Entries from November 2007 ↓

The Washington Post weighs in on Ron Paul:

When a fierce Republican foe of the wars on drugs and terrorism is able, without really trying, to pull in a record haul of campaign cash on a day dedicated to an attempted regicide, it’s clear that a new and potentially transformative force is growing in American politics.

That force is less about Paul than about the movement that has erupted around him — and the much larger subset of Americans who are increasingly disillusioned with the two major political parties’ soft consensus on making government ever more intrusive at all levels, whether it’s listening to phone calls without a warrant, imposing fines of half a million dollars for broadcast “obscenities” or jailing grandmothers for buying prescribed marijuana from legal dispensaries.

I am paying attention to how the guy is doing, and my wife and I have donated money. We’ll give some more before this election cycle is over.

Meanwhile, I try to keep a good sense of humor when I hear the Fox News bimbette of the day mocking my choice. After all, I am just as merciless in mocking all the “mainstream” candidates. And my guy has more money in the bank. You might have noticed his campaign commercials lately on Fox or one of the other talking head channels.

Why does he appeal? Ron Paul is the only guy who is promising less nannying, not more. Some of us want to feel as if we still make the important choices in life. Some of us want to be free of the banality of bureaucrats, or at least to be pestered less often and less harshly by the do-gooders who want to make us safe, dumb, fat and happy from cradle to crave all at someone else’s expense.

I have absolutely nothing against praying. Now that I’ve stated that for the record I also need to say that Sonny Purdue publicly praying for rain in Georgia one day before forecast thunderstorms are due to pass through the area is a little bit dubious, in my opinion.

The way I see it, the old saying “God helps those who help themselves” is about the best advice a person can be given in regards to praying as a means of problem solving. It doesn’t hurt, but I don’t think it really helps either - at least not from a practical standpoint. God doesn’t actively interfere in human affairs, at least not in any way any of us could possibly comprehend. From my vantage point, God may be watching, but that’s about it.

I’ll admit to praying myself. I did it a few times in Iraq as rockets were flying over my head. However, I’m rational enough to know that it wasn’t my prayer that kept the rocket from landing on me. And those rockets always did land. Sometimes they killed people. Assuming my prayers had the power to guide the rockets away from my own body how should I feel knowing they just shattered someone else’s existence and then snuffed it out?

I think Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue and his myrmidons should pray if they want too. Might even make them feel better to do so. However, when it comes to the public arena, I believe their efforts in front of the cameras and microphones are better spent discussing how Georgians can help themselves do a better job of water resource management and the sharing of those resources with neighbors. God isn’t going to get involved and save Georgia from its own bad decision making anymore than God got involved to save the millions who died from the Black Plague in the Middle Ages. A healthy dose of feel-good platitudes to the invisible and untouchable Creator is all fine and dandy, but I need to hear what the plan is. Praying is not a plan. Water resource management using the scientific method and proven project management principles are a plan.