Safe Haven

Wow. I'm looking smart today . I just said all that, didn't I? That's cool. Why is my traffic going down? [Because you are boring.--ed.] Mayhaps. But why are you so mean? I would tell you to go to Confession if you weren't such a stubborn, hapless pagan. [I thought you said we were Christians?--ed.] Yes. But you I fear may not make it. [As for hapless paganism, you would know.--ed.] See? That's what I mean.

Let me start by saying that John Roberts is a great Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He understands what the separation of powers is supposed to mean, and he has a long track record of deference to the legislative branch as representatives of the people. And with the health care law, this is exactly what he did: he presumed the law constitutional (as is his obligation) and then he tested that presumption in the light of Congress's enumerated powers. He was also constrained by the precedent of other decisions to try to find a possible interpretation that supports its constitutionality. And that's what he did. Our partisan fights over the role of judges and courts have obscured the tensions within the Right, broadly speaking, about what courts should do, as this points out. Libertarians construe our rights as grounded in our individual liberty, and thus, view everything that happens in the political realm as something to be judged absolutely in light of those inalienable ri...

Mr. Butler will be pleased to know that I've begun my essay on Karl Barth. I'll bet a lot of people liked Karl Barth personally. I certainly do. There is no way you could read "Prayer" and not appreciate the man, on a human level. That's why any assessment of him, no matter how ultimately negative with respect to his theology, must be done according to objective theological norms (which Mother Church abundantly provides). I now therefore realize that the Catechism will need employing, and that with great care. I used to think a heretic was a charmless Jesus-hater that nobody liked. Seriously. The whole time I was Protestant, it meant something like, "really really mean bad man." [What are you, an idiot?--ed.] But in theology, it means roughly, "one who holds a false opinion about God obstinately." Well, in order to recognize a false opinion, you need the body of true things about God. A lot of heretics might be charmless Jesus-haters with no f...

What do I think of the trade of Kevin Youkilis ? As strategy, it's ambiguous to bad. Purely as a fan who knows about the odd synergy between the fans, their team, and its special players, this is idiotic. This is the Red Sox equivalent of the Cardinals trading Willie McGee . [They did, you idiot.--ed.] And it was dumb. But he came back. And he could have played 5 more years and hit .203 and no Cardinals fan would have uttered a peep. The 3 most untouchable, revered, and beloved Cardinals of all time are: 1. Stan The Man, 2. Ozzie, and 3. Willie. That's just the way these things are. I utterly hate the Red Sox, and I don't know a great deal about that "unwritten" fans' history, but I do know that Youkilis is one of those guys. He'll be back. They might have to fire Bobby Valentine first, but "Youk" will be back with Boston, mark my words. As of now, the front office has ruptured the bond between the team and its fans, and probably increased the i...

I want to swear. Loudly. This will be a rant, and you'll just have to deal with it. First off, I hate social media. I've almost deactivated my Facebook account 20 times. No, not because I don't have time, though there are definitely better things to do with it. No, not because discussion threads make me angry, though often they do. More on that in a moment. No. I hate it because it flashes a big giant billboard at least 3 times a week (metaphorical; stay with me here) that says, "That person still hates you! Look! She's all over Facebok, talking to your friends, but not you! Don't you feel awesome!" Thanks, Zuckerberg. You billionaire &^#!&. I'm blaming you, because I ran out of reasons to blame myself, and blaming others didn't help. Why do I have to be reminded of perhaps the most painful thing that's ever happened to me ALL THE TIME? How is that fair? And seriously, don't call me and ask me about this. I'm doing bad, OK? Bad....