When I first heard that the President won the Nobel Peace Prize, I was really shocked. My first question, and that of everyone I spoke to this morning, was, "Why?" I was anxious to hear what the professional pundit’s reactions would be. My prediction would be skepticism from the Right, and unbridled glee from the Left. I was only half-right. Other conservatives responded as I did, with confusion and bewilderment.

The reaction from the Left, though, surprised me. While some are all but dancing in the streets, some Leftists — major ones at that — are also confused. Matt Lauer said, “We’re less than a year into the first term of this president and there are no — I’m not trying to be, you know, rude here — no major foreign policy achievements, to date.” He even asked David Gregory, “So, what you’re saying in some ways and, again, not to be rude here or sarcastic, that in some ways he wins this award for not being George W. Bush?” to which Gregory responded, “I think that that is an inescapable conclusion about all of this.” I never thought I’d agree with a post on the The Daily Beast, but I think Peter Beinart got it right:

When it comes down to it, I really don’t care who wins the award.  It’s been mostly a farce for years now, with terrorists like Yasser Arafat and warm-mongering junk scientists* like Al Gore winning, I don’t think it’s had any real credibility for a long time.  Adam Graham at Race 4 2012 sums it up nicely.  What bothers me is how weird it is putting a man who has only talked about peace next to those who labored in slums or languished in prisons.  It boggles the mind.

*I say junk science because I don’t buy the sky is falling proclamations of Gore and his ilk.  Even if one assumes he’s right, though, how is fighting melting ice caps related to peace?  Because people might someday fight over dry land in some sort real life Water World scenario?  Absurd.

Recently, the President announced that he was going to address school children (or “schoochildren,” according to his web site) about the importance of education. In what was likely a surprise to the White House, parents across the country became quite agitated about the event, some even planning on holding their children out of the event. The reaction of the President’s supporters was quite condescending and insulting. The detractors were called stupid, silly, racist, and “too dumb to raise their own children.” I was one of those opposed to the President’s address, and here’s why. …

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Rush Limbaugh is one of the most polarizing figures in American politics. The Left simply can’t stand him. As soon as his name comes up, so does an inordinate amount of bile. Almost without exception in some circles. It was no surprise then, that Rush’s suggestion to Colin Powell to “go be a Democrat” has caused much consternation, even from some on the right. The GOP, we’re told, must be more inclusive! “Stop pushing out people who disagree with you,” critics tell us. I think that’s horrible advice, and I’m not alone.

National Review’s Jonah Goldberg wrote column today that touched on the subject. The immediately relevant section says this:

But the lesson runs deeper than the impending Sotomayor battle. Conventional wisdom also tells us that the GOP needs to become more inclusive. On this score the conventional wisdom is right, if by “inclusive” you mean getting more people to join the party and vote Republican. But many people mean something else by “inclusive.” They think the GOP needs to become the Pepsi to the Democrats’ Coca-Cola, indistinguishable save for small matters of taste and marketing.

Other than having Coke and Pepsi reversed, he makes a great point. There has to be something beyond simple matters of taste that separate the two parties. If our stances are the same, why are there two parties? Just to have the squabbling? Frank J. at IMAO makes a similar point:

They keep saying we can’t be a stronger party if we keep just tossing people out, but those people complaining never seem to say what makes one a Republican other than the choice of registration. Are we just going to be “the other party than the Democrats”? It seems the “moderate” strategy is to be as inoffensive as possible and hope to pick up votes from anyone whoever is currently dissatisfied with the Democrats. So basically, just bank on the Democrats being unpopular eventually, but that’s not enough. We have to be for something, which means being against other things. That means laying down some real differences between the Republican and Democratic Parties other than that they are spelled and pronounced differently. And that means excluding some people who don’t fall on the Republican side of the newly drawn line. We can attract new people for those we leave, but that only happens if we’re strong enough to actually stand for something.

I know I’m committing a mortal sin here, but, in the Church, we have a similar issue. For a given denomination, and, to a lesser degree, the Church as a whole, we have a pretty clear definition of who we are and what we believe. When someone consistently and defiantly violates or rejects those, we have a well-defined process for remediation and, if necessary, ultimately the expulsion of the offender. A healthy church/denomination doesn’t just welcome in every Tom, Dick, and Harry simply to drive up numbers.

Despite national politics being far less important than orthodox theology, I see no reason a party (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or whatever) should be so limp-wristed in its dogma that holding any old position should be expected. I’d even argue that it’s necessary for a group of any kind to enforce some sort control over what gets official sanctioning or the group loses any real purpose. There must be room, of course, for the official dogma to change, but it can’t be done on an ad hoc, per-person basis as that splinters the group, diminishing its focus and relevance.

So, yes, Mr. Powell, if you’re going to hold the views you do, and support a president that is diametrically opposed to just about everything Republicans believe, maybe it’s time for you to switch parties. It’s clear that the rank and file don’t agree with you, so I don’t see the party moving, and I’m sure Specter and Jeffords could use some company at the turn-coat’s table.

Earth Hour? “What’s that?” you say? Well, as best as I can figure from spending less than thirty seconds on the site (to which I won’t link :), it’s an organized effort to get people to turn of their lights for one hour in an attempt to save the Earth from us evil humans. Seeing as how I reject the current anthropomorphic global warming scaremongering going on, I celebrated something different: Human Achievement Hour, which is a counter-effort to “salute the people who keep the lights on and produce the energy that helps make human achievement possible.”

So what did I do? I left the light on in the kitchen (though, to be honest, I forget it was on and was just too lazy to get up and turn it off), left my thermostat set to a comfortable temperature (just like our president does), and watched a movie on blu-ray (Get Smart) on my giant LCD TV while a fire burned amongst my gas logs. All of this AFTER I watched Bolt on the same TV with my boys as we ate the popcorn we popped in the microwave oven in the aforementioned brightly illuminated kitchen. It was a great evening.

I can imagine that some of you may be upset with me and other who celebrated Human Achievement Hour. “Don’t you care about your planet?” some might scream at us, given the chance. I would guess that most of us do, but here’s the cool part. We were able to enjoy the fruits of the human labor we celebrated guilt free because of all the Earth Hour celebrations (truth be told, though, this Saturday evening wasn’t really all that different from any other, but that’s another story). At any rate, since all the warm-mongerers were reducing their consumption, I was able to maintain status quo on mine with a net neutral environmental impact (the existence of which I’m granting solely for the sake of argument). If there’s anything I’ve learned from Al Gore, it’s that I can maintain the lifestyle I choose guilt free as long as someone else is making some sort of sacrifice in my stead. Think of it as Environmental Indulgences. If it’s good enough for the Pope of the Church of Man’s Ruining Everything, then it’s good enough for me.

Obama’s First Week: …

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I was going to be a wet towel and describe why I’m not excited about today, but decided not be a jerk. I’ll save those thoughts for another, more appropriate day. For now, even though I didn’t vote for him, he is my president (I’m looking at you, Al Gore fans) and I’ll pray for him as I’ve done his predecessors. Best of luck, President Obama, and congratulations.