Patterico's Pontifications

2/21/2021

Constitutional Vanguard: Will It Ever Be Time to Rejoin the Republican Party?

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:04 am



This week’s free missive is a long one: about 4,000 words. I’m publishing it a little earlier in the day so you have the time to spend with it. It’s a discussion about the future of the Republican party, and ultimately tackles arguments raised by Bill Dyer (aka Beldar) in favor of fighting for the soul of the Republican party from within. Rather than dismiss these arguments out of hand, I try to take them seriously — and I end up drawing an analogy between Bill leaving my blog and my leaving the party . . . an analogy that really helped me understand his position better.

I still see an analogy here. And it helps me understand Bill’s point of view much better. And maybe it will cause some of you — especially those of you who miss Bill’s presence at my blog — to take his argument a little more seriously.

See, I think Bill could make a more effective case for why one ought to be a member of the Republican party by doing so as a member of the Patterico.com commentariat — because as such, he would be a member of that community, making a case directly to other community members, even though many of them disagree with Bill and are hostile to his pro-party views. But if I believe that . . . doesn’t that same logic extend to the question of whether we former Republicans ought to make the case for our vision of the Republican party as members of the Republican party? Wouldn’t our case be more effective if we were party members making a case directly to other party members, even though many of them disagree with us and many are hostile to our views?

I’m going to try something different with this piece, which I will not necessarily repeat in the future; namely, I want all commentary on this piece to take place at the Substack post for this newsletter missive. My hope is to 1) encourage the reading of the actual piece rather than the snippet above, and 2) make the conversation there a little livelier. So if you want to comment on this, go read the piece and comment there.

P.S. If you like the piece, you should sign up for free, and consider being a paid member. Currently, the new podcast is available only to paid members. Depending on how it progresses, I may change that, but once I institute a call-in feature I definitely plan to restrict that to paid members. I have also launched an open comment thread for subscribers where you can feel a little freer to speak your mind while knowing that the other participants have some skin in the game and are less likely to be insulting drive-bys. I’m more likely to see comments there than here because I get emails when people comment, so if you have questions for me to ask in a semi-private environment (it is still the Internet, after all), that’s a good option until I figure out how to have occasional live chats and such. We’d love to have you join the community.

Sunday Music: Bach Cantata BWV 178

Filed under: Bach Cantatas,General,Music — Patterico @ 9:54 am



It is the first Sunday in Lent. The title of today’s cantata is “Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält: (Where God the Lord stands with us not):

Today’s Gospel reading is Mark 1:9-15, and describes Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan:

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Jesus Announces the Good News

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

The text of today’s cantata is available here, and contains these words:

Where God the Lord does not dwell with us,
when our enemies rage,
and He does not conclude our affairs
high above there in heaven,
where He is not the Guardian of Israel
and thwarts Himself the deceit of the enemy,
then all is lost for us.

. . . .

The enemies are all in Your hand,
together with all their thoughts;
their attacks are known to You, Lord,
help only that we do not waver.
Reason sets itself against faith,
and will not trust in the future,
when You Yourself will comfort.

Heaven and also the earth
are established by You, Lord God;
let Your light become bright for us,
and our heart be ignited
into the proper love of Your faith,
constant to the end.
Let the world ever grumble.

Happy listening! Soli Deo gloria.


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