W is going to turn me into a democrat

On one side, I've got Eshoo, Lantos, Boxer, Dean, and our former senator Cranston all telling me that the Democratic party doesn't want me as a voter or a donor.

But in yesterday's press conference, our president did a pretty impressive job of convincing me that I really really don't want to be a registered Republican either. Effectively, when someone said, "Mr. President, in defending the country, you oughtn't damage it by violating people's civil rights," his reply was essentially this:

"If these people think we shouldn't have a surveillance program to protect the American people, they should stand up and say so: 'Vote for me, and I'll dismantle the security systems that protect America.'"

I'm afraid Fran was right. Simple lies work better.

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And now, after taking a deep breath, I remember this:

There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.
(Pr. 21.30)

None of the current disasters, nothing of our country's current trajectory, is a surprise to God.

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;the Lord scoffs at them. (Ps. 2.4)

Nowhere is it written that the blessings of the Lord will remain upon the United States forever. Like the children of Israel, we have sinned -- we have chosen consumption over compassion, hubris over humility. We neglect the poor at home, we send the military out on adventures and rain bombs upon civilians, we teach our teens to lust after each other, and if they get pregnant we tell them it's OK to kill their babies. And so it looks from here like the Lord sent a lying spirit in the tongues of presidential advisors to ruin us -- to hand us over to... to Babylon? Nineveh? And what then? Will we be like the Philistines, Moabites, and the Jebusites, footnotes to history?

And now it's time for me to write to BCM to see about volunteer opportunities for a crotchety old curmudgeon like me.