And so it will be Bush v. Clinton in 2016*

Mitt Romney tells supporters he will not run for president in 2016

In the meantime, like tween girls at a slumber party, we can discuss our dream dates.

* Having Bush as the likely Republican nominee now will be both the greatest motivation for Hillary to get off her ass and declare and for the Democrats to subsequently consolidate behind her.

* To argue it will actually be Walker v. Clinton in 2016 you have to explain why both Jeb and his money will migrate to Walker.

This is just what the doctor ordered

Nuge!

Real Thing vs Counterfeit

Father Longnecker spells it all out with regard to the real divide with clarity. Excerpt:

“You believe the old, old story of a loving God and a rebellious humanity. You think the church’s main goal is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, to heal the broken hearted and set the prisoners of sin free. You believe in the saving, precious blood of Jesus and the threat of hell and the hope of heaven. Right?”

“Of course” he grinned.

“Well, those other people don’t believe in all that. They think the Christian faith is simply about making the world a better place. They believe no one will go to hell because God is completely merciful. They therefore do not think it is necessary to preach about repentance of sin and salvation of souls. Consequently, their religion is one of social work and political activism. They are passionate about inequality and see people as victims rather than as guilty souls.”

“So the argument is theological?”

“Every argument is theological.”

“We’re really believe two different forms of Christianity.”

“It is more true to say that you believe in Christianity. They believe in something else which they have mistaken for Christianity.”

The facade goes so deep in the world that the counterfeits appear to be actually more real than the real thing at times.

What a lot of people don't realize is that when bishops like Cardinal Burke try to keep Catholics like Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion, what they are attempting would primarily redound to these Catholics' own good. There might be secondary effects which would be prevented, like the scandal caused by a pro-abortion politician acting like it's no biggie what they support. But scandals aren't eternal — hell is. I'm not the first or greatest person to suggest this.

If traditional bishops and priest keep their intentions pure, they can truly state that they are "loving their enemies", even if they are portrayed in the media as grouchy old men with a penchant for fancy clothes. Whereas these others who do not truly believe are using the Catholic religion in a most disingenuous way, and are almost always idealized as the best representatives of their "faith traditions". They are the nice Catholics. Volumes have been written about this phenomenon, and there are many times a place for prudence and suavity in the proclamation of the truth. But my main point is that some grouchy old dude might be the guy that saves your life—or your soul—and that smiling, attractive person might alleviate your conscience but take your soul straight down.

"She moved better on wine"

You do know what I mean, don't you?

[cheeseball...]

Let me take you there

I considered Lonesome Loser by Little River Band just to go all Sesame Street on the letter L, but I settled on good ol' Led Zeppelin.



Robert Plant referred to Kashmir as the "definitive Led Zeppelin song" and all the members of the band similarly raved about it as their peak achievement. (Source)

President of Conservative America

That's the problem, isn't it? There's no such office to be won.

Courtesy of AOSHQ, Jim Geraghty handicaps the Iowa Freedom Summit candidates. My three quick takeaways:

Scott Walker - appears to be the one shaping up to win it all, as in winning it all on November 8, 2016.

Ted Cruz - where the President of Conservative America tag comes from, and as such a living lesson.

Carly Fiorina - not with HP for a reason. And we were just talking about the lessons of Sarah Palin.

Keep Calm and Carry On My Wayward Son

This is probably my kids' favorite seventies rock song. I'm not sure they know what "wayward" means, fortunately.



Wow — that's a Stradivarius Tambourine that Robby Steinhardt is playing! Nothing sounds quite like one of those.

Here's another version which has great optics. I think it's the studio track with concert footage. Basically a rock video.

Incoherence is not Attractive

York masterfully sums up my problems with Sarah Palin. This speech is just the latest evidence of a train wreck which has been brewing up for years. I genuinely feel bad for her. Excerpt:

First, Palin embarked on an extended stream-of-consciousness complaint about media coverage of her decision to run in a half-marathon race in Storm Lake, Iowa in 2011. She then moved on to grumbling about coverage of a recent photo of her with a supporter who had made a sign saying "Fuc_ you Michael Moore" in reaction to the left-wing moviemaker's criticism of the film "American Sniper." Then it was on to Palin's objections about the social media ruckus over a picture of her six-year-old son Trig standing on the family's Labrador Retriever.

It was all quite petty, and yet the complaining took half of Palin's allotted time. She then proceeded to blow through her time limit with a free-association ramble on Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, the energy industry, her daughter Bristol, Margaret Thatcher, middle-class economics — "the man can only ride ya when your back is bent" — women in politics, and much more. It would be hard to say that Palin's 35-minute talk had a theme, but she did hint that she is interested in running, although there are no indications she has taken any actual steps in that direction.

There are so many people on the Republican side who simply will not vote for any ticket with her on it. This is a fact; talk to McCain campaign staffers. It is a damn shame; so much political wealth has been squandered in her downfall. Maybe if she had just had better advisers... I don't know.

One of the problems I've seen is that she has been unfairly trashed by the media so relentlessly that her hardcore supporters don't want to hear anything negative about her. Many people on our side are afraid to point out serious missteps she has made in her political career and deficiencies in her exercise of discretion when she speaks.

Palin needs to either get out of politics and writes books about media bias like Bernard Goldberg, or stay in the game and rise above the fray. Right now she looks like she's living up to the unfair caricatures. I just hope she doesn't take the Ron Paul kook road where the caricatures become the truth.

Double J

Journey. Introduced by Wolfman Jack.



Incredible vocals and harmonies. Steve Perry makes singing like an opera star look effortless.

The best drummer I ever knew disliked seventies rock intensely. Yet he told me that Steve Smith was probably the one drummer he respected and imitated the most. (Well, next to Copeland, of course.)