I wanted to write an in-depth analysis of Michael Peroutka’s acceptance speech at the Constitution Party convention at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, but I am pressed for time and not able to do it justice right now. Maybe Pieter will tackle it soon as he does an excellent job at such critiques.

We watched Mr. Peroutka’s speech on C-Span, and I got as excited as if I was actually at the convention. If you’ve ever been to a politcal rally, you know that it’s easy to get caught up in the exuberant spirit of the crowd. In the old movie “The Farmer’s Daughter,” a man at a political rally proves to the heroine, Loretta Young, that the crowd will yell about anything. He calls out, “Fish for sale!” and the place explodes with applause and screams. Sitting at home watching it on the boob tube is usually as exhilarating as flat soda pop. While listening to Mr. Peroutka’s speech with my family, I broke out in applause and shouts several times, much to the amusement of my children.

I was especially struck with the way Mr. Peroutka delivered his speech, with apparent sincerity and ease. It’s been a long time since I heard a political figure deliver a speech so well. I’m sorry I missed Doug Phillips’s speech nominating him, and I searched in vain to find Dave Black’s distinguished head, along with his wife’s lovely face, in the crowd. I understand that more of the speeches may be broadcast this week on C-Span.

You should read the entire speech and consider how close Mr. Peroutka’s vision is to the intent of our founding fathers and the constitutional foundations of this country. He quoted Jay Leno who joked that we were helping the Iraqis to write a new constitution: “Why don’t we just give them ours, we’re not using it?” Both Bush and Kerry will propose all sorts of unconstitutional programs to garner votes and support. How refreshing it was to hear Michael Peroutka explain the proper sphere of jurisdiction for civil government.

See Doug’s Blog for pictures from the convention (including Dave and his beautiful wife—don’t they look happy?) I’ll be penning more propaganda as the campaign progresses.

Dear friends, my email is doing strange things by which even my brilliant geeky husband is perplexed. I’m not sure if I’m receiving all emails. If you really need to contact me, please leave a message here in the comments, and I’ll try to respond one way or another. God’s timing is perfect, so I’m reminding myself, as this glitch occurs at a rather inconvenient time for us, but we will persevere.

A few months ago I ran across the Duquettes’ website, A View From the Foothills. Not only was I intrigued by the name of their blog because we live in the foothills, but they are bibliophiles who like many of the same books I do. They linked to this silliness, which made me giggle. Since a merry heart doeth good like medicine, I thought I’d share it with you as a public service announcement. A giggle a day keepeth the doctor away.

Something old: At church today, my friend Connie told me that her father is turning 90 next week. Her parents live with her and her husband, on a rural property (they, like us, are happy to be land rich and house poor in this crazy California real estate climate). Connie’s father is an active gent. She has had to forbid him from climbing on the roof of the house to do repairs. For his birthday she is buying him a bicycle because he has never owned one of his own, and he can tool around on it on their property. For Father’s Day she bought him a humongous water soaker gun. She said that he had his first childhood in the 20th century and that he could have his second in the 21st.

Something new: My dear friend Susan and her daughter highly recommended some new CDs at our book table today, so I bought them and have enjoyed the first one I’ve listened to, so far. They are by Jamie Soles, reformed dad to seven and husband of one wife. Y’all have probably heard of him, but he is new to me. His musical style seems to be very eclectic, ranging from soul to bluegrass/folk to antiphonal choral (with his family providing harmony). The CDs are for the whole family, with many songs written to teach children the names and places and events in the Bible. Jamie says, “A statement made by C.S. Lewis about children’s literature has shaped my understanding of how to build a kids song. It was something along these lines, that if a book cannot be enjoyed by a fifty year old, it won’t make good and lasting children’s literature. By the same token, if the song is unbearable for an adult to listen to, it won’t be a good kids song.” His online biography mentions that he became reformed through the influence of the same book which led Steve and me to the reformed faith. He also credits Peter Leithart with some of his inspiration for subject matter, which explains why he likes to tackle some of the Bible stories which are sometimes swept under the rug. There are mp3 samples of some of his songs. For a laugh, make sure to listen to “How to Catch a Wife”…it’s a little like “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”

Something borrowed: Disciplining and training our children is a subject we are always addressing in our home, and even though we’ve been at it for over 20 years, we still need reminders about how to stay on track in this area. I’m borrowing Peter Leithart’s good maxims for parents and passing them on to you. He and his wife have as many children as we, so I’m sure he has some idea of the challenges of parenthood.

Something blue: Well, it could have made us blue, but we turned it into another adventure instead, and found a lesson in God’s providential care. The transmission on our 15-passenger van (Moby Pickle; it’s green: “What’s big and grean and swims in the ocean?”) has seemed a bit rough lately. Steve was going to take it to the shop last week, but he got very busy with his work, so put it off. We were driving home from church, which is an hour away in Sacramento, and we turned onto our road for the climb up the hill to our driveway. Oops! The car slowed and then stopped moving. No more transmission! So we clambered out of the van (it always looks like a clown car emptying at the circus when we disembark) and let Daddy struggle to get the van into neutral and coast it back down the hill and out of the way. We gathered some of our things and made the trek up the steep hill, on foot, in the hot sun, in our Sunday finery. Some of the gang was inclined to be grouchy, so I reminded them that we needed to be thankful that the car didn’t break down in Sacramento, where we might be stranded. Then I broke into song: “Zippety doo-dah, zippety-a, my-oh-my, what a beautiful day…plenty of sunshine coming my way! Zippety doo-dah, zippety-a!” A friend later helped tow Moby Pickle into our driveway, and Steve found that the transmission fluid was almost gone. Looks like we have a leak. Hopefully it will not require major repairs as we would like to wait another year before replacing our 10-year-old vehicle.

Never a dull moment. But the excitement reminds us to keep trusting the One who brings it our way.

Ready for another round of Book Tag?

Today’s category: Art and architecture
Recommended book: Visions of Adventure: N.C. Wyeth and the Brandywine Artists by John Edward Dell and Walt Reed. This has biographies of the illustrators who trained at Howard Pyle’s Brandywine School of Art, the men who became famous for their realistic pictures in famous children’s classics such as Treasure Island and Robin Hood, and who did countless illustrations for periodicals and other popular media, portraying many exciting characters, from Indians to pirates to knights to frontiersmen. Lots of color illustrations!

You’re It!