Say it loud

Good grief, Rod! I expected better of you (he says in only slightly sardonic tones)! Obama has no qualifications, is slick as Clinton ever was (the former's speeches are simply replicating the substantive content and form of the latter's), and is only a candidate because certain democrats think he is the most electable possibility. His posturing, pontificating, and politicking right now, esp. the war, is simply opportunist. It's cheap, shallow, and nauseating. Keep in mind also that he killed the Born Alive Infants Act in Illinois. I'd vote for Hilary before him. I cannot believe the country is falling for this guy. Gott im Himmel have we become stupid. ***end of rant. thank you for your patience***

Rod, I love you man. But you realize that you're just handing a big ammo box to all the Dreher-haters, who are going to say "See! We told ya so. Rod has no principles!" don't you? Couldn't disagree with you more, but I'm kinda proud of you for saying what you think -- no matter how bad it makes you look.

Everybody needs to calm down about Barak Obama. Right now he's a cipher on whom everyone can project whatever desires they would like to see some hypothetical "great" president fulfill. Obama's platform (so far) is basically just that he would do a very good job of playing a make-believe, magic president on TV.

Obama will be an interesting candidate in 2012 or 2016. Right now, he's too inexperienced for my taste. I'll give Hilary Clinton this, she's put in the hours, and that ought to count for something, even if she is an untrustworthy snake. As for Guliani, he strikes me as man with the appetite of a lion and the soul of a hyena. His sordid affairs and embarrassing television appearances on shows like SNL should disqualify him for president. The Presidency is more than just a job. The President should be an example of what's best in our country. We've certainly lacked for those kinds of men in the past decade or so, and I don't see many outstanding examples in the current crop, but Guliani is the bottom of the barrel, IMO. At best, he should be given some cabinet level job, like HHS. Let him root out corruption there. He certainly knows how to find it, looking at his buddy Kerik.

Who put the benzedrine in Mr Dreher's Ovaltine? Rod, Obama isn't running for president he's auditioning for the VP slot for when the Lizard Queen ascends to the Cherry Blossom Throne. What? You think we actually have free elections in this country?

Gina: Congratulations, Rod. You've finally done it. You've completely floored me. How wonderful to know we don't have to bother trying to find and support pro-life, pro-marriage candidates anymore, because Bush was the last hurrah. I'm not saying I like it, or that we should have to find and support candidates who believe what we social conservatives believe. What I'm saying, though, is that if we couldn't get this stuff through with Bush as president and the Republicans holding both houses of Congress, then I find it unlikely that we'll ever get it through -- especially, on the marriage question, given that young adults by and large have no problem with gay marriage. Like I said, I don't like it, but I think that's where we are.

Brownback, Huckabee sorry no thanks. Huckabee recently gave a speech implying that white people should give amnesty to illegal aliens because of our country's history of slavery. His is in the back pocket of Tyson foods. He has sold out to a multinational corporation. Tyson is a company that demands cheap labor in the form of illegal aliens (a form of slavery in it self). My vote is for Tom Tancredo. He is a religious conservative and one of the few political leaders who has attended the trinity forum http://www.ttf.org/index/about/. I was encouraged recently by his opposition to sending more troops to Iraq. Obama is an inexperienced Senator. I do not trust him. He is another "can't we a get along" Rodney King. Interestingly, Bush ran as a uniter not a divider. Look at where the country is now. I want somebody who will speak the hard truth and that somebody is Tom Tancredo.

Obama is a Rorschach candidate; we can all look at him and see what we want to see. I think that eventually the same thing will happen to him that happened to Colin Powell, the last real Rorschach candidate: when he clearly articulates policy positions, he'll lose a lot of people.

also marched for years in the gay parade in New York full of humping leather boys Fred Luman, you must attend parades that are somewhat different from the ones I go to. Are you actually saying that you saw people "humping" while marching? This seems difficult, particularly if clad all in leather at the same time. But perhaps the construction of your sentence has caused me to misunderstand you. And if you don't mean this literarlly, but are merely using the h-word (once is quite enough to have to repeat it) to indicate contempt, then I think it goes beyond the bounds of good taste.

Obama is a Rorschach candidate; we can all look at him and see what we want to see. Perfect summation.

Obama is sincere: sincere in the belief that he will look well as President. He is waiting and listening and will craft his beliefs on other matters as the winds of change and public opinion dictate. Let's give him a free pass until he decides who and what he is (other than a great President-hopeful). I love you, Rod, but please, you're making me gag. DDD

on Amanda Marcotte: "I find it impossible to believe that there are no first-rate left-of-center bloggers who aren't so crack-brained by hate." on Obama: "But it's a great thing to hear a Democrat talk like this, and to admit that his mind was changed by a religious conservative." Just struck me as funny to read these comments because my daughter was complaining to me the other day about the conservatives she has to live with. "Dad, they're nice people otherwise, but you can't talk about religion or politics with them because they're so full of hate. Everything is painted in moral terms, so they're right and you're wrong if you disagree. There's no way to engage them in conversation; there's no way to learn from them--they just want to bash you."

"The insertion of the Word Incarnate is ultimately an act of interjection into our closed-off conversations: Christ is the Word spoken in silence, Who does not trumpet Himself, does not go on television and scream over a panel, does not order His disciples to put up propaganda boards all over Palestine, or form pressure groups to shout down the opposition. Instead, His enemies seek to silence His life-giving Word, and work together- their desire to stiffle the discourse of the Other united in one target- to crucify Him and put His words in the grace. Yet He is resurrected and sends His disciples out into the world, without gold and silver to act as lobbyists, still speaking the truth and trying to listen- to God and to the other." http://thicketandthorp.wordpress.com/ 2/8/07

But you realize that you're just handing a big ammo box to all the Dreher-haters, who are going to say "See! We told ya so. Rod has no principles!" don't you? What does he care?

Just watched Obama's announcement on his website. He IS a likeable guy, and seems to be a decent man. His specific positions on issues would probably prevent me from supporting him over a solid conservative, but I still like him.

Actually, I have personally participated in several Gay Pride Parades. So far as I could tell, nobody was "humping" anybody. The parade (always marked by the best weather Chicago has to offer, BTW) is just a good-natured good time. But then, my aunt, my favorite ex-sister-in-law, and my ex-law partner, plus a lot of other friends, are gay. They're good people (yes, I've met some gay people who were NOT such good folks, but nothing outside the statistical norm for any group)and I get tired of hearing them gratuitously bashed in what is supposed to be a mutually respectful discussion of religious faith and practice.