Religion, Superstition, and Rationality in Scotland

Book Report: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg (1824)

Flag of Presbyterian Covenanters, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

It's great to find a literary classic that I hadn't known before. Reading all I can devour about Scotland helps me be a better tour guide. This one intrigued me as it was listed as an odd book, a religious-psychological thriller that had served as inspiration to another Scot, Robert Louis Stevenson, in writing Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It has sword fights, murder, mayhem, and a couple of strange games of tennis. What's not to like?

LIVE Blogging Republicans on Foreign Things (CNN National Security Debate)

Banned to the bedroom. I was all ready once the visiting teachers left to go down and blog from the family room but my wife said I should stay here because she really didn't want to watch those guys. And she's a registered Republican!

There are some like Senator Marco (Sort-of-a-son-of-refugees) Rubio who say that this debate season has not been a good idea for the Republican nomination and maybe the party as a whole. What about the idea that the Republicans have not been good for debates? I mean, good grief!

LIVE Republican Values Blogging ("Christian" Edition)

Don't know if there's enough Diet Coke in the world to keep be going through these two hours. Even Romney is passing on this Iowa Values Debate. But we'll give it a try. It's not on TV either, but there is a live webcast here. This is in a church. It is purposely a "Christian" test of the Republican candidates (in spite of Art. VI)

Ron Paul challenged on "so help me God." His oath is to the Constitution and Rule of Law - before God. Cain needs God. Bachmann on Washington kissing the Bible. "Without His Hand" we won't get back on track. She got baptized in Iowa (that's both political and religious pandering). She was a sinner and needed Jesus.

Stay Tuned: LIVE Republican Blogging Tonight! 11-12-11 Spanish Inquisition Edition

The last one proved so entertaining and popular, even if I did miss the best part live (you get three guesses- well at least two). We're looking forward to 8 p.m. Eastern tonight for the next Republican Presidential Debate. I finally found a schedule of all the debates. Of course they could let me down by ending up boring again. Yet with the newt now climbing in the polls and attention focused on him, besides all the fall-out from last Wednesday, it really can't help but be entertaining.

So, I'll try to be here live-blogging. Tune in elsewhere to watch or on the internet link above. And keep clicking here for live commentary updates later tonight. (I'll try to get my work done in time - both the laundry and case preparation).

Cain Just Blew the Settlement

We will never know what really happened with the allegations of sexual harassment with soon-to-be toast candidate Herman Cain. (Actually, he never was a serious candidate - just a little better at playing the self-promotion game than the donald or the sarah). I certainly haven't seen the settlement agreement with the female employee either, but I know enough of personnel law to say that Cain has blown it big time.

No doubt the settlement has a confidentiality provision that the parties are not to talk about the settlement or the allegations. That is the condition the woman's attorney is trying to justify getting her out of. It may have been accomplished by Cain's stupidity in saying what he has said so far. By saying that it was a settlement to get rid of a nuisance complaint, he may have broken another likely provision of such a settlement.

Will Republicans Play the Cain Card?

This is fraught with danger. And I recognize the difficult history of race relations in my own religious tradition. We are doing so much better now and there were always heroes like Mitt's Dad, Michigan Governor George Romney, who really was a champion of Civil Rights and may actually have marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. more than just figuratively.

Bloomberg Republican Debate LIVE-BLOGGING

Well, we'll give it a try. My wife is using my netbook because she needs two screens to do her homework to re-certify as a substitute teacher. She already has a few gigs lined up as they still have a shortage of science teachers. With federal pay frozen, tuition, dental, and medical expenses spiking in the family budget, she is going back into the work force. So, Republicans- What are you going to do for us? Oh yeah, cut taxes, cut aid to schools, cut social services, kill health care reform, maybe some more wars. Yeah, we get all that.

Anyway, I'm using my boy's hand-me-down MacBook because our antiquated desktop PC is too darn slow. This keyboard is kinda funky though.  I think I did find the Bloomberg channel - not one I watch much (if ever).

Republicans & Airplanes: LIVE Blogging (attempted)

From the odd venue of the airplane hanger at the Reagan Library. (If they don't believe in Science, well, except for Huntsman and maybe Mitt, how do they explain mechanical flight?)

What a coup that MSNBC snatched Michael Steele. He reminds me of that guy from our freshman dorm we parodied (very kindly) in the end-of-year skits. He had so much fun with it, he joined right in!

Peggy Noonan is good to have - solid Reagan Republican who has it out for the tea party.

Republican Field Update - End of June (well, at least the end of the newt)

Bachman officially in and it will be interesting to watch her make the play for the Sarah crowd. She's only made a few official gaffes like mixing John Wayne with John Wayne Gacy. And she in under increasing scrutiny for farm income from the family farm taking farm subsidies, her husband's counseling practice that qualified for Medicare patients, and questions about any government support of her foster-care parenting. Not that any of these things are bad. They're not. But they are part of the evil government she wants to be President of.

Sarita Palinista is not in (and won't be) but she continues her celebrity events when she feels like it. Josh Green at the Atlantic points out that her popularity could take a severe blow when she does announce that she is not running. I still think she'll be able to pull off some kind of speech from the balcony of the Casa Rosada.

Republican Debate June 13, 2011: Live Blog (attempted)

Here we are giving this a try again. John King with CNN is excited. Santorum is peppy in his intro ending abruptly with his 7 children. Bachman also lists 5 children and 23 fosters (nobody will beat that). Gingrich invoking the "Obama Depression."Romney also has kids and kids-in-law but why the self-deprecation about getting it right? Oops Paul just beat Bachman having delivered THOUSANDS of babies. Pawlenty is married and then he sort of lost me (cuz he's kinda boring). Cain- it's about his grandkids too because he's a problem solver.

NH old guy gets to ask a question about jobs. Hispanic guy apparently. Republicans don't have plans for jobs. What are those plans? Mr. Cain? get the economy "boosted" government has put all the money in the caboose. Put the right fuel in the engine which is the private sector.

Boring Republicans for 2012

I heard Chris Matthews of MSNBC say a while back, "Perhaps it's God's will that Obama not have a reasonable opponent out there." The weakness of the Republican field was demonstrated last night with the first candidates debate. While President Obama, newly perceived as cool, tough and decisive (for obvious reasons), was congratulating Special Operations Forces, five of the Republican candidates met in South Carolina for the first debate of this upcoming campaign. Did anybody watch?

Political junkie that I am, I had it on for a while, but it was so boooooring. I did hear Pawlenty's masterfully practiced line on Romneycare, "Well, Governor Romney isn't here to defend himself . . ." and went on with essentially trashing him anyway. Herman Cain was there, the right's favorite African-American, at least since Michael Steele. They were joined by Libertarian hero Ron Paul (apparently, he's not abdicating in favor of his heir this round), culture warrior Santorum, and a competing Republiterian, Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, pot-smoker, and my one-time dinner companion.

There's a Birther Born Every Minute!

Donald Trump. Come on, people! You have to know he is in this for the self-promotion. There never was a greater huckster since P.T. Barnum himself! I mean no disrespect, but it does tend to link the Birthers and the targets of Barnum's hucksterism. The donald sure knows his audience, though. What is it? Over 50% of Republicans who are Birthers or have doubts? ("If only Obama would just prove he wasn't born in Kenya, Indonesia and every other square foot of the planet, then we might believe he was actually born in Hawaii!")

The donald isn't the only one, either. It always is an odd collection of characters when a party's nomination for president is wide open. But never (that I can think of) has there been such a menagerie of craziness. And not just the donald is using the presidential field for self-boosterism.