Quote for the Day

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From the man who gave us "coercive interrogation," "the dark side, if you will" and "alternative methods," this beaut from the 2000 campaign:

"They will offer more lectures, and legalisms, and carefully worded denials. We offer another way, a better way, and a stiff dose of truth."

Yep: Dick Cheney, a man whose stiff dose of truth does not include the question of "torture".

(Photo:Charles Dharapak/AP.)

Christianity and Mammon

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A reader writes:

You wrote, "…just don’t expect the religious right to criticize it."

I spent 15 minutes with Google and I found a few examples of the "religious right" criticizing the prosperity gospel. Here’s one; and here’s another. And let’s not forget Christianity Today, the flagship publication of evangelicalism. Money quote:

"What is commonly called the "prosperity gospel" is a corruption of the gospel."

Then there are actually sermons by prominent evangelicals: John Piper, John MacArthur, Albert Mohler. Money quote:

"Some think that religion is a way to riches," he said. "That is hard to believe when you look at the faithful teachers of the gospel [and] you look at those who are spending their lives on the mission fields. … Authentic Christianity is not a way to riches — at least not material riches."

Thanks for the info and the links. Encouraging and helpful. But let’s hear these other Christian voices more loudly in the public square, can we?

(Photo illustration: Michael Elins.)

And He Won

Here’s a gritty bio of a successful local Republican politician:

The third time was the charm for Koering. In 1996 and in 2000, Koering, a small business owner and farmer, ran against veteran DFL Senator Don Samuelson of Brainerd. Koering lost both times, thought it wasn’t from lack of work. The first time, he knocked on 16,000 doors in the district, fitting that campaign work in between twice a day milking of his 60 cow dairy herd. In 2000, he repeated the effort, again fitting it into twice a day milkings. Still determined, Koering ran again, but he had more time in 2002. He had sold the herd after the second campaign. Koering’s defeat of Samuelson, who was then president of the Senate, was one of the 2002 legislative election’s biggest surprises.

Koering views his job to be "giving people a hand up, not a hand out". This biennium, he will focus on health care, education and some bonding projects for his district. Koering has again introduced legislation to make English the official language of Minnesota, and he continues to advocate for gun rights and pro-life legislation.

He describes himself not as ultra conservative or ultra liberal but rather as a realist, and says he has not made up his mind on all issues- for example, the statewide smoking ban. Koering says such a ban walks a "fine line" between health, personal rights, and property rights.

Oh, and he’s openly gay, and just won his primary. See how tolerance can actually help the GOP?

Fire. Rumsfeld. Now.

A NRO reader makes what I believe is an obvious point:

It is the truest maxim of Washington policymaking that most big mistakes can be traced back to a time when key decision makers underestimated the American public.

Rumsfeld underestimated the American public’s ability to withstand both casualties and a long war. Both of which we by and large have withstood and done so without a single member of the administration coming forth and saying "We are going to fight until we win. The country will have to sacrifice to make that happen." – which is basically all that would have been necessary to have had 500K in country and five years of public support in the 60s …

Yep: Rummy was still obsessed with Vietnam. And he was so so wrong. The reason I am and have been so angry at this administration is because I believe we had an astonishing chance to turn around the Arab-Muslim world with a serious effort to transform Iraq, and Bush didn’t trust the American people enough to do it. I regard that as a betrayal of his 9/11 promise. And so we have the worst of all worlds: an ineffective intervention that weakens and divides us, while strengthening and emboldening the enemy. Why could he not have urged a major expansion of the military, a gas tax to pay for the war, and an intervention with enough troops and enough of the right kind to succeed? I expect Vietnam-crippled Democrats to do what the Bush administration has done. Instead, we got Vietnam-crippled Republicans.

Pot and Hep C

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A serious study finds that allowing patients with Hepatitis C to use marijuana helps them tolerate the side-effects of their medications – and so saves their lives. One word: duh. I have friends who are alive today solely because marijuana helped them stay on their meds during the crippling over-dosing that occurred in the early days of anti-retroviral therapy for HIV. Of course, the pot may also actually provide these people with something called pleasure as well. But despite that drawback, the health consequences alone make this a no-brainer. It frustrates me that we even have to debate this. There is no rational debate to be had.

Quote for the Day II

"They can search each laptop for possible terrorist-type writing and confiscate cell phones, white powder, shoelaces, car keys, pencils, anything sharp or cylindrical or made of glass, and interrogate people randomly, putting them naked into cold rooms with ugly music played at top volume. It’s all fine with me. I’m a liberal and we love ridiculous government programs that intrude on personal freedom. But where are the conservatives who used to object to this sort of thing?" – Garrison Keillor, in the Chicago Tribune. Not all of us have disappeared. And some are actually stirring anew.