want isn’t like terrorism, “it IS terrorism”.  I applaud Mr. Wilders for standing up for these principles… not many people do anymore.

[Hilldog]:  Of course, Joel.  Thanks for having me on your show.

[Me]:  Ok, let me start by reading portions of your latest op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.  You begin by saying: 

Throughout my campaign, I have been listening to the voices of people across America. 

A great introduction.  The message is clearly that you not, in fact, an ideaologue, but a reasonable person who has been molded by the input of thousands of common Americans.  You continue:

I met one man who told me, “I don’t know what I did wrong.  I got my education and I worked hard.  I’ve been at the same company for 12 years now, but I’ve just been asked to train my successor because my job is moving to another country.”

Before I let you jump in here I must say; what a great followup to a great introduction.  Here we immediately are exposed to the stereotypical plight of the common man in it’s utter horror.   Playing on a reader’s emotions for their common man is a sure-fire way to garnish sympathy for a cause.  

[Hilldog]: Yes, Joel; there are just so many people out there that are hurting because of evil corporations.  I think you would agree with me that the French model forbidding firing is clearly the better model. 

[me]: You continue:

Another woman said to me, “I just can’t make ends meet.  My health care premiums have doubled, college tuition is up.  How am I supposed to make it as a single mom?”

Never forget to include plight of the single mothers out there.  Powerful stuff.  A man loosing his job of 12 years, a mom who’s health care premiums doubled… it’s truely horrible.  

But… dare I ask why this man should be guaranteed a job by his current employer?  (the implication is that the employee is owed more).  Why shouldn’t the woman pay the fair market rate for health care?  Why is she footing the bill for her child’s education when other alternatives such as scholarships, loans, and work-study are available for her daughter?  It’s just that none of these questions are presented for our consideration. 

[Hilldog]:  Well DUH!  Why would I want people thinking beyond the immediate problems in our society?  This kind of stuff doesn’t require my constituients to think, only act on emotion.  I don’t have the highest popularilty among the uneducated by accident, you know.

[me]:  Good point, I hadn’t considered that.  You really know how to appeal to your base, that’s for sure.  Ok, moving on.  You discuss in your article the reasons why you want to be president.  You write: 

I am running for president to bring those voices to the White House and give people a chance to achieve the American Dream: having a good job, owning their own home and living with financial security.  That means tackling our toughest challenges–rising inequality, stagnating wages and a growing sense that too many middle class families are just one pink slip away from financial devastation. 

so, are you saying there are no personal reasons why you are running for office?

[Hilldog]: Re-capturing the power of the oval office?  I resent the implication!  No, it is for your voices to be heard, for the realization of the American dream that I run!  Terrorism, bah!  Iranian Nukes, meh!  9.2 trillion in federal debt, merely a diversion from our real challenges my good fellow!  Yes, I truly believe the hardest thing we can overcome as a nation is our “sense” of impending financial doom.  

[Me]:  Hilldog, you always move me when your voice gets all harsh and raspy like that!  And to think I had been blinded to this the past eight years…. DAMN YOU BUSH for diverting my attention with this silly war!!!! Of course, why didn’t I see it before, it’s so clear… we are all just one pink slip away from ruin!  utter RUIN!  Where out thou.. my savings… my 401k… my matched stock purchase options… my overtime pay… o the humanity!

Now, I find your economic plan to be very intersting.  You write: 

My measure of economic success will never be a single, dry statistic. Rather, success means an economy that allows those at the bottom to work their way into the middle class, without pushing anyone out.  It means leaving people better off when I finish then when I start.  In short, success means an economy that shares its prosperity with all. 

If I read you correctly, it doesn’t matter how badly the economy suffers, just as long as your social ends are achieved.  The Dow at 10 thousand,  Unemployment at 7%? Merely some of those dry statistics that don’t really matter… right?

[Hilldog]: That’s right, Joel.  I’m just a girl and not very good with numbers.  You know that.

[me]:  Of course.  my bad.  Now, Hilldog, I love how you’ve laid out this economic plan even though you admit you don’t pay attention to the numbers.  You say:

In the 1990s we saw how smart economic plans could help spur the economy to create 22 million new jobs and income growth across the board.  For the past seven years we’ve seen the opposite.  Corporate earnings have been impressive, but the average income of workers has declined.  They ypical household is paying $2,000 more in enery costs.  Health care is nearly twice as expensive, with the number of uninsured rising to 47 million.  Five million Americans have fallen into poverty.

Yes, we all remember how “smart” the 1990′s were.   Don’t you just have nostalgia for the days of the tech bubble?  Ahh yes, to be able to fudge the accounting books without the formalities of Sarbans-Oxley… those were the good-o’l days.

[Hilldog]:  (laughing hysterically).  Yes, weren’t those the best times?!  You know, Bill and I made so much money off that Yahoo! stock… it put us in the top income bracket!  But don’t hold that against me… I am truely a woman of the people.

And furthermore, Energy costs are truely having their toll on the average American.  However, my energy plan involves a complete transition from gas-guzzlers to hybrid vehicles.  You’ll spend $8k more on the  car, but don’t worry… you’ll cut that 2 grand in energy savings by a couple hundred dollars… easy.  Don’t let those conservative types give you any BS about increasing the supply of oil by drilling in ANWAR or the need for more reasonable environmental regulations… they’re just ignorant. 

[Me]: Ya, they’re just ignorant… super ignorant even.  Now, here’s where you really get down and dirty… attacking the BUSH administration… oooo…  let me quote you.  You say: 

Because of the Bush administration’s neglect, the forces of globalization and technological change–which should represent opportunities for economic growth–have weakened America’s great middle class.  

Simply put, since 2001, our economy has failed the shared prosperity test, and we need decisive, experienced leadership to get us back on the right track.

As president, I will not hesitate to take swift, bold action to address our immediate challenges, starting with a strong stimulus package and a comprehensive solution to our housing crisis.  And I will have a long-term economic plan that creates jobs, strengthens the middle class, and allows everyone to share in our economic growth. 

What a great use of language I must say. 

[Hilldog]: (chuckle) Yes, if I am your president, I will continue to confuse amaze you with the superfluous use of the latest lingo and catch phrases (my internal polling confirms this ability, fyi).  I mean, look at what is in that paragraph:

• “Globalization”
• “Change”
• “Opportunity”
• “Great Middle Class”
• “Shared Prosperity”
• “Leadership”
• “Swift”
• “Bold”
• “Action”
• “Challanges”
• “Stimulus”
• “Comprehensive”
• “Cricis plan”
• “Jobs” and
• “Middle Class” (did I already mention that one) 

That’s, like, 3.5 catchy words per sentence.  Not bad, eh?

[Me]:  Truely brilliant, Hilldog.  Now, help me understand what you mean by “no new bureaucracies” in the following paragraph.  You say, 

American families don’t need new government bureaucracies;  they need new tools to help them climb the economic ladder.  This begins with health care, because rising costs erode workers’ savings, make insurance less affordable, put businesses at a competitive disadvantage, and threaten our fiscal future.  

And let’s be clear:  Unless we cover all Americans, we will never end the hidden tax that the uninsured pass on to the rest of us when they end up in the emergency room and we wind up footing the bill.  

[Hilldog]: Well, Joel… “Tools” just sounds so much better then “Bureaucracy”, doesn’t it?  (never mind that new tools will require bureaucracy.)  Just because we don’t need it doesn’t mean we won’t get it anyway; I didn’t mean to imply I wouldn’t create new bureaucracies, only that we don’t need them in the same way we need food, or health care.  

Furthermore I hope I can extend this approach to other areas of our economy… cars cost too much… so do computers… rent is also unbearable.  I am in favor of forcing the market to lower prices on everything!  If you think lower health care costs are a financial boost?  You aint seen nothing yet.

[Me]: In all fairness, when you mention the “hidden tax” we all pay, are you sure the extra costs of insuring everyone will be less then the tax imposed by uninsured emergency-room visits?  Its just that, you haven’t provided any data to support…. (gets cut off)

[Hilldog]:  Don’t go there, Joel.

[Me]: Right, my apologies, Hilldog.  Anyway, you mention John Edwards next:

I thank John Edwards for his role in making poverty a central focus of this campaign.  Ensuring that all Americans, especially our children, have a decent life is central to the goal of shared prosperity…. 

We will fight for universal pre-school to close gaps in cognitive development.  We will improve our schools by ending the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left Behind, investing in mentoring programs for at-risk middle schoolers, and cutting the black and Hispanic high-school drop out rate in half.

This is shrewd politics right here.  You basically take credit for all of Edward’s hard work!

[Hilldog]: Right! Notice how you just gloss over that language. You pick these skills up after 20 years in politics, you know.  Obama can’t touch me there.

[me]: but seriously, how are you going to cut rates in half? 

[Hilldog]: What a silly question!  Cut me some slack here… It’s ME.. remember?  I’ll figure it out… don’t you worry.

[Me]: Well, we are coming up on a commercial break… stay tuned, we’ll be right back! Stay tuned for part 2 of this fabulous interview!

First, it is amazing to see the parallels with the War in Iraq and the revolutionary war. Washington was metaphorically knifed in the back by a handful of his generals… he was smeared, lambasted, and under-funded.  Many in congress openly opposed his leadership.  Funny how things don’t change much in 200 years of American military engagements.

Secondly, It is self-evident how important of a role Washington played in the formation of our Country.  It is further evident how his faith and belief in God shaped his life and his character.  Washington was a man completely removed from the desire for power… even after winning the Revolutionary War, he humbly stepped aside and resigned his power as commander in chief.  Fleming believes the moment of his resignation to be “the most important moment in American history.”

Addressing this scandal-tarred enemy, Washington drew a speech from his coat pocket and unfolded it with trembling hands. “Mr. President,” he began in a low, strained voice. “The great events on which my resignation depended having at length taken place; I now have the honor of offering my sincere congratulations to Congress and of presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country.”

He continued: “I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God and those who have the superintendence of them [Congress] to his holy keeping.”  

For a long moment, Washington could not say another word. Tears streamed down his cheeks. The words touched a vein of religious faith in his inmost soul, born of battlefield experiences that had convinced him of the existence of a caring God who had protected him and his country again and again during the war. Without this faith he might never have been able to endure the frustrations and rage he had experienced in the previous eight months.

Washington then drew from his coat a parchment copy of his appointment as commander in chief. “Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theater of action and bidding farewell to this august body under whom I have long acted, I here offer my commission and take leave of all the employments of public life.”

I wish I could have been there for that moment.  How powerful. 

What a cool guy. Is it just me or has his English improved from the last video clip?

Unfortunately, I seem to have stumbled across this debate after-the-fact… but that in no way makes it any less pleasurable for the first-time viewer.  As they say… if you haven’t seen it… you get the drift.  Anyway, here’s a quick teaser:

Christopher Hitchens (a favorite personality of mine) debates Dinseh D’souzda on the topics of Christianity and Faith.  Hitchens gave his usual “rationality alone provides all the answers we need” montra… which was not entirely un-persuasive… and Dinseh countered with scientific metaphysical arguments for a creator and the moral foundation Christianity has given Western culture — a foundation Hitchens almost entirely hijacks for his own purposes.  Dinesh pretty much destroys Hitchen’s premise that Christianity has been behind the horrible evils of the past mellenia… but at the expense of allowing Hitchens to counter with effective attacks on the “vindictive” and therefore undesirable nature of God– criticisms I wish D’souza would have more fully addressed.  

Denish deserves kudos for even attempting this battle and I think he performed very well all things considered.  He is definitely on my radar now as someone to follow closely.

I highly recommend spending 90 minutes and watching this debate in its entirety; it is quite an education to say the least.