Pearcey Report Offline

By Rick Pearcey

The Pearcey Report is currently offline, due to technical difficulties, which we're looking into.

Cheers,

JRP

Update: We're back. Go to The Pearcey Report.

Update -- Radio Alert: Rick Pearcey on Prime Time America

4:58 p.m. Eastern Update: Rick will not be a guest today on Prime Time America. Sorry for any inconvenience. Cheers, Rick

Rick will be a guest on Prime Time America this Monday. Prime Time America is part of the Moody Broadcasting Network.

* Date: Monday, March 26, 2007
* Time: 5:05 p.m., Central Time
* Website: Prime Time America; this page should be updated on Monday

Listen live online here. The program broadcasts from 4-6 pm (Central); Rick is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.

To find a local station, click here.

Total Truth & Mere Christianity

By Rick Pearcey

Nancy's book Total Truth continues to be reviewed. The latest review at Amazon strikes a number of positive themes.

Reviewer D. Vandervalk of Thousand Oaks, Calif., says she has "to agree with these other reviewers -- this is one of the most important books I have ever read."

Total Truth "helped me clarify things I had been intellectually struggling with, and briefed me on all the underlying 'isms' which shape the thoughts of the culture around me."

She awards the book 5 stars, and recommends it even though it is "no light read," because "it will help you think in a new way and will give you more confidence in your challenges of dealing with atheism, naturalism, humanism, etc."

Vandervalk says "you will be able to discard the idea that your intellect and your faith belong in separate parts of your mind."

She is "recommending this book to others left and right, and will probably buy the audiobook so I can share it with non-readers."

Her conclusion: Total Truth "ranks right up there with Mere Christianity."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Chicago Radio Alert: Nancy Pearcey Double Feature Today

Nancy will be an in-studio guest on two live radio programs from Chicago today at 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm (central time).

* Prime Time America, 5:30 pm (central)

• Listen live online here. The program broadcasts from 4-6 pm (central time); Nancy is scheduled for 5:30 pm.
• Local Station? Click here.

* Open Line, 8:00 pm (central)

• Here's the website. Scroll down to see a picture of Nancy and the cover of Total Truth.
• T0 listen online, click here. Additional information on how to listen live online is here.
• Find a local station in your state here.

Go to The Pearcey Report.

Speaker Alert: Nancy in Chicagoland

Nancy Pearcey will be in the Chicago area, speaking at Elmhurst College March 15, 2007. Nancy's bio is here.

* Elmhurst Website: "Nancy Pearcey, author of Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, will offer 'a Christian Worldview's Challenge to Higher Education.'" An announcement for Nancy's appearance at Elmhurst is included on this page.

* When: Thursday, March 15, 7:30 p.m.
* Where: Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel
* Cost: This event is "free and open to the public."
* Directions: Elmhurst is "near the geographic center" of the metro Chicago area. Get directions here.

For more information, contact Charles Henderson, director of public relations, at 630-617-3033 or email charleyh@elmhurst.edu.

10 Reviews of "Amazing Grace"

By Rick Pearcey

Here's a round-up of reviews of Amazing Grace, the new film about pioneering anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce:

* "Slave Trade's Holy Warrior," NYPost
* "Steady Effort That Hits Its Target," 2the Advocate
* "Huzzah!" Salon.com
* "Inspiring," LATimes
* "Hardly Compelling Viewing," WPost

* Wilberforce a "First-Rate Movie Saint," NYTimes
* Infused by "Dullness of Virtue," Hollywood Reporter
* "Sweet Sound of Freedom" Amid "Film's Problems," Chicago Sun-Times
* "Unrigorous History Lesson," Entertainment Weekly
* "Good-Hearted," "High-Minded," Houston Chronicle

Related
* Website: Trailer, downloads, more
* "Hollywood's Amazing Grace Cover-Up," WSJ
* "Director: Wilberforce "Capable of Doing a Dirty Trick," WExam

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Forum: What About Sen. John McCain Speaking at Discovery Event?

By Rick Pearcey

On February 13, The Pearcey Report published the alarming news (to some) that GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain is scheduled to speak February 23 at an event co-hosted by the Discovery Institute. (See The Pearcey Report main page headline "Darwinists Upset McCain Speaking at Discovery Event.")

William F. Buckley now comments on this news in a column titled "So Help Us Darwin": "The news is that McCain has agreed to speak at a luncheon hosted by the Discovery Institute in Seattle. What offends my friend is that the think tank in question supports the concept of Intelligent Design. And the question raised -- believe it or not -- is whether such a latitudinarian thinker should be thought qualified to be president of the United States." Here's the entire column.

We have decided to set up a forum: What about Sen. John McCain's speaking at this event co-hosted by the Discovery Institute? Is McCain being foolish, political, genuine, all of the above, none? What are your thoughts on McCain, Buckley, ID, Darwin, the bloggers, and so on?

Here are more responses to McCain's scheduled appearance in Seattle:

* Kansas City Star: "There are lots of places McCain could have taken his show, but he picked the Discovery Institute. It doesn’t matter what his speech is about, this is his attempt to pander to the creationist fringe."

* The Nation: McCain's conservative-friendly "makeover continues on February 23, when he is scheduled to speak before the Discovery Institute, the right-wing think tank that has attempted to introduce into public school biology classes the teaching of Intelligent Design."

From Think Progress, as quoted (unedited) in the original Pearcey Report coverage:

* McCain Doomed: "Flipper McCain’s affiliation with this group is sure to doom his campaign!"

* Flip-Flopping Madman: "That pasty-faced, flip-flopping madman McCain is not intelligent, but he has designs on the white house."

* Groan: "I thought we were done with all the 'Intelligent Design' hokum. The longest two weeks of my life was when our church started presenting it in Sunday School as an ‘alternative’ to evolution . . . and I had to spend my Sunday afternoons deprogramming my wife and her family. People should be able to sue proponents of Intelligent Design for permanent harm done to their ability to think critically."

What do you think of the news that Sen. John McCain is scheduled to speak at an event co-hosted by the Discovery Institute? Post your comments below.

Update: On Saturday, February 17, the Discovery Institute Responded to Darwinian Outburst Against McCain Speaking at Luncheon -- Pearcey Report Exclusive

Related
* Christianity Is a Science-Starter, Not a Science-Stopper, by Nancy Pearcey
* Why Intelligent Design Will Win: 5 Reasons to Keep an Open, Educated Mind, by Nancy Pearcey
* Darwin Meltdown Reaches England, by Rick Pearcey
* Secularism Takes Hit at British Airways, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Beatles 1st Appearance on "Ed Sullivan Show"

By Rick Pearcey

The Beatles first appeared on the "Ed Sullivan Show" Feb. 9, 1964. Watch Beatlemania kick off here.

More Beatles fun over at Newsbusters.

See a discussion of "The Gospel According to the Beatles" at Christian TV vs. Christian Thinking.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Hillary: She Was for the War Before She Was Against the War

By Rick Pearcey

Hillary Clinton "is triangulating her position on the Iraq War in a cynical effort to appear tough-minded and to placate the antiwar, leftist base at the same time," writes Joseph Klein in Frontpage. "She is now proclaiming. '[I]f we in Congress don’t end this war before January of 2009, as president I will.'

"Following in the footsteps of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, who used their promises to end the Korean War and Vietnam War respectively to win their races for the White House, Hillary is gambling that she can outflank John Edwards and Barack Obama as the antiwar candidate during the primaries while sounding resolute to the general electorate. But hollow campaign promises and tough rhetoric do not equal meaningful results." . . .

If She Wins: "Hillary is fanning the American electorate’s disillusionment with the war for her own political ends. She will do anything and say anything to get elected.

"All that Iran, al-Qaeda, and the enemy combatants in Iraq whom they are supporting need to do is continue putting the squeeze on our troops and to wreak more havoc on the Iraqi populace.

"Knowing that this will fuel the sense of hopelessness about the war in America that will ensure Hillary’s election as the newly minted antiwar savior with her knight Bill by her side, the terrorists will get their prize in Iraq: a base to spread their bloody jihad globally."

Joseph Klein's article is here.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Mom, Amahl, and Gian Carlo Menotti

By Nancy Pearcey

My earliest memory of attending a live classical music performance is watching my mom play the violin in Menotti's opera Amahl and the Night Visitors.

I was about four years old, and this was my first concert. On top of that, it's a special memory because I remember my mom smiling at me from the stage.

Here's a New York Times article on Menotti, who died yesterday at age 95. Notice the irony of his comment in 1964: Among the avant garde, he noted, “To say of a piece that it is harsh, dry, acid and unrelenting is to praise it. While to call it sweet and graceful is to damn it." In his own operas, Menotti "dared to do away completely with fashionable dissonance, and in a modest way, I have endeavored to rediscover the nobility of gracefulness and the pleasure of sweetness.”

Related:
Pulitzer Prize Winner Gian Carlo Menotti Dies at 95

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Nancy Pearcey is author of Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity and editor-at-large of The Pearcey Report.

Debbie Schlussel and the "Democrats' New Imam"

By Rick Pearcey

Columnist and attorney Debbie Schlussel wonders why Democrats picked Imam Husham Al-Husainy to deliver their Winter Meeting invocation, in which "he called for an end to 'occupation'."

* Readers Know: "Readers of [Schlussel's] site know Imam Al-Husainy, Imam of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center in Dearbornistan, well," she says. "I've written about him and his extremist views extensively."

* Best Buddy: "The guy is best buddies with the Neturei Karta rabbis who spoke at the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Holocaust Denial Conference in Iran."

Here's Schlussel's website.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Nike Boots Adidas: Pays $781 Million to Outfit National German Soccer Team

By Rick Pearcey

"In a move that has provoked sporting, emotional and commercial angst, Adidas, the Bavarian company that has shod the national team for 50 years, has been outbid massively for the privilege by Nike," reports Timesonline.

"The Oregon-based company has offered the German Football Federation €500 million (£331 million) to be the national squad’s boot and kit supplier for eight years from 2011. The football establishment has never seen such largesse before: there is an additional €50 million signature fee and a similar amount for the women’s team."

This deal, according to this currency converter, amounts in U.S. currency to approximately $781,000,000 (amount fluctuates with alterations in the exchange rate).

1) Basic Deal: €500 million ($651,499,748 US)
2) Signing Fee: €50 million ($65,149,974 US)
3) Similar Amount for Women's Team: €50 million ($65,149,974 US)

Total Cost: $781,799,692 US.

German National Team website

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Call for Papers -- Creation Graduate School Launches Science Journal

By Rick Pearcey

The Institute for Creation Research Graduate School (ICRGS) is announcing the launch of the International Journal for Creation Research (IJCR).

"IJCR is a professional, peer-reviewed journal of interdisciplinary scientific research that presents evidence for recent creation within a biblical framework," says the institute.

"Addressing the need to disseminate the vast field of research conducted by experts in geology, genetics, astronomy, and other disciplines of science, IJCR provides scientists and students hard data based on cutting-edge research that demonstrates the young earth model, the global Flood, the non-evolutionary origin of the species, and other evidences that correlate to the biblical accounts."

Editor in Chief Dr. Andrew Snelling (Ph.D., geology) issues the inaugural call for papers at the online journal's website.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Moose in Water

Post Letters to the Editor

Got something to say?

This is where you can comment on articles linked or published at The Pearcey Report and, of course, Pro-Existence (in addition to replies that follow individuals posts).

Post your "Letter to the Editor" here by clicking on "Post a Comment" below, just as you would post comments following blog postings.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Rick Pearcey


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Blitzer Question to VP Cheney About Daughter Out of Line?

By Rick Pearcey

Matt Drudge has reported that Vice President Dick Cheney "responded sharply" to CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer's line of questioning regarding the pregnancy of the VP's lesbian daughter, during an interview taped for today's "Situation Room."

Here's part of the dialogue, according to Drudge:

Blitzer: "Your daughter Mary, she's pregnant. All of us are happy. She's going to have a baby. You're going to have another grandchild. Some of the -- some critics, though, are suggesting, for example, a statement from someone representing Focus on the Family: 'Mary Cheney's pregnancy raises the question of what's best for children. Just because it's possible to conceive a child outside of the relationship of a married mother and father, doesn't mean it's best for the child.' Do you want to respond to that?"

Cheney: "No, I don't."

Blitzer: "She's obviously a good daughter -- "

Cheney: "I'm delighted -- I'm delighted I'm about to have a sixth grandchild, Wolf, and obviously think the world of both of my daughters and all of my grandchildren. And I think, frankly, you're out of line with that question.". . .

The Drudge story appears here.

Questions: If the VP is "delighted" about having another grandchild, and if he thinks "the world" of both his daughters, including Mary, why doesn't he answer Blitzer's question?

In addition, does the VP think "the world" also of Mary's homosexuality? Clearly, Mary's homosexuality has long been out of the closet. Given that the VP is comfortable with his daughter and his grandchild, why is he not also comfortable answering a question about his grandchild's means of conception and future "family" situation?

Does the VP think it wise to allow children and grandchildren to be purposely conceived and raised in structurally dysfunctional human arrangements that violate the Creator's norms for family life?

Or was Blitzer's question out of line?


Related:
Rosie O'Donnell's Oppressive Coat, by Rick Pearcey


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Nadia Eweida at "Price of Freedom"

By Rick Pearcey

On January 20, The Pearcey Report noted that British Airways had dropped its ban on allowing employees to publicly wear cross necklaces at work.

At the center of the controversy has been Brit Air check-in worker Nadia Eweida.

Now comes an announcement that she will be speaking at two "Price of Freedom" events in England -- in Swindon February 1 and in London February 2.

For more information, visit the website of Inspire magazine.

Related:
Secularism Takes Hit at British Airways, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Forum: The Sundance/Bestiality Debate -- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Horses?

By Rick Pearcey

Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival has premiered Zoo, a film about bestiality.

"Zoo is a documentary about what director Robinson Devor accurately characterizes as 'the last taboo, on the boundary of something comprehensible,'" writes Kenneth Turran. "But remarkably, an elegant, eerily lyrical film has resulted." Turran's article is here.

In contrast, attorney Seth Cooper writes in American Thinker: "Sooner or later the Living Constitution will meet bestiality. The sex-with-animals crowd as alternative lifestyle is on display in a film which just premiered at the Sundance Festival. The 'internet-based zoophile community' portrayed in the film is not sensationalized or condemned according to the account Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times.

"I have not seen the movie, but I have seen modern jurisprudence, which is beginning to show preliminary signs of extending its embrace of relativism to interspecies sex." Read Cooper's article here.

Question: What you think of Zoo and the issues it raises? Do we have before us "an elegant, eerily lyrical film," or the extension of relativist thinking to "interspecies sex"? Share your thoughts.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

President Hillary Rodham Clinton

By Rick Pearcey

Bill Clinton won the presidency, which means Hillary can too.

"Fund-raisers on the left and right are salivating now that Sen. Hillary Clinton has declared, 'I'm in' the 2008 presidential race," writes columnist Cal Thomas. "On the left, feminists will likely hail her as the reincarnation of suffragette Susan B. Anthony. On the right, conservatives will portray her as a cross between Lady Macbeth and Bonnie Parker."

* Attacks Didn't Stop Bill: "Conservatives should be careful. The nonstop attacks on Bill Clinton did not keep him from winning in 1992, nor did his personal scandals prevent his re-election four years later." . . .

* Double Standard: "Men can't run against a woman the way they run against other men. Former Republican Congressman Rick Lazio learned the double standard voters apply to a female candidate. . . . "

* Surge: "Some conservative Web sites are already claiming Sen. Clinton will unite the Republican base like no other Democratic candidate. Maybe, but that base is too small to counter what surely will be a surge in female voters." . . .

* Not-Bill Factor: "A major advantage for Republicans is that Hillary is not her husband. She is aloof and calculating . . . ."

* The Machine: "The Clintons have a well-oiled political machine that neutralizes people who get in the way of their pursuit of wealth and power." . . .

* The Focus: "Should not be on gender or any other side issue, but on who is best qualified to defend the country against its many enemies, foreign and domestic. Look for the dirtiest, meanest and most costly presidential campaign in history in pursuit of the answer."

The entire Cal Thomas column is here.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Ban Books, Gag Opponents: Hysterical Secularist Slams "Fascist" Christians

Posted by Rick Pearcey

"Breezing through the bookstore at Reagan National Airport the other day," writes author Don Feder, I came across a new volume with the intriguing yet subtle title, American Fascists – The Christian Right and The War on America by former New York Times' correspondent Chris Hedges. But, as the saying goes, tell us what you really think.". . .

* No Hyperbole: "In the introduction, Hedges makes it clear that he actually is comparing evangelical opponents of abortion and gay marriage to the monsters who burned books, ran death camps and plunged humanity into a world war that left 63 million dead. Except it’s Hedges who wants to ban books and gag his opponents. . . ."

* Harvard Divinity, the Nazi Hunter: "The author begins with a quote from one of his distinguished professors at the Harvard Divinity School (where Christianity disappeared decades ago): 'The Nazis,' he said, 'were not going to return with swastikas and brown shirts. Their ideological inheritors in America have found a mask for fascism in patriotism and the pages of the Bible.' Apparently, everything Hedges learned in the intervening years confirmed that grotesque prophecy."

* Hysteria: "Hedges’ screed is the latest in a long, long, line of hysterical tracts denouncing what the secular left calls the Religious Right. The past year alone has seen . . . saliva-specked exposes of alleged Christian extremism" . . .

* Rosie O'Donnell: "Such sentiments are endlessly repeated as an article of faith by politicians, journalists and entertainers. . . . Last fall, seminal political thinker Rosie O’Donnell instructed viewers of ABC’s 'The View,' that 'Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have separation of church and state.'" . . .

* Fighting "Fascism" With Fascism: "The Left takes a page out of the playbook of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, who confessed, 'If you tell a big lie enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.' . . . In the name of fighting fascism, [Hedges] wants to institute censorship and punish political incorrectness with prison sentences. Irony is always lost on the Left."

* Left-Footed Jackboots: "I’m tickled pink (no pun intended) when the Left starts casually throwing around charges of fascism. Look in their closets, and you’ll find jackboots shined and ready to wear." . . .

* Goebbels State University: "Over what institution does the left exert the greatest control (even more than over Hollywood and the news media)? Answer: Academia. Now, what institution most closely resembles a police state in its posture toward dissent? Same answer."

* Shut Up and Burn: "At American colleges and universities, Christian student groups are being told to renounce their principles or lose official status. Conservative newspapers are burned. Conservative speakers are shouted down or assaulted with impunity. Students who vigorously challenge leftist dogma are suspended or expelled. Professors are denied tenure for failure to parrot the party line.". . .

* Bible Belt Nazis: "In documenting the perils of incipient totalitarianism in the Bible Belt, Hedges describes his hair-raising adventures at a 'Love Won Out' conference (for those born-again who left the gay lifestyle), a Creationism Museum in Petersburg, KY, (FYI, the Nazis were evolutionists) and one of Dr. D. James Kennedy’s 'Evangelism Explosion,' seminars where conferees were taught how to bring people to 'the Christian Right’s version of Christ.' Christians evangelizing? Fancy that.'"

* Breathless: "The goal, Hedges breathlessly discloses, is 'not simply conversion but also eventual recruitment into a political movement to create a Christian nation,' where the Bill of Rights would be repealed and the Constitution replaced by Jerry Falwell’s latest sermon. . . ."

* Secularists' Original Lie: "The original lie of the Left is that America was a nation founded on a secular worldview -- one nation under who-knows-what, with liberty and justice for all. The monumental task of historical revisionism started 60 years ago and continues to this day. To maintain this fiction, the elite relies on intimidation and ignorance of history -- one reason American history is no longer taught in our schools." . . .

* Jackboots for Christians: "Hedges is chillingly clear when he writes that the Christian Right (read: normative Christianity) 'should no longer be tolerated' because it 'would destroy the tolerance that makes an open society possible.'" . . .

* For Starters: "Restricting religious radio stations to broadcasting Gospel music, taking 'Focus on The Family,' 'The 700 Club,' and 'The Coral Ridge Hour' off the air, padlocking the doors of the D.C. headquarters of Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and the National Association of Evangelicals, closing religious day schools and Bible camps, and tearing pages from Leviticus out of Bibles." . . .

"The next book Christopher Hedges writes about fascism should be autobiographical."

Don Feder's column appears here.

Related:
Fascism Is Back
Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell Should Face Jail for Preaching
O'Reilly, Letterman, and the Culture War


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Backyard Hawk

By Rick Pearcey

This hawk visited our backyard this morning. It appears to be either an immature Red-Tailed or Red-Shouldered Hawk. The photo is enhanced to bring out color and definition.

As I post this entry, snow is just beginning to fall here in Northern Virginia (the first of the winter). Our son Michael is celebrating by taking Copper outside (our Min-Pin Copper is head of office security at The Pearcey Report and Pro-Existence).

Meanwhile, audio from a "Hank the Cowdog" CD (The Kitty Cheater) in the background cautions listeners, "Don't get your news from a chicken." Perhaps this explains the rise of talk radio.

Hawk experts and bird-watchers generally are welcome to help further specify the identity of this beautiful bird.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Rape of Justice: Duke University's Postmodern Lynch Mob

By Rick Pearcey

"The Duke University 'lacrosse rape case' is all but over," writes Charlotte Allen in the January 29 edition of the Weekly Standard. "On Friday, January 12, the prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, petitioned the North Carolina attorney general's office to be recused from the case, and the office complied, appointing a pair of special prosecutors to take over. Nifong's recusal, it is widely assumed, paves the way for the dismissal of all remaining charges against the three defendants -- suspended (but recently reinstated) Duke sophomores and lacrosse team members Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, and a team co-captain, David Evans, who graduated last year -- owing to a complete lack of physical, forensic, and credible testimonial evidence linking the three to any sexual or other violent crimes." . . .

* Elite Hanging Party: "Mike Nifong's handling of the case was clearly outrageous. But he would probably not have gone so far, indeed would not have dared to go so far, had he not been egged on by two other groups that rushed just as quickly to judge the three accused young men guilty of gross and racially motivated carnal violence. Despite the repeated attempts by the three to clear themselves, a substantial and vocal percentage -- about one-fifth -- of the Duke University arts and sciences faculty and nearly all of the mainstream print media in America quickly organized themselves into a hanging party. Throughout the spring of 2006 and indeed well into the late summer, Nifong had the nearly unanimous backing of this country's (and especially Duke's) intellectual elite as he explored his lurid theories of sexual predation and racist stonewalling."

* Duke's Postmodern Inhumanites: "Although outsiders know Duke mostly as an expensive preppie enclave that fields Division I athletic teams, the university's humanities and social sciences departments -- literature, anthropology, and especially women's studies and African-American studies -- foster exactly the opposite kind of culture. Those departments (and especially Duke's robustly 'postmodern' English department, put in place by postmodernist celebrity Stanley Fish before his departure in 1998) are famous throughout academia as repositories of all that is trendy and hyper-politicized in today's ivy halls: angry feminism, ethnic victimology, dense, jargon-laden analyses of capitalism and 'patriarchy,' and 'new historicism' -- a kind of upgraded Marxism that analyzes art and literature in terms of efforts by powerful social elites to brainwash everybody else."

* Laughingstock Press: "The Duke University Press is the laughingstock of the publishing world, offering such titles as Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity and An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality and Lesbian Public Cultures. Phrases such as 'race, gender, and class' and 'privileged white males' come as second nature to the academics who do this kind of writing, which analyzes nearly all social phenomena in terms of race, gender, class, and white male privilege."

* Deconstructing Christianity, Patriotism, Law: "There was a fascinating irony in this. Postmodern theorists pride themselves in discerning what they call 'metanarratives.' They argue that such concepts as, say, Christianity or patriotism or the American legal system are no more than socially constructed tall tales that the postmodernists can then 'deconstruct' to unmask the real purpose behind them, which is (say the postmodernists) to prop up societal structures of -- yes, you guessed it -- race, gender, class, and white male privilege." . . .

* Lynch-Mob Metanarrative: "In the Duke lacrosse case the theorists manufactured a metanarrative of their own, based upon the fact that Durham, North Carolina, is in the South, and the alleged assailants happened to be white males from families wealthy enough to afford Duke's tuition, while their alleged victim was an impoverished black woman who, as she told the Raleigh News and Observer in a credulous profile of her published on March 25, was stripping only to support her two children and to pay her tuition as a student at North Carolina Central University, a historically black state college in Durham that is considerably less prestigious than Duke. All the symbolic elements of a juicy race/gender/class/white-male-privilege yarn were present. The theorists went to town."

The entirety of "Duke's Tenured Vigilantes," by Charlotte Allen, is available here.

Related:
Nifonged -- "Gross Abuse of Prosecutorial Power"
Why Judges Makes Law: The Roots and Remedy of Judicial Imperialism, by Nancy Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Mona Lisa, RIP

Posted by Rick Pearcey

"An expert on the Mona Lisa says he has ascertained with certainty that the symbol of feminine mystique died on July 15, 1542, and was buried at the convent in central Florence where she spent her final days," reports AFP .

Researcher "Giuseppe Pallanti found a death notice in the archives of a church in Florence that referred to 'the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, deceased July 15, 1542, and buried at Sant'Orsola,' the Italian press reported Friday."

The entire AFP report is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Jimmy Carter Interceded for Nazi SS Guard

Posted by Rick Pearcey

"A former U.S. Justice Department official disclosed to Arutz 7 that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s advocacy extended beyond the PA Arabs, when he interceded on behalf of a Nazi SS man," reports Arutz Sheva broadcasting network at Israel National News.

* Carter's Letter: "Neal Sher, a veteran of the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigation, described a letter he received from Carter in 1987 in an interview with Israel National Radio’s Tovia Singer. The letter, written and signed by Carter, asked that Sher show 'special consideration' for a man proven to have murdered Jews in the Mauthausen death camp in Austria." . . .

* Carter's Book: "Now, following Carter’s book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, Sher has decided to go public with the hope that a public made aware of Carter’s support and defense of a Nazi SS man will help illustrate why the arbiter of the Camp David Accords came out with a book defending the Palestinians after the landslide election of the Islamist Hamas terror group."

* Carter's Heart: “'It always bothered me, but I didn’t go public with it until recently, when he wrote this book and let it spill out where his sentiments really lie,' Sher said. 'Here was Jimmy Carter jumping in on behalf of someone who did not deserve in any way, shape or form special consideration. And the things he has now said about the Jewish lobby really exposes where his heart really lies.'”

The entire news report is here.

Related:
Dershowitz to Rebute Carter Speech at Brandeis
14 Carter Center Advisers Resign Over Book
Many Who Condemn Holocaust-Denial Help Pave the Way
Fascism Is Back

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Malkin -- What I Saw in Iraq

By Rick Pearcey

Here are a few passages from Michelle Malkin's latest column. Malkin just returned from Iraq on an embed tour with HotAir colleague Bryan Preston.

* Unexpected: "I came to Iraq a darkening pessimist about the war, due in large part to my doubts about the compatibility of Islam and Western-style democracy, but also as a result of the steady, sensational diet of 'grim milestone' and 'daily IED count' media coverage that aids the insurgency.

"I left Iraq with unexpected hope and resolve."

* Peace Activists, Bush Missteps: "The troops I met scoff at peace activists' efforts to 'bring them home now.' But they are just as critical of the Bush administration and Pentagon's missteps -- from holding Iraqi elections too early, to senselessly breaking up their brigade combat team, to drawing down forces and withdrawing last year in Baghdad and Fallujah, to failing to hold cities after clearing them of insurgents."

* What It's About: "Winning the counterinsurgency battle is not just about keeping Iraqis safe. It's about keeping Americans safe -- by sending a message that the mightiest military in the world cannot and will not be outwitted and outlasted by the fleas. On the emblem of the Dagger Brigade are two imperatives: 'Continue mission!' and 'Duty first.' These troops are committed to their mission. They deserve our commitment to them."

Malkin's entire column is here. Video reports of Malkin and Preston's time in Iraq can be seen at HotAir.com.

Related post:
Michelle Malkin in Slums of Baghdad


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Nifonged -- "Gross Abuse of Prosecutorial Power"

Posted by Rick Pearcey

"CBS's 'Sixty Minutes' broadcast Sunday showed many people the gross abuse of prosecutorial power in the Duke rape case," writes columnist Jack Kelly.

* 3 Lacrosse Players: "Durham district attorney Michael Nifong indicted three Duke University lacrosse players last April after a stripper who performed at a team party claimed she had been raped.". . .

* 1 Accuser: "The only evidence against the lacrosse players is the testimony of the accuser, who was inebriated at the time of the alleged assault, and who has changed her story in significant ways on multiple occasions."

* DNA 5: "DNA from five men was found on the accuser, but none of it belonged to the three defendants. Mr. Nifong knew this before he indicted the trio.". . .

* Black & White: "The case has drawn national attention because the accuser is black, and the accused are white males."

* Money & Power: "Mr. Nifong's reason for pursuing such a flimsy case seems clear. The electorate in Durham is more than 40 percent black. At the time the accuser made her accusation, he was trailing in the Democratic primary to a woman he once had fired. If he lost, it was unlikely the winner would keep him on, and his pension has not vested."

* Agony of Victory: "Mr. Nifong won the election. But short term gain likely will be followed by long term pain. Last week he bowed to pressure to recuse himself. He faces a hearing before the North Carolina bar association that could result in his disbarment." . . .

* Why the Rush? "Liberals rushed to condemn the Duke lacrosse players because they loved the narrative: rich white guys abuse poor black woman."

* Reverse, Full Speed: "Some furious backtracking is taking place as evidence of their innocence mounts. A new verb, to 'nifong,' has been coined. It's a synonym for 'to frame.'"

Jack Kelly's entire column titled "Nifong & Fitzgerald's Prosecutorial Abuse" is available here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Wilberforce, Newton, and Christians' "Disregard for the Truth"

By Rick Pearcey

"On Feb. 23," writes Ken Walker, "a sister company of Walden Media -- the folks behind such films as Charlotte’s Web, Winn Dixie and Chronicles of Narnia -- will release its latest positive fare, Amazing Grace, the story of British abolitionist William Wilberforce."

* John Newton: The Wilberforce film, says Walker, "shines a light on John Newton, author to the words of the legendary hymn [Amazing Grace] that lives on and in recent years inspired a PBS television special on its impact."

* Newton's Inspiring Story: "John Newton? The slave ship captain caught in a powerful storm who struck a bargain with God, promising to set the slaves free if the Almighty saves their lives? And after God calmed the storm, Newton instantly converted to Christianity, freed the captives and quit the slave trade?"

* Oft-Told: "Over the years, you’ve probably heard (maybe preached) that story, or some modified version of it. I heard it early in my Christian life."

* But: "The only problem is none of it is true, according to Christine Schaub, author of The Longing Season, a best-selling historical novel that tells the story of Newton and his beloved hymn."

The rest of Walker's article at ChurchCentral.com is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Liberal Pundit: Child Porn Should Be Permitted

By Rick Pearcey

"On a recent trip to Istanbul I encountered a group of Muslim students who insisted that American culture was morally perverse," writes columnist and author Dinesh D'Souza. "They called it 'pornographic.' And they charged that this culture is now being imposed on the rest of the world."

* Inversion Perversion: D'Souza "protested that pornography is a universal vice. 'Yes,' one of the students replied, 'but nowhere else is pornography in the mainstream of the culture. Nowhere else is porn considered so cool and fashionable. Pornography in America represents an inversion of values.' . . ."

* New Yorker Boonedoggle: "Recently," D'Souza continues, "the New Yorker reported on an event held at the Mary Boone art galley in Manhattan where 'artists, collectors, literati, and other art world regulars mingled seamlessly with adult-movie producers and directors and quite a few of the performers themselves.'"

* Salman Rushdie: "The purpose of the event was to celebrate the publication of the book XXX: Porn Star Portraits. The pictures in the book are accompanied by appreciative essays by leading figures on the left like Gore Vidal, John Waters, and Salman Rushdie."

* Defending Obscenity: "The liberal defense of obscenity and pornography began many decades ago as a defense of great works of literature and of free speech. It began as a defense of books like James Joyce’s Ulysses, Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, and D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterly’s Lover."

* No Guardrails: "But now some liberal advocates insist that all forms of sexual explicitness are equally deserving of legal protection and that no restriction of obscenity or pornography should be allowed."

* Pornopundit: "This is the position defended in former ACLU president Nadine Strossen’s book Defending Pornography. As liberal pundit Wendy Kaminer puts it, in her foreword to the book, 'You don’t need to know anything about art -- you don’t even need to know what you like -- in order to defend speech deemed hateful, sick or pornographic.'"

* Protecting "Fantasies About Children": "Kaminer even takes the view that child pornography should be permitted because 'fantasies about children having sex are repellent to most of us, but the First Amendment is designed to protect repellent imaginings.'"

Wendy Kaminer is on the advisory board of Secular Coalition for America.

D'Souza's new book, The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, is just published by Doubleday.

[The entire D'Souza column is here. (Note: the column appeared earlier today at Townhall but is now -- time: 12:15 pm -- not on their site. I will post a link as soon as one becomes available. -- JRP)]

* Update: The author says the column is scheduled to appear tomorrow (Tues., January 16).

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Pro-Existence Welcomes Beckham, Even Though . . .

By Rick Pearcey

As a member of a mighty indoor soccer team based in Northern Virginia, I hereby officially welcome star footballer David Beckham to the Colonies, even though he now is a mere benchwarmer at Real Madrid.

"He is not going to play any more. He will practice, but he is not going to play," said Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello at a news conference, as reported by All Headline News.

Deep sources embedded at Real tell Pro-Existence that the coach's remarks may have something to do with Becks' (soccer lingo for "Beckham") $250 million decision to occupy environs in the western regions of the Milky Way Soccer Galaxy.

Despite the footballer's momentary sitdown, we remain encouraged that Becks is crossing The Pond. More important is the good news that Beckham's focus will be on the "Los Angeles pitch, not the Hollywood glitz." This may fall into the "easier said than done" file, however.

Meanwhile, speaking of Hollywood, Pro-Existence is pleased to have found a spot in "Rocky's" neighborhood, as part of the lineup at "Rocky News," a website dedicated to Sylvester Stallone's latest effort, Rocky Balboa.

Someone out there must have liked "Stallone on Faith: Down, Out, Up," which was posted here Dec. 12, 2006.

By the way, as the Aussie Sunday Mail reports, Brazilian superstar Ronaldo could be the next benchwarmer.

P.S. -- Regarding sports and entertainment, Steve Turner's comments on Olympian Eric Liddell may be of interest. See Christian TV vs. Christian Thinking. Turner is author of The Gospel According to the Beatles.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

WND/Rick Warren Forum: Should WND Criticize Pastor Rick Warren?

By Rick Pearcey

WorldNetDaily has recently published several articles (see below) highly critical of Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church. Some within evangelical circles might challenge the appropriateness of such criticism.

The Pearcey Report and Pro-Existence would like to open a WND/Rick Warren Forum on the following questions:

Should WND publish articles critical of Rick Warren? More generally, what role do the news media, including Christian-based media, have in holding well-known or lesser-known Christian figures accountable for what they say and do? Why? Why not?

Rick Warren responds to the criticism here. For additional background information on this question, you may want to read one or more of the following WND articles:

* Rick Warren: Is He or Isn't He?
* Rick Warren Says He's Sorry
* The Purpose-Driven Lie
* Calling Rick Warren!
* Rick Warren on Syria: "A Moderate Country"
* Megapastor Rick Warren's Damascus Road Experience
* Megapastor Rick Warren Blasts Iraq War, Praises Syria
* Rick Warren Shows Syria Video in Church
* Megapastor Warren Denies Praising Syria

What are your thoughts and comments on issues raised by WND's reporting and commentary on Rick Warren, occasioned by Warren's recent trip to Syria?


Related article
Rick Warren Debate Forum on Fire

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

PBS: Jew-Hatred Caused by Jews, Israel, Christianity

Posted by Rick Pearcey

"It only took PBS one hour to uncover the causes of anti-Semitism, now in an alarming heyday," writes columnist Diana West. "In 'Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence,' narrated by Judy Woodruff, PBS offered the answer: The reason for Jew-hatred, now widely promulgated among Muslim populations, is, well . . . Jews! Israel! Even Christianity! . . .

"The conventional wisdom, as expressed on PBS, does two things. It blames Christianity and the West for introducing Anti-Semitism to a practically Edenic Islamic world, and it minimizes Islam's non-original sin of partaking of it. . . .

"This same conventional wisdom suggests that Anti-Semitism is the natural, if unfortunate, response of 'unempowered' Muslims to contemporary political events beyond their control -- namely, the essentially Christian/Western-sponsored establishment of the modern state of Israel.

"If we bothered -- if we dared -- to examine Anti-Semitism in its historical Islamic context . . . , we would better understand Islam's hysterical rejection of Israel, which, in Islamic terms, is a state of 'dhimmi' inferiors restored to equality, if not economic and military superiority, its very existence a violation of traditional Islamic code.

"Failing to do this, the West overlooks and effectively absolves Islam of its animus against Jews, and, by modern extension, Israel. The West also consigns itself, and, weirdly enough, Israel also, to the role of guilty parties who must continually try to appease an aggrieved Islam. . . ."

Read the entire column here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Michelle Malkin in Slums of Baghdad

By Rick Pearcey

Michelle Malkin and colleague Bryan Preston at Hot Air are currently embedded with a U.S. Army unit in Baghdad.

The unit is "tasked with training Iraqi security forces (both Shia and Sunni) conducting counterinsurgency operations, and carrying out civil affairs work," Malkin writes today at her website.

* Unspeakable Bloodshed: "Yes, there is danger and chaos and unspeakable bloodshed in parts of Baghdad. Sectarian violence -- compounded by everyday street crime and tribal conflict -- is rampant. Corruption, incompetence, and apathy infect the Iraqi government. You've gotten endless news coverage of all that."

* Hope Amid Despair: "But there are also pockets of success and signs of hope amid utter despair."

* Faith in Military, But No Sugarcoat: "Having met, watched, and interviewed a broad cross-section of our troops during our brief but fruitful travels, my faith in the U.S. military has never been stronger -- but I will not sugarcoat my skepticism and doubts about decisions being made in Washington."

See the rest of Malkin's post, plus photos, here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Plantinga Reviews Dawkins' Bluster

By Rick Pearcey

Notre Dame Professor of Philosophy Alvin Plantinga's review of The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, is now available. What follows are a few passages from the beginning and conclusion of the review:

* Displeased With God: "Richard Dawkins is not pleased with God," Plantinga begins. The data, from Dawkins: "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all of fiction. Jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic-cleanser; a misogynistic homophobic racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal . . . (16)."

* Sworn Enemy: "Well, no need to finish the quotation," Plantinga continues. "You get the idea. Dawkins seems to have chosen God as his sworn enemy. (Let’s hope for Dawkins’ sake God doesn’t return the compliment)."

* Extended Diatribe: "Dawkins’ new book (The God Delusion) is an extended diatribe against religion in general and belief in God in particular; he and Daniel Dennett (whose recent Breaking the Spell is his contribution to this genre) are the touchdown twins of current academic atheism." [see note below]

* Courageous Atheists: "Dawkins has written his book, he says, partly to encourage timorous atheists to come out of the closet. He and Dennett both appear to think it requires considerable courage to attack religion these days; says Dennett, 'I risk a fist to the face or worse. Yet I persist.'"

* No Danger: "Apparently atheism has its own heroes of the faith -- at any rate its own self-styled heroes. Here it’s not easy to take them seriously; the fact is religion bashing in the current Western academy is about as dangerous as endorsing the party’s candidate at a Republican rally. . . ."

* Science vs. Naturalism: "People like Dawkins hold that there is a conflict between science and religion because they think there is a conflict between evolution and theism; the truth of the matter, however, is that the conflict is between science and naturalism, not between science and belief in God."

* The End of Bluster: "By way of conclusion: The God Delusion is full of bluster and bombast, but it really doesn’t give even the slightest reason for thinking belief in God mistaken, let alone a 'delusion'."

* Naturalism in Deep Trouble: "The naturalism that Dawkins embraces, furthermore, in addition to its intrinsic unloveliness and its dispiriting conclusions about human beings and their place in the universe, is in deep self-referential trouble. There is no reason to believe it; and there is excellent reason to reject it."

Note: "Sam Harris has written a third recent book -- The End of Faith -- along these same lines, so perhaps we should speak of the touchdown triplets -- or, given that Harris is very much the junior partner in this enterprise (he’s a grad student) maybe the ‘Three Bears of Atheism’?"

The entire review can be read here, in a Word format.

Related articles:
Darwin Meltdown Reaches England, by Rick Pearcey
Christianity a Science-Starter, Not a Science-Stopper, by Nancy Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell Should Face Jail for Preaching

By Rick Pearcey

War against Christmas? How about a war on America, not by secularists but by fascist Christians?

That, at least, is the subject of American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, a "call to arms against what [author Chris] Hedges sees as the efforts of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and the operators of Trinity Broadcasting Network, among others," writes UC Irvine history professor Jon Wiener in a January 7 book review published in the Los Angeles Times.

And what are the "efforts" that so worry Hedges? The attempt of Pat and Jerry and other Christian brownshirts "to turn the United States into a Christian nation." American Fascists is currently ranked No. 71 on Amazon.

"Hedges is not your average secular humanist," notes Wiener. "He knows his Bible. He's the son of a Presbyterian minister and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School. He's also a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent for the New York Times who has reported from more than 50 countries over the last 20 years."

According to Wiener, Hedges argues that the "Christian right 'should no longer be tolerated,' because it 'would destroy the tolerance that makes an open society possible.'

Hedges wants teeth in his "No Toleration" solution. According to Wiener, Hedges "endorses the view that 'any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law,' and therefore we should treat 'incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal.' Thus he rejects the 1st Amendment protections for freedom of speech and religion."

Independent-minded individuals who think Hedge's enforced toleration has a 1930s Germanic ring to it may want to consider the analysis set forth in Modern Fascism: Liquidating the Judeo-Christian Worldview, by Gene Edward Veith.

Jon Wiener's review of American Fascists is here.

Related article:
Fascism Is Back, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.