Politics
The New Jib-Jab
What’s amazing is how this crosses party lines. Starry-eyed fanboys and girls will look at this and say, “Right on!,” while the other side of the aisle will recognize this as a parody of a leader who will never live up to the Messianic expectation responsible for getting him elected.
At any rate, the Jib-Jab folks just served up an ace.
Mini Homiletics Workship
From Daniel Hannan, MEP:
The political message is fantastic, but that’s not makes this such an effective speech. Everything is perfect here in regard to public speaking: the eye contact, the body language, the use of gestures, the casual reference to his notes…
…and lastly, the thing that nobody pays much attention to: pacing and inflection.
This annoys me to no end in most homilies. The notion that you have to speak slowly because of echo or any other spatial factor is nonsense in most places. All you’ll end up doing is lulling your audience to sleep, because your words lack the energy to keep people involved.
The best strategy for keeping folks involved? Vary your pace. Speed up to emphasize points, and vary your tone. This has 36,000 views in a day not only because of its solid message, but also because you believe Hannan believes.
Atlas Shrugged
Interesting. Rep. John Campbell of California:
“People are starting to feel like we’re living through the scenario that happened in ‘Atlas Shrugged,’” said Campbell. “The achievers, the people who create all the things that benefit rest of us, are going on strike. I’m seeing, at a small level, a kind of protest from the people who create jobs, the people who create wealth, who are pulling back from their ambitions because they see how they’ll be punished for them.”
This, on top of the fact that sales of Atlas Shrugged “have almost tripled over the first seven weeks of this year compared with sales for the same period in 2008.”
I actually received a few nastygrams for a brief post I made on Objectivism (the post, I believe, has gone down the memory hole). Needless to say, I’m not as keen on it as I was at 15 or 16, before I developed an interest in political philosophy.
But the basic premises of Objectivism deserve attention, especially as it concerns the success of the individual. As individual economic freedoms seem more and more at risk in recent days – and as the Tea Party movement responds – it makes sense that folks out there are turning to a more liberating system of thought.
At least, more liberating than what we’re seeing in the current political climate.
(H/T: Instapundit)
What a Difference (the lack of) a Definite Article Makes
One of my professors (who also happens to be my spiritual director) has a post at the FIRST THINGS blog today, entitled “Liberal Creep.”
No, no one in particular, though I’m greatly amused by the title.
Parody of the “I Pledge” Tragedy
In reference to this video, where celebrities come out of an eight year lull and discover that it’s ok to care again (H/T: Deacon Greg):
Above My Paygrade? Apparently Not.
Remember when Obama declared that the question of when babies receive rights was “above [his] paygrade?” I actually laughed when I saw that response: Obama’s actions in Illinois have long affirmed his opionion on the subject.
He acted upon his true convictions today. How else can one explain it? When I know nothing, when I am undecided, when I have no clue what’s going on, I recuse myself and do not act. But when I have a formed opinion, when I know what’s going on, I act. Just like President Obama did today.
Regardless of how one views abortion, it’s tough not to admit that this decision signifies Barrack Obama as a business-as-usual politician – like they all are – instead of some Messiah who will unify the kingdom through His glory.
The Inauguration
David Delaney of the Institue of Catholic Thought at the Newman Center on the campus of the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign mirrors my thoughts on today’s inauguration.