http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:46:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Father Richard John Neuhaus died this morning in New York City. He was seventy two. If there was ever a man who conveyed through his writing that he was ready for this moment, it was Fr. Neuhaus.  But perhaps in my selfishness, there is no man I am more sorrowful to ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2009/01/08/fr-richard-john-neuhaus-1936-2009/ embedSWF(9, 0, 0, "widget", "recent"); This content requires the most recent version of the Adobe Flash Player. Get this version below:Get Flash On its face, the invitation of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony is a brilliant and savvy political move. During the 2008 campaign, ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/12/21/rick-warrens-extremist-foes/ embedSWF(9, 0, 0, "widget", "recent")This content requires the most recent version of the Adobe Flash Player. Get this version below:Get Flash If you're a football fan, you know all about scripted plays - the method behind those precision-based offenses that can come out onto the field running a prepared order of ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/12/11/the-short-honeymoon/ In every Presidential election, it's my experience that reports of fraud tend to be a bit exaggerated. Yes, there will always be a degree of problems - but most of those are of the human error variety, not purposeful lawbreaking. With so many millions voting, and so many election officials ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/11/03/diy-election-fraud/ One of the few moments in the debate between Republican Joe Biden and Democrat Sarah Palin (follow the link) when I raised my eyebrow and said, "That sounds off" from either side - on the whole, there were only a few exaggerations during the evening - came when Joe Biden ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/10/02/a-question-regarding-obama-and-hamas/ Plenty of late-breaking thoughts on the first debate around the sphere today, including my own minor submissions. But the one that's worth your time to read is Pete Wehner's thought process on the overall challenges the McCain campaign faces - here's his third point, but you should read it all ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/29/pete-wehner-on-the-challenge-of-obama/ I'm no fan of Congressman Roy Blunt, but purposefully lying about what any Congressman says is pretty low, especially when it's of the "let's cut out the first four words and last eight words of this television quote to make it seem like he's saying the opposite of what he ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/26/obama-campaign-purposefully-edits-blunt-on-mc/ Jen Rubin, one of the most diligent and perceptive writers in the 'sphere, has this to say about the NYTimes latest hit piece: In just the first few paragraphs you have testimony that she was “effective and accessible.” So where are we going here? Well, despite the testimony that ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/14/jen-rubin-tears-apart-the-latest-nyt-palin-hi/ Note: Head on over to FRCAction to view streaming video of this weekend's conference. You want proof about how successful the Sarah Palin pick has been in coalescing and motivating the socially conservative base of the GOP? Look no further than the subdued schedule today at the FRCAction Values Voter conference ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/12/the-values-voters-gather/ The fine folks over at 1Cast, a new media delivery tool for smartphones,, were kind enough to let me try out a beta version of their software on an iPhone during the DNC and RNC. It's an excellent solution to a problem for smartphone users who want to find video ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/07/1cast-an-excellent-new-smartphone-tool-for-n/ Jennifer Rubin posts on something that's a truly significant moment: The great Sally Quinn recants her position on Sarah Palin. Quinn had been one of Palin's biggest critics in the days leading up to her speech (read her column here). But yesterday in an interview with Bill O'Reilly, she declared: "I ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/06/sally-quinn-recants/ One of the most pointed accusations Sarah Palin lodged against Barack Obama was the fact that, despite not authoring a single significant piece of legislation, he's found the time to write two memoirs. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/05/fact-checking-factcheckorg-on-palins-speech/ I wrote about Andrew Sullivan's descent into madness here. But Sullivan shows no signs of stopping even as his colleagues at The Atlantic recoil in horror. In fact, he keeps digging a deeper hole, now claiming that what happened to John Edwards was a different issue entirely because he wasn't ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/04/sully-doesnt-stop-he-just-keeps-on-digging/ Yesterday Moe and I with his colleagues in respected corners of the news media who had disparaged Sarah Palin, relying on the rantings from the foulest corners of the blogosphere as the basis for their articles. Douthat's disappointment - along with that of his colleagues McArdle and Goldberg - turned ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/04/andrew-sullivans-descent-into-madness/ The Nielsen numbers are out, and wow, they are good. Sarah Palin's speech, despite being carried on only six channels compared to Obama's ten, despite the lack of a huge venue or months of hype, was viewed by only a million fewer people than Barack Obama's Speech o' the Century. Via ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/04/nielsen-palin-rocked/ So the best attacks the Democrats can muster against Sarah Palin's epic speech is a twin version of the same spiel: 1) Sarah Palin did not write her speech. 2) Sarah Palin did not talk about education or health care in her speech. Ha-ha. /Nelson The first attack is just silly on its face. ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/04/sarah-palins-speech-leaves-dems-without-talk/ Here's tonight's biopic video of Sarah Palin. It's all right, I guess - but the voice seems off. I think it's John Voight, who's been around here a bit as a supporter of McCain. It's funny: in the McCain set up, Robert Duvall is the patriotic video voice, Voight the inspirational ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/04/sarah-palins-bio-vid-and-mccains-voiceover-2/ Hall of Fame Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs is addressing the GOP convention tonight. Apparently at 8:50 EDT. Now if only they'd been smart enough to save him for AFTER the Redskins game. http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/04/joe-gibbs-comes-to-gop-convention-cowboys-f/ Jen Rubin nails it: It's the media's own dang fault that last night was such a huge success. Oh, and yes - even they have to admit it now. http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/04/i-immediately-regret-my-decision/ Moe has already pointed out Ross Douthat's creeping suspicion that these people who surround him are not particularly balanced or friendly to ideologies other than their own. But we shouldn't leave it there - it's actually gotten more pronounced in the hours since the initial revelations. Read Ross's followups here, ... http://www.redstate.com/ben_domenech/2008/09/04/ross-douthat-is-far-too-kind/