A life in words

  • Familiar Territory

    My sincere apologies, friends, but I must impose upon your eyes, web browsers, and feed readers yet again because there now wells up within me that ancient anger against injustice that has boiled the blood of many a Mormon before me. Now, don’t get me wrong: this is familiar territory for us Mormons. Once again,…

  • Obamanymy

    One of the great things about the impending presidency of Barack Hussein Obama is that his name is awesome. I guess that’s what you get when your last name begins with an open syllable (meaning that it starts with a vowel). I predict that a whole new subfield of onomastics dedicated to the study of…

  • The Voice of the People

    Had I gotten my address updated and my absentee ballot arrived in the mail, I would have either voted for John McCain, or abstained on account of my concerns over Palin’s qualifications. But most of America was more responsible than I was, and they voted. And they voted decisively. John McCain’s concession speech was magnanimous…

The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves… to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection [and] opens the door to foreign influence and corruption….George Washington, Farewell Address