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Mitt Romney flip flops on…….poor people?

flockwood — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:36:13 +0000

A few weeks ago, Mitt Romney said: “I’m concerned about the poor in this country.”

But that was South Carolina in January and this is February. Today, on CNN, the presidential candidate said:

“I’m not concerned about the very poor.”

Pentecostal televangelist busted for drunk driving

flockwood — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:21:22 +0000

Old wine? New wine? Who knows? But you could sure smell it on his breath, law enforcement officials state.

The TV preacher’s Mercedes Benz was going 93 mph when police spotted him. So who is this modern-day A.A. Allen?

Former Oral Roberts president accused of DUI
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say former Oral Roberts University president Richard Roberts was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and speeding early Tuesday morning.
Tulsa County jail records show Roberts was arrested shortly after midnight on the charges. The 63-year-old was released from the jail shortly before 6 a.m. after posting an $1,100 bond. Roberts is due in court Feb. 1.
A home telephone number for Roberts couldn’t be found Tuesday morning, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney.
He resigned as Oral Roberts’ president in 2007 amid allegations that his family used school money to support a lavish lifestyle. Roberts has denied all wrongdoing.
The university was founded by Roberts’ late father, evangelist Oral Roberts, and has an honor code in which students vow to “not drink alcoholic beverages of any kind.”
The university released a statement Tuesday that expressed compassion for Richard Roberts and his family.
“Our prayers go out to Richard and Lindsay Roberts and their entire family as they face this life challenge,” said the statement by Jeremy C. Burton, director of public relations for Oral Roberts. “May God’s grace help them as they work towards healing.”

What will the pundits be talking about tomorrow?

flockwood — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:11:22 +0000

My guess? “Self-deportation.”

Did Newt “Big Love” Gingrich Seek Open Marriage?

flockwood — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:35:30 +0000

What a surreal day in the world of politics. While Rick Perry was endorsing Newt Gingrich for president, Newt’s ex-wife was spilling the beans about their nasty breakup.

Best-selling Christian author Tim LaHaye recently endorsed Gingrich, but after reading the latest allegations, it’s entirely possible that the former House Speaker will be Left Behind by South Carolina’s Christian conservative voters.

Meanwhile, certified results released today, show Rick Santorum WINNING the Iowa caucuses — though the race is so close, Republican party officials have decided to call it a draw.

Romney: “I get speakers’ fees from time to time, but not very much”

flockwood — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:20:55 +0000

Mitt Romney, speaking in South Carolina about his income, told the crowd: “I get speakers’ fees from time to time, but not very much.”

So, how much is “not very much”?

a.) $27,500 per year?
b.) $82,500 per year?
c.) $192,500 per year?
d.) $275,000 per year?
e.) “Not very much” more than $300,000 per year?

The New York Times reports today: “Financial disclosure forms that candidates are required to file annually shows that Mr. Romney earned $374,327.62 in speakers’ fees from February of 2010 to February of 2011, at an average of $41,592 per speech.”

The full story is here.

Report: MLK Monument’s misquote to be fixed

flockwood — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:50:25 +0000

This just in. Interior Secretary Salazar says a controversial paraphrase of a quote by Martin Luther King which appears on his national monument will be fixed.

Precisely how it will be fixed is unclear, the story says.

The monument quotes King as saying: “I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness.” But Arkansas native Maya Angelou says the paraphrase makes King look like “an arrogant twit.”

Having seen the wording myself, I’m convinced it won’t be too difficult to patch up the error. There’s not room for King’s entire quote, but it would be easy to change it to say either:

“He was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness” or simply “A drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”

If Ted Koppel and Weekly World News had a love child…

flockwood — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:22:29 +0000

It would probably look a lot like this…

Yes, if you click the above link, it will take you to a story from ABC’s Nightline titled “Polyamory on Rise Among Divorce Wary Young Americans.”

So what concrete, statistical evidence is there that polyamory is “on the rise among divorce-wary young Americans?” None that I could find in this story.

In fact, the printed story doesn’t feature ANY “Young Americans” who are engaging in polyamory.

The polyamorous trio in this story are ages 49, 44 and 34.

Reminds me of a story I read (I think it was in The Oregonian), about “middle-aged” people in their “50s and 60s” who were reentering the dating scene.

Which raises an interesting question — When do you go from being “young” to being “middle aged” to being “beyond middle aged?”

UPDATE: ABC News has altered the headline so that it no longer refers to the trio as “young.”

The Fuhrer’s Favorite Singer Meets His Maker

flockwood — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:02:45 +0000

How many centuries do you have to spend in purgatory to wash this blight from your soul?

The Forward has an extraordinary story today about the death of Adolf Hitler’s favorite vocal artist. Hitler helped make him rich. He performed at a concentration camp. And ~~– though his wife was Jewish –~~ he maintained a cozy relationship with The Human Personification of Evil throughout World War II.

Johannes Heesters was 108 years old.

Synthetic drugs blamed for man’s fixation with Jesus, Huckabee

flockwood — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:40:14 +0000

The Northwest Daily Florida News says “synthetic substances” are to blame for a local man’s Redneck Riviera religious experience:

According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, Rhett Daniel Burleson broke into his father’s home and was lying on the kitchen floor. Burlseon was “raving about Jesus, Mike Huckabee, and how people were ‘full of (expletive).’ ”

The deputy asked Burleson what was going on and he yelled that he needed to speak to Mike Huckabee and demanded that he be delivered to him…”

Instead, they delivered Burleson to a local jail cell.

Romney like Secretariat at the Belmont Stakes?

flockwood — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:32:27 +0000

When I think of extraordinary finishes, few can top Secretariat’s Triple-Crown-clinching race in the 1973 Belmont Stakes.

Secretariat and Sham are shoulder to shoulder early in the race, but then Sham fades and Secretariat begins to pull away.

He’s ahead by 5 lengths, then 10 lengths. Fifteen lengths, then 20, then 25. By the end of the race, Secretariat is so far ahead that the TV cameraman is unable to capture the winner and the also-rans in the same shot.

I thought of this race this afternoon as I digested the latest Gallup tracking poll numbers in the Republican presidential primary.

Romney was once trailing Gingrich, but passed him in December. After Iowa, Romney began to pull away and the rest of the field began to fade. The trend accelerated after the New Hampshire primaries.

Gallup’s latest polling shows Romney with 34 percent. Romney climbed three percentage points overnight, while Gingrich dropped two, to 14 percent. Tellingly, Romney is now polling more than Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry combined.

South Carolina appears to be the final firewall for Gov. Romney’s opponents. If he wins there, he could sweep the GOP primaries — something no non-incumbent has ever done.

Pat Robertson says he’s hearing from God again

flockwood — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:58 +0000

Yes, Pat Robertson, the former Republican presidential candidate and wealthy televangelist says the Lord has spoken to him about what awaits America in 2012 — and who will win the presidency in November.

Fortunately, Robertson had a yellow legal pad handy to jot down these prophetic utterances.

As Robertson tells it, God told him that doom, gloom, disaster and disintegration is looming for our country.

That would shut me up and sober me up and cause me to fall on my face in reverence. But not Mr. Robertson. He prefers to play “20 Questions” with the Almighty.

You know how that works. You can only ask God ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. And you only get 20 questions.

God says: ‘I’m thinking of a plague that will hit the United States in 2012. It will bring maximum stress and peril. Chaos and paralysis.’

And you say: “Is this plague an animal, vegetable or mineral?”

And God replies: “Only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions are allowed. You’ve only got 19 questions left.”

Well, when Robertson plays the game, he cuts to the chase.

“Is it an EMP [Electromagnetic Pulse]?” Robertson asks Jehovah.

“No,” God reportedly says.

“Cosmic or solar radiation?”

“No,” the Creator states.

“Is it Mayan galaxy alignment?”

“No, it’s not that,” the Alpha and Omega replies.

“Iran or North Korea nuclear threat?”

“No,” the Root of Jesse responds.

“Earthquakes or volcanoes?”

“No,” the Ancient of Days declares.

“A massive power failure?”

“No,” the Lion of Judah announces.

Finally, Robertson runs out of guesses or God runs out of patience and the game of “Name that Plague” wraps up. But the suspense is killing the preacher, so he finally asks God “What is it?”

And, if you believe Robertson’s tale, God tells him.

To see what God supposedly said, click here.

Now, Rasmussen shows Santorum surging

flockwood — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:59:53 +0000

Another poll out, this one from Rasmussen Reports, suggesting a last-minute Rick Santorum surge in Iowa.

Santorum has an Iowa ad that plays up his anti-abortion voting record. It notes that he’s been married for 21 years and has a whole bunch of kids and that they’ve all been home-schooled. It features praise from Mike Huckabee, too and was apparently inspired by VH-1′s pop-up videos.

Prediction: Santorum may win Iowa caucuses

flockwood — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:49:10 +0000

I’ve been pouring over polling data, and I’ve reached a few conclusions:

1.) If Mitt Romney wins the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney will be nearly unstoppable in the 2012 Republican primaries.

2.) If Ron Paul wins the Iowa caucuses and Mitt Romney finishes second, Mitt Romney will be virtually unstoppable in the 2012 Republican primaries. [A Paul victory will scare the living daylights out of establishment Republican leaders and they'll circle the wagons. Plus, it will suck up all the media attention, leaving little benefit for whoever finishes third...]

But if an Anti-Romney (other than Ron Paul) finishes first in Iowa, things are going to get mighty interesting and incredibly unpredictable awfully fast.

So far, several would-be Anti-Romneys have risen to the front of the pack, including Bachmann, Perry, Cain and Gingrich.

But each of them withered once the media spotlight focuses on them. Now, the Iowa caucuses are less than a week away and polls suggest the race remains fluid.

Evangelicals make up about half of the Iowa Republican caucus base, and they’re really skeptical of Mitt Romney, if you believe a plethora of polls out there.

Gingrich is fading, and his polling trend lines suggest his descent will continue. Perry is stagnant. In Iowa, folks who like Michele Bachmann disproportionately like Rick Santorum. And vice versa. Both are polling in low double digits in the latest poll, by Public Policy Polling.

Both are faring well among Iowans who voted for Mike Huckabee in 2008.

If Bachmann and Santorum draw equal numbers of voters on Caucus day, it probably guarantees that Mitt Romney and Ron Paul will cross the Iowa finish line in first or second place.

But if either Bachmann or Santorum begins to falter in the final days, we could see a stampede toward whichever of the two looks strongest.

And if that shift becomes clear in the final days, it’s likely that many Perry and Gingrich-backers will be tempted to jump on the bandwagon.

Now, a new poll released today suggests it is Santorum is peaking at the right time. It suggests Santorum has pulled ahead of Bachmann and is nearing the front of the pack.

If he’s seen as the ascendant Anti-Romney on caucus day, he could pull off a real stunning come-from-behind victory.

Polling suggest that Santorum — despite polling poorly until recently — has high overall favorability ratings amond Iowa Republicans. Nobody has slung mud at him until now because nobody thought he had a chance. And now, if he is gaining momentum, it may be too late to try to effectively trash him.

Plus, Santorum has basically been living in Iowa. And he’s spent time in all 99 counties. He’s done the leg work and his ground game is better in Iowa is better than many of his opponents. In addition, he’s a loyal, churchgoing Catholic. His appeal can stretch beyond the 2008 Huckabee electorate.

If Romney wins in Iowa AND wins in New Hampshire, it’s hard to come up with a blueprint for stopping him. However, if Santorum rallies evangelicals in Iowa, he can fight through New Hampshire and head to South Carolina, where he’d be the early odds-on favorite.

Any candidate who trails Santorum in Iowa (other than Mitt Romney) will immediately see their fundraising efforts run aground, and the field will immediately narrow.

Mitt Romney will remain a formidable candidate, no matter what happens in Iowa. He has more money, better organization, high name recognition and impressive discipline. He’s been thoroughly vetted and he’s spent the past five years honing his presidential campaign skills.

Once the media spotlight shines brightly on Santorum, he’ll face the tough kind of scrutiny that follows a frontrunner. And he could crash and burn, leaving the race to Mitt Romney by default.

But there won’t be time to fire up that spotlight until AFTER the Iowa caucuses.

Will 2012 be a repeat of 2008 or 1988?

flockwood — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:30:37 +0000

Pop quiz for campaign buffs.

A rich Republican politician with disputed conservative credentials and New England ties who had distanced himself from Ronald Reagan in the somewhat distant past tries to present himself as the heir to the Reagan Revolution.

Iowa Republican voters groan and guffaw and reject the well-funded putative frontrunner. He loses badly — even a Southern Baptist preacher tops him in the caucuses.

A few days later, New Hampshire Republican primary voters: (Pick all that apply)

A.) Deliver a second-consecutive defeat to their New England neighbor and his campaign never recovers.

B.) Embrace their New England neighbor and he goes on to win the presidency.

C.) Neither A nor B.

D.) Both A and B.

Answer below the jump.

A. is the correct answer if we’re talking about the 2008 presidential election. B. is the correct answer if we’re talking about 1988.

It’s too early to tell whether Romney 2012 will be a repeat of Romney 2008 or whether it will mirror Bush 1988.

Yes, George Herbert Walker Bush got humiliated in Iowa, finishing third behind Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson. A New Hampshire lost would have been a campaign death blow. But Bush bounced back in Manchester and Concord and a hundred other hamlets and villages.

Even after winning the Republican nomination, Bush looked like an incredibly weak candidate. For a time, he trailed by as many as 18 points behind Mike Dukakis. But his campaign caught fire in the fall and never looked back.

In 2008, of course, New Hampshire further derailed Mitt Romney’s Inevitability Tour, and South Carolina and Florida delivered the final knockout blows.

Either scenario — 1988 or 2008 — is plausible in 2012.

This month’s must-read: National Geographic

flockwood — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:20:32 +0000

National Geographic’s cover story this month focuses on the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. (You can read it here.)

It’s written by Adam Nicholson, author of God’s Secretaries, one of the best books available about the creation of the King James Version.

The photos by Jim Richardson are beautiful.

Bishop rose from Arkansas poverty to prominence

flockwood — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:50:20 +0000

Odis Floyd, 71, died in Michigan Monday. The Flint Journal has a nice tribute here.

Floyd remembered living with his aunt and uncle in Arkansas. The family covering its windows with newspapers because they couldn’t afford curtains. There wasn’t running water or electricity. He moved from Arkansas to the Flint area and got a job at an automobile plant, before going into the full-time ministry.

These lines stood out from the Journal story:

As a teenager, he stole, joined a street gang and spent time in jail before praying for God’s forgiveness, he told The Flint Journal in a 2008 article.

“I preach about my past a lot, ” he said at the time. “I want young people to know that God will give them a second chance. I try not to preach fire and brimstone all the time. People need hope, and that’s always what I want to give them.”

Panel clears conservative Episcopal bishop

flockwood — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:40:59 +0000

SC Episcopal bishop cleared by national panel

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A committee of the national Episcopal Church says its investigation of the conservative bishop of one of the oldest Episcopal dioceses in the United States concluded he has not abandoned the church amid the ongoing schism over the ordination of gays and other issues.

The Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop in 2003, upsetting conservative Episcopalians who believe Scripture forbids same-sex relationships. Three years later, Bishop Mark Lawrence’s Diocese of South Carolina diocese and two others voted to reject the authority of the national church’s presiding bishop, but stopped short of a full break.

Since late September, the 18-member disciplinary board of the national church had been studying information provided by parishioners in the South Carolina diocese, which has roots reaching to the Revolutionary War.

“Based on the information before it, the board was unable to make the conclusions essential to a certification that Bishop Lawrence abandoned the communion of the church,” retired Bishop Dorsey Henderson, the president of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, announced late Monday.

He said the board met by conference call last week and notified Lawrence of its decision Monday.

Lawrence wrote a letter to the faithful posted on the diocese website on Tuesday, saying the decision leaves unanswered questions.

“It appears to read like a complex decision in a complex time in a complex church,” he wrote. “For now, given no more allegations from anonymous sources within the diocese, it is my hope we can all get back to focusing our full attention on proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

Lawrence did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Had the committee certified Lawrence abandoned the church, the Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori would have suspended him from the ministry while the matter was considered by the national church’s House of Bishops. If the bishops agreed with the committee by a majority vote, the 61-year-old Lawrence would have been deposed.

Lawrence has said repeatedly he wants the diocese to remain in the national church. He told AP in an interview published last week that he was not afraid for himself because of the investigation, but worried about the diocese.

Lawrence said the national Episcopal Church is threatening the unity of the Anglican communion and that the diocese “while we are in the vast minority of the Episcopal Church, we hold positions that Anglicans have held for the past 400 to 500 years.”

Henderson said that under church law, there are only three ways a bishop can abandon the church.

One is an open renunciation of the “doctrine, discipline or worship” of the church. The others are “formal admission into any religious body not in communion” with the church or by “exercising Episcopal acts in and for a religious body other than the church.”

He said that “applied strictly to the information under study, none of these provisions was deemed applicable by a majority of the board.”

Henderson called it significant Lawrence has repeatedly said he does not intend to lead the diocese out of the church but “only seeks a safe place within the church to live the Christian faith as the diocese perceives it.”

Henderson said he hopes that there will also be a safe place in the diocese for those under Lawrence’s leadership who do not agree with some of the actions of the diocese or the bishop’s position on some issues concerning the national church.

Lawrence wrote he was grateful for the support of Episcopalians around the world and “must also give thanks for Christians of various denominations who having read of our situation in the diocese have offered prayers to God for our strength and steadfastness.”

The 2 million-member Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million members worldwide. The Diocese of South Carolina is one of the oldest Episcopal Dioceses in the nation, dating to the American Revolution.

Two years ago, four breakaway conservative Episcopal dioceses formed the Anglican Church in North America, a rival national province to the Episcopal Church. Dozens of individual parishes have also joined.

The Diocese of South Carolina did not leave, although it did withdraw from some councils of the national church. The diocese is comprised 70 congregations with about 29,000 parishioners in the eastern part of the state. It is one of the original dioceses that joined together to form the Episcopal Church.

RIP, George Gallup, Jr.

flockwood — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:36:26 +0000

George Gallup, Jr. died earlier this month at age 81. In addition to being an extraordinary pollster, the son of the Gallup Poll founder was also someone who proclaimed his faith in Jesus Christ.

Over the years, he noted the the difference between orthodoxy and orthopraxy — the gap between what American Christians say and do, the divide between their beliefs and their practices. And he noted their biblical illiteracy.

Terry Mattingly has a fantastic column this week that pays tribute to Gallup. He also focused on Gallup in this 1990 column (courtesy of the Houston Chronicle.

In 1990, Gallup said this about Americans while addressing the Evangelical Press Association:

“We revere the Bible, but don’t read it. We believe the Ten Commandments to be valid rules for living, although we can’t name them. We believe in God, but this God is a totally affirming one, not a demanding one. He does not command our total allegiance. We have other gods before him.”

If it’s ugly, you could win

flockwood — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:14:27 +0000

A major Christian publisher is searching for the world’s ugliest Christmas sweater — and the winner will get more than notoriety.

WaterBrook Multnomah is offering $500 in cash to the contest winner. (Details here.)

This is the second year WaterBrook Multnomah has held the contest. Last year’s homely selections are still postedonline.

Did Romney lead the LDS Archdiocese of Boston?

flockwood — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:55:26 +0000

The Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog has an interesting article about Mitt Romney, but I was puzzled to see him described as bishop of the Mormon “stake (archdiocese)” in Boston.

Typically, a U.S. archdiocese encompasses huge swaths of territory — often multiple states. A stake, most often, isn’t usually quite so expansive.

Is there a better term to describe “stake” than “archdiocese?” What would it be?