About time: Former president Jimmy Carter condemned the effect U.S. intelligence programs had on U.S. moral authority in the wake of NSA revelations brought to light by leaker Edward Snowden, Der Spiegel reports. “America has no functioning democracy,” Carter said at a meeting of The Atlantic Bridge in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday. I've never been …
Same Sex Civil Marriage: The Saddest "I Told You So" of Them All
It happened: SCOTUS has struck down the provision of the Defence of Marriage Act that denied federal recognition to same-sex civil marriages, and basically "punted" on Proposition 8 on a standing issue. The latter doubtless seals that provision's fate. One of the reasons I find myself getting away from blogging on political issues is that …
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The New Daniel Ellsberg Will Have It Much Rougher Than The Old One
Now that we know that Edward Snowden has blown the NSA's cover on its secret operations, the thoughts of some of us turn back to the days of Daniel Ellsberg, the victim of some of Richard Nixon's dirty tricks after he outed the Pentagon Papers over the Vietnam War. Like our current security apparatus isn't …
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Barack Obama: Finding His Inner Lenin, Finding His Inner Dzerzhinskii
I've run a good number of "I told you so" pieces on this blog. This time, however, it's more like "It used to be this way, but..." and the subject is national security. Barack Obama has, at least, cut the left's Gordian Knot on the issue. Let me go back to 2006 with this pre-election …
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An Insane Rant Gets to the Bottom of Gun Control
I think we've finally pulled one liberal's chain hard enough so he screams: Here it is. The NRA advocates armed rebellion against the duly elected government of the United States of America. That's treason, and it's worthy of the firing squad. The B.S. needs a serious gut check. We are not a tin pot banana …
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Keeping the Riff-Raff Out by Keeping Churches Out
New concept? Hardly, New York City allowed it in the late 1940's: Many objected to the rich subsidies offered Metropolitan Life, then the largest private corporation in the nation, as well as the firm’s refusal to rent to minorities. Others criticized the complex’s design and layout. Metropolitan Life wouldn’t allow schools, churches, libraries, or other …
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A Long Way From "A Pig a Rig"
That's an understatement, as China's Shuanghui acquires Smithfield Foods: Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd., China’s biggest pork producer, agreed to acquire Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD) for about $4.72 billion to boost supplies for the nation that’s the biggest consumer of the meat. Closely held Shuanghui, parent of Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co. (000895), will pay …
Is the Left Finishing the Job? The Moment of Truth Has Come
At the end of this post I am reposting a June 2005 piece entitled "Finishing the Job:A Watergate Reflection". My central thesis at the time--a contrarian one then and now re Watergate--was that Nixon's scandals were payback for his attacks on the left during the anti-communist 1950's, and that the left, with the golden opportunity …
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Going Around and Coming Around on Paedophilia
George Conger defends the relevance of 1960's paedophilia advocate Daniel Cohn-Bendit in a religion blog: What makes this a Get Religion story is the context of the European press environment. I am not defending or excusing the Catholic Church. I am however pointing out inconsistencies and double standards in media coverage. The attack, of course, …
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IRS Investigations Politically Motivated? Better Than I Expected!
One of the strangest responses I ever got to an "ordinary" question took place in Target one night, where my wife and I ran into the daughter of a friend who is an official in our church. She was with her new husband; like us she had taken a long time to marry. So we …
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