Democrat

At least the “Obamakis and Bidenopoulos” crowd won’t have to create a phony Greek name for Alexi. The Chicago Sun-Times in “Obama’s Basketball Pal for Governor?”:

Giannoulias’ close association to Obama, even if Obama does not formally endorse him, could be a big advantage to Giannoulias in a crowded primary, especially if no major African-American candidate jumps into the mix.
[…]
Giannoulias, 32, was born in Chicago to Greek parents, played professional basketball in Greece and got to know Obama shooting hoops on the University of Chicago campus when Giannoulias was a student and Obama a senior lecturer. He was a vice president in his family’s Broadway Bank before being elected Treasurer.
[…]
Giannoulias faced heat last year when he had to testify about a $1 million loan he made to an 86-year-old woman described by her family as “feeble-minded.” The woman initially applied for the loan with co-borrowers who had a history of fraud allegations against them. After Giannoulias raised concerns, they were taken off as co-borrowers and he approved the loan. A judge ruled Giannoulias handled the loan properly.

Whether your guy won or lost on Tuesday (mine came in second) you have to marvel at this very exceptional nation called America. And, indeed, the whole world is doing just that. In an editorial, the Times of London described the election as a “Masterclass in Democracy”:

The world has been fascinated and profoundly moved by this election most of all because of what America is — a nation founded on universal aspirations, and thus a mirror to humanity. For two centuries that mirror has seemed irreparably cracked by the legacy of slavery and segregation, a pernicious and enduring racism that remains a factor in the blighted lives of so many of the poor blacks among whom Mr Obama launched his political career. He is not the last role model they will ever need, but he is the most powerful proof his country has produced that it is ready to judge them by the content of their character, not the colour of their skin.

The world watched as 121 million Americans peacefully went to the polls and democratically elected a new leader in Barack Obama. John McCain conceded to Obama in a speech that the Telegraph described as one of “striking grace and generosity.” He will succeed President George W. Bush who immediately and graciously promised a smooth transition.

In his acceptance speech in Chicago, Obama talked about the “values” we share:

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

Of course, as Christians, we are more concerned — or should be — about illumination by the Truth than we are about any competition of “values.” Even atheists have values, don’t they? In the coming weeks and months, we shall have hard evidence about how Obama plans to “heal the divides.”
Continue reading →

Terry Mattingly looks at the most recent battles, from the left and the right:

If you could erase one moment from Sen. Barack Obama’s White House campaign, which would you choose?

That’s an easy question for evangelicals, Catholics and other religious believers who back Obama. Most would happily erase all evidence of his speech last spring to a circle of insiders behind closed doors in San Francisco. For those who have ignored national news in 2008, Obama talked about meeting voters in rural Pennsylvania, where hard times have crushed hopes and fueled resentments.

“So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter,” he said, that “they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them … to explain their frustrations.”

Welcome back to the “culture wars,” all you politicos who hoped and prayed that talk about “values voters” and “pew gaps” would disappear. Instead, Republicans have been chanting this mantra — “bitter,” “cling,” “God” and “guns” — for months.

Read “Culture wars 2008” on Terry Mattingly’s Web site.

George C. Michalopulos has submitted the following in response to Harry Katopodis’ article on Orthodox Dominionists. Michalopulos is co-author, with Herb Ham, of “The American Orthodox Church — A History of its Beginnings” (Regina Orthodox Press).

Michalopulos:

It never ceases to amaze me how certain benighted and theologically inept individuals take upon themselves the task of speaking for Christ’s Church as it traverses on its voyage through history. One such individual fears that the so-called religious right has made inroads into the Orthodox Church in North America, and that it is only because of noble souls such as himself that tolerance can only be found in one remaining bastion, i.e. the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

And of what is Katapodis afraid? In no particular order: converts, “theocons,” non-GOAA bishops, and the rising tide of pro-lifers within American Orthodoxy.

The ridiculousness does not end there. In order to buttress this foolish argument, Katapodis creates a straw man –the dreaded “Dominionist theologian.” This phantom has under guise of conversion to Orthodoxy taken over the Antiochian Archdiocese and the Orthodox Church in America. Instead of what actually happened –sincere converts of all political ideologies embracing the Ark of Salvation—he sees instead a nefarious descent along a rightward political path.
Continue reading →