The level of animus against middle-American hockey-mom Sarah Palin will increase exponentially over the next couple of weeks. The Bourgeoisie Bohemians’ seething rage for what Governor Palin believes and stands for will push them beyond the bounds of decency. For there cannot be any place in their narrative for an intelligent, winsome, attractive, prolife, compassionate, loving and honorable conservative Christian woman. For we conservative Christians are supposed to be unattractive, hateful, and stupid.  ”Christiantists,” as Andrew Sullivan has labeled us. (If you were wondering, the Sullivan neologism went the way of the 8-track)

Thus, it is not surprising that Sullivan is rumor mongering about Governor Palin and her teenage daughter (who is not running for anything) without evidence. In a recent blog post, Sullivan seeks to tear down, in a transparently passive aggressive tone, Governor Palin, with the innuendo and speculation of a Big Foot believer. The guardian of “reason” against the “Christianist” hordes, and the one time editor of the New Republic, has become cyberspace’s Rona Barrett (but without her talent or wardrobe selection). Shame on Andrew Sullivan.

Oh, by the way, even the Daily Kos concedes the story is pure fiction.

It didn’t take long for Joe Biden to step in it. This, just off the Jake Trapper’s Political Punch Blog at ABC News:

Oh, That Joe! (Number 4 in a Series) — Biden on Difference Between Him and Palin: “She’s Good Looking”

August 31, 2008 2:52 PM

In his introduction of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., just now on the rooftop of the Toldeo Public Library, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., commented on the pulchritude of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain’s newly-named running mate.

Palin was once a contestant in the Miss Alaska contest, and no less an authority than Rush Limbaugh has called her a “babe,” though of course Gov. Palin is a governor and former mayor and mother and I’ll bet this is the last time Biden comments about her looks. (more…)

From our friends at Red State:

On a plane from Denver to Charlotte following the Democrats’ convention, I found myself seated behind former National Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Don Fowler and Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina. Their conversation was interesting to say the least.

For example, they made fun of Sarah Palin for several minutes, Fowler calling her “Dan Quayle” on steroids and Spratt creatively describing her as “just terrible.” They both agreed that, “Other than the simple fact that she’s a female,” she has nothing to offer.

Then there was this gem of a moment from Fowler.

Read the rest here

Congratulations to the Crimson Tide on their 34 -10 victory over Clemson. However, I have to confess that I knew Alabama would win when ABC previewed AC/DC’s new single “Rock ‘n Roll Train” from their upcoming CD “Black Rain” before and throughout the game. It was almost as if God was telling me not to worry because this one was in the bag.

Hmmm, AC/DC releases the first single, “Rock ‘n Roll Train,” form their soon to be released CD on Thursday. McCain names Palin as his VP on Friday. Alabama crushingly wins their season opener against a team that was ranked number 9 on Saturday. Coincidence? I think not. The Tide (pun intended) is turning.

For your Saturday afternoon enjoyment, The Idiossey: The Not-Really-That-Epic Poem of Obamacles.  (Warning: Spit-take alert!)

*  Amity Shlaes is being interviewed this week on Uncommon Knowledge.

*  Walter Williams lauds Texas A&M economist Edgar Browning’s new book, Stealing From Each Other: How the Welfare State Robs Americans of Money and Spirit.

*  There’s a photo gallery of the very cool, recently-unveiled statue of Adam Smith in Edinburgh here.

*  The 2008 edition of the Weidenbaum Center’s annual estimate of the federal regulatory budget is now downloadable as a PDF file here.

More to come . . .

Recently I’ve heard Obama and his supporters repeatedly use a phrase that, as a conservative, I think is wonderfully tone deaf.  I finally saw it in print in Byron York’s NRO column today:

Speaking to reporters in Illinois this week, [Obama] took pains to play down the razzle-dazzle [aspect of his acceptance speech]. “I’m not aiming for a lot of high rhetoric,” he said of his upcoming speech. “I’m much more concerned with communicating how I intend to help middle-class families live their lives.”

“People know that I can give the kind of speech that I gave four years ago,” Obama continued. “That’s not the question on voters’ minds. I think they’re much more interested in, what am I going to do to help them in their lives? And so, in that sense, this is going to be a more workmanlike speech.”

Can you think of a more intrusive or condescending way to say that “I’m from the government and I’m here to help” than this?  The phrase is clunky, to boot.  And I hope it forms the rhetorical core of his acceptance speech.

Pretty funny.

Awesome 40 minute film by Joss Weldon, creator of the Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. Watch it here.

That is the title of the latest essay by the inestimable Hadley Arkes at The Catholic Thing. As Peter Wehner points out at National Review Online, the federal Born-Alive Infant Protection Act is the brain-child of Professor Arkes. You can read about the Act and its history in Professor Arkes’ wonderful book, Natural Rights and the Right to Choose (Cambridge University Press, 2002). Here are some excerpts from The Catholic Thing piece:

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That is because on 20 October AC/DC will release Black Rain, their first album in eight years. Mark your calenders and plan accordingly.

Why all the fuss? Because, not counting Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC is the greatest rock band around. While other acts have focused on slick packaging, overly stylized performances, and “social messages” AC/DC has never forgotten what rock music is supposed to be about; irreverent, rebellious fun. Pretentious music critics have faulted AC/DC for having such a mindless approach to music, producing songs that never rise above the waistline. But that is the point!

Rock music is supposed to appeal to the more primitive aspect of our nature. Otherwise, why have screaming guitars and a driving beat? REAL rock music is about hot chicks, getting loaded, and kicking a_ _. If the vikings had a soundtrack it would have consisted of rock music written and performed by AC/DC.

However, the true genius of AC/DC is not simply because they have never forgotten what rock is really about, but rather that they have couched this understanding in a hard rock sound that has remained faithful to the rhythm & blues origins of rock music itself. When you listen to AC/DC you can still hear the influences of such rock pioneers as Chuck Berry.

Other people may prefer pop music performed by boy band arteests oozing emotion and pedaling pabulum churched up as a “social message.” For my money I want the blue collar, booze soaked rock of AC/DC.

Let there be Rock!

So says the RCP no-toss-up map.

An interesting take on the McCain calls re a pro-abortion running mate:

Oh, I have no doubt McCain is considering a pro-choicer, but that person isn’t Ridge. (Just a ploy to gauge activist reaction.) I think it’s actually former eBay CEO Meg Whitman , the person McCain mentioned at the Saddleback forum—in response to a question he apparently had in advance—as one of the wise persons he would consult with as president. Superstar CEO, technology/Internet leader, globalization expert, woman, a different kind of Republican, fly fisherman (!), young (just turned 52)–Margaret Cushing Whitman ticks a lot of boxes, folks. Plus, the Romney people inside the McCain campaign like her, though perhaps not as much as their old boss. But it would be a risky move for a candidate just a few points back in the polls. Yet if Obama chooses Joe Biden , as insiders expect, that would present an interesting opportunity for McCain to make a historic pick. 

Tomorrow my wife, Frankie, and I begin our trek to the University of Notre, where I will serve on its faculty for the 2008-2009 school year as the Mary Ann Remick Senior Visiting Fellow in Notre Dame’s Center for Faith & Culture. My home institution, Baylor University, was more than generous in providing me research leave. My department chair, Michael Beaty, deservers particular thanks for his support of my work.

During my time at Notre Dame I will be working on a book critically evaluating the modern Supreme Court’s epistemological assessment of religious and moral beliefs. I will bring to bear in that analysis much of what has gone on in Anglo-American philosophy of religion over the past 4 decades. Another problem I will address–something to which I alluded in my blog entry on Andrew Sullivan–is the a priori denigration of religious and moral claims by those who proudly assert that they are the guardians of liberal democracy.

(Cross-posted)

Over at the Corner at National Review Online there is this post, which is not good news

NR has learned that the McCain campaign has been calling key state GOP officials around the country the last couple of days and sounding them out about the consequences of a pro-choice VP pick. The campaign is asking about the reaction of conservative grass-roots activists to such a pick and whether a pro-choicer can be sold to them. This is an indication that the McCain campaign is serious about the possibility of a pro-choice VP nominee and that McCain leaving the door open to Tom Ridge last week may not have been merely a friendly nod to a longtime supporter. In this scenario, McCain’s emphatic pro-life statements Saturday night and his pledge that he’ll run a “pro-life administration” would have been partly an attempt to reassure conservatives in the event of a pro-choice pick. Here is NR’s take today on why going with a pro-choicer would be a mistake for McCain.

My only hope is that the fact that the calls are even being made is a recognition of the problems that this will cause and that the calls will result in Senator McCain not going down this road.

Senator Barack Obama, from last night’s Saddleback Valley Civil Forum on the Presidency:

“We still don’t abide by that basic precept of Matthew that whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me.”

First, it’s not Matthew’s precept. It’s Jesus’ precept, which appears in the Gospel of Matthew (25: 40). Second, the context of Matthew 25 is the Last Judgment at which the Son of Man separates the sheep from the goats, with the latter going to eternal punishment and the former to eternal life. Third, it is telling what Christ in fact says about the goats (v. 41-43 – NIV):

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

When Senator Obama, while in the Illinois senate, had the opportunity to require by law that medical professionals provide nutrition (something to eat), hydration (drink), protection (clothes), and shelter (inviting them in) to the smallest and most vulnerable strangers of all, the true “least of these,” newborns who had survived abortions, Senator Obama stood with the goats.

(Cross-posted)

You read an article like this about McCain, his Faith, his service to his God and his Country and you have to wonder why this race is even close.

There is a great article by Fred Thompson about the recent crisis in Georgia and the response of the 2 candidates for President at the Townhall website.  I love the last line:

This crisis half a world away confirms what I’ve been saying for a while: This election cycle, the traffic in the world is very heavy …and dangerous; it’s no time to give a kid with barely a learner’s permit the keys to the car.

Both men have written significant-looking books on the state of American education.  In today’s Wall Street Journal Charles Murray argues “For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time,” adapted from his forthcoming Real Education.   In the current issue of Policy Review, Stanley Fish suggests, “Professor, Do Your Job,” adapted from his Save the World on Your Own Time.

Have a look!

George Orwell’s diaries begin on August 9, 1938 — so The Orwell Trust had the idea to post the entries online, one day at a time, exactly 70 years after they were written.  You can read the first entry (and all subsequent ones, for that matter) here.

I weigh in here.

That is the question I keep asking myself. On one side you have a war hero married to hot beer distribution heiress with many years of service in the Senate. On the other you have a skinny Harvard grad and former community activist that that has not even finished his first term in the Senate. This is a no-brainer!

Now I see that McCain attended the Sturgis motorcycle rally. Not only that but Peggy Noonan quotes him as saying, “As you may know, not long ago a couple hundred thousand Berliners made a lot of noise for my opponent. I’ll take the roar of 50,000 Harleys any day.” AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!! (Hat tip to Kathryn Jean Lopez over at the Corner)

Hmmmmm, war hero that attends motorcycle rally or skinny Harvard Euro-phile????

Will want to check out this link-filled post by James Robbins, on The Corner this afternoon.

From Time Magazine, February 28, 2005

(cross-posted)

One of the towering figures of the 20th century, he was 89 years old.  The AP obit is here; the Times of London here; the Telegraph here and here.

More:  John Derbyshire makes an interesting observation here.

Just saw this on Lucieanne.com:

Barack Obama’s campaign responded sharply to a new McCain webad depicting Obama as a parody of a biblical prophet. “It’s downright sad that on a day when we learned that 51,000 Americans lost their jobs, a candidate for the presidency is spending all of his time and the powerful platform he has on these sorts of juvenile antics,” said spokesman Hari Sevugan. (Snip) The ad, released only on the Internet, is the latest in a series mocking the Democratic nominee.

C’mon, you don’t fight humor by sounding like the Church Chat Lady or Aunt Esther. You fight humor with humor. Here are some lines that I thought of on the way home from the gym today:

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Rod Dreher has penned some good observations on the latest dust-up in the race contest for the presidency. You can read it here. I published these comments in the combox:

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In today’s Examiner, I ask if Bush has Stockholm Syndrome. There seems no other way to explain the nomination of Anthony Trenga, liberal Democrat, to the most important national security district court in the land.