Disqus - Latest Comments for SouthernLawProf

Re: Much ado about socialism

SouthernLawProf — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:33:24 -0000

what . . . and reap the ire of those calling for your imminent demise?

Re: A note about Christian attitudes during this election

SouthernLawProf — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:10:32 -0000

Yes, "if I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong . . .. If I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own . . . so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. [F]aith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13: 1-3; 13.

Living the Great Commandment, even and especially in times of division, is a sign of eternal time.

Re: Much ado about socialism

SouthernLawProf — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:36:59 -0000

. . . and yet, I surmise that if the Government or any other entity/person attempted to "dip into" and "redistribute" Mr. Moran's hard earned gains, his notions of "mine is mine but your is ours" might undergo some deeper, more reflective cogitation. In this country we have laws against the illicit procuration of another's property . . . it's called theft. I am very much in favor of personal investiture and support of those brothers and sisters in need of hard times hand outs and steps up; many of us may come round this way at some point in our lives. Not only does our Government encourage private charitable actions (it has laws which speak to such), many faith traditions extol the virtues and necessity of such. Do we truly need the Government to mandate any additional moral/ethical areas of our lives? What's next . . . a Constitutional amendment to rid ourselves of the Constitution?

Re: A note about Christian attitudes during this election

SouthernLawProf — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:32:47 -0000

I share your sentiment; I appreciate your unabashed belief in the humanity of us all. I went to Maryland this weekend to participate and joy in a friend's First Profession (first vows) into the Sisters of Bon Secour. Even there, in that place of peace, this campaign was being heatedly discussed and visciously sundered. In the last 25 years of my voting life, I cannot remember an election so divisive and cruel. Like you and so many others, I pray that as Americans -- regardless of faith tradition -- we remember we are one country, one people. This country's forefathers founded this country as one people united together from many peoples and places, and one country under God. We would do well to remember our roots this day and all that follow, regardless of Presidential victor. (By the way, Catholics are Christian, too :)!)

Re: Much ado about socialism

SouthernLawProf — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:08:58 -0000

Mr. Keith, neither your point of view nor points in argument are lost on me. I believe we are in a pendulum phase of social concern and unrest, both in the States and abroad. History evidences that when we enter into such phases, fear escalates and people either entrench, retrench, or seek outward for the new (America was born through such as this). Although I am not an Obama supporter, I grasp the appeal he has for many, again, both here and abroad. Mr. Obama represents a possible new beginning, potentially new answers for many Americans tired of old, worn issues -- war, economy, education, health care, social security. Because he is most assuredly new, "untried" -- and America often prides Herself on new, untried approaches (from nation building to technological innovation) -- he represents what is, perhaps, good about who we are, how we are culturally. Moreover, after eight years of unrest on many frontiers (social, economic, internation), numerous Americans are ready for change. Mr. McCain represents the "old order," if you will. Certainly, as a Republican, he causes many to fear "more of the same old" [you name the issue/solution]. As a man is his 70's, he does not physically represent "new"; as a long time government servant, neither does he represent "untried." But, many Amercans find him appealing because of these very qualities: hopefully, with age comes wisdom; he is a "tried under fire" war veteran, a survivor; he has years of experience in politics/government. Mr. McCain represents somewhat more the tested traditional and Mr. Obama the unimagined potential. Additionally, I believe the high percentage of undecided voters in our country demonstrates the pull between these two poles.

Personally, I believe history is a great teacher, especially as it pertains to social (the Greeks post-Troy) and governmental (the Romans post-kings to republic) change. Those who learn from it acquire a wisdom of the ages and assimilate it for the purpose of change, but change wrought in a focused and informed manner. Change without these attributes is often amorphous with far reaching, often adverse consequences (Russia after the break up of the USSR). Continuing the analogy of poles, I think America is most assuredly moving toward the middle -- not quite the capitalistic idealists of yester-year and not quite the full blown socialists toward which the Left is leading. But, even the Right is leaning left (or at least more toward the middle). Perhaps this swing of the pendulum is reactionary and will be a short lived endeavor preceding entrenchment/retrenchment toward capitalistic roots. Then, perhaps it is, as you intimate in your post, a sign of social/political change. I believe Russia feels this global pull toward change and is retrenching. Where America goes is still a question to be pondered, even if Mr. Obama is elected President today. My concern is whether America will seek change in a conscientious, focused, and informed manner, looking to history for lessons learned; or, whether we will grasp at new straws of change -- formless, without precision -- for the sake of change and, thereby, find ourselves reaping as we sowed.

However, this election/campaign is running toward closure this day. We will soon have the results after grinding our way through 2 years of diatribe and discontent. And tomorrow, regardless of today's outcome, the motto of our country will still bind us: E pluribus unum -- out of many, one. And as one country -- as yet indivisible, as yet under God -- we will move forward in change. My prayer is that our change will be consciously conceived and mindfully implemented, not haphazardly conjectured and ruefully effected.

Re: As goes Michigan

SouthernLawProf — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:44:51 -0000

Perhaps Americans are sick of the Bush era and are clamoring for change. However, unlike the debate over which Olympic athlete should grace the Wheaties box, Americans are deciding which candidate is the most qualified to be the next President of the United States. In order to make the most informed decision possible, the American people should be given the opportunity to view each candidate through an unbiased media lens. The media should strive for objective reporting, to the extent it is capable of such (understanding we are often blind to our own underlying bias). The Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- all of the these should be portrayed across the board for both candidates and their running mates. You speak of Palin being portrayed as a "fish out of water"; she is the VP candidate, not the Presidential candidate. Obama is the Presidential candidate and he, clearly, is a fish-out -of experiential water. Even with all the positive and redacted Obama coverage, I still see a facade, a shell being paraded across the media fronts. The question I have is where is the substance? And, if Mr. Obama is elected, will those who voted for him like what the rest of us who do not already see -- a slick image, an inarticulate extemporaneous speaker, an indecisive fence straddler, an inexperienced puppet manufactured by the DNC. I suppose Mr. Obama does resonate with many Americans who have chosen the "drive-through" convenience approach to voting, one that requires very little physical or mental expenditure: "Look, honey, let's choose this product because it has the prettier picture." Informed decisions are still radical in that they require one to actively engage on all fronts. In actuality, I suppose the media is giving many Americans what they most desire: drive through convenience; a hard, fact driven opportunity to engage in critical thinking for the highest position in US govt, be damned.

Re: As goes Michigan

SouthernLawProf — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:56:47 -0000

I applaud you for your courage to speak out against the rising tide (tsumani, really) that is the apparently uncontested election of Barak Obama -- at all costs -- including national truth, character, and integrity. Additionally, I share your dismay, because I, too, "really just don't get it." Regarding this election, I recently shared with a friend I feel as if I am witnessing, first hand, the historically inevitable dismantling of the very foundations of our country -- truth, honor, fortitude, goodness --and by our own. If the deconstructionists were a foreign force, we would promptly unite and roundly defend ourselves against those who would ravage our us. Freedom on all fronts -- even foreign ones -- is our national pride and international fame (or infamy, according to some --including Barak Obama). That being the case, since when did we as a people give up our right to freedom of thought and choice? Since when did we ever need someone or something -- including our modern day synchophantic media machine -- to tell us who we are as a country or a people? Since when did we begin to value guillibility, or worse yet, complacency, as that prize to be lauded above all else? What probably confounds me the most about this election is our seeming wholesale willingness to place national honor and security into the hands of a phantom, one whose media endorsed shell game (the identity of the real Barak Obama is surely hidden under one of the cups) has captivated a nation. As disconcerting is our unwillingness to hear, and to truly believe what we have heard in, the unedited remarks Barak Obama: the man who speaks about his opinions and understandings of Reverend Wright; the man who speaks his opinions and understandings of national economy and wealth; the man who speaks his opinions about life and its value. Yet, this is the prince to whom the media has chosen to give the keys to the kingdom. Although I speaketh as one in a much less vaunted position of influence -- this is a man whom I would not bother to follow around a common street corner, much less elect to lead my country for 4 years.