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The year was 2000. Al Gore and George Bush were running for President. I was at Harvard, and I watched the October 3 debate in a Harvard auditorium. The students were laughing at Bush's answers, as Al Gore sighed whenever Bush spoke.
Gore was acting as if Bush wanted to blow the surplus on a tax cut. And, when Bush suggested that the Russians intervene to put pressure on Milosevic, Al Gore smugly responded that the Russians weren't willing to do so. We were left with the impression that Bush was a bumbling idiot, whereas Al Gore was an all-knowing sage.
Two nights later, there was the Vice-Presidential debate. Cheney said that the idea that Bush wanted to blow the surplus on a tax cut was not true. He specified other areas for which Bush would use the surplus, calling Bush's proposal a "responsible plan." Later, he referred to Bush's suggestion about Russia and Serbia, which Cheney said the "Vice-President pooh-poohed." According to Cheney, the Russians were actually exerting constructive pressure on Serbia.
I fell in love with Cheney that night! When Bush said something, it came across as bumbling. But when Cheney spoke, he gave the impression that he knew what he was talking about. Even the liberals in the Harvard Law School lounge remarked that Cheney knew his foreign policy.
Tom Brokaw said at the end of the debate that the Vice-Presidential candidates communicated their tickets' positions better than their Presidential counterparts. And he was right. The debate wasn't as entertaining as the one between Gore and Bush, but at least it let me hear an intelligent and respectful conversation about policy differences.
Not that I expect anything like that tonight. I just wanted to reminisce.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Free Advice for Joe Biden
Joe Biden will be walking the tightrope tonight. He'll want to convey his knowledge, without coming across as patronizing and condescending to his opponent.
One strategy will be for him to focus on McCain rather than Sarah Palin. This is what Michael Westmoreland-White suggests in Race and the U.S. Presidential Elections.
This might work. Of course, he'll need a strategy if Gwen Ifill explicitly asks him what he thinks of Palin.
I think one thing Biden can do is use "I" sentences. I'm not gay, but when I attended a gay Bible study at DePauw University, the group emphasized using "I" sentences. They're less antagonistic. Which would you be more open to? "You're wrong!" and "This is the way it is" and "You've got to understand that..."? Or "From my experience, I think that..." My therapist also said that "I" statements are more personable, since who can argue with someone's experience?
And Biden should not be afraid to say "I disagree with Governor Palin." He won't want to do so in a haughty, "Al Gore 2000 debate I" tone, nor in a soft, gentle "Al Gore 2000 debate II" tone. He'll just want to say in a flat tone that he disagrees with Governor Palin, then explain why. It's not condescending or bullying to say that one disagrees with someone else. It's actually treating someone else as an equal, since equals disagree all of the time.
I intended to write this to give Joe Biden some free advice, but I think it may work for Governor Palin too. I'm sure Governor Palin has spent a few days cramming facts and figures and statistics. That's all right, to a certain extent, but I'm worried she'll come across like Reagan in the first Reagan-Mondale debate: babbling a bunch of statistics without much coherence. One thing she can do is speak from her experience: talk about how health care and taxes and the financial crisis and the sanctity of life have affected her family. When the topic is foreign policy, she should talk about her interaction with foreign officials. After all, she dealt with Canada to plan that natural gas pipeline. That's relevant experience!
Of course, I don't know what she should do if she's asked "pop quiz" questions, like "What Supreme Court decision do you oppose?" or "What do you like and dislike about Dick Cheney's acts as Vice-President?" That's where some cramming may help. Or she may be able to get by with banal generalities, mixed with a few specifics here and there. That's what Bush II did in his debates, and he won both elections!
One strategy will be for him to focus on McCain rather than Sarah Palin. This is what Michael Westmoreland-White suggests in Race and the U.S. Presidential Elections.
This might work. Of course, he'll need a strategy if Gwen Ifill explicitly asks him what he thinks of Palin.
I think one thing Biden can do is use "I" sentences. I'm not gay, but when I attended a gay Bible study at DePauw University, the group emphasized using "I" sentences. They're less antagonistic. Which would you be more open to? "You're wrong!" and "This is the way it is" and "You've got to understand that..."? Or "From my experience, I think that..." My therapist also said that "I" statements are more personable, since who can argue with someone's experience?
And Biden should not be afraid to say "I disagree with Governor Palin." He won't want to do so in a haughty, "Al Gore 2000 debate I" tone, nor in a soft, gentle "Al Gore 2000 debate II" tone. He'll just want to say in a flat tone that he disagrees with Governor Palin, then explain why. It's not condescending or bullying to say that one disagrees with someone else. It's actually treating someone else as an equal, since equals disagree all of the time.
I intended to write this to give Joe Biden some free advice, but I think it may work for Governor Palin too. I'm sure Governor Palin has spent a few days cramming facts and figures and statistics. That's all right, to a certain extent, but I'm worried she'll come across like Reagan in the first Reagan-Mondale debate: babbling a bunch of statistics without much coherence. One thing she can do is speak from her experience: talk about how health care and taxes and the financial crisis and the sanctity of life have affected her family. When the topic is foreign policy, she should talk about her interaction with foreign officials. After all, she dealt with Canada to plan that natural gas pipeline. That's relevant experience!
Of course, I don't know what she should do if she's asked "pop quiz" questions, like "What Supreme Court decision do you oppose?" or "What do you like and dislike about Dick Cheney's acts as Vice-President?" That's where some cramming may help. Or she may be able to get by with banal generalities, mixed with a few specifics here and there. That's what Bush II did in his debates, and he won both elections!
Watching ALF Last Night
I watched some episodes of ALF last night on WGN. It was cheesy, but I found myself laughing out loud a lot. I needed that medicine!
On my Facebook profile, I said I was watching ALF and that I missed being a kid from the 80's. My mom responded that, every time she watches the Andy Griffith Show, she misses being a kid from the 60's.
I had kind of a snug, nostalgic feeling while I was watching ALF. When I was a kid, I didn't have to worry about that much. My food, clothing, and shelter were taken care of. I didn't have a lot of homework, since I was in elementary school. And the future seemed unlimited. In my mind, I could be anything I wanted to be. I even pictured myself becoming President of the United States. I couldn't wait to grow up! Now, I wish I were a kid. It's hard to grow up, even though I'm advancing in my chronological age.
I really like the Season 1-2 intro to ALF, better than the intros for the other seasons (watch it here). On it, ALF annoys most of the family members, especially the cat (which ALF wants to eat). But, at the end, the family motions for ALF to come to them as they get ready to pose for the camera. ALF may be annoying, but he's become a valued part of the family.
But I probably shouldn't get too sentimental about a comedy!
On my Facebook profile, I said I was watching ALF and that I missed being a kid from the 80's. My mom responded that, every time she watches the Andy Griffith Show, she misses being a kid from the 60's.
I had kind of a snug, nostalgic feeling while I was watching ALF. When I was a kid, I didn't have to worry about that much. My food, clothing, and shelter were taken care of. I didn't have a lot of homework, since I was in elementary school. And the future seemed unlimited. In my mind, I could be anything I wanted to be. I even pictured myself becoming President of the United States. I couldn't wait to grow up! Now, I wish I were a kid. It's hard to grow up, even though I'm advancing in my chronological age.
I really like the Season 1-2 intro to ALF, better than the intros for the other seasons (watch it here). On it, ALF annoys most of the family members, especially the cat (which ALF wants to eat). But, at the end, the family motions for ALF to come to them as they get ready to pose for the camera. ALF may be annoying, but he's become a valued part of the family.
But I probably shouldn't get too sentimental about a comedy!
Palin and Abortion
Here are some thoughts about Sarah Palin and abortion:
1. I watched part of an Alaska gubernatorial debate, in which Palin said that she personally would choose life if a woman were raped and wanted to have an abortion. She said the same thing in one of the Katie Couric interviews. In the gubernatorial debate, a question that came up concerned what Palin would advise her daughter if she (her daughter) became pregnant. (What foresight!) In the Couric interview, Palin was responding to a general policy question.
What's my point? I don't understand why Palin is using the word "personally" in a policy discussion, since policy concerns other people than her personally. She should just say that the child is a life, even if it's conceived through rape.
2. In the Couric interview, Palin said she doesn't want to jail women who have abortions. And she's the first one who mentioned "jail" in that discussion. Katie Couric didn't bring that up! Palin should have just left the issue of penalties untouched, unless Katie explicitly mentioned it.
But doesn't someone have to go to jail if abortion is against the law? We can have a fine, but can we really put a monetary price on human life? I guess that depends on how you interpret Exodus 21:22! In any case, I think the physician should be penalized in some way.
3. I wasn't too impressed with Palin in that part of the Couric interview, but I just love what she said about the sanctity of life on Hugh Hewitt's radio show (see here):
"Ironic too, Hugh, that some would consider my position on life and trying to usher in a culture of life, respecting the sanctity of life in America, that that is seen as an extreme position when to me, an extreme position is one that Barack Obama took when he was in the Illinois State Senate, not even supporting a measure that would ban partial birth abortion, not even supporting a measure that would during, after a botched abortion and that baby’s born alive, allowing medical care to cease and allowing that baby to die. That to me is extreme. That’s so far, far left it’s certainly out of the mainstream of America. To me, that is the extreme position, not my position of just wanting that culture of life to be respected and not wanting government to sanction the idea of ending life."
No kidding! I love Palin's unequivocal defense of life in that statement. And I'm getting sick of liberals portraying Sarah Palin as an extremist on the abortion issue, as if they speak for the American public. The Republican Party has won elections in the past, even with a strong pro-life platform.
4. In last night's Katie Couric interview, Palin answered the same questions that Couric asked of Joe Biden. Biden seemed to suggest that Roe v. Wade allowed for restrictions on abortion in the second and third trimesters. I've heard this before about the third trimester, but I didn't know that Roe v. Wade had such a policy for the second.
I was wondering why Roe v. Wade has been cited against the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, when it allows restrictions on abortion in the third semester. It turns out that its companion decision, Doe v. Bolton, requires an exception for the "health" of the mother, which can encompass "all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age - relevant to the wellbeing of the patient" (see here). That allows a woman to come up with all sorts of flimsy excuses to abort her baby! "Having a baby makes me feel depressed, so I want an abortion!," a woman can say.
When Sarah Palin was asked to name Supreme Court decisions (other than Roe) with which he disagreed, she should have said Doe v. Bolton, rather than just drawing a blank.
5. Palin said she supported the right to privacy, and Katie Couric responded that this was the basis for Roe. The implication is that Palin doesn't know anything about the Roe v. Wade decision.
Look, a person can support the right to privacy, without endorsing Roe v. Wade. I remember John Roberts defending the right to privacy in one of his confirmation hearings. Plus, why does the right to privacy allow a woman to kill her own child? Privacy rights don't apply to laws against child molestation or spousal abuse, even if they're done in the privacy of one's own home.
Well, I'm hoping tonight turns out all right. You can be sure that I'll do a write-up about it!
1. I watched part of an Alaska gubernatorial debate, in which Palin said that she personally would choose life if a woman were raped and wanted to have an abortion. She said the same thing in one of the Katie Couric interviews. In the gubernatorial debate, a question that came up concerned what Palin would advise her daughter if she (her daughter) became pregnant. (What foresight!) In the Couric interview, Palin was responding to a general policy question.
What's my point? I don't understand why Palin is using the word "personally" in a policy discussion, since policy concerns other people than her personally. She should just say that the child is a life, even if it's conceived through rape.
2. In the Couric interview, Palin said she doesn't want to jail women who have abortions. And she's the first one who mentioned "jail" in that discussion. Katie Couric didn't bring that up! Palin should have just left the issue of penalties untouched, unless Katie explicitly mentioned it.
But doesn't someone have to go to jail if abortion is against the law? We can have a fine, but can we really put a monetary price on human life? I guess that depends on how you interpret Exodus 21:22! In any case, I think the physician should be penalized in some way.
3. I wasn't too impressed with Palin in that part of the Couric interview, but I just love what she said about the sanctity of life on Hugh Hewitt's radio show (see here):
"Ironic too, Hugh, that some would consider my position on life and trying to usher in a culture of life, respecting the sanctity of life in America, that that is seen as an extreme position when to me, an extreme position is one that Barack Obama took when he was in the Illinois State Senate, not even supporting a measure that would ban partial birth abortion, not even supporting a measure that would during, after a botched abortion and that baby’s born alive, allowing medical care to cease and allowing that baby to die. That to me is extreme. That’s so far, far left it’s certainly out of the mainstream of America. To me, that is the extreme position, not my position of just wanting that culture of life to be respected and not wanting government to sanction the idea of ending life."
No kidding! I love Palin's unequivocal defense of life in that statement. And I'm getting sick of liberals portraying Sarah Palin as an extremist on the abortion issue, as if they speak for the American public. The Republican Party has won elections in the past, even with a strong pro-life platform.
4. In last night's Katie Couric interview, Palin answered the same questions that Couric asked of Joe Biden. Biden seemed to suggest that Roe v. Wade allowed for restrictions on abortion in the second and third trimesters. I've heard this before about the third trimester, but I didn't know that Roe v. Wade had such a policy for the second.
I was wondering why Roe v. Wade has been cited against the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, when it allows restrictions on abortion in the third semester. It turns out that its companion decision, Doe v. Bolton, requires an exception for the "health" of the mother, which can encompass "all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age - relevant to the wellbeing of the patient" (see here). That allows a woman to come up with all sorts of flimsy excuses to abort her baby! "Having a baby makes me feel depressed, so I want an abortion!," a woman can say.
When Sarah Palin was asked to name Supreme Court decisions (other than Roe) with which he disagreed, she should have said Doe v. Bolton, rather than just drawing a blank.
5. Palin said she supported the right to privacy, and Katie Couric responded that this was the basis for Roe. The implication is that Palin doesn't know anything about the Roe v. Wade decision.
Look, a person can support the right to privacy, without endorsing Roe v. Wade. I remember John Roberts defending the right to privacy in one of his confirmation hearings. Plus, why does the right to privacy allow a woman to kill her own child? Privacy rights don't apply to laws against child molestation or spousal abuse, even if they're done in the privacy of one's own home.
Well, I'm hoping tonight turns out all right. You can be sure that I'll do a write-up about it!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Paper on IV Maccabees: Philo on Antinomian Jews
Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism: Studies in their Encounter in Palestine during the Early Hellenistic Period (London: SCM, 1974) 301.
"Philo, too, reports much criticism of the Torah in Greek-educated and predominantly Jewish circles in Alexandria, 'who disregard kinsmen and friends, who transgress laws in which they were born and brought up, who undermine ancestral customs which cannot rightly be censured, and fall away from it' (Vit. Mos. 1, 31, M2, 85). In another passage, he attacks those 'who proclaim their displeasure with the constitution made by the fathers and express incessant censure and complain against the law', talking about the ludicrous fables...in the Pentateuch."
Hengel's reference here is Conf. ling. 2f. (M I, 404).
Challenging the politeia seems to be the same as opposing the law. For the authors of II Maccabees and IV Maccabees, Jason opposed the law when he set up a gymnasium.
Yet, Philo had no problem with the gymnasium (see Spec. II. 229f., 246; Opif. 78). Maybe Palestinian Jews and Alexandrian Jews had different ideas on what challenged the politeia.
"Philo, too, reports much criticism of the Torah in Greek-educated and predominantly Jewish circles in Alexandria, 'who disregard kinsmen and friends, who transgress laws in which they were born and brought up, who undermine ancestral customs which cannot rightly be censured, and fall away from it' (Vit. Mos. 1, 31, M2, 85). In another passage, he attacks those 'who proclaim their displeasure with the constitution made by the fathers and express incessant censure and complain against the law', talking about the ludicrous fables...in the Pentateuch."
Hengel's reference here is Conf. ling. 2f. (M I, 404).
Challenging the politeia seems to be the same as opposing the law. For the authors of II Maccabees and IV Maccabees, Jason opposed the law when he set up a gymnasium.
Yet, Philo had no problem with the gymnasium (see Spec. II. 229f., 246; Opif. 78). Maybe Palestinian Jews and Alexandrian Jews had different ideas on what challenged the politeia.
Sarah Speaks from the Heart
Sarah Palin was on Hugh Hewitt's radio show recently (see here). She speaks from the heart about her reaction to her less-than-stellar interviews, her family's past struggle to pay for health insurance, the impact of the financial crisis on her husband, and her admiration for the state of Israel. She's walked the path of an ordinary American in her lifetime. And her support for Israel is sincere. It's not a talking point.
Can she be another Reagan if she speaks from the heart more? Maybe. Maybe not. Reagan made some pretty big blunders in his political career. He arbitrarily proposed to cut $90 billion from the federal budget, and he claimed that trees cause pollution. But he could rebound when he simply spoke from the heart. He did so in 1976, when he gave a speech opposing the Panama Canal treaties, without any notecards. "Let Reagan be Reagan" was a slogan among Reagan's confidantes.
On the other hand, Reagan could nullify his blunders with humor. He wasn't afraid of reporters. He gave lots of interviews when he was running for Governor of California. As far as I can see, Palin hasn't displayed a teflon sort of quality. But is there a way for her to maximize her pluses and minimize her minuses?
Can she be another Reagan if she speaks from the heart more? Maybe. Maybe not. Reagan made some pretty big blunders in his political career. He arbitrarily proposed to cut $90 billion from the federal budget, and he claimed that trees cause pollution. But he could rebound when he simply spoke from the heart. He did so in 1976, when he gave a speech opposing the Panama Canal treaties, without any notecards. "Let Reagan be Reagan" was a slogan among Reagan's confidantes.
On the other hand, Reagan could nullify his blunders with humor. He wasn't afraid of reporters. He gave lots of interviews when he was running for Governor of California. As far as I can see, Palin hasn't displayed a teflon sort of quality. But is there a way for her to maximize her pluses and minimize her minuses?
So What?
Michelle Malkin has an article, A debate “moderator” in the tank for Obama, which shows that Gwen Ifill is an Obama supporter. Gwen will moderate Thursday's Vice-Presidential debate.
My question: "So what?" Most of the news media are liberal. That's just the way it is. Dick Cheney could handle her. I hope Palin does too.
My question: "So what?" Most of the news media are liberal. That's just the way it is. Dick Cheney could handle her. I hope Palin does too.
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