Friday, April 16, 2010

“Oliver North On Hannity: Obama’s “Core Philosophy Is Anti-American”” plus 2 more

“Oliver North On Hannity: Obama’s “Core Philosophy Is Anti-American”” plus 2 more

Oliver North On Hannity: Obama’s “Core Philosophy Is Anti-American”

Posted: 15 Apr 2010 07:04 PM PDT

HANNITY: You are a smart man; you're a brilliant author. Your politics, there's a lot that — that I don't agree with, but you go as far to say, your philosophy is we've got to live with terror. You went on and you made a statement about our country: the only reason we went to war — if I could find it here — was to boost the ego of white American males?

You know, Norman, those comments while we are at war, while troops are in harm's way, while he is the commander in chief, do you not see the outrage in that?

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The Sniggering Secularist Philosophy Club

Posted: 15 Apr 2010 07:20 AM PDT

There's a spirited conservative defence of Pope Benedict underway, with lengthy commentaries by Andrew Bolt, Miranda Devine and Piers Akerman appearing in rapid succession. Each has taken a slightly different line of argument, but the common theme seems to be that atheists and secularists want to deligitimise the Catholic Church, and that this is a grave danger to our society. But is that really the case?

Bolt confidently asserts "the Pope is innocent" and that the media have rushed to believe a beat-up driven by a single AP report, which I find rather ironic. Bolt is referring to the recent specific allegation that then-Archbishop Ratzinger delayed a decision to defrock a pedophile priest, citing a need to consider "the good of the universal church". This assertion relies on an analysis by Phil Lawler that seems to argue Ratzinger's deferral matters little because it didn't leave the priest in a position of dealing with the public and didn't leave more children in immediate risk. I find myself wondering whether Bolt would accept a similar argument of minimal harm with regard to, say, a Labor minister failing to act decisively on the slightest hint of risk or malfeasance. His proclamation of innocence based on the details of this one case also ignores that there have been other cases that raised concern. But Bolt dismisses the media's reporting as:

the hysterical campaign to delegitimise the Catholic church by making the Pope seem a protecter of pedophiles

Devine takes a broader perspective and acknowledges some areas where the church has failed in its handling of abuse. But she portrays the attacks on the Pope as a hateful, organised and unfounded attack on his credibility and that of the Church. What's more, she sees the Church's loss of legitimacy as a risk to the broader society:

What is the motive: to destroy the credibility of the strongest moral voice left? Would the world be a better place without the Catholic Church? Without Christianity? That is the end point of this game, which should frighten everyone, whether religious or not.

Akerman takes his usual scattergun approach, attacking the "[l]iberal news organisations" with "their secular aversion to Western culture" before trying to rattle off an impressive set of research evidence that amounts to the obvious — pedophilia isn't specific to clergy and abuse doesn't just happen within the Catholic Church. This ignores the point that the crucial issue is whether the institution acts appropriately to prevent and respond to these things when they do happen. But Akerman winds up in a similar place to Devine — suggesting that the gravest danger we face is through undermining the prominence of Christian morality in our culture:

Sniggering secularists would be pressed to name an atheist philosophy as vital to our society as the Judeo-Christian stream reflected by our churches.

So, here is where we stand, readers. I tend not to wade into the debates over religion and atheism — I find my own view hard to characterise and certainly wouldn't describe myself as an atheist. But I'm also not a Christian, and yet I don't think that makes me a bad person. I think we could all not be Christians and society would still do just fine. I don't feel a strong desire to tear down others' faiths, yet I don't think a person's professed faith has much to do with whether they are a good person.

But a Godless society would be a less moral one, if these columnists are to be believed. Because those who have no faith have no philosophy that stands up to Christian values. So we need to come up with a philosophy that works, and I invite you to offer your suggestions in the comments. For now, here's my own philosophy:

Be excellent to each other. And if you know someone is abusing kids, report them.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Michigan coach John Beilein hits recruiting trail close to home

Posted: 16 Apr 2010 12:33 AM PDT

With the spring signing period under way, Michigan basketball coach John Beilein shared his recruiting philosophy Thursday morning.

He stressed while on WTKA-AM (1050) that his first priority is finding "a fit basketball-wise, high skill level, can shoot and do some different things -- but we've taken kids, they don't have to be perfect in every area."

He also emphasized that he is focused on the state of Michigan first.

He said he has been recruiting 50 days this year, 26 in-state.

"We're always looking local, always, always," he said. "Then we go to the other areas. So I split mine half in-state, half out of state."

One of his three signees this year, Jon Horford, is an in-state recruit. One of the four last year, Jordan Morgan, was from Michigan. (Michiganders Jordan Dumars, who transferred in midway through the year, and walk-on Eso Akunne also are in that class.)

Beilein also said he would consider recruiting a one-and-done player (leaving early for the NBA after one year of college) but only under specific circumstances -- for example, the player really wanted to come to U-M, as opposed to getting into an uphill recruiting battle.

Among the other topics Beilein addressed:

• He wouldn't speak specifically about what he was looking for in the vacant assistant position, but he said the duties of fired assistant John Mahoney -- coaching big men and national recruiter -- will have to be covered.

• As for signing another player in this class, he said: "we feel real good about the prospects of one more." While Beilein can't speak specifically about recruits, U-M is hosting Detroit Denby guard Isaiah Sykes this weekend on an official visit, and he seems like a possible candidate for that spot.

Contact MARK SNYDER: 313-223-3210 or msnyder@freepress.com. Read more in his Wolverines blog at freep.com/wolverinesblog.

Join Free Press special writer Nick Meyer for a live blog of Michigan's spring football game Saturday afternoon at freep.com/sports. Nick will be your eyes and ears if you can't make it to the game!

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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