Yesterday the president showed defiance on the Obamacare question, although, it must be said, it was an anemic kind of defiance. He said, in a calm and listless sort of way, that Obamacare would not be repealed “as long as [he was] president.” In this, he has, yet again, mistaken the actual position of affairs. …
Ducks, Both Lame and Dead
There are two kinds of legitimacy when it comes to political rule. The first is the obvious — when the rules are honored, and the procedures followed. The second is not so obvious, and I want to get to a detailed discussion of it in a minute. But for the purposes of the set up, …
Obamamandias
With apologies to P.B. Shelley . . . I met a traveler from bankrupt land Who said: ‘One vast and hapless head of stone Lies in the desert. Near it, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered website lies, still down. That haughty look, and sneer of cold command, And photo-op poses, a myriad! Still …
A Cycle of Pomes: Reflections
There once was a president-king Who could do most any cool thing Except writing code, (His limits there showed,) Now our health care is broke, in a sling. There once was an Obamono-whiz Whose health care rollout kinda fizz Led. And it crashed A new clunker for cash, Because that is just what it is. …
Voting in a Wobbly Canoe
Yesterday I exhorted the saints at Christ Church to make sure that they voted in our local election tomorrow. In the course of that exhortation I said that it was not the church’s business to descend into partisan factionalism, but that it was our responsibility to pray that we would be allowed to “lead a …
In a Perfect World . . .
“Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens” (Ex. 18:21). In a perfect world — because it is an imperfect world — …
The Bozo Over at Mablog
Over at Religion News Service, Jonathan Merritt has decided that a web brawl with me might make for some good click fodder. This post, in which he picks a fight with me, concludes with a stirring reminder that the apostle Paul requires that Christian leaders must not be should not be “quarrelsome,” but rather “peacemakers, …
Clean Up to His Neck
In Washington these days, in order to get anything done, you have to go along to get along, roll a few logs, scratch a few backs, and trade a few horses. But then, in order to get anything worthwhile done, you have to make everybody who matters angry. This is precisely what Ted Cruz has …
Playing With the Cool Kids
An optical illusion is created by the pageantry of national political conventions. Because they serve the same organizational function as a junior high pep rally, and because politicians of the same party only occasionally take one another on seriously, the illusion is that the “Republicans” or the “Democrats” are on the same team. And I …
Like a Muddied Spring
Some questions have arisen in the course of my recent posts on the responsibility of Christian leaders to know where the central evil in our day resides. In a recent exchange, I said there are many, many bad Republicans, and no good Democrats. I should have made clear in saying this that I was talking …