Farewell USA


I know it’s a cliché, but a democracy does get the government it deserves and, apparently, what the US deserves is a con man who has convinced the gullible that he can give them what they want: unlimited, unearned, undeserved hand-outs. God’s punishment to the Romans in Romans 1 was not to rain down fire from heaven, but to allow them to have what they wanted unfettered by God’s restraining morality; here we go again.

Not to worry, though: the fall of a civilisation is a reminder for Christians that we live in two kingdoms, the more important of which is a kingdom that can never be shaken: the kingdom of God.

Bishop of Toronto, Colin Johnson says Occupy Toronto “needed to happen”

According to the speaker and parrots in this video, Bishop Colin Johnson has given his blessing to Occupy Toronto.

Is this a case of the adrift leading the incoherent? Probably, but since the good bishop has taken the spiritual lead, the squatters should consider relocating around the corner from St. James Park to 135 Adelaide Street where there is a nice stretch of firm, dry pavement to camp on; it would bring them much closer to the bishop.

 

The disaster presidency

From here:

Whether it was the bitter cold or the wrath of Hurricane Irene, a major weather alert never seemed to be far away in 2011.

Tropical Storm Lee prompted President Barack Obama to pledge disaster aid to the areas of Louisiana battered by the storm last month.

That makes 90 disasters declared by the commander-in-chief, a new record in yearly disaster declarations – and 2011 isn’t even over yet.

And the biggest disaster has yet to be declared: Obama.

Obama, Tucson and Sarah Palin

I thought Obama did a moderately creditable job in his Tucson memorial speech: he was suitably sentimental, moderately maudlin, appropriately apolitical and only partially pompous.

Nevertheless, with the cheering, clapping and sporadic booing, the whole thing had more the aura of circus than pensive pondering on mankind’s mortality.

It really was a political rally in disguise; it even had a gay hero.

Obama’s plea for a kinder, gentler political discourse – or as he would put it, a toned down rhetoric (how I hate that overused cliché) – is, of course, in vain. The left is so hormonally belligerent, it wouldn’t recognise gentility no matter what  teleprompter inspired dulcet tones Obama invoked to penetrate its malice in the hope of infusing sense into the dark colonic cavity that houses the left’s brain.

There is evidence of this on the following video – removed from youtube, but thoughtfully preserved by me for your edification – on how Sarah Palin is a latter-day impersonator of the Edenic serpent.

[flv:https://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/videos/TwitterPalin.flv 700 480]

Barack Obama: Feelings, nothing more than feelings

From here:

Barack Obama has said that he stands by his opposition to same sex marriage but has signaled that he might change his mind in the future.

The President told a press conference on Wednesday that he struggled with his views on the subject as he has many friends and employees engaged in strong and lasting same sex unions.

‘My feelings are constantly evolving’, he told CBS News.

‘At this point, what I’ve said is that my baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have, and I think that’s the right thing to do.

‘But I recognize that from their perspective it is not enough, and I think this is something that we’re going to continue to debate, and I personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward.’

So, Obama’s view of same-sex marriage is based on feelings – sorry, evolving feelings. I wonder if his foreign policy is based on that, too?

Let’s hope he doesn’t find himself eyeing the nuclear button when emotionally fraught after an overly strenuous bout of wrestling with going forward.

What happens now Obama is no longer blaming George Bush for everything?

He is blaming Fox News:

“I think Fox is part of ….the (news) tradition that has a very clear, undeniable point of view. It’s a point of view that I disagree with. It’s a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of a country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world.

But as an economic enterprise, it’s been wildly successful. And I suspect that if you ask Mr. Murdoch what his No. 1 concern is, it’s that Fox is very successful.”

Leaving aside the obvious facts that every news network has a “point of view” and is run “as an economic enterprise”, how can anyone seriously claim that, in a nation that has free speech, a news network’s point of view is what is destroying US growth? Does it make policy, bail out banks, create trillions of dollars of debt?

No, it reports – as objectively as any other news outlet – news and peddles ideas; just like CNN and MSNBC. I think ideas are what ultimately change things for better or worse and if ideas from the right are starting to resonate, perhaps it is because when Obama chanted “change you can believe in” he didn’t have any of his own that actually work.