Re: Palin – I thought it Might be This
Read some of the comments from other, not anonymous McCain staffers here.
I wrote a brief post on the suspension of Dr. Peter Enns, tenured professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary on my Participatory Bible Study blog. I put the article there because it relates to Biblical inspiration and interpretation, but I wanted to link from here because it deals with academic freedom.
I really like this article about detecting deception from FiveThirtyEight.com. Of course, I should note that it totally supports my own view on the matter, as held before I read it!
Dave Faulkner has commented here on posts about the Lakeland Revival, and he has a new article looking at some of the healing and even resurrection claims. He hasn’t come to sweeping conclusions, but is certainly asking the right questions. It’s worth a read, if you’re interested in the topic.
A good first look at McKnight’s book A Community Called Atonement.
. . . or so says Ed Brayton on Dispatches from the Culture Wars. I’m not sure if he’s right, though I’m inclined to agree that many conservative leaders will back McCain, especially if Hillary Clinton is the democratic nominee. Ed’s post also brings up my largest concern with McCain–Supreme Court nominations. The conservatives are…
I’ve been somewhat dismayed at this brouhaha.
I think Palin was a disaster, and appeared way out of her depth. But on the other hand, some of the recent reports have been over the top. Most specifically, I never considered the “Africa is a country” slur to be at all plausible. The basis for this was only ever third hand innuendo, with no record of context or names for who inferred that Palin was unaware Africa was a continent, or why.
A whole pile of folks who should have known much better jumped on this story at once, apparently willing to believe the worst on the basis of nothing. It was shameful; especially from people who would generally like to think of themselves as part of the “reality based community”… folks who like to think of themselves as rationalists and people who follow evidence and reason. But in a couple of cases that went out the window.
An alternative picture on whether Palin thought Africa was a continent or not is given at ABC news, by Palin staffer Meg Stapleton. Read it here: Palin Aide Fires Back at Reported McCain Camp Slams.
But “she knows it’s a continent,” Stapleton said. “It was just a human mistake, just like Obama saying 57 states. I don’t think anyone ever doubted that Obama knows there are 50 states.”
One can reasonably say we have a “he said, she said” situation. But the onus is most definitely on the anonymous sources who give no detail; and in the absence of better documentation, Stapleton’s story on this is far more credible.
The failure of some allegedly pro-rational bloggers to handle this with more common sense and reason is very disappointing.