New Covenant

Global warming, the complexity explained

From NASA warming scientist: 'This is the last chance' to Hot Climate could Shut Down Plate Tectonics, what is one to think about our impending doom from Global Warming?

In the web-radio interview Toward a Sensible Approach to Global Warming, the scholars at Reasons to Believe interviewed environmental scientist Kevin Birdwell.

The interview was well done, with no rash statements made on either side of the issue. Birdwell presented the current state of knowledge, on environmental science, noting that global warming does occur. He also noted that, due to the incredibly complex nature of the topic, we are not yet able to determine to what extent human induced warming affects the environment. Birdwell also stated that simply reducing carbon emissions will not necessarily impact global warming since all particulants emitted, natural and man-made, play a role in "global warming."

It was good to see Reasons to Believe finally address this issue, which has polarized many within the evangelical community.

Election day closes in

Come November 4th, I will most likely sacrifice proverbial children, in the barbaric, utilitarian, and inconsistent act of voting for McCain / Palin. This, despite the ruminations of Rod "The Sky is Falling" Dreher. Yes, Palin has performed terribly in recent interviews, answering questions that the press seems incapable of asking... The One. Yet, the people still seem to adore her.

Will it last until election day?

In the meantime, McCain continues to shrewdly outdo Obama with decisions such as suspending his campaign to return to Washington to do some of the work he was originally elected for. Obama unsuccessfully argues that he's capable of multi-tasking, attempting to convince us that he can both conduct his campaign while also contributing to the whopping 150 days of actual work he's done as a U.S. Senator (for which he was elected to do).

Let's see how the debates go.

Speaking of debates, let's see how Sarah does with Joe "Let me find another way to stick my foot in my mouth" Biden.

It should be interesting.

Friday Food Foto (v. 7)

Chile Verde

Couldn't let another Friday go by without a Friday Food Foto. This tasty delight is comprised of, as per the menu at Avila's El Ranchito,

Juicy chunks of pork simmered until perfectly tender in a mildly spiced sauce with tangy bell peppers, tomatoes and onions.

Served with rice and refried beans (with melted cheese on top), along with a few homemade corn tortillas (in the red container). Colorful chips, before the meal, are meant to be dipped in the medium spicy salsa.

Enjoy!

Friday links

Counterterrorism Blog: Where We've Come since 9/11,

At the time of the Sept. 11 attacks, al Qaeda was a centralized, hierarchical organization that directed international terrorist operations from its base in Afghanistan. By 2004, al Qaeda appeared to be in disarray, with its capabilities dramatically diminished. That picture has changed substantially over the past few years, as al Qaeda's center has grown stronger once again, with its new safe haven in the tribal areas of Pakistan, where it can train and recruit operatives, and direct its global propaganda efforts.

***

Does the fact there has been no successful attack on the U.S., since 9/11, mean that we haven't been attacked? Read No Aattack in the US since 9-11?, also at Counterterrorism Blog.

***

Obama continues to play politics as usual run a campaign of change by attempting to convince the Iraqis to postpone drawing up troop withdrawal agreements until after he's elected.

***

China has perfected time travel (HT: Ron's Bloviating).

A news story describing a successful launch of China's long-awaited space mission and including detailed dialogue between astronauts launched on the Internet Thursday, hours before the rocket had even left the ground. (emphasis added)

Add this to the Chinese successfully time transporting child gymnasts into the future.

Friday Food Foto (v. 6)

Homemade Wheat Pasta

Thick spaghetti, output from a pasta maker after mixing in regular flour, wheat flour, eggs, and water. Firm texture with hearty substance when bitten into.

The finished product is topped with homemade sauce (at this point, using any bottled or canned variety would be tantamount to an act of gross negligence). Essentially, the sauce is made by browning ground round in red wine, mixing with chopped tomatoes, a little tomato sauce, generously supplemented with herbs (oregano, thyme, pepper, etc.), along with sauteed onions and garlic (LOTS of garlic).

Oh, and add some homemade breadsticks, laced with rosemary and parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Michelle Obama: the gift that keeps on giving (v. 7)

Please, DNC, oh please keep putting Michelle Obama in front of a microphone.

From AP,

Michelle Obama asked voters Thursday to make their choice on the issues, not because, "I like that guy" or, "she's cute." Might she be talking about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin?

"I'm talking about me," she said with a smile.

Barack Obama's wife, however, is not on the ticket in the presidential election. Palin is.

...

"People shouldn't make a decision this time based on, 'I like that guy' or 'she's cute,'" she said.

The line won a big round of applause. Before it subsided, she interjected: "And I'm talking about me."

She did not talk about Palin directly in her remarks. Her supportive crowd did, chanting "No Palin" before the event started.

So, besides thinking America is downright mean, and finally being proud of America, she thinks she's cute (?) and that Americans will be voting for her? Do the words dishonest and lie need to be interjected here?

When equal does not mean "the same as"; on gender differences

From Rod Dreher, a link to a NY Times article, A New Frontier for Title IX: Science. From the article,

Until recently, the impact of Title IX, the law forbidding sexual discrimination in education, has been limited mostly to sports. But now, under pressure from Congress, some federal agencies have quietly picked a new target: science.

Yet, there were some interesting findings.

Despite supposed obstacles like “unconscious bias” and a shortage of role models and mentors, women now constitute about half of medical students, 60 percent of biology majors and 70 percent of psychology Ph.D.’s. They earn the majority of doctorates in both the life sciences and the social sciences. They remain a minority in the physical sciences and engineering. Even though their annual share of doctorates in physics has tripled in recent decades, it’s less than 20 percent. Only 10 percent of physics faculty members are women, a ratio that helped prompt an investigation in 2005 by the American Institute of Physics into the possibility of bias.

But the institute found that women with physics degrees go on to doctorates, teaching jobs and tenure at the same rate that men do. The gender gap is a result of earlier decisions. While girls make up nearly half of high school physics students, they’re less likely than boys to take Advanced Placement courses or go on to a college degree in physics.

What's more, conclusions were made which indicated that career choices were primarily determined by personality type (imagine that).

Once the researchers controlled for that personality variable, the gender gap shrank to statistical insignificance: women who preferred tinkering with inanimate objects were about as likely to go into computer careers as were men with similar personalities. There just happened to be fewer women than men with those preferences.

Now, you might think those preferences would be different if society didn’t discourage girls and women from pursuits like computer science and physics. But if you read “The Sexual Paradox,” Susan Pinker’s book about gender differences, you’ll find just the opposite problem.

Ms. Pinker, a clinical psychologist and columnist for The Globe and Mail in Canada...  argues that the campaign for gender parity infantilizes women by assuming they don’t know what they want. She interviewed women who abandoned successful careers in science and engineering to work in fields like architecture, law and education — and not because they had faced discrimination in science.

The money quote,

“Creating equal opportunities for women does not mean that they’ll choose what men choose in equal numbers,” Ms. Pinker says. “The freedom to act on one’s preferences can create a more exaggerated gender split in some fields.”

3rd rate actor disses Palin

From former Saturday Night Live funny man and has-been actor, Chevy Chase, regarding Tina Fey's performance impersonating Sarah Palin on SNL,

I thought it was extraordinary how well she played her and much she looked like her. I'd just like her — personally I felt we didn't need the Hillary stuff — I'd like her to go even harder...

...I want her to decimate this woman. This woman is, I can't believe there hasn't been more about it. ... It's just unbelievable to me this woman is actually running for vice president...

Yeah, that's right, Chevy. The fine art of American comedy and satire, laced with the intent to decimate another person.

America Alone (v. 8)

Mark Steyn's book, America Alone, isn't a call for more war, more bombing, or more killing, but for more will. Herein follows a series of posts either highlight Steyn quotes, or listing current events which, indeed, indicate that America is alone in her fight against Islamic terror.

Re: the elitist mentality of... the western world outside of America -

The Belmont Club links to Jonathan Freeland at The Guardian. From Freeland,

The crowd of 200,000 that rallied to hear him [Obama] in Berlin in July did so not only because of his charisma, but also because they know he, like the majority of the world's population, opposed the Iraq war. McCain supported it, peddling the lie that Saddam was linked to 9/11. Non-Americans sense that Obama will not ride roughshod over the international system but will treat alliances and global institutions seriously: McCain wants to bypass the United Nations in favour of a US-friendly League of Democracies. McCain might talk a good game on climate change, but a repeated floor chant at the Republican convention was "Drill, baby, drill!", as if the solution to global warming were not a radical rethink of the US's entire energy system but more offshore oil rigs.

Says Richard Fernandez, of The Belmont Club,

...When George W. Bush began to have misgivings about the strategy his commanders were pursuing in Iraq, he forced himself to look upon Medusa, as it were, and re-think his position. The result was the Surge. One of the weaknesses of Barack Obama, ...is that it took him an unconscionably long time to admit the effectiveness of the Surge. He could not look upon Medusa and was the worse for it.

Faced with a choice between believing the judgment of a large number of voters who must live with their political choices and his own sophisticated, progressive and correct world view, it is easier for Freeland to imagine that Americans are collectively mad. It is the disappointment that ‘they’ are not going to be like him that cuts so deeply. When Freeland says that “suddenly Europeans and others will conclude” that America is hopeless, he doesn’t really mean that the USA will suddenly stop becoming successful, powerful, influential or rich. What he probably means is that America has lost the inestimable chance of becoming like Europe.

The arrogance of European "progressive" thinking. God help us to not become like a post-Christian Europe (while we still have some sliver of hope left in us).

A young man's analysis of Palin

Take the time to read LotharBot's analysis of the Sara Palin effect. As evidenced by the comments he's left on this blog, he displays wisdom beyond his years. An excerpt,

One of McCain's big selling points has been his experience, and he's attacked Obama for inexperience. At first glance, Palin seems to hurt his argument there, as she's been governor for only 2 years and in a small-population state. The Obama campaign thought the same thing, and took the bait -- he criticized Palin's time as mayor, with about 50 employees and a budget of $12 million, compared to his campaign with 2500 employees and a budget of about 30 times that. He must not have realized that, as governor of Alaska, Palin had 15,000 employees and a budget of about $15 billion, about 60 times Obama's campaign budget. Obama touted his time as a community organizer, though it's not clear if he accomplished anything in that role; Palin cleverly slammed this in her convention speech, saying that being mayor is similar except that mayors have actual responsibilities. Obama's biggest mistake here was that, by making an issue of Palin's supposed inexperience, he legitimized the arguments about his own real inexperience.

Friday Food Foto (v. 5)

Couldn't let this Friday go by without another food foto.

Tri-Tip (Santa Maria style... of course)

The triangular cut of beef, which used to simply be ground up, found its way onto the grill back in the 1960s in Santa Maria, CA. To do it right, one needs to burn some California Oak logs down to embers, and then place the cut of tri-tip, fat side down, over the embers. The cut is typically only seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (although there are some specialty rubs out there). After about 45 minutes, the cut is flipped over and slow-cooked another 45 minutes. In a kettle bbq, I typically cook the tri-tip using the indirect-heat style, placing oak chunks on the charcoals for added flavor.

The final product should have a nice browned edge, slight smoke ring, tender pink interior, and lots of juices.

Enjoy!

 

Comparing Alaska and New York City; Does size matter?

In Obama and the Palin Effect, Deepak Chopra states,

...On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City...

Now, that was an interesting comparison, wasn't it? Chopra is arguing that because the number of Alaska's 683,478 residents is about one-tenth the number of New York City's 8,274,527 residents, the task of governing Alaska must also be about one-tenth the job of governing NYC.

But let's take a look at this graphically. Below is a bar-chart histogram which compares both New York City (NYC) and Alaska (AK) with regards to their population levels.

 
Clearly, the population of NYC dwarfs that of AK.

However, what if we were to look at the size of NYC as compared to that of AK? The chart below illustrates this for us.

So, in terms of area (square miles), Alaska's size (656,424 sq. mi.) so overwhelms that of New York City's (469 sq. mi.), that NYC doesn't even register on the chart. Simply put, Alaska is 1,400 times the size of New York City.

Using Chopra's reasoning, this must mean that, in terms of area to govern, the job of running Alaska is expanded to the scale of running 1,400 New York Cities!

I wondered how these resource-based comparisons played out when comparing Obama's state of Illinois to that of Palin's Alaska. So I did a little bit of research. I found the results interesting.

On 9/11

On the anniversary of 9/11, let's remember what's at stake, this coming November.

Who would the likes of al-Qaeda fear the most?

Obama / Biden?  (image)

Or McCain / Palin?

Yeah, you know the answer.

Fowler & Fowler: Like two peas in a pod

First it was former DNC Chairman Don Fowler caught laughing about Hurricane Gustav hitting New Orleans right when the Republican National Convention was to occur. Instead of having the stones to squarely apologize for his callous insensitivity, he attempted to play the satire card (and blamed the secret video on "some rightwing-nutcase").

Now we have his wife, South Carolina Democratic Chair, Carol Fowler, stating that the primary qualification Governor Sarah Palin has to run for VP is that she hasn't had an abortion. Fowler (#2) has since issued a worthless apology, stating,

I personally admire and respect the difficult choices that women make everyday, and I apologize to anyone who finds my comment offensive.

Is there no one left in the Democratic Party to stand up with at least an ounce of virtue and condemn statements such as these?

Continuing confusion on Palin, and the need to manufacture lies

Ed Brayton, normally quite accurate in his reporting, titles a post of his, Another Palin Lie. Ed states,

Remember that airplane she sold on E-Bay to make a tidy profit for the state of Alaska because she was just such a regular Jane she didn't want to travel the state in luxury the way her predecessor had? Let me refresh your memory:

"You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor, and sold it on eBay -- and made a profit!" McCain declared in Wisconsin at a campaign stop Friday.

And Stephen Foley, at The Independent, has an article titled, Sale of Alaska's state jet on eBay revealed as a lie. From Foley's article,

Sarah Palin bolstered her reputation as a reformer – and got one of her biggest cheers in her Republican convention speech last week – when she said she had sold the governor's official jet on eBay as her first act on taking office in Alaska.

What she didn't say was that the aircraft had failed to sell over the internet and was eventually sold off at a loss.

...

...Inquiries by the journalists and Democratic party operatives who have descended on Alaska have turned up quite different facts: namely, that the jet was hauled off eBay after failing to attract decent bids.

Yet, here are the lines from Sarah Palin's speech, at the RNC, in which she references said plane:

I came to office promising major ethics reform to end the culture of self-dealing, and today that ethics reform is the law. While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the Governor's Office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

That's it. No other references to the sale of the jet was made in her speech. Astute observers will note that she does not state that the plane was sold on eBay, nor does she state that it was sold for a profit.

It ain't there, fellas.

Do you think, just a thought here, that her intentions (at that point in the speech) were to emphasize her attitude towards wasteful spending, and not to give a detailed accounting report of how Alaska unloaded it's luxury jet?

Did she imply, in her RNC speech, that she had actually sold the plane on eBay? Could be. Yet, did any intrepid journalists or Democratic party operatives, armed with the not-so-secret data of the plane's actual sale, trap Palin by asking her for specific data on how the plane was sold? Are you kidding? That would mean actually trying to get to the truth of the matter.

Truth be told, we must rewrite Foley's paragraph, from above, as follows:

Sarah Palin bolstered her reputation as a reformer – and got one of her biggest cheers in her Republican convention speech last week – when she said she had sold put the governor's official jet on eBay as her first act on taking office in Alaska.

Words... just words.

Note: However, John McCain's statement, referenced above, seems to be a different matter entirely. Maybe he should just let Sarah speak for herself.

On the workings of an ecosystem

A few weeks ago I asked Ilona for some advice on how to deal with garden pests (see this post). She was gracious enough to give me a few pointers, to which I am very grateful.

One of the attack plans we had, in dealing with the aphid problem, was to bring in a commando force of ladybugs from our front yard.

photo - A ladybug near some unsuspecting aphids.

They immediately began attacking (i.e., eating) the aphids. After satiating themselves, they began procreating.

photo - ladybug eggs (orange), laid in and amongst an aphid population.

Within only a few short weeks, the aphid infestation has been reined in, and most of the affected plants are back to producing vegetables.

In researching which insects are friends of the gardener, I noted another friend, the Syrphid fly, whose larva also feed off of juicy aphids. Not unexpectedly, I found many a syrphid fly hovering about our zucchini plants.

photo - Syrphid fly, looking for a nice spot to lay some eggs.

All photos © 2008 A. R. Lopez.

Why does Palin confuse them?

Sarah Palin is confusing the Left and the mainstream media.

And why should we be surprised? In their myopic view of the world, they lack the ability to focus in on anything but that which surrounds them - anything but that which they are already engaged with. Within the realm of their understanding it seems to be nothing short of ludicrous that John McCain would seriously present the likes of Sarah Palin as candidate for Vice President of the United States. Their refined rationalism recoils at the thought of a right-wing, former small-town mayor, gun-lovin', pro-life, Bible-believing woman being second in command - a mere heartbeat away from becoming POTUS. Indeed, the vile attacks levied against Palin, since her addition to the ticket, are all too telling.

John Podhoertz links to a NY Times article (HT: Crunchy Con) which illustrates the myopia of the media. From the NY Times article,

In the address at the Assembly of God Church here, Ms. Palin’s ease in talking about the intersection of faith and public life was clear. Among other things, she encouraged the group of young church leaders to pray that “God’s will” be done in bringing about the construction of a big pipeline in the state, and suggested her work as governor would be hampered “if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God.”

She also told the group that her eldest child, Track, would soon be deployed by the Army to Iraq, and that they should pray “that our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God, that’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.”

You mean that, as a Christian, she believes that the sovereign God (of the Bible) has... a will? That said God also has... a plan? And that we are to pray to said God for his will to be done through... his plan?

Horrors!

Perhaps the reporters for the NY Times piece, in their zest for research, should do a bit of it on what constitutes the Christian faith, not to mention finding out what the Bible says on the subject.

Better yet, how about they take Melinda's suggestion, and listen to some of the sermons from the pastor at the church which Palin attends (sort of an end-around on the whole Jeremiah-Wright thing).

Or, maybe, listen to the excitement of the people...

On Sarah Palin as a working mother VP

In the wake of the announcement of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate, and my support of her as his choice, I had wanted to make a statement regarding the fact that she is attempting to hold a career while also being a mother with underage children. It occurred to me that some people may think that those, such as myself, who both support Palin and also advocate that mothers should be about taking care of their children (in lieu of advancing their careers) are being, at worst hypocritical, and at least inconsistent. Bonnie, writing at Culture11, has inadvertently provided me some impetus, for putting my own thoughts down, by writing a post in which she essentially accuses those of us who hold to traditionalist values of forsaking our principles by throwing our support to Palin. Despite the thoughtfulness of her post, though, I think that Bonnie has made some errors in her analysis of this complex issue.

Let me first state my opinions and position on the issues of motherhood, careers, and that of Sarah Palin as a full-time mother, in the role of VP (much less Governor). To wit, I don't think that a full-time mother, especially one with a Down Syndrome child, has any business being employed full-time, whether it be in a career of choice, or in a public servant role such as that of Governor or Vice President. (as a sidenote, I had wanted to write a similar statement regarding the antics of swimmer Dara Torres who, after having a child, decided to train for and compete in her fifth Olympics) It's my opinion that the role of a child's mother is best filled by... the child's mother. It's my opinion that the time commitments involved in holding full-time (and over-time) careers can do nothing but negatively affect the vital impact a mother has on her children. It's my opinion that being a mother to your children is more important than having a career. It's my opinion that Sarah Palin (in this case) cannot provide, for her children, her maximum level of motherly care, as well as commit fully to the office of Vice President.

Of course, I certainly could be wrong. But I know firsthand what time commitments are necessary in achieving a substantial career, and I know secondhand what time commitments are necessary in being a mother; and 24 hours per day is not enough time to accommodate both. 

Yet, I support McCain's choice of Palin as his running mate, and I don't believe I'm being hypocritical or that I'm forsaking my principles, as a traditionalist, in doing so.

Before I explain how I parse out my support for Palin, let me give my analysis of Bonnie's post. In her post she states,

Since the mid-1980s, it’s been hip for religious conservatives to tout the overwhelming importance of mothers who, they say, should stay home and raise their children. The Mommy Wars have raged. Now some are saying that it’s fathers who are most important; they’d best be available at home too...

My gut reaction is that if it really is only since the mid-1980s that religious conservatives have voiced their concerns about the importance of mothers, it's because that is when we began seeing the impact of women entering the workforce, by choice, and attempting (in some cases) to juggle the responsibilities of having both children and careers. And with regards to the Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters book link, the claim being made by Meg Meeker (the author) is not that it's fathers who are most important, but that a young girl's father is the most important person in her life. As I stated in my review of the book, "Meeker has come to the conclusion that the father is primarily the one who shapes the path of his female children". Bonnie, I think you misrepresented Meeker's claims.

Bonnie goes on to say,

Well, dare I say, both mothers and fathers are equally crucial to the raising of their children. Does no one see the solution to our dilemma? Visualize this: mothers and fathers both negotiating employment arrangements so that, when suitable (and possible—perhaps after a nationwide overhaul of job structuring, and institution of much longer parental leave), both can be involved in the economic (not just financial) and domestic support of their children. As many already are.

While I agree that mothers and fathers are equally crucial to the raising of their children, I think that one must be careful not to blur the lines which delineate the physiological differences that are inherent in men and women. Being equal is not equivalent to being the same. Visualizing two-parent employment arrangements, only after nationwide overhauls, seems to beg the question that such arrangements are in everyone's best interests. Some people may choose to structure their family life in such a manner, but how does such a preference mandate the implementation of national reform, much less that it is a better arrangement than one based on physiological qualities?

I wonder. How pervasive is the effect of our culture on our thinking? David Kuo left a comment on Bonnie's post in which he states,

As a working father with a working wife - and a caregiver at home during the day - I’m able to be much more involved in my child’s care than I would if I was the primary breadwinner. With our current arrangement, my wife and I have both made the conscious decision to manage our careers and daily activities such that we have to balance the demands of our jobs. Thus, I generally have to be home by 5pm nearly everyday. Thus, I can’t travel as much as my job would otherwise demand. The same constraints hold true for my wife. As a result, our careers are no doubt compromised to a large degree. But by alleviating the pressure of having just a single earner, we are better equipped to place limits on how much our careers (my career especially) intrudes on our time with our child.

So, it's actually better that both he and his wife have careers while having children, because the responsibilities of their family act as constraints of sorts, thereby preventing him and his wife from staying at the office late into the night.

Huh?

How about just coming at home at 5 p.m., regardless of whether or not your wife is working? And if your career intrudes on your time with your child, then maybe you should find another career? Just a thought.

Okay, so how am I being consistent in supporting Palin? Autonomy. Sarah Palin, as well as Dara Torres, Bonnie Lindblom, David Kuo, Meg Meeker, et. al., all have the right to make choices for their lives. And while I have the right to disagree with Sarah Palin's choices, I certainly don't have the right to tell her how to live her life. While I may disagree with her decision to lead a life of public service while raising children, I don't have to let that choice negate my supporting her politically.

So, with regards to the 2008 Presidential race, here's what we're left with:

1. Palin has made her choice to be governor of Alaska, despite having underage children.
2. McCain picked her as VP candidate.
3. Given her positions on political issues, her background, and her worldview, I think it was a brilliant move by McCain.
4. Therefore, I support her because of political reasons, despite other misgivings I may have.

I'll take the McCain / Palin team over the Obama / Biden team in a heartbeat. You can call it being politically expedient, and you'd be right.

When hypocrisy is not hypocrisy

It seems that some liberals are having a difficult time understanding what constitutes hypocrisy.

Consider the saga of Sarah Palin's teenage daughter, and this blog post at ABC News,

ABC News' Andy Fies reports: Although Barack Obama has said the pregnancy of Gov Sarah Palin’s unwed teenaged daughter is "off-limits" and has "no relevance", not all of his supporters agree.

Clinton Wray and his family sat among the 14,000 who gathered to hear Obama speak in Milwaukee this evening. While he supported Obama's decision to, in Wray's words, "take the higher ground", he was not convinced the pregnancy is irrelevant. "Republicans will say that they are the party of family values and that everybody else doesn't have any values. So when you’ve used that, I think the public and the media have the right to use whatever you’ve put out to come back to you."

Wray added that this applied to Palin too. "This young lady is saying that she's a strong conservative with Christian values. That's great. But the Republican party has consistently used the religious right to say 'we're Christians,' to say 'we don't believe in this and we don't believe in that.' And so I think they have to be held accountable…. She has to be held accountable."

To begin with, I'm not aware of any prominent Republicans stating that "everybody else doesn't have any values." To be sure, persons with alternative political affiliations hold values of some sort.

Yet I wonder exactly what type of accountability Mr. Wray would hold Sarah Palin to? It seems to me that, in her public statement on the issue, she made it clear that her daughter was choosing life for her unborn baby, that her daughter was going to get married to the child's father, that her daughter would have the full support of her and her husband, and that their full support was needed now that her daughter would learn about the reality of having made choices that fell outside the realm of "family values". It further seems to me that, rather than displaying hypocrisy, Palin is being fully consistent with the family values she claims to have. Honesty, love, commitment, and responsibility.

If Sarah Palin wished to be a hypocrite, she would have counseled her daughter to have a secret abortion, in order to preserve the family image, thereby allowing her to attend college (if she so desired) without the punishment of having to take care of a child at the same time.

On the relevance (or lack thereof) of the mainstream media

From CNN, Palin's husband has DWI arrest.

From the article,

A senior adviser to the McCain campaign confirmed Monday that Todd Palin, husband to Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, was arrested for driving while intoxicated in 1984. (emphasis gleefully added)

So, the fact that the spouse of the Republican Vice Presidential candidate had a DWI arrest 24 years ago is a newsworthy item today?