Obligatory Bailout Post

It is widely acknowledged that part of the problem that caused the housing crisis and its troubling consequences is that lenders were pressured by politicians to loan money to people that in normal circumstances would be turned away. The ideological principle behind this pressure was the idea that homeownership was an entitlement, not a privilege; [...]

Creat Your Own Obama Logo

Fantasy Football Happiness!

Okay. Enough with the political commentary, writing about good books, or talking about things that matter. It’s time to revel the victory of my fantasy football team! Every since I started this thing, I have been OBSESSED. I’ve been breaking down numbers, researching teams, keeping up with injury reports, and riding the waiver wire (that’s [...]

FactChecking Debate No. 1

FactCheck.org is quickly becoming one of my favorite websites. Add it to the list of my favorite political stops: RealClear Politics, Project VoteSmart, and Frontline. This weekend they have a rundown on the debate.

Obama said McCain adviser Henry Kissinger backs talks with Iran “without preconditions,” but McCain disputed that. In fact, Kissinger did recently [...]

The Comedy of Demagoguery

I have started and deleted two posts in the last two days trying to explain why I find demagoguery to be funny. I cannot articulate it. Blatant appeals to the prejudices of people that pose as persuasive arguments and reasonable discourse tickles my funny bone, and I am not sure why. One could choose to [...]

Mark Galli on the Self

Mark Galli has one of the most interesting and provocative Christian blogs out there. His latest post is about the “spiritual masturbation” of “maximizing your potential.”
This is precisely the spiritual garb that our narcissism wraps itself in these days. We justify this unhealthy focus on the self with God-talk and mission-talk. But in the [...]

Sarah Palin’s Critics try “Life Unworthy of Life” Strategy

The criticisms of Sarah Palin are becoming more bizarre and shameful as time wears on. All the more good for McCain, I suppose. Robert Tracinski points out that the waves of hostility coming from the media only serve to discredit valid criticisms against her (and there are valid criticisms).
One such argument recently comes from [...]

The Trouble With Diversity

In the last post I mentioned a book titled The Trouble With Diversity by Walter Benn Michaels. It was recommended to me by my sociology professor in the spring, and it made some very thought provoking reading. As I said in my comment of the last post, the book’s point is that by focusing on [...]

Amazon Wish List

Now that my goals for summer reading are over, I can look at other items on my wish list. I’ve never read more books in a single season in my entire life. They include:
The Narnian by Alan Jacobs
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
In the Name of Eugenics by Daniel Kevles
The Right Questions [...]

Obama Campaign Art

Keeping with the Hail to the Chief theme, check out the some of the Obama-inspired art: