Gorelick Must Resign. I don't have a problem with the partisanship of the bipartisan 9-11 commission. I think that sharp questioning from people who obviously have an axe to grind can be beneficial. I disagree with tactics like Ben-
asking two questions and then telling the witness to only answer one or Kerrey's disingenuous "speechifying." For the most part, Jamie S. Gorelick, former Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton administration has not resorted to these obnoxious tactics.

Nevertheless, as has been made clear, Gorelick was the architect of the policy that neutered the proactive policy of preventing terrorism and should be sitting on the other side of the table. [See here for the Gorelick memo (.pdf) implementing this bizzare wall of blindness.]

The NYTimes was all over Scalia about a potential possible conflict-of-interest, I wonder when they will start questioning Gorelick about this very real conflict-of-interest.

If Gorelick has any integrity remaining, she will step down now.

National Pastime. The NFL schedules are out. My Raiders had an easy schedule last year and proved pathetic. The 2004 schedule is more difficult with winter games in Denver and KC (two games against the Chefs 20 days apart -- the last being at 5:00 pm on Christmas day -- you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch). The highlight will be the return of Chucky and gang on Sept. 26.

Baseball can not be considered the national pastime until the national capital has a team. [BTW, nice article on team names.]

Different. Here's an article on the home of a co-worker and good friend of mine. As you can probably tell, David and I are so different that we make Oscar and Felix look like identical twins. Nevertheless, we are good friends and David is someone I admire.

Phinally! What a great win by Mickelson in the Masters.

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"

--Luke 24:5-6

The New Christmas? Good article by Charlotte Allen in the WaTi today on the impact of the Passion on American Christianity.

The Twist

words by: Terry Taylor
music by: Terry Taylor, David Raven, Tim Chandler

hang on, believe
there's nothing up my sleeve
i've got no magic tricks to save the day
put down the gun
you're not helping anyone
and i'm not about to run or back away

don't walk the fence
then come to my defense
i don't need fair weather kinds of friends around
so watch and pray
as a traitor's kiss betrays
and rest your feet of clay on shaky ground

chorus
and look me in the face, at least what's left of it
tell me you still love me just a little bit
or nail me down, break the skin
hard enough to do me in
but don't leave me hanging
dying and dangling
twisting in the wind

here, touch my side
let doubt be crucified
nailed with your wounded pride
to love's grim altar
here, taste my flesh
my bloody humanness
i am no phantom guest
no skinless martyr

so taste and feel
there's nothing to conceal
you always knew the deal
as sacrifice
stand up, be strong
when all you've got is gone
i left the light turned on in paradise

[chorus]

and when the walls cave in
and the curtain's torn asunder
you'll know we're near the end
you'll hear me in the thunder
and when the sun grows dim
this will be your sign and wonder
that soon we'll meet again
just like we did last summer

Stats. I listened, off-and-on, to Rice's testimony this morning. Kerrey really ticked me off with his partisan showboating. In particular, Kerrey did not want to give Rice an opportunity to answer his questions, arguing that she could explain at length in a closed hearing (so why have an open hearing Mr. Kerrey?):

we'll have a chance to do in closed session. Please don't filibuster me. It's not fair. It is not fair.

Here are some relevant statistics from the transcript:

Kerrey's Opening Monologue: 2,839 characters.
Kerrey arguing about whether Rice should answer Kerrey's question: 750 characters.
Rice's answer: 740 characters.

Analysis done by plugging the relevant sections into MS Word and checking properties (includes spaces).

More. Yeah, I counted 5 times Kerrey referred to Dr. Rice as Dr. Clarke.

Still More. Kerrey's opening monologue was interesting since he was essentially arguing with himself. I've been hearing talk of a Kerry-Kerrey ticket. That would be fun -- two candidates, four positions. "We cover the compass!"

Wage Prayer for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. Eight pastors and 1,500 believers have died in the past few weeks.

Pray.

Yes, I have no bananas. Or I am going bananas. Or something. Very busy at work and at home, back after Easter.

Scandal. Peter Sean Bradley looks back to the original meaning of the word, vis-a-vis the Church of Rome and how it applies to the nominal Roman Catholic John Kerry.

For those of us who are Protestants, it may seem like no big deal to flit from a Methodist Church to a Baptist Church to a Presbyterian Church for communion, but for a Roman Catholic to cross boundaries in such a willy-nilly fashion is truly scandalous.

There's something about this which reminds me of this line from Robert Bolt's Thomas More: "'When a man takes an oath, Meg, he's holding his own self in his hands. Like water. And if he opens his fingers then - he needn't hope to find himself again."

Royal Pain -- For April Fool's Day, enjoy this piece by Christopher Buckley.

Prayers Needed for Stuart Buck, his wife Farah, Ethan, and Eva. Updates here.

Bible Thumping. The news is that Kerry has attacked Bush as having "faith but has no deeds" citing James 2:14.

The Bush campaign has responded calling this a low blow. Specifically, Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's comment "was beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture for a political attack."

I disagree.

I think if someone, say our last President, says one thing and does something contrary to Scripture, such as going to church in the morning and then having an immoral sexual encounter with an intern in the afternoon, that's something which should be judged by the voters.

Kerry says Bush has faith but no deeds -- is that what the record shows? Last December, the President and the First Lady went to a local Baptist church and distributed presents to kids who had a parent in prison. Here's what Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson said about the event:

President and Mrs. Bush arrived at three-o'clock, Monday, December 22, at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Now, presidents don't move anywhere without a great deal of fuss. The police were out, the roads blocked, and Secret Service were roaming around the church. And when the president arrived, he was accompanied not only by his own team, but also by a pool of reporters, forty or so members of the press. For ten minutes they popped their flashbulbs, scribbled their notes, and then were ushered out.

I remember from my days with President Nixon what photo opportunities are: Get the picture and leave. So I thought the Bushes would shortly depart, but they didn't. They stayed long after the cameras were gone to greet every child, to have their picture taken with them, their mothers, and their grandmothers, to talk with them, and to ask questions. Though the press didn't report it, I noticed that both the president and Mrs. Bush talked to the Hispanic children in Spanish.

Just before the president left, I introduced him to Al Lawrence, a member of our staff. I told the president that I had met Al more than twenty years ago in a prison. Jesus had got hold of Al's life, and he's been working for us ever since. Then I told the president that Al's son was now a freshman at Yale. At that point the president stopped, exclaimed, "We're both Yale parents," and threw his arms around Al Lawrence - an African-American ex-offender being embraced by the president of the United States in a church basement. The ground is indeed level at the foot of the cross.

I have heard other stories of the President's charitable actions -- I have yet to hear anything of Sen. Kerry's charitable actions.

In a similar vein, perhaps we should compare charitable giving by the two candidates. Here's a Byron York story on the difficulties getting access to Kerry's tax returns.

post script: Don't even try to tell me a man who rushes back from campaigning to vote against protecting the unborn has a charitable heart.

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

-Mother Teresa

More: See the comments of Terry Mattingly here.

R.I.P. Peter Ustinov. I just heard this on the way to work this morning. I best remember him as Gideon in Paddy Chayefsky's Gideon; a Hallmark presentation from my childhood which I'd love to see on DVD. And he will always be the best King Herod and the wicked Nero in Quo Vadis.

"Keep off the grass."

Happy New Year! Are you aware that hundreds of years ago, while a new year began on January 1, the shift of the year title happened on March 25. That is, if we were living in, say, in the 1400's yesterday might have been March 24, 1403 and tomorrow would be March 26, 1404.

Why the 25th of March? What's significant about that?

I believe the Orthodox would know. More at lunchtime.

More

Yes, that's right, today is the Feast of the Annunciation, the beginning of the incarnation of Jesus; nine months from now will be Christmas Day.

An Explanation from this Scotish Genealogy website:

Between the 12th & 14th centuries the Catholic Church in Europe gradually changed the beginning of the Civil or Legal year from December 25 to the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin (Lady Day) on March 25.

January 1 was adopted as the first day of the year in Scotland in 1600.

The Julian Calendar, which was adopted by Christian Europe between the 6th & 9th centuries A.D., was slightly inaccurate so that by 1582 the equinox fell on March 11 instead of the original correct date of March 21.

PopeGregory ordained two changes to correct the calendar:

of the end century years only the fourth should be a leap year. ie 1600, 2000, 2400 etc.;
in 1582, October 5 should be called October 15, omitting 10 days.
This Gregorian Calendar was eventually adopted by Great Britain & her Dominions (including the American colonies) in 1752 by the omission of 11 days (September 3 being reckoned as September 14).

Until 1752 the Scots and the English, though they had different New Year?s Days after 1600, were both ten, (or after 1700, eleven), days behind the continental Gregorian Calendar. In their own countries the Scots & English used the Old Style (O.S) Julian Calendar, and their sailors usually did so. However, their armies and diplomats on the continent usually used the New Style (N.S); sometimes it is impossible to be certain which style is being used and mistakes can be easily made.

In the Philippines, today is the Day of the Unborn.

See also this on quarter days.

Also, this page looks interesting, although I can not attest to the veracity of anything on it.

The "Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight" Shuffle. You say your bishop is an apostate and don't want him/her laying hands on your child? What are you going to do about it? Well you get to do the "Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight" Shuffle (sung to the tune of The Hokey Pokey):

First verse-
Take the issues to your Rector
Take the issues to your Rector
Take the issues to your Rector and you shake them all about
Do the Delegated Episcopal Patoral Oversight Shuffle
That's what it's all about!

Second verse-
Take the issues to your Vestry
Take the issues to your Vestry
Take the issues to your Vestry and get a 2/3 majority vote
Do the Delegated Episcopal Patoral Oversight Shuffle
That's what it's all about!

Third verse-
Take the issues to a congregational meeting
Take the issues to a congregational meeting
Take the issues to a congregational meeting and you shake them all about
Do the Delegated Episcopal Patoral Oversight Shuffle
That's what it's all about!

Fourth verse-
Ask for a reconciliation meeting with your Bishop
Ask for a reconciliation meeting with your Bishop
Ask for a reconciliation meeting with your Bishop (and hope it's not Bennison)
Do the Delegated Episcopal Patoral Oversight Shuffle
That's what it's all about!

Fifth verse-
Have a reconciliation conference with your Bishop
Have a reconciliation conference with your Bishop
Have a reconciliation conference with your Bishop regarding the appropriateness and conditions for Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (whew!)
Do the Delegated Episcopal Patoral Oversight Shuffle
That's what it's all about!

Sixth verse-
The bishop may appoint another bishop to provide pastoral oversight.
The bishop may appoint another bishop to provide pastoral oversight.
The bishop may appoint another bishop to provide pastoral oversight (or may not).
Do the Delegated Episcopal Patoral Oversight Shuffle
That's what it's all about!

Seventh verse-
Appeal to the bishop who is president or vice-president of the ECUSA province
Appeal to the bishop who is president or vice-president of the ECUSA province
Appeal to the bishop who is president or vice-president of the ECUSA province
Do the Delegated Episcopal Patoral Oversight Shuffle
That's what it's all about!

Eighth verse-
The provincial bishop may request two other bishops to join with the provincial bishop to review the situation
The provincial bishop may request two other bishops to join with the provincial bishop to review the situation
The provincial bishop may request two other bishops to join with the provincial bishop to review the situation (remember they should be representative of the divergent views in this church)
Do the Delegated Episcopal Patoral Oversight Shuffle
That's what it's all about!

Ninth Verse
(Are you still here?) Okay...
You get a a plan for the purpose of reconciliation for a limited period of time
You get a a plan for the purpose of reconciliation for a limited period of time
You get a a plan for the purpose of reconciliation for a limited period of time (with regular reviews by your diocesan bishop).
Do the Delegated Episcopal Patoral Oversight Shuffle
That's what it's all about!

Or you could leave, which is what Frank and company really really want.
(Or knuckle under, prole)

Inadequate. The House of Pancakes Bishops issued a document in response to the primates directive to provide Adequate Episcopal Oversight ("AEO") to the remaining Christian congregations in the ECUSA(postate).

Given the fact that Frank Griswold and company have ignored* the Primates and believers throughout the Anglican Communion, it should be no surprise that the HOB continues to abuse the remaining faithful Christians.

Here is a good analysis from the AAC, and I still like Kendall Harmon's first reaction posted last night.



-------------------
*I take that back -- they haven't always ignored the Christians, sometimes they've treated them with extreme contempt.

Chattaway on General Synod. Writer and critic Peter Thomas Chattaway, who tends to sympathize with the revisionists, observes regarding the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada (meeting in May): "They're not even *trying* to make a show of impartiality."

Education Tax Break. This is a very interesting case. I was not aware that the Church of $cientology was granted a special exemption allowing its members to deduct the cost of religious education for their children.