Awesome insight into the mind of an original American thinker. Thank you Professor Epstein for your reflections!

So Peter Robinson, you will never be called, by me, an establishment Republican or a RINO. This profundity runs deep!  

Man is constrained by space and time... God is infinite, the beginning and the end... If scientist tell me with some level of confidence that the earth is 4.5 billion years old and the the universe is +/- 14 billion years old,  I have no problem with that. The more I learn from science the more my faith in a benevolent creator is enhanced.
The problem with too many politicians, and I don't know Rubio's heart, is that they fill themselves with ambition and the pursuit of faith in their life is not a priority leaving them vulnerable to gocha questions like this.

What about the election momentum in the Republican party since 2008? Except for a back bench election in up state New York the Republicans have dominated. Why would, if the election is close, wouldn't it break for Romney?

Funny, I don't miss the print version of NEWSWEEK but I sure do miss Andrew Breitbart!

Thank you! Beautiful!

I always thought he sounded like Howard Spraig (sp?) from Mayberry RFD.

Him, complaining and Rick Santorum getting grief for supporting an incumbent in-state Republican in the Republican primary.

He has always been a piece of work out done only by Jim Jeffords!

I think that conservatives are generally not followers.  That is to say if you send me a chain email I am probably going to delete it.  If your chain email says that Rachel Madow is an over educated idiot and that we should boycott her advertisers, I am going to tell you my oldest daughter is applying to colleges and my two boys have basketball games and I have a meeting at church.

It's the fact that we are thinking people with lives that are being lived.  We are not lemmings.  Should we be more active?  I don't know.  I want to expend energy building up things, not tearing something down.  I would rather take time to educate and persuade instead of bullying some company to do something.

Terribly sad.  My prayers for his wife and children.

Profound.  As a classical liberal who thinks often about socialism/progressiveism  not to have noticed NASCAR's restricter plate policies and the parallel with socialism makes me think less of my thinking abilities.  

A couple of notes that corroborate this analogy. The late Dale Earnhart did not win his first Daytona 500 until two years before his death.  This after many wins at other tracks and 6 0r 7 NASCAR season championships.  Michael Waltrip who's brother is more famous only won 4 times out of 759 starts and 3 of those were on super speedways with restricter plates.  (Unfortunately, his first win was the 2001 Daytona 500 driving a car owned by Dale Earnhart who died that day.)  Another is Derrick Cope who won 2 races in 409 starts with one being the Daytona 500.

One more thing, listen to the invocation delivered at the start of the race.  It is a prayer that is so good it will make you feel like you wen to church, even if you skipped church today!

Noesis Noeseos

Richard, I believe, was speaking to the larger culture which is with out faith.  I can not speak specifically to him but I can tell you that I associate weekly with hundreds of like mind evangelical Christians who would do anything for the Jewish people.  Believing Jews are not the problem with our culture, and the problem with our culture was what Richard was speaking directly about.

I believe the premise Mr. Murray's book.  The fact has been exacerbated by three successive generations of folks who probably did not need a 4 year bachelors degree.  
My father was a machinist with an 8th grade education (he did get his GED when he returned from service).  He worked for 40 years.  Sent three kids to college (paid for from his checking account).  
I remember when he was 48 he told me that if he could get half of his employer's part of SS and his part going forward- invest it himself he would give up everything he had already contributed and be totally responsible for himself.
My point is that my father was not MENSA smart he was raised by depression parents who taught him that hard work and taking pride in his work would be enough.  It was and then some.  It doesn't bother me that lawyers are marring lawyers and Ivey league grads are marring Ivey league grads.  What bothers me is all of the street smart folks who could perform a skilled occupation and be well compensated for it, instead head off to Best (in) State Univ. to become a ____________. 

Like he does in most of his thoughtful exersizes Mr. Brooks is too clever by half.  The modern professional athlete has achieved their position through hard work.  Granted there is more than a fair amount of talent, but the play ground and prison courts are full of talented individuals who had the talent without the discipline.  The Christian faith is formed through discipline and self denial.  This is a fantastic congruentcy between sport and faith. I have seen Mr. Lin's personal 'testimony'  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6bmaynTY_E) it includes a personal reflection of a turning point in his personal and professional life where he was challenged by a mentor to devote one hour per day to study of the Bible.
There is a verse in Ecclesiastes and I am paraphrasing but it says the race is not to the swift or the strong but available to all those who preserver.  Granted there are a few exceptions but the vast majority of the athletes that we see receiving glory today are the practitioners of hard work and perseverance.  Finally, as Mr. Lin's testimony reveals and any reflection on Tim Tebow shows religious Christian athletes are refreshingly humble.