The Questions Journalists Dare Not Utter
Letterman uttered. McClatchy:
...there were two much better, more revealing moments in the interview. The first came when Letterman was pressing McCain about his efforts to tie Barack Obama to Bill Ayers, the Chicago professor who founded the Vietnam-era Weather Underground group whose protests included bombings of government buildings. Letterman pressed home the obvious point that Obama was 8 years old when Ayers was engaged in anti-war activities.
Then Letterman noted that we all have associations in our lives that we can't really control, and the viewers thought, Well, here's where Letterman brings up the Keating 5. But Letterman had a better McCain association to recall:
Weren't you once at a fundraiser at G. Gordon Liddy's house? Letterman asked.
If McCain could have gone any paler, he would have. He stammered. Then, mercifully for McCain, a tragedy for television viewers, Letterman cut to a commercial.
Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- A special counsel is focusing on whether Vice President Dick Cheney played a role in leaking a covert CIA agent's name, according to people familiar with the probe that already threatens top White House aides Karl Rove and Lewis Libby.
In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend -- but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.The article concludes thus:
The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''
Can the unfinished American experiment in self-governance -- sputtering on the watery fuel of illusion and assertion -- deal with something as nuanced as the subtleties of one man's faith? What, after all, is the nature of the particular conversation the president feels he has with God -- a colloquy upon which the world now precariously turns?This was weeks before the 2004 election when serious corruption in Ohio led to Bush inhabiting the Oval Office for four more years.
That very issue is what Jim Wallis wishes he could sit and talk about with George W. Bush. That's impossible now, he says. He is no longer invited to the White House.
''Faith can cut in so many ways,'' he said. ''If you're penitent and not triumphal, it can move us to repentance and accountability and help us reach for something higher than ourselves. That can be a powerful thing, a thing that moves us beyond politics as usual, like Martin Luther King did. But when it's designed to certify our righteousness -- that can be a dangerous thing. Then it pushes self-criticism aside. There's no reflection.
''Where people often get lost is on this very point,'' he said after a moment of thought. ''Real faith, you see, leads us to deeper reflection and not -- not ever -- to the thing we as humans so very much want.''
And what is that?
''Easy certainty.''
Good Morning Everyone,Prayers for Mimi and her upcoming cataract surgery, that it will all go well and that she will have peace of mind through it all.
Myron spent the last evening in the ER at Christiana because of abdominal and back pain. An ultrasound was performed and a significant amount of sludge was seen in the gall bladder. The doctors decided to wait for several hours then repeat the ultrasound and it was determined he would in fact need to have the gall bladder removed. At this point the gall bladder is too inflamed to remove so they will wait a couple of days until it calms down a bit before surgery. An endoscopy will be done at the time of surgery to make sure there are no stones in any of the ducts.
Thank you all for your continued good thoughts and prayers.
Sue
Strengthen your servant Myron, O God, to do what he has to do and bear what he has to bear; that, accepting your healing gifts through the skill of surgeons and nurses, he may be restored to usefulness in your world with a thankful heart; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
When my mother had her surgery, I watched the procedure live on TV from a camera fitted with a microscopic lens. At the time, I thought that Dr. B. must be quite sure of his skills to permit a family member to observe, and I was impressed with his dexterity and speed in the operation. Just last year, in "New Orleans Magazine", Dr. B. was rated the best ophthalmologist in the neighborhood by his peers in the profession. He was a pioneer in our area with the small-cut cataract procedure, and I should have chosen him from the beginning. I believe that the mix-up at Ochsner turned out to be a blessing in disguise.For Roseann and Gary, ongoing prayers. I have not seen an update on this surgery.
After lunch, GP and I headed over to the office (me driving), and, to make a long story short, my surgeries are scheduled for Nov. 9 and Nov. 23 by a doctor I know and in whom I have great confidence.
The bit of bad news is that I have early-stage dry macular degeneration in both eyes. For now, the treatment is a vitamin supplement, which I already take, and which obviously didn't prevent the condition from developing in the first place.
On Monday the 12th, I will have vein graft surgery. This is being done for dialysis purposes. I don't want to do it, there is significant risk of bleeding and clotting, but my doc is insisting. With the catheter I have now the risk of infection is great. It is not a matter of IF and infection but WHEN. So what's a girl to do.For Eileen's cousin Mary Beth:
Mary Beth made it through her surgery well, but she is in ICU, and her brain is still quite swollen. It will be several days before any damage to her brain can be assessed – the aneurysm was apparently deep and her surgery was quite invasive, so there are concerns about her vision and possible cognitive functions. Her doctors report she is young and strong though, and so they have hope she will make a full recovery.For Mother Sandra as she continues to heal and recuperate:
Many thanks to those of you who have been praying for her.
Mother Sandra is still at Kindred Hospital and continues to slowly progress in her healing. This will be a lengthy process of unknown duration and it is expected that she will continue to be at Kindred for awhile. Where she will go after Kindred will be dependent upon her healing and strength at that time.For Bishop Marc who has run into a major complication after surgery for prostate cancer:
Saturday evening, continued difficulty breathing and slightly elevated temperature. Sheila and I decided to go to the emergency room. During a 15-hour stay in the emergency department at UCSF it was determined that a blood clot had broken away from veins in my lower left calf and made its way into my lungs – I had an extensive pulmonary embolism, with one large clot in the pulmonary artery, and smaller ones branching out through the lungs. I was eventually admitted to the hospital, after being put on blood thinners, and was discharged on Sunday evening.For the diocesan conventions of California and Rio Grande (and any others) this weekend. May the Holy Spirit guide and renew.
This surprising event means that my recovery has been extended a bit, but I’m still in fact recovering. I’m back under the careful, tremendously competent eye of my primary care physician who mercifully shows me no mercy, and have the best help possible in Sheila.
As promised, I want to let you know about Marsha's surgery today. I just spoke with her: she is back home, the surgery went well, she ate half a sandwich, Max is being an excellent nurse, and she has no pain. Alleluia!For Joe struggling with many challenges.
Still moving/settling in, and dealing with mounting health complications for both of us.
Stay tuned, and humor us with prayers if they come naturally. Seems likely that we’re gonna need them.
"Elder Bush Decries Lack of Civility in Politics"Look, you spawned the little shithead that fucked over our country; take some responsibility, Poppy. I may be, and I am, a foulmouthed ranter who thinks your family is nothing better than an organized crime group, but I didn't foist Junior on this nation, OK? I'll sit in the balance with your "civility" any damn day.
And that said while not naming by name any right wing nut like Beck, Savage, Hannity, Levin, Limbaugh, Gallag...
...oh, forget it. They LIKED his ugly kid. Some things just explain themselves.
“It cannot be suggested that information as to how officials of the U.S. government admitted treating (Binyam Mohamed) during his interrogation is information that can in any democratic society governed by the rule of law be characterized as ’secret’ or as ‘intelligence’…”
In a stunning and refreshing decision, the British High Court has overruled the British government’s attempt to suppress torture evidence on the US and British treatment of Binyam Mohamed.
“In our view, as a court in the United Kingdom, a vital public interest requires, for reasons of democratic accountability and the rule of law in the United Kingdom, that a summary of the most important evidence relating to the involvement of the British security services in wrongdoing be placed in the public domain in the United Kingdom.”
Considering the delay in disclosure thus far in this matter, the current administration’s pointed directive on transparency in government, and the public’s renewed interest in the question of legal immunity for the telecommunications companies that participated in the warrantless wiretapping program while considering currently pending legislation repealing the amendments to FISA, the Court finds that the public interest lies in favor of disclosure. This Court has already found, when deciding the motion for preliminary injunction in this case, that “irreparable harm exists where Congress is considering legislation that would amend the FISA and the records may enable the public to participate meaningfully in the debate over such pending legislation.”
A federal judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a legal challenge to Proposition 8, concluding that the ongoing courtroom battle over California’s voter-approved ban on gay marriage must be resolved in a full-blown trial.On the judicial front I am, so far, rather disappointed in the Obama administration. News like this encourages me in the belief that the courts may speak up on behalf of the American People and justice when Congress and the White House posture and dally.
We remember Mimi who has an appointment today with an optometrist to start the process for having cataract surgery. May peace surround her and may things progress smoothly toward clearer vision.Recovery for the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus will take a little longer than originally hoped, and he will not be in attendance at the 160th Convention of the Diocese of California this Friday and Saturday. Bishop Marc will make his presentation to the convention by video. For more personal information about Bishop Mark’s health status, visit his blog: bishopmarc.com.For Joe.
Since the Holy Spirit is described in Corinthians as both the giver of diverse gifts and the source of unity, my "beatific vision" is one of ever-increasing complexity with ever-increasing interrelatedness. One one level, of course, that is simply the reality of what already exists in God, yet I believe it is not static but ever unfolding, growing, and dazzling in the divine imagination. No wonder we have to run to catch up, while we must also be still and just know awe.
Why was Bush able to ram his agenda through so easily? Because his agenda was the agenda of the Ruling Class.Think about all the pushback and who lies behind it.
Why can't Obama get his agenda through?
Because his agenda directly attacks the Ruling Class.
Either you’re going to enforce caucus discipline or you don’t have a party. You have instead a collection of self-interested narcissists, each one with the ability to derail any legislation they don’t like. Every Senator who derives their political power from membership in the caucus is thereby granted the power to torpedo any piece of legislation from coming to a vote, with no consequences. It’s an outrage.
dearest Giants of Prayer & Practice
Just in from a long walk with Willie the blessing daschund, and the phone was ringing
Frank, my very dear cousin, fighting lukemia with genetic therapy with an imprefect genetic match had called Mam when he couldn't get me on the phone.
Late last week he and Carol were headed into Vancouver for one of his twice-weekly days of outpatient treatment at the hospital, when all of a sudden Frank felt an incredibly sharp pain and tearing deep inside his calf.
The pain persisted all the way to the hospital where he was admitted as an emergency.
Turns out two pieces of cartelarge had become so brittle from all of the differant treatments Frank's been undergoing and twoe rogue pieces of cartelage were circulating in his body via the blood. Minor piercing of the lungs, some damage to the heart but thankfully no damage to either major veins into or out of the heart. The pain in his calf was indeed a tear of some seriousness which is being left to heal itself.
After the situation had been normalized, apparently the head of the whole cancer program came in to shake Frank's hand- to tell him how he couldn't understand, how with all Frank's been through, and now this, that he's still alive. To quote' you should have been dead, several times over.'
Carol said, with tears in his eyes, Frank told the doctor he was being kept alive by prayer alone- 'It's my cousin's gang of saints' (that's you guys)
Apparently the doctor at first misunderstood, thinking Frank and Carol might be Mormon, until Frank explained we're Anglican/Episcopalian/ RomanCatholic/Buddhist
Frank apparently waxed quite lyrical about the bunch of you, and by the time he'd finished the doctor was shaking his head, smiling with tears washing his own cheeks.
Litterally Frank's first call when he got home today, was to try and get me, and then to talk with Mam, to say thankyou, thank-you, thank-you to the Giants & to ask for your continued prayers.
To quote my beloved cousin, he's never felt so loved in his whole life, and that's saying a lot, as he had two wonderful parents (an only child) who adored the beautiful human being they'd been given.
I'd also ask for prayers for my sister Susan, who has spent the Thanksgiving week-end in hospital following a minor stroke with complications- tests still being run on the second day as they haven't quite got it all figured out.
...just possibly what the Holy Spirit is doing during these troubling times is calling us to finally live and act [as] a redeemed people instead of an imperial machine.
I did not have time or resources for a whole new sign but I did get our logo out there, and the word "Episcopal."
The church as they left it; the church as it looked this morning.
