REPORT TO LIBERAL, THE NEW DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ROME, ITALY:
The USA in 2012 Under President Obama
Published in Liberal, May 14, 2008
"One of the wisest American former officials I know asked me two nights ago: 'Michael, put on your thinking cap, and tell me where the United States will be four years from now, it Barack Obama is President.' I had been trying to avoid that question in my own mind. I have tried to tell myself the old proverb (told me by my father) 'God takes care of children, drunks and the United States of America.' I have tried to imagine that Obama will NOT be President...." Read more...
One of the Great Experiences of My Life...
Posted on National Review Online's "The Corner," May 12, 2008
Occurred the afternoon of Mother's Day — Karen and I attended the Washington Bach Consort's performance of J.S. Bach's "St. Matthew's Passion." For some years, led to this music by friends, I have been willing to agree that this is one of the greatest works in the repertory of the world. But Sunday's performance was the best I have ever heard of this sublime work. The experience was artistically breathtaking. But it was also humbly and touchingly religious, loving, attentive to Bach's own love for the Lord.
It is hard to get a piece artistically perfect (as perfect as humans get). It is not twice as difficult to get a piece religiously perfect at the same time, but rather twice squared.
One could almost visibly see that the whole ensemble — soloists, orchestra, chorale, and maybe above all its director (and maestro of everything) J. Reilly Lewis — were at prayer. It seemed that they were also touched by their own work. They achieved an extremely rare combination of two high spiritual skills: true artistic genius and true prayer.
If you don't know the Washington Bach Consort, look for an opportunity to hear it, even on CD.
REPORT TO LIBERAL, THE NEW DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ROME, ITALY:
Now Indiana and North Carolina
Posted on May 5, 2008
"Ten days ago those doing the cold analysis of the numbers were writing that, mathematically, Senator Obama cannot lose. But then Obama’s clever, self-promoting pastor from Chicago, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, took to national television for three successive appearances, and almost derailed the Senator’s campaign...Obama stands revealed as no white knight, no imperturbable and masterly hero. He is only a man...The Democrats have a habit of falling in love with relatively unknown presidential candidates, whom they briefly idealize. McGovern, Carter, Dukakis, even the obscure Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton." Read more...
Remembering 1968
Published in National Review, May 5, 2008.
"In the oft-derided cant phrases of the day, many in the 1960s sought to "seek their own identity" and "find themselves." Had these vacuous slogans been replaced with the Socratic dictum "the unexamined life is not worth living," this quest for identity might have received, not instant mockery, but some degree of respect. The quest was a starting point for millions of American youths, and understanding why the question "Who am I?" became especially insistent during the years 1964-68 is essential to understanding that turbulent era." Read more...
Did Pennsylvania Deflate Obama?
Published in National Review Online, April 24, 2008.
"The American Left is the party of procedures, the party of Utopia, the party of Rulemakers. They cannot help themselves—they must manage everything by exact and intricate rules. The rules they made last time for how delegates are to be selected for this year’s election have had unintended consequences (as rules always do), that have tied them in knots.
Trying to be exquisitely “fair” and managerial, the Democrats forgot one thing. The point of a nomination process is to come out with a clear winner, behind whom everybody in the party can enthusiastically unite, in order to beat the nominee of the other party in November. The Democrats frequently lose sight of their ultimate purpose, by searching pathetically for utopian procedures to get there." Read more...
What Rift?
Posted on "The Corner," National Review Online, April 19, 2008.
"The real question for Sally Quinn is, “What Rift?” At no time in history could one assume that most Catholics lived in full accord with “the mind of the church.” A rough unity was what realists hoped for. It was in fact no small achievement to keep outbreaks of discord from reaching scandalous proportions. Eras of peace and harmony were highly valued, but not quite common, and never to be taken for granted. Church history is a marvelous story of conflicts and turbulent discord.
The essential points of unity among Catholics are, actually, very few — the river of faith must be shallow enough for the frail and weak to wade through, and deep enough, with most powerful currents, to challenge the best that is in the bravest and most adventurous and most inquiring." Read more...
A Surprise for Pope Benedict!
Posted on "The Corner," National Review Online, April 16, 2008.
"300 yellow and white Vatican flags snap in the breeze along Pennsylvania Avenue in the hours before Benedict XVI arrived. When taken to his rooms at the Apostolic Nunciature on Massachusetts Avenue (just opposite the Vice President’s home) the pope should have discovered, hanging on the wall, a life size portrait of himself by the great Russian émigré painter, Igor Babailov. 
Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio, said in advance that the portrait catches the pope’s shyness, strength, and almost physical presence, in stirring colors of light gold against the dark. Best of all, the figure of the risen Christ towers above Pope Benedict, which is as it should be for one called to be the Vicar of Christ.
That the portrait was painted in the United States, and presented in the United States, is thoroughly fitting. It will mark the occasion of the pope’s visit for a great many generations into the future. In its style and presentation the portrait reaches back to the traditions of the great artists of the Renaissance. It does so by lovingly capturing the details of the human being, from the calm fire in the pope’s eyes to the realistic depiction of his fingers. Barely discernible in the background are Michelangelo’s dome of St. Peter’s, a slightly brighter sky around Benedict XVI’s coat of arms, and below that three burning candles honoring the Trinity and, reflected in their light, the pages of the Missal with all its readings from the Bible.
Babailov has rendered portraits of many famous personages from Pope John Paul II to Frederick Hart, the American sculptor, pianist Byron Janis, President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Former First Lady Hillary R. Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and such athletes as Boomer Esiason and Tiki Barber. His work can be seen here."
Popes Must Speak Out for Peace
Posted on "The Corner" at National Review Online, April 14, 2008
"The role and munus (office, burden, duty) of the Presidents of nations are different. Presidents must make a probable judgment about the long-run implications both of inaction and action, and about what in the long run will have been the most creative path for them to have taken...The Pope is not primarily a political player, and yet the cultural and moral power of his words and actions may this week well have long political consequences. On the record, we are entitled to have confidence in Benedict's bravery, balance of mind, and concern to do his duty." Read more...
American Benediction
Published in National Review on April 21, 2008
"Yet the most important point of the Pope's American visit is a pastoral stirring of the Catholic faithful in the United States. One should watch carefully the tenor of his talks to a large body of Catholic educators, to bishops and clergy, and, via television, to millions of laypeople and their fellow Americans. The text for the Pope's address to the United Nations should also be given special attention. Some who should know say that it will be a profound recapitulation of the body of ideas about natural law and universal human rights in which the United Nations (under significant Catholic leadership, by the way) was conceived." Read more...
Kabuled Together #4.5
A NEW, ON THE GROUND REPORT FROM SUSAN OF KABUL
Posted on April 10, 2008.
"It made the news here earlier this week that a military airdrop of supplies of food and weapon parts was accidentally airdropped in the wrong location. And, according to the mayor of the town, the pallet of food and supplies landed right in front of the house of a Taliban leader. The pallets, of course were looted and ravaged, and everything was taken. Hopefully the weapons parts were just parts that can't be assembled properly without other parts but who knows. So it was all over the local news in this particular province about the misdrop of supplies and how the Taliban benefited. My question is this: If the mayor of the town KNOWS that a Taliban leader lives in that house, why are we accidentally dropping food pallets there rather than purposefully dropping precision bombs? This is just me thinkin'." Read more...
Kabuled Togerther #3.5
A NEW, ON THE GROUND REPORT FROM SUSAN OF KABUL
Posted on April 8, 2008.
"Then it dawned on me…as different as the cultures are, what's happening here is much like what's happening in Iraq. They're all in hoarding and survival mode. At first I was irritated that they'd ask for more equipment and cars when we've already supplied them with more than they need. But then I remembered that the culture here is very different. Cars and equipment here equal status. And status equals power. So cars that are purchased for office use, are often driven home and parked in driveways to show the neighbors power and status. It's the "I must be important, I've got 15 cars in my driveway" mentality. I guess I can't blame them for hoarding….that would be the pot calling the kettle black. I got busted by my office mates for hoarding chocolate Easter eggs from the chow hall in my office desk drawer….how embarrassing is THAT? But again, it's survival mode out here." Read more...
Kabuled Together #2.5
A NEW, ON THE GROUND REPORT FROM SUSAN OF KABUL
Posted on April 2, 2008.
"No, I do not think we are losing…here or in Iraq. I do not think we will ultimately lose...here or in Iraq. In fact, having seen both places up close and personal, I have no doubt we are winning and will win in both places. But, these things do take time. So when I said I have despair for the inevitable, I meant the grueling process of attaining the victories. And the process IS grueling. Not only the process of actually fighting the fight (a nightmare I thankfully cannot even begin to comprehend)." Read more...
Kabuled Together #1.5
SUSAN OF BAGHDAD IS NOW SUSAN OF KABUL!
On the ground reports continue from her new base in Kabul, Afghanistan. (March 31, 2008)
"Things have changed dramatically in Baghdad since I left last June. When I was there, it was darn right scary with rockets and mortars and things going BOOM all the time. We've been here for a week now. The only explosion I've heard thus far was a controlled detonation yesterday. Of course, they didn't announce that there would be a controlled detonation. So while merrily typing along at my computer, there was a HUGE blast, the windows rattled and I was instantly reminded that no matter how much you THINK you are prepared for these types of sounds, you never quite are. Then, ten minutes later, a voice came on the loudspeaker announcing that the explosion was controlled.....HELLO?? Could we PLEASE announce these things ahead of time??? Sheesh!!" Read more...
REPORT TO LIBERAL, THE NEW DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ROME, ITALY:
Reflections on the Holocaust: Season of Passover
Posted on March 27, 2008
"Of the hundred million violently killed in the twentieth century, Jews were almost the only people systematically slated for genocide. I can think of nothing so evil as what happened to six million Jews under the Nazis: people put to death not for anything they did but for who they were. I have been at scholarly conferences in which sociologists who once denied the existence of pure evil said they were revising their thinking.
Why were the Jews singled out? No pragmatic, rational or even irrational explanation satisfies. Whatever you conclude, a residue of mystery remains. By “mystery” is meant not a problem to be unpacked, or a case to be solved. All that is just-plain-everyday rational. A mysterium is of a different order. A mysterium is something above our level of understanding. On a different wavelength. Some powerful meaning lies therein, but beyond our powers to penetrate. All ordinary rational reasons are insufficient. We don't expect even an Einstein one day to resolve it. It is not just a puzzle. It is more dreadful than that." Read more...
REPORT TO LIBERAL, THE NEW DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ROME, ITALY:
Another Turbulent Week in the Election
Posted on March 20, 2008
"I would have said a week ago that Senator Barack Obama was a sure thing in the presidential nomination race of 2008...But the shiny veneer of Senator Obama’s public image has been severely dented this past week. Perhaps most importantly – as the harsh charges issued between himself and Senator Clinton, and the deepening bitterness between their two camps, become more apparent to the public – the thought is dawning: This candidate who so eloquently promises a new level of national unity never before seen cannot even bring unity to his own political party. How will he be able to do so with the Republicans and others?" Read more...
Professor Michael Heller, physicist and philosopher, wins the Templeton Prize
Professor Heller responds: "Science is but a collective effort of the Human Mind to read the Mind of God from question marks out of which we and the world around us seem to be made. To place ourselves in this double entanglement is to experience that we are a part of the Great Mystery. Another name for this Mystery is the Humble Approach to reality – the motto of all John Templeton Foundation activities. The true humility does not consist in pretending that we are feeble and insignificant, but in the audacious acknowledgement that we are an essential part of the Greatest Mystery of all – of the entanglement of the Human Mind with the Mind of God." Read more...
For details on the Templeton Prize and a full biography of Professor Heller, see www.templetonprize.org.