• 9:51 PM Scott Gunn - OK, we are live and on the case. We are missing a few key members of the news team, so please do feel free to IM or post comments on the blog. Team coverage is a definite enhancement!
• 9:52 PM Scott Gunn - Sigh. Same timezone bug as last time. My blog’s timezone is right, so I’m not sure what’s up. Anyway, just mentally subtract an hour from the time. Or pretend that I am blogging from Nova Scotia or something.
• 9:54 PM Scott Gunn - Yay! Blog entries are newest first [oldest first in final posting!]. Thanks, ScribbleLive!
• 10:05 PM Scott Gunn - McCain says Americans are victims of greed. Well, yes, I suppose. But let’s acknowledge that we all live in a greedy society. While I would love to blame Bush, the Republicans, the Wall Street, we must admit our collective complicity in this mess.
• 10:06 PM Scott Gunn - McCain proposes spending $300 billion to buy up mortgages, etc. Sigh. While this is all going to be painful, I find it interesting to note that Republicans always want to privatize profits and socialize losses.
• 10:11 PM Scott Gunn - McCain and Obama are trading tax “facts.” They are both playing fast & loose. We need some kind of Truth Police to bust them on the teevee. I’m imagining some kind of loud buzzer, possibly coupled with a mild shock.
• 10:11 PM Scott Gunn - Check out this note expressing the desire that many of us have to encourage the candidates to tell the truth.
• 10:12 PM Scott Gunn - They have both talked about “Joe the Plumber.” I guess he has a drinking problem? This is the same “Joe Six-pack” that Sarah Palin kept blathering about? What’s the deal?! Read more »

Reader challenge: match the characters to the presidential candidates.

A wave of the cape to Lindsay, who posted this on facebook.

Oh noes! Panic! Run! Scream! Worry!

Tip of the Canterbury Cap to Brian McLaren.

In keeping with our recent custom, 7WD will be liveblogging the debate tonight. I’m going to give ScribbleLive a try again, though they let me down last time. Hopefully their server will last through the debate this time.

For some inexplicable reason, there’s no WordPress plugin for liveblogging, and doing it manually is a giant pain. If you know of any finished options, or if you know how to encourage these people, please let us all know. By the way, I’m doing this partly for you, dear readers, and partly for me. I’m hoping to amass enough experience that when some major ecclesiastical event comes along, I can liveblog as well as the volcano people.

Tune in at about 8:50 p.m. EDT as the debate live coverage begins.

He speaks for himself:

Saw this on Christopher Orczy’s excellent blog. Make sure you read his musings on the current financial situation and on the financial values of Jesus. Illustration originally from 7streets.com.

New York Bishop Mark Sisk has written a letter on the financial crisis. It’s good stuff — a Christian take on what’s happening and what our response should be as Christians.

…such moments of crisis also have the power to elicit the very best that the human heart has to offer.  It is that very best that Christians are called to offer, now and always.  It is our deepest conviction that though there can be no dispute that the physical circumstances of our lives are important, yet the truth that we have been shown in Jesus is that the ultimate, the real, foundation on which our lives rest, is not on the health of our bank account but rather upon the abiding love of God. The gospel that we have heard, and have been called to proclaim, is not that the darkness is not dark, it is rather that the light of Christ will over-come it.  The hope that is ours is rooted not in an unbroken chain of triumph and success but rather the cross of Christ that brings life out of death.  Therefore, we need have no fear. Our identity is not defined by our bank accounts but by God’s love. The ground on which we stand, the abiding love of God for us and for all creation, is solid ground.

This is a message with which our churches should be resounding these days. Have no fear. Our culture is all about fear and scarcity, and our church should be all about hope and abundance.

Read more »

I’m really trying to stop the Palin jokes, but they just keep coming. For today, I give you this:

Via GraphJam.

Apparently, some Americans believe that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is ripe for improvement. BushFish.org invites you to “show your love for God, the President, and the USA.” George Bush is the new Messiah!

I quote:

If you are tired of secularists telling you that The Lord has no place in our government and our public institutions, then show them that you disagree.

This symbol, this site, and this car magnet have been created for the millions of Americans who support the President and his vision for a government that embraces religion, morality, and family values. It shows worship to the Lord, respect for the President, and hope for all.

Read more »

• 9:40 PM We’re live, watching C-SPAN. Al and Tipper Gore have just been introduced to the studio audience.
• 9:46 PM Sorry for the incorrect time. I’m using ScribbleLive to manage the liveblog. There doesn’t seem to be an option to change the timezone. I wish someone would write a WordPress plugin to do liveblogging. Shockingly, it doesn’t seem to exist.
• 9:46 PM Also, you have to manually refresh the page. There’s not a convenient way to cause WordPress to write the headers to force an auto refresh. As 7WD continues to liveblog events, we’ll improve the technology.
• 9:51 PM It must be cold in the studio where the debate is taking place. The host is wearing an enormous pink scarf. She looks like she’s in the Arctic or something. By turning the thermostat down to 58 or something, they are avoiding any chance of the Kennedy-Nixon sweatlodge.
• 10:03 PM Here they come! Obama wins the first round: more crowd-directed hand gestures as the crowd was clapping. McCain stuck with the finger jab. Obama used the tried-and-true wave. Read more »

I am not making this up. A little while ago, someone from the Department of Homeland Security visited this blog. First, they landed on “I’m voting Republican.” Golly, they must have been in for a surprise. Me voting Republican? Not so much!

Then this visitor proceeded to visit other pages, and I believe they have subscribed to my feed. So I consider myself to be officially monitored. If I disappear, please check in Cuba and sundry Eastern European countries to see if I’m there.

It’s amazing to notice the difference in visitors once you start writing about politics. Imagine if I were to weigh in with my thoughts on the “War on Terror” or something.

Anyone who was awake during any portion of government class in high school will know that direct popular vote doesn’t matter in the presidential election. It’s all in the Electoral College, dude. So I don’t know why we keep reading about national poll this & that.

There are several good sites around to track the more important and actually useful state-by-state situation. I recommend three. If you want leftist numbers, have a look at fivethirtyeight.com or electoral-vote.com. If you want right-leaning numbers, pop over to electionprojection.com. All three sites have about the same information these days: an Obama victory looks very likely.

Read more »

Today’s NY Times has a preview of tonight’s debate. Watch for McCain to try to paint Obama as too inexperienced. Watch for Obama to portray McCain as tied to the Bush administration and its failed policies. Polls have suggested that Obama is perceived as more compassionate than McCain, so don’t expect Obama to go for the zingers when McCain attacks. During the first debate, I thought Obama was too much of a pushover. Apparently Joe Six-pack doesn’t agree. The voters seemed to like Obama’s gentle, learned approach.

Also, pay attention to the town hall participants. These are supposed to be undecided voters. How can one be undecided at this point?! I’ll be interested in these people and their questions. It is difficult for me to grok an undecided voter. Sure, I favor Obama. But I can sort of understand the conservative who is issue-bound to McCain/Palin. What I just cannot comprehend is someone who doesn’t know how they’ll vote — unless, of course, they haven’t been reading or watching the news. Any insights, dear reader?

Debate predictions are most welcome.

The live-blogging here will commence about 8:45 p.m. EDT. I’ll be online for IMs on facebook, should you wish to send your questions/rants.