Safe Haven

The GOP Nominee in 2012 Ought To Be... Let me preface this with the note that I am considering geography and battlegrounds only; that is, not necessarily the record of the person in question. With that said, the only logical choice for the 2012 GOP nomination for president is...Tim Pawlenty. The GOP must do everything in its power to avoid classification as a regional, Southern, party. In addition, to defeat Obama, they need someone with no real ties to former President G. W. Bush. It'd be moronic for the president to blame 12 years on 'W,' but he'll try if you let him. They need to put the Midwest in play while holding the South. They need someone who doesn't have a history of angering the base. A person who is relatively young will take away perhaps Obama's biggest unacknowledged advantage from 2008, age. Pawlenty is the governor of Minnesota, and this executive experience will likely contrast favorably with Obama, who is already vulnerable on this point and ...

5 Ways To Tell You Are A Vainglorious Extrovert 5. You have a burning urge to be a Wikipedia editor. 4. Does the word 'karaoke' mean anything to you? 3. Trivial Pursuit. Full volume. No mercy. 2. You would totally pull a 'Commodores'--start a band and write songs to impress girls. 1. You own a blog.

5 Thoughts When Realizing One Has an E-mail From Dr. Bill Frist, MD 5. "Are you gonna watch the 'Grey's Anatomy' premiere tonight?" 4. "I'm not really prepared to go to Africa right now, sir." 3. "No 'nuclear option'? No votes for you, come back, 4 years!" 2. "How did you get this e-mail? What does the GOP know, and when did they know it?" 1. "Do you listen to 'Please Come To Boston' like a thousand times a day?"

5 Random, Perhaps Disconnected Thoughts for Today 5. There are a lot of good teams in the National League this year, most of whom (grammar error?) will be playing golf in about a week and a half. 4. The creators of "Grey's Anatomy" must have thought, "Hey, let's do a serious version of 'Scrubs'!" And it works. 3. So glad to find out that small, yet significant piece of information. Will I do anything about it? 2. I doubt catching the garter means anything, but if it does, I'm not complaining. 1. Someone should make a movie of John 13-17. It makes me cry like a baby.

A Political Rant I see far too many Christians over-simplifying the moral imperatives of the gospel of Jesus as they attempt to apply it to the political process. They are still operating as though the stereotypes presented by political actors (especially by opponents of those various actors) are valid. Frankly, to be specific, I see too many Christians defaulting to a kind of socialism, (or at least a statism) because A) some 'progressives' make a big fuss about caring for the poor (and their myriad opponents don't, for various reasons), B) they ignore, or fail to see that state-directed 'compassion' involves coercion which, by its very nature, denies individuals their God-given status as free moral agents, or C) they are just plain ignorant. Under (C), a certain sanctified stupidity prevails, whereby intent is the only measure of a policy's desirability. Most forms of Protestant soteriology actually encourage this. Because of "the finished work of Christ,...

R&B At A Crossroads One thing even a casual music fan could note about the times after what I might call the "LaFace Era"--so named after the co-founders of LaFace Records, Antonio "LA" Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds from about 1988-2000--is the seeming omnipresence of hip-hop/rap as the face (pardon the pun) of Black music. I recall anecdotally that rap, R&B, and even soul could be distinguished. If you wanted rap, you consumed radio that provided it. If you wanted soul, you got soul, and that alone. "R&B" (which used to stand for 'rhythm and blues') was and is an ambiguous term, because it denotes both the fast and the slow, percussive and vocal. It isn't that hip-hop and soul are inherently hostile and opposed, but it seemed until very recently that the forms respected the distinct but occasionally overlapping audiences. I think certainly what we see today is hip-hop entirely subsuming R&B and soul. The crossov...

Top 5 Rejected Presbyterian Slogans 5. "We're Predestined To Look Down on You." 4. "We're Like Politicians; It's All About Election." 3. "We Love Everyone--In A General, Non-Efficacious Sense." 2. "Form A Committee With Us Today!" 1. "Dry Theology--In A Good Martini Sort Of Way."

Decorum is Decorum The unfortunately named Rep. Joe Wilson, R-SC (you'll recall a famous liar by that name a few years back) yelled, "You lie!" at President Obama during his speech to the joint session last week. I say it was a most unpatriotic and disruptive action, worthy of a severe reprimand by the House of Representatives. I am unmoved by the recall of the abuse heaped on President Bush; when we are discussing the dignity of our institutions, and of the occasions of their use, we have no place for this kind of thing. The only ground we have to stand on in our moral outrage is simply, We wouldn't do that if the roles were reversed . It saddens me that this guy is some conservative hero now. Is the only thing left in our politics a hatred for the opposition? In my America, you don't put an unpatriotic cad's words on a T-shirt, celebrating like you "stuck it to The Man." I didn't watch the speech, and I don't support the president's he...

I was brushing my teeth. 10:15 Central Time. The bathroom closest to the front desk in my university residence hall. Some guy ran in. This is (approximately) what followed: "Dude, someone attacked the World Trade Center. They think 50,000 people might be dead." "C'mon, man, that's not funny." "No, I'm serious. I wouldn't joke about that." I finished brushing, and went to the desk. We had a whiteboard that had all the day's news, sports, and weather. Understandably on this day, it had only one item. In a big box underneath everything was a message: "In spite of everything that has happened, we are not going to judge anyone by his or her skin color, religion, or national origin." Or something like that. I have never been so glad to see such a statement ever before. I guess I'm supposed to hate such spasms of political correctness. But there is nothing more conservative than holding individuals (and them alone) responsible fo...

5 Curious Facts/Opinions About the 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 5. Their NL Central division lead hasn't decreased since July 30. 4. If the Cardinals lost every game for the rest of the season, they would finish with the same number of wins as their 2006 World Championship team. 3. The Cardinals thought that Kyle Lohse would be the team's third-best starting pitcher, (and paid him accordingly) but it has actually been Joel Pineiro. 2. Things are good when your team's fourth-best starter is future Hall of Fame member John Smoltz. 1. The NL Cy Young Award winner will not be a Cardinal, because Chris Carpenter (16-3, 2.16 ERA) will split the vote with his teammate Adam Wainwright (17-7, 2.68 ERA).

5 Things To Do On Labor Day, 2009 5. Count the hours to the Cards-Brewers matchup, lamenting the soul-crushing loss in Pittsburgh yesterday. 4. Wonder what whitewashed, commie-free version of Labor Day the History Channel will present. 3. Paranoidly wonder what collectivist inanity the government is planning. 2. Recall amusedly that the collectivist plots will likely be undone by Joe Biden's big mouth. 1. Trust in Jesus, whose labor gives my labor meaning on this, and every, day.

5 Ways To Tell You Are, Or Have Been, A Calvinist: 5. You have two dogs...you know the rest. 4. Your favorite word is "decree." 3. You refer to your backyard as "New Geneva." 2. During your last fight with a family member, you felt the most guilty for screaming, "You Arminian!" in the heat of it. 1. While not knowing exactly how your free will was involved, you KNOW you were predestined to read this post.

5 More Ways to Tell You Are Jason Kettinger 5. Your theology is one long, extended baseball metaphor. 4. You like Babyface's music more than Babyface does. 3. Your first celebrity crush was Barbara Hershey. 2. You mix your mother's birthday up with the Kennedy assassination. 1. You know "The Cutting Edge" is the greatest chick-flick of all time.

Five Brett Favre Questions: 5. Can he hack it still? This is the same man who threw 2 TD and 9 INT in the final 5 games for the Jets, who were 1-4 in those games and missed the playoffs. 4. Is he trustworthy? He didn’t tell the Jets he was hurt. Eric Mangini was fired because of Favre. 3. Is he healthy? He’s no use to the Vikings hurt. 2. Why did he lie? He could have told us all on July 30 that he’d return. No problem there. I’m not mad like most people that we get constant Favre “Will he retire/come back?” coverage. I love Brett Favre. I’m just saying. 1. Will I watch every second possible of the Vikings this season? Absolutely.

Top 5 Things To Do While Your Internet Is Down: 5. Catch up on your Tom Clancy. 4. Whine like you are 3 years old. 3. Blame Joe Biden. 2. Blame Obama. 1. Say you will write posts for later, while not writing a thing.

5 Reactions To Last Night's All-Star Game in St. Louis: 5. The National League apparently sucks. They haven't won since the summer of the Atlanta Olympic Games. Carl Lewis won gold there. Yes, it was a long time ago. 4. If Sara Evans can sing that well, I want to ask her why she mailed it in on the night of her guest appearance on Nashville Star . 3. Geez, Albert Pujols is good. He didn't even get a hit, and he was still memorable. 2. Ichiro Suzuki might have been the most talented guy in the park that night, a park that contained Musial, Brock, Smith, Gibson, and Schoendienst. 1. Don't quit your day job, President Obama. That was a terrible first pitch.

Mindless Musical Blather of the Day I have this playlist of 180 songs, eclectic enough to make me look open-minded, and mainstream enough to make critics and snobs throw up. Anyway, I'm listening to Ashlee Simpson's song "Pieces Of Me," a guilty pleasure to be sure, and trying to figure out why I like it so much. I figured it out: she reminds me of Anna Nalick. Ms. Nalick had a couple radio hits awhile back, if you recall. In any case, my list took me next to Bryan White , which, if you don't know Bryan White, you should. If people were imprisoned for having too much talent, White would be sharing a cell in the Pop Music Wing (all genres) with Glen Campbell and Michael Jackson. I heard a country music legend (can't remember which one) say he couldn't believe all that talent was contained in one person, that of Campbell, and a critic described White as a "90s Glen Campbell." [Side Rant: If you refuse to consider country music real music, I don...

Bad internet has kept me from posting, but it's that time again! Oh, yes. A snarky top 5 list! And so: Still Five More Ways To Tell You've Spent Too Much Time at Christ Our King in Columbia, MO: 5. You think Israel was formed into the twelve tribes somewhere in West Virginia. 4. You wear a clerical robe while grilling hamburgers. 3. "This IS your grandmother's church!" and you are happy about that. 2. You hear a story about the nightlife of Copenhagen, Denmark...and it's not a joke. 1. You sing the three-fold Amen after changing the oil on your car. (Thanks, Jamie.)

A Protestant Reflection On The Catholic Eucharist I molest him not Whose pious senses Incline him to destroy The skeptic’s errand-boy, Rationalism. And no more just occasion For this noble refutation Doth time and grace afford Than at the Table, The Table of the Lord. Ah, noble Mystery The fulcrum of History Finished there Present here “Proclaim!” doth it declare. A danger it is not A snare it is not. Though such Faith, not all queries Doth it deflect, To receive Our Lord, who can object?

I have a confession to make. You know that show on the Catholic network (EWTN) called The Journey Home? I often watch it. I like it. I have for quite some time. Somewhat more scandalously, I've wanted to be a guest on the show. It's a show about former Protestants (I think also wayward "cradle Catholics") who come back to the Catholic Church. Even were I not considering such a move--which I cannot deny--it would be enjoyable for two reasons: 1. If you want to see passionate, Christ-like Catholics, watch this show. 2. If you've ever suspected that your Protestant church's theology is a bunch of convenient, anti-intellectual, fundamentalist nonsense, watch this show. [Sidebar rant: If you equate "fundamentalist" with voting Republican and/or being a moral traditionalist, I am NOT on your side.] The subtitle of the show could be "Pesky, Inconvenient Truths From Sane Christian People." In defense of non-loony Protestantism, many of these people...