Eye for an eye?

For all my pro-Israeli Evangelical readers: Can you please  tell God’s “chosen people” to take a break from slaughtering helpless Palestinian woman and children long enough to crack open a Bible. Yes, Hamas has been lobbing primitive rockets into Israel for several months now. But do we really think that doing surgical strikes on civilians is honoring the Mosiac law of proportionality? Can we please hold off on Armageddon just long enough to enjoy the Great Tribulation/Depression that the housing crisis has handed us?

Who will fight for the poor?

The Democrats used to fight for the little guy. But these days, the little guy is defined as the middle-class. And in this recession the middle-class definitely needs a champion. He is losing his job, his 401K and his home. He is losing something else. The ability to contribute to charities. Which brings us to the littler guy: the poor. Rev. Jesse Jackson describes their predicament:

When the economy catches a cold, the poor suffer pneumonia. When the economy catches pneumonia, as this one has, poor people are reduced to emergency conditions.

Across America, poverty is rising. Food kitchens can’t meet demand. Shelters are overcrowded. Lines grow at public clinics and emergency rooms. The homeless crowd around grates and park benches in large cities. Desperation is growing.

The poor, of course, are the last hired and the first fired. Too many can find work only when the economy is at full employment. Too many lose work when the economy grows weaker.

Now, cities and states are facing severe budget crises. States cut back on Medicaid funds. Libraries that provide warmth as well as substance are shuttered. With the stock market suffering deep losses, charities are having trouble raising their budgets, much less raising the funds needed to respond to the current crisis.

For too many young people, jail becomes a comparatively secure environment. We overcrowd our prisons — more than 2 million are in jail, far more per capita than any other industrial nation. These are harsh, arbitrary, ugly environments — and they are meant to be. Yet, prisons provide 21 meals a week. Schools provide five lunches a week for poor children. Prisons provide shelter with heat. Homeless families lack both.

“Open your mouth for the dumb, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.”–Proverbs 31

God in Africa

Money cannot do it. Machetes cannot do it. UN peacekeepers cannot do it. Africa’s problems are God-size. At least, that is the opinion of Matthew Paris, who, very inconveniently, happens to be an atheist:

Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

Grrrrrrrr

She was the worst Catwoman and the best sex kitten, but it’s hard being a boy toy in your eighties. Check out her CD “Back in Business.” Very Eartha. Very cool. RIP.

The man who has the GOP in a tizzy

Thanks to this guy, Minnesota Republicans have their knickers in a twist. Apparently, they feel he is about to steal an election. Is it indignation they feel, or simple admiration? Remember when it was the GOP who really knew how to steal an election? Good times, good times.

Let’s hear it for the Govs

This has been the year of the Governor. 23/6 observes:

Normally, Americans can’t even name the governor of their own state, let alone the governors of other states. In 2008, people like Rod Blagojevich, Sarah Palin, and Eliot Spitzer redefined the American governor as someone who is either a criminal, an idiot, or horny as hell.

Target Practice

I must admit I am amazed at how the homosexuals and gay advocates have pounced on Rick Warren. Of course, homosexuals and I have never agreed on what to pounce upon. But the Rick Warren hysteria has seemed grossly miscalculated. Afterall, he is hardly the crumudgeonly Doc Dobson, wringing his hands over the devious homosexual agenda. He is simply an evangelical cleric who refuses to shred the Scriptures in the spirit of inclusive Kum Ba Ya. Sorry, the man believes that the Good Book is inspired and unchangable. And don’t blame Rev. Rick that St Paul and Moses tend to lump homosexual acts in with bestiality, murder, witchcraft and covetousness. It also takes a dim view of adultery, divorce and other acts from the heterosexual playbook. So take a deep breath and stop acting like a bunch of high-strung Nancies. We were all starting to believe you were nothing more than well-adjusted, balanced American surburbanites who were ready to settle down and nest. Now, we are beginning to remember why we never liked you in the first place. You are the kind of grating, whining, immature and impatient queens that we would never want to see our sons to grow up and be like. Call it a phobia, if you like. But hey, I was born this way.

Rush vs Rushmore

When Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama some dear Republican friends shrugged it off as no surprise. Powell was never a Republican, they said. Say what? Well, now Rush Limbaugh has echoed the sentiment. Powell is no Republican, he is a Washingtonian. And Washington is apparently is not part of Sarah Palin’s Real America or Rush Limbaugh’s real GOP. So let’s compare these two, shall we?

From Centrist, all the way to Redneck

Okay, okay. We get it, Barack. You aren’t a wild-eyed Liberal, afterall. But please, no more appointments with Stetsons and bollo ties. You’re starting too creep me out.

The Prophetic Voice

Jeremiah the prophet never published a best-seller, never flew in a corporate jet, and never, to my knowledge, owned a Hawaiian shirt. But he did speak truth to power. And he had the welts to prove it. As Andrew Sullivan observes, Rick Warren is no Jeremiah or Jeremiah Wright, for that matter. Maybe that’s why he will be bringing the invocation at the inaugral.

Family Values Action Figure

Maybe what our country needs is fewer Family Values action groups and more living examples. National Review writer Mona Claren observes that Obama might be just what the doctor ordered:

Obama has not shrunk from lecturing his audiences about parenting. Back in May, at a campaign stop in Gary, Ind., the future president gave his audience a pretty good harangue:

“Parents, if you don’t parent, we can’t improve our schools. You’ve got to parent. You’ve got to turn off the television set in your house once in a while. You’ve got to put the video game away once in a while. You should meet with the teacher and find out what the homework is and help that child with the homework. And if you don’t know how to do the homework, don’t be embarrassed, find someone to help you.”

Obama is setting a fine example. And good for him. His father walked out on him. Rather than repeat that destructive pattern, he is doing the opposite. Is it a total stretch to imagine him lecturing young people about the need to get married before having babies?

Team Obama, eat your heart out

It’s nice to be getting my weekly e-mail video from the President-elect. But not to be outdone, Dubya and the gang are sending out their Christmas Card digitally this year. And it appears we are all on the list. Enjoy. Rin Tin Tin, you’ve met your match.

Those darn Jews

Don’t like the economy? Blame the Jews. Tired of cultural decline? Blame the Jews. Sick of all the black men getting all the cute blondes? Don’t blame them, blame the Jews. It’s worked for centuries. After all, they’re the ones who invented the scapegoat.

And we thought Sarah Palin was dumb

Apparently, 37% of Americans can’t locate America on the map. Particularly  disappointing is the fact that the map our geographically-challenged citizens couldn’t find America on was a map of…well…America. Happily, even though the Department of Education is a little chagrined by this recent Gallup survey, one part of our government sees it as wonderful news:

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security sees the Gallup/Harris poll results as a blessing in disguise. According to Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation would be better off if these numbers skewed even higher.

“Personally, I believe if fewer people in this world could spot America on a map, we’d have a much better chance of avoiding national tragedies like 9/11,” said Chertoff. “You can’t attack a country you can’t find.”

Every cloud has a silver lining. Clouds, you know, the puffy white things above your head.