Just Askin’
President Obama is asking for the authority to take over failing banks, resolve their difficulties, and get them back on a proper footing. Well, he wouldn’t do it himself; Mr. Geithner would oblige, since he’s the banking expert in the Administration. You gotta admire the President’s ambition. If you think you are the one appointed […]
Cultural Extremes
Two excellent articles in the current issue of The New Republic illustrate the differences between pop and high culture. Jason Zengerle’s study of New York City basketball (“Empty Garden”) features phenom Lance Stephenson and tells the story of the declining fortunes of Mr. Naismith’s game in the Big Apple. Keith Christiansen’s “Facts and Love” considers […]
Where There is No Vision
As I write, 41 people are being held hostage at gunpoint in a community center in Binghamton, NY. This just a week or so after a gunman broke into a nursing home and wantonly killed a number of residents and staff. And that shortly after a church was invaded by a gunman during morning worship, […]
Great Awakening?
Speaking at The American Enterprise Institute recently, sociologist Charles Murray called for a Great Awakening to deliver America from its decline into socialistic stasis and to renew the vision of the nation’s Founders. He doesn’t mean a spiritual Great Awakening, such as occured in the 1740s and during the first thirty years of the 19th […]
Puzzle it Out
Susie and I enjoy jigsaw puzzles. We love the challenge of developing a keen eye for the smallest detail, finding the right pieces by discovering exact points of connection and continuity, and seeing the whole picture emerge from a thousand disparate pieces. When we do a jigsaw puzzle we’re constantly studying the picture on the […]
“Where Are You?”
God’s first question ever to a human being was not for His sake, but Adam’s. We should probably read it as asking something like, “Do you know where you are?” or even “Why are you where you are?” The question is designed to make Adam look at himself with a reflective eye, to consider why […]
Music to our Souls
We take it for granted that music is a big part of our everyday lives. Music comes at us from radios, mp3 players, CDs, and in practically every public place. Music awards programs abound; American Idol seeks to raise music to a kind of national hysteria; advertizing rides the currents of pop music into the […]
Christian America?
Some Christians are upset because President Obama, speaking in Turkey, declared that, in America, we do not think of ourselves as a Christian nation. I’ve been thinking about this for days, and, speaking for myself, I have to agree. I would not want to hold up America as she is today as the model of […]
Sacrifice? Right!
In a refreshingly frank essay in the Spring, 2009 issue of The Wilson Quarterly, Singaporean Kishore Mahbubani warns Americans against thinking that the United States cannot fail. He exposes and explains a good many reasons why we find ourselves in our current mess, and his analysis pulls no punches. He is especially hard on us […]
The Real Issue in the Economy
As has been clear from the beginning of our present economic crisis, our distress is about more than money or the lack of it. The problem is moral, even spiritual, and it will not be resolved by financial bailouts, corporate restructurings, salary caps, or caps on emissions. As Paul Tournier observed a generation ago, “Ultimately […]
The Word on Our Side
We neglect the counsel of our fathers in the faith to our own detriment. Is this word from Basil of Caesarea (4th century) timely and relevant, or what? “So long then as the word of truth is on our side, never be in any wise distressed at the calumny of a lie; let no imperial […]
The Specter of Pragmatism
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter has announced his determination to jump to the Democratic party. The reason? He is up for election this year and is quite sure he cannot defeat the Republican primary contender, Pat Toomey. By becoming a Democrat, he doesn’t have to worry about that. He has the President’s assurance that he’ll […]
The Faith of the President
During the press conference marking the end of his first 100 days in office, President Obama was confident, glib, relaxed, and hopeful. He answered 13 questions from a wide range of sources calmly and with a minimum of fumbling for words. The President presented the confident demeanor of a man whose faith is being confirmed […]
Chry, Baby, Chry
Chrysler is in the tank, all the efforts to forestall the dreaded outcome notwithstanding. Mr. Obama was perturbed yesterday as he made the grim announcement, even though he spoke wistfully of a Phoenix future for the auto company. Well, we hope so. Mr. Obama was angry, but not at the car company, which has manifestly […]
Sout Yourself
President Obama yesterday announced with scarcely-veiled delight the impending resignation of Justice David Souter from the Supreme Court of the United States. As if the President doesn’t have enough to do, now he has to nominate a replacement for the highest court in the land. I wonder what kind of judge he’ll choose. Well, in […]
