Category: Politics

Over at Doug Wilson site he holds court on the voting for McCain in 2008 issue. If you want to see his latest argument supporting a vote for McCain in this election cycle you can go to Mablog and read his “Epistemological Pileup” entry.

What follows is how I respond to Wilson’s argument that voting for McCain / Palin may be a Biblical option.

Doug,

All you’ve proven is that in Scripture there are times, when confusion reigns, that exceptions occur. You have not proven

1.) That Deborah is prescription as opposed to description.

2.) That Sarah Palin is a prophetess the way that Deborah was a prophetess and so worthy of a Christian’s vote to judge in the civil realm in this exception time.

3.) That this is an exception time where Christians can disregard God’s normativity for social order.

4.) Also, I think we need to ask the question that if a woman can be the countries Commander in chief then how could we argue that women can’t be soldiers under the chief commander? Sarah Palin as a potential commander in chief paves the way for any feminist argument supporting women in the military. If Christians say a woman is qualified to command the troops its hard to see how we could argue that a woman isn’t qualified to be a troop.

5.) Finally, McCain’s speech last night made it clear he intends to be bipartisan. Now, given this reality, one can only believe that any voter trust of the Republican party would be a case of willful blindness that is suppressing the truth.

In short Doug, you’ve not made the case that it is Biblical to vote for wicked men — even if they lure us with putatively conservative women.

ABC opened McCain’s speech by focusing their camera on one lone protester with a sign protesting McCain’s voting on veterans in the convention hall.

McCain opened his speech complimenting those who ran against him on the Republican campaign primary trail. He then moved on to focusing on and thanking his family. He then moved on to compliment Barack Obama on his campaign but then immediately insisting that he intended to win this election.

McCain was then interrupted by a couple more stray female protesters passing their diversion off with a handsome off the cuff line. Clearly there was a concerted effort by some organization to disturb his speech.

McCain finally pushed on his speech to highlight Palin’s accomplishment. I’m not sure I ever remember a Presidential acceptance speech spending so much time speaking on their Vice Presidential running mate. McCain knows he has a winner in Palin. By focusing on Palin’s reform record he promised Washington fat cats that change was coming. He repeated the idea of change coming more than once, recalling his Maverick nick, thus seeking to steal the thunder from the Obama campaign. McCain continues to offer American’s a different kind of change from that which is offered by Obama. Again, I believe this really cripples Obama’s campaign. Will this be a campaign where the argument is going to be over who’s change is the preferable change?

McCain then tried to sell himself as a lone fighter against special interests groups of varied natures. All I could think of was the Keating five and his work fronting a George Soros organization.

McCain then recited how he fights for Americans. It was interesting that the three families that he mentioned by name all live in battleground states.

McCain then launched into a litany of how both parties in Washington have been corrupted and so have let America down. It was a bit difficult to take McCain seriously at this point. I mean after all, this is the guy who let America down with McCain – Feingold and who let America down in his pursuit of amnesty for illegal aliens. The Mr. pro stem-cell research made a reference to his party being the party that is committed to the culture of life.

Then McCain lied to us about how he will be a small government kind of guy and compared his administration to a possible Obama administration that would be pro big government.

McCain gave his version of compassionate conservatism by promising the governments assistance to help displaced workers in the global economy to find new jobs. He promised government aid to fill in the difference between the wages that people were making before their jobs were shipped overseas and the wages they are making while learning a new job. McCain promised government help in education. He implied that bad teachers need to find new work, (The NEA won’t like that) and he said that he wants to bring in market forces in education. (They’re not really market forces because all of the choices will still be government financed.) McCain promised to pursue energy independence by a implementing a several prong strategy that includes drilling now, building nuclear power plants, clean coal technology, natural energies, and electric automobiles.

McCain then turned to foreign policy issues. He spoke of the dangers of Al-Queda, Iran, and Russia, thus showing his neo-con Empire loving bonafides. If McCain is elected President there is going to be plenty of opportunities for American boys to bleed and die. McCain seemed to advocate being prepared for perpetual war in the interest of perpetual peace. This attitude, historically speaking, as been long on the perpetual war part and short on perpetual peace aspect.

McCain, promised, as Bush promised eight years ago to be bi-partisan. Historically, for McCain that means that he constantly moves to the Democratic side of the aisle. McCain made an implied promise to include Democrats and Independents in a McCain administration, and he promised that who gets the credit for governmental success in a McCain administration is something that he will be willing to distribute all the way around.

McCain ended by telling his POW story, which remains a compelling story. I’d like to believe that McCain is giving me straight talk in this story. His pirouette was to challenge Americans who are disgruntled with America to find a way to serve it and make it better, fighting in every way possible to advance the good of the nation.

The speech really was programmatic in the beginning and wasn’t that good until the end. John McCain isn’t a public speaker. McCain’s ending to the speech however, from the point of telling his POW story onward, was really quite good. McCain’s passion and earnestness came through in this portion of the speech.

The speech was strange because McCain chastised his party for being corrupted by Washington and so failing the America public. A nominee chastising his own party probably hasn’t happened since 1940 when Wendell Wilkie chastised the Republican party upon his nomination. The speech was also strange because McCain clearly communicated his intent to be bipartisan.

This election is the perfect storm.

Two massive ideological fronts in American history are colliding.

The cold front of Obama’s Marxism vs. The hot weather pattern of Palin’s Pentecostal Dispensationalism.

If a person can’t find twisted entertainment in this there is something seriously wrong with them. Indeed, I would contend that this may be the best programming that TV has seen in decades.

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If Sarah Palin really is a Christian then shouldn’t II Cor. 6 apply to her decision to run for VP? II Cor. 6 teaches that Christians are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Is Sarah disobeying Christ’s Word by yoking herself with McCain.

Stretching out this point a bit I can’t understand how a Christian voting for pagan candidates likewise isn’t an un-biblical yoke.
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Wouldn’t you just love to know what Levi Johnston (Father of Bristol Palin’s child) is thinking about all of this. Talk about suddenly getting caught up in the middle of a perfect crap storm. One day you’re playing hockey during the day and getting satisfaction from your girlfriend at night, the next day you have the world’s camera’s zeroed in on you.
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The media continues to try and destroy Palin. ABC last night, following Palin’s speech, focused on scandal’s (Trooper-gate) brewing in Alaska surrounding her work as the Alaska governor.

This morning it is being reported by National Enquirer (the magazine that broke the John Edwards love child) that Palin had an affair during her marriage with her husband’s business partner.

As I’ve said, the media realizes the stakes of all this and is dedicated to destroying Palin.

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Palin is a spear at the heart of Biblical social order. Feminism was easy for Christians to oppose when it produced ugly, angry, bitter and ideologically anti-Christ women like Pelosi, Clinton, Milkuski, et. al. Now, however feminism has coughed up a feminist who is easy on the eyes, humorous, whimsical, and pentecostal Christian. This is the kind of feminism that will overturn the vision of Biblical social order.

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Palin was introduced to the Jew think tank yesterday. (I wonder when she meets with the Peruvian think tank?) It seems that Jews instinctively get nervous with putatively conservative candidates on presidential tickets. The members of the Jew think tank were calmed by being told that Palin had a small Israeli flag hanging in her office.

Now, this is a bit of conjecture, but when you combine Palin’s pentecostal dispensational background with the reality that she has a Israeli flag hanging in her office, combined with some comments out there by her regarding fighting in the middle east and one has to wonder how that dispensational theology is affecting her thinking.

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Some have wondered if Palin is a neo-con — a kind of female version of Mike Huckabee. I think it is to early to speak on that. I didn’t like Huckabee because of his anti-homeschooling work as well as his slick character. Palin is reputed to be a Pat Buchanan fan. No neo-con would get anywhere near Buchanan.

In a hurricane that seemingly blew in from nowhere hurricane Sarah wreaked havoc in St. Paul Minnesota last night. In what can be only considered a strange weather phenomenon the fatalities and damage wrought by hurricane Sarah was confined to Democrats throughout the nation.

Democrats, hearing about the coming of Hurricane Sarah with only a few days notice, did all they could to lessen the effects of Sarah. They tried to salt the storm to break up the eye. They tried to reroute hurricane Sarah by seeking to divert her path by concentrating slanderous airwaves at Sarah in order to break up her intensity but Sarah ignored all such efforts and blew in hell on Democrat Strongholds.

The destructive path of Hurricane Sarah was almost playful and humorous as many Democrats were left standing unclothed from the effects of Sarah. The winds of Sarah, clocked at over 150 miles an hour had stripped defiant Democrats while standing in the public square and left them embarrassed and stammering.

Interviewed meteorologists around the country were left stunned. To a man meteorologists said they have never seen such a storm this far inland with such destructive and whimsical force. When asked what hurricane Sarah will look like as she continues to cover the country, meteorologist were at a loss to prognosticate never having seen any hurricane like this before. Some believed that Sarah’s winds could sweep Republicans into the White House. Others believed that she could fizzle once she runs into continued concentrated efforts to break her up.

Rudolph Giuliani gave the Republican conventioneers red meat as he used his keynote to hammer Democratic Standard Bearer Obama.

First, Giuliani mocked Obama for having “community organizer” on his resume. Next, the former Mayor of New York noted that 130 times as Illinois state legislature Obama voted present. Neither yes or no. Such a decision to voter other than present was to tough for Obama noted Giuliani with tongue firmly in cheek. Giuliani pressed the point of Obama’s inexperience quoting Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden approvingly on this point.

Giuliani also subtly emphasized what looks to be the theme of the McCain campaign by emphasizing that McCain is about good change while Obama is about bad change adding, in a jab at Obama, that hope is not a strategy. This Republican change is being offered in contrast to the Democratic campaign attempt to tie George W. Bush around the neck of John McCain.

Giuliani noted McCain’s neo-con credentials by saying that McCain would press the war against terrorist. Giuliani sought to hang around the neck of the Democrats their perpetual weakness on war issues by noting the reluctance of Democrats to talk about “Islamic terrorists” during their convention. Giuliani banged Obama and the Democrats on Iraq and their willingness to turn tail and run. This strategy is boilerplate Republican campaign rhetoric.

Giuliani also emphasized Obama’s flip flops on several issues as well as his tendencies to make moral equivalencies between US actions and the actions of rogue nations.

Giuliani also subtly tagged Obama with the charges of elitism by mocking him for denigrating Palin for being a mayor of a small city. Giuliani suggested that Obama faulted Palin’s mayoral service because her small city wasn’t cosmopolitan enough.

Enter Palin.

Palin, in studied contrast to Hillary Clinton showed up for her speech in a skirt adorned with very feminine pearls, striking earrings and lady like high heels. It is obvious that they want her appearance to stand in contrast to the angular feminism that one finds among Democrat women. Whereas Hillary went for a gaudy orange pantsuit, Sarah Palin went for a muted two toned jacket skirt outfit.

Within her first paragraph it was abundantly clear that Palin can speak. Her comfort was immediately evident before the camera and the convention. The earnestness, passion, and even folksiness, in her speaking was convincing. Palin came across in her demeanor and speaking as absolutely genuine. There were even times when she flirted with the camera and with the Republican delegates.

As she introduced her family you couldn’t but help and tear up as Willow waved to the cameras and as First Dude Todd Palin waved baby Trig’s hand to the camera upon Trig’s introduction as a beautiful baby boy. The Democrats have to hate this obviously pro family slant.

Palin compared herself to Harry Truman as someone who grew up in small town America. She praised small town America virtues and implied that she is the recipient of those small town virtues. She traced her track from PTA to Governor.

Palin absolutely slammed Obama by saying that being a mayor is kind of like being a community organizer except that you have actual responsibilities. She slammed him over his comments about bitter people clinging to their guns and bible and jabbed him for his hypocrisy for speaking one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco in reference to Obama’s bitter comments. Later in the speech she slammed Obama again as a man who has written two major memoirs but who has never sponsored a piece of major legislation. In reference to Iraq Palin suggested that the only time that Obama is concerned about victory is in regard to his presidential campaign. Palin revealed in her speech that she will be more than capable in taking on the traditional attack dog role of the Vice President while campaigning. Palin’s attacks on Obama were wry and humor streaked but they were devastating. It will be interesting to see how Obama Biden respond to this female pit bull. Will they decide they have to hit the girl?

Palin even took on the media telling them that she isn’t going to Washington to gain their good opinion but rather she is going to Washington to serve this country. She made this comment after noting that the some of the media seems not to like her because she is not a Washington insider. I pray for Palin. Putting a thumb in the major media’s eye is a dangerous proposition especially when they desire your scalp to begin with. The major media has a long memory. Just ask Richard Nixon.

Palin painted herself as a reformer who fights against the good old boy system and spoke about her success as a conservative Governor in Alaska. Palin showed her familiarity on energy issues, extending that expertise to how that subject effects foreign relations. This display of expertise on this subject was clearly a way to indicate that Palin is more then a pretty face with a nice set of legs but is a policy wonk when necessary.

Palin went on to recite the faults of Obama. This portion of the speech was obviously written in order to contrast Palin’s knowledge and experience with Obama’s lack of knowledge and experience. Palin noted Obama’s big government tendencies and his support to tax everything that doesn’t move. Palin spoke to America’s heartland by asking how families are going to get by if all Obama’s tax plans pass.

Palin ended by puffing McCain, which again, is one of the traditional roles of a Vice Presidential nominee.

I know it is early but I would have to say at this point Sarah Palin, given her policy trail, her public convictions and her ability to speak is probably the best thing to happen to the Republican party since Ronald Reagan. People consistently underestimate the ability to speak and to communicate in general. Palin revealed an ability to be bulldog tough without coming across as being bitter or angry, which is stands in stark contrast to Democrat women like Hillary Clinton, Barbara Milkuski, Nancy Pelosi, or Patti Murray. This woman can flat out communicate. Now the only question is whether or not Palin can avoid being corrupted.

Personally, I think that the Democrats are not going to know how to handle Palin and I believe that this speech does nothing but rally the Republican base. Nothing I’ve said convinces me though that Christians should be voting for female magistrates.

Keep in mind though… the left has to destroy Palin. The Palin story isn’t over yet.