A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on March 23rd, 2009 in This blog

Marvel Comics used to publish a comic called “What if…” that I loved. The basic premise was that they took a well-known Marvel story line and twisted it in some manner. Or they took a hero from one part/time of their fantasy multiverse and paired them with someone from another part/time. So I’m going to blatantly adapt that and make it “What does it mean when…”

• What does it mean when…

a blogger doesn’t update his/her blog regularly? Any number of things. They could be busy with this thing we all call life. They could have tired of blogging. Or they could simply have a bit of writer’s block. I’m not exactly sure of why I haven’t been updating as regularly as I once did. Part of it is that keeping up with two-year-old twins doesn’t give me long blocks of uninterrupted time. Part of it is that I get tired of rehashing the same old arguments. Part of it is that I’ve had a lifelong battle with depression and, lately, it’s been winning on too many fronts. Time to get that taken care of.

• What does it mean when…

you get fitness equipment as a present? In my case, it was a Wii Fit. In my case, we talked about the puchase beforehand and I think it means two things: 1) “I love you enough to help you take care of yourself,” and 2) “Here’s the gift you said you really wanted.” Both of them are nice messages to get. I hooked it up for the first time today and tried not to be insulted by the brutal truth of the Wii Fit. “You are obese.” Man, that’s hard to hear, even when you know it’s true. “Your balance is poor – do you often trip when you walk?” Uppity thing! But, I do, unfortunately. I don’t fall, mind you. That’s a few years down the line, I suppose. Oh yeah, my Wii Fit age is 63. Does that mean I can get some Wii Social Security? (There have already been fun moments on Wii Fitness – such as it telling me “You have perfect balance!” exactly as I was falling over.)

• What does it mean when…

the President says that “Anger isn’t a governing strategy?” It means he has his eye on the important stuff. We are looking at a deficit that will add more than a trillion dollars of debt per year for the next decade. Believe me, a hundred and fifty million isn’t even enough to blink an eye at. Think of it this way: If I handed you a dollar per second, eleven and a half days would pass before you were a millionaire. If I gave you a thousand dollars a second for eleven and a half days, you would only be a billionaire. If I gave a thousand people a thousand dollars per second for eleven and a half days, then I would have given away a trillion dollars. Another illustration would be how much this represents per person – the AIG bonuses were enough to give each person in the United States just under fifty cents. The deficit is the equivalent of giving each person just over three hundred and thirty-three dollars. See what I mean? Big difference.

It also means that we need to let our system of government work as intended – by letting it strain out the destructive forces of group emotion. It might be satisfying to tax bonuses at a special rate, but when it comes to your bonus, I’m willing to bet that you won’t want it taxed so much. On the other hand, I’m of the mind that people making millions of dollars every year can afford to pay a bit more in tax. I just won’t feel sorry if someone can’t jet their daughter to Paris to shop for a dress for her sweet sixteen party. I won’t even feel bad if she can only shop at the Goodwill store.

• What does it mean when…

the same Republicans who voted for President Bush’s tax cuts and deficits are worried about the current level of taxes and deficits? It means that they don’t know what else to say. Georges Santayana said (roughly) “Fanaticism is redoubling your efforts when you’ve lost track of your goal.” What, exactly is the goal of the Republican Party now? I’m willing to bet that there aren’t three national Republicans who could answer that without resorting to sound bites. Unfortunately for the GOP, two of them are Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, and the rest of the GOP would really like for them to go away. As I used to tell my Democratic friends, “When you are the minority is not a time to have an ideological purge. It’s time to build a big tent and convince moderates that you like them.” It works for the other side, too.

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