Hello RedStaters, and welcome to today’s Water Cooler – always an Open Thread.

More Marriage

Three weeks ago, just after my 23rd anniversary, I wrote about my marriage experience and what a blessing (and wild ride) it has been.  This week I learned that marriage is a mark of privilege.  Yes, the presence of that word tipped you off that this was likely in the NYT, and you were not wrong.

So… the NYT is at the leading edge of breaking down the traditional family over the last three generations, and now wants to complain that marriage is a “mark of privilege?”

Poppin’ Off – Internal Headline Response

When I see OBAMACARE FOR LIFE REPUBLICANS CONCEDE DEFEAT (AP news via Drudge Report) my subconscious goes into overdrive:

Concede defeat?!?!?!  With several notable individual exceptions, the Republicans never went near the battle!  They were AWOL when the progressives socialized 1/6 of the economy, abandoning all American and conservative (but I repeat myself) values.  After Obamacare “passed”, they posed, they lied, they fund-raised, lied some more, and went AWOL again when the left said that Republicans want to “kill Grandma”.  They gave up, then they lied, lied some more, then they gave up again.  And they are going to lie about it some more as well.  “Concede Defeat” is fake news.

And the Aforementioned Lying AWOL Republicans Ensured President Trump.

Actually that behavior was necessary, but not sufficient.  The perfect storm that elected this President had two more elements.  Yes, we had (1) the repeated Republican transgressions listed above that left ALL Republicans untrusted.  But we also needed and had (2) a fatally flawed alternative, AND, (3) the unwillingness of the American Electorate (as observed in the aggregate) to fail their Kobayashi-Maru test*.  The 2016 Presidential Election “scenario” was re-programmed to leave a way out of the unwinnable test.

* see this Star Trek reference.  Voters, given an unwinnable choice between unfathomable and inconceivable, reprogrammed the election to … (actually I’m not sure how it turns out and I’ll just stop here)

Daily Audio Bible Follow-Up

Last week I shared this great audio Bible tool (DAB) that my wife and I use, and mentioned that we would be able to see the Brian Hardin (founder of DAB) in person last weekend.  We saw him Saturday, and went back for a second round on Sunday.  A favorite takeaway:

• Forgetting that they were created in the image of God, Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden apple to “become like God”.  Mankind exchanged relationship and peace with God, wholeness, for the knowledge of good and evil.  Ever since mankind has been trying to use our knowledge to restore the peace and wholeness that was lost.  Awkward and undoable.
• The Gospel, the “Good News” is that Jesus paid the price for our sins, past and future, so that if we accept his gift, we CAN FINALLY be restored to our Creator.  Whew!

The Unseen Realm

Just finished an incredible book – “The Unseen Realm” “Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible” by Michael Heiser.  A scholarly and amazing read, extensively researched and supported.  He tells of being a seminary teacher and having someone ask about a difficult passage in the Bible (Psalm 82:1) that led to research and eventually the book.  It is a fascinating and rewarding, but not easy, read.

California – Sharing the Joy (with you)

1 – Saw this article about Sen. Feinstein on The Resurgent.  She was already on the list of those destroying the country, this article is right in keeping with that status.

She Said What?! Feinstein Isn’t Liberal, She’s a Serious Threat to Our Country

2 – Shocked I am: Contractor fails to deliver on our High-Speed Rail (it’s useless, but at least it’s exorbitantly expensive*).  So we give the contractor a raise.

* This phrase is a positive pessimism, structure of which I learned from Erik Weihenmayer when I was lucky enough to hear him speak.

That’s our Water Cooler for today, and as always, it’s an Open Thread!