May
15
Someone I like to think of as a distant relation, John Joseph O’Connor, once wrote a fine book titled A Chaplain Looks at Vietnam. It defended the U.S. presence in the region at a time when few others would, let alone a Catholic priest serving as a U.S. Navy chaplain. (O’Connor went on to become a rear admiral, Chief of Chaplains, ordinary for the military vicariate, and Cardinal Archbishop of New York.)
I thought of that book today when I got this story in an email from a less-distant cousin of mine. Though it’s a far cry from the feature-length analysis done by O’Connor 40 years ago, it does give us a glimse of that unique perspective seen by men of God ministering to men of war.
When my customary check of Snopes.com didn’t turn up anything, I googled it and found it was actually a blog post. So, rather than forward the email, I figured I’d add a post about it since I haven’t put anything up for awhile. Enjoy!
Posted by Chris at 2:21pm | Filed Under Liberty and Democracy
Feb
26
Tonight, Butch Porter of the American Conservative Party added a followup comment on an old post, and when I was done replying my comment was post-length itself. So, I’m going to feature it rather than continue that old discussion there.
Thanks for stopping by and giving us an update, Butch. I took a look and you do indeed seem to have tightened up the ship over there. While your platform still seems to suggest that the party will not delve into social conservatism, the supplemental FAQs clarify the idea that the national platform remains agnostic on social issues specifically so that the state parties can exercise their 10th Amendment rights – thereby putting the questions where they’ve always belonged. This was very similar to the stance I took back in 2008, begging and pleading with Bill that he not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I wish you and the ACP good luck and the best of success, but there’s one remaining issue I have with ACP, and it’s significant. I’ve always believed in the two-party system, and only considered joining in the hope that ACP was trying to replace the Republicans.
I think third parties will always fail. But it’s not because, as your new platform suggests, the other two parties are using their power and money to stop you. It’s because the nation is built to have two parties, and this system fits best with both our style of government and our national character. When one party or the other strays too far from the mainstream, the political gravity forces it to adapt, naturally. When one party takes a firm stand on an important issue, the other party adapts to oppose it. And when this equilibrium falls too far out of whack and the parties don’t adapt, well then one survives, one dies, and a new party takes it’s place.
You’ve got a great attitude about starting your party from the ground up, and with your new platform I think you’ll have an impact (either directly or indirectly). But the only way you’ll survive and flourish long-term is to drive one of the two parties out of business and become part of the duopoly. As long as your masthead promises to fight the two-party system itself rather than fight the parties currently making up that duopoly, you’re going to fail.
You can see the effect happening right now, with the Republican election wins in VA, NJ and MA. Are those Republicans conservative enough? Probably not for me, but since I don’t live in those states, it may be a case of “good enough”. Everyone is saying the GOP is on the rise, and it’s very apparent that Republicans are benefiting from Tea Party energy and conservative values. You’re going to have your work cut out for you to convince the American people to give up the tried and tested for a bunch of political neophytes.
Posted by Chris at 1:50am | Filed Under Politics
Feb
22
I like Glenn Beck, I really do. He’s funny, self-deprecating, and his political analysis is… close. But it also sounds like the apocalyptic sermon of a tent-revival huckster, and as a Catholic that can sometimes sound like peasants with pitchforks are coming – and the pitchfork is pointed the wrong way.
Fellow Catholic Bill Bennett apparently sees the situation in a similar way. I actually think Bennett’s critique of Beck’s speech at CPAC was too mild, but it will suffice. We aren’t going to make progress in the war against progressivism/liberalism/socialism/marxism (whatever they’re calling themselves this week) by painting all of politics with such a broad brush. We’re going to win by finding a way to inject the enthusiasm of the Tea Parties and the practical methodology of conservative think-tanks into the body of an organization that’s capable of: 1) fighting in the political trenches and 2) winning at the ballot box.
Theoretically, Beck and his pals could call for disbanding the Republican Party and rebuild from scratch. But while that might satisfy some people’s desire to punish Republicans for betraying the conservative faith, starting from scratch isn’t going to satisfy the two conditions I mentioned. In fact, it now appears that the Republican Party is not in such bad shape that they’re going to Whig out on us. (Though in the past few years, that’s been a danger, as I’ve preached.) Without the Republicans falling apart, you’re not going to have the chance to build a new second party. Besides, it’s just plain easier to take over the party standing there already. Heck, in some cases, Republicans are begging to be taken over.
Posted by Chris at 9:22am | Filed Under Politics
Feb
20
For those people who don’t understand what the links in our Ford’s Theater section are all about, I thought I’d give you a look at a new game that’s sure to be added there soon.
Posted by Chris at 12:19pm | Filed Under Politics
Feb
12
As is our tradition, we honor the birthday of The Black Republican with our annual recognition of that person who in the past year best represents the ideals left to the Republic by our founder. This year, we wanted to honor the Tea Partiers, but we have a distaste for the silly tendency of some publications to designate “movements” or inanimate objects in their annual retrospectives. (We’re looking at you, Time.) When something big happens in this world, for good or ill, you can always find an individual – a real, live person – who represents or embodies whatever that something is. And so to that end, our Black Republican of the Year for 2009 is…
Rick Santelli.
In what has become the focal point of the frustrations of those people who have seen the Lives, Fortunes, and sacred Honor of this great Republic trampled under the hooves of the socialist lurch to the left under the Obama administration (aided unfortunately by some in the Republican Party, as well as a couple of former BROTY winners), Santelli gave the Tea Party movement a voice – and a name.
Following his “rant”, the Tea Party movement took shape in protests on April 15, July 4, and September 12, and aided in the election of three Republicans to formerly Democrat-held offices: Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie, Governor of Virginia Bob McDonnell, and the most recent and most shocking victory, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts Scott Brown.
Though they are associated with a name from the Founding era, Santelli and the Tea Parties he suggested have revived interest in and study of the Constitution and the Union that Lincoln sought to preserve. In response, we can do no less than “to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought… have thus far so nobly advanced.”
Posted by Chris at 8:42am | Filed Under Politics
Dec
20
In a favorable review of Avatar Gabe Malor says that the super-liberal hype has been overblown and the movie isn’t too bad.
So, the final verdict: Avatar is entertaining, but not a masterpiece of plot or characterization. In fact, the plot and characters are pretty dull. It has perhaps three leftist lines which may make individuals carrying some weird guilt over the colonization of the Americas upset. Otherwise, it’s gorgeous, loud, and shit blows up. Did I mention the Smurf sex?
But as you might expect, conservative commenters aren’t convinced they should throw their money away. Gabe responds to one:
The filmmaker himself has admitted to the leftist slant so your criticism of others who noticed that seems a little silly.
I didn’t say there wasn’t “leftist slant.” I said it wasn’t the OUTRAGEOUSLY OUTRAGEOUS leftism that some oversensitive folks are claiming.
Posted by: Gabriel Malor at December 20, 2009 02:16 AM (Mi2wf)
As I’ve said countless times before, the best part of Ace is the comments – especially the socks – and one commenter stands above the others by putting the debate in the proper perspective.
Look, you people focus way too much on some of this political stuff.
Sometimes a movie is just a movie.
Posted by: Leni Riefenstahl at December 20, 2009 03:06 AM (Vo2Ef)
Thanks. I think I’ll just watch this Avatar a few times and wait for Cameron’s version to show up on Netflix.
Posted by Chris at 12:38pm | Filed Under Entertainment and Sports, Politics
Dec
5
Was that Our Lord, or Marx?
Posted by Chris at 12:32am | Filed Under Education, Law and Ethics, Lies, Corruption and Scandals, Literature, Politics, Religion
Nov
4
For years now, I’ve been warning Republicans that conditions are ripe for a principled and activist third party to form on the right – where the Republicans have held a claim for the last 40 years and realistically been the sole occupant since Johnson vs. Goldwater. I’ve never suggested this with the notion that there should be a Conservative Party battling both the Democrats and the Republicans – I’m no fan of third parties, and believe strongly in the two-party system. But those commentators who complain that third parties just don’t work in American politics forget that the Republican Party itself began its existence as a third party. Its founders – the Black Republicans, as we here like to remind everyone they were called back then – understood that the second party of their day had made itself irrelevant by caving in to the Democrats on the most controversial issue in American history.
The leadership of the Whig Party, including Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, took advantage of the death of President Zachary Taylor to push through the Compromise of 1850. While generally popular, many people understood the compromise to be a capitulation by the Whigs to many demands of southern Democrats, including a strengthening of the Fugitive Slave Law. Northern abolitionists felt betrayed, causing their waning support for the Whigs to build into a rout for the them in the election of 1852. Emboldened by their victory, the Democrats passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, breaking decades worth of compromise on the slavery issue. Abolitionists and other defectors from the Whigs could not stand it anymore, and fled to form the Republican Party. Once the collapse of the Whigs became final, the United States still had a two-party system, but the name, strength, and ideology of one of the parties had been completely supplanted by another.
For the past few years, the incoherent message coming from the Republican establishment has made an all-too-familiar sound of “Me Too”. Big-government heath care may be associated with the Democrats today, but its greatest victory so far was a huge prescription drug benefit passed by a Republican president who wanted to be known as “a compassionate conservative”. Campaign finance reform that put a stranglehold on private speech and promoted funding limits was once just a Democratic dream, but it came true once it was championed by a Republican senator who identifies with progressivism. And just days ago, a pro-abortion, pro-group-rights Republican candidate pulled out of a race only to endorse her Democrat opponent over a conservative challenger.
That Democrat may have won his race against the upstart from the New York Conservative Party, but with the light of dawn that may well be the cap of the bad news for Democrats, and the beginning of the end for the “Me Too” Republican Party. Conservative Republicans won races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, and after the revolt in NY23 (funded and supported by conservatives across the country) the national party has been put on notice that conservatives are done supporting liberals just for the sake of party unity. The loss of NY23 may be a disappointment for some, but a victory for the Conservative Party there might have sent the wrong message to conservatives – encouraging them to defect from a Republican Party far stronger than the Whigs were when the Republicans began their move to assume second-party status.
The Republican Party can still be the conservative party for America, but time is running out. The Republican establishment has to understand that the party itself needs a center to rally around, and the tendency of our recent leadership to bend to the left isn’t going to expand the Big Tent, it’s going to bring it crashing down.
Posted by Chris at 8:54am | Filed Under History, Liberty and Democracy, Politics
Nov
1
A conversation is going on over at AoSHQ between the head ewok and the moron from Des Moines. I rise in support, in as much as that’s practical.
I honestly have no desire to push people away who would may agree with me on some issues and help me win elections. But I also have no desire to hide who am and what I believe in order to sucker people into agreeing with me and helping me win elections.
Ronald Reagan believed in building the biggest tent and winning every election, and yet was an exceptional conservative who never hid who and what he was, and to this day defines the standard all conservatives should follow.
Am I a purist, or am I sellout to the big tent? With reservations, I think I can answer Yes on both counts. But of those who disagree with me on either point, I will at the same time vigorously oppose their philosophy and eagerly seek their support in getting the best possible (usually Republican) candidate elected. There is no contradiction.
Posted by Chris at 12:09pm | Filed Under Liberty and Democracy, Politics
Oct
29
Have I mentioned I heart Little Dick Durbin’s e-mail spam list? It was like Christmas in October in my inbox this morning.
The question is no longer if we will have some sort of public option in the final health care reform bill, but instead what form it will take.
There are several interpretations of what a public option should look like, and I’d like to share the preferences of the American people with my colleagues in the Senate. But I must do so before the final health care reform bill comes to a vote on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.
Please rank your preferences for what form the public option should take in the final bill at: http://www.DickDurbin.com/PublicOptionPoll
Posted by Dan at 7:28am | Filed Under Politics
Sep
23
I knew the outcome would be lopsided, but I Googled “Bush Hitler” and “Obama Socialist”. 6.6 million results for the first. 126k for the second. Whatever.
Posted by Dan at 11:13am | Filed Under Politics
Sep
12
Just read this wonderful article over on American Thinker.
I now part ways with the classification of African American because I hold no allegiance to Africa. I embrace the American qualities of freedom to worship, freedom to have my own opinion, freedom to express my views, freedom to achieve whatever it is God has created me to achieve. I hope that I will find others like me who are willing to break ties with the things that divide us, and embrace the timeless principles that have made this country the greatest nation on earth. That is why, when the next U.S. Census occurs, I will be making a new category just for me, the classification of being an American.
For over a year now, I have refused to classify myself as anything other than American. If there is no option for American on a form, I either check “Other” and write it in or have created my own option (this one only works on paper forms) and checked my own box. Over the telephone or in person, it’s really quite fun. Most people love it and agree with me when I insist that I am just American, some poor souls get confused.
So, Mary, you are not alone in your classification. I, too, will be classifying myself as simply American on the U.S. Census. I hope millions of Americans will stand up with us and do the same.
Posted by Sue at 11:56am | Filed Under Politics, Race and Prejudice
Sep
5
I only heard this morning, as I got a forwarded email from a relative claiming to have been originated by Chuck Yeager, that Darrell “Shifty” Powers died back in July, with little fanfare. Powers was one of the veterans of Easy Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, depicted in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.
Though the part about Chuck Yeager is your typical Internet glurge, the rest of the tale is true. The author originated the email when a certain deranged and suspected-pedophile celebrity to remain nameless was eulogized for weeks, but the death of a great American hero like Powers was barely noticed.
You can see some great pictures of Powers, including one of a presentation case with his decorations, at findagrave.com.
Posted by Chris at 10:00am | Filed Under History
Jul
23
I followed a vague link from Ace and found this cheery thought.
On the funny side(bar), I was picked up a little by something a little more light-hearted.
Posted by Chris at 8:12am | Filed Under Economics, Politics
Jul
7
If there was any doubt that I’m out of the political loop, it’s over. I have no idea what Ace is ranting about. Looking over other recent posts at the HQ, I was slightly interested if I was a “cultist”, but even after reading his four points of definition, I’m not sure I qualify.
All I am sure of is as every day goes by, I feel more and more like I understand what they hear when the illiterate mob says they don’t understand or care about politics. I don’t hear a lot of political discourse anymore, it’s just a lot of shouting.
Wake me up when it’s time to vote. And be sure to have a scorecard handy, because I’ll guess by then I won’t know the players without it.
Posted by Chris at 7:27am | Filed Under Internet and Blogging, Politics