Thursday, July 27, 2006

Still no Internet

I’m still without Internet, a blogger’s bane! I neglected to mention when I told you that Windstream would overnight a modem to me that where I live, we don’t have overnight delivery.

Really.

I’ve been forced to read print and watch television; I’m miserable without hyperlinks!

So if you want to read something thoughtful from me, go on over to Lyn’s place at Bloggin’ Outloud and read my opening salvo in our gay marriage debate. And please, cross your fingers for me and hope that that modem gets to me tomorrow. I can hardly go another day…

Marriage Equality dialogue

Some weeks ago I got an email from a fellow blogger:

Wondering if you’d be willing to dialog over a 4 or 5 week series of blog posts about the topic of gay marriage - why you’re for it, why I’m not; attendant issues and implications; religious and cultural arguments/concerns…

I’m a former pastor, a Christian who is evangelical in doctrine.  I enjoy blogging for similar reasons you pose and want to expand my thinking in lots of different areas…

My purpose is not to convert you to my way of thinking.  I promise not to belittle, harass, mock, etc any of your comments or reflections or arguments.  I will not question your faith and will take your statements at face value.  I would like to sincerely understand what your thought processes are on this topic and will give you my sincere arguments as well - and if I pull a strawman I expect to be called on it.  And vice versa.

Now that was an offer I could not refuse! Lyn had read my Why Blog? post - I blog to to stay intellectually engaged, it’s a way to document, develop, deliberate and deepen my thinking - and he asked me to live up to it.

It took a couple weeks for us to get going, but Lyn posted my opening argument on Tuesday. I hope you’ll go check it out.

It’s a bit longer than I’d like but I think it captures pretty well my current thinking on the topic. I’ll be posting Lyn’s response here in the next day or so. I hope you’ll join in with comments.

Cynthia McKinney’s going down

I know nothing from Cynthia McKinney save the crazy photos they always use in news stories about her. Those photos carry so much bias that I thought I might try to defend her with some liberal friends.

They said don’t even go there. The latest poll shows they’re not alone:

The poll shows Johnson leading McKinney, 46 to 21 percent, with a third of voters undecided. The survey recorded the responses of 489 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5 percent.

Run-offs are notorious for low turnout, which often makes telephone surveys unreliable. Matt Towery, CEO of InsiderAdvantage, said he was unwilling to say that McKinney was headed for certain defeat. “But is she in deep, deep, deep, deep troube? Yes,” he said.

Towery said McKinney and Johnson split the African-American vote in the district, which makes up nearly 53 percent of the electorate. But an overwhelming number of white voters surveyed, who make up 42 percent of the 4th District electorate, said they preferred Johnson.

Towery said his poll also detected some interest among Republicans in the race, which would also work against McKinney. In last week’s vote, many Republicans stuck to their own races, headlined by the confrontation between Ralph Reed and Casey Cagle in the GOP race for lieutenant governor.

“But for every Republican who voted on July 18, another was out of town at the beach,” Towery said. Anyone who did not vote on July 18 is eligible to cast a ballot in the Aug. 8 run-off.

Ed Kilgore has more on McKinney.