Excellent performance from both the offensive and defensive Rebel teams. Too bad State sent in a bunch fellows in football uniforms instead of actual players; otherwise it we could of had an actual game instead of the full-scale beat-down I witnessed. Still, an Egg Bowl victory is an Egg Bowl victory.
Hotty Toddy!
While Auburn was unable to achieve its seventh consecutive Iron Bowl victory (Alabama holds the record with nine) Auburn did secure its seventh consecutive loss.
ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The proceedings of last week’s National Lawyers Conference are in the process of being posted on the Federalist Society webpage, here. Thus far, we’ve got audio (only) from Justice Scalia, Judge Edith Jones, Mark Steyn, Attorney General Mukasey, Secretary Chertoff, and Senator McConnell. More to come, unless I’m mistaken.
Happy Thanksgiving to all SA readers and contributors!
On Tuesday, November 25, I will be a guest on the Kresta in the Afternoon radio show to discuss my book Return to Rome: Confessions of An Evangelical Catholic. I will be on from 3 to 4 pm EST. Stations that broadcast the show can be found here.
Saturday was a productive day for me. The buck pictured above dressed out at 155 pounds. He has a nine point rack with a 20 inch spread.
Looks like the Leggett family will be eating well this year.
Sounds just like the response you get from Obama supporters on how exactly Mr. Hopenchange will usher in the new utopia on Earth:
(h/t The Canadian Republic)
Chris Cillizza has an interesting column in the Washington Post today about the 10 Republicans to watch over the next few years. I’m sure that many will have issues with some he left off (hint: pit bulls and lipstick), but I think he does a good job rounding up the future of the party. Of course, there will always be those who rise to the fore rather quickly, but this is the current starting roster. Let the games begin.
He may be back in the office by the time you read this.
Here’s the text of his speech to the Fed Soc convention; audio and video are here. And here’s his column on what Congress should do re: enemy combatants, in today’s WSJ.
Courtesy of The University Bookman.
Suggestions welcome (see comments).
Short Answer: We freak them out.
Oh, and please do take some time to read the comments. It’s quite the experience.
A commenter at Right-Wing News provides a nice counter-balance to the “throw the socons under the bus†crowd, and to those who are under the delusion that it is the right that seek to intrude into every nook and cranny of life. (more…)
The Acton Institute asked me for an essay for their publication Religion and Liberty a few months back. Here is an excerpt from the piece I gave them:
As the standard bearer for American conservatism for two decades, Ronald Reagan effortlessly embodied fusionism by uniting Mont Pelerin style libertarians, populist Christians, Burkean conservatives, and national security voters into a devastatingly successful electoral bloc. Today, it is nearly impossible to imagine a candidate winning both New York and Texas, but Reagan and that group of fellow travelers did.
In the meantime, the coalition has begun to show strain as the forces pushing outward exceed those holding it together. The Soviet Union, once so great a threat that Whittaker Chambers felt certain he was switching to the losing side when he began to inform on fellow Communist agents working within the United States, evaporated in what seemed like a period of days in the early 1990s. Suddenly, the ultimate threat of despotic big government eased and companions in arms had the occasion to re-assess their relationship. The review of competing priorities has left former friends moving apart. Perhaps nowhere is the tension greater and more consequential than between the socially conservative elements of the group and devotees of libertarianism.
The two groups have little natural tendency to trust each other when not confronted by a common enemy as in the case of the Cold War. Libertarians simply want to minimize the role of government as much as possible. For them, questions of maintaining strong traditional family units and preserving sexual and/or bioethical mores fall into an unessential realm as far as government is concerned. The government, echoing the thought of John Locke, should primarily occupy itself with providing for physical safety of the person while allowing for the maximum freedom possible for pursuit of self-interest.
Social conservatives similarly view the government as having a primary mission of providing safety, but they also look to the law as a source of moral authority. Man-made law, for them, should seek to be in accord to some degree with divine and natural law. Rifts open wide when social conservatives pursue a public policy agenda designed to prevent divorce, encourage marriage over cohabitation, prevent new understandings of marriage from emerging (e.g. gay marriage or polygamous marriage), prevent avant garde developments in biological experimentation, and a variety of other issues outside (from the libertarian perspective) the true mandate of government that cannot seek to define the good, the right, and the beautiful for a community of individuals. To the degree social conservatives seek to achieve some kind of collective excellence along the lines suggested by Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, libertarians see a mirror image of the threat posed by big-government leftists.
I teach political science courses at Houston Baptist University in addition to my work as an administrator for the school. I also occasionally speak to young people in other venues. Something that I see now, which was nearly non-existent when I first gained teaching responsibilities as a grad student years ago, is the backside of a bunch of laptops facing me while I lecture.
Speaking to a colleague in the education department, I expressed my concern that students are too distracted by technology to pay attention and learn. She assured me these young people have different brains and can handle the multi-tasking.
I’m not so sure. I imagine that while I’m lecturing the students are partly listening and are dedicating the rest of their attention to online chat, email, facebook, fantasy football, and wedding planning. There may be some evolution of neural pathways, but I find it hard to believe there is any substitute for actually reading material, listening carefully to a lecture, asking questions, and discussing the subject matter without any other distractions.
And forget the immediate question of education in the classroom. Are these the kind of people who can pay sustained attention to public policy debates so they can participate meaningfully in the democratic process?
When I send my son (now 6 and pretty tech savvy) off to school, I may be looking for one that bucks the trend by promising me that he WON’T have a laptop in class.
Much has been written about the proposed bailout of the Big 3 automobile manufacturers. I agree that simply giving them money is only going to postpone the inevitable and, thus, should not be done. That does not mean that I am necessarily opposed to a bailout. There are arguments (some more persuasive than others) that we cannot lose all 3 of these companies. The reality is that if the Republicans are viewed as simply being an impediment to the bailout and the Big 3 or a portion thereof fail that Republicans are going to have a hard time finding any support in Michigan, Ohio, etc. for a very long time. Plus, it is my understanding that we (the taxpayers) may be on the hook for the pensions if the Big 3 fail which further suggests something needs to be done to address this issue. What the Republicans in Congress need to do is oppose a pure infusion of case or the government acquiring an interest in the companies but come up with some alternative means of providing money with sufficient structural changes to make it possible for the companies to become competitive over the long term. (No – I don’t know exactly how to do that and since I have an Answer to a Counterclaim to finish and depositions to prepare for I can’t figure it out this morning). Then, they are going to have to start selling the idea as being the only real long term solution to the problem and sell it not only to the other members of Congress but to the current and former employees of the Big 3. If the RNC has any money left in its coffers, an ad buy in the Rust Belt setting forth the alternative and why might be a really good long-term investment. We have to offer alternatives to the problems Americans are facing (with the caveat that there are going to be some problems we cannot and/or should not fix) and not simply oppose the Democratic agenda.
That is the title of the essay I published this morning in the online magazine, Inside Catholic. Here is how it begins:
(more…)
Alabama goes 11-0 with their 32-7 victory over Miss State. Sorry Dad
Here’s another review of Return to Rome. IMHO, I do not believe that this review is the consequence of reading the book very carefully. In one place, for example, the reviewer confuses Protestantism with comments I made at a Boston College conference about anti-creedal Protestantism. In another place he misses my analogy between grace-works and God-man by thinking that I was referring to Jesus’ works. But I wasn’t. What I was suggesting is that Christ’s humanity no more diminishes his deity than do our works performed in grace diminish God’s grace. In a yet another place he thinks my comments about the scope of the Protestant canon is part of a defense of the Catholic canon. It is not. It is an analysis of the problem with the reconciling of two claims in terms of the ETS press release concerning my resignations from ETS: (1) that all theological knowledge is derived exclusively from Scripture, and (2) that the scope of the canon, an item of theological knowledge, is not derived from Scripture since it is logically prior to Scripture. As I write in the book, “[B]ecause the list of canonical books is itself not found in scripture—as one can find the Ten Commandments or the names of Christ’s Apostles—any such list, whether Protestant or Catholic, would be an item of extra-biblical theological knowledge.” (p. 123).
Ironically, tomorrow the online magazine Inside Catholic will be publishing an essay of mine entitled, “Evangelical and Catholic,” in which that portion of the book is excerpted. I will post a link to it tomorrow. In any event, this review is loaded with many, many mistakes like these. It seems that this well-meaning fellow has let his anger get the best of him. That’s a real shame, since the spirit in which I offer the book was intended to inspire dialogue not diatribe. As I write in Return to Rome:
(more…)
Boy, that was quick. A review of Return to Rome just appeared online today. It is written by Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin, director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies. You can find it here.
(Cross-posted at Return to Rome and What’s Wrong With the World)
Just found this online:
Fiore “Jimmy†Casella was a professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. He is known for his feat of winning three bracelets at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournaments. He was the uncle of Dr. Francis J. Beckwith, a Christian philosopher, scholar, and lecturer. In his latest book titled Return to Rome: Confessions of An Evangelical Catholic, Dr. Francis J. Beckwith has mentioned the name of his uncle Jimmy Casella.
I know that many of you in SA Land are inherently suspicious of economics (having, as it does, only a limited impact on abortion), but some of us think it’s kind of important. If you are part of this group, I ask your indulgence.
The Heritage Foundation has recently released a brilliant, easy to digest issue backgrounder that reminds us that government does not create jobs or wealth, nor can it provide stimulus to the economy. It can only shift money from productive areas to less-productive areas, which inhibits economic growth. I think this is a must read piece and a reminder that, mandate or no, the Democrats are destined to repeat the failures of the past (with the help of some Republicans).
Bonus: The article also explains why Bush’s “tax rebates” in 2001 were a bad idea.
Everyone is going to the federal trough for bailout money now. It’s like a game of musical chairs; once the government starts playing the bailout tune, everyone scrambles to get in on it lest they be the company that was foolish enough to attempt to survive through normal means, i.e., trimming operations, greater efficiency and, if necessary, bankruptcy.
The list of industries seeking bailout money has grown to absurd proportions. For example, the following entities are now being considered for bailouts:
3. The City of Detroit (not an industry, but they always have their hands out).
And this is after the government already overstepped and decided to prop up AIG, which mainly deals in automobile insurance.
I understood the need for a bailout of the credit markets because every other aspect of the economy — from GE to a local restaurant — is directly affected by a lack of credit. Using some government money to get the credit markets moving was at least a plausible way of preventing the economic crisis from spiraling out of control. However, when the government starts to prop up individual companies and sectors to prevent layoffs and bankruptcies, then we’re in serious trouble.
A key part of the American economy has always been our general willingness to allow companies to go through hard times, even if that harms workers and investors in the short-term. We haven’t socialized risk. This is why American recessions are usually short, whereas in Europe and Asia, where they lack the gumption to allow the market to work itself out, recessions tend to be much longer and more painful.
If we are weak and try to bail our way out of this, we may be in for a long haul indeed.
This is why every state needs attentive state legislators — if you don’t, glaring drafting errors can result in absurd features:
Nebraska’s “safe-haven” law which allows parents to abandon children at hospitals without being prosecuted has been garnering lots of news. The reason? While other states have similar laws, other states also have an age-limit. Nebraska’s law does not. So parents can abandon their teenagers – no need for a “person in need of supervision” or other proceeding.
Legislators are supposedly going to close the “loophole.”
From Family Law Prof Blog.
John Schwenkler offers up some excellent advice to the GOP and conservatives in his latest article at Culture 11. Read the article here. I particularly like the following excerpt:
The flip side to this is that adopting a federalist approach to governance will also entail abandoning the attempt to make federal policy decisive on issues like abortion, marriage, drug policy, and euthanasia. But the attempt to impose nationwide policies in such areas is a strategy fraught with danger for social conservatives: not just because it is Constitutionally suspect, but also because there simply isn’t the sort of national consensus on such issues that many conservatives would like there to be. As Jim Manzi and Megan McArdle have recently observed, the alliance between libertarians and religious conservatives that has traditionally been at the heart of the Republican coalition requires exactly this sort of modesty — and it’s far better to win in some states while losing in others than to bet the house on Washington and lose it all at once.
Conservative blog: Sweetness & Light
Inside-the-Beltway blog: Politico’s “44″
Social scientists are learning that conservatives have more of a sense of humor than liberals do.
(May I suggest they focus their further researches here, here, and here?)
Did you hear about the visiting professor of media studies who bragged on the Huffington Post about stealing McCain-Palin yard signs? Well, it looks as though the administration of St. Olaf College did not appreciate his brand of performance art, and actually pressured him to resign — which he has. At least, that’s his story. Given the current state of academia, this story (assuming it’s true) is just short of astonishing. I would have guessed that the sign-snatching would have clinched a tenure-track appointment for the fellow. (HT: Don Surber (also for my next post, above))
Main Entry: so·cial·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈsÅ-shÉ™-ËŒli-zÉ™m\
Function: noun
Date: 1837
1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done
From Merriam-Webster.com
The Rev. Roy Bourgeois, the missionary priest from Lutcher[, Louisiana] who has devoted his career to opposing U.S. policy in Latin America, appears to be on the brink of excommunication from the Catholic church for participating in a ceremony that purportedly ordained a woman to the priesthood.
Not only that, the man supports thugocrat Hugo Chavez.
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