Politics Blog

I haven’t seen The Passion and probably won’t; I’m not a Christian and The Passion is probably far too graphic for me to watch it as just another movie.

But critics of the movie are missing an important point. As Kevin M. Cherry put it in NRO:

The Passion is supposed to be punishing; the death of Christ on the cross is, for Christians, supposed to leave “a deep, abiding aftertaste.” It is supposed to remind us of the intense physical pain which Christ suffered on our behalf, the price he paid for our sins. It is not simply that Christ became man and died, but that He died in an extraordinarily painful and gruesome fashion. That was the price necessary to redeem God’s prodigal children.

…

Without this agony, Jesus would be no more than another prophet, perhaps no more than a provocative moral teacher in the manner of Confucius, Socrates, and Buddha. The death and resurrection of Jesus are the fundamental events of the Christian faith. The moral teachings that came before cannot be understood without reference to the Passion. But more than that, the Passion is the exemplar of what it means to love: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”

That’s certainly a much more important rationale for depicting violence on screen than, say, the plot of a Quentin Tarantino movie.

— PoliPundit

I haven’t seen The Passion and probably won’t; I’m not a Christian and The Passion is probably far too graphic for me to watch it as just another movie.

But critics of the movie are missing an important point. As Kevin M. Cherry put it in NRO:

The Passion is supposed to be punishing; the death of Christ on the cross is, for Christians, supposed to leave “a deep, abiding aftertaste.” It is supposed to remind us of the intense physical pain which Christ suffered on our behalf, the price he paid for our sins. It is not simply that Christ became man and died, but that He died in an extraordinarily painful and gruesome fashion. That was the price necessary to redeem God’s prodigal children.

…

Without this agony, Jesus would be no more than another prophet, perhaps no more than a provocative moral teacher in the manner of Confucius, Socrates, and Buddha. The death and resurrection of Jesus are the fundamental events of the Christian faith. The moral teachings that came before cannot be understood without reference to the Passion. But more than that, the Passion is the exemplar of what it means to love: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”

That’s certainly a much more important rationale for depicting violence on screen than, say, the plot of a Quentin Tarantino movie.

— PoliPundit

If gay marriage is “divisive” and passing a federal constitutional amendment would “write bigotry into the constitution,” why is John Kerry supporting an amendment to the Massachusetts stateconstitution to ban gay marriage? Isn’t that “divisive” and isn’t that “writing bigotry into the state constitution?”

— PoliPundit

“Those men who dragged James Byrd behind that truck in Texas – they deserve the death penalty. And I think there are some crimes that deserve the ultimate penalty.”

– John Edwards, justifying his support for the death penalty (John Kerry has voted against the death penalty for terrorists.)

Couldn’t Edwards’ line be used much more effectively by President Bush in a debate with Kerry? It’s a fourfer. It’ll remind voters that Bush was a governor, whereas Kerry is a senator. It’ll remind voters that Bush is from Texas and Kerry is from Massachusetts. It’ll inform voters that Kerry is a liberal who voter against the death penalty for terrorists. And it’ll allow Bush to pander to African-Americans and soccer moms by reminding them that he put James Byrd’s racist murderers to death when he was governor.

— PoliPundit

The Old York Times’ editorial endorsing John Kerry was breathtakingly partisan. I thought I’d make fun of it; but I’ll defer to RealClear Politics.

— PoliPundit

One reason all those jobs are being outsourced to India is that, after the Soviet Union collapsed, socialist governments across Asia began de-regulating their economies. So now India finally has its share of billionaires, like this guy.

But all those Asian countries have a long way to go if they want to become like the capitalist utopia of Dubai. It’s a rich Arab country that only gets 8.5 percent of its GDP from oil. How did Dubai do that? By not having any taxes!

— PoliPundit

An interesting factoid from The Note:

National Journal’s new 2003 congressional vote rankings rates John Kerry the most liberal senator.

As you may also recall, Kerry’s lifetime rating from ADA, the prominent liberal group, is higher than Ted Kennedy’s.

UPDATE: Drudge has more.

— PoliPundit

Here’s some info on the Bush campaign’s upcoming ad campaign:

The Bush-Cheney campaign got one step closer to launching its ad campaign which is still slated to begin next week.

The campaign will feature at least two English language ads (at least one of 30 seconds and one that will be a minute spot) and at least one Spanish language ad, with the potential for more.

According to various Republican, Democratic, and television sources, BC04 will spend about $425,000 on cable networks MSNBC and CNBC, $650,000 on CNN and will focus $1.3 million toward ad time on Fox News Channel, perhaps a sign that the election really is a lot about getting out the base.

An additional $800,000 will be spent to run ads on Fox Sports, mainly during NASCAR events, in an effort to reach out to the trendy swing group of NASCAR dads. But if you are a sports fan who’s not into racing, you might also find BC04 ads on ESPN and the Golf Channel.

All these numbers (sketchy as they are) seem to be through May-ish, and if we are wildly off, please don’t sue us.

Campaign officials have said that the first spots will be positive.

UPDATE: There’s more here and here. (via Political Wire)

— PoliPundit

You know those kooky conspiracy theories Weasel Clark used to peddle before he imploded? His supporters seem to be even kookier. One of them thinks I’m anti-semitic because I used the phrase “Weasel Clark.” Here’s the brilliant explanation of why that’s anti-semitic:

“The references to Clark as ‘weasel’ Clark are very interesting. Are they subliminally freudian slips of the tongue; or just the obvious play on words(names)? Let me clarify: during the rise of the Nazi party, the surfacing anti-semitic propaganda’s use of ‘weasel’ in reference to Jews was wide-spread (second to the reference of rats). Did you know that Clark was half Jewish?”

The person who wrote that complains that his charge “remained unpublished” on this site. I wish he’d brought it to my attention when he wrote it. I would never have passed up something that funny.

UPDATE: Reader Marissa points out that talk-radio host Michael Medved, who is Jewish, always says “Weaselly Clark.” I guess he really hates himself.

— PoliPundit

Marie Antoinette was a limousine liberal.

— PoliPundit