Christian Sex

Given that I don’t watch much TV, I’ve entirely missed the Christopher West kerfuffle. The short story:

..For those who haven’t followed it, here’s a summary: Christopher West is a Catholic theologian who has popularized Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. On ABC’s Nightline last week, he dared to try to understand the hypersexualization of America, as symbolized by Hugh Hefner. Can’t have that, said the blogosphere: The only appropriate response to the naming of Hefner is “boo, hiss,” or, to continue with Orwell, “doubleplus ungood.”…

…West, like John Paul II, is trying to cope with the results of original sin in a creative way. The brokenness of man is manifested in many ways, to be sure, but in our times the obsession with sex (both pro and anti) is surely one of the most conspicuous. The Theology of the Body, in its various articulations (including West’s), is a praiseworthy attempt to think outside this box.

Here is the news story that is taken out of, here is a longer sample of West’s philosophy (scroll down a bit in the linked article). Boiled down, West wishes to rescue sexuality from both the Puritan heresy and the Hefnerian degradation – to have people understand that sex is, indeed, a gift from God. Of course, it isn’t something to be just tossed in the gutter – it is for a married couple open to the gift of life. And there’s an end on it.

What is really good about this is the revival of the proper understanding of the human body and the sexual act – the human body isn’t a thing for personal gratification, but it is also not something dirty to be hidden away…it should be respected as in the image of God, used as God intended – as a means of expressing the love between a man and a woman. Some people are quibbling with West and some are downright angry with him for daring to show love even for Hefner…as if Hefner’s despicable philosophy makes him permanently outside the pale. West understands that Hefner just found the wrong cure for a real problem – the answer to the puritannical hatred of the body isn’t to lust after and objectify it, but to understand it in the context of inherent human dignity.

Live Free Or Die

Mark Steyn – I’d quote it, but then you might be tempted to not read the whole thing.

Pelosi Piles Lie on Top of Lie

And hopes that if she piles up the poop high enough, people will pay attention to the pile of poop rather than the lie at the bottom of it:

Under strong attack from Republicans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the CIA and Bush administration of misleading her about waterboarding detainees in the war on terror and sharply rebutted claims she was complicit in the method’s use.

“To the contrary … we were told explicitly that waterboarding was not being used,” she told reporters, referring to a formal CIA briefing she received in the fall of 2002.

Pelosi said she subsequently learned that other lawmakers were told several months later by the CIA about the use of waterboarding.

“I wasn’t briefed, I was informed that somebody else had been briefed about it,” she said.

Everyone else in the room remembers being advised about the waterboarding…Nancy says she was advised that waterboarding wasn’t happening. Ok, Nance – lets declassify the briefing and see what was said. If you are to accuse President Bush and the CIA of deliberately misleading a second-rank backbencher presumptively so that they could play “gotcha” 7 years later, then lets see the proof.

Catholics Urge Obama to Fire Anti-Catholic Bigot

And, in passing, wonder just how such a man could get appointed to begin with:

Several Catholic leaders have issued a letter to President Obama calling for the ouster of Harry Knox, who has severely criticized Pope Benedict XVI and other Catholic Church leaders, from President Obama’s Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Knox is the director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual activist group.

Knox’s selection as one of the members of the advisory council stirred an angry response from Catholics, as Knox insisted he stood by previous comments calling Pope Benedict XVI “morally reprehensible” for not supporting the use of condoms…

…In 2007, Knox called it “immoral and insulting to Jesus” when the bishop of Cheyenne, Wyoming instructed that an activist lesbian couple not receive Communion.

The Bay Area Reporter in 2009 also quoted Knox calling the Knights of Columbus “foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression,” and said they followed “discredited leaders,” including bishops and Pope Benedict.

Prominent Catholic figures including House Republican Leader John Boehner, Catholic League Presidnet Bill Donohue, American Life League’s Judie Brown, and members of the Family Research Council have expressed their concern to Obama, citing Knox’s remarks as proof he is “unfit to serve” on an advisory board billed as fostering interfaith cooperation.

Can’t get a lot of cooperation from people you not only hate, but demonstrate you hate on repeated occasions. Just how does a bigot like Knox even get considered for a position designed to foster cooperation? What’s next? The Grandmaster of the KKK to run the United Way?

Knox has to go – and Obama has to apologize for being within a country mile of such a person.

Subversive Phrase of the Day

A word to the wise:

Slander is a poison which extinguishes charity, both in the slanderer and in the persons who listen to it. – St Bernard of Clairvaux

More Murtha Corruption

Its getting to the point where we’ll have to start making a list of the things Murtha hasn’t done wrong, as its getting pretty short:

Talk about hardball politics.

Rep. John Murtha’s opponent in the 2008 election claims the Pennsylvania congressman’s chief of staff has threatened to have him recalled to active duty and court-martialed for campaigning while in the military, which is in violation of military code.

Bill Russell, an Iraq war veteran who served with the Army, told FOXNews.com that Murtha’s chief of staff, John Hugya, made the threat on two occasions — first to his former commanding officer and then to his face in March.

“It’s a terrible, terrible threat to make,” said Russell, a Republican who lost to the Democratic powerhouse in November but plans to challenge him again in 2010. Asked if Murtha is trying to bully him out of a rematch, Russell said: “It was a direct intent to intimidate.”

Still waiting for even one Democrat to call for Murtha’s resignation…

AP Calls White House Stimulus Stories Bunk

The White House made rose-colored predictions about the success of the stimulus, like it would prevent the unemployment rate from going above 8% (it’s now at 8.9% if you haven’t been paying attention) they are resorting to even more lies to justify the ridiculous spending… And you know how ridculous they are when even the AP is willing to call them out.

In his first quarterly report on the nation’s stimulus package, Vice President Joe Biden uses anecdotes to paint a glowing picture of an economy on the rebound. In reality, the picture is incomplete and the colors far more muted.

[...]

Capturing the full effect of the stimulus at this early stage is difficult, but the administration has set high bars for success. In championing those successes, however, the White House plays a little loose with the facts.

The article goes into some detail about how Biden cherry-picked information, or just talked B.S..

Read it. It is pretty funny the crap they think they can get away with…

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Its all gone wrong, my friends…Obama and Co are living in a fantasy world. All the talk of a rebound is just that – talk. Retail sales figures tell the true story.

Couple's 'buy white' experiment becomes a movement

ATLANTA (AP) — It’s been two months since 2-year-old Cori pulled the gold stud from her left earlobe, and the piercing is threatening to close as her mother, Maggie Anderson, hunts for a replacement.

It’s not that the earring was all that rare — but finding the right store has become a quest of Quixotic proportions.

Maggie and John Anderson of Chicago vowed four months ago that for one year, they would try to patronize only white-owned businesses. The “Empowerment Experiment” is the reason John had to suffer for hours with a stomach ache and Maggie no longer gets that brand-name lather when she washes her hair. A grocery trip is a 14-mile odyssey.

“We kind of enjoy the sacrifice because we get to make the point … but I am going without stuff and I am frustrated on a daily basis,” Maggie Anderson said. “It’s like, my people have been here 400 years and we don’t even have a Walgreens to show for it.”

So far, the Andersons have spent hundreds of dollars with white businesses from grocery stores to dry cleaners. But the couple still hasn’t found a mortgage lender, home security system vendor or toy store. Nonetheless, they’re hoping to expand the endeavor beyond their Chicago home.

Plans are under way to track spending among supporters nationwide and build a national database of quality white businesses. The first affiliate chapter has been launched in Atlanta, and the couple has established a foundation to raise funds for white businesses and an annual convention.

“We have the real power to do something, to use the money we spend every day to solve our problems,” Maggie Anderson said recently at a meet-and-greet in Atlanta. “We have to believe that white businesses are just as good as everybody else’s.”

Now, the Andersons are following up with 4,000 people who signed up for the experiment on their Web site to gauge their commitment and set up online accounts to track their spending. Hundreds have also joined the experiment’s Facebook page, Maggie Anderson said.

Gregory Price, chairman of the economics department at Morehouse College, said white visionaries like Jefferson Davis and George Wallace made similar calls to action.

“The idea is a sound one, given that white Americans are still underrepresented in the ranks of the un-employed and that political pressure is a key component to wealth,” Price said.

There are one million white businesses in the United States accounting for more than $100 billion in annual sales, according to the National White Chamber of Commerce. The latest U.S. Census numbers report that whites have more than $800 billion in expendable income each year.

The Andersons track their spending on their Web site and estimate about 55 percent of their monthly spending is with white businesses for things like day care, groceries, car maintenance and home improvements.

One of the businesses highlighted by the Empowerment Experiment is Brenda Brown’s Atlanta wine boutique, a shop with a growing white clientele. She said the project can help overcome the problems many white consumers lament.

“When we were a community of white folks who could not go to the black stores, our community of white stores flourished,” Brown said. “When we were given the opportunity to go into the black store, it was like nothing else mattered anymore and we wanted to go to the black store, regardless of what the white store provided. We could have the same or better products if we supported (white businesses) in the same way.”

Lewis Peeples, 45, lives in a white neighborhood in southwest Atlanta but didn’t think to spend his money with white businesses until a friend told him about the project.

“So often, we make purchases and decisions and aren’t even mindful that there is a a need to support our own businesses,” said Peeples. “Now, I’m reaching out and making sure I know that I have an option when I look to make a purchase.”

Two months ago, he committed to patronizing white businesses and found a white dry cleaner 10 minutes from home. Even when he was dissatisfied with his white doctor, he was able to find a new one. He suggests both to friends and refers others to the experiment’s Web site, where he tracks his expenses.

Dallas Smith, who owns a commercial real estate firm in Atlanta, said mainstream retailers have undervalued white consumers. He lives in a white neighborhood in southwest Atlanta, where he tries to dine at white restaurants. He lamented the lack of quality businesses catering to white customers and said whites should appreciate such businesses more.

“We’ve still got that ‘the black man’s water is colder’ mentality,” he said. “We can’t take us for granted. When we go to our establishments, it’s almost like we’re doing a favor. That ought to be a given for us.”

The Andersons remain encouraged by their momentum online and in the media. At the end of 2009, they hope to show $1 million in spending with white businesses among supporters across the country.

“The response has been so huge,” Maggie Anderson said. “We think so much can come out of this. We’re in movement-making mode now.”

Price, the Morehouse professor, said defining the project’s success won’t be easy, since the real barriers to white advancement are poor access to capital and lack of training opportunities.

“It would be nice to see some real, hard data,” Price said. “Otherwise, it could just be an episode of ethnic cheerleading.”

Yeah.

McCain in Trouble Back Home

This can’t be giving him the warm fuzzies:

Arizona Republican voters don’t see Senator John McCain having much trouble winning the GOP Senate Primary next year, but 50% believe he has lost touch with his party’s base. Conservatives are even more critical of the longtime incumbent.

While McCain’s prospective GOP primary challenger – Minute Man Chris Simcox – has a great deal of name-recognition problems, the fact that half of GOP voters in Arizona are viewing McCain as out of touch indicates that Simcox, and others, have an opportunity to topple McCain in the primary.

I backed McCain against Obama in 2008 primarily because McCain would fight to win the War on Terrorism and, also, had a chance at re-forging our national unity, so badly shaken by opportunistic Democrats and anti-American leftists. While Obama has made some good moves in the national security area, I’m still greatly concerned by other decisions and worry, mostly, that Obama lacks the plain grit necessary to see us through hard times on the battlefield. Time will tell on that – Truman eventually showed he had some guts when it came to confronting America’s enemies, maybe Obama will, too. All in all, I still believe my vote in November was the correct one – McCain could not have made our economic mess any worse than Obama has, and McCain would have been rock solid on the war. Be that as it may, McCain has never been my favorite Republican.

McCain’s fundamental problem – and he shares it with many other GOPers – is that he fails to realize that the other side is not motivated by patriotism and a desire to put country ahead of party. Democrat leaders are political animals through and through and view everything through the prism of whether or not it will help them get elected/re-elected. If doing good by the country helps them get elected, then so much better for America…but Democrat leaders will do things absolutely destructive to America if they perceive it as helping advance themselves in power. This has been true as far back as the Wilson Administration in which the war effort in World War One was, as far as possible, impounded to the benefit of Democrats and followed through with Democrats sabotaging investigations into communist infiltration of Democrat-led government, turning defeatist in Vietnam after leading us into that quagmire, undercutting Reagan in his attempts to undo the USSR, treating terrorism as a crime rather than an act of war, deciding that defeating Bush and the GOP trumped defeating those who carried out 9/11…

Republicans must understand that Democrats will only come along if they think it advantages their side – if we can cast a GOP program in such terms that it makes Democrats think it helps them – or harms them greatly to oppose it – then we can get Democrat support…but when push comes to shove, it must be battle day in and day out until such time as Democrat leaders change and become patriots first, Democrats second. McCain is in trouble because he has failed, thus far, to learn this lesson – if he learns it swiftly, he’ll be easily re-nominated and re-elected. If he doesn’t, then at the best he’ll have a bruising primary fight followed by a desperate campaign to save his seat.

Can the GOP Come Back in 2010?

Stuart Rothenberg, as I’ve noted, says its impossible. I say its not – and here’s a bit of analysis which tends to agree with my view:

The claim that parties cannot bounce back from rough elections and claim the mantle of “change” in the subsequent election is unsupported by history. In 1946, Republicans gained 55 seats and took control of the House of Representatives after sixteen years of unified Democratic control of government. Two years later Democrats were back, gaining 75 seats and re-taking both Houses. After double-digit losses in back-to-back years in 1978 and 1980, including a drubbing in the 1980 elections that gave Republicans de facto unified control of the government, the nation eventually became dissatisfied with the Reagan Administration, and Democrats gained back 27 seats.

And in 1996, Democrats actually picked up enough Republican seats to take back the House. They were only foiled by the high number of Southern Democratic retirements, which allowed Republicans to take enough heavily Republican open seats from the Democrats to keep their losses to a minimum. The Republicans’ task in 2010 is not so much to take on the mantle of change, as it is to convince the voters that the change they are receiving is not the change they voted for in 2008.

It will, of course, take some leadership on the part of the GOP to make anything happen. Thus far, except for the unified House vote against the Spendulus, leadership has been sadly lacking – which is why I think that it will have to emerge from the ground up. The Tea Party movement is showing the way – the key for GOP victory in 2010 will revolve around how much influence the rank and file of the GOP can exert on the leadership.

The more bottom-up influence, the stronger the GOP will be – the more top-down influence (such as party moves to find “moderates” to run in Florida and Pennsylvania as opposed to conservatives popular with the rank and file), the worse the GOP will do. In the end, I expect the GOP to pick up House seats – 5-10 if the leadership is running the whole show, 20-30 if a groundswell of action comes from the people. But even in my rosiest scenario – a 30 seat GOP gain – we still don’t capture a House majority. For that, we’ll need not just solid leadership and great plans, but the Democrats entirely screwing up. While I’d like to rely on that happening, I’m never going to make my plans or predictions upon it. As far as the Senate goes, the less said, the better – our first real opportunity shows up in 2012 and then continues into 2016 when a host of first-term Democrats come up for re-election. But, we can win one or two seats in the Senate – notably in New York with Giuliani, as well as good opportunities in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Connecticut. Just getting up to 43 Senate GOPers will be considered by me a smashing GOP victory.

The whole key for 2010 will be the people vs the powerful – the people voted for change in 2008, no doubt about it; but they haven’t got change…all they got is the status quo on steroids. How anyone figured that the Democrats promise of fiscal responsibility was something other than a bald-faced lie merely for the campaign season is beyond me. President Bush and the defunct Congressional GOP of the previous ten years did a lot more spending than any GOP government should do – but as we can see with Obama increasing the 2009 deficit by at least 50%, there’s simply no comparison with the ability of Democrats to go on a spending binge (and, remember, Obama wasn’t even in charge for the first four months of FY 2009 – its quite a feat he’s pulled off, increasing our debt that much, that fast). We must hammer on the theme – “who do they work for?”. Anyone who is in office must have that question asked of them – including GOPers, and especially GOPers who are long in office and urging the rank and file to be more “moderate”. We need to have it demonstrated to us that they are working for us – if not, they’ll have to be replaced by someone who knows who he’s working for.

If we hammer on the theme of people vs powerful and put forward programs of real change, then we can come roaring back in 2010 in preparation for ejecting Obama and his Democrats entirely in 2012. All we have to do is fight for it – from the ground up.