Everything Old Is New Again

"This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves."

Ronald Reagan

Let me be the first to pee on the Democrats new logo.

Update 10/26: The best critique of the D logo so far:

Campaign-time, Team Obama knew marketing. The best visual talent crafted a campaign "look and feel" as polished as any roll out by Apple.

Remember that glorious day on the Mall in January? The new Pepsi cans were everywhere, its new logo ripping off the red, white and blue "O" sunrise glyph. For the next year, it seemed like everything coming out of a design shop mimicked the graceful font of an Obama campaign sign.
Now this. Deflated, dyspeptic. One more false dawn, promised, then snatched away. Obama used to be big. Maybe he can be so again. Maybe it's just the branding that got small. Let's hope.

Obama, like Steve Jobs, know its really pretty easy to get the herd to queue up; but once we get our shiny new gizmo home the bells and whistles never quite funtion as advertised.  In fact many of the complaints about BHO are the same gripes leveled at the IPhone.

• Poor reception.
• Inconsistent performance
• Text issues. Drops lines that are deemed patriotic or religious.
• Not good for business users.

And...
There's no replacement program!

Wouldn't you like a little hope with that change?

9/11 Nine Years Later

Another year has passed since evil descended upon America and we are no closer to resolving this conflict with Islam than we were in 2001. In fact we are probably in a worse position than we were on 9/12.

I base that on the two recent events that have again pitted Americans against the Religion of Peace. The Ground Zero Mosque controversy where this week the Imam makes the not so subtle hint that if this mosque is not built the US could "have national security issues". The second of course is the Florida pastor who feels the need to torch a few Korans. While I don’t necessarily condone his actions I support his right to voice his opinion in any manner that he sees fit.

Both cases illustrate the fact that while we are all endowed in this country with certain inalienable rights it sometimes takes more courage not to exercise them than to plow ahead at the expense of others. But more to the point however is that nine years later we have not come to grips with an ideology that has intrinsic anger management issues.

For all the dispositions one might find in any group or individual the one that has the potential be the most devastating, as we were to discover to our horror nine years ago, is one of an uncontrolled temper. Henry Drummond once wrote:

No form of vice, not worldliness, not greed of gold, not drunkenness itself, does more to unchristianize society than an evil temper. For embittering life, for breaking up communities, for destroying the most sacred relationships, for devastating homes, for withering up men and women, for taking the bloom of childhood, in short, for sheer gratuitous misery-producing power this influence stands alone…

The Muslim disposition is one that reacts to any insult, real or imagined, with a self flagellating flag burning hate fest. In the past we just shrugged at such antics. When Islamic religious leaders issued death warrants on writers, cartoonists, or Americans in general we reacted with the same indifference we might show the outbursts of a crazy uncle.

This indifference was a mistake in the past and it is a mistake that was compounded this week by the fear of upsetting an obviously ill tempered people. Kowtowing cannot change an evil disposition it only reinforces it.

We all have our moments when our temper bubbles to the surface of course but as a people the western tradition is centered on love and toleration and if we are ever to change the relationship between our two cultures, if Islam is ever to become compatable to modernity if you will, we have a moral obligation to stand up and scream "enough", just like we would scold a petulant child. This week we missed that opportunity.

Cf: Henry Drummond, "The Greatest Thing in the World"

Warriors vs The Baseball Furies