Harrison on the ELCA apostasy

Reaction by the Rev. Matt Harrison- promoted by some as the confessionalist candidate for president of the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod at its next convention- to the ELCA’s apostasy at Minneapolis. Interview by the Rev. Todd Wilken of Issues, Etc.

As a graduate of an ELCA seminary, though, I must say that Pastor Harrison is wrong, at least in my experience, about the supposed downplaying of the biblical languages there. The problem is rather the downplaying of intellectually coherent theology and kerygmatic substance.

In a word, the problem is Postmodernism.

Now THIS is a father!

Personally, I’m afraid my first impulse would have been to throw the kid right after the ball…

Finally, a national news magazine faces the truth about marriage

Here is a spot on article in TIME (what a contrast to Newsweek!) about a crisis that causes an unbelievable amount of human suffering and disrupts society to a degree that most of us just aren’t willing to face: the collapse of heterosexual marriage in our society.

Nearly forty percent of American kids are born out of wedlock. Nearly twenty percent of adult Americans (more than a quarter of adult New Yorkers) have genital herpes.

By every measurement, the divorce of parents is a devastating psychological trauma for children even in the best of circumstances, and by every measurable criterion children who grow up without fathers lag behind kids who grow up in intact homes both in development and in ultimate economic status. Yet both marriage and childbearing are increasingly seen not as responsibility to others, but as means of self-fulfillment to be casually walked away from if they become inconvenient. More and more, we seem able to distinguish between loving our children and acting responsibly toward them. I never cease to me amazed by the number of couples who avoid marriage because they say that they aren’t ready for the commitment, completely oblivious to the commitment sleeping in a crib in the next room!

We Americans don’t understand the commitment marriage- to say nothing of parenthood- inherently entails. The emotional and financial devastation to the adults involved is incredible. Its impact on their children is devastating.

This is not a “religious” issue; It is not even primarily an ethical issue. It is a matter of the survival of our society, and it’s glad to see a major news publication undertake the unpopular task of holding its seriousness up to the unwilling gaze of hedonistic, selfish, childish American adults.

HT: Rev. Walt Snyder

Let’s go, Ducks!

Steve Rosenbloom is right.

Yes, this Blackhawk team is good enough to theoretically beat the Red Wings. Theoretically.

But if Hawk fans have a brain in our collective heads, we’ll be rooting for Anaheim.

As much fun as it would be to beat Detroit, it’s much more important to beat somebody.

Jesse Jackson sued for not showing up to make speech

He pulled the same stunt on us- without notice- at Wright Junior College in Chicago when I was SGA president there, and we were fighting the institution of tuition.

Of course, we didn’t pay him a fee…

HT: Drudge

They don’t call it the bronchial tree for nothing!

A 28 year old Russian man, Artyom Sidorkin, apparently inhaled a fir tree seed at some point. There is no other explanation- other than Photo Shop and some doctors who want attention very, very badly.

Sidorkin developed severe pain in his chest. Surgeons removed most of his lung, expecting to find a tumor- and instead found a small tree growing in it.

Reminds me of that Allan Sherman song from the ‘Sixties, I See Bones:

The doctor was looking at the X-ray
And I asked him, “What do you see?”
And he kept on looking at the X-ray
As he said in French to me:

“I see bones.
I see gizzards and bones,
And a few kidney stones
Among the lovely bones.

I see hips
And fourteen paper clips,
Three asparagus tips
Among the lovely bones.

I see things in your peritoneum
That belong in the British Museum.

I see your spine,
And your spine looks divine.
It’s exactly like mine.
Now doesn’t that seem strange.
And in case you use pay telephones
There’s two dollars in change,
Among your lovely bones.

Could this be the origin of the Coneheads?

It should be noted that some of the commenters at a Russian site reporting the story are skeptical.

HT: Drudge

H.P. Lovecraft, The Musical (?)

One summer long ago I read virtually all of H.P. Lovecraft, the Providence, Rhode Island horror writer often considered the successor of Edgar Allan Poe.

I got hooked.

I recently came across the following incongruous You Tube item. It is- of all things- the Lovecraft story “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” set to music and produced in a tone- well, somewhat at variance with the atmosphere Lovecraft strove to create. While fellow Lovecraft fans will probably appreciate it most of all, I think it ought to provide a chuckle to anybody even vaguely familiar with Lovecraft’s reputation:

By the way, there actually is a Lovecraft musical, called A Shuggoth on the Roof- a parody of Fiddler which Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick have prevented from actually being produced through threats of legal action. A scheduled production in Chicago had to be canceled a while back; while parody is a legally protected form of art, the producers didn’t have deep enough pockets to fight the lawsuits.

You Tube renditions of several of the numbers from Shuggoth (including “If I Were a Deep One”) can be found here.

Here’s a sample:

Now, where this deficit thing is concerned…

Don’t say we didn’t tell you.

HT: Real Clear Politics

Anybody who doesn’t think there’s such a thing as divine providence…

…should consider the story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi.

On August 6, 1945, Mr. Yamaguchi was on a business trip to Hiroshima when the city was virtually vaporized by the first American atomic bomb to be dropped on Japan.

He suffered serious burns, but in the morning of August 7 he was released from the hospital and went home- to Nagasaki, where on August 9 he became the only known person in history to have had two atom bombs dropped on him.

Yes, that’s what I said. Within three days, Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived the atomic bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He not only survived, but is now 93 years old. He does have a little trouble hearing out of one ear.

God, it seems, had plans for the gentleman that went well beyond August of 1945. On the other hand, some weeks it seems like it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed.

Northwestern 22, Iowa 17

Northwestern 22, Iowa 17

I think Zambrano’s arm might be OK after all

Only a little over a week ago, I was wondering whether the rotator cuff troubles of Cubs ace pitcher Carlos Zambrano would doom the Bruins’ chances of ending their world championship draught at one hundred years.

The Cubs’ series with the red-hot Houston Astros was moved by order of the Commissioner from hurricane-threatened Houston to- ironically- Milwaukee, the home of the Cubs’ chief competition for the divisional title. Yesterday. in the first game of the series, Zambrano pitched on twelve days’ rest- and pitched a no-hitter!

I think his arm might be just fine.

The Cubs’ magic number for clinching their second consecutive National League Central Division championship: seven.

I think Zambrano’s arm might be OK after all

Only a little over a week ago, I was wondering whether the rotator cuff troubles of Cubs ace pitcher Carlos Zambrano would doom the Bruins’ chances of ending their world championship draught at one hundred years.

The Cubs’ series with the red-hot Houston Astros was moved by order of the Commissioner from hurricane-threatened Houston to- ironically- Milwaukee, the home of the Cubs’ chief competition for the divisional title. Yesterday. in the first game of the series, Zambrano pitched on twelve days’ rest- and pitched a no-hitter!

I think his arm might be just fine.

The Cubs’ magic number for clinching their second consecutive National League Central Division championship: seven.

Yes…

… I’m really beginning to dare to let myself think that this is the year!

Yes…

… I’m really beginning to dare to let myself think that this is the year!

Those Canadian paparazzi…

more cat pictures

Cubs take opener from Ruddy Pigeons

My Cubs have another “showdown” series this week. They opened it in good and dramatic style, dropping the Cardinals to seven games back with a 3-2 extra-innings win at Wrigley.

Cubs take opener from Ruddy Pigeons

My Cubs have another “showdown” series this week. They opened it in good and dramatic style, dropping the Cardinals to seven games back with a 3-2 extra-innings win at Wrigley.

Solzhenitsyn dead at 89

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the heroic Soviet dissenter whose The Gulag Archipelago cast worldwide attention on the Stalin-era concentration camps in Siberia, is dead of heart failure at 89.

Solzhenitsyn was also spoke out strongly about the spiritual bankruptcy of the modern West. American cultural leaders, responding to the Russian writer, were often heard to say, “Huh?”

His was a lonely voice from the wilderness that was heard throughout the world, and helped to change the course of history.

HT: Drudge

Hopefully, the Cubs are back on track

What with our stumbling in the series with Baltimore and the Laundry returning the favor by sweeping us at the Cell, the Cubs went through one of the rocky spots all championship teams face from time to time during the course of a season.

Winning two out of three from the PRF*, on the other hand, is just what the doctor ordered.

*Pestilential Ruddy Fowl

Hopefully, the Cubs are back on track

What with our stumbling in the series with Baltimore and the Laundry returning the favor by sweeping us at the Cell, the Cubs went through one of the rocky spots all championship teams face from time to time during the course of a season.

Winning two out of three from the PRF*, on the other hand, is just what the doctor ordered.

*Pestilential Ruddy Fowl

On the other hand…

Robert Elart Waters’s Aliases

Your movie star name: Robert Crushless Your fashion designer name is Robert Belfast Your socialite name is Drippo Washington, D.C. Your fly girl / guy name is R Wat Your detective name is Dog Luther South Your barfly name is Fritos Jaegermeister Your soap opera name is Elart 24th Place (I doubt it. An alternatitve would be Elart Keeler, I suppose, or Elart Kedvale.) Your rock star name is Chunky Quark Your Star Wars name is Robatv Watdia Your punk rock band name is The Contemplative Civic Center Piccaso

The Amazing Meganame Generator

Is that the Pope’s foot at the end?

HT: The Rev. Richard W. Horn

Is that the Pope’s foot at the end?

HT: The Rev. Richard W. Horn

St. Paddy Redux

I’m working a full-time job as well as serving a parish these days, and I didn’t have time to do a St. Patrick’s Day post. But I can’t let the day pass without comment.

So just like the networks during the writers’ strike, I’ve decided to go with a re-run. Here’s my St. Paddy’s Day post from two years ago:

My father used to say that there were two kinds of people in this world: those who were Irish, and those who wished they were.

Today is the day when everybody pretends to be Irish. Well, not everybody; here and there, one spies a miscreant with nary a scrap o’ the Green about his or her person. But St. Patrick’s Day is the ethnic holiday most widely celebrated by the culture generally, even outside of the ethnic group for whom it is a special observance- and even those who forebear to wear the Green this day out of an honest though sad awareness that they, themselves, are not fortunate enough to have Irish blood still feel a touch of the magic.

St. Patrick (Padraig, auf Gaelic, meaning “noble”) was born Maewyn Succat (Maewyn meaning “warlike”), son of a couple named Calphurnius and Conchessa, in Dunbarton, Scotland, in the year 387. His father, Calphurnius, seems to have been a Roman official from an important family (how he came to be exiled to the Empire’s frontier with the only people- the Picts- ever to successfully and permanently repel the Romans, we do not know; Hadrian’s Wall, the mighty tribute to Roman engineering which marks the boundary between Roman Britain and the main body of the realm of the Scots and the Ulster Scots, was built by the Romans to keep the Picts out of their territory!).

Calphurnius seems to have been a pagan. His wife, Conchessa, however, was a relative of St. Martin of Tours, and it is apparently from her that Patrick learned the Christian faith that sustained him when, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in what is today County Antrim, in Ulster.

His captivity seems to have been a relatively mild one. His duties consisted mainly of tending sheep- an occupation which left him plenty of time for contemplation, meditation, and prayer. Nor surprisingly, Patrick turned into something of a schwaermer by the long, solitary days and nights tending his master’s flocks; nevertheless, this time of spiritual reflection stood him in good stead in the years to come.

So did the external circumstances of his captivity. Patrick quickly became fluent in Celtic. And as it happened, his master, Milchu, was a Druid high priest. A better background in the pagan religion it would be his life’s work to combat would have been hard to obtain.

Six years into his captivity, Patrick had a mystical experience- described variously as a dream and as an actual visit from an angel- in which he was commanded (contra the general advice of St. Paul to those in his condition) to run away from his master and return to Britain. That he did, and from there he went to France, where he was ordained to the priesthood by St. Germain. When Germain was sent by Pope Celestine I on a mission back to Britain to combat Pelagianism there, he took Patrick as one of his companions.

It was there that Patrick once again had one of his visions: this time a group of Irish children, exhorting him, “O holy youth, come back to Erin, and walk once more among us.” Entrusted by Pope Celestine with that very task- and given the name new name Patricius by the pope to replace his unseemly birth name- Patrick was consecrated a bishop by St. Maximus, and returned to the land of his former captivity to begin a missionary career which would, in the space of 33 years, convert that nation from a stronghold of Druidical darkness into “the island of saints and poets.”

His first act upon arriving back on Irish soil was to return to his former master, and buy his own freedom. Sadly, as Patrick’s fame spread and more and more Irishmen were won from his former master’s Druid religion to Christianity, Milchu was said to be humiliated, and- to Patrick’s horror- burned his own fort and all his possessions, his pride unable to bear “the thought of being vanquished by his former slave.”

No, Patrick did not drive the snakes out of Ireland; there were never any snakes there to begin with (a discussion of the commonly accepted explanation for that fact can be found here; take it for what it’s worth). And the incident probably most associated with him- and which gave birth to this day’s most familiar symbol- may also never actually have happened. Nevertheless, it’s worth recounting.

The story is that Patrick was confronted by a sword-wielding Druid chieftain named Dichu- who, unarmed except by his faith, Patrick simply faced down. Awed by his courage, Dichu asked for instruction, and was baptized. Dichu told Patrick of a feast being given for all the Irish chieftains by the Ard Righ (“High King”), Leoghaire, at Tara, the traditional seat of the High Kings (Ireland in ancient days was divided into five kingdoms- Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Meath, and Munster; each had its own king, who effectively ruled his own realm while owing titular fealty to the High King at Tara).

Patrick crashed the party, which supposedly began- auspiciously- on Easter Sunday, 433. The fun began, however, the night before- symbolically interesting because that year it was not only the Vigil of Easter, but also the Feast of the Annunciation.

The Vigil of Easter is one of the oldest and most beautiful and significant of Christian liturgies. I remember celebrating it as part of my liturgy class in seminary; it’s a shame that in our age of “fast food” worship, few Christians would bother to attend, were it celebrated as widely as it should be. It was then, traditionally, that catechumens were baptized, the night being spent in prayer, chant, and watchfulness until the risen Christ was greeted at daybreak.

The liturgy traditionally begins around the Paschal fire, usually kindled outside a church. In Patrick’s case, of course, the vigil was held out in the open, on the hill of Slane, on the opposite side of the valley from Tara. When Patrick kindled the Paschal fire, it was in direct violation of a royal edict, that no fires were to be lit until the High King’s own signal fire was kindled at Tara.

Patrick’s reputation for miracles and for gaining converts had proceeded him. Leoghaire’s Druid advisors told him, insightfully, “O King, live for ever; this fire, which has been lighted in defiance of the royal edict, will blaze for ever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished.”

So they tried to put it out.

They couldn’t. Nothing they could do would extinguish the flame. Neither- despite their best efforts- could they harm Patrick or his companions!

One thing about St. Patrick: he had style. The next morning- Easter Day- he traveled the length of the valley in full liturgical procession, wearing a mitre, bearing a crozier, fully vested as a bishop, and proceeded by an acolyte bearing aloft a copy of the Gospels. Arriving at Tara, he soon found himself in full confrontation with the Druids. The story is that by their incantations they cast a deep cloud over Tara, enveloping the entire hill in darkness. Patrick defied them to remove the cloud. They tried, and failed. Thereupon Patrick uttered a simple prayer. The cloud instantly vanished, and the hill was bathed in sunshine.

The Arch-Druid Lochru tried to impress everybody by flying. Patrick simply knelt and prayed that God would vindicate His truth- and Lochru fell to his death.

That pretty much settled matters. Though forbidden by the High King to show Patrick or any of his company the slightest sign of respect, the whole assembly arose to pay homage to Patrick and his God.

It was then that the incident supposedly occured which gave this day- and the entire island- its most familiar symbol. Someone supposedly asked how it could be that the Christian God would be Three, but at the same time only One. Patrick replied by leaning over and plucking from the grass at his feet a simple clover of a variety which -contrary to legend- grows not only in Ireland, but in almost every country and half-way temperate climate on Earth. Holding the shamrock aloft, he asked, “Is this one leaf, or three?”

They couldn’t answer. “If human wisdom cannot comprehend the mystery of a piece of clover,” Patrick is said to have responded, “how can it hope to understand the mystery of God’s very nature?”

I never cease to be amazed at the number of “shamrocks” one sees at this time of year which are, in fact, four- leaf clovers- which, of course, completely destroys the entire symbolism of the shamrock!

Patrick is said to have spent the balance of Easter week catechizing and baptizing the High King and his entire court. At its end, he was given the High King’s own official patronage for the missionary endeavor which was to occupy the remainder of his life.

Patrick is also well known for his beautiful prayer known as “St. Patrick’s Breastplate:” A literal translation is as follows:

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop [deck],
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

It is more familiar to us today in this translation, by Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander:

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Patrick died on March 17, 493 (some sources say 460, or 461) at Saul in what is now Downpatrick, County Down, where he is buried. Downpatrick, by the way, is the birthplace and childhood home of Grandmother Waters, and the burial place not only of Patrick, but also of Sts. Columba- interestingly, the native-born Irishman who brought the Gospel to Britain, and in particular to Scotland and the Picts!- and Brigid, who is often commemorated by a representation of the hand-woven cross, made from the reeds along the banks of the River Shannon, she once fashioned for a dying pagan to hold while she told him the story of Christ.

On any account, Patrick was one of the greatest missionaries the Christian Faith has ever produced- and the honor he is due is too great to be confined to any single people (even the Irish!). All the faithful have cause to wear green this day in his honor, without fear of being accused of being full of blarney regardless of their ethnic origin.

HT: The Catholic Encyclopedia, The Catholic Community Forum

St. Paddy Redux

I’m working a full-time job as well as serving a parish these days, and I didn’t have time to do a St. Patrick’s Day post. But I can’t let the day pass without comment.

So just like the networks during the writers’ strike, I’ve decided to go with a re-run. Here’s my St. Paddy’s Day post from two years ago:

My father used to say that there were two kinds of people in this world: those who were Irish, and those who wished they were.

Today is the day when everybody pretends to be Irish. Well, not everybody; here and there, one spies a miscreant with nary a scrap o’ the Green about his or her person. But St. Patrick’s Day is the ethnic holiday most widely celebrated by the culture generally, even outside of the ethnic group for whom it is a special observance- and even those who forebear to wear the Green this day out of an honest though sad awareness that they, themselves, are not fortunate enough to have Irish blood still feel a touch of the magic.

St. Patrick (Padraig, auf Gaelic, meaning “noble”) was born Maewyn Succat (Maewyn meaning “warlike”), son of a couple named Calphurnius and Conchessa, in Dunbarton, Scotland, in the year 387. His father, Calphurnius, seems to have been a Roman official from an important family (how he came to be exiled to the Empire’s frontier with the only people- the Picts- ever to successfully and permanently repel the Romans, we do not know; Hadrian’s Wall, the mighty tribute to Roman engineering which marks the boundary between Roman Britain and the main body of the realm of the Scots and the Ulster Scots, was built by the Romans to keep the Picts out of their territory!).

Calphurnius seems to have been a pagan. His wife, Conchessa, however, was a relative of St. Martin of Tours, and it is apparently from her that Patrick learned the Christian faith that sustained him when, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in what is today County Antrim, in Ulster.

His captivity seems to have been a relatively mild one. His duties consisted mainly of tending sheep- an occupation which left him plenty of time for contemplation, meditation, and prayer. Nor surprisingly, Patrick turned into something of a schwaermer by the long, solitary days and nights tending his master’s flocks; nevertheless, this time of spiritual reflection stood him in good stead in the years to come.

So did the external circumstances of his captivity. Patrick quickly became fluent in Celtic. And as it happened, his master, Milchu, was a Druid high priest. A better background in the pagan religion it would be his life’s work to combat would have been hard to obtain.

Six years into his captivity, Patrick had a mystical experience- described variously as a dream and as an actual visit from an angel- in which he was commanded (contra the general advice of St. Paul to those in his condition) to run away from his master and return to Britain. That he did, and from there he went to France, where he was ordained to the priesthood by St. Germain. When Germain was sent by Pope Celestine I on a mission back to Britain to combat Pelagianism there, he took Patrick as one of his companions.

It was there that Patrick once again had one of his visions: this time a group of Irish children, exhorting him, “O holy youth, come back to Erin, and walk once more among us.” Entrusted by Pope Celestine with that very task- and given the name new name Patricius by the pope to replace his unseemly birth name- Patrick was consecrated a bishop by St. Maximus, and returned to the land of his former captivity to begin a missionary career which would, in the space of 33 years, convert that nation from a stronghold of Druidical darkness into “the island of saints and poets.”

His first act upon arriving back on Irish soil was to return to his former master, and buy his own freedom. Sadly, as Patrick’s fame spread and more and more Irishmen were won from his former master’s Druid religion to Christianity, Milchu was said to be humiliated, and- to Patrick’s horror- burned his own fort and all his possessions, his pride unable to bear “the thought of being vanquished by his former slave.”

No, Patrick did not drive the snakes out of Ireland; there were never any snakes there to begin with (a discussion of the commonly accepted explanation for that fact can be found here; take it for what it’s worth). And the incident probably most associated with him- and which gave birth to this day’s most familiar symbol- may also never actually have happened. Nevertheless, it’s worth recounting.

The story is that Patrick was confronted by a sword-wielding Druid chieftain named Dichu- who, unarmed except by his faith, Patrick simply faced down. Awed by his courage, Dichu asked for instruction, and was baptized. Dichu told Patrick of a feast being given for all the Irish chieftains by the Ard Righ (“High King”), Leoghaire, at Tara, the traditional seat of the High Kings (Ireland in ancient days was divided into five kingdoms- Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Meath, and Munster; each had its own king, who effectively ruled his own realm while owing titular fealty to the High King at Tara).

Patrick crashed the party, which supposedly began- auspiciously- on Easter Sunday, 433. The fun began, however, the night before- symbolically interesting because that year it was not only the Vigil of Easter, but also the Feast of the Annunciation.

The Vigil of Easter is one of the oldest and most beautiful and significant of Christian liturgies. I remember celebrating it as part of my liturgy class in seminary; it’s a shame that in our age of “fast food” worship, few Christians would bother to attend, were it celebrated as widely as it should be. It was then, traditionally, that catechumens were baptized, the night being spent in prayer, chant, and watchfulness until the risen Christ was greeted at daybreak.

The liturgy traditionally begins around the Paschal fire, usually kindled outside a church. In Patrick’s case, of course, the vigil was held out in the open, on the hill of Slane, on the opposite side of the valley from Tara. When Patrick kindled the Paschal fire, it was in direct violation of a royal edict, that no fires were to be lit until the High King’s own signal fire was kindled at Tara.

Patrick’s reputation for miracles and for gaining converts had proceeded him. Leoghaire’s Druid advisors told him, insightfully, “O King, live for ever; this fire, which has been lighted in defiance of the royal edict, will blaze for ever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished.”

So they tried to put it out.

They couldn’t. Nothing they could do would extinguish the flame. Neither- despite their best efforts- could they harm Patrick or his companions!

One thing about St. Patrick: he had style. The next morning- Easter Day- he traveled the length of the valley in full liturgical procession, wearing a mitre, bearing a crozier, fully vested as a bishop, and proceeded by an acolyte bearing aloft a copy of the Gospels. Arriving at Tara, he soon found himself in full confrontation with the Druids. The story is that by their incantations they cast a deep cloud over Tara, enveloping the entire hill in darkness. Patrick defied them to remove the cloud. They tried, and failed. Thereupon Patrick uttered a simple prayer. The cloud instantly vanished, and the hill was bathed in sunshine.

The Arch-Druid Lochru tried to impress everybody by flying. Patrick simply knelt and prayed that God would vindicate His truth- and Lochru fell to his death.

That pretty much settled matters. Though forbidden by the High King to show Patrick or any of his company the slightest sign of respect, the whole assembly arose to pay homage to Patrick and his God.

It was then that the incident supposedly occured which gave this day- and the entire island- its most familiar symbol. Someone supposedly asked how it could be that the Christian God would be Three, but at the same time only One. Patrick replied by leaning over and plucking from the grass at his feet a simple clover of a variety which -contrary to legend- grows not only in Ireland, but in almost every country and half-way temperate climate on Earth. Holding the shamrock aloft, he asked, “Is this one leaf, or three?”

They couldn’t answer. “If human wisdom cannot comprehend the mystery of a piece of clover,” Patrick is said to have responded, “how can it hope to understand the mystery of God’s very nature?”

I never cease to be amazed at the number of “shamrocks” one sees at this time of year which are, in fact, four- leaf clovers- which, of course, completely destroys the entire symbolism of the shamrock!

Patrick is said to have spent the balance of Easter week catechizing and baptizing the High King and his entire court. At its end, he was given the High King’s own official patronage for the missionary endeavor which was to occupy the remainder of his life.

Patrick is also well known for his beautiful prayer known as “St. Patrick’s Breastplate:” A literal translation is as follows:

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop [deck],
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

It is more familiar to us today in this translation, by Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander:

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Patrick died on March 17, 493 (some sources say 460, or 461) at Saul in what is now Downpatrick, County Down, where he is buried. Downpatrick, by the way, is the birthplace and childhood home of Grandmother Waters, and the burial place not only of Patrick, but also of Sts. Columba- interestingly, the native-born Irishman who brought the Gospel to Britain, and in particular to Scotland and the Picts!- and Brigid, who is often commemorated by a representation of the hand-woven cross, made from the reeds along the banks of the River Shannon, she once fashioned for a dying pagan to hold while she told him the story of Christ.

On any account, Patrick was one of the greatest missionaries the Christian Faith has ever produced- and the honor he is due is too great to be confined to any single people (even the Irish!). All the faithful have cause to wear green this day in his honor, without fear of being accused of being full of blarney regardless of their ethnic origin.

HT: The Catholic Encyclopedia, The Catholic Community Forum

I have no idea what this means, but…

Your Score: Akkadian

You scored

You are Akkadian, a blend of the incomprehensible symbols of the Sumerians with the unwritable sounds of the early Semitic peoples. However, the writing just doesn’t suit the words and doesn’t represent everything needed, so you end up a schizoid mess. Invented in Babylon, you’re probably to blame for that tower story. However, crazy as you are, you’re much loved and appreciated, and remain actively in use by records keepers long after schools have switched to other languages.

Link: The Which Ancient Language Are You Test written by imipak on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(imipak)

HT: Randomly Intolerant

"No one knows the day or the hour…"

But scientists think they know when and how the world will end.

Pressured into aborting twins, British artist hangs herself

Not long ago, disbarred lawyer Bill Clinton claimed (falsely) that since pro-lifers consider abortion to be murder, they must favor jailing women who have abortions and doctors who perform them.

In fact, the pro-life movement has been quite consistent in making clear that it does not favor legal penalties of any kind for women who have abortions. Women who have abortions are the second victims; they are often pressured and manipulated into getting them, with tragic psychological consequences later. Far from wanting to jail women who have abortions, pro-lifers want to spare them the trauma of realizing later just what they’ve done.

The tragic case of English artist Emma Beck is a case in point.

HT: Drudge

Obama accused of plagarism; will he quit?

When Joe Biden did this in 1988, he had to quit the race.

Is what’s good for Joe good for Barak? Didn’t think so.

Carnival time!

Lutheran Carnival LXI is up at House, M.Div. - one of the more refreshing blogs I’ve come across of late in either the Lutheran or the general blogosphere. The title of the blog- whimsical as it is- will give a good clue as to its content: biting, sarcastic, somewhat cynical (in a healthy sort of way) and irreverent (except to the things of God) humor that unerringly finds its mark and then twists in a little deeper. Bound to be infuriating to synergists, methobapticostalite Jesus-mongers, those with a functional view of the OHM, and all those unable to give an account for (or of) the hope that is in them other than the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in their hearts.

But if Pastor House is addicted to anything as Dr. House is to painkillers, it’s sound, biblical and Lutheran doctrine. Don’t miss this blog.

Or the Carnival, either.

Amid the paeans of praise, a word of dissent

Interesting take on the Gore Nobel from the Manchester Union Leader.

Hadn’t heard about that British court ruling that “An Inconvenient Truth” is so full of factual errors that it can’t be shown to British school children without rebuttal. Have you?

Didn’t think so.

Heard lots about the Nobel, though.

HT: Drudge

Magic Number: 4

By George, it looks as if the Cubs will be playing in October after all.

‘Civil rights’ activists seem to take their stand for lynching

When I was growing up, my dad was emphatic on the point that schoolyard fights were inevitable, and that I should have enough courage and self-respect never to back down for a fair fight even if the guy was bigger than I was.

The key word is fair.

The story of the ‘Jena Six’ has been so politicized and racialized that reasonable conversation about the incident itself is hard to come by. So let’s review the facts.

There was an oak tree on school grounds which some claim was known as ‘the white tree,’ and a segregated area where only white students were allowed to gather. Others- including school officials- deny this, claiming that it was a common gathering place for groups of both races, and for racially mixed groups as well.

Two nooses (not, as reported, three- three nooses being a hallmark of the Ku Klux Klan) were hung from the tree. Whatever the tree’s history, it was a clear case of attempted racial intimidation, and the students responsible were suspended and forced to attend an alternative school for a month, and to face two weeks’ “in-school suspension” (whatever that oxymoron might involve)as a consequence.

In my view, the punishment should have been much more severe, but that’s another issue. Suffice it to say that stories that they were suspended for only three days is untrue.

Two months later, a wing of the high school was burned, a case of arson which remains unsolved. That weekend two fights between African American and white students broke out. The crises culminated in a brawl on Dec. 4 in which a single white student- not, to my knowledge, in any way implicated in the noose incident- was stomped by six black students. Federal investigators, in fact, concluded that the stomping was in no way connected to the noose incident!

This was not a fight. It was an assault- a concerted attempt to inflict serious bodily harm on the kid. This was not a school yard fight. In its own way, it was nothing more or less than itself an attempted lynching, and apparently a racial lynching at that. The District Attorney quite properly filed criminal charges attempted against the six. A reasonable argument can be made that the charge- attempted murder- was excessive.

One of the black students- seventeen year old Mychal Ball- was tried on those charges and convicted by an all-white jury (none of the African American residents summoned for jury duty in the case showed up) on reduced (and surely appropriate) charges of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. Contrary to reports, Ball- who did have a high grade point average- was not an honor student with no previous criminal record. In fact, at the time he was on probation for at least two previous counts of battery and for criminal damage to property. His conviction on the conspiracy charge was later reversed- not on the merits, but on the ground that he should not have been tried as an adult. Contrary to widespread media reports, the battery conviction was in fact upheld.

Was the prosecution of this case excessively zealous? That argument can be reasonably made. That prosecution per se was not appropriate, on the other hand, is simply not a reasonable position.

Five other black students still face criminal charges for acting like such bullies as to leave a single fellow student bleeding and unconscious on the ground. Again, an argument can be made that attempted murder charges are excessive. But the charges on which Ball was in fact convicted seem to me not only to be completely reasonable, but to be so reasonable that no reasonable person could disagree with that assessment.

Yet this prosecution was the cause for the sizable rally at Jena the other day reported by the world-wide media (note the fascinating bias of the article linked to).

Ben Reid, an African-American resident of Jena, says that “this whole thing ain’t no downright, racial affair.” That seems to be a reasonable conclusion. The citizens of Jena- both black and white- seem to take a view of the affair remarkably lacking in racial overtones. They seem determined that the affair be disposed of in exactly the way it would have been had six white kids stomped a black kid and left him unconscious.

Which prospect, it seems, inspires what seems to me to be wholly inappropriate outrage throughout the nation, and even the world.

Sure, the Jena area has an unsavory racial past, and sure, the area has seen outrageous behavior on the part of white students, too. Perhaps white students on other (unspecified) occasions were treated with inappropriate leniency; certainly the initial charges against the ‘Jena 6,’ were excessive, even though prosecution remains not only entirely appropriate, but mandatory.

Neither the town’s history nor the behavior of other students nor the severity or leniency of the punishment of others is the issue. The issue is whether or not criminal activity perpetrated by a racially-motivated lynch mob should, in this particular case, be punished.

The issue is that one particular kid- from all appearances, uninvolved in any of the other stuff- was severely stomped and left unconscious on a playground in what was apparently a racially motivated incident by six bullies who were not, in any sense, engaging in a fair schoolyard fight.

Which is why the position of those who present themselves as civil rights activists minimizing the behavior of the ‘Jena Six’ is so unconscionable. At least at the present, it certainly appears that they taken sides with the lynch mobs of both races who throughout history have victimized innocents for no reason other than the color of their skin.

If white kids have gotten off lightly in the past for violence against African-American students, that is unconscionable- and has to stop. But the solution to the problem is not to declare open season on white students in return. It’s to hold students to precisely the same standard regardless of their race, and to appropriately punish racial violence no matter who perpetrates it.

Wash your mouth out, Dr. Dobson

… is a video of Fred Thompson supposedly not being a Christian:

AIEEE! RUN! SHE’S COMING FOR US!

Hillary has announced her candidacy for the White House.

She’ll have to become shrill, uber-Leftist Hillary again- her true self- in order to beat out Obama and Edwards for the nomination. If she gets that far (and I have a hunch that she might not), she’ll then revert to the “moderate” Hillary the worshipping MSM pretends she is in order to try to win the election.

I remain convinced that she’s doomed. Nobody for whom over forty percent of the electorate says going in that they will never, under any circumstances, vote has a chance of being elected president. Ain’t gonna happen.

My money is on Edwards for the Democratic nomination. He looks like he’s got has populist, hard-Left line all laid out for him, national health insurance (wasn’t that Hillary’s plan?) and all. He and Bill Richardson, IMO, are the Democrats’ two toughest contenders, November-wise. If it weren’t for the fact that Hillary’s candidacy will make it hard for Edwards not to pick a woman, I’d think that Edwards-Richardson might just be the Democrats’ ticket in 2008.

Edwards, btw, continues to lead all the polls here in Iowa, with Hillary second. Not a good sign for Hillary, who will be badly damaged if she loses here.

Over on the GOP side, I still see Mitt Romney as the likely nominee- unless a social conservative (probably Huckabee or Brownback, both of whom have started to put together organizations here in Iowa with some good people, despite Mitt’s huge head start) does a Jimmy Carter/Bill Clinton and comes out of nowhere to win Iowa. Then it might be interesting. While I see John McCain as slightly more viable than Rudy Giuliani, I don’t think either has a shot at the nomination- and to differing degrees, both would have trouble turning out the base in November even in the unlikely event that they won the nomination. McCain is just too disliked by too many conservatives, especially party activists; Giuliani’s positions on abortion, gay rights, stem cell research,guns and other social issues will blow him out of the water just as soon as he starts to be compared with rivals whose positions on these issues are more orthodox for Republicans, and especially for the activists who trudge through the snow and devote an entire evening to their precinct caucus here in Iowa.

In November, it’s anybody’s guess. My guess is that Iraq will basically be a non-issue in 2008. The terms on which things work themselves out there will obviously have a huge impact on the presidential election. So, of course, will the shape of the economy. Either Edwards or Richardson- especially Edwards- would be a formidable opponent. Romney would be a good candidate, if only he were a Southern governor. Huckabee is exactly that, though his lack of experience in the national stage is worrisome. Both are very effectives speakers.

Brownback is a good guy whom it would probably be easy for the Dems and the MSM to marginalize.

Too bad Jim Gilmore isn’t more popular back in Virginia. His security credentials are impressive. I don’t know enough about his speaking ability or his ability to think on his feet to be able to judge. One thing is sure: after Bush, the next Republican presidential nominee had better be articulate- especially since Edwards, Obama, and Hillary all are!

I’m still on the lookout for a newcomer (Fred Thompson is probably unrealistic, being too old as well as having too good a time as an actor), but right now for the most part I’m personally looking at Romney and Huckabee.

Computer problems

… may force a blogging hiatus for a while, or at least comparatively infrequent posting. I’ll probably be posting, if and when I do, from the library for a week or so.

Sigh. Ain’t technology wonderful?

Hillary McClellan Clinton?

Barry Casselman compares the year 1864 in American history with the year 2007- and warns against drawing premature conclusions about how the Bush presidency will end.

Strange word choice

Today U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized the handling of the executions of Saddam Hussein and two of his henchmen. The executions- especially Saddam’s- have generally been considered diplomatic and political disasters, involving sectarian and political mocking and taunting of the condemned men on the gallows by their enemies. Saddam’s execution was carried out on a date which- on the calendar of Sunni Muslims- was a holy day, on which executions are constitutionally forbidden. Saddam’s brother-in-law- Barzan Ibrahim, who was rather heavy- was apparently decapitated by the rope, a not-uncommon mishap in a hanging when the ratio of the executed person’s weight to the length of the drop has been miscalculated.

But did Sec. Rice vilify those hangings?

Webster’s definition of the word:

Main Entry: vil·i·fy
Pronunciation: 'vi-l&-"fI
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -fied; -fy·ing
Etymology: Middle English vilifien, from Late Latin vilificare, from Latin vilis cheap, vile
1 : to lower in estimation or importance
2 : to utter slanderous and abusive statements against : DEFAME
synonym see MALIGN

The implication is that the hangings were actually carried out well, but that Condi is maliciously attacking them. If that was the intent of the author of this headline, his (or hers) is a very odd- and not very objective- viewpoint.

If it was not, his (or hers) was a rather inappropriate choice of verbs.

HT: Drudge (who really seems to have a problem lately with taking his cue from badly-written, misleading headlines)

Strange word choice

Today U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized the handling of the executions of Saddam Hussein and two of his henchmen. The executions- especially Saddam’s- have generally been considered diplomatic and political disasters, involving sectarian and political mocking and taunting of the condemned men on the gallows by their enemies. Saddam’s execution was carried out on a date which- on the calendar of Sunni Muslims- was a holy day, on which executions are constitutionally forbidden. Saddam’s brother-in-law- Barzan Ibrahim, who was rather heavy- was apparently decapitated by the rope, a not-uncommon mishap in a hanging when the ratio of the executed person’s weight to the length of the drop has been miscalculated.

But did Sec. Rice vilify those hangings?

Webster’s definition of the word:

Main Entry: vil·i·fy
Pronunciation: 'vi-l&-"fI
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -fied; -fy·ing
Etymology: Middle English vilifien, from Late Latin vilificare, from Latin vilis cheap, vile
1 : to lower in estimation or importance
2 : to utter slanderous and abusive statements against : DEFAME
synonym see MALIGN

The implication is that the hangings were actually carried out well, but that Condi is maliciously attacking them. If that was the intent of the author of this headline, his (or hers) is a very odd- and not very objective- viewpoint.

If it was not, his (or hers) was a rather inappropriate choice of verbs.

HT: Drudge (who really seems to have a problem lately with taking his cue from badly-written, misleading headlines)

Is Iraq actually a Bush masterstroke?

Strange as may sound, Middle East expert Edward N. Luttwak makes the case that the war in Iraq- and precisely the sectarian divisions which have ensued- may have vastly strengthened the American hand in the Gulf.

Regionally, the Sunnis have nowhere else to go in their ongoing struggle with our common enemy, Iranian Shi’ite mischief-making. And by taking out Saddam and liberating Iraq’s Shi’ites from decades of Sunni oppression, Bush may actually have strengthened America’s hand somewhat and weakened that of Iran’s extremists among the region’s Shi’ites.

Lutwak’s conclusion:

When the Bush administration came into office, only Egypt and Jordan were functioning allies of the U.S. Iran and Iraq were already declared enemies, Syria was hostile, and even its supposed friends in the Arabian peninsula were so disinclined to help that none did anything to oppose al Qaeda. Some actively helped it, while others knowingly allowed private funds to reach the terrorists whose declared aim was to kill Americans.

The Iraq war has indeed brought into existence a New Middle East, in which Arab Sunnis can no longer gleefully disregard American interests because they need help against the looming threat of Shiite supremacy, while in Iraq at the core of the Arab world, the Shia are allied with the U.S. What past imperial statesmen strove to achieve with much cunning and cynicism, the Bush administration has brought about accidentally. But the result is exactly the same.

Regardless of the outcome in Iraq, it may be a generation before historians finally decide whether, on balance, the war has actually been the disaster the Democrats and the MSM have managed to convince the American people that it is.

Is Iraq actually a Bush masterstroke?

Strange as may sound, Middle East expert Edward N. Luttwak makes the case that the war in Iraq- and precisely the sectarian divisions which have ensued- may have vastly strengthened the American hand in the Gulf.

Regionally, the Sunnis have nowhere else to go in their ongoing struggle with our common enemy, Iranian Shi’ite mischief-making. And by taking out Saddam and liberating Iraq’s Shi’ites from decades of Sunni oppression, Bush may actually have strengthened America’s hand somewhat and weakened that of Iran’s extremists among the region’s Shi’ites.

Lutwak’s conclusion:

When the Bush administration came into office, only Egypt and Jordan were functioning allies of the U.S. Iran and Iraq were already declared enemies, Syria was hostile, and even its supposed friends in the Arabian peninsula were so disinclined to help that none did anything to oppose al Qaeda. Some actively helped it, while others knowingly allowed private funds to reach the terrorists whose declared aim was to kill Americans.

The Iraq war has indeed brought into existence a New Middle East, in which Arab Sunnis can no longer gleefully disregard American interests because they need help against the looming threat of Shiite supremacy, while in Iraq at the core of the Arab world, the Shia are allied with the U.S. What past imperial statesmen strove to achieve with much cunning and cynicism, the Bush administration has brought about accidentally. But the result is exactly the same.

Regardless of the outcome in Iraq, it may be a generation before historians finally decide whether, on balance, the war has actually been the disaster the Democrats and the MSM have managed to convince the American people that it is.

Arab funding of Carter center puts Jimmy’s objectivity in doubt

While I don’t challenge Jimmy Carter’s personal integrity (and thus disavow the head on this article), is it possible that his anti-Israeli lurch might at least have been subjectively influenced by funding the Carter Center is getting from Arab sources?

Many of those who have respected Carter over the years (myself included, despite my change of attitude toward the former president in the last few years) have been dismayed by the unbalanced nature of his recent book on the Middle East. This simply does not seem to be the Carter of the Camp David Accords, the honest broker who accomplished one of the great diplomatic coups of the Twentieth Century.

Jimmy Carter seems more and more a leftist ideologue these days, and less and less like the centrist man of conscience we elected in 1976. The recent death of Gerald Ford, and the attention given his character and his term of office, combine with Carter’s recent behavior to make it all too clear, in retrospect, what a mistake we made in that year]s election.

Arab funding of Carter center puts Jimmy’s objectivity in doubt

While I don’t challenge Jimmy Carter’s personal integrity (and thus disavow the head on this article), is it possible that his anti-Israeli lurch might at least have been subjectively influenced by funding the Carter Center is getting from Arab sources?

Many of those who have respected Carter over the years (myself included, despite my change of attitude toward the former president in the last few years) have been dismayed by the unbalanced nature of his recent book on the Middle East. This simply does not seem to be the Carter of the Camp David Accords, the honest broker who accomplished one of the great diplomatic coups of the Twentieth Century.

Jimmy Carter seems more and more a leftist ideologue these days, and less and less like the centrist man of conscience we elected in 1976. The recent death of Gerald Ford, and the attention given his character and his term of office, combine with Carter’s recent behavior to make it all too clear, in retrospect, what a mistake we made in that year]s election.

Lutheran Carnival XLI, the brightest carnival in thirty years

Lutheran Carnival XLI: The Post Season is “posted-” (get it?) over at Necessary Roughness. Observers report being able to read it in broad daylight!

Good stuff- and good for your orthodoxy, too! Better still, you’ll be able to enjoy it in both the Northern and the Southern hemispheres!

(NOTE: This post is not at all affected by my missing Comet McNaught- the great daylight comet of 2007- due to cloudy skies and my own earlier procrastination.)

Lutheran Carnival XLI, the brightest carnival in thirty years

Lutheran Carnival XLI: The Post Season is “posted-” (get it?) over at Necessary Roughness. Observers report being able to read it in broad daylight!

Good stuff- and good for your orthodoxy, too! Better still, you’ll be able to enjoy it in both the Northern and the Southern hemispheres!

(NOTE: This post is not at all affected by my missing Comet McNaught- the great daylight comet of 2007- due to cloudy skies and my own earlier procrastination.)

Bears 27, Seahawks 24- OT

Good as Gould.

The Bears won it on a 50-yard field goal in overtime by their All-Pro kicker, Robbie.

Thoughts on the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field next week: The Saints are going to bring the pressure on Rex- and Rex doesn’t do pressure very well. Nor is the Bears defense- which was once the best in the league- the same without Mike Brown and Tommy Harris.

Better hope for Bear weather. Cold Snow. Wind. Go, Brrrrrrrrrs!

ADDENDUM: Too bad about the Chargers, who deserved to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. Oh, well. If we can get past the Saints next week, it would be nice to do the one thing the ‘85 Bears were denied the chance to do when those same Patriots beat Miami in the AFC title game back then: beat a team in the Super Bowl that had beaten them in the regular season.

Bears 27, Seahawks 24- OT

Good as Gould.

The Bears won it on a 50-yard field goal in overtime by their All-Pro kicker, Robbie.

Thoughts on the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field next week: The Saints are going to bring the pressure on Rex- and Rex doesn’t do pressure very well. Nor is the Bears defense- which was once the best in the league- the same without Mike Brown and Tommy Harris.

Better hope for Bear weather. Cold Snow. Wind. Go, Brrrrrrrrrs!

ADDENDUM: Too bad about the Chargers, who deserved to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. Oh, well. If we can get past the Saints next week, it would be nice to do the one thing the ‘85 Bears were denied the chance to do when those same Patriots beat Miami in the AFC title game back then: beat a team in the Super Bowl that had beaten them in the regular season.

Boxer’s low blow has HER crying about it!

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Cal), who tried to use Secretary of State Condi Rice’s childlessness as a political bludgeon the other day and got quite properly called on it, is now trying to make herself out to be the victim.

Kind of like when the Democrats tried to steal Florida in 2000 with that crooked manual recount, and then accused Bush of stealing it when the Supreme Court stopped them.

OK, now everybody…. one….two… three…. “Awwwwwww! Poor Barbara!”

Boxer’s low blow has HER crying about it!

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Cal), who tried to use Secretary of State Condi Rice’s childlessness as a political bludgeon the other day and got quite properly called on it, is now trying to make herself out to be the victim.

Kind of like when the Democrats tried to steal Florida in 2000 with that crooked manual recount, and then accused Bush of stealing it when the Supreme Court stopped them.

OK, now everybody…. one….two… three…. “Awwwwwww! Poor Barbara!”