"The real issue is whether we can have responsible adult discussions of issues..."

That's from this article by Thomas Sowell on the need for, well, real civility in D.C., instead of ongoing character assassination. He makes the point that while people can obviously differ on policies, there should be no doubt as to their sincerity, at least in the vast majority of instances.

I think that's something everyone, on all sides of our public debates, needs to remember.

Post-election

A belated post-election comment...

I saw the following at the Corner on the 8th, and agreed:

A Little Self-Congratulation?

[Jonah Goldberg]

From a reader:

Rush often talks about one of the main differences between Liberals and Conservatives being the prevailing Liberal attitude of pessimism and anger versus us Republicans and our overwhelming sense of optomism. And as I read The Corner this morning I am seeing life immitate Rush. I recall in 2004 when Bush won again and when the Rs were in charge of everything Democrats flying off the handle and the liberal blogosphere lighting up like a profanity-laden pinball machine. People screaming for recalls and blaming everyone under the sun because of how stunned they were that they could lose. But today, the morning after a rather telling loss, I am drowning in conservative literature and television with pundits and politicians alike focusing inward on how we can change ourselves to recapture the American heart rather than spewing vitriol at the Democratic victors. Our guys lost, fair and square. And they realize that they need to make things better from within before they can expect Americans to vote for them again. And they're already working on it.

Love your work,

This seems pretty obviously true, at least if you compare the respective blogdom reactions to the '04 and '06 elections.

Few kids = sign of better education = good Christian stewardship!

So says the new presiding bishop of the Episcopalian Church, trying to explain (justify?) why her church is dwindling in size.

And along the way she manages to insult Catholics and others.

See more from a terrific Episcopalian blogger here.

The first intuition

The latest book of Msgr. Luigi Giussani -- the founder of the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation, who passed away last year shortly before John Paul the Great -- to be translated into english is The Journey to Truth is an Experience. In the introduction, he notes the first intuition of what would become CL:

... this was a matter of re-launching the announcement of Christianity as a present event of human interest and suitable for anyone who does not want to renounce the fulfillment of his or her hopes and expectations, as well as the use, without diminishment, of the gift of reason.

Amen. Beautiful. This is was attracts/attracted me -- a "being simply Catholic is good enough" kind of guy -- to CL.

[P.S. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since my last post: the election; the failure of SD's ban on abortion; and most importantly, the ordination and installation of our new bishop, Paul Swain. I simply haven't felt inspired to post. Sorry.]