#4,

Jay Bybee does not speak for his church, nor does Jay Bybee’s church speak for him.

But Bybee does speak for the church. Peterson speaks for the church. YOU speak for the church. I speak for the church. That’s what we are taught. We are taught to be examples to the world in word and deed! We are taught to be representatives of Christ at all times.

This is no ordinary Christian religion we are a part of, Ugly. We are the Body of Christ. At least, that is what we are taught on a weekly basis.

#15. What do liberals not get? Limbaugh wants Obama to fail. Seems pretty clear to me. :)

#24. The only argument that he can make in order to keep his precious seat on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

#25. Bybee won’t testify on the Hill unless subpoenaed. Then he might try the silly “executive privilege” claim. He’s not going to give up his precious seat, which he struggled for at the OLC, that easily.

#26. Note the huge difference between the two. Peterson was a lowly grunt. Bybee was an elitist. One had far more worldly things to lose than the other. Put in perspective why Bybee would never have written his legal analysis any other way. He really wanted the 9th Circuit.

#29. And he is simply an entertainer. Problem is, I don’t think he realizes the danger of going where he goes with his program. (Hence, for example, when Pres. Buckner collapses on his show, the cameramen don’t rush to his aid, thinking it is all part of the show!)

#30. Yes, Prop 8 backfired. I still, honestly, don’t know why the church pushed for it. It looks badly for the Mormons to only press for this in California and not in Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and soon in New York, and other places.

#33. Krugman is a pretty smart guy. It’s a good idea to listen to what he has to say. :)

#38. It’s actually a fairly good column. Douhat is millions of light years an improvement over Bill Kristol (who had to make corrections to almost every single one of his columns, that’s how terrible he was). And Douhat is right about getting Cheney to have been the Republican nominee (or someone who fit that mold). But Douhat doesn’t understand that the public already made the choice between Cheneyism and, well, reality. The Republican party is left with the real extremists of the bunch, and it will be a very long time before more moderates will ever want to consider allying themselves with such extremists.

#39. Lame lame lame lame lame. Abuse is incompatible with the Church of Christ? What the heck is up with such a vague answer!?!? Doesn’t church leadership realize that many of its prominent members seem to be at the heart of the approval and instigation of the use of torture? How can torture be compatible with the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ? Not abuse. and not the Church. The real question is torture and the Gospel. Not abuse and the Church. But the real answer seems to be a bit dirty. Christianity has, in its long history, not minded the abuse of people who happen to be non-Christian. We’d never want a Christian to be waterboarded. And I’m quite sure that if a Mormon were to be waterboarded by an enemy, the church would do all in its power to influence the enemy to release the Mormon. There has to be more from church leadership on this issue.

#58. I’m really glad that liberal bloggers have brought up Alyssa Peterson. I remember when her story came out way back then. It was a very sad story. The military did their usual coverup (just like in Pat Tillman’s case), which of course made matters worse. This is a Mormon who stood for the Gospel of Jesus Christ when it mattered. She was ridiculed by the world. She was abused by the world. Jay Bybee is a Mormon who did NOT stand for the Gospel of Jesus Christ when it mattered. And the world rewarded him.

#59. Heh, Book of Mormon also supports theocracy. Should we push for that now?