A Nail In His Place

…It is in vain, sir, to extentuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace–but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! -Patrick Henry

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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. -Abraham Lincoln

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“Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.” -Alexis de Tocqueville

President Calvin Coolidge rose to the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4,…

On July 9, 1858, Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas gave a campaign speech to a raucous throng from the balcony…

Charges of flip-flopping do play a big role–perhaps too much–in the rapid response operations of both campaigns. There are obviously a lot of reasons a candidate might alter his position that have nothing to do with political opportunism. After 9/11, for example, President Bush’s foreign policy changed in a dramatic way. I don’t think anyone–save perhaps Ron Paul–implored President Bush on 9/12 to stick with the neo-isolationist talking points of his campaign. Flip-flopping is very relevant, however, when it demonstrates a candidate either doesn’t know what he believes or is willing to set aside any conviction for political advancement.

In Obama’s case, I’m not sure which is true, but it is patently obvious from the speed and frequency with which his flip-flops seem to come that principle is not playing any role. Just consider his evolution in a single month: Obama opposed welfare reform, and now he supports it. Obama supported the D.C. handgun ban, and now he believes it was unconstitutional. Obama said he would accept public financing, and now he won’t. Obama opposed immunity for telecommunications companies involved in terrorist surveillance, and now he supports it. Obama opposed the death penalty in all cases, and now believes it is justified in certain extreme instances. Obama supported immediate withdrawal from Iraq, and now he’ll listen to the commanders on the ground if they tell him to phase out the troops slowly.

Nothing has fundamentally changed with any of these issues. The only thing that has changed is that Obama became the presumptive nominee. Andrew Sullivan says, “Sometimes a flip-flop is a sign of real maturity in a politician responding to new events or facts.” That’s only true however, when a candidate acknowledges and explains why he’s changing. Principle plays no role when the pol instead self-righteously asserts that there has been no change at all, and it also doesn’t play a role when a candidate claims that everyone simply misunderstood his previous position–as with the meaning of “negotiate with Iran without precondition”–even when the so-called misperception was widely reported and the candidate did nothing to correct it for many months.

Aside from charging the other side with flip-flopping, one other job typically assigned to a campaign’s war-room is correcting media reports that mischaracterize their candidate’s position. That Obama’s staff was apparently sitting on its hands shows Obama either meant what he said or wanted people to believe that he did.

Post by Collin Hansen

Christianity Today‘s July cover takes its cue from the famous Time magazine cover from 1966 that asked, “Is God Dead?” CT responds “not yet” (?) with an article by William Lane Craig. He writes, “To paraphrase Mark Twain, the news of God’s demise was premature. For at the same time theologians were writing God’s obituary, a new generation of young philosophers was rediscovering his vitality.” Craig sees a turning point in 1967 with the publication of Alvin Plantinga’s God and Other Minds: A Study of the Rational Justification of Belief in God.

The cover package also includes Craig’s recommended reading on the existence of God.

Ken has more details on the trailer he created for the new series that we’re launching at NewSpring on July 13. That also happens to be the first day we are officially multi-site in Anderson and Greenville.

You Asked For It Promo 01 from Ken Wilson on Vimeo.

All of these questions were generated through a voting process with our church. First, we had folks submit questions on any topic. Then we had them vote on the most popular questions.

These are the questions NewSpringers are asking. I wonder what this series would look like if we didn’t allow church people to vote? What questions are people outside the church asking? Let me know if your church tries to tackle that one and design a series around those questions.

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Great news for Columbia and liberty lovers. Bad news for FARC. Hugo Chavez is deeply saddened.

counterterrorismblog.org
By Jonathan Winer

The dramatic news that Colombia had successfully rescued Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans held hostage for years by FARC terrorists represents a further break-through by the Uribe government in what has been an extraordinary year of successes against FARC.

We still don’t have the details, but what is by now clear is that Colombia’s decision to raid FARC camps across the border in Ecuador on March 1, which had the result of killing one of its senior leaders, Raul Reyes, and of obtaining critical intelligence held in FARC computers, provided information that in turn helped enable Colombia to secure a series of further objectives against FARC.

The Rest of the Story…

This is just too weird for words…

2 July 2008

Durham, N.C. — Police charged a third person Wednesday in connection with beatings and rape that authorities say were carried out by a satanic cult.

Diana Palmer, 44, of Cottage Woods Court, surrendered to police Wednesday afternoon. She was charged with being an accessory after the fact of assault with a deadly weapon and was being held in the Durham County Jail.

Palmer posted $30,000 bond Wednesday and was released from jail.

The Rest of the Story…