Shaun Kenney

In 2006, I had the noted displeasure of working with the Colorado GOP. Unhelpful, uncoordinated, and with the notable exception of one staffer directly attached to our slice of Colorado, unsophisticated at best.

And pretentious as hell.

So I shed nary a tear watching “Mr. Wadhams” — as he insisted he be called by others (I kid you not) — get the boot at the Colorado GOP:

In ending his reelection bid, Colorado GOP Chair Dick Wadhams isn’t hiding his frustration, illustrating the lingering disagreement among Republicans in the state following a disappointing election cycle.

“It really came to a head this past weekend, maybe a few days before that,” Wadhams said of the timing of his decision in an interview with Hotline On Call Tuesday afternoon. “And then frankly, I had grown weary of activists, both new and old that seemed to have a conspiracy theory around every corner.”

When pressed for specific examples, Wadhams mentioned both the gubernatorial and Senate races, beginning with former Republican gubernatorial candidate Josh Penry (R), a once rising star who ended his bid in late 2009. Some had charged that Wadhams was responsible for his exit.

“The rumor was that I forced him out of the race,” said Wadhams, who denied the charge and said he was excited about Penry’s candidacy but had to remain neutral in the primary.

Of course, Virginians will remember him not only for Wadham’s disastrous handling of the 2006 re-election effort for then U.S. Senator and presumptive presidential nominee George Allen, but for chewing out the Washington Post in his equally inept handling of the “macaca” incident:

Mr. Wadhams, an itinerant political hit man known for his nasty attacks on opponents, told Republican leaders in a memo sent over the weekend that the Webb campaign and the media had ganged up “to create national news over something that did not warrant coverage in the first place.”

He continued: “Never in modern times has a statewide office holder and candidate been so vilified.” In other words, Mr. Allen is the victim — not the 20-year-old student whom he mocked with an insulting, possibly racist slur in front of scores of chortling supporters and demeaned by saying, “Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia!”

Slick move, moron.

This is one political obituary I hope is stapled to every freshman political novitiate’s forehead.  Being boorish only gets you so far in this business.  You can push small papers in South Dakota and Colorado, but when you come East… you tread carefully.  A little respect in politics goes a long, long way.

I’ve always preferred the role of Vice President as the philosopher-king, the one who constantly speaks to the nations conscience rather than merely being the president’s hatchetman.

McDonnell seems to be angling for just that role… despite not truly “angling” for any role at all.  Of note are his thoughts on federalism and that little buzzword localities have been hearing from Richmond for some time:  devolution.

“The issue of federalism is front-and-center,” he added, during the sitdown following Thurday’s National Prayer Breakfast. “What we’re going to see is more talk of devolution and more power to the states. I don’t think it’s a granting of power, it’s just restoring what our founders meant. But I really do relish being part of that discussion.”

Now whether or not the Politico article paints McDonnell in the best light is another question altogether.  Wouldn’t it be interesting to read from McDonnell what he really means by “federalism by devolution?”  Or perhaps a book from George Allen on what “Jeffersonian conservatism” really means?  Or from Mark Warner on the principles of “radical centrism” or Tom Perriello on what “conviction politics” really means — and not via ghostwriter?

The only modern Virginia political figure that has even come close is Jim Webb’s Born Fighting — which I still believe to be a contemptible, racist worldview that attempts to divide America on class and the Scotch-Irish as an ethnicity.  Still… I do credit Jim Webb for having the guts to write it, even though I strongly disagree with the premise.

Of course, in the eyes of localities. “devolution” has rarely translated into a transference of power from the state to localities, but rather a transference of responsibilities from Richmond to the courthouse.  Thus localities are forced to pick up the tab for a series of unfunded mandates that a bloated bureaucracy in Richmond finds convenient to unload.

If there’s a person able to synthesize the virtues of federalism with the Gordian knot that is “devolution” in practice, I could think of no one better than McDonnell to take on the task.  Then again, it could all just be buzzwords and talk… this is politics after all.

I want one of these. Especially if it does ePub books.

LifeSiteNews has the following statement from Fr. Tom Euteneuer, former president of Human Life International and a good and holy man.

While I would much prefer to allow this public act of contrition to stand alone, I regret having to address the malicious falsehoods that were published this past week on various internet sites. I can only say that I am shocked to the depths of my being at the malicious efforts by supposedly faithful Catholics to destroy a priest who has served the Church faithfully for 22 years. The campaigners have made intolerable attempts to contact my family, to defame innocent co-workers and even to solicit and to persuade others with whom I have prayed that they are victims despite their unequivocal statements to the contrary. Some have even claimed falsely and maliciously that there is a possessed person living in my family’s home. No one should have to endure such malevolence or such treatment of innocent family members. Despite the rhetoric of justice and truth-seeking, the sinful campaign has not made one single positive contribution to the resolution of this difficult situation that has already been handled appropriately by Church authorities for nearly six months.

The statement is worth reading in its entirety.  I have had the pleasure and opportunity to meet Fr. Euteneuer on several occasions during my time at American Life League, and have always known him as an outward, deeply religious man — and never bearing the stain of pride or despair.

Prior to this statement, it was commonly assumed that Fr. Tom just got tired.  He is, after all, human.

It is always the struggle with those on the side of the Catholic Church to live up to the standards of the faith.  Thus the world expects all of us to be absolutely perfect in ever instance possible.  When we do sin, whether it is theft, a lie, pride, or in this instance, the breaking of a vow (that Fr. Tom insists never included the sexual act), the world is quick to condemn.

The world being so quick to condemn, I have always found it a mark of worldliness when others, professing to be faithful, join the world in its condemnation.

Regarding Human Life International and the great work they do, I am relieved to see that Fr. Euteneuer’s departure was not based on punishment or PR damage control, but rather that Fr. Euteneuer was making a decision based on his own spiritual health.  Moreover, he has asked for forgiveness from God, and since his actions do not impact me in the slightest, I take no offense — and neither should anyone else.

I look forward to working with Fr. Tom in the pro-life movement again in the future with every bit of confidence.

Catholics priests, like others good men and women, are flesh and bone.  It is unrealistic to hold them up to standards that are impossible to meet.  The only man who ever met those standards, we hung on a cross.

Likewise, we should respect and assist those struggling to become better people, apart from those who wallow in a condition of sin.  To me, that is the essence of the Christian ethic buried in the logos made flesh.  As Pope Benedict XVI reminded us during his memorable (and much maligned) Regensburg Address in 2006:

Modifying the first verse of the Book of Genesis, the first verse of the whole Bible, John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: “In the beginning was the logos“. This is the very word used by the emperor: God acts, with logos. Logos means both reason and word – a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. John thus spoke the final word on the biblical concept of God, and in this word all the often toilsome and tortuous threads of biblical faith find their culmination and synthesis. In the beginning was the logos, and the logos is God, says the Evangelist. The encounter between the Biblical message and Greek thought did not happen by chance. The vision of Saint Paul, who saw the roads to Asia barred and in a dream saw a Macedonian man plead with him: “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” (cf. Acts 16:6-10) – this vision can be interpreted as a “distillation” of the intrinsic necessity of a rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek inquiry.

Sadly, this excellent address was marked by one statement quoting the words of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus:

The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: “There is no compulsion in religion”. According to some of the experts, this is probably one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur’an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the “Book” and the “infidels”, he addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness, a brusqueness that we find unacceptable, on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable.

For that one line, one of the most profound addresses on the clash between Islam and the West was buried.  The world reacted… and predictably so.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle,” were the words of the Jewish philosopher Plato of Alexandria.  They apply here as well.

The latest data shows that Fluvanna County down just slightly from the previous 2009 estimate of 25,732, but added 5,644 new citizens — of which I am responsible for eight of those new additions.

If you’d like to see a graph on Fluvanna’s growth, click here for Google Graphs.  I’m sure this will be updated shortly with the new 2010 numbers (as well as the 2009 estimates).

The next time someone mentions the “racist” nature of the Tea Party, remind them of this:

Skip to the 1:00 mark for the racist stuff.

I’ve said it once before, I’ll say it over and over again: Republicans spent the better part of four decades excising the progressive movement from the party. Now they have found a home with the Democrats. Liberals should do everything within their power to drive them out, because these people are bad news.

(h/t to Tom White over at Virginia Right!)

AEI’s Mark Perry talks about American Productivity:

What’s even more striking though is that the U.S. economy was able to produce $13.38 trillion of real output last quarter with only 139 million employees, compared to the more than 146 million Americans who were working in the fourth quarter of 2007 to produce slightly less output, as AEI’s Alex Pollock recently observed. The chart above shows that real output in the United States is now 0.14 percent higher than three years ago, but is being produced with almost 5 percent, or 7.2 million, fewer workers!

…

Of course, there are limits to efficiency gains, and as we soon reach those limits, hiring will pick up and the jobless rate will decline. But for now we can consider it a testament to the resiliency and efficiency of the U.S. economy, employing the world’s most productive workers, that we were able to amazingly produce a record level of output in 2010 with 7 million fewer workers than in took three years ago to produce that same amount.

That’s the key.  Given the fact that the housing market — at least in the Charlottesville area — is showing signs of bottoming out, and that Americans are in Year 3 of a five-year paydown on personal credit, one can see how 2011 may not be a stellar year… but when 2012 gets here, the economy is poised to boom.

…which is where the problem lies.

The same problems that created the housing boom are still embedded in the credit system today.  Speculation is the kicker… that and whether the American consumer has learned the lesson of cheap credit, something most economies would have taken decades from which to recover.

Thus the power of the American consumer.  We have more disposable income than any other nation on earth.  We spend (and recover) from economic crises that in years past would have swamped other nations — the British Empire, Germany, Russia, etc.  Whether we have the education to take the lessons of the Great Recession to heart is another question altogether…

Fear the boom.

So sayeth this article from Bloomberg:

The retailer received a financing commitment of $550 million from the General Electric unit on Jan. 27. The funding had several conditions including securing $175 million from other lenders and $125 million in junior debt provided by vendors and lenders. The funding is also contingent on Borders completing a program to close stores.

Borders has posted almost $800 million in losses since 2006 as it lost market share to competitors such as Amazon.com Inc. The retailer has also been slow to embrace digital reading, which continues to gain popularity with consumers.

Frankly, none of this washes with me.  When Borders first arrived in Fredericksburg back in the mid-1990s, the folks there were friendly and knowledgeable about the books sold.  There was a coffee house where people who gave a damn made the coffee.  You could browse through a book without being hassled, and if you had a question, you literally had to turn a corner to find a person who would help you right there on the spot.

Today, that same bookstore’s shelves are bare.  Books are turned with the cover facing out rather than with the binding staring at the customer.  Coffee is practically tossed at you.  Help is now a kiosk.  And best of luck finding an employee that is paid well enough to care about the books they are selling — Borders might as well be Taco Bell or the Gap to them.

I had a particularly poor customer experience once at Borders, where when I complained, the manager fobbed me off with a free magazine that was little short of “just go away and take the free crap.”  So I called the regional manager… who didn’t even return my phone call.

Finally, it took a sales rep at the top of the food chain to listen to my complaint about customer service (which had really boiled down to “will someone please give a damn?!”)  before I finally was assured that someone listened.  Even after that… I had no idea whether anyone really gave a damn, or whether the next time I asked for a copy of The Economist someone would have the courtesy to check in the back for me, rather than just roll their eyes and speak into a dead phone — true story.

The moral of the story is that no one cared about this customer.  And potentially thousands of others.  That’s why Borders is on the brink of bankruptcy protection, and why booksellers like Joseph Beth and any number of boutique bookstore are expanding.

“But what about the Second Militia Act of 1792?!?!” they scream.

Huh?

The Second Militia Act of 1792 required every able bodied man 18 thru 45 to provide their own firearm, among other items. One small problem: Article 1, Section 8, clause 16 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress that power.

Individual mandate for health care? Not so much…

Dave Winer over at Scripting.com reminds us of the shortfalls of silos:

If I put stuff in Twitter, the only way to get it out is through a heavily regulated and always-changing API. It will change a lot in the coming months and years. It will certainly narrow more than it expands. I feel very confident in predicting this, because I understand where Twitter is going.

If you put stuff in Facebook, it’s even more silo’d than it is in Twitter.

However, if you put stuff in WordPress, even on wordpress.com, you have full fluidity. You are not silo’d. You can get data in and out using widely-supported APIs that are implemented by Drupal, Tumblr, Posterous, Movable Type, TypePad, etc etc. At least there’s some compatibility. And in a pinch you could probably move your content to a static website and have it be useful.

The ability to get your own news and information without it being filtered by friends, algorithms, and “silos” is critically important in the modern age.

Read it all.