Bookmarks for September 9th through September 10th

These are my links for September 9th through September 10th:

• Althouse: “We are, of course, now against any other group burning Qurans. We would right now ask no one to burn Qurans. We are absolutely strong on that. It is not the time to do it.” – “You know, a key religious freedom value is that government must not treat different religions differently. But Obama takes one attitude toward the NYC Muslims and another toward the Florida Christian. With respect to the former, he highlighted the right and wouldn’t express an opinion about how that right should be exercised. With the later, he begrudgingly acknowledged the right after stressing the importance of the individual’s restraint and sensitivity toward others.” — This is a good point from Ann Althouse. Why the difference? She suggests it’s because Pres. Obama and Rev. Jones agree– Islam promotes radical and violent behavior. The Pres. doesn’t want to provoke them.
• Vox Popoli: The anti-book burners – “Needless to say, the anti-book burners won’t decry the Afghans burning American flags and chanting “Death to Christians” in response to the mere suggestion that someone intends to burn a Koran. They are no defenders of freedom or respect for religion, they are already subservient dhimmis.” — Exactly. The group that you choose to favor shows whom you fear.
• Texting is ruining real conversation – Life – The Orange County Register – “I know it sounds outdated, but I’m still profoundly annoyed by people who interrupt their real-life interactions for a text message or even a phone call. I’m of the opinion that real-life should always trump digital-life — except in moments of emergency. No matter what my daughter might think, a text that says ‘hey’ is not an emergency.” — Exactly.
• Open letter to conservatives who back same-sex marriage – “It’s no accident that this nation has flowered more than any other in world history. But that didn’t happen, my dear “libertarian-leaning conservative” friends, because the founding generation resented government, wanted lower taxes and wanted to be left alone. No, America flowered because it was steeped in a faith-based morality and a love of freedom that were wedded together into a rare and priceless alloy the world had never seen.” — I’ve thought of myself more like libertarian thought, but this actually makes sense. As well as being a great defense of standard marriage…
• Even America’s liberal elites concede that Obama’s Presidency is crumbling – Telegraph Blogs – “The fact The Post is reporting that not only could Republicans sweep the House of Representatives this November, but may even take the Senate as well, is a reflection of just how far the mainstream, overwhelmingly left-of-centre US media has moved in the last month towards acknowledging the scale of the crisis facing the White House.” I have this feeling that both houses might change hands, though it’s also possible that the House will just change. Definitely not as surprising as 1994, and Republicans need a consistent message other than “We’re not Democrats.” I know that they have some plans– but they need to make sure others know!
• Sinking with Obama, Democrats plan political triage | Washington Examiner – “Is all this just a response to a sputtering economy? Political scientist Alan Abramowitz, on a panel with Sabato and me at the American Political Science Association conference last weekend, said he thought so. I disagreed. I think what we’re seeing is a rejection of the Obama Democrats’ big-government policies. The president and his party thought that in times of economic distress most voters would be supportive of or at least amenable to a vast expansion of the size and scope of government.” — What do you think? Sputtering economy or rejection of big government? I want it to be the latter, but I’m sure it’s partly the former.