Pimp my ride

Sometimes in life there are these serendipitous moments when you are in the right place at the right time. I was out today and just happened to have my camera with me when I came upon this sweet hooptie...




I would love to see that baby lit up at night!

Prayer request for Public Theologian

I don't normally do stuff like this. However, I found out last night that one of my frequent readers is having some health problems that threaten his vision.

"Tim Simpson, aka Public Theologian, had to have emergency eye surgery a week ago Saturday to repair his retina in his one remaining eye. Consequently, he cannot read anything and won't be able to for several more weeks. He hopes to be up again by May 1st."

Tim comments regularly here and, while we rarely agree, I very much appreciate his desire to dialogue with those on the other side of the political spectrum.

Please remember Tim in your prayers.

What should become of Tom Delay?

I don't have the foggiest idea. And I'm guessing most of my readers don't either since none of use really know what happened.

Let me say up front that I haven't followed the Delay story as much as I probably should. Even though I often discuss politics here, I try to refrain from saying a lot about issues I don't know much about. But I will make a few comments about Tom Delay from what I have heard so far.

If the accusations are true, he should resign. And I hope that Republicans will be the first to call for his resignation should he be found guilty. While I appreciate the sentiment of many people and conservative groups saying that they believe in Delay's innocence, I'm not sure how any of them can say that with certainty.

What I do find strange though is that no official charges have been filed against Delay. It begs the question, why are we trying this guy in the court of public opinion rather than by the proper channels? If it turns out that Delay is innocent of these charges, there should be consequences for those making the charges. I actually feel that this is an area lacking in our judicial system; that people can make baseless charges against innocent people and face no repercussions. If Michael Jackson is found innocent there should be repercussions against the family accusing him.

I also find it strange that two of the Democrats who are accusing Delay have had some ethics problems similar to those that Delay is accused of.

Harry Reid has had some ethics problems that have been mostly ignored even though the LA Times wrote a pretty significant piece on the issue a couple of year ago. I don't have any idea whether any of the charges against Reid were true but I don't recall it being a huge issue when this LA Times piece came out. This of course has nothing to do with Delay's guilt or innocence yet it certainly highlights possible hypocrisy.

One of the charges against Delay involves illegal use of campaign funds. Yet one of Delay's accusers, Nancy Pelosi, has already had one of her PACs convicted of illegal campaign contributions and fined $21,000. Recently Pelosi said:

"Tom DeLay's embarrassment springs from his own behavior and has nothing to do with the Democrats."

While Delay's behavior should certainly be judged, shouldn't all senators be held to high standards?

Unfortunately much of this behavior undermines what little trust Americans have in our leaders. I hate to be cynical about this but I think that this feeds the idea that "well, they are all a bunch of unethical wealthy priviledged politicians so what should we expect". There is a growing sense that everyone cheats or is unethical in order to get ahead in life.

I think we should expect more.

My most prized possession

My wife and I just celebrated our 8th anniversary. We actually have a daily reminder of our wedding in our dining room.

This painting was done by our good friend Brent Weston, a very accomplished Atlanta artist. Brent is best known for a series of paintings of old Atlanta restaurants that he did in the mid '90s. For our wedding gift, Brent decided to paint our wedding reception as it was happening. Brent did a little prep work earlier in the day to paint some of the room but filled in the rest including the people during the reception. Some of our best friends are in the painting along with one of my favorite uncles who has since passed away. This picture doesn't really do the painting justice as it was done with guash and has such amazing texture.

If my house were on fire and all the family was out safe, this painting would be the first thing that I would save.

Ironic statement of the day

Jerry Jenkins, novelist of the "Left Behind" series, which has sold 62 million copies since its debut in 1995, said this about the upcoming new television show, "Revelations":

"Revelations" is "a mishmash of myth, silliness, and misrepresentations of Scripture."

Don't speak for me, Dr. Dobson

Unlike many evangelicals, I've never paid much attention to James Dobson. He always seemed like a fine guy but I've never had much interest in him or Focus on the Family.

Until today.

Here is what Dr. Dobson had to say on his radio program yesterday:

"I heard a minister the other day talking about the great injustice and evil of the men in white robes, the Ku Klux Klan, that roamed the country in the South, and they did great wrong to civil rights and to morality. And now we have black-robed men, and that's what you're talking about."

I am horrified that he would make such an intemperate comment. I'm rather disturbed about some of the decisions that our courts have made, but to equate our judiciary with the Klan is a blatant scare tactic. How is this any different that comparisons that some on the left make between Bush and Hitler?

It isn't; it is simply a way to appeal to people's emotions rather than engage people's minds.

Update: Matt at Stones Cry Out says it better than I can.

Where have all the public servants gone?

It used to be that we referred to our elected officials as public servants. Wizbang reminded me why we call them politicians now. He suggests that we refrain from naming naval ships after people until 25 years after their death.

"a simple 25-year rule would ensure that the naming process is more removed from politics"

I couldn't agree more. I see a lot of this type of abuse of political power here in Georgia. There is hardly a road, bridge, or intersection that isn't name after a politician. And I don't mean a long retired or dead politician. I mean people currently in office. Neither party is immune to this abuse of power. Here are just a few example:

Pierre Howard Interchange - named after the Lt. Governor at the end of his 2nd term.
Tom Murphy Freeway - named after the most powerful man in Georgia for decades, former Speaker of the House, Tom Murphy. I am incredulous that this freeway was named for him while he was in power.
Johnny Gresham Bridge - named after a sitting State Transportation Board member.

I don't mean to denigrate any of these men. However, there is certainly the impression that favors like roads or bridges are given to those in power.

RIP Andrea Dworkin

Just read tonight that feminist Andrea Dworkin died this past weekend. In reading the news, I was particularly struck by the first paragraph:

Andrea Dworkin, a feminist who viewed pornography as a violation of women's civil rights and a direct cause of rape and violence, has died, her agent and family said Monday. She was 58.

I am no fan or Dworkin or her ideas, but I tremendously respect her principled stand against pornography. I have often been baffled as to why there is so much silence from feminists regarding pornography. Actually, not so much silence as acquiescence. I did a quick Google search for "feminists" and "pornography" and most of the results in the first few pages were pro-pornography. Somewhere, there is a group of men chuckling to themselves about convincing women that pornography is "empowering" or some such nonsense.

Is there any doubt that pornography has horribly corrosive effects on the women involved, the men who consume it, and kids who live in a pornographic culture?