Today, as he continues to drop in the polls, he suggested that Americans wielding firearms take potential President Clinton's life. It wasn't even a funny joke.
Little Eddie Munster Was Quite The Bully
By now you've heard the story about the guy who accused Romney of bullying him in high school. Some people even used that clever little picture of Eddie Munster which they *swore* was Mitt as a child. I still don't believe that it was. Anyway, Mitt was accused of some pretty bad stuff...for a high schooler. Yes, friends, Mitt was not the rich, holy Mormon man that he now is. Well, he was rich. In any case, color us all shocked.
You see, this is well placed for the accuser. It's got the gay political momentum at a time when Obama came out supporting gay marriage and Romney spoke at Liberty University (a school that teaches that Mormonism is a cult) and got a standing ovation for ’defending’ the ’sanctity’ of heterosexual marriage. Washington Post, we salute you for your impeccable timing.
Like any good politician though, Mitt came out and ’apologized’ last week. He said,
I don’t remember that incident and I’ll tell you I certainly don’t believe that I--I can’t speak for other people of course--thought the fellow was homosexual," Romney said. "That was the furthest thing from my mind back in the 1960s, so that was not the case. But as to pranks that were played back then, I don’t remember them all, but again, high school days, if I did stupid things, why I’m afraid I got to say sorry for it.
Romney didn't really apologize. Like any good politician, his ’apology’ was little more than a political move to remove the media's attention toward him.
Here's the thing. I think he made the wrong move. The issues that will occur this political season are: the economy, gay marriage, jobs, gay marriage, the economy, gay marriage, and maybe a little medical marijuana. And oh yeah, there might be some attention given to bullying.
But bullying, as we understand it, characterizes us. No one is surprised that rich 17-year-old Eddie Munster, err...Romney was a privileged child. No one is surprised that Eddie, err...Mitt led a group at beating him up. Mitt as a bully is, well, a bully.
Surely Mitt has to realize that bullying is a problem. Surely Mitt has to realize that his involvement in this incident paints a picture, a very certain kind of picture. Surely Mitt understands this.
So, why not just admit it? Why not say "You know, I did a lot of stupid things and this was one of them. I remember this incident and for it I am deeply, deeply sorry. Bullying (no matter the reason) is a troublesome thing and is tearing our youth apart. If one cannot trust their classmates, who can they trust? I was part of the problem. Now I want to be a part of the solution. Bullying is wrong and it was wrong for me to do what I did. I am deeply sorry for contributing to the immense problem bullying is having on this world. I want the world to know that as President of the United States, I'll do anything I can to fix it."
Does this mean that Mitt doesn't understand the issue? Does this mean that Mitt doesn't understand the critical nature of the issue? Does this mean that Mitt heard ’gay’ before he heard ’bully’?
In fact this story DOES say something of Mitt's character. Or, at the very least, his attention. I want to like Mitt, but I think he's going to have to do something to step down to our level if he's to be a good President.
Not just in money, not just in justice. He's going to have to realize...in all fullness...what it is like to be a normal American.
Obama preaches to the normal Americans. Mitt doesn't. That's deeply problematic for the Republican party this election period.
-B
On Rick Perry: A Response to His Latest Commercial
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAJNntoRgA&w=640&h=385]Mindblowing. Truly, mindblowing. I find myself resonating with many conservative ideals from time to time. Many of my close friends and loved ones are Republicans, and adamant Republicans at that. If you hang out here much, you'll find that I waiver on 'sides' and try my hardest to be charitable to each side. I'm not always very successful at it (and my critics might say I'm never so) but that is often my intention. We are all flawed humans. But this latest bit of nonsense is out of this world. Out. Of. This. World. I didn't like this guy before, but I'm now convinced: he's scum. Let's tear apart this commercial, shall we?
"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian,"
Great, Rick. A few things:
- This statement only works in places where Christianity is under attack and the majority of the population does not claim to be Christian (more on this later).
- This "I'm not ashamed" nonsense was cool back when the lead singer of the Newsboys was bald with an accent, not black. Give it up.
- We're electing a leader. Lots of leaders are Christian. How does this separate you from the other dogs in the pack. Are you a super-Christian? If so, you should have mentioned it here.
- Bleh.
but you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country
Rick, IF your argument, as it seems to be, revolves around Chrisitianity not being prevalent enough in American society, THEN you can't start off with the phrase "you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday." Rick, American Chrisitianity is built around communal worship. If you're going to throw that out, you're left with a bunch of people who believe in "Christian ideals" who don't know what "Christian ideals" are...BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT IN CHURCH. Please. At least say something like, "Those of us in the pew every Sunday understand what this country needs." At least that'd be consistent.
when gays can serve openly in the military
Oh, come on. Let's say you think being gay is a moral sin. And you believe that America is a country based upon this moral teaching. And...IF you believe that, you're STILL not going let them serve their country, like any other American? You need people to fight for you, and you're being picky? What does their 'immoral way of living' have anything to do with their patriotism and willingness to give their lives for others? What, Rick? Why? Because other soldiers were homophobic? DIDN'T WE GO THROUGH THIS FOURTY YEARS AGO?! And...the way you say "gays" is shameful. These are people who feel different, outcasted from society. Many find a voice within that, but they're still often shunned. You don't pronounce "Republicans," "soldiers," "Christians," "Texans," or anything else with the same tense voice. If you win, you're not setting yourself up for a unified country, you're setting yourself up to be hated by most. Phenomenal leadership skills, just phenomenal.
but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.
He gets something for prayer, because I'm lazy. I don't even know what the legal situation is for prayer in school because it seems so different depending on who you talk to. I thought about looking it up, but it wasn't worth my time. Kids openly celebrate Christmas all the time. The whole country celebrates Christmas, whether they attach the name to it or not. Stop with the hounding, no one is taking your Christmas away except for Target, Macy's, Walmart, and Toys R Us...who are stealing Thanksgiving while they're at it, too. OH, AND WHAT DOES YOUR CHILD'S PRAYER LIFE HAVE TO DO WITH SOMEONE SERVING IN THE MILITARY?!?!?!?!
As President, I'll end Obama's war on religion.
Bahahahahahahahahaha. Obama has a war on religion? What? That doesn't even make any sense. Obama is a Christian. And even if he WERE a Muslim, he'd still be religious. Capitalism has a war on Christmas, and possibly religion because of the mindset it encourages. Obama, does not.
And I'll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage.
I just finished a course in American Christianity. Yes, we, like ALMOST EVERY NATION AND COUNTRY TO EVER EXIST have some sort of a religious heritage. But, I doubt that that heritage is the same that you think it is, Rick. Read a book. In America we don't believe that our religious beliefs should be imposed on someone else if they don't believe the same thing. We believe that everyone should worship in the way they so choose. We believe that sometimes you may feel as if you can't be as outwardly 'religious' as you might so choose, but we agree upon that so that the religions you don't impose their beliefs on you. We keep peace that way, like humans should.
Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again.
Wrong. Self-centered greed, a fight for the American Dream, capitalism, striking first with annihilation bombs, being separated from the rest of the world, strong leadership (unlike you), continuing attention to education, innovations, and fortunate historical circumstances made America strong. As a Christian, I believe that faith is enough. But, I'm convinced that the ways that you and I define faith are different, Governor.
I'm Rick Perry and I approve this message.
Well, there's that. -B
"Obama Thinks Jesus Is Nuts."
Bill Maher talks about how he is a non-Christian, just like most Christians. Beware of the foul language, it is Bill Maher.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giVXvveef8Y]
While his rhetoric makes logical sense, I think he is targeting the part of the Christian body that won't watch his show and might never agree with him. The "hippy" Christians already agree with him and...probably aren't watching his show either.
His point about Obama I thought was most interesting, as Obama has to be a politician first and foremost, probably above his faith. He has to get Scripture to his phone every morning so that the Right will continue to tolerate him while he also has to go after America's enemies...because, well, he is the President.
But really, who is Bill Maher to talk about accountability of Christians?
Oh, yeah, that's right...this isn't accountability, it is just more of his campaign against faith.
-B
Thanks to Chad Holtz for sharing.
May 1st, 2011 - Life Wins
It was May 1st, 2011 at 10:50 pm.
I was on my way back from Durham, having just gotten off the phone with my dad, when Allison called me. "Did you hear the news?" she asked. "No." "Osama bin Laden is dead. It's all over twitter and the President is going to make an announcement."
I have to admit, my first response was to...smile.
I think I even said something like, "that's great!"
Because, you see, I remember sitting in 2nd period band when a school administrator came in and told us that our nation was under attack and that two planes had hit the World Trade Center in New York. I remember watching the Today Show, and I remember watching people jump to their death from the buildings. I remember watching both buildings fall, live, on television.
And I remember thinking, "who would do that?"
Before 9/11, I didn't know anything about Osama bin Laden. I didn't know a thing about al Qaeda. But later that week, al Qaeda became the center of all our lives.
And I will admit that when I watch that clip of President Bush standing on that rubble saying, "I can hear you! And the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon!" I get goosebumps every time.
Every single time.
Because to me, a man who sent in OTHER people to kill 3,000 innocent Americans ought to be "brought to justice."
I once watched an episode of Oprah where she was talking about Timothy McVeigh. I remember the story going that after he dropped that van off in the basement, he ran from the building. He got down the block before the explosion. When it finally hit, he kept running. After it was over, he looked behind him and I'm almost positive that his quote was, "Damn, I didn't get all of it."
When I heard that Timothy McVeigh was arrested and sentenced to death, I smiled inside. Evil had been "brought to justice."
You can call me an evil person. You can call me unChristian. You can call me a hypocrite. But, I'd rather refer to myself as "honest."
These people did horrible things to our world. And now they can't anymore. That gives me some sense of joy.
But immediately, I started questioning whether this sense of joy was proper or not. Joy is not true joy unless it comes from the right source. When I got home, I looked at the news and the first thing I saw was people flooding the White House with American flags wrapped around their backs screaming "USA! USA! USA!" I immediately had a flashback to all of those videos I've seen of Middle Easterners burning our flag.
I got on Facebook (which took awhile, I had deactivated it until finals were over) and all of a sudden, I saw thinks like "F&$@ you Osama!" and "WE GOT HIM!" and "Proud to be an American!" and "Rot in Hell!"
But, of course, I'm a Divinity student, so I also had interspersed within the news feed things like "Love your Enemies" and "Why do we celebrate the death of a human?"
And I was back to being torn. Do I act as an American? Do I celebrate one more embodiment of evil finally being gone? Do I mourn that my fellow countrymen are celebrating in the death of someone? Do I remember Jesus' line about a giving him the other cheek? Do I try to reconcile some of the emotions I am feeling with the almost unbelievable message of the Gospel?
See, we were confused about the details at first. We didn't know exactly if the mission was to kill or to capture (although most signs point to kill). We didn't know that night if Osama had shot back (although we know now that he was unarmed). We didn't know how all of it had gone down (although we know more almost every second now).
Sam Wells, of Duke Chapel, raised the point that Osama wasn't given a fair trial before his death. And my first thought is that I don't remember those on 9/11 getting a fair trial before their death. In fact, Osama seems to have been unarmed and unaware of what was going on when they shot him. In that sense, he has something in common with the people he killed on 9/11.
But I return to Jesus' command not only to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, but also to the idea of fighting this concept of "an eye for an eye." To Jesus, I think the concept of returning a bad deed with a bad deed seemed stupid...because it did nothing but return violence with more violence (though Jewish law really seemed to have laid it out as a fair and balanced system). In Jesus' mind, I am confident, violence returning violence only escalates.
When I said as a child, "Isn't it wrong to kill someone by the death penalty?" I remember being asked, "Well, if someone takes someone else's life, do they deserve to keep theirs?"
And, daily, I struggle with this question.
How is justice defined? Do Americans get to decide what is just? Is justice the same thing as fairness? Does the fact that "life's not fair" play into this? Is governmental justice different than vigilante justice?
And I continue to return to one fundamental concept. For Christians, none of us deserve to keep our lives. But because of the death and resurrection, God has given us the gift of eternal life, one that goes beyond the one that we currently inhabit. And, if we learn anything from the resurrection, it is that life defeats death...in each and every sense. It's not just Jesus' death that was defeated. Death...has been defeated.
Because of that, I choose not to condemn the US for killing bin Laden. I choose not to preach to my fellow Americans who are simply acting according to their emotions. I also choose not to celebrate a murder.
Instead, I choose to focus on life eternal. I choose to focus on salvation. I choose to focus on resurrection, because I know that the way that we sometimes view life and death here on earth is wrong.
If resurrection lives in us, which I believe that it does, then we celebrate the new life that God has given our country and world because an active doer of harm is gone. We also celebrate those who were under his leadership who didn't know what life really was, and now do. We celebrate the lives of the marginalized that are now able to think and act for themselves because there isn't a ruler over them who has extremist views and glorifies violence.
Sam Wells said we shouldn't celebrate. If we define "celebration" in the same sense that those who flooded the White House gates defined it, then I agree. But if we define celebration as taking comfort and joy in some form of new life here on earth, then I think the resurrection still lives within us and with that, the Word of God is still present.
Murder is wrong.
Life is good.
What a world we live in.
-B
Look Where Technology Has Brought Us
They watched it all unfold, halfway across the globe, in real time.Wow. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeA33hE8XfE&]
"There was quite a bit of silence."
I think all in the room understood the gravity of what they had asked those SEALs to do.
-B
Disney Has The Long-Form Version
Winning. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_44QQMcGo&]
-B
Let's Put This All Behind Us
Patriot Network TV
This guy is a community college professor in Arizona. His whole premise is that Obama is going against the American people by siding with the drug cartels and filing a lawsuit to stop Arizona's illegal immigration codes (SB1070) from going through. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsH8xvjTAlo]
Only a few comments:
- "Let that sink in." How about, no.
- The President should never be referred to as "Mr. Obama," but rather, "President Obama."
- The uses of the words "patriot" and "great Americans" imply that others against the movement are not either. I hate that.
- Videos that are intended to be seen as off the cuff speeches (no obvious TelePrompTers) are always more effective when they also appear unedited.
- "You're next." No. Please don't compare illegal immigration to the Holocaust. It is offensive, severely offensive.
- It sounds like he has been hanging out with Sarah Palin for too long.
- His watch would be cooler if it played music.
- Arizona's racism and harsh attitude toward illegal immigrants is so last year.
- I still say that our ancestors immigrated illegally here. The Natives hated it.
-B