So says Andrew Sullivan:

"Bush and Gerson are big-government liberals under their skin, men who hijacked conservatism for Christianist socialism. Their only serious difference with the old Dixiecrats was that they wouldn't tax anyone for the spending - they just borrowed it from the Chinese."

I grow very weary of Sullivan's constant "Christianist" rant to the point that it is difficult to read his blog much anymore. But I think he is right on the money here especially the part about borrowing from the Chinese. Though he could have just as easily said "they just stole from Americans through inflationary practices".

...what a rational, reasonable, stunningly intelligent supporter of the War in Iraq has to say about it, I strongly urge you to read Victor Davis Hanson's piece in National Review Online.

Hanson founded the Classics Department at Cal-Fresno and is an expert on military history. He's also certainly no shill for Bush, as NRO fans know.

I sincerely doubt anyone here will change anyone's mind on the Iraq war, at least not anytime soon. But it's good for both sides to look beyond their stereotypes about their opponents and see a reasonable case being made.

Although he didn't hit the ball out of the ball park, Governor Bill Richardson is still the most qualified person with the best ideas on how to run this country.

Watch his first two campaign ads if you don't believe me.

I watched the Democratic Presidential Debate tonight and here are my knee-jerk thoughts. (full disclosure: I'm a strong, strong Richardson backer)

We urge you to send this form letter to Fernando Coronel, the Press Director at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Washington:

Fernando.Coronel@embanic.org

To the Honorable Fernando Coronel:

In the spirit of goodwill that exists between many Nicaraguans and Americans, I respectfully write to ask that you to pay considerable attention to the case of Eric Volz. He is an American citizen currently incarcerated in the La Modelo prison, convicted of a crime he did not commit.

Eric's case is currently in the appeal process. As a result, we want to turn your attention to the fact that the justice system is in breach of articles 7 and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which state, "All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law" and "Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him."

Please help see to it that Eric's case be reviewed fairly and that justice be done. If interested, below is a link to the Declaration of Human Rights: http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/

In the U.S., some folks fret over the relative conservatism of Fox News, and its success, as if it were the foot in the door preceding the vast-right-wing-conspiracy to take over America's media. Many of us on the right look at the phenomenon as allowing a breath of fresh air in what had previously seemed a closed media, dominated by a left leaning corps of journalists, determinedly telling us the right way to understand the news. Being objective about the news meant, for them, seeing it their way. Having been once on the left, and now on the right, I admit that when I was on the left, the news seemed more favorable to the right than it has since I changed perspective.

An innocent man is still in jail. What are you doing to support him?

Please consider contacting your Congressman about Eric Volz's situation. Or consider donating to his defense fund.

I have written extensively about Eric here. Below I have included the latest letter from Eric to his supporters.

In the wake of Monday's tragic shootings at Virginia Tech, NBC decided yesterday to publish a package of information that the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, mailed to the network before he killed himself. This package contained photos, videos, and letters attempting to explain what happened.

Quite frankly, I am disgusted that NBC would choose to make this information public so soon after the murder of 32 people. The media certainly has the right to publish this information and the public has a right to know this information. But it is just too soon and emotions are too raw for victim's families to be confronted with menacing pictures on the home page of MSNBC of the person who has taken loved ones from them.

It is one thing to report that this package was received and to describe the contents. It is quite another to publicize all the gory details.

So what say you my readers? I'm not interested in whether NBC had the legal right to do this; they certainly did. But was it the wise thing to do?

Update: I've read on a number of sites this morning that NBC struggled over whether to broadcast this information. Ridiculous! I don't believe that at all. Had they really struggled, they would have taken more time to think this decision through. I hate to be so cynical about this, but I think the only decision was how to maximize ratings.

I don't want to be inconsiderate, but when is it appropriate to start talking about the weapons used in the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech? Specifically, what kind of measures should be taken, if any, to keep this event from ever happening again?

I ask this in all seriousness. I remember the biggest 'fight' I've ever had with Will was right after Katrina destroyed New Orleans. Within a day or two I started talking about the failures of small government. Will was still trying to find homes for people. We didn't get into the specifics of what I was suggesting, but instead fought about my callousness and Will's stubbornness.

If it is acceptable to discuss, then I'd like to start now. If it isn't, let this post bury itself in the blogosphere.

I was talking briefly with students this morning about yesterday’s events (which hit close to home, as one student’s cousin attends Virginia Tech; they didn’t know she was O.K. until yesterday evening).

One of the issues we talked about was what authorities should have done after the first murders were discovered. One way of looking at it is to think about what the police force of a small city would have done after having discovered two bodies. I don’t think they would have "locked down" the city while they investigated.

But a college is different. We parents (I’m not quite there yet, as my kids have a few years to go before we ship them off) somehow trust or hope that the college authorities will look after our not-quite-kids/not-quite-adults in our absence. If a murderer might be on the loose in my neighborhood, I’ll lock down my house, without any prompting from the authorities. Could I, should I, have expected similar caution and concern from the Virginia Tech’s administration?