The New Christmas? Good article by Charlotte Allen in the WaTi today on the impact of the Passion on American Christianity.

The Twist

words by: Terry Taylor
music by: Terry Taylor, David Raven, Tim Chandler

hang on, believe
there's nothing up my sleeve
i've got no magic tricks to save the day
put down the gun
you're not helping anyone
and i'm not about to run or back away

don't walk the fence
then come to my defense
i don't need fair weather kinds of friends around
so watch and pray
as a traitor's kiss betrays
and rest your feet of clay on shaky ground

chorus
and look me in the face, at least what's left of it
tell me you still love me just a little bit
or nail me down, break the skin
hard enough to do me in
but don't leave me hanging
dying and dangling
twisting in the wind

here, touch my side
let doubt be crucified
nailed with your wounded pride
to love's grim altar
here, taste my flesh
my bloody humanness
i am no phantom guest
no skinless martyr

so taste and feel
there's nothing to conceal
you always knew the deal
as sacrifice
stand up, be strong
when all you've got is gone
i left the light turned on in paradise

[chorus]

and when the walls cave in
and the curtain's torn asunder
you'll know we're near the end
you'll hear me in the thunder
and when the sun grows dim
this will be your sign and wonder
that soon we'll meet again
just like we did last summer

Stats. I listened, off-and-on, to Rice's testimony this morning. Kerrey really ticked me off with his partisan showboating. In particular, Kerrey did not want to give Rice an opportunity to answer his questions, arguing that she could explain at length in a closed hearing (so why have an open hearing Mr. Kerrey?):

we'll have a chance to do in closed session. Please don't filibuster me. It's not fair. It is not fair.

Here are some relevant statistics from the transcript:

Kerrey's Opening Monologue: 2,839 characters.
Kerrey arguing about whether Rice should answer Kerrey's question: 750 characters.
Rice's answer: 740 characters.

Analysis done by plugging the relevant sections into MS Word and checking properties (includes spaces).

More. Yeah, I counted 5 times Kerrey referred to Dr. Rice as Dr. Clarke.

Still More. Kerrey's opening monologue was interesting since he was essentially arguing with himself. I've been hearing talk of a Kerry-Kerrey ticket. That would be fun -- two candidates, four positions. "We cover the compass!"

Wage Prayer for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. Eight pastors and 1,500 believers have died in the past few weeks.

Pray.

Yes, I have no bananas. Or I am going bananas. Or something. Very busy at work and at home, back after Easter.

Scandal. Peter Sean Bradley looks back to the original meaning of the word, vis-a-vis the Church of Rome and how it applies to the nominal Roman Catholic John Kerry.

For those of us who are Protestants, it may seem like no big deal to flit from a Methodist Church to a Baptist Church to a Presbyterian Church for communion, but for a Roman Catholic to cross boundaries in such a willy-nilly fashion is truly scandalous.

There's something about this which reminds me of this line from Robert Bolt's Thomas More: "'When a man takes an oath, Meg, he's holding his own self in his hands. Like water. And if he opens his fingers then - he needn't hope to find himself again."