Mainstream Meme

Another column from Hugh Hewitt about the liberal media. I'm wondering if we could stipulate that seemingly deathless meme (there, I used that word. Never again!) and move on, since, as November's resulted showed, the media don't actually do much to influence voters.

God With Us

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us. Isaiah 7:14 (with a little help from the Septuagint)

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, and be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Isaiah 40:9

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Isaiah 60:1

God Rest Ye

We church friends were in a Rancho Santa Margarita, California Starbucks the other evening, in the midst of our weekly "Tuesday Tuneup." We do lectio divina at 5:30, break for a cup of joe, and return to St. John's for an hour of Bible study. During the coffee break I felt that, in the light of the season, I was discoursing too insistently on the sorts of matters that Marley's ghost describes as belonging to the worldly mind. High time for a home-town random act of culture as a troop of Girl Scouts (two wearing reindeer antlers) stood up and started belting out Christmas carols without so much as a howdy-do.

Doing The Public's Business? There's An Idea

Two views about the progress toward political and economic equality for gay and lesbian people. At the "American Spectator," George Neumayr (left), reflecting on the repeal of DADT, discerns a hidden, even malign agenda:

[T]he repeal is an elitist, not populist, victory, one which a future Edward Gibbon will mark down as yet another illustration of an insular political class's delusion and decadence at a time of terrorism. This elite has long wanted to tear down the military and turn it into a laboratory of political correctness, and Obama has smuggled this gift to his friends through the backdoor of a lame-duck session.

Whereas Rep. Barney Frank says the gay agenda is no secret:

It is to be protected against violent crimes driven by bigotry, it's to be able to get married, it's to be able to get a job, and it's to be able to fight for our country. For those who are worried about the radical homosexual agenda, let me put them on notice. Two down, two to go.

Neumayr's denunciation of the undemocratic, underhanded DADT repeal seems strange in view of a recent poll showing that 77% of the American people favored permitting homosexuals to serve openly in the military. Wouldn't ignoring the people have been the undemocratic and underhanded thing?

This seems too easy, so I must be missing something. Or maybe some conservatives have been stunned into incoherence after having been part of an historic GOP victory last month only to watch Barack Obama win a massive second stimulus bill (which is already helping spur economic recovery), DADT repeal, health care for Sept. 11 first responders, and the ratification of the U.S.-Russian arms control treaty.

Each measure required Republican leadership and votes. While the far right spent the month denouncing those out-of-touch Beltway Republicans, they're the ones who seem to have their finger on the people's pulse. Meanwhile, just as Obama made the mistake of thinking his 2008 victory amounted to a mandate for massive change, many conservative ideologues think the American people now want leaders who think like George Neumayr. But we've been clustered around the great American center all along, right where our polarized politics abandoned us.

"Half Jewish And Half Christmas"

Reflections of a Jewish wife and mother who decided to give her culturally Christian husband and children the gift of Christmas:

Christmas...is a slippery slope. Once you've surrendered, you can't just hang a scrawny fir with costume jewelry. You need one of those trees that takes over the living room; you need ornaments to weigh it down. You need lights, stockings, jingle bells and candy canes. Before I knew it, I was making wreaths, decorating cookies, helping the kids write letters to Santa, leaving out milk and cookies, and a carrot for Rudolph.

What are you? someone asked [daughter] Eliza at her kindergarten holiday party. I'm half Jewish and half Christmas, she said without pause. I had done my job well.

Conner Friedersdorf Takes Down Jon Stewart

"The Daily Dish:"

What I hate to break to Jon Stewart, whose takedowns of cable news I very much enjoy, is that compared to the American population at large, not very many people actually watch cable news, let alone the particular shows he ridicules – and, in fact, by focusing his considerable satirical talents on that niche medium, he is arguably contributing to the strange illusion that it is the primary vehicle for public discourse in the United States.

"Maybe Israel Has No Plan"

Jeffrey Goldberg on the new settlement construction projects Israel has launched in the West Bank, especially those, Ethan Bronner reports, "in more remote communities that are least likely to be part of Israel after any two-state peace deal":

I would like someone in the Netanyahu government to please explain the plan here. It would make things so much easier to understand if we just knew the plan. Is the plan to continue settling Judea and Samaria so that there is no chance whatsoever of creating a Palestinian state? And if this is the plan, then what happens to those Palestinians who are being denied a state? Will they be absorbed into democratic Israel, thus bringing about an end to the idea that there should be a single small country on earth where Jews can be a majority? Or are they going to be denied democratic rights, in which case, well, Israel as we know it will cease to exist. Or is there some other plan? Or -- maybe -- there is no plan. Maybe these things just happen.

Another Bible Story

"We'll read the allegory to another Bible story out of deference, defiance, choice." Another intriguingly obscure theological reference from lead singer and composer Michael Stipe, occurring this time in "It Happened Today," a song from R.E.M.'s upcoming album, "Collapse Into Now." And another great-sounding, hook-heavy song from one of the best bands ever. Very acoustic, very "Automatic for the People." Eddie Vedder (shown here with Stipe) is on backing vocals. Listen here. Plus you can get the song for free if you preorder the album (which isn't due out until March).

Hat tip to the good people at PASTE

Chyron Illogical

At least they spelled "Elie" right.

Hat tip to the Jerusalem Post

When God Looks Down On Bethlehem Tomorrow

Beginning from the Mediterranean coast near the center of the image, the first bright light is Tel Aviv. The one on the right is Amman, Jordan. In the middle is Jerusalem, six miles north of Bethlehem. The photo was taken from the International Space Station. More images here.

Hat tip to Tom Tierney