All The News That’s Fit To Spend Electrons Upon, Early…
I am out of pocket next week traveling for both business and pleasure, so here is your regular serving of stuff. I’ll be in Washington D.C. and I will do my best not to get any on me.
Oh Calm Down…
A note to Tea Party activists: This is not the movie you think it is. You probably imagine that you’re starring in “The Birth of a Nation,” but you’re actually just extras in a remake of “Citizen Kane.”
I mean that literally. As Politico recently pointed out, every major contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn’t currently holding office and isn’t named Mitt Romney is now a paid contributor to Fox News.
Good commentary round up on this here.
Sound the straw man alert! Here’s the list of names:
- Sarah Palin
- Newt Gingrich
- Mike Huckabee
- Rick Santorum
Who’s missing? Well, Tim Pawlenty…Mitch Daniels…John Thune amongst the players known to have the goods right now, and then there is Mike Pence, who seems to be pulling the goods together in a big hurry. It must be remembered that people often run for president for reasons other than wanting to be president. If you are looking for a way to tell the serious possibilities from the not-so-serious possibilities, I might suggest you compare these two lists and draw your own conclusions.
What’s really happening here is one of the left’s leading mouthpieces trying to demonize a right-leaning mouthpiece. As the monopoly crumbles, you can count on the monopolistic to cry foul. Said Jonah Goldberg:
The clear meaning of this sentence, and the column, is “Har, har you stupid mouth-breathing Republican dupes, you thought you were mounting a racial revival for the white man but instead you’re simply pawns of the ruling class.”
The Battle Over “Romneycare”
First of all, it’s not “Romneycare.” What Romney proposed and what was passed are VERY different. Nonetheless it figures to be a huge issue in the months to come. Ramesh Ponnuru, no Romney fan, comments on Jonathon Chait’s piece on it and says:
I never liked his Massachusetts health-care plan and said so at the time, but it didn’t render him unacceptable to me. He wasn’t running on a federal version of that plan, which would have rendered him unacceptable in my eyes.
He still isn’t. So what’s changed? Only the political context, which is to say: everything.
Long time readers will remember that I am was no fan of Mass. healthcare. It is the single issue that kept me from declaring full strength for Romney for a very long time though I never had Ponnuru’s level of distaste for Romney. I do agree with Ramesh on this though – it’s going to be a hot potato for Romney. Allahpundit defends against similar charges from Politico:
Conservatives are forever vigilant for shows of weakness among presidents (or would-be presidents)…
Which we pointed out before. Romney needs to find a way to “make this right,” but apologize? Never.
The LDS and Homosexuality
I’m betting in order to make sure that the “apology” of a few days ago is not misunderstood, LDS Elder Boyd Packer made a statement on homosexuality. Apparently his sentiments are “hateful” – not attached to reality – possibly responsible for some suicides.
Needless to say, some want to make it a hot potato for Mitt Romney:
Potential presidential candidate Mitt Romney sidestepped the question of whether people were born gay, on the heels of strong statements by a leader of his LDS faith that same-sex attraction is “impure and unnatural.”
“I still consider myself in the public arena, and as such I just don’t delve into matters of faith and my religion and doctrines of my church, whether it’s to try to explain it to other people or ascribe my own personal beliefs,” Romney said Tuesday during a visit to Salt Lake City in which he expressed his support for Gov. Gary Herbert.
OK, here’s a classic gotcha. Had Romney agreed with Packer, he would have been smeared with his faith. By choosing not to comment he will be accused of being “wishy-washy” or “flip-flopping” or some other less than genuine insinuation. In fact, all the man is doing is trying to maintain the public good in an era when we base policy on the will of the nation, not the pronouncements of any one, or coalition of religious groups. Now if that coalition can convince enough of the American people to agree with them….
Speaking of Mormon “Gotchas”…
So, Romney endorsed a candidate in “jello belt” Idaho and it’s about his faith?! Even when Mormons run the political spectrum? Even when the very left-leaning Mormon is willing to play “Mormon victim?“ (Ok – all lefties like to play victim.)
This is starting to get silly, but it is also why religion does not play well politically. It is a different animal and in America it is diverse enough not to be a useful demographic category. But it does not end there…
…Glenn Beck and The White Horse Prophecy!?
Yeeeeep – the lefties are batting that idea around. But then any “journalism” containing the f-word as a part of normal discourse cannot be taken seriously. Here is a more reasonable tell of the story. Lowell and several of our more astute commenters have done the specious nature of the White Horse prophecy here before so we will not belabor that one.
Rather we will point out what can come of this story line. For one, lefties presume it will make Mormons look silly – just like they think creedal Christians that believe in the Second Coming are silly. We’ll see what they think next time Jesus shows up. Secondly, by emphasizing this they hope to make Beck’s efforts sectarian rather than about the civil religion – that will divide the “religious right” and could derail the effort.
I have no idea what Beck is up to, other than trying to get ratings, and I am not particularly a fan. But I am really tired of the left finding a religious bogeyman under ever action by a person that claims faith of some sort. (Except, of course for Muslims that want to build monuments, er…community centers, on the site of their greatest “victory.”)
The Field…
David Brody seems to like Mike Pence. Sometime though I thnk we need to quit looking for someone better and just make what we have the best.
Sarah Palin makes an important point. Just remember, lower priorities do not indicate lower importance, just differences in urgency.
Pawlenty acts serious. See the first section above and take note.
Conservative bloggers DO NOT like Mike Huckabee. (HT: Instapundit)
Everybody on the left was talking about Romney changing his url shortner as if it were a silly move or something. Made sense to me – I don’t want to put any money in Libya’s pocket.
The Tea Party and Religon
They are saying that there is big overlap between the two. I think the polling results are just proof that the Tea Party is an enormously fired up conservative base. These are not new faces, but old ones with renewed energy.
Interesting Stuff on Religion and Poltics
If we are going to defend marriage, we probably should go all in. I’ve had this argument in church personally.
In Canada, apparently, religion is the enemy of multiculturalism instead of the other way around. I think the northern border may represent the entrace to the Twilight Zone.
Stealing thought from Mark Steyn.
Wait! This sounds vaguely familiar.
Have we completely forgotten that sex is a behavior, not an identity?
And another that I am looking forward to reading. More on same.
OK. Off to see the wizard.
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Chino Blanco on 08 Oct 2010 at 3:20 pm #
Hey, thanks for the link to Main Street Plaza.
Maybe you or Lowell might consider a guest post there some day.
JLF9999 on 19 Oct 2010 at 9:56 pm #
I don’t watch Beck often but when I have I noticed his discussion on religion pretty mainstream. He doesn’t advocate any denomination or practice. He talks about God in general terms more often than he mentions Christ specifically. Creedal Christians consider them one and the same so I doubt it makes much difference to anyone except Mormons who believe they are separate. In any regard, it seems his themes are faith, hope and charity, remembering God, prayer and following the tenets of Christianity or Judaism or whatever your faith tradition is, to the best of your ability. He advocates us becoming being better people and asking for God’s blessings for our country. Like most haters of any stripe, Beck’s denigrators likely never watch him or actually listen to what he says.
JLF9999 on 19 Oct 2010 at 10:03 pm #
For the uninitiated, yiou can read about the White Horse Prophecy here. The site is http://www.fairlds.org, a Mormon apologist website. It has contributions from many prominent LDS thinkers, writers and researchers and is widely accepted as authoritative.
JLF9999 on 19 Oct 2010 at 11:04 pm #
When I began my career in government as a case manager I approached a local federal judge who had also been a high leader in my Church. I asked how he, as a judge, reconciled his religious and personal beliefs when they clashed with the demands of the his job. He said he was hired to do a certain job according to specific rules and procedures. His job was to interpret and find based on the law not his personal beliefs or what he thought the law should be. Every LDS person I know who has served in government in any branch, except maybe legislative, would agree with that. It is the mark of a good Latter Day Saint to be known for honesty and integrity regardless of the what others may say. We are taught at the earliest age to “Do what is right and let the consequences follow.” Failure to be honest and straight forward can get a person in trouble with the church even to the point where his membership is in jeopardy. People have been excommunicated for illegal or dishonest business dealings. I bring this subject up to show how seriously we take honesty and integrity. We aim to exhibit the highest of high standards in all aspects of our lives. It is engrained in us from the time we are preschoolers. Next to adultery, being dishonest and lacking integrity is considered to be just about as bad as you can get. It is often said it is better to be trusted than loved. So it is particularly disturbing to me to hear accusations about any Mormon person being dishonest. If the person was high profile and it was proven he was dishonest, he would certainly have been brought before a church court and that would have been all over the news. As recently as a decade or so ago, a general authority was excommunicated for his immoral and illegal sexual behavior. It was highly publicized so no one is given special treatment because of his rank or position in the church. If Mitt Romney or Harry Reid had been proved to be dishonest he most certainly would have suffered that fate and everyone on the planet would know about it.