So many topics - So little time

I'll have to step up my posting rate! This is an election year and it's a target rich environment to blather on about.

I'm struck this week by how upside down the world is lately. Has it all gone mad? You have only to look at the news.

Pick any story and marvel at the ways the participants are viewed and judged. Can two groups of people really look at a set of circumstances and come to such radically different conclusions? Can you doubt Bill O'Reilly's conclusion that we're in a war of the Secularists vs. Traditional values? Can you doubt that Pat Buchanan's warning in 1984 of a "culture war" has come to pass in spades.

* Mel Gibson makes a daring movie faithful to Christian Orthodoxy on the Passion of Christ, and is vilified as a "wacko" and a racist. I conclude differently.

* The mayor of San Francisco goes off the reservation and unlawfully issues thousands of illegal marriage licenses, and is praised as a brave and compassionate progressive. I conclude differently. Conclude what you will about gay marriage, but can you justify the savaging of the rule of law?

* George Bush withstands weeks of withering unfounded press hounding on his alleged AWOL status, in spite of his honorable service and discharge, and is then accused by John Kerry of "making Vietnam an issue in this campaign" as a cheap shot. Are you kidding me?

What happened to the reasoning capacity of adults in America? Sad, really.

It could almost make me despair that the country is going to make the wrong choice in November and elect a Democrat who totally lacks an understanding of national defense, and thinks it's all a law enforcement matter to deal with terrorists. A man who thinks US troops should only be deployed around the globe under the direction of the UN. A frightening prospect.

But I'm confident that it will work out. I think the cultural war will clarify by then and the traditional values folks will stand up and be counted. And I think the passion engendered by "The Passion of the Christ" will be a catalyst.

Next post - I'll have some thoughts on the gay marriage question. Some that may surprise you.