JordanCornblog

How refreshing to write a headline focused on the letter P and not have Sarah Palin come to mind (except as an after thought, just now – like a toothache remembered).

So these are heady, miraculous times.  The Hudson River miracle jet has been fished out of the water and Obama is in DC and will be inaugurated on Tuesday – but not before Gene Robinson and Rick Warren have had their say.  Before getting into that – here’s amazing video of the crash and rescue from a Coast Guard surveillance camera.  (The plane appears from the left at about the 2:15-2:20 mark.)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbOl64z9DnU

Meanwhile, hope abounds, as 1/20/09 is finally nearly upon us!  Inaugural celebrations are planned for every nook and cranny of the nation … a spontaneous outpouring of elation (and relief) that I find very moving.  HollyCornblog sent me this notice of a party planned at The Palmer House in tiny Rensselaerville, NY.  So cool!  If I were anywhere near I’d be there in a heartbeat.

Meanwhile – on the invocation/convocation front, it’s a sideshow, if you ask me – and a part of me wonders if that’s what Obama is doing.  Kind of cordoning off this little area where religious bigotry and religious liberalism can duke it out.  The invocation and the convocation … or whatever the hell Warren and Robinson are presenting … are pretty much window dressing in my humble opinion.  Some people are pissed about Rick and some are pissed about Gene.  I think both sides look kind of surreal and foolish – but maybe it’s because I don’t really share the premise that there’s a god hovering over us watching what we do and having strong opinions about it.

I can get my head around Jesus to a degree.  But god?  So let them spend their energy squabbling, I say. Boltgirl’s got lots of good stuff on this – and her views are very clearly expressed, as we expect. In her clip of Gene Robinson on Maddow he sounds very reasonable and forgiving and all.  That’s preferable to hate-mongering, for sure.  But Gene’s book title bothers me (In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God).  I don’t know if it’s the Bishop … or just a certain brand of religiosity, but I find the whole notion of being called or thrust or lifted up or physically moved or interacted with by god pretty off-putting and bizarre – not to mention scary.  Whether it comes from the left or the right, it scares me.  I’m fine with you attributing whatever private meaning you want to to this stuff – but please don’t act like it should mean something to me, too.  Okay?  (And is it just me, or does Gene R. sound to you like the LGBT version of Joe Lieberman?  Enough with the smarmy sanctimoniousness, puhlease!)

Let’s step away from religiosity and superstition for a moment and focus on the upcoming NFC and AFC Championship games.  Eagles-Cards and Steelers-Ravens.

As I predicted last week, the birds will continue to dominate … with (in one case) the bigger bird beating the smaller one.  Here’s why I think this will be so …

1. I will be wearing the same football-watching clothes that I was wearing last week.
2. DaddyCornblog will be joining us again (via the magic of photography).
3. HollyCornblog’s homebrew will again be the beverage of choice.
4. Eagles are just bigger and stronger than Cardinals.  Duh.
5. Obama is being inaugurated on Tuesday and will be doing lots to help the environment – a big boon for birds everywhere – and certainly an omen for Eagles and Ravens fans.
6. The car industry is in trouble – bad sign for the steel industry – and, by extension, the Steelers.
7. God prefers the Eagles and the Ravens, as both are mentioned more than once in the Bible.  There is no mention whatsoever of Cardinals or Steelers.  This item should probably be #1 on my list – but I need to eat breakfast and get this published.  God will understand.

Oh … and the Eagles are mentioned more often in the Bible … so they will definitely win the Superbowl.  Just so’s ya know!  😉