Play or Pay

The Obama White House decided last week that they were going to freeze out Fox News. This is the very first presidency ever to pick out a specific news source and decide that they were not worthy. Obama's timing comes right on the heels of Fox's airing of the ACORN scandal; an event that during the last administration, would have been lauded by Time and Newsweek as great, hard-core investigative journalism. But not now.

God knows, had George Bush decided to take the same action against news sources that were challenging his actions at every turn, he would have locked the doors on MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS and probably a couple of others. But I know, these media outlets NEVER showed any bias. Right.

There is a new emphasis over at the Politico this morning on so many more examples of the disparity in the media's treatment of the two administrations. (Oh...except on Fox). Check it out:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091027/pl_politico/28764

I don't know if the Politico has any kind of access to the White House currently, but if they do, they can probably kiss it goodbye after this post. That's just the way it with this president who promised a new era of transparency, cooperation and conciliation.

R.I.P. Soupy Sales

My gosh, it's been a tough year on our iconic names from the 60's. And now Soupy at age 83.

Pies....big bow ties.....and more pies. Goofy slapstick that has not stood the test of time, but so what? That's today's problem. I enjoyed him.

R.I.P. Soupy.

Benedict's Bold Move

So what does it mean, this move by the Pope to cast a lifeline to conservative Anglican's? Well, I'm no authority on all of the idiosyncrasies of the Roman Catholic doctrine to be applied here, just one man trying to fathom Christ's plan for it all. Just one middle-aged (yes, middle!) Episcopalian who asks questions and often wonders, like many Episcopalians these days, if I'm where God wants me to be in His Church. So with that, and with a day's reflection on the announcement, I'll offer these modest opinions:

1. It was a very timely move by the Pope to cast his net. Was it in his mind, and within the Vatican's finest theological minds, more prayerful or more pragmatic to move now? I would judge it to be the latter. A sense that this was the perfect time for a not-so-new idea, for there are restless souls out there.

2. A blow to the Anglican Church for sure. 90% of the Church's growth in the last decade is coming from the conservative side of it's communion. A side that has been most displeased with the "progressive" ideas from the more liberal branches of the communion, and an Archbishop who has spent the last decade doing nothing but waffling on the most divisive issues.

3. Another hit to the issue of harmony within the many Roman Catholic clergy who may look with much envy upon the "benefits" that Anglican clergy get to keep when they join. Harmony is hard to maintain when the rules aren't applied equally.

4. At some level, it was a bit of an insult to the Anglican Church. Almost as if the Pope is saying that after 450 years, it's still not a legitimate Church until it's comes back to the fold.

5. It definitely leapfrogs some of the ecumenical groundwork that both Churches were laying over the last several years, and certainly will make some aspects tougher and some moot.

Lastly, I've concluded fairly easily that this does nothing for me personally. I'm an ex-Roman and have no interest in returning. It may yet mean something to me, depending on it's long term effects on TEC. So therefore, despite all of the excitement, I am still left wondering what will happen to the orthodox Episcopalians like myself, who are beginning to feel marginalized. There are many of us wondering, and some wandering. More to pray on...always.

Unabashed Self-Promotion Posting

On my list of "Check These" sites in the left margin, you'll notice a new link to my photo blog, Artifacts of Light. The name came to me as I thought about what a photograph is, in the purist sense: Color, reflection and shadow, all a result of light's interaction with our world and our perception of it, preserved by the camera.

I hope you'll visit now, and check it often. I'll constantly be adding images that I like and give a little information on each. Feel free to comment too!

Thanks for looking.

Time to Flush the Bowls

Are you kidding me? Now, we need to have Barack Hussein launch an investigation into the structure and fairness of the NCAA football playoff structure known as the B.C.S. (Bowl Championship Series)?!!

Folks, I don't make this stuff up. We have a president that has chosen, as in any good socialist system, to stick his nose into every aspect of our lives. This guy is on TV 24/7, he pries into a resisting arrest charge in Massachusetts, he joins the U.S. Olympic committee, he takes over entire chunks of private industry, he does TV promos for his Hollywood buddies, he beams himself into our school classrooms, and on, and on, and on. (Everything except being Commander in Chief). And now this, the college bowl game system??

What makes this bowl "issue" even worse, is that it's a Republican, Orrin Hatch, who is asking Obama to do this because , and I start to wonder if there is any capable and responsible mind left in Washington these days. Can they possibly think of any other ways to p*** our money away? It's just beyond words.

So Barry will look into this I'm sure, and the federal government will end up owning all bowl games. Under that takeover:

• Schools with more than 50 % minority enrollment will be allowed five "downs" per possession, versus four for schools like Utah (bet Orrin didn't figure on that!)
• Chicago will host the National Championship game in the first ever "Oprah Bowl".
• The Fox Network is shut out from bidding for any game.
• All ticket sales will be conducted by ACORN.
• All halftime shows will carry a taped message on health care reform.
• The Goodyear and Met Life blimps will be grounded in favor of fly-bys by Air Force One.
• And not surprisingly, the cancellation of The Liberty Bowl.

Special thanks to Orrin Hatch. You serve us well.

The Trouble With Joe

Oh-oh. Joe "Bucket Mouth" Biden is at it again. Every time he does it, I can picture Obama running to some far-flung room at the White House and screaming as loud as he can, "Why the **** did I pick this crazy, senile white guy?!!!"

Compounding the problem for Obama is when Crazy Joe is actually right, and is "talking out of school" as they say. You know, when he lacks the savvy to lie as smoothly as Obama can.

Today, he said that the "economy is in a depression, at least for those still not working". Yikes. That would seem to fly directly in the face of Barry's statements and those of all his handlers who insist that not only is it a recession (not depression), but that it's actually over! Thanks to that stimulus package and a resurgence of Casino Wall Street, I'm hearing that all is well.

Because he's such a thorn in Obama's side, I have to admit that sometimes I can actually stand the guy. Today is one of those days.

Say It Ain't So, Mate

Britian continues to lose. Their very culture is disappearing under an onslaught of unrestricted immigration. Their honor is tossed aside in favor of Libyan oil deals. And now you can't even walk into a pub and get fish and chips?!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091016/ap_on_re_eu/eu_eu_threatened_fish

Now it's serious.

More Dead-End Diplomacy

Missile defense systems are removed from Poland to appease the Russians. A meeting with the Dalai Lama is cancelled to appease the Chinese. And these are just a couple of the more recent steps taken by Barack Hussein to gain favor with the two most dangerous "friends" we have in the world. Dangerous for many reasons, but the most recent being that neither one will support any tightening of sanctions against Iran.

Obama sent Hillary and the rest of his diplomacy brain-trust over to Russia to specifically negotiate a deal to punish Iran. We gave them Poland's security and in return they sent her packing with absolutely nothing. And China? Well, today they announced that not only would they not punish Iran, they are actually planning an immediate increase in trade and other assistance. Nice.

To me, what we have here is what Obama would call a "teachable moment". The problem is, teachable moments are only for others apparently; not for him. This guy just doesn't get it. Doesn't read history. Doesn't understand. So as his powerful friends continue to support the radicals in Iran and we continue to bargain our security away, an extremely dangerous Middle East will grow more so. And when it eventually erupts, which it will, Barack better ignore any phone calls coming from Norway. Somebody might want their prize back.

A Prized President

Affirmative Action has even reached the Nobel Committee. It's the only plausible explanation to their award of the Peace Prize to Barack Hussein before he's accomplished anything. Apparently lofty speeches, expressed intentions and campaign promises are all that is required.

Well, there is another possibility.

I think that what we are really seeing here is a very leftist and opportunistic European consortium who understands (correctly) that they have a U.S. president who they can actually influence. Actually, the word steer might be more accurate. Can you blame them for wanting to promote their pacifist, socialist agenda with a U.S. president who actually gives a rats-behind about their world view?

And steerable he is. A citizen of the world; not interested in always placing the U.S. first. Overly concerned with what others think of him. Needy of constant approval and praise, like the adoration he received during his global apology tour. And he isn't George Bush.

Now another man, a better man, might have recognized the motive when no other explanation made sense. But not Obama. And he knows that he hasn't done anything. Yet his ego is so huge that he could never see this as anything but worship. To him, it just makes sense.

On Losing The Games

The International Olympics Committee has just sent Chicago packing in the first round of voting for 2016. That's last place. Hmmm? Quite a swing from what everyone, including yours truly, thought would be first place. What happened?

Very simply, Chicago itself was not up to the task in the opinions of the committee, and any help that "the first couple", plus Oprah, thought they were going to bring was overreaching, misdirected and arrogant.

I listened to both speeches by our king and queen, and having spent my entire career in sales, I can tell you that they totally missed the mark. They blew it folks. The first thing that you learn when you're trying to sell something to a potential customer, is that you talk to them about what they want, and how you're going to deliver it. But in this case, their own arrogance led them to give speeches about their families, their dreams, their city and their wants. And guess what, the IOC didn't give a damn about that. Surprise, surprise. It's got to be shocking to the "dream team" that went over there, and every Barack Hussein supporter, who thinks that the world is ready to fall at his feet.

As far as my prediction, I was clearly fooled. I thought that there was probably some backroom deal ahead of time, that basically guaranteed a win for Chicago, because I could not imagine Obama going over there with any risk of possibly losing. And yet he did. And that only tells me that his ego and arrogance is far larger than even I imagined, and because of that, Obama had convinced himself ahead of time, that he couldn't lose.

He's learning a lot these days. The problem is, that it's always at our expense.