Skip to main content
What did I think of the State of the Union last night? Boring. Flat. Minimalistic. This was a candidate who electrified America 2 years ago. Now, he sounds like a younger Walter Mondale. Part of this is that he has the completely wrong ideology. He can name the problems we face, but his mind is totally closed off to the workable solutions. "Investment" is progressive code for spending, "Infrastructure" is code for central planning. On education, he may indeed believe enough Democratic heresy on school choice to do something positive. We'll see. The foreign policy section was his best, but it was too brief and vague with respect to Afghanistan. They are making a big mistake regarding Egypt; Mubarak is no democrat, and the US pulling the plug on the 1.3 billion annual dollars propping up that regime would be among the most heroic actions ever taken by the United States. (Revisiting our aid to Israel would be wise also.) Obama is on the wrong course, but the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll (not known as a bastion of Democratic sympathy) has his approval rating at 51%. Republicans should be very concerned. The 2-year mark finds presidents in the mid 40s, even the great Reagan. He hit that bottom, and is rising. Much can still happen, but if the economy rebounds on sheer optimism, the GOP is toast.
Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) response was excellent, and true. Debt and spending are at crisis levels. But the GOP needs to be careful. You can't beat Obama with anger. His personal favorability rating, even after the most unpopular legislation in 50 years, stands at a whopping 76%. People like him, even if they utterly hate his policies, and the Democrats. My strategy for winning against Obama: 1. Nominate Pawlenty/Jindal; 2. Tell everyone that Sarah Palin will be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services (where her ardent pro-life views will have the greatest use, but the least visibility) and 3. General tone of 2012 campaign: "We thank President Obama for his hopeful leadership, his inspiring story, and his enduring example for the future. But we have the ideas to make his dreams a reality."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hilarious Com-Box Quote of The Day: "I was caught immediately because it is the Acts of the Apostles, not the Acts of the Holy Spirit Acting Erratically."--Donald Todd, reacting to the inartful opposition of the Holy Spirit and the Magisterium. Mark Galli, an editor at Christianity Today, had suggested that today's "confusion" in evangelicalism replicates a confusion on the day of Pentecost. Mr. Todd commented after this reply , and the original article is here. My thoughts: By what means was this Church-less "consensus" formed? If the Council did not possess the authority to adjudicate such questions, who does? If the Council Fathers did not intend to be the arbiters, why do they say that they do? At the risk of being rude, I would define evangelicalism as, "Whatever I want or need to believe at any particular time." Ecclesial authority to settle a particular question is a step forward, but only as long as, "God alone is Lord of the con
17 comments
Read more

A Friend I Once Had, And The Dogmatic Principle

 I once had a friend, a dear friend, who helped me with personal care needs in college. Reformed Presbyterian to the core. When I was a Reformed Presbyterian, I visited their church many times. We were close. I still consider his siblings my friends. (And siblings in the Lord.) Nevertheless, when I began to consider the claims of the Catholic Church to be the Church Christ founded, he took me out to breakfast. He implied--but never quite stated--that we would not be brothers, if I sought full communion with the Catholic Church. That came true; a couple years later, I called him on his birthday, as I'd done every year for close to ten of them. He didn't recognize my number, and it was the most strained, awkward phone call I have ever had. We haven't spoken since. We were close enough that I attended the rehearsal dinner for his wedding. His wife's uncle is a Catholic priest. I remember reading a blog post of theirs, that early in their relationship, she told him of the p
Post a Comment
Read more
My wheelchair was nearly destroyed by a car last night. That's a bit melodramatic, I suppose, because it is intact and undamaged. But we'd left my power chair ("Red Sam" in the official designation) in-between the maze of cars parked out front of Chris Yee's house for Bible Study. [Isn't that a Protestant Bible study?--ed.] They are good friends, and it is not under any official auspices. [Not BSF?--ed.] They're BSF guys, but it's not a BSF study. Anyway, I wasn't worried; I made a joke about calling the vendor the next day: "What seems to be the problem, sir?" 'Well, it was destroyed by a car.' As it happened, a guy bumped into it at slow speed. His car got the worst of it. And this only reinforces what I've said for a solid 13 years [Quickie commercial coming] If you want a power wheelchair that lasts, get a Quickie. They're fast, obviously, and they're tanks. Heck, my old one still would work, but the batteries ar
13 comments
Read more