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Monday, August 15, 2005
Thoughts on Justice Sunday II
Now that I'm back in Austin (and slept- a little... I think), I'll give you some thoughts about the event.
First, have I actually met a blogging jerk yet? I don't think so. The group that I met yesterday are very nice, incredibly intelligent, and annoyingly talented people. Special thanks to Charmaine for bringing us together for this. Also present were Trey Jackson, Joe Carter, Jackson Miller (I guess he was our only liberal blogger), Karol Sheinin, Ed Morrissey, Leon H from redstate.org, Lance McMurray, and Bill Hobbs. There were some other local bloggers there, but I didn't get a chance to meet them. (oh... and that "I've never met a blogging jerk" part... not in any hurry to change that, either.)
Next, I will admit that I wasn't sure what to expect, but I will also admit that I didn't have nearly as much of a problem with this being set in a church as some of the bloggers did. (I understand their opinions, and I can see exactly why they'd feel that way... I guess I just have a different take on it... more later). Also, unlike some of the other bloggers, I wasn't surprised at the superb production value of the program- it just made sense that this group of people wouldn't put on a shabby production.
Now, I feel like I need to confess something and make an apology. Both in my earlier post, and in Jackson's post, there was mention of the (probably) cross-dressing protester. Jackson didn't name names, but I think I'm one of the ones he was talking about. I was laughing about Patricia, and that was wrong. Jackson was right- that wasn't what Jesus would have done. I'm sorry that I made fun of Patricia (no... I'm not going to apologize for making fun of some of those signs) and I'm sorry if I offended anyone.
I'm not sure if I told you, but the bloggers were given full press credentials. Very cool. As part of that, we were allowed into the press conference before the event and access to the press filing area (and munchie table). When the press conference was held, several of us noticed how... focused the reporter from Reuters seemed to be- she wanted to know why Tom Delay wasn't at the press conference. And the answer ("he's not here yet") obviously wasn't good enough, because she kept harping on it. Well... when everything was said and done and we were getting some post-event munchies, it was pointed out that the Reuters story (about the completed event) was posted to the wire at 6:38pm Central. The problem with that? It wasn't over until 7:30pm CST. And... to top it off... her report (that John Roberts was not endorsed) was wrong. He wasn't strongly endorsed... but he was definitely endorsed. As we were pondering all of this, it was also mentioned that no one saw her in the press areas (in the filing room or in the sanctuary) once the press conference was over. Oh, the things that make you go "hmmm...."
I posted earlier that I was concerned by the strength of the religious message. The more I thought about it, the better I felt about it. It was telecast TO church to motivate church members to become active in the process. Why not make it a religious message? It makes sense.
I'm going to do a separate post on religion and politics, so I'll leave you with this... Ted Haggard was asked (by yours truly) how he felt about the bloggers being at the event. His response was as follows.
First, have I actually met a blogging jerk yet? I don't think so. The group that I met yesterday are very nice, incredibly intelligent, and annoyingly talented people. Special thanks to Charmaine for bringing us together for this. Also present were Trey Jackson, Joe Carter, Jackson Miller (I guess he was our only liberal blogger), Karol Sheinin, Ed Morrissey, Leon H from redstate.org, Lance McMurray, and Bill Hobbs. There were some other local bloggers there, but I didn't get a chance to meet them. (oh... and that "I've never met a blogging jerk" part... not in any hurry to change that, either.)
Next, I will admit that I wasn't sure what to expect, but I will also admit that I didn't have nearly as much of a problem with this being set in a church as some of the bloggers did. (I understand their opinions, and I can see exactly why they'd feel that way... I guess I just have a different take on it... more later). Also, unlike some of the other bloggers, I wasn't surprised at the superb production value of the program- it just made sense that this group of people wouldn't put on a shabby production.
Now, I feel like I need to confess something and make an apology. Both in my earlier post, and in Jackson's post, there was mention of the (probably) cross-dressing protester. Jackson didn't name names, but I think I'm one of the ones he was talking about. I was laughing about Patricia, and that was wrong. Jackson was right- that wasn't what Jesus would have done. I'm sorry that I made fun of Patricia (no... I'm not going to apologize for making fun of some of those signs) and I'm sorry if I offended anyone.
I'm not sure if I told you, but the bloggers were given full press credentials. Very cool. As part of that, we were allowed into the press conference before the event and access to the press filing area (and munchie table). When the press conference was held, several of us noticed how... focused the reporter from Reuters seemed to be- she wanted to know why Tom Delay wasn't at the press conference. And the answer ("he's not here yet") obviously wasn't good enough, because she kept harping on it. Well... when everything was said and done and we were getting some post-event munchies, it was pointed out that the Reuters story (about the completed event) was posted to the wire at 6:38pm Central. The problem with that? It wasn't over until 7:30pm CST. And... to top it off... her report (that John Roberts was not endorsed) was wrong. He wasn't strongly endorsed... but he was definitely endorsed. As we were pondering all of this, it was also mentioned that no one saw her in the press areas (in the filing room or in the sanctuary) once the press conference was over. Oh, the things that make you go "hmmm...."
I posted earlier that I was concerned by the strength of the religious message. The more I thought about it, the better I felt about it. It was telecast TO church to motivate church members to become active in the process. Why not make it a religious message? It makes sense.
I'm going to do a separate post on religion and politics, so I'll leave you with this... Ted Haggard was asked (by yours truly) how he felt about the bloggers being at the event. His response was as follows.
In the same way that the liberals fear the rise of Evangelicals, so should the traditional press fear the rise of the bloggers.
