progressive involvement

Requiscat in Pacem, Corazon Aquino

She restored democracy to the Philippines.  NY Times obituary here.

"Demure but radiant in her familiar yellow dress, Mrs. Aquino brought hope to the Philippines as a presidential candidate, then led its difficult transition to democracy from 20 years of autocratic rule under her predecessor, Ferdinand E. Marcos."

Dumb idea

Rick Hertzberg has joined Tina Brown in suggesting that Pres. Obama enlist the services of former Pres. Clinton to help in the effort to reform health care.  "Sic the Big Dog on the Blue Dogs," he says.  He thinks Clinton could get in there and give the Blue Dogs the LBJ treatment and turn things around.

In the first place, Pres. Obama won't do it because it would be an admission that there's something lacking in his own leadership.  How would it look, asking a Clinton to save his bacon?

Secondly, does he really think Clinton could make a difference?  How exactly?  Clinton is out of office.  He doesn't have, as BTD puts it, "political bite."  He can't make the Blue Dogs do anything.  He can cajol, but they can ignore. 

Third, would Bill Clinton put his name on the line for a bill that is likely to be "industry approved"?  

Dixie unsure

2.5 million

That's the number of house calls--repeat:  house calls--made by French doctors for French citizens last year.

Why is anyone surprised?

We have problems to solve, and some people are chattering about Obama's birth certificate?  Not only is this whacky, I don't even care if it's true.  He could've been born on Klingon for all I care, and I still would have voted for him over John McCain.

Then Glenn Beck says that Obama is a racist and doesn't like white people.  Good night, a black guy gets elected president and the wiring in Beck's brain appears to have been completely shorted out.

None of this makes any sense to very many people, but, as Joan Walsh said today, "the dirty fog of their constant smears has to tarnish Obama at least a little."   

We've seen this movie before.  Bill Clinton was less than two years into his presidency before he was accused of murder and drug-running from some landing-strip in the backwoods of Arkansas.  In the early 90's, Jerry Falwell--the Glenn Beck of yore--was selling videotapes which made precisely these allegations.  

This is why, incidentally, Clinton came to be called "the first black president."  It was because he had endured the vilification, the assault on character, the constant effort to besmirch, that has been the black experience in America.  As it turned out, Clinton really did feel their pain.

There is, however, a method to their madness, which is why Lynn Cheney was loathe to criticize the so-called "birthers" and, instead of firing Beck, FOX news lamely says that Beck's views are his own.  Of course the higher-ups don't believe any of this nonsense themselves, but it serves a purpose.  Walsh:

Yet now the forces of reaction are claiming Obama is the class warrior, and the race warrior, declaring war on whites, and trying to snatch the status-quo privileges -- like healthcare, allegedly -- from the haves, to provide for unworthy have nots.

It's a nasty little plan--truly Nixonian, Atwaterian, and Rovian--but it may work, again.

Who's picking up the bill?

From "multi-polar" to "multi-partner"

Two of those partners are going to be India and China, if the administration has its way, and a good thing too.  India and China are two huge and fast-growing markets, and both are critical in the effort to reduce greenhouse gases. 

Last week, Secretary of State Clinton upgraded India from "emerging" superpower to "dominant" superpower.  If India would agree to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, she might bump India up to "active" superpower. 

Plus, if India signs, that puts more pressure on Pakistan to do the same, and, oh by the way, India is an Asian counterweight to China.

As for China, the red carpet was rolled out for the USA-China Strategic and Economic Dialog which began on Monday and ended today.  Some called it "G-2" in recognition of the dominant world economic role each country plays now and is likely to play in the future.  (China's economy will grow by 8% this year.  That of the US will shrink 2%.) 

As a prelude, and to underline the importance of the meeting, Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Geithner co-authored an editorial in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday.  As they put it:

Simply put, few global problems can be solved by the U.S. or China alone. And few can be solved without the U.S. and China together. The strength of the global economy, the health of the global environment, the stability of fragile states and the solution to nonproliferation challenges turn in large measure on cooperation between the U.S. and China.

Also simply put, each nation has an interest in the stability and prosperity of the other.  China is heavily invested in the United States, and the United States needs access to Chinese capital.  The United States no doubt emphasized to China the basic economic strength of the US, despite the recession, and wanted to reassure China that their present stake in the US economy--currently $1.5 trillion worth--is safe.  Meanwhile, China has become the world's largest car market, and no doubt Detroit is looking for an increasing share of that market.  GE will double sales to China this year.

We tried unilateralism, which destroyed good will and American prestige with dozens of governments and millions of people worldwide.  The "multi-partner" approach is a better idea.  At one time, we actually wanted and desired the good will of the people of the world.  In the 1960 election, both John Kennedy and Richard Nixon said they would do a better job than the other of building the "prestige" of the United States around the world.  It's about time somebody got around to doing it.

Photo:  ATHC

Catholics and Lutherans argue over some old bones

The sacred bones of King Canute IV!  Canute, the patron saint of Denmark, died in AD 1086.  His bones are on display behind glass in the crypt of Odense, Denmark's Lutheran Cathedral.  The Catholic bishop, Czeslav Kozon, requested that two of the bones be given to the Catholics "as a gesture of good faith."

The church council of Odense Cathedral, also called St. Knuds' Church, thought the idea was just fine at first, but the Lutheran bishop of the Funen diocese, Kresten Drejergaard, rejected it.  His reasoning was that relics don't do anything really, and that he's saving the Catholics from theological error by keeping them. 

Said Drejergaard:  "If the national church gives some of Canute away with the goal that his bones will become relics in the Catholic church, then the Lutheran church will have contributed to a complete turnaround on the idea of the relationship between man and God."

In other words, we're doing them a favor by saving them from themselves.  Besides, as if conjuring every possible argument, Drejergaard also said that giving up the bones would be tantamount to disrespecting the dead, as if having them on display in a cathedral is not.

In AD 1075, King Canute led the last great Viking raid.  (King Canute, the Viking raider, is also Saint Canute, keep in mind.)  This is ironic:  Some people believe King Canute stole the remains of St. Alban from Ely in England. 

Odense Cathedral has since said that since their bishop won't let them give the bones of King Canute to the Catholics, the Catholics are welcome to hold services in the Lutheran cathedral.

H/t: Clerical whispers

Schuller dramas

Robert Schuller Jr., the son of Robert Schuller Sr., was ousted from his position as senior pastor at the Crystal Cathedral last October.  He'd been senior pastor for 10 months.  Reportedly, there was a "lack of shared vision" between Schuller Sr. and his son, according to Schuller Sr.  Schuller Jr. drily notes, "They decided to no longer air my messages on The Hour of Power." 

Schuller Jr. is now one of the new owners of AmericanLife TV.  His major partner is Chris Wyatt, the founder of GodTube.  Founded in 2007, GodTube was one of a plethora of YouTube knockoffs.  After a solid beginning, GodTube declined rapidly.  (Wired panned it.)  Wyatt recently left GodTube, allegedly because his investors "wanted to take God out."  That must have been the case.  GodTube has recently been rebranded as "Tangle," a family-friendly social networking site.

Schuller Jr. says that one of the revelations which Wyatt experienced at GodTube is that "nobody listened to preaching."  This is ironic since one of the raps against Schuller Jr. was that his sermons were too Biblical.  (In other words, audience and revenues continued to slide.)

AmericanLife TV, incidentally, was formerly owned by the Unification Church.  One wonders what kind of link Robert A. Schuller has with the Unification Church.  He appears in this promo for the Universal Peace Federation of Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

Meanwhile, Robert Schuller Sr.'s eldest daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, has taken over the administrative leadership of the Crystal Cathedral.  She has her work cut out for her.  The Kansas City Star reports that the Crystal Cathedral has been "bleeding dollars and members for years," a decline which has only gotten worse since the family feud between Senior and Junior erupted last October.  Revenues dropped by $5 million last year.

Mormon architecture

Who knew?  Video here.