Sunday, May 22, 2005
The Right (Brink)man for the Job
On June 14, primary voters will go to the polls to vote for their party's nomination to run for the 2nd Congressional District here in southwestern Ohio. This race has recieved a lot of attention because of people and events outside of the district itself.
Many conservatives have watched in dismay and disappointment, the behavior of Senator Mike DeWine in the fight over judicial nominations. He was one of a group of "signatories" to a deal that allows the Democrat party to retain the "right" to filibuster judicial nominees under "extraordinary circumstances". The anger at the senator would still miss the 2nd district if his son had not decided to enter the race. The fact that he was running for Congress a mere three months after winning a seat on the Hamilton County Commission tells me that Pat DeWine is more feckless than his father. In any case, having served only one term on Cincinnati City Council, he lacks a record by which voters could make a rational judgement.
The people of the 2nd district should not be represented in D.C. with a father-son duo who seem to be more interested with good press than advancing any kind of real agenda. The other major candidates have failed to impress this blogger because they have been part of either the political class in Columbus or in D.C. too long to be trusted to buck their party or president when bad bills come down the pike (like the pork laden Transportation Bill currently being considered/larded up in the Senate). Conservative ideals of limited government and expanded freedom have been given mere lip service by this state's political establishment. It is time to "send 'em a message". It is time to elect Tom Brinkman to Congress.
With his experience in Columbus, Tom Brinkman has demonstrated that he is his own man and is willing to buck his party's "leadership" on bad bills. He has consistently opposed raising taxes and spending. He successfully acted on his pro-life convictions to pass legislation restricting the distribution of RU-486. Before he was elected to office, he was fighting for lower taxes and spending as a community activist (he founded Citizens Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxation in 1999. In short, Tom Brinkman not only has paid lip service to conservatism, he has fought for it in ways the other candidates have not. Mr. Brinkman has the experience and, more importantly, the character to be his own man and be a great representative for the people of Ohio.
I heartily endorse and support Tom Brinkman For Congress. Contributions can be made here. Signing up to volunteer can be done here.
FULL DISCLOSURE!!!!
I have not been compensated by the Brinkman campaign in any way for this endorsement. I will disclose that I have contributed a small amount of money to his campaign because it is the easiest way I know to be involved in the political process. I hope that this disclosure will leave no doubts as to my motives or incentives.
Many conservatives have watched in dismay and disappointment, the behavior of Senator Mike DeWine in the fight over judicial nominations. He was one of a group of "signatories" to a deal that allows the Democrat party to retain the "right" to filibuster judicial nominees under "extraordinary circumstances". The anger at the senator would still miss the 2nd district if his son had not decided to enter the race. The fact that he was running for Congress a mere three months after winning a seat on the Hamilton County Commission tells me that Pat DeWine is more feckless than his father. In any case, having served only one term on Cincinnati City Council, he lacks a record by which voters could make a rational judgement.
The people of the 2nd district should not be represented in D.C. with a father-son duo who seem to be more interested with good press than advancing any kind of real agenda. The other major candidates have failed to impress this blogger because they have been part of either the political class in Columbus or in D.C. too long to be trusted to buck their party or president when bad bills come down the pike (like the pork laden Transportation Bill currently being considered/larded up in the Senate). Conservative ideals of limited government and expanded freedom have been given mere lip service by this state's political establishment. It is time to "send 'em a message". It is time to elect Tom Brinkman to Congress.
With his experience in Columbus, Tom Brinkman has demonstrated that he is his own man and is willing to buck his party's "leadership" on bad bills. He has consistently opposed raising taxes and spending. He successfully acted on his pro-life convictions to pass legislation restricting the distribution of RU-486. Before he was elected to office, he was fighting for lower taxes and spending as a community activist (he founded Citizens Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxation in 1999. In short, Tom Brinkman not only has paid lip service to conservatism, he has fought for it in ways the other candidates have not. Mr. Brinkman has the experience and, more importantly, the character to be his own man and be a great representative for the people of Ohio.
I heartily endorse and support Tom Brinkman For Congress. Contributions can be made here. Signing up to volunteer can be done here.
FULL DISCLOSURE!!!!
I have not been compensated by the Brinkman campaign in any way for this endorsement. I will disclose that I have contributed a small amount of money to his campaign because it is the easiest way I know to be involved in the political process. I hope that this disclosure will leave no doubts as to my motives or incentives.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
More on bigotry
yesterday, I criticized the Louisville Courier Journal for an editorial that I thought (and still do think) was ill informed, mean spirited and bigoted to say the least. In the editorial, the paper tried to paint with a broad brush by linking Southern Baptist Seminary's move on counseling ciriculum to an inicident alleged to have happened at the Air Force Acadamy.
Not only was the rhetorical move a tremendous leap in logic, now information about the alleged incident has come out at HughHewitt.com, namely that the incident was essentially cooked up by the ultra partisan group Americans United for the Seperation of Church and State. THAT group picked up on a memo from a feminist scholar from the Yale Divinity School who had an apparant axe to grind with evangelical worship on campus. So, we have a city's only major paper biting hard on an "investigation" by a group with a definite axe to grind against Christians or the expression of the Christian faith. Being biased is one thing, but being bigoted like the paper has been is something else entirely.
Not only was the rhetorical move a tremendous leap in logic, now information about the alleged incident has come out at HughHewitt.com, namely that the incident was essentially cooked up by the ultra partisan group Americans United for the Seperation of Church and State. THAT group picked up on a memo from a feminist scholar from the Yale Divinity School who had an apparant axe to grind with evangelical worship on campus. So, we have a city's only major paper biting hard on an "investigation" by a group with a definite axe to grind against Christians or the expression of the Christian faith. Being biased is one thing, but being bigoted like the paper has been is something else entirely.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
How can getting it so wrong feel so right?
I have to wonder in amazement at the Louisville Courier Journal's editorial. They completely miss the boat on what the Seminary wants to do. They claim that the Seminary's change in psychological curriculum amounts to a debate between "science" and "faith". The paper claims that the seminary is taking itself out of the mainstream of American society with this change. Al Mohler's response is to say that what the seminary is trying to do is train up men for the pastorate, not secular psychological counselors. Coming from a Baptististic background into Reformed Protestantism, I can tell you that one group Mr. Mohler is involved with, The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, has had numerous articles published questioning and criticizing much of the therapeutic "treatments" involved in counseling these days. An honest look at Dr. Mohler's associations would have revealed his skepticism of contemporary counseling methods.
The Courier-Journal's editorial was lazy and mean spirited in nature. Heaven forbid that a seminary be for the training up of young men for the ministry of word and sacrament (or in the seminarian case ordinances). Linking the seminary's move on counseling with a bigoted incident at the Air Force Academy (some 1,000 miles away) merely demonstrates some of the depth of the paper's religiousitis. The seeds of the paper's continuing irrelevance was demonstrated in Dr. Mohler's response to the editorial when the good doctor posted links to four articles found in print. The paper should continue its slide in irrelevance if it cannot or will not correct its own bigotry, hatred and slander.
The Courier-Journal's editorial was lazy and mean spirited in nature. Heaven forbid that a seminary be for the training up of young men for the ministry of word and sacrament (or in the seminarian case ordinances). Linking the seminary's move on counseling with a bigoted incident at the Air Force Academy (some 1,000 miles away) merely demonstrates some of the depth of the paper's religiousitis. The seeds of the paper's continuing irrelevance was demonstrated in Dr. Mohler's response to the editorial when the good doctor posted links to four articles found in print. The paper should continue its slide in irrelevance if it cannot or will not correct its own bigotry, hatred and slander.
