Franklin News Post distorts Perriello vote

Good catch by 220South. The Franklin News Post, reporting on Rep. Perriello's vote for S-CHIP, had this misleading headline: Perriello Votes to Double Cigarette Tax. Saith 220South:

The fact that it was actually a bill expanding health care coverage for underprivileged children is apparently not headline-worthy. Interestingly, the meat of the bill is buried toward the end of the article, including the part where Tom rips the decision to include the tax increase ...

Tom voted for S-CHIP because it's the right thing to do. By voting for the bill, which originally did not include the tobacco tax, he was not only honoring a campaign promise, but expanding health coverage to 55,000 Virginia kids. (emphasis mine)

What happened to truth and decency while I was gone?

Freedom's Defense Fund Attacks Perriello

So, I literally just got back from Savannah, Georgia, a half an hour ago, and I turned on the television for background noise while I unpacked. The first advertisement that comes on is Freedom's Defense Fund attacking Rep. Perriello for his vote for the stimulus package. The ad is not yet up on YouTube (click here for their other attack ads), but it is currently their only ad on the Freedom's Defense Fund recent ads page. Love the part where they say Tom voted for $355 million in "sexual diseases." Absolutely classy. Nevermind that Tom's CLASS ACT was wrapped into the stimulus bill. Nevermind that the economic policies Freedom's Defense Fund most likely endorses are the ones that got us into this mess.

Part of the Freedom's Defense Fund's mission statement:

FDF stands with conservative, pro-freedom candidates against the radical left and their elitist allies in the mainstream media. We tell the truth about Democrats like Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi that you will not hear anywhere else. We are unyielding in exposing the dangers that these radicals pose to our American way of life.

aznew caught the attack ad and posted on BlueCommonwealth. Money quote:

Hey, [Freedom's Defense Fund's Executive Director] Todd [Zirkle], we’re kind of backwards here in Virginia, and we just don’t have your Washington, DC lobbyist smarts, but we can figure out how the stimulus works, how spending money here will help the economy, how food stamps will feed our hungry citizens, how money for schools will educate our children. So, please tone down your regional bigotry about what we can understand and what might be beyond us.

Also, Todd, your ad uses visual distortion and voice-overs to depict Tom Perriello, one of the nicest and most decent guys you ever want to meet (and I don’t care if you are a Democrat or Republican), as a shady, dishonest character, a distortion reminiscent of some of the unethical editing Virgil Goode did during the campaign.

This ad is not a good way to be welcomed back home in Virginia.

Presidential Press Conference

Elkhart is the new Joe the Plumber.

Star Trek Zealot Robs Stores, Goes Home to Mother's Basement

I'm sure he needed the money for a World of Warcraft upgrade:

Colorado police say a man with too much "Star Trek" on his mind used a sword modeled after the weapon carried by Klingon warriors to demand money from two convenience stores.

Quote of the Day

Concludes Thomas E. Reynolds, Emmanuel College of Victoria University and the Toronto School of Theology in the University of Toronto:

The test of a position—religious or irreligious—is it ability to withstand fair-minded and public consideration or debate among a variety of alternatives. So, as we test the “God issue”, may we follow the best in our varied traditions, which call us in different ways to live together in understanding and peace, even if in disagreement. After all, such diversity is the crucible in which hard work of love is fashioned.

(h/t Tripp)

Gone Fishing

I am leaving for Savannah, GA here very shortly for an extended weekend in order to see some old school friends, and I will be back sometime Tuesday night. As such, I will be blogging at a much lighter rate during this time. Hope that you have a restful and relaxing weekend!

Republican Presidential Hopefuls Help VA Candidates

See a pattern here?

McCain Will Campaign for McDonnell
Huckabee Endorses Cuccinelli
Romney Will Assist Comstock

Obama signs SCHIP, tells Martinsvillian's story (updated)

Today Obama signed the SCHIP bill which reauthorizes and expands health care benefits to low-income children. In his speech, however, he tells the story of a local Martinsville family, the Secrests:

The families joining us today know these realities firsthand. When Gregory Secrest, from Martinsville, Virginia lost his job back in August, his kids lost their health care. When he broke the news to his family, his nine year-old son handed over his piggy bank with $4 in it, and told him, "Daddy, if you need it, you take it."

He returns to their story when he concludes his speech:

In the end, that's really all that folks like the Secrests are looking for - the chance to work hard, and to have that hard work translate into a good life for their kids. I'm pleased to report that their story had a happy ending - it turned out that Gregory's two sons were eligible for CHIP, and they are now fully covered, much to his relief. I think Gregory put it best when he said: "Kids look at us and think 'they'll take care of us.' That is our job - to keep them safe and healthy."

When Obama stumped in Martinsville last August, he promised that the city will be on his mind every morning when he wakes up. It appears it wasn't just campaign rhetoric.

Update: The Secrests were highlighted in a Georgetown University study last year about the effects of the economic downturn on children's healthcare, and last week, Greg wrote a Letter to the Editor to the Martinsville Bulletin on FAMIS, Virginia's SCHIP system.

Gubernatorial poll: Regional cross-tabs

Reader Roland the HTG pointed out the regional breakdowns in a newly released gubernatorial poll, which I thought was worth sharing. Yesterday, Public Policy Polling released a poll surveying the current gubernatorial race (full results here). By now you have probably read the important results, but here you go if you haven't:

Governor	Base
Creigh Deeds	11%
Terry McAuliffe	18%
Brian Moran	18%
Undecided	53%

But when you break it down regionally - by area codes - one result is very intriguing:

Governor	Base	276	434	540	703	757	804
Creigh Deeds	11%	8%	20%	19%	3%	6%	23%
Terry McAuliffe	18%	28%	4%	21%	14%	22%	24%
Brian Moran	18%	0%	13%	11%	34%	5%	11%
Undecided	53%	64%	63%	49%	49%	67%	41%

Deeds is playing well in his home turf (parts of 434 and 540) and Moran is playing well in his (703). Now, I live in Henry County which is part of the eastern perimeter of the 276 area code, an area code which covers all of South West Virginia. So, my eyes naturally gravitated to that region. Several things strike me about these results. Off the top, Brian Moran has zero support according to this survey, out of 40 respondents (4% of the 998 total respondents). Also, McAuliffe is smoking here, relatively speaking, which is surprising since Rep. Boucher has endorsed Deeds. Since I am unaware of McAuliffe's campaign strategy in the region - i.e., no television ads are airing - I wonder if his strength in this region is somehow related to Hillary Clinton's dominance of the region during the VA Primaries (see primary results map here). Given McAuliffe's close relationship to the Clintons, is the region positively associating the former with the latter? Who knows. It's just a thought.

Green energy "Back to the Future"-style

In Back to the Future, the DeLorean time machine ran on fuel derived from household garbage. Well, lamely stated, back to the future is now. England is using this technology - where garbage waste is converted into electricity - for ... wait for it ... their garbage trucks! Of course, the majority of the electricity is being sent to the power grid, but still, that's pretty sweet. Apparently there is one down-side:

Of course, environment-friendly doesn’t necessarily mean “safe”: because it’s electric, the vehicle is just about silent, and could pose a danger for unaware pedestrians. Residents of this small, already-quiet town might need to start looking before crossing the street: a driver of the truck already admitted two near-misses in one morning.

(h/t The Huffington Post)

Dem Bones Dialogue Series

I've been very thankful of the dialogue that is emerging on this blog and thankful to each of you readers and commenters. There blog has a wide array of political ideologies and religious theologies represented here, and I would like to take this dialogue another step, unless, of course, you feel strongly otherwise.

I am thinking about adding a weekly series, "Dem Bones Dialogue," in which I ask two of our reader/commenters to dialogue with each other. Ideally, in each of these dialogues we would have two distinctly different voices discussing one topic or issue. For example, having both a theologically conservative and progressive voice discussing a topic could show how two people, starting from the same epistemological foundation, could possibly arrive at different conclusions. Or, for example, how a theologically moderate and athiestic voice could begin with different epistemologies but could arrive at the same conclusions. These dialoging pairs would be chosen for optimal discussion, as some dialogical pairs can be counter-productive; I want people to talk with each other, not passed each other.

Ideally, I, or someone else, would find a topic worthy of engagement and find two different theological perspectives. Each responder would write 1-2 dense, concise, well-written paragraphs on the topic. I would trade those initial responses in order to illicit a 2-4 sentence second response. After these responses are all collected, I would post them here to further engage this community.

It is important, to me, to investigate how we structure and organize our worldviews, and hopefully, these dialogues could shed light on how different, intelligent people arrive to their conclusions. With these understandings, hopefully we all can fully appreciate, even in disagreement, how others interpret our world.

I have asked some of you in private and have recieved enthusiastic support. I would like to open this up to all of you to expand the dialogue. If you would like to participate, please comment in the comment section with an email address in which I can reach you. Or, if you think this isn't a great idea, I would love feed back and constructive criticism.

Perriello in Martinsville

Rep. Perriello stopped by Martinsville yesterday and met with unemployed workers. First, Perriello visited the Workforce Career Center and, later in the morning, he visited the local VEC.

Top Catholic Political Operatives

The RNS Blog has a quick post highlighting the fact that the chairmen of both the DNC and RNC are Catholic. Tim Kaine is a devout Catholic, seen in his gubernatiorial campaign, and he volunteered with the Jesuits after college. Similarly, Michael Steele briefly considered the priesthood.

NFL's charity work

Ever wonder what happens to sports memorabilia made for the losing teams, albeit unknown beforehand, of national title championships?

In a partnership with NFL and World Vision, thousands of NFL t-shirts were distributed to poor children in El Salvador. The t-shirts, however, congratulate the Arizona Cardinals for their win in the Super Bowl. Of course, the NFL printed thousands of shirts with both possible outcomes for the Super Bowl, and those shirts that did not correctly display the winning team are, naturally, unsellable. So the shirts are given to charity to help those in need. Saith World Vision's senior director of corporate relations, Jeff Fields:

We work in those very deprived areas and it’s just amazing to see how much need there is. They are living in very poor conditions – no electricity, no running water – and to get a new article of clothing for them is just a huge difference in their lives.

(h/t Chad of Homebrewed Christianity)

Top Evangelical Sports Stars

Beliefnet has a list of the top dozen evangelical sport stars. Kurt Warner and Tim Tebow are no brainers, but the rest of the list, covering a wide array of sports, was interesting. Money quote:

Even if you stay home on Sunday to watch football, skip Tuesday night prayer meeting for the baseball game of the week, and miss Saturday's church retreat in favor of a pro golf tournament--chances are, you'll still hear about Jesus. Evangelical athletes populate the major sports, and many of them enjoy the chance to be outspoken about their faith--thanking God for that winning field goal, late-inning homerun, or 18-foot putt.

Please go away, Joe.

Good Lord. He went from Joe the Plumber, to Joe the Country Music Singer, to Joe the Congressional Hopeful, to Joe the Author, to Joe the War Correspondent, and now to Joe the Republican Consultant:

Joe the Plumber is now doing political strategy with Republicans.

When GOP congressional aides gather Tuesday morning for a meeting of the Conservative Working Group, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher ... will be their featured guest. This group is an organization of conservative Capitol Hill staffers who meet regularly to chart GOP strategy for the week.

But perhaps, he's just Joe the Ploy-to-Boost-Early-Morning-Meeting-Attendance Guy:

If nothing else, GOP aides are using the appearance to get staffers to attend the 9 a.m meeting.

Here's hoping to the next career path: Joe the Cowboy-Riding-Off-Into-the-Sunset. Please go away ... quietly.

Quote of the Day

Says Beliefnet's Rabbi Brad Hirshfield:

[The Super Bowl is] really [a] national holy day that is about much more than who will be declared the best team in professional football. Like any sacred event, it brings people together to focus on a particular performance, which speaks to their hopes and aspirations.

Although not identical, football on Sunday and church on Sunday (or synagogue on Saturday, mosque on Friday, etc.) are more alike than most of us realize. It's no accident that recreation and re-creation are the same word. When sports and religion are done right, we feel the fullness of our freedom.

Palin's Plurality

A new Rasmussen poll surveyed both Democrats and Republicans about the future of the Republican party. This is what kills me:

Coming off a shellacking at the polls in November, the plurality of GOP voters (43%) say their party has been too moderate over the past eight years, and 55% think it should become more like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in the future ...

This, to me, seems to be symptomatic of the current Republican death spiral, similar to TalkingPointsMemo's take:

... [P]oll data like this could indicate that the Republican Party is getting ready to relive the classic cycle of ruling parties who get turned out of power in a landslide: With the party base itself shrunk down, the people who are still around are the most hard-line members, and are really the least fit people to fix the situation.

Payday lending

Today, the Roanoke Times has a good editorial against payday lenders. They argue that the predatory practices of payday and car title lenders - in my mind, our contemporary Temple money-changers - need to be cast out. The Virginia legislature tried to "reform" this industry last year, but lenders found loopholes in the bill to further prey on the financially desperate and insecure. 220South has a scathing analysis on these "reforms." In economically distressed times, people are more likely to make irrational decisions in order to keep their lights on and food on their tables, not thinking through the fact that they further endanger their economic livelihoods with these loans. And because of ungodly interest rates and roll-over fees, when these loans are taken out, a cycle of increased and perpetual indebtedness ensues. That is the very definition of predatory. Why Virginia hasn't barred this industry is beyond me.

In a two mile stretch on Rt. 220 in Collinsville - the town connected to Martinsville - there are over a dozen payday and car title lenders. I never figured out how there can be such a market for that many shops in one geographically concise area. On the same note, in Virginia, I'm told, there are more payday lenders than there are McDonalds and Burger King's combined. Absolutely sickening.

Super Bowl thoughts

Wow. What a great game. It looked like it was going to be a doozer, and then the fourth quarter happened. There were times when it seemed like both teams were trying to penalize themselves into defeat. The historic 100 yd. interception return was, of course, the game - that was a 14 point swing.

Larry Fitzgerald is a freak. Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes stepped his game up and showed that he was worthy of being a first round pick, but Fitzgerald is in a league unto himself. Kurt Warner showed that he still has a lot of game and doesn't need to retire hastily.

Steeler's owner Rooney giving a post-game shout-out to Obama was kinda neat-o. He was a big supporter of Obama during the campaign.

The worst commercial EVER: The McGruber/Pepsruber commercial. That whole advertising team should be fired ... immediately. Me, a chimpanzee, and a rock could have been more creative.

Oh yeah, congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers.