» This recent news story (about a 23-year-old resident of our town being hired by his uncle to kill his aunt but aborting the mission when one his cousins was also in the house when he arrived to do the deed) really got me somehow.  You hear about stuff like this all of the time on TV and in places far the way, but it felt strange thinking about someone in my community being hired by his uncle to kill his aunt and acting on it.

» What little confidence I had left in the financial guys calling the shots in the current and previous administrations is dwindling quickly (e.g., this and this)

» I don't accept that whether or not torture "works" is the main issue in determining whether or not we should torture, but if you do: how bothered would you be if it was true that the real "...ticking time bomb was not another potential Qaeda attack on America but the Bush administration’s ticking timetable for selling a war in Iraq; it wanted to pressure Congress to pass a war resolution before the 2002 midterm elections" (link) ?

» Unless you're a Marine, please stop with the "Ooh-rah!"

Last week our paper, the Midland Daily News, published a letter to the editor by Jeffrey D. Behr titled "World changing."  After alluding to childhood trauma and thoughts of suicide, his reasons for writing letters to the editor despite the negative impact they might have on his business, and the ways he believes that the United States has become "perverse," Jeffrey ends his letter with with this fascinating paragraph:

We have elected Barack Hussein Obama to be our president. He and his wife are actually haters of America, bent on punishing anyone who disagrees with them and punishing America for slavery. My greatest prayer these days is that God will rise up our founders and give them a chance to make up for that terrible and evil mistake, giving them the power, utensils, equipment, command of animals, insects, viruses and bacteria. Their mission being to move over our great country and destroy all adult human beings who do not have authentic, good, honorable American spirits. When the smoke clears there would only be a remnant few still standing. People of all colors, sizes and shapes. Christians, Jews, Islamics, Catholics and agnostics too. We would at that point be the most powerful nation in the world in spite of the human loss.

The Founding Fathers raised from the dead and controlling the insects! Wow.

was last Monday night at the 1st United Methodist Church on Main Street.  He played "America" by Samuel F. Smith and Henry Carey.

Here's a video of him practicing at home beforehand.  This is the extended version he was supposed to play, but Lisa told him that she didn't think he should add the higher-key bit.

Here is a video of his performance at the recital:

Here's a photo from afterwards:

Apr 25

Spent about half the day at the soccer fields. Finn won 7-1 and scored a goal. Elliot won 9-1 and scored three.

» Movies on TV this week

» The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

» Show of the week: Cry for Help

» Torture and The Follower of Jesus

Apr 24

with Lisa at the Fox Theatre in Detroit for Flight of the Conchords!

» Secure Enough to Sin, Baghdad Revisits Old Ways - NYTimes.com

» Op-Ed Columnist: Islam, Virgins and Grapes

» Alexandria Parking Meter Repairman Accused of Stealing $170,000 in Coins - washingtonpost.com

» Shepard Smith: "We are America!"

» What Michelle Malkin Once Believed Was Torture

Apr 23

Ah…the realization that someone you assumed was following you on Twitter ain’t.

» Op-Ed Contributor: My Tortured Decision

» Flashback: Bush’s FBI Director Said Torture Didn’t Foil Any Terror Plots

Apr 22

» Political Wisdom: In Torture Memos, Context Matters

Apr 21

» Bill Callahan plays Record Store Day: video and pictures

Apr 20

» Welfare for Bankers

» Tax Tea Party Time, Part Two - Bruce Bartlett - Forbes.com

Friends, I understand that you have a very low opinion of the Obama administration and would not be surprised at all if they considered you to be an "extremist" because you are pro-gun, pro-life, believe in limited government, are concerned about illegal immigration, etc...BUT, I read the DHS report about right-wing extremists (link)  that has your knickers in a twist.  I also read a recent DHS report about left-wing extremists (link) and a recent press release from the FBI about left-wing extremists (link).

It is clear to me that all of the mainstream conservatives who are claiming that the DHS is calling them "right-wing extremists" are misreading what the report is saying (assuming they have read it).  The report is about right-wing extremist groups.  Reading the report (and the one about left-wing extremists groups), it is clear that extremism as far as the DHS is concerned is defined by the proclivity to resort to violence (which is common sense anyway because that is what DHS seeks to prevent).  Violence is mentioned throughout the reports.

The reports do identify issues of concern to many right-wing extremist groups (states rights, gun rights, immigration, abortion, etc.) and left-wing extremists groups (globalization, the environment, animal rights, etc.)...BUT, those things are not what defines an extremist.  Proclivity to violence is what defines extremists.  Normal conservatives and liberals (like you and me) are also often concerned about immigration, abortion, the environment, animal rights, etc.  Unless we are contemplating acts of violence and terrorism in response to our concerns, we are not extremists in the eyes of DHS.  The DHS report does mention some specific examples of right-wing extremist groups (militias and white supremacists) but does not, given a fair reading, equate normal people who are concerned about abortion or gun rights with extremists like those.

Again, let me emphasize, there is an important distinction here that is critical to understanding these reports. The report on right-wing extremists does not identify core conservative values as extreme. Instead, it indicates that some extremists are motivated by core conservative values. The left-wing reports indicate that some extremists are motivated by a stereotypically core liberal value (environmentalism), but that is entirely different from identifying environmentalism as an extreme value!  When someone states the fact that some extremist groups that perpetrate violence against abortion providers are (of course) motivated by opposition to abortion, obviously I should not take that to imply that I am an extremist just because I oppose abortion.

That, to me, is a common sense reading of the recent reports on extremism.  Of course, I don't necessarily expect everyone to use common sense in reading reports like these.  Some people will tell you that the DHS is calling you a "right-wing extremist" and, again, I understand that you are inclined to believe them (given your very low opinion of the Obama administration).  However, as far as I can tell, those people who are telling you that are not actually telling you the truth.