Against the Stream

Prophetic Utterance

A jerimiad from Jo Guldi of Unimaginable Inscape:

America, you are lost. American progressives, you lack guts. American conservatives, I begin to believe with the conspiracy theorists that the cold, hating blood of reptilian, green aliens have infiltrated your bodies and has transformed you into demonic haters of everything human.

I pray for the Savior. I pray for warmth, and community, and humanity, that they may descend from heaven and overwhelm us like the beating of a thousand angel wings. I return to news after weeks and read about the horror, and find my friends tepid and cold in response. Whatever humanity remains in America, let it raise its head. Come out now, all you progressives whose ideals are offended by this abandonment of the most helpless and innocent. Come out now, all you religious who believe in a God who cares for the least life. The apathy of nations is come home to America, and we fight its coolness here or lose the holy war for lives that are humane forever.

Now THAT'S Comedy!

It wouldn't be nearly so funny if it weren't true:

“Chang is a mystical warrior. Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society.

“I rely on Chang with great regularity in my public life. He has been by my side and sometimes I let him down. But Chang, this mystical warrior, has never let me down.”

Bush then unsheathed a golden sword and gave it to Rubio as a gift.

‘’I'm going to bestow to you the sword of a great conservative warrior,'’ he said, as the crowd roared.

From ThinkProgress. The original story was in the Gainsville Sun.

Irritating New York Times

Well, I'm back from my trip over to Majiktheise, and I want to thank Lindsey for letting me hang out at her place for the last week.

I'd love to share a story from the New York Times with you. Yes, I would love to, except that the New York Times has apparently decided to follow the example of the Wall Street Journal in restricting access to its content to paying subscribers. (Actually, you can get to more of the NYT site, but all of the reasons why one would read the New York Times (editorials, etc.) are behind the subscription firewall. Grr.

Why would NYT make it harder for readers to get at their content? Are they losing subscribership to the Internet? Maybe. But by restricting access, they also restrict the exchange of information that goes on between bloggers and the "Paper of Record."

I've long thought that the internet ought to be as free as possible, particularly since we pay to get access to the bloody thing in the first place! Nevertheless, I'm seriously considering knuckling under and buying the subscription, simply because I value that access to the New York Times enough to be willing to pay for it. I'm not happy about it, but I may give in. I'm still considering it.

Those old internet anarchists had a point when they used to declare "Information wants to be free!" Unfortunately, you can't always get what you want.

Guest Blogging

Greetings Folks,

I'll be guest blogging over at Majikthise this week. Come read my stuff there!

Leadership

Lesser Presidents would seek to manage the disaster. This President manages the politics of the disaster:

One Republican with knowledge of the effort said that Mr. Rove had told administration officials not to respond to Democratic attacks on Mr. Bush's handling of the hurricane in the belief that the president was in a weak moment and that the administration should not appear to be seen now as being blatantly political. As with others in the party, this Republican would discuss the deliberations only on condition of anonymity because of keen White House sensitivity about how the administration and its strategy would be perceived.

In a reflection of what has long been a hallmark of Mr. Rove's tough political style, the administration is also working to shift the blame away from the White House and toward officials of New Orleans and Louisiana who, as it happens, are Democrats.

You see, this is what we need in times of crisis -- Leadership.

Brother Roger

In the midst of all of the other misery in the world, Brother Roger of the Taize community in France was murdered on August 16th. Brother Roger's community was virtually unique among protestants (so much so that I only learned that he wasn't Catholic last week!), but it has had a great deal of influence on both protestant and catholic worship over the last few decades. The Telegraph has more:

Brother Roger, who was stabbed to death during a service in his church on Tuesday aged 90, founded the ecumenical religious community in the French village of Taizé, which has become a beacon for young Christians of all denominations around the world.

The candlelit services with the singing of distinctive and much-repeated responses, led by guitar-playing folk groups, may not always appeal to those with conventional liturgical expectations. But they have proved flexible enough to be included in Catholic low masses, Anglican services and prayer meetings of the United Church in Canada, and to be welcomed as a vital boost to the Christian Church, which is all too aware of its rapid decline in the West.

Since 1959 thousands of young people have made their way by train, bus, car and on foot to Taizé's plain concrete church on a Burgundian hill, there to camp out in tents at Easter and throughout the summer. Taizé has been visited by three Archbishops of Canterbury, several Orthodox metropolitans, 14 Swedish Lutheran bishops and by Pope John Paul II, who compared it to "a spring of water".

The Church of Reconciliation at Taizé has an aura of peace, while a symbolic hedge runs down the centre, creating a special area for the community; post-modern sculptures and stained glass reflect light on Russian icons.

Some 100 men, drawn from different denominations, are members of the monastery which is located at the bottom of the hill. Although they dress as laymen, they wear white hooded robes in church. Many admit to being uncertain about the reasons for Taizé's appeal to modern youth. Brother Roger offered the simple explanation that the community's purpose was to love and be loved, to forgive and to be forgiven.

All I've been able to find out about the murder proper is that the woman was apparently disturbed and is undergoing psychiatric evaluation. Perhaps even in the midst of much sorrow, we can remember Brother Roger as a blessing, and embrace his legacy.

Bonhoeffer and Robertson

Andy Lang puts it very well:

So, let's sum up: Chávez = Hitler, therefore Robertson = Bonhoeffer. After all, wasn't Bonhoeffer another misunderstood Christian prophet who, just like Robertson, got into hot water when he conspired to assassinate the evil dictator of his day? But can Bonhoeffer really be compared to a talking head sitting comfortably in an air-conditioned studio in Virginia Beach issuing death threats against political enemies? True, Bonhoeffer joined the conspiracy to overthrow the Hitler regime by force. He paid for that choice with his life: he was hanged on Hitler's direct orders just weeks before the end of the war. But, unlike Robertson, he wasn't so quick to shoot from the lip. He was a lifelong "conditional pacifist" who made an exception in Hitler's case only after years of soul-searching.

Robertson knows nothing about Bonhoeffer. His casual incitement to political murder is the opposite of Bonhoeffer's reluctant acceptance of killing in one extreme circumstance. "The first right of natural life consists in the safeguarding of the life of the body against arbitrary killing," Bonhoeffer wrote in his magisterial "Ethics."

Disaster Response

Truly inspiring leadership:

President Bush has used a constitutional provision to bypass the Senate and fill a top Justice Department slot with an official whose nomination stalled over tactics at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval facility.

Bush used a "recess appointment" Wednesday to name Alice S. Fisher to lead the agency's criminal division. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., had blocked the nomination because he wants to talk to an agent who named Fisher in an e-mail about allegedly abusive interrogations at the U.S. military prison camp at Guantanamo.

The date of this act of political courage? September 1st.

More Music

Ok, so apparently some folks are doing this from when they were 13 years old. I gather the theory is that you'll like your 13-year old list better than your graduation year list. Let's find out, shall we?

1. Every Breath You Take, Police
2. Billie Jean, Michael Jackson
3. Flashdance... What A Feelin, Irene Cara
4. Down Under, Men At Work
5. Beat It, Michael Jackson
6. Total Eclipse Of The Heart, Bonnie Tyler
7. Maneater, Daryl Hall and John Oates
8. Baby Come To Me, Patti Austin and James Ingram
9. Maniac, Michael Sembello
10. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), Eurythmics
11. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, Culture Club
12. You And I, Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle
13. Come On Eileen, Dexy's Midnight Runners
14. Shame On The Moon, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
15. She Works Hard For The Money, Donna Summer
16. Never Gonna Let You Go, Sergio Mendes
17. Hungry Like The Wolf, Duran Duran
18. Let's Dance, David Bowie
19. Twilight Zone, Golden Earring
20. I Know There's Something Going On, Frida
21. Jeopardy, Greg Kihn Band
22. Electric Avenue, Eddy Grant
23. She Blinded Me With Science, Thomas Dolby
24. Africa, Toto
25. Little Red Corvette, Prince
26. Back On The Chain Gang, Pretenders
27. Up Where We Belong, Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
28. Mr. Roboto, Styx
29. You Are, Lionel Richie
30. Der Kommissar, After The Fire
31. Puttin' On The Ritz, Taco
32. Sexual Healing, Marvin Gaye
33. (Keep Feeling) Fascination, Human League
34. Time (Clock Of The Heart), Culture Club
35. The Safety Dance, Men Without Hats
36. Mickey, Toni Basil
37. You Can't Hurry Love, Phil Collins
38. Separate Ways, Journey
39. One On One, Daryl Hall and John Oates
40. We've Got Tonight, Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton
41. 1999, Prince
42. Stray Cat Strut, Stray Cats
43. Allentown, Billy Joel
44. Stand Back, Stevie Nicks
45. Tell Her About It, Billy Joel
46. Always Somethmg There To Remind Me, Naked Eyes
47. Truly, Lionel Richie
48. Dirty Laundry, Don Henley
49. The Girl Is Mine, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
50. Too Shy, Kajagoogoo
51. Goody Two Shoes, Adam Ant
52. Rock The Casbah, Clash
53. Our House, Madness
54. Overkill, Men At Work
55. Is There Something I Should Know, Duran Duran
56. Gloria, Laura Branigan
57. Affair Of The Heart, Rick Springfield
58. She's A Beauty, Tubes
59. Solitaire, Laura Branigan
60. Don't Let It End, Styx
61. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, Laura Branigan
62. China Girl, David Bowie
63. Come Dancing, Kinks
64. Promises, Promises, Naked Eyes
65. The Other Guy, Little River Band
66. Making Love Out Of Nothing At All, Air Supply
67. Family Man, Daryl Hall and John Oates
68. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Michael Jackson
69. I Won't Hold You Back, Toto
70. All Right, Christopher Cross
71. Straight From The Heart, Bryan Adams
72. Heart To Heart, Kenny Loggins
73. My Love, Lionel Richie
74. I'm Still Standing, Elton John
75. Hot Girls In Love, Loverboy
76. It's A Mistake, Men At Work
77. I'll Tumble 4 Ya, Culture Club
78. All This Love, Debarge
79. Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy, Sammy Hagar
80. Heartbreaker, Dionne Warwick
81. Faithfully, Journey
82. Steppin' Out, Joe Jackson
83. Take Me To Heart, Quarterflash
84. (She's) Sexy + 17, Stray Cats
85. Try Again, Champaign
86. Dead Giveaway, Shalamar
87. Lawyers In Love, Jackson Browne
88. What About Me, Moving Pictures
89. Human Nature, Michael Jackson
90. Photograph, Def Leppard
91. Pass The Dutchie, Musical Youth
92. True, Spandau Ballet
93. Far From Over, Frank Stallone
94. I've Got A Rock 'N' Roll Heart, Eric Clapton
95. It Might Be You, Stephen Bishop
96. Tonight I Celebrate My Love, Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack
97. You Got Lucky, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
98. Don't Cry, Asia
99. Breaking Us In Two, Joe Jackson
100. Fall In Love With Me, Earth, Wind and Fire

Well there are definitely more songs that I like on that list. I think age has mellowed me. I never would have admitted to liking a Duran Duran song when I was a teenager.