Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

The Jewish nation was under the heel of a brutal occupation by Rome (and make no mistake about it, Rome’s era of dominance had one of the highest body counts of any long-time empire in history). In the midst of all that, this herald proclaimed that a poverty-stricken child from the hick outskirts of the empire would change the world. Not the child of a military leader, not one born into hereditary wealth, not a celebrity, but a despised Jew.

(Any similarities between 1st century Palestine and Alaska are strictly coincidental, aren’t they?)

So our nation stares into the abyss that a feckless political elite, a whoring media, and a complicit electorate have brought it to - in such times, we are forced to turn from the baubles and distractions and stuff that the powers of this world have anesthetized us with and confront the necessity to take a stand as to what values we will hold to when all the familiar structures threaten to crash down around us.

A time to confront what - or rather Whom - we will put our trust in. And that is the beginning point for us to take another look at the Christmas story - and the narrative that follows which leads to the Cross and to Resurrection beyond - and the promise of His coming again and a new heavens and new earth.

A time to reexamine what role we have to play in this drama.

Some of those who have been following the Propostion 8 drama may be puzzled as to why the California Supreme Court is reviewing the legitimacy of a Constitutional amendment or what grounds that may have to do so.

First, by taking this case now, the California Supreme Court avoids months or years of uncertainty as cases wend their way through the lower courts, since whatever they do, the matter is going to get appealed to the top anyway.

Also, since they created this mess, they need to clean it up (also known as the Pottery Barn rule).

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Update: Tues 12 Nov 2008

Josh Painter has posted the Sarah Palin portion of the Leno interview.

His opinion in a nutshell: Nothing to see here, move on She didn’t hurt my campaign - nothing out of the ordinary is going on with my campaign aides - I’m not going to ruffle any feathers that will disturb my comfortable position.

My verdict: he’s lost his honor

Correlaries: 1) he prefers Senatorial comity and the plaudits of his enemies over doing right by those who sacrificed for him; 2) he really is too old mentally to keep up with changing times (preferring to live in a past that is no more).

From today’s Wall Street Journal editorial:

Where’s John McCain’s honor when we need it?
We’ll find out tonight, when the Arizona Republican appears on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno. In the week since the election, Mr. McCain’s campaign team has leaked some nasty stuff about Sarah Palin. These leaks are personal, and they speak more to the character of Mr. McCain and the leakers than they do to Mrs. Palin. So it will be telling if Mr. McCain stands up for his partner and says how offended he has been by what some of his staffers have done to her.

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I spotted an allusion yesterday to a Ronald Reagan speech delivered in 1964 in support of Barry Goldwater. Unfortunately his message was not heeded that election, and one can trace a direct path from that time of choosing for the America to the time of choosing that voters face next Tuesday.

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Glenn Beck has composed this new National Anthem for an Obama presidency.

It’s all too easy to laugh and go on, not recognizing how close the historic evil that is being ridiculed here (Cult of Personality) is to resurrection, with the associated horrors that we have seen with past utopias that soon degenerate into tyranny.

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[UPDATE] This is NOT an appeal for RedStaters to send contributions, in case there is any confusion, which Jaded’s comment below seems to indicate might be the case.

Rather, this is an effort to mobilize RedStaters to call the candidate and demand that she spend the money she pledged to her supporters that she would spend. They’ve given time and put their reputations at stake; Marina needs to keep her promises to her supporters - and to not stab McCain in the back by making herself invisible to the voters.

Her number again is 215-817-6838. And if you wish more information, you can call my friend Robert at (215) 663-8200 [End update]

I live on the Left Coast, but I received this plea from a lifelong friend who has been vigorously involved in the Republican Congressional campaign of Marina Kats who is challenging incumbent-Democrat Allyson Schwartz in PA-13.

His name is Robert Sklaroff (215) 663-8200 and he has authorized me to transmit the following message:

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I have composed this article to try to articulate the danger to the future of our system of governance that we face should Obama win the Presidency along with an increased Democratic majority in Congress. My purpose is to motivate us more strongly as to the utter necessity to elect John McCain.

Or failing that, in the battle for our country’s soul and heritage that will ensue following an Obama victory, we need to understand the key elements of our opposition’s strategy - as we face the most serious threat since our nation’s founding to the preservation of our liberties in the face of the seduction of security, the tempation to passivity in the hope of being left-alone (for a while longer, at least), and the forces of intimidation coupled with threats of violence, imprisonment, and death to ourselves and/or our families.

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Among the various interest groups supporting the campaign of Barack Obama (and increased Democratic Party control of Congress, one group that has largely managed to stay under the radar has been the trade-unionist movement in large part being spearheaded by Andrew Stern and his rapidly growing union, SEIU.

In their most recent annual meeting, Mr. Stern emerged from the shadows and years of preparation to make his move towards transforming his union from representing the interests of its members in negotiating their terms of employment, the traditional domain of American unionism, into becoming a dominant political force within the Democratic party, and through their control of the branches of the U.S. - a dominant political force in U.S. politics. And Mr. Stern has made no secret of his desires to move beyond America’s borders to form alliances with labor movements in other countries to create an international trade-unionist movement

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John McCain has a critical need to take control of the Obama/Biden attempt to hijack the meaning of “end a war” - one that Joe Biden again raised at the debate (and which Sarah, alas, did not take down).

The myth is that the U.S. can simply decide to end a war by setting a 16-month deadline for removing troops.

What we need to tell the American people is that this is not how war works - you don’t just decide one day that you can simply turn-off a war like a television.

The age-old lesson of history is totally different…

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I’m on vacation and am borrowing a computer for this diary. I don’t know if the e-mail excerpted below got to McCain’s campaign, but listening to Susah Palin last night, especially her closing statement (I missed her opening), I did hear some of what I suggested, including her defense of American Exceptionaism and her mention of Obama leading to a sunset of American freedom.

On Tuesday, we need for John to clearly idenfy the conherent theme behind his policy, to convey his vision for America and how this differs from Obama. Metaphor is key.

What is needed now is to refine the following thoughts and get them to the McCain campaign.

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I know that Leon has just written a strong defense of Hank Paulson.

I highly respect Leon’s contributions here at RedState, but in this case, when I step back a bit and review the whole drama around this Mother of All Bailouts™, I see Mr. Paulson at several key steps taking actions that directly and selectively have harmed John McCain’s standing as a candidate, an outcome that Paulson could easily avoided or mitigated had he wished to.

And in the process, Mr. Paulson has exploited President Bush’s well-know leadership weakness of putting undue trust in his appointed advisors. Whether Senator Graham is a fall guy or willing facilitator also remains to be seen.

History will have to judge whether Paulson put personal aggrandizement above country.

In any case, Paulson deserves to be fired. And in a McCain administration, which demands accountability, he would have been by now.

Let me outline the key events.

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House Defeats Wall Street Bailout Bill

Watching donkeys and elephants trying to cohabitate would be high comedy indeed, if it weren’t that we’re at severe risk of getting crushed by the flailing limbs during their mating dance.

But thankfully we aren’t getting screwed, at least not today…

This diary was inspired by gamecock’s recent post Republicans purge Paulson-Pelosi bailout of most onerous Obamanations. What started as a comment mushroomed until it became clear that a diary was needed.

I would agree that the House Republicans with McCain’s bakcing got the best bill they could, given the other forces involved. Nonetheless, it’s not clear to us that on its merits that this is a bill that should be passed.

However, since we don’t live in a vacuum, we need to look at the political environment too - and here we get contradictory readings.

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It’s urgently time to remember what it was that swept America off their feet when they first met Sarah.

And what above everything was that great attraction: it is Sarah’s infectious JOY that just gushes out of her everywhere she goes.

This is what distinguishes here from almost every other politician today, and what so deeply touched the heart of America and draws people.

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Expanding on an comment of mine earlier today…

Viewing the brinkmanship going on in Washington reminds me of this strictly apocryphal tale that I recall hearing years ago.

• When once asked if he feared a nuclear war, a Soviet offical responded no.
• • But, the questioner continued, a full-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and the USSR will leave both nations totally devasted, the cities in ruin, and hundred of millions dead.
• • Ah yes, the Soviet official replied, but we will control the rubble.

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I would aver that the nomination of Sarah Palin has resounded to the depths of hell itself - at least in terms of the depth and intensity of hatred that she has evoked. Though Screwtape had a different woman in mind, the spirit in his letter below is identical to what we have seen unleased in these past couple of weeks against Gov. Palin - the whining, the gnashing of teeth, the utter lack of joy, the humorlessness…

From Chapter 22:

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Putting aside tabloid fluff and other deranged personal attacks (H/T) that will soon find themselves exiled to the wilderness, there still remains the only potential derail to Palin, as it deals with a matter of public behavior: the legislative star chamber investigation into the Trooper firings, a matter which was known before Palin was chosen.

Looks like things may be coming to a boil on this front, as today the McCain campaign has decided to launch a frontal attack to defuse this issue before the media whores can try to manufacture a “cover-up” meme - stating publicly that they aren’t going to cooperate and making their case publicly as to other compelling reasons to have fired Monegan. At the same time, Republican state legislators have gone to court to halt the investigation as hopelessly partisan.

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…challenging, in order, Barack Obama (Lancelot), John McCain (Sir Robin), Joe Biden (Galahad), Sarah Palin (Arthur)

What would we do without Monty Python to put everything into proper perspective?

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Glanced over at CNN, and their lead story on their home page, complete with photo of Barack Obama, was as follows:

Obama: Being American is blessing, responsibility

America became a great country because of its people, Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday night at a Time-sponsored forum on national service. “It is a great blessing that we’ve received,” he said. “It is also a responsibility … in a sense that we are committed to something larger than ourselves.” That is expressed through voluntary associations and public service, he said.

Seems rather innocuous at first sight, until…

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