My friends say I have an unhealthy fascination with Nancy Pelosi. They may be right.  But… at least we can all agree that she is hard to ignore.  For example… she recently appeared on the Daily Show with John Stewart to plug her new book: “Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters“.  This book, from all appearances and reviews has been a total disaster… it has sold under 5 thousand copies… and from the reviews seems to be one paragraph short of a short essay…

Here’s just a sampling of the reviews on Amazon.com

• Pitiful
• Too bad I cannot give the ho zero stars
• Ouch! My brain hurts from reading.
• If you want your daughter to turn out as messed up as Pelosi, buy this book, which pretty much proclaims right on the cover “How you can be like me and have lots of power.”
• Nancy Pelosi never says much, but when she does; she never says much!
• got all the way to page 19………
• it reads like the owner manual for my car
• Anyone who buys this book should, out of deference for the planet, multipurpose the material and use it for toilet paper - preferably before they read it.
• This book offers nothing more than hollow reinforcements of Pelosi’s own delusions of grandeur.
• Couldn’t she afford a better ghost writer?
• Great For Kindling
• Pelosi is not the sharpest knife in the drawer

First, if Pelosi would spend half as much time passing energy legislation as she would writing… we might not quite have the energy problem we currently have.  Secondly, why is this lady so obsessed with power?  In her daily show interview she described the office of Speaker as one having “awesome power”.  (Why Jon Stewart would waste his time interviewing such a no-name author is beyond me… but… he loves having Dems on his show).  Back to the point at hand, I think it is fair to say that power has literally corrupted Pelosi.  The concept has so enveloped her thinking she has to write a BOOK about the subject.  Power IS HER LIFE.  She thinks she can impose her vision of America on the rest of us by shutting down Congress and ignoring the bipartisan wishes of the majority of Congress.  I think it is time the Democrats, for the good of their party and their reputation, find someone else to lead.

As I was researching a previous post, I came across a number of interesting blog posts and interviews I found quite interesting. In particular, I wanted to bring your attention to a great interview with my favorite liberal feminist, Naomi Wolf, author of the infamous “a room of ones own” (and the subject of possibly the best television prank in the last year). She is promoting her new book “The End of America” –a book that lays out the ‘Ten Steps to Closing Down an Open Society’ and “exposes” the ways in which America is mirroring the closed societies of history.

Allow me to begin this discussion by first complimenting Ms. Wolf. First, she just looked great during that interview. I was all about that red thing she was wearing (but I digress!). In all seriousness, I think this book is a valuable addition to the discussion and brings an important (albeit selective) historical context to modern politics. At the risk of cliche, I would remind you that those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. By reminding us of the evils of history Ms Wolf is, shockingly enough, being helpful… and I wish to encourage this kind of behavior.

This being said, I think it is fair to say that Ms Wolf’s conclusions are lacking… in any number of ways. It isn’t that she is always wrong, but that her foundational history is in many cases only loosely connected with modern practice. She begins with an assumption of guilt (primarily with the Bush administration… many times implying he is a ‘wannabe’ despot), finds similar parallels to dictators with completely different motivations and purposes, and then imputes those motives to Bush because factual circumstances were the same. Although a stretch, in some cases I found myself thinking that if two people washed their laundry, that would be enough for her to draw a comparison. I am, of course, exaggerating; but I do so to point out that to end one’s analysis at factual similarities without further analysis can lead to very irrational conclusions.

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I just finished a book by Dinesh D’souza titled “What’s so great about Christianity”.  I do not exaggerate when I say that D’souza is in the “Buckley” mold–his grasp of philosophy, history, and the sciences firmly establish him as a “renaissance man” (my kind of guy).  Throughout the pages of his book, he challenges and (in many cases ‘destroys’) the arguments and accusations Athiests such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins have made against the belief in Christ.  

The book’s basic outline is well constructed.  First, D’souza systematically questions many of the “new Athiesm’s” presuppositions about Christianity.  He points out that Christianity, far from causing the moral tragedies of the modern world… has, in fact, been the changing force that helped overcome these very moral travesties.  For example, Christianity lifted women out of the second-class status Roman society had imposed upon them; it was the impetus for the great artists of our time: Michalengelo, Da Vinchi, Mozart, Bach, Handel… etc… ; it helped create the concept of western government — a concept based around the Christian principle that society must fight against the inherent sinful nature of man and must keep leader’s actions in check.  These are but a few of Christianity’s contributions to world history…  

D’souza then calls Athiesm out — asking it to provide the same answers it chides Christianity for failing to answer.  When tragedy happens, Where is Atheism?  Atheism cannot console the victims of tradgey… nor can it condemn the aggressor.  When Athiest rulers murder millions of their subjects… where is Athiesm’s defense (or apology?).  When Athiesm claims rationality as their trump card… on what basis can they claim that rationality alone provides all answers?  For all it’s proponents, Athiesm still has much to account for.

What’s So Great About Christianity may be the best piece of Christian apologetics in the past decade;  don’t pass it up!