Scanning the ‘sphere

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 5:58 pm by Elizabeth Scalia

Scanning the ‘sphere 2017-03-17T17:58:24+00:00 Elizabeth Scalia

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Glenn Reynolds has a wonderful economy of words and he rarely sounds less than curious and ebullient (and we love that in him) but twice today he’s sounded just a wee bit tired of the double-standards that come from politicians, academic institutions, etc., and I rather like reading him this way, too!

Here he is on Congress:

I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THEM BITCHING ABOUT “EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE,” EITHER:

All 13 members of Congress subpoenaed in the Duke Cunningham investigation have refused to turn over documents and testimony, citing congressional privilege. This was under advice from the House general counsel.

Keep in mind, this is the same Congress that, when questioned by Major League Baseball over its constitutional authority to investigate the steroid scandal, replied that its jurisdiction extended to “any time” and “on any matter.”

So while they seem to think their subpoena power is universal, don’t expect them to be held accountable themselves.

Pretty brave talk from an institution whose approval ratings are where they are.

Yeah…Congress is funny that way. And about the academy, he posts Michael Barone’s excellent point that Columbia will not welcome ROTC to the campus because they’re being sensitive to gays…but they don’t mind welcoming a man who hangs gays for, well, being gay. Michael Barone emails:

Just a random thought on Ahmedinejad speaking at Columbia.

Columbia doesn’t host ROTC or (I think) military recruiters on campus, because it would be just too offensive to do so, because the military obeys the law passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by Bill Clinton which bars open homosexuals from serving in the military. OK.

But Columbia does host Ahmedinejad who heads a government which executes homosexuals for the crime of being homosexuals.

So it’s obnoxious beyond belief to exclude homosexuals from military service, but it’s not obnoxious beyond belief to hang them from the neck until dead.
[…]
Why does Lee Bollinger think a man who heads a regime that executes homosexuals–not just excludes them from military service, but hangs them by the neck until dead, in public ceremony– should be honored with an invitation to speak at Columbia?

To which Glenn replies with a touch of sage and snark:

Because Ahmadinejad doesn’t like Bush, and that covers all sins?

He’s quite right, of course. All I know is, I read about Ahmadinejad coming to NYC (and wishing to lay a wreath at 9/11) and thought, “once upon a time Rudy Giuliani would not allow Yasir Arafat into Lincoln Center. I think he’d enormously enjoy saying “no”…and a whole lot more, to Ahmadinejad.”

This lady sums it up well. She misses the tough Mayor.

More info on Norman Hsu here and here and here, and other shady or questionable Clinton fund-raiser “bundlers” here and here. Doesn’t the press seem very incurious about this whole story? AND about Sandy Berger being back on Hillary’s team? As little coverage as possible. The press obligingly changes the headlines to blare a very lame joke by Hillary (some fun with that here), and the even more pathetic (and potentially back-firing) bite one of her lapdogs tried to take out of Rudy. Yeah, that’s smart – after you’ve spent the last 15 years saying, “our personal life is our personal life; there should be a zone of privacy” and (quite reasonably) “hands off Chelsea”, you get one of your minions to go after Rudy’s personal life, marriage and relationship with his kids. THAT’S going to scare those social conservatives away! And no one will notice the hypocrisy! (Well, okay, most of the press wont…)

And the press isn’t making much of the fact that Mrs. Clinton – who many on both the right and the left said missed a real moment last week – voted against the Congressional condemnation of the Moveon.org ad smearing Gen. David Petraeus. Captain Ed notes:

It’s a particularly sad commentary on the Democratic Party that they cannot bring themselves to support the very commander they sent to lead American troops in battle by a unanimous vote. It’s not a case of a few fringe politicians like Bernie Sanders or Barbara Boxer, either. The Majority Leader, Harry Reid, and his chief deputy, Dick Durbin, refused to condemn the smear on Petraeus’ honor. Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd, both of whom want to become Commander in Chief over the military, chose to endorse MoveOn’s smear campaign against a man who has dedicated his life to defending this nation and serving presidents in a nonpartisan manner.

Uh-huh. She wants the moveon money…but she somehow wants the public and the military to believe that she’ll be a trustworthy and honorable Commander-in-Chief. Egad. She’s not really inspiring. She’s not really impressive. And yet she is the “it” girl for the press and they’ll do anything for her. I just don’t get it. Is it because they love Bill so much? I GOT his appeal. I do not get hers.

Meanwhile, even Wesley Clark says Moveon made a mistake with that ad and he says Petraeus told the truth.

Podcasts you might want to listen to: Siggy, Fausta and Dymphna apparently go into a slugfest. Meanwhile if you have not checked out Julie (Happy Catholic) Davis’s “Forgotten Classics”, you’re missing a treat. I can’t listen on the computer because before he left Buster did not set me up on itunes and his brother took the speakers on the other computer – but I’ve heard her by other means, and she is wonderful reading these great old books – a very lively character actress – although I don’t know where she finds the time! She is in the latter stages of Georgette Heyer’s The Black Moth, (which I will now have to re-read) and I have it on excellent authority that she will soon be starting Rumer Godden’s China Court! That should be a great one.

My dream: She and I do a tag-team on a Jeeves and Wooster novel, with Julie doing all the big parts and me showing up for the little ones! I’ve always, always wanted to give voice to Aunt Dahlia and Anatole, the temperamental French Chef. And Madeline (“I call her a ghastly girl because she is a ghastly girl!”) Bassett – I’ve always wanted to do that soupy, droopy baby voice! Perhaps someday!

Oh death, where is thy victory?. A moving story.

And because it’s lovely and sad – a gorgeous Mother of Sorrow

America

Serving up hot links

Previous Post

September 20, 2007

Take a civics test - give it to your kid!

Next Post

September 21, 2007 Flourishing of Novices Part II

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Remaking" Ourselves 'Remaking' America 9/10 Mindset 9/11 trials Abortion ACORN Adoration Advent Advent 2008 Advent 2009 Advent 2010 Alternative Energy Alternative Media America American Catholic Church American Church American Genius Ameridolatry ANCHORESS BOOKSHELF Anglican-Roman Reconciliation Answers & Questions Anti_Semitism Archbishop Hilarion Ayn Rand Bad Mass Barack Obama Baseball Benedict Benedict & Islam Benedict in UK Benedict XVI Benedictine Bill Whittle Birth Control Blogs and Blogging Blogs and Blogging Bloodless Coup Bobby Jindal Bookchat Breitbart Bride at every wedding... Bride at every wedding... Buckley Bullies Bush Bad? Bush Good Buster Capitalism Catholic Fiction Catholic Vocations Catholicism Celibacy Chaput Charitable Stuff Chesterton Chile Chris Christie Christians in Exile Christine O' Donnell Christmas Christmas Gift Ideas Church Hates Science? Church hates women Communion of Saints Compline Conclave 2013 Confession Constitutional Stuff Conversion Crisis & Opportunity Critical Thinking Crooks and Liars Crucible of Faith Cuba Culture of Life Culture of Life/Death Culture of Treason? Dancing Death Dialogue re Islam Dick Meyer Divorce and Remarriage DOJ Domestic Terrorism Dominican Order Don't try me too high Dowd Dumb Democrat moves Dumb GOP moves Economic woe Education Egregious Harry Reid Elder Son Elder Son's Sweet Girlfriend Elderly Election '10 Election '12 Election '16 Election 2004 Election 2006 Election 2008 Election 2010 Election 2016 Elena Kagan Elitism Embryonic Stem Cell Research End Times? English language Enhanced Interrogation Erosion of Rights Eucharist Euthanasia Exorcism Extraordinary Synod Facebook Faith Faith and Reason Faith Friday Faith Perspective Faithful Friday Fascism Again Fascism in America Fatima FCC Feminism Film First Things Forgiveness Fr. James Martin Francis and Islam Francis in America Frassati Fred Thompson Free Speech? Freedom of Worship FutureChurch Global Pandemic GOP Congress Haiti Head Covering Health Care Here and Queer Hermits Heroes Hitchens Holy Spirit Holy Week '09 Holy Week '10 Hoo-Hah & BS Hoo-Hah & BS Icons Illegal Immigration In The Arena Interviews Interwebz Iran Uprising Iraqi Christians ISIL ISIS Islamic State Islamification/Islamofascism Islamification/Islamofascism Isra-El It's all about me! Me! ME! James Burke Jerry Lewis Jesus Christ Joblessness John Boehner John McCain John Paul II John XXIII Juan Williams Just Words Katrina/Rita King is a Fink Latin Mass Leadership Lectio Divina Lent Lent '08 Lent '09 Lent 2010 Lent 2011 Limbaugh Listen to Lizzie Litigious Society Liturgy Liturgy of the Hours Mainstream Media Manliness Marriage Mary Media Excess Medical Merton Michelle Obama Mighty John O' Connor Misc. Miss Ella Missionaries Mitt Romney Monasticism My brother S My Irish Aunties Mystic Monks Nanny Statism Nature NEA Neri New Media Newman Noonan Notre Dame NPR Stuff Nun News Obama Bad? Obama Good? Obama White House Oil Spill Online Retreat '08 Online Retreat Days Oratory Orthodoxy Our Hillary! Parenting Passionists Patheos Patheos Book Club Patrons Paul Ryan Penance Penn Jillette Philosophy PJTV Podcasts Poetry Politics-free zone Pop Culture Pope Emeritus Pope Francis Prayer Predictions Priesthood Pro-Life Public Sector Unions Purgatory Questions about Catholicism Quotes of the Day Quoting the News Race in America rants Recipes Remarried Catholics Reposts by request Retreat thoughts Rome Rudy Giuliani Russia Saints Sarah Palin Scandal Scott Brown SCOTUS Scriptural stuff Secularism Send in the clowns Serving up hot links Sexuality Sherrod Shroud of Turin Sisters and Nuns Social Entrepreneurship Social Media Social Security Socialism doesn't work Sports and Faith Stem Cells Strange Gods Suffering Synod Tea Parties Tea Party Terri Schiavo The 9/11 Commission The Catholic Answer The Constitution The Desert The Fourth Estate The Pelosi The Perpetual Adolescents The Rosary Third Party? Timothy Dolan Touch of evil TSA Tsunami TV/Pop Culture/Music TV/Pop Culture/Music Twitter Uncategorized Unemployment Unintended Consequences US Military Vaginal Musings Vatican Vespers video faves Vile Joe Biden Voter Fraud War by Litigation War on Terror War, What it good for? Why can't weeee be ... World Youth Days Year of Faith Year of the Priest

Select a Month August 2016 July 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many Gospels are in the New Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

6 5 4 3