The White House has announced a new proposed solution for dealing with people guilty of disorderly conduct—Get 'em drunk.
That always improves people's behavior, right? So President Obama plans to have Dr. Henry Louis Gates and Sgt James Crowder of the Cambridge PD over to the White House for a brewski. Yeah…that'll help them be more civil toward one another. Who knows? Maybe they'll grab a brew and discuss their view of theology. Maybe somebody in the trio will get saved by the miraculous Holy Spirit power of fermented drink.
In other news, the new Middle East Peace Plan reportedly involves slipping some PCP to Bebe Netanyahu and Salam Fayyad.
Troublemaker...
ReplyDeleteBrother Bart,
ReplyDeleteI do not know about others, but my before Christ experiences tell me something different. Give the most docile white man a beer and allow him to air his differences and you end up with pool balls being thrown and pool sticks being broken over the backs of others. :)
Blessings,
Tim
I get the feeling that Obama is playing "wag the dog" to distract us from his health care program.
ReplyDeleteone wishes to provide a venue for possible reconciliation and a baptist minister would demean it?
ReplyDeleteBapticus,
ReplyDeleteYou don't truely believe he 'wishes to provide a venue for possible reconciliation' do you? This is all about repairing his public image after taking a beating due to his disasterous press conference.
In such a case poking fun is the correct response.
Best wishes,
An Interested Outsider
So Barack 'stirred the pot' a little. And he was sorry about it and invited the guys over for a beer, a most American thing to do, I must say.
ReplyDeleteLet's see:
causing trouble (JUST YOUR AVERAGE LIBERAL)
repenting (CANT TOUCH THAT ONE)
attempting to broker peace (HANDS OFF OF THIS ONE TOO)
giving guys a beer (HEADED FOR HELL LIBERAL)
Yeah, two out of four, guilty:
just another liberal, all right. Let's all throw stones.
You got a problem. A lot of people in this country actually think Barack Obama gives a damn about others.
And even more people think that the Christian far-right doesn't.
When Barack looks more Christian than a cynical mocking minister does, somethins wrong there.
Like P. P. beating up on Klouda.
He looked more like the guys who crucified Christ, than the guys who followed Him.
Somethin's wrong.
I thought Christian is supposed to mean 'Christ-like'. Not to you guys. . . . . just can't handle the pressure
An Interested Outsider: You don't truely believe he 'wishes to provide a venue for possible reconciliation' do you? This is all about repairing his public image after taking a beating due to his disasterous press conference. In such a case poking fun is the correct response.
ReplyDeletebapticus hereticus: yes, Obama blundered by the way he addressed the question and in doing so he escalated the situation; and yes, he is about damage control, for our sake, his sake, and the sake of the two men most intimately involved. when you blunder, do you not seek to repair a situation you created or worsened and seek to repair yourself, too? when Christians turn their noses at reconciliation processes, then what is the basis for them to continue in the faith so named?
Babticus,
ReplyDeleteWe will never agree about this subject because we have a different perception of the world. You believe "he (Obama) is about damage control, for our sake, his sake, and the sake of the two men most intimately involved".
I believe no such thing. I believe everything he is doing is for his sake.
In our day to day lives it is usually appropriate to give people the benifit of the doubt. In politics it is usually appropriate to cut the ground out from under your opponents. The 'Beer Keg Summit' is politics not reconciliation.
Still wishing you the best,
An Interested Outsider
An Interested Outsider: ... In politics it is usually appropriate to cut the ground out from under your opponents. The 'Beer Keg Summit' is politics not reconciliation.
ReplyDeletebapticus hereticus: i don't advocate a single way of being for politicians, either, and i would hope our politicians understand the nuances and circumstances that call for particular ways of being instead of operating in one mode, for if the latter they would prove in many situations to be dull, ineffective instruments of the people. second, cannot political processes include moments of reconciliation, that is, why would we dismiss situations in which a double-plus can exist? third, that some would suggest only a photo-op are only half-right, in my estimation; it was that, but it was more. let us contrast four images: 1) handcuffed and annoyed Gates, 2) fumbling Obama, 3) defensive Crowley, and 4) Gates, Obama, and Crowley sitting around a table having a beer and conversation. the latter gives me more hope and pause for reflection. Kierkegaard was right; that is, it is not so much about what is said but our response to it that is the greatest lesson for us personally.