Paganism – a Blind Man’s Bluff
Truly:
Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement. They came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? “Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” They brought one. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.
I tell you that this lesson is a great one. As with all of the Lord's Teachings, each time one reads it, one walks away with deeper understanding. And, per usual, what appears obvious is of tertiary importance. There is a lesson here about our responsibility to our earthly rulers - that is, civic obligations. But, and call me dense if this is obvious to you, an epiphany occurred to this Pilgrim a couple years back upon a casual reading of this passage (which i had read numerous times previously).
Turning it upside-down like this is also interesting…
Recognizing their craftiness he said to them, “Show me [your soul]; whose image and [likeness] does it bear?” They replied, “God’s.”
So he said to them, “Then repay to [God] what belongs to [God] and to [Ceasar] what belongs to [Ceasar].”
What we glimpse here is an invitation to proper orientation of one's heart, mind, and soul. It is as if the Christ is telling us we will travel from pocket to pocket without rest until we are returned to the Treasury of our Creator.
One may say that today's pagans are throwbacks to a time before the Good News. But I say they are not. Pagans of yesteryear were necessarily blind. But they were not devoid of desire to seek and find. The Platonists, as St. Augustine attests, employing Reason and deduction alone, came to the conclusion that a Creator-God exists. A Single, Omniscient God. This previous to the Word becoming flesh. Previous to the Word. Previous to the New Covenant.
But today's Pagans (in the West) persist in spite of Logos... I often get the sense they do so precisely out of contempt.
Which begs several questions...
Why the contempt? To this I say that it is my experience that today's consumer - today's alt-lifestyler - is more appreciative of those things that appear "exotic" and abnormal to things they deem "mainstream". As a teenager I was also attracted to this Punk Rock sentimentality. And even to this day I have such tendencies. This rebelliousness is a human condition it seems. However, over time I have learned that Punk Rock culture has nothing of value (on its surface) to to offer those seeking a deeper connection with God. Punk Rock died with the popularization of the Sex Pistols in the United States. Sure, there was a hearty Punk Rock Scene in the States through the tail end of the Eighties. I know this because I was there and saw it with my own eyes. But it was already dying by that time and to a degree that one could sense it.
There is good reason for this. Punk Rock did not translate well outside of its specific conditions from whence it sprang. It could only exist for so long outside of its original context. Without its stimulus, without its purpose, it simply had no food... no reason for being.
The theme of teenage angst is ubiquitous. Through all ages and in all cultures. Punk Rock was simply an interesting twist on an old theme. But it had all of the right aspects of an easily consumable commodity. All of the sex appeal to make a marketer's wet dream come true. That is, I get why it became commercialized - and when it did Punk Rock stopped being Punk Rock and instead became punk rock - a wisp of its former self. Nevertheless, it is revisited (some say re-discovered) from time-to-time in forms that critics seem to love but those of us who experience it one-generation out from the early days here in the States cannot recognize at all.
What's the point? The point is that paganism of today smacks of the Punk Rock/punk rock phenom. Especially in the West, where New Agers and all manner of tribalism is enjoying great success - thanks to people like Oprah Winfrey and James Arthur Ray. The appeal of rebellion is ubiquitous to the teenager and to be expected as he/she "discovers him/herself". But this sort of cheap rebellion is unattractive among the middle-aged... at best, it is unattractive... at worst it is juvenile.
The Pagans of the past were living in comparative darkness. Unless they bumped into someone like a wandering Jew named Enoch Root for example and had some long and very involved conversation with him. The Stoics and Platonists came out from the darkness by adhering to the only Light that existed - that of Reason - that inherent Likeness and Knowledge instilled in each of us.
Find me a Stoic. Find me a Platonist.
But pagans are everywhere today. Intrigued by the rebellion and angst - which again I can appreciate very well - the pagans of today even have the audacity to claim "newness" - New Age. As if there are any heresies that have not been conceived of, argued over, combated, and in the end dismissed since the time of the Christ.
Paganism is now paganism. An interesting little, exotic temper tantrum. For a Juvenile to be expected... in an adult perplexing and unbecoming. Exotic is relative to Era. As I have said before: if it is mysticism you are after... or something truly exotic and foreign... one must study and comprehend. One must open the Third Eye and petition for deep understanding. The Word is Radical. The Word is Punk Rock. The Word is Rebellion. The Word is the New Age. Despite who lays claim to it, professes it, loves it, hates it, denies it.
It just Is.
Ascending the bluff is simple. Ascending the Mountain: now there is a real, worthwhile challenge.
Public Finance, Unions, and Pensions Roundup 27June2011
GREECE? ISN'T THAT THING OVER YET?
No, it's not. Various parties are having fits over having to deal with reality, and I'm not just talking about the Greek populace.
A vote is being taken on Wednesday (or at least, that's the current schedule) in Greece on their latest austerity package....and this is just to get the short-term cash flows promised in various bailout plans previously.... it doesn't take care of their long-term debt problem.
A Bank of England official warns of bank exposure to PIIGS debt, though my understanding is that French and German banks have it much worse. I like the timing of the stress test results release - I'm thinking it will be coming out right about the time the credit agencies will say Greece is actually in default.
Other eurozone countries aren't looking too hot, either.
Leo Kolivakis writes about many things, some personal, but you should scroll down to item 4, where he talks about Greece. An excerpt:
Let me share with you the ugly reality on Greece's woeful tax collection system. Everyone in Greece knows this, but let me give it to you straight. A close buddy of mine, a radiologist, is now vacationing in Greece with his family. His aunt recently had to replace a heart valve and she slipped an enveloppe of 12,000 euros to the cardiovascular surgeon so he would do it. In Greece, this enveloppe is called "fakelaki" and if you don't have the money, you're dead. Specialist surgeons working at public hospitals are typically the worst offenders, but there are others notorious for accepting huge sums and they declare nothing. And most of them pay off Greek tax collectors who are equally corrupt and greedy.
The U.S. has a long way before getting that corrupt, but those officials deliberately trying to weasel themselves around the rule of law (see the PUBLIC FINANCE section) had best beware and be aware... what you may think is a show of power may be what ultimately undermines it.
GENERIC PENSION ISSUES
Joshua Ruah, the Northwestern prof who has been slicing and dicing public pension obligations in all sorts of ways, has put out a new paper: the revenue demands of public employee pension promises....and he's asked for responses. Here's some of the responses he's gotten so far. And another response (from governmental pension plan administrators) in the NYT.
Stronger pensions disclosures during muni issues? Sounds like a good idea to me. I wonder why he thinks it helps only bondholders -- ask the pensioners of Prichard whether they would've been well-served by better disclosures earlier. Good info protects not only bondholders but also public employees and taxpayers.
PUBLIC UNION INFLUENCE: MELTING! MELTING! OH, WHAT A WORLD!
Our first story comes from across the pond: UK looks to rein in their public unions. This should be fun. I think various U.S. states should take notes, including the bit about not paying union leaders who don't actually work for the state.
Striking Canada Post workers discover that the government has a lot more power than they do. Huh. How did that happen?
(note: Crown Corporations are just government-run and -owned entities. I recently found out that in some provinces, you get regular car insurance through a Crown Corp. Interesting)
What will the unions in Wisconsin do now? I'm thinking whining is a continuing strategy.
Some take the "defeat" in NJ as a harbinger of tough times for public unions across the U.S....meh. Were they all fired? Their pensions repudiated? No. It was hardly a defeat.
Yet.
Buck up, unions - you've got at least one guy on your side.
PUBLIC FINANCE
Laws? Limits? Ceilings? Pfft. Like that could stop a latter-day messiah who has stuff to get done. I'm curious what the legal status of such debt issues would be.... and I bet institutional investors that suck up these issues would like to know this as well.
Though the bondholders are probably a bit more concerned with the CBO cashflow projections.
VDH points out that Thatcher's inevitabilism is coming due: i.e., other people's money is running out. Bribing people with their own money has always been a difficult balancing act to keep up, and the problem has been in the West is that they've not been producing enough people to keep that going. Oh, tant pis.
Ex-mayor of L.A. warns about the coming bankruptcy of cities, agreeing with Meredith Whitney...with you-know-what playing a major role. Some cities think that they see the light at the end of the tunnel...right before they get hit by a train, I'm thinking.
CALIFORNIA
Public employees in Costa Mesa take on "big" boss to win big pensions.... well, if they can hang onto them. These are chickens I wouldn't count on hatching if the nest eggs aren't even there. I guess they'll learn what "municipal bankruptcy" means soon enough. It doesn't mean that pensions get paid, if the plan is underfunded.
California school admins living large in retirement. I am not fond of the "100K PENSIONS!!!" stories, because it's not individual pensions like this that are necessarily breaking the back of plans. You can have a whole bunch of relatively small amounts killing you, if paid to enough people, for long enough. But these things grab headlines, and stir up envy... and it's always amusing to see the politics of envy redound upon those who love to use it themselves (which is often the way.)
FLORIDA
Having to contribute to your benefits to the tune of 3 percentage points? A crippling tax. Oh baybee. Can we use that when the feds want to increase our taxes to pay for the gravy train they want to continue? If that's such a hardship, of course, the workers are always free to quit.
HAWAII
Pension reform bill signed requiring higher retirement ages and service levels.
NEW JERSEY
After the NJ pension reform passes, the lawsuits begin. Huzzah! Let us not forget the tough times lawyers have fallen upon with their loss in the Walmart case.
The unions also promise to hit back in votes. Good for y'all! That means you're going to stop voting for Democrats, right? Or are you just going to admit that you're stuck? (see article for answer - like with the open borders crowd, reparations extortionists, and gay rights activists, they know they're stuck with the Dems. So.... )
Christie taking his victory lap.
John Bury pricks everybody's balloons in this quarrel.
NEW YORK
The legislature continues to debate letting districts borrow money and pretend they're real contributions to the pension plans.
The NYT whines that it was bullying in NJ but it's bargaining in NY. I don't know - sounds like some of the NY unions don't see Cuomo's actions in quite so benign a light.
OHIO
Employees run for the exits, trying to get theirs while they can.
RHODE ISLAND
Yet another group to look at the state's pension mess and give suggestions for a fix. They've been given a task that's well-nigh impossible:
In tackling a subject that ultimately may mean breaking promises, Raimondo has said that any solutions need to ensure fairness among the new employees, veteran workers and retirees. Newer state employees and teachers bear a greater burden now, she says, because most of their contributions to the retirement system pay for their predecessors’ benefits.
Raimondo stresses that solutions must be fair to taxpayers, as well.
What happened to the last set of suggestions? Let's see... raising the minimum retirement age from 59 to 65 (drastic!), and offering up a DC/DB hybrid akin to what federal employees get... shot down even before it got to a legislative committee.
What I'm saying is I'm adding this group to my list of intentions for St. Jude.
UK
Isn't this cute - an "industrial action" from public employees over their pensions being changed. Yes, those schoolteachers are working hard in the mines and the clerks are grinding away with their wrenches. Supposedly, the Tories are asking parents to sub for teachers (yes, I suppose if you've seen it on a Simpsons episode, it's a gimmick).
Some angst over making the women's retirement age the same as men. I always wondered about this -- in the developed countries, women have always lived longer. Why were they given younger retirement ages?
It Couldn’t Happen Here, Right?
Since I can't figure out how to post at the Conservatory yet, I'll put it here.
Blogger jailed for insulting restaurant owner or something.
BlackBerry Down!
I lost a friend yesterday; my BlackBerry Storm. I'd only known him just shy of two years, so I wasn't really that attached, I guess. I thought I'd see if anyone had any good suggestions for a replacement phone, noting I'm not spending a ton of money on it. I'd ask you to email me with suggestions, but, well, my BlackBerry isn't working due to a shallow water drowning that took a day to complete.
NIU Pres: Illinois Pols, keep the pension promises… pretty please?
An Illinois University President begs the Illinois legislature to pretty pretty please make sure original pension promises are kept:
Northern Illinois University President John Peters on Tuesday warned current and retired state university workers to brace for possible changes to their pension benefits in the fall.
....
"In my opinion, leaders in public higher education in Illinois must suggest viable alternatives that will address the very real financial distress confronting our pension systems," he said.Illinois' five taxpayer supported pension systems, including pensions for university workers, are underfunded by $130 billion. To control that debt, lawmakers passed pension reforms this past year that trim costs for future workers.
Kelly Kraft, Gov. Pat Quinn's budget spokeswoman, said this past year's reforms will save $200 billion over the coming decades for future employees, but they do little to address costs associated with current workers and current retirees.
This past spring, leaders in the Illinois House proposed to change current benefits by having current employees pay more for their benefits, see reductions, or have retirees pay for some of their health-care costs. State lawmakers are expected to revisit reforming pensions for current employees in the fall veto session.
But Peters said workers who made their contributions deserve full retirement benefits, and the state hasn't lived up to its promises. He pointed to state lawmakers history for skipping or making partial pension payments to the Illinois pension systems.
"Many individuals on our state Legislature didn't learn that lesson, or maybe they forgot that lesson: Once you make a deal with somebody, you keep it," Peters said.
BWA HA HA HA
Dude, you're in Illinois.
You can try the moral suasion, but I don't think it will find much purchase. Not in Illinois. How much noise were you guys making all those years of contribution vacations? No, if you had made noise, the pols would have rightly pointed out the expense of those benefits and that they would be cut if they really wanted the pensions to be fully funded.
So they kept their traps shut.
They try the legal gambit as well:
Leo Welch, president of State University Annuitants Association, said the Illinois Constitution guarantees that once staff and faculty join the system, their pensions cannot diminished nor impaired.
"We fully support the constitutional provisions that protect current employees, as well as current annuitants," Welch said.
Let me know how well that works in creating money. Oh, it doesn't?
So now you are learning that government promises mean nothing. You cannot make a law that binds future generations, because future generations can say: "Nope. We weren't the people who promised you. We're going to use our money for something else." You can sue all you want, but Constitutions can be amended, and laws and "promises" changed.
Of course, Mr. Prez of NIU has to make these noises, because, like Illinois politicians, he can lose his job. When you have a big employee base that is unfireable (aka tenured), and they get pissed off, you can be run out of the university.
Workers of Illinois, you need to wake up to the fact your power has been pissed away as the money has run out. New York workers have come alive to this. New Jersey workers are still having issues with reality.
So good luck, but Illinois has had trouble meeting its regular operating expenses. When it's current services vs. past services, current will win. What are you going to do, Illinois retirees - strike? Vote for Republicans?
Adjust to your new reality.
Cross-posted to the Commune
Public Union (and other) Quickies 22Jun2011 – and my communal debut
Well, I have been test-driving this new communistic (what?) thingie Dan pointed out, and it has one major plus over POWIP: I can get to it from work. So I can post quick-n-dirty at lunch. Yay!
I'm a bit behind-hand cross-posting here due to other publication deadlines I have, but worry not -- my long form pension posts (which require a bit more link harvesting on my part) will still occur about once a week here at POWIP.
So here's what I've been posting about over there:
You didn't quit your state job? Here's some money! - Oklahoma has been shoveling out "longevity bonuses" to the tune of $42 million in 2010, that are given just for sticking around, with no tie to actual performance. People who got subsequently fired also got these bonuses. OK has a budget deficit to the tune of $500 million. Hmmm.
Unions: Why can't we buy pols like we used to?. A NY union finds that the once-sure bet of a Democratic politician lying to get elected (about cutting state jobs and benefits) is no longer so sure once the money runs dry. And that their political endorsement really means little. What, you were going to endorse a Republican? Ha ha ha.
Walmart lawsuit: not a class action - not much comment other than glad that statistics can't be used to "prove" a class or discrimination. I link to my favorite "discrimination" example, involving graduate school admissions at Berkeley.
My inaugural post: 5 Questions on Public Pensions really just 1 Question - which I will reproduce in its entirety below.
But these questions will work very well for the U.S., too:
1. How much should the taxpayer have to contribute to public sector pensions?
....
2. What will the accrual rate for the career average scheme be?
....
3. Will all public sector schemes face the same contribution hikes?
....
4. Will the government introduce primary legislation to put the new framework in place?
....
5. Which price index will the government use to uprate post-retirement pensions?
Putting these into U.S. English, the bottom line is how much should public employees cost?
How much of various risks should the taxpayers pay to take away from public employees? Longevity risk? (pensions paid as a life annuity as opposed to lump sum in cash) Inflation risk? (that's question 5 - relating to cost-of-living adjustments post-retirement) Investment risk? (A guaranteed payment amount at retirement, no matter what the underlying investments do)
There are insurance products that exist in the private market that are there to hedge these risks, either in combination or separately. And the government accounting standards used to value these guarantees put the values at much less than what private insurance companies have to hold in risk capital plus reserves for covering the exact same guarantees.
Because the government doesn't go out of business, supposedly.
Think on that.
Announcing the New Site, The Conservatory
This morning's big news, if you haven't already read it elsewhere, is that Joy McCann, Enoch and I have collaborated to put together a new website called The Conservatory. What is it?
It's a conservative talent bank and marketplace, wrapped in a blog and news feeds, that aims to establish an online social and business agora for people who hold similar values. Joy and I will be doing the editorial work for content submissions (many from contributors on this blog, we hope), but in many ways it's meant to be crowd-sourced. There are mechanisms at the site for users to submit posts, to share links that they think we might have interest in, and to drive discussion through the Symposium Forum and other plug-ins.
We've been busy lining up advertisers for the front page, including Breitbart.TV's Larry O'Connor, who's taken out an ad for his vcast. There's a section where we offer ads for the latest media--books, CDs, DVDs and the like--that should appeal to conservatives and libertarians. There's also a classified ads section where people can offer their freelance services (for free), businesses and right-leaning media outlets and think tanks can post jobs, and regular folks can flog their stuff, post personals and notices, advertise for ride sharers and room sharers to events, and so forth (most of which are gratis as well). For example, people who are trying to sell their stuff will be able to advertise up to five items at a time at no charge, just so long as none of the items including shipping exceeds $100.
We're hoping that this will be a place where bloggers and other righty people can get gigs that help pay the bills, and that we can bring some profile to websites, podcasts and vcasts that otherwise people might not have known about. Although in many ways it is a group blog, the model here is at least meant to be organic and decentralized.
People and organizations who have events to announce and movements to build will be able to present them there, as well, so that interested people who don't happen to be on the right mailing lists can find out what's going on.
We very much appreciate the larger businesses and organizations that underwrite the site, and you'll be seeing their ads on the main page, but it's our hope that this will be a useful place for family-owned mom and pop businesses to connect with clients who share their values. Most of us would rather, I believe, spend their money with people whose priorities are similar to theirs. Let's say you've got a condo or a cabin to rent: wouldn't you prefer to rent it to a conservative?
There is a ratings and reviews widget for users to comment on services and goods, sellers and buyers.
Anyone wishing to post should contact us. Feel free to send us any links that you think are particularly compelling. If you know of someone who might want to advertise with us, refer them, and we'll give you a commission.
Honestly, the commissions for classifieds won't be very much, because through June 3-month paid ads are $10, so that we can populate that section and bring eyeballs. Main page banner ads are $150 for three months if placed during June, as well. You can follow The Conservatory on Facebook and Twitter (@conservacommune) also.
Any feedback, pro or con, is much appreciated. We've tried to make the site both powerful and tidy for launch, but it's very much a Piece of Work in Progress. It's no Fat Chicks in Party Hats, yet, but then again . . . what else is? We hope you'll join us there, and bring the family and friends. Just don't do this. The site goes live today at 9:00 am Eastern.
Go read more about The Conservatory at Da Techguy's Blog.
Warmly,
Dan
Goodbyes
This was the Packers fan I asked for prayers for a couple months ago.
Bill and Herb Dailing, 2004
I've written ad nauseam about my dad. Bill was his little brother and best friend. I'm so glad Bill was too far away to watch my dad's death and that Dad wasn't here for the last two months. When I was pregnant with my daughter I was thrilled to find out she was a girl, but a part of me was also bummed as I thought about how great it would be to have two little boys if they would be like Dad and Bill (in fact we were going to name her Bill). Years ago there was a television show called Sisters about the relationships and lives of four grown sisters. In one episode the matriarch of the family said that your siblings are the only people you have from the cradle to the grave (paraphrasing). That always stuck with me. Dad and Bill had the ideal relationship most mothers dream of for their children.
Like Dad, Bill was a child of the depression. He went on to serve in Korea and marry Jan, the woman he would remain in love with for the rest of his life. They raised my four cousins whom I also adore. He managed an auto parts warehouse until his retirement, then volunteered at the information desk at the Quad City International Airport and at Arrowhead Ranch, an agency that helps at risk youth. He was a very dedicated member of his church and was truly a light in the world who found ways to glorify God simply by the way he lived his everyday life. So that's the form letter stuff. Here are the memories of him that I cherish.
I can't remember exactly what the gift was, but in spite of being a huge Packers fan (the only kind they make), he gave me some sort of Bears memorabilia as a gift. At the time I didn't fully grasp the rivalry and hadn't thought about it in years, but as I was curled up in the fetal position watching the Superbowl Shuffle on YouTube during the last NFL post-season I remembered that and realized the greater significance.
I remember that he owned very fancy things like one of those stereos you could dub tapes with (someone tell Emma what tapes were). He used it to introduce me to the music of Chet Atkins and Nanci Griffith and the comedy of Steven Wright - all in the same week.
I remember him every time I flip by the Crook and Chase country countdown on the radio.
I remember him when I smell a swimming pool because of all the summer gatherings spent and Bill and Jan's.
I remember that the last time He and Jan visited Washington he made the 4 hour trip to my new home to meet my new husband and child in Northeast Washington. He was already suffering terribly with arthritis, and I could tell when he arrived that he probably shouldn't have made the trip.
I remember the Silvis Country Music festival, Whitey's Ice Cream and Harris Pizza.
I remember that his arthritis caused him to have a really hard time sleeping. He would catch some Zs where ever he could; bed, couch, chair, etc. and joked that he "slept around". The look on my chiropractors face when I used that line a few months ago reminded me of that.
I remember when he called me out of the blue shortly after my dad died on an afternoon that I really needed it. I remember that he ended that call like he always did, by saying "I love ya'."
I remember that he had a running prayer list hundreds of entries long.
I remember a hundred other things that there just aren't words for. But most of all I will remember what every other life he touched will remember, that Bill Dailing had the biggest heart of any man I've ever known.
Goodbye for now, Uncle Billy. I love you too.
“Down the Rabbit Hole” with Duchess Rebecca von Grunewald
| Rebecca Watson Grunewald |
Come fall Down the Rabbit Hole with ME Duchess Rebecca TONIGHT at 9pm PDT!
If you have not heard of my LIVE internet talk show yet I invite you to come check it out! It aires every Thursday night LIVE via http://www.facebook.com/l/b64f3rdtiq4DUNKBj_fW-uDuwyw/www.ustream.tv/channel/down-the-rabbit-hole-with-duchess-rebecca
An unrated "View"-style talk show served with cocktails! So you can only imagine what sorts of fun we get into falling down the rabbit hole!
Plus you too can be apart of the show by chatting live with me and my guests!
I hope you'll join me tonight along with every Thursday! Please support by "Liking" the shows fan page!
Sincerely,
Rebecca
| Down the Rabbit Hole with Duchess Rebecca |
Libya: War, Progressivism and Expediency
Remember George Bush II's "illegal wars"? Remember the "Unitary Executive"? In keeping with the fascistic proliferation of czars, unaccountable agencies with enormous powers, Congress's unconstitutional transfer of lawmaking powers to political appointees, the stonewalling of the DoJ, the firing of Inspectors General, and all the rest, Obama announces that US participation in the NATO operation in Libya does not rise to the "threshold" that would require him to seek a Congressional declaration.: Jim Geraghty's Morning Jolt email:
Yup, this is their defense:
The White House is telling Congress that President Obama has the legal authority to continue American participation in the NATO-led air war in Libya, even though lawmakers have not authorized it. In a broader package of materials the Obama administration is sending to Congress on Wednesday defending its Libya policy, the White House, for the first time, offers lawmakers and the public an argument for why Mr. Obama has not been violating the War Powers Resolution since May 20.
On that day, the Vietnam-era law's 60-day deadline for terminating unauthorized hostilities appeared to pass. But the White House argued that the activities of United States military forces in Libya do not amount to full-blown "hostilities" at the level necessary to involve the section of the War Powers Resolution that imposes the deadline.
"We are acting lawfully," said Harold Koh, the State Department legal adviser, who expanded on the administration's reasoning in a joint interview with White House Counsel Robert Bauer.
The two senior administration lawyers contended that American forces have not been in "hostilities" at least since April 7, when NATO took over leadership in maintaining a no-flight zone in Libya, and the United States took up what is mainly a supporting role -- providing surveillance and refueling for allied warplanes -- although unmanned drones operated by the United States periodically fire missiles as well.
Got that? The guys trying to shoot down our drones and our allies' planes are not, technically, "hostile" to us. Perhaps they're merely surly.
Change.
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- St. Michael – Defend Us.
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- Catholic Teachings Not Subject to Polls
- Wrong. Again. Educating the Educator (or, God is not fooled by Plausible Deniability).
Creature Commentariat
- A Summary of Planned Parenthood’s Frauds and Felonies in the Service of Ideology on The Wailing and Gnashing Over the Planned Parenthood Sting
- Public Pensions: Detroit Plans Scammed on Ratso Rizzo: public employee salaries run amok
- Scott on Ladd Ehlinger on Liberty, Serenity and Firefly
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