Saw "Prince Caspian" today, the second Narnia movie. This one was a lot more serious, gritty, violent. Not so much a children's movie, though there was nothing graphic. I really liked it. The religious themes were much more subtle, even obscure. Certainly nothing like the blatant spiritual subtext in "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." Even now, based on this movie, I'm not sure what spiritual points C. S. Lewis was making, so I'm wondering how true the book is to the movie or how hard they tried to incorporate his religious themes. But hey--it was a good movie. And when Aslan finally appeared, I about had tears in my eyes.

Posted at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Harley-Davidson has this incredible ad on the back of the May 12 Sports Illustrated. Masterful writing which captures a lot of things about the Harley experience--freedom, country, cynicism, love of the open road, self-empowerment, and a touch of outlaw. Here it is:

We Don't Do Fear
Over the last 105 years in the saddle, we've seen wars, conflicts, depression, recession, resistance, and revolutions. We've watched a thousand hand-wringing pundits disappear in our rear-view mirror. But every time, this country has come out stronger than before. Because chrome and asphalt put distance between you and whatever the world can throw at you. Freedom and wind outlast hard times. And the rumble of an engine drowns out all the spin on the evening news. If 105 years have proved one thing, it's that fear sucks and it doesn't last long. So screw it. Let's ride.

I don't identify with that spirit, but I want to. Makes me want to go buy a Harley. Or I'm just a guy in a mid-life crisis.

They have a website tied to this ad. Go there, and the ad is read in a Flash graphic, with a big open road behind it. Cool.

Posted at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's some simple management philosophy from Mark Cuban. When asked why he fired Avery Johnson as coach of the Dallas Mavericks, Cuban said:

"There's just times when things work until they don't."

I love that. Things change. Honeymoons end. Life marches on.

• We had many great years pastoring our first church, but it ended badly. Dad always said he stayed one year too long.
• Parachurch ministries come and go, and that's okay. They serve an needed purpose in the body of Christ. But many need to accept when it's time to close shop, rather than go into self-perpetuation mode.
• Local church programs lose effectiveness. Can them.

Unless we're talking about marriage. Or the church. There are absolutes to follow.

Posted at 09:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm very interested in Scott McClellen's tell-all book. There will no doubt be many such books telling about the inner workings of the Bush administration, tales that make you cringe and ask, "How did this guy become so powerful?"

But at the same time, out of grudging fairness...Karen Tumulty of Time dug up this quote from Scott McClellen, talking about Richard Clarke's tell-all book in 2004. The exchange occurred at a White House press briefing.

Question: Why do you think he's doing this?

McClellen: Well, why, all of a sudden, if he had all these grave concerns, did he not raise these sooner? This is one-and-a-half years after he left the administration. And now, all of a sudden, he's raising these grave concerns that he claims he had. And I think you have to look at some of the facts. One, he is bringing this up in the heat of a presidential campaign. He has written a book and he certainly wants to go out there and promote that book.

Touche to yourself, Mr. McClellen.

Posted at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm only to page 28, but already I can say, "Wow! I love this book!"

The book is I Became a Christian and All I got was this Lousy T-shirt, by Vince Antonucci, a church planter in Virginia. He's a very funny writer. Reminds me of me, when I was a funny writer (now I'm old and cranky).

The premise is that Christians don't live the adventurous, abundant life Jesus died for. We never take the vacation. The First Century Christians took the vacation, the adventure. We just wear a T-shirt about an adventure we never experience. Is Jesus like a used car salesman, who exaggerates what he's selling?

"The benefits he claims to give to those who say yes to him include abundant life, pure joy in the face of trials, peace that surpasses understanding, power to heal the sick with our prayers, assurance that we will never be tempted in a way we can't handle, fearlessness, and the promise that we will do greater things than Jesus did. How many Christians would say these things are a good description of their lives?"

Posted at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My first table tennis tournament was the St. Joseph Valley Open in March 2007. I left that tournament with an initial rating of 995 with the US Table Tennis Association. I've fancied myself a 1350-1400 player, so I've been trying to push my rating up.

I actually dropped 11 points in my second tournament, the Indiana Open last September. That was a bummer. But in last November's Highland Open, I jumped 97 points, to 1081. Then in March of this year, I gained another 26 points in Indianapolis.

So I entered this year's St. Joseph Valley tournament--by far the biggest tournament I play in--with a rating of 1107. Based on my play, I knew my rating would jump. I just didn't know how much.

The USTTA finally had the new ratings posted yesterday. I jumped 191 points! I couldn't believe it! 191!

So now I'm at 1298. My brother Rick gained 38 points, and now stands at 1310. So I'm creeping up on him.

Rick's rating stood at 873 after last year's St. Joseph Valley tournament, over 100 points below me. But he gained a whopping 248 points at the Indiana Open in September (while I dropped 11), and another 151 at Highland. Those were incredible jumps. His 38 points in this past tournament is still very commendable, but pales against those earlier leaps. Now it's my turn.

Next up: the Indiana Open in September.

Posted at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I spent a good deal of Friday and Saturday at Mom and Dad's garage sale. Here are some random observations:

• It's amazing how you can price something dirt cheap, and someone still wants it for half of that amount. Like that extra 50 cents will break them.
• I got a lot of sunburn. Snuck up on me.
• One lady came back, saying she had given us a ten dollar bill, but only got change for a five. How to prove differently? Pam, a CPA, took her money. Pam don't make money mistakes. But Dad gave the lady a five. Benefit of the doubt. Then she probably went down the street to another garage sale and did the same thing. So says the cynic in me.
• Lots of Hispanics came.
• Women are good at folding clothes. Have some extra gene that guys lack.
• We had two big boxes of Christmas lights, one dollar each. One guy wanted to know if we'd take a dollar for both boxes together. Dad said no. "Then I'm not interested," the guy said. I guess he'd prefer spending $30 at a store.

Posted at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mom and Dad had a big garage sale on Friday and Saturday. Pam took over a bunch of stuff from her Dad's estate, and my niece Paula had gobs of stuff there. Plus Mom and Dad's stuff.

But the star of the sale was Mom's cookies. She made 55 dozen cookies. That's 660 cookies. Sugar, peanut butter, and monster (basically, sugar and M&Ms). Many people who came Friday came back on Saturday to get more cookies. Two ladies even came twice on Saturday. Neighbors in the addition would get some cookies, then send someone else to get more.

So while Dad, Pam, and I were outside selling stuff, Mom was in the kitchen baking cookies. On Saturday morning, she got up at 2:30 to make cookies. Oh yes--she also has several pounds of homemade noodles, but they sold out quickly on Friday.

Mom's been doing the garage sale thing for probably four years now, always making cookies. So she has a reputation. If there's a garage sale, it means Gloria Dennie has cookies. If you bake them, they will come.

Pam and I, by the way, have a dozen peanut butter and a dozen monster cookies here. So much for dieting.

Posted at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's just after 11 pm, and I'm watching the final minutes of the Boston-Detroit game. Rooting for the Celtics.

• I'm bummed that my beloved Suns bowed out so quickly. I've decided the current team doesn't have what it takes. Time to rebuild.
• I despise Robert Horry. He always makes clutch shots and important plays against my teams (I as a big Sacramento fan when he hit that last-second shot). Curses on him, I say, curses.
• Hope to see the Celtics and Lakers in the finals. If that happens, I'll probably cheer for Boston, though I'm a long-time Lakers fan. Fickle.
• If it's San Antonio and Detroit in the finals...I'm sure there's something else I can be doing with my time. B-o-r-i-n-g.
• Kobe really is amazing. He was tame last night, passing up lots of shots. You know that, in this series with San Antonio, he will erupt once or twice with 40-50 points. When he wants to be unstoppable, he is.

Posted at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"The closer you are to the point of need, the more you can charge," writes Seth Godin.

• Airport food is outrageously expensive, but people buy it, because they're stuck.
• If you need a computer part tomorrow, you pay FedEx to make it happen.
• If the pipes burst in your house, you sell your firstborn to pay the plumber.

How do we get close to that point of need?

On Sunday morning at Anchor, and at churches across America, the people listening in the pews certainly have needs. But most are not at a point of urgency. Their lives are at least okay. No need to make any big changes.

But down the road from Anchor is a bar. On Sunday morning, there's probably a guy slouched in a darkened booth nursing a beer, staring blankly, unhappy, not wanting to leave and have to face whatever awaits him--wife and kids, work, bills, an ailing car. He lives with cloud constantly around him, and would love for something to change in his life.

How do we get close to that guy?

Posted at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

While my musical tastes have broadened over the years, at the core I'm a 70s rocker. That's the music I began listening to in my formative, high school years. Do you ever outgrow your musical "first love"? Well, actually, the first album I ever bought was the Carpenters' "Close to You." I don't listen recreationally to Carpenters music anymore...and yet, I perk up when I happen to hear a song from that album.

But at the core, I love "Old Time Rock & Roll," "Jet Airliner," "Joy to the World," "Shambala," and any of the great Stones classics. That's been "my" music for 40 years. I can't imagine out-growing it.

Now let's extrapolate. When I'm 80 years old...will I still be grooving to "Brown Sugar" and "Proud Mary"? Or will I, at some point, graduate to Hank Sr. classics or showtunes? Can you imagine an 80-year-old, sitting in his wheelchair, wearing earphones attached to an iPod and listening silently to Boston?

And yet...why would that NOT be the case?

Posted at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This morning Pastor Tim preached about the importance of church attendance, of not forsaking our gathering together. He used an illustration from his college days, when, after a lifetime of attending church every Sunday, he experimented with not going to church.

It reminded me of my own college days, and some minor hypocrisies which I, and others, engaged in. Back then (the mid-1970s), students dressed up for church. If you showed up for Sunday lunch at the dining hall, but weren't dressed up, your fellow students would assume you skipped church. So, if we had, indeed skipped church, we might actually dress up just for lunch. How you dressed determined whether or not you attended church that morning.

That wouldn't work anymore. Tim preached in bluejeans today. I frequently wear bluejeans as part of the worship team, and will probably wear shorts a few times this summer (if it ever warms up!). At Huntington University dining commons today, you probably couldn't tell the difference between the students who did and didn't attend church this morning. They were probably all wearing bluejeans.

I have no particular point to make. Just musing.

Posted at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

"Better a democracy with scandals than an authoritarian system without scandals." -- Shimon Peres in Newsweek

Posted at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've tried to comment on my posts, you encountered the frustration of having your computer just spin, as if it's trying to send your comment but not getting anywhere. Well, your comments were, indeed, getting to me (often, several copies, as you kept hitting the "post" button). That behavior obviously needed to be corrected on my part. Done.

Posted at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since I was on vacation last week, I decided to tackle two 400+ page novels.

• Sidetracked, by Henning Mankell. This is the fourth Kurt Wallander mystery. I can't say they keep getting better, because the third book in the series, The White Lioness, was my favorite thus far. But this ranks second, and kept me captivated. The novels are set in Sweden (Mankell is Swedish, and the books are translated from Swedish). I love the way national boundaries mean little, and are easily crossed, in Europe.
• Echo Burning, by Lee Child. Robert Parker's PI, Spenser, is the ultimate tough guy. But I'd read that Lee Child's creation, Jack Reacher, might be tougher. I'll need to read more Lee Child books before rendering a verdict. But I found Jack Reacher to be a very unique fellow, and Echo Burning kept me glued to the page. I didn't like the way Reacher figured everything out, using clues not available to the reader (my same criticism of Chandler novels). But I'll definitely read more tales about Jack Reacher.

Posted at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the blogs I read regularly is by Perry Noble, a megachurch pastor in South Carolina. He's authentic, down-to-earth, and earthy.

Yesterday, Perry listed a bunch of statements which completed this sentence: "I don't want to live a life...." Here's the one that really grabbed me:

"I don’t want to live a life in which church becomes normal and routine and the person of Jesus becomes boring and dull."

The thing is, church can be exciting and fulfilling, and Jesus can still be a sideshow. That's what a lifetime in the church can do. There are times when I'm really plugged into Jesus, but other times when I'm very disconnected, despite being engulfed in church work. How to get beyond that...?

Posted at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dentist appointment this morning. Time for a cleaning. Immediately afterwards, I went to Scott's and got a couple donuts. No sense leaving them clean.

Posted at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a really great story. Left me with tears. I had read about it, but seeing this clip is much more meaningful.

Posted at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two thieves broke into Kait Duplaga's New York apartment and stole thousands of dollars of stuff, including a Mac laptop. Duplaga works for an Apple store.

Someone told Duplaga that her Mac was online. Using a different Mac, she gained control of her stolen laptop's system using a remote access feature built into OSX Leopard.

A camera is built into Mac laptops. Duplaga took a photo of the thief sitting there in front of her stolen laptop, and retrieved a photo of the other thief. A roommate recognized both guys, who had been party guests a few weeks earlier. Both have now been arrested.

Posted at 08:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a great quote from Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and other stuff, from his blog:

"I have told just about everyone who has ever partnered or reported directly to me, that I can get so focused or involved that I lose sight of some thing(s).  When that happens, you have done your homework and are confident in your position, and when I don't listen, raise your voice. Figuratively, literally, I don't care.  I don't see decibels as a sign of disrespect. I see fear to communicate a needed message to me as a sign of disrespect. If you don't care enough about our product, customer, company, employee, whatever it may be to step up and let me have it when I'm screwing up, then you don't care enough to be here."

Posted at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been nearly two years since my September 2006 post Ann Kiemel, Wherefore Hast Thou Been? The response has been astounding to me.

Every month, I get several more comments--a total of 45, thus far. Most are by people who were greatly influenced by Ann's writings several decades ago.

If you Google "Ann Kiemel," that post comes to the top.

Ann knows about it, because one of the posts is from her. She's had some great trials in her more recent years, and has always battled insecurity. I trust that these comments are a great encouragement to her.

Posted at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Pam and I saw Ironman today, our first theatre experience of 2008. Loved it.

• Great performance by Robert Downey Jr.
• Beautifully written script. I loved the writing.
• Lots of humor. I laughed a lot.
• Very clean. I'm not sure there was any swearing (though I can be numb to that).
• A pleasant surprise to see Gwyneth Paltrow. Didn't realize she was in it.

Posted at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm still searching for the spiritual application. So help me out.

I'm taking the week off, staying at home. I've just finished taking a shower, and now I'm sitting in our screened-in porch reading a good Christian book, Confessions of a Pastor, by Craig Groeschel. I've just finished his excellent chapter "I Feel Inadequate," and now I've started the chapter "I Stink at Handling Criticism." As I read, I keep an eye on Jordi, who is out in the grass.

After reading a couple pages, I look up--and no Jordi. He probably went around the side of the house. I stand up, pressing my face to the screen to peer around the corner. Just then a bird flies overhead. And also just then, my head is splattered with something wet but not terribly cold. Bullseye.

Bird poop. Wonderful.

The screen shows six splotches, close together. Direct hit. That bird should train F-117 pilots.

I go inside and wash myself off. And then, already being in a spiritual frame of mind, begin pondering the meaning of it all.

Since I was reading about handling criticism, was God telling me how people blame him for everything? Even an accidental bath from above? On the other hand, if this was an intentional lesson...then God IS to blame.

Or maybe it's the "stink" part of Groeschel's chapter. Criticism stinks, and handling criticism badly stinks. Is that a lesson God would go out of his way to make? Seems pretty shallow to me.

No, it must be something else. Something more than a euphemistic Stuff Happens. I'll continue meditating on this throughout the day.

Posted at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rush Limbaugh is far from my favorite person. He's just a loud-mouth, totally partisan, highly divisive show-boater. The world would be a better place without him. And he obviously has little respect for American democracy. He encourages Republicans to play games with the process by crossing over and voting for Hillary, just to keep the Democratic primary going. It probably cost Obama the Indiana primary.

Why does Rush have so little respect for the right to vote? Why does he encourage people to use their vote as a prank? I view the vote as a great privilege? Isn't that what we preach around the world? People die for the sake of their vote, for goodness sakes!

Rush thinks it's a big hoot. I can't imagine playing childish games with my vote. And yet, untold mindless hordes worship Rush's utterings, and actually voted against their true conscience. Is this what we want to teach the world, and our own children, about democracy?

How did Americans become so flippant about their vote?

Posted at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was my appointment with Dr. D, the dizziness specialist at Ear Nose and Throat Associates. After waiting an hour, Pam and I were ushered into a tiny room, and a few minutes later, Dr. D came in.

I explained how I'd been diagnosed with Meniere's Disease, and that my experience over the past several years was consistent with all the research I'd done about Meniere's Disease. But now, it seemed that my symptoms had gone to another level. I used the term "Meniere's Disease" several times.

After some more talk, Dr. D said, "You may have a condition we call Meniere's Disease." And he went on to explain it, while I was thinking, "Oh crap."

In other words, he hadn't been paying attention to anything I told him. Was probably thinking, "Great, another patient with an amateur diagnosis of a very complicated medical condition." He let me ramble on, get it out of my system, until he could take over, rush things along, and try to get back on schedule.

Well, anyway, he gave me a couple prescriptions--one for when a vertigo episode strikes, another to help remove salt from my system (basically, by making me run to the restroom every five minutes). I'll take a test on June 2 at ENT's Balance Center which will confirm that, yes, indeed, Dr. D is brilliantly correct: I do have Meniere's Disease. And we'll go from there.

I am totally inspired with confidence.

Posted at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pam and I spent Saturday night in South Bend, since I would be playing in the table tennis tournament at 9 a.m. We decided to go early enough to attend the 5:30 Saturday night service at Granger Community Church. We'd been wanting to attend a service there, and this was our chance.

Granger, which always ranks high among America's most innovative churches, is tightly focused on reaching the lost. There are a number of such megachurches across the country doing some amazing ministry. Last fall while on vacation, we attended another one: Quest Community Church in Lexington, Tenn. These churches magnetically attract unfair criticism for "compromising" the Gospel. But they're reaching people that more traditional churches never touch. Don't get self-righteously petty about that.

Here are some random reflections from Granger:

• A guy in a cowboy hat, with a high "howdy" quotient, welcomed us on the sidewalk. I liked him.
• Just inside the door, a big line had formed at the cafe/coffeeshop.
• The sanctuary was like a big, three-section hotel ballroom, with chairs set up in a sideways format.
• An impressive number of people--hundreds--for this Saturday night service (with another coming at 7:30).
• When the band came out before the service started, they were just silhouettes against a white background. Looked cool.
• The band did a superb instrumental jam for the prelude.
• We sang two or three songs, and then got right into the message.
• The sermon series is "Get in the Game." They did an amazing video which put two people inside a shoot-em-up video game. This took time to develop.
• Granger expends a lot of energy branding each sermon series, and it's impressive.
• The "Pastor of Life Mission" gave the message. Very energetic dude. I wasn't taking any notes, but didn't notice any traditional structure to his message. That doesn't bother me. I'm a writer who tires of the creativity-challenged "three points and a poem" thing.
• At least 90% of the people wore bluejeans. Maybe 95%. Bluejeans everywhere. As we walked from the parking lot, with dozens of other people--not a non-bluejean in sight. The worship team, the ministers--bluejeans. True, it was bluejean weather--rainy, chilly. But it was almost like bluejeans was the official Granger uniform, and the prevalence amused me. As for Pam and me: bluejeans.

Posted at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pam and I watched "Once" tonight. Wow, what a charming movie! Mostly a modern musical, set on the streets of an English city. Probably 60% music.

• No villain. In fact, no unlikable characters, period.
• No conflict.
• No denouemont. There's a word I haven't used since creative writing class.
• Parents, but not the typical disapproving parents (always a cheap source of plot conflict).
• No professional actors.

My brother, Rick, told me to see "Once," and added, "You can thank me later." Well Rick: thanks.

Posted at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back from the St. Joseph Valley table tennis tournament. Started playing at 9 a.m. and finished around 2:30. To improve your rating with the US Table Tennis Association, you need to beat higher-ranked players. I did that three times today, and came within a centimeter (11-9 in the fifth game) of beating the highest-ranked player I played today. So I done good.

My brother Rick (who also blogged about the tournament) played well, too. We entered the same three categories, and thankfully, didn't have to play each other.

Posted at 07:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Polished off a couple of quick fiction reads recently: "Million Dollar Baby" by Robert Parker, and "Grifter's Game," by Lawrence Block. But since I'm taking all next week off, I started a big fat fiction book: "Sidetracked," a Kurt Wallander mystery by Henning Mankell. My fourth book by him. Forty pages in, I'm hooked. This will be another intricate winner.

Posted at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I attended the "Hit the Bullseye" conference in Lima, Ohio. A lot of good stuff there, even though I felt sick the first day.

Here are some notes from "Leading Change in an Emerging Congregation," by Brad Stahl. I took this workshop on Wednesday afternoon.

• The emergent church is more about attitude than about age. Which thrilled me, because quite a few postmodern strains run through me, and I'm an old guy.
• Some people will minister to, some with, and some as post-moderns. The workshop leader was in the "to" and "with" category, but didn't consider himself thoroughly post-modern at the core.
• The most dynamic testimonies come from people who are still struggling with their faith. But in traditional churches, we stink at admitting any struggles.
• We know there are absolutes, but postmoderns don't.
• Sermons should be more an investigation of ideas than a sharing of objective truth. Lay the pieces out and let them put it together.
• Builders (pre-1946) come for the sermon; boomers (1946-64) come for the high energy and quality; busters (1965-1980s) come for what they can feel--the music and worship.
• Postmoderns value authenticity. If you screwed up, tell them you screwed up. They'll relate to that, forgive you, and move on.
• "I haven't had a 'sweet hour of prayer' in years. I don't pray that way." Likewise for yours truly.
• Conversion is a process. They can't always pinpoint when they became a Christian.
• You can reach people 20 years older than you and 20 years younger. Interesting idea. So I'm no longer relevant to anyone under the age of 31.
• What you win people with, you win them to. You can't expect to transition them to a service with a different style of music and preaching.
• Post-moderns don't want to commit to something unworthy of their commitment. But they'll buy into radical commitment. We boomers were the original non-joiners, but still do a lot of stuff out of duty. Post-moderns don't know from duty.
• They like the idea of "hanging out." Don't want things to be planned. They engage with chaos. Uh...not me on this one.
• Why am I the only United Brethren in this workshop? Out of the 40 UBs attending this conference?

Posted at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Watched "The Brave One," with Jody Foster. Enjoyed it. Nice vigilante flick, with a somewhat surprising ending. I really didn't have a clue how it was going to end, which always makes a movie more interesting.

Posted at 09:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think this election is thrilling. But a lot of people don't.

I talked to someone yesterday who said, basically, "This country is so messed up, what with this crazy election and everything." I regularly hear people complaining about how the Democratic primary just keeps going and going. But that doesn't mean anything's messed up.

It's called democracy in action. We just haven't had anything close like this in a long time, preferring to crown someone early on (Queen Hillary, takest thou the mantle to smite the evil Republicans). This is like a Super Bowl going down to the wire. Yes, it's going into a lot of overtimes at this point, and we'd all like to turn off the TV and go to bed. But yet, this is "we the people" at work. It's what our country is about. People aren't being arrested, beaten, or prevented from voting, like in other countries. We the people are deciding something gravely important.

The super delegates are not "we the people." They can overturn the popular primary vote. The question is: will they? Or will they respect the voice of the people? That's what I'm waiting to see. But at the same time, we respect the systems that we vote into place. The Democrats, by their own vote, adopted the super-delegate system. And as a country, we adopted, together, the system which enabled George Bush to become president despite not winning the popular vote.

So it's either "we the people," or "we the system which we the people adopted." Either way, it's American democracy in action. And I find it thrilling to watch, despite all the collateral pettiness.

Posted at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)