On the campaign trail (and other notes)

(Note everything below is paraphrase and impressions from news reports)

In the morning :

McCain: "The fundamentals of the economy are sound."

Obama reply: "Where's this guy living? Doesn't he read the news?"

Afternoon McCain: "The fundamentals of our economy are at risk."

Next day McCain: "We need a commission to find out why the economy got to such a state!"

Obama reply: "A commission! Everyone knows the economy is in such state because of the evil Republicans. We don't need a commission, we need leadership (leadership with CHANGE I might add.)"

No! we need candidates who aren't buffoons!

Mr. Culbreath has been wondering where one draws the line on voting for the perceived lesser of two evils. I have been wondering the same thing. McCain is the worst and most dangerous Republican candidate for president I have seen since I was allowed to vote (and before.) Yet he may be the first one I have to vote for. In the past I have voted third party candidates-but it didn't matter. SC was going Republican no matter what I did. (When I lived in MA it was the opposite.) This year every state may be close.

I see this morning that the Feds have bailed out AIG. They bought Freddie and Fannie last month and put the liabilities on the taxpayers. The "smaller government" folks (i.e. the capitalists and Republicans) are the very ones which make an enormous government the only way to protect both capitalists from themselves and the mass of population from the capitalists.

Reading Reid Buckley on what he learned from his father:

"Take joy in your success, but thank God always for it as its author; take pleasure in the manner in which you contributed to your success, but remember always who was the author of that too.

And

Be generous always. Whatever wealth you may have earned belongs to God; your failures are owing to faults in your character .....

This reminds me of a saying of St. Josemaria Escriva from The Way (not an exact quote as I can't find my copy this morning):

Remember, your successes are God's; your failures are your own.

Brought home two piglets yesterday after slaving in the city for some hours. They are young (40 lbs); one male, one gilt.

And, something from Mark Sheaon martyrdom:

Something new entered the world with Christian martyrdom: a new sort of heroism that distinguished itself with a different kind of valor fighting a different sort of battle. The military virtues were not dispensed with because grace builds on nature. But they were transformed. Some saints, such as Joan of Arc, displayed both natural military virtue and the grace of martyrdom.

Coooooool this morning. I love it.

Oremus pro invicem!