Donald Nuechterlein is a political scientist whose writing can be found in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. In an article published today, he says that because of an assumption that the 2012 presidential election will focus on domestic issues, pundits and reporters are paying scant attention to where the candidates stand on foreign policy issues and the GOP candidates themselves largely content themselves to say what they think that Republican voters committed enough to vote in caucuses and primaries...

Vladimir has gone back in time to the days of the Soviet Union. How else to explain the Russian prime minister’s assertion that the US and not people from his own country are behind the protests of vote tampering that have arisen since Russia’s recent parliamentary elections? Putin is increasingly going back to his happy place, where war was peace, reality was conveniently airbrushed out of existence, and every domestic unpleasantness was the fault of the United States and its allies....

My profession is #1 on Forbes‘ list of the ten happiest jobs, among other things. [I blog regularly here.]

That’s how Ed Morrissey, quoting Karl Rove, characterizes The Donald’s private presidential debate. [I blog regularly here.]

The day after Phil Gerbyshak linked to this article, I missed an appointment because I forgot to write it down. I should have read have read the article more carefully. [I blog here.]

It may be a long time before democracy comes to Russia. [I blog here.]

Jack Goldstone presents the case here that China, under current trends, cannot become the economic behemoth many expect it to be. And Russia’s growth has stagnated. But, he does see growth in the economies of Turkey, Indonesia, and Mexico, as well as Brazil and India, the B and I of the BRIC formulation. He’s absolutely right, I think, that innovation doesn’t blossom in repressive environments. China’s government has, essentially, been trying to buy off their people with baubles....

The latest dust-up on the already tedious 2012 presidential campaign trail was triggered several days ago when a pastor and Rick Perry supporter told interviewers that Christians should refrain from voting for Mormon candidates like Mitt Romney (and presumably, Jon Huntsman too) for president because, he asserted, Mormonism is a cult. As a Christian pastor myself (Lutheran), I decided to address the two questions raised by that controversial statement: Is Mormonism a cult? Should Christians refrain...

Jon Huntsman, a guy with an impressive resume, announced on Tuesday that he is running for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Whether the former governor of Utah and ambassador to China stands a chance is only a guess. But, if you believe that civility should infuse the process by which we elect a president in the United States, his announcement speech ought to bring some encouragement. Among other things, he said of the incumbent, President Barack Obama: He and I have a difference of...

That’s the title of this admittedly Christian and, I hope, charitable, take on what’s come to be called Weinergate.

Was the indictment of former North Carolina senator John Edwards pure politics? The answer to that question may seem obvious. Edwards is a Democrat. The indictments were sought by a Democratic Justice Department. You can hardly accuse the current Administration of engaging in a witchhunt of an opposition political figure. But what if the Barack Obama-Eric Holder Justice Department had passed on pressing for indictment of Edwards, who was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008 and the...

Here.

Here. I hope that my fellow Christians will see (and name) Donald Trump’s racist, ungodly demagoguery for what it is. We need to speak up.

The United States Constitution requires that before the Commander-in-Chief, the President, can go to war, Congress must declare war. Congress has done so five times in US history. In the latest issue of The Week, there’s a discussion of whether, by precedent, especially since World War II, Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution has been effectively abrogated. You can find it here (for subscribers only). One can argue that the action taken by President Obama in Libya did not, strictly speaking,...

I had a great day off with my wife, Ann, even though some of it was taken up by an appointment with our dentist. The highlight of that visit came when the doctor and I sang some of ‘Red Rubber Ball’ by the Cyrkle to his hygienist. She hadn’t believed him when he mentioned this song and the band; she thought he was making both names up. Kids! (She’s thirty.) I had to sing to vouch for his veracity. By the way, the Cyrkle, an American band, was managed by Brian Epstein, the...

…a Franciscan blessing I hope everyone will appreciate: May God bless you with discomfort. Discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. Amen. May God bless you with anger. Anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. Amen. May God bless you with tears. Tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you may reach out...

Watching what’s happening in the Middle East, where sick men have held onto power for decades, I’m thankful to live in the United States. Here, we take for granted the peaceful transition of executive power. The human instrument by which that incredible blessing has come to us was George Washington. As I’ve pointed out before, Washington turned down the offer of absolute power more than once. Most notably, of course, he did when he resigned his commission as general of the US...

But also, he believes, one presenting a window of opportunity to make a deal with the Palestinians and ensure peace: To put it bluntly, if Israelis tell themselves that Egypt’s unrest proves why Israel cannot make peace with the Palestinian Authority, then they will be talking themselves into becoming an apartheid state — they will be talking themselves into permanently absorbing the West Bank and thereby laying the seeds for an Arab majority ruled by a Jewish minority between the Mediterranean...

That’s the headline of this Columbus Dispatch article on the decision of the State Teachers’ Retirement System here in Ohio to make changes in order to ensure future solvency. Similar actions are being taken or contemplated by pension systems across the country. Fair-minded Republican and Democratic officeholders alike will, however quietly or off the record, agree that essential for addressing the national debt is a willingness to tweak programs like Social Security and Medicare. Some...

What do you think?

…Illinois has raised its income taxes. Is the State Legislature crazy or are they onto something? The jury’s out, but read the whole thing and render your judgment in the comments section, if you wish. [This has been cross-posted at my personal blog.]

“The root of Shriver’s self-conception was as a lay Catholic who always tried to model his life after the ethics of Jesus as expressed in the Gospels. This has not been a passive pursuit. Always he was asking himself, Am I living my life as Christ would want me to? “What he derived from his faith was less the solace of Lord’s presence, or the promise of transcendence in the hereafter (though he did derive both of those qualities from his faith) than a kind of mobilizing...

[What follows is only my personal opinion. I don't claim my authority as a pastor for it. It's just me and, as always, I could be completely wrong.] The daily headlines suggest that the United States and all western democracies are, in the days ahead, facing not fewer but more threats from terrorists–whether they’re violent Islamists or, as in the case of those thought responsible for today’s embassy bombings in Rome, anarchists. Force, whether military or police, is one obvious...

Earlier today, I watched the press conference with Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and head football coach Jim Tressel. Five Ohio State players have been suspended from playing the first five games of next season by the NCAA. Smith indicated that Ohio State will appeal the penalties. (Another player has been suspended for one game of the 2011 season.) As an Ohio State alum and fan, I hope that Smith will reconsider that move. The rules are clear: Players are not to exchange goods of any kind,...

Yesterday over on Facebook, Ohio’s outgoing Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, posted a link to a new Zogby Poll. Brunner, a progressive Democrat, understandably highlighted Zogby’s finding that, in spite of the “shellacking” that Democrats took in the 2010 midterm elections a few weeks ago, voter majorities still favor government spending on infrastructure in order to create jobs. (That’s what Zogby highlighted, too.) It’s true, the majorities for such spending...