As 2013 Ends and 2014 Begins...

Don't let phony headlines and indices fool you. Major cracks are forming in the infrastructure: economic, financial, political, institutional, societal, spiritual. As 2014 moves forward, the foundations will begin to crumble from it's own weight and instability.

I may have been relatively silent this past year here on this blog, but I have been aggregating important news items throughout the year. I haven't gone away. I've been running this blog since July 6, 2004. And my next post will be my 1000th. :-)

2014 begins in a few hours. It's a new chapter in our lives - as individuals and as a society.

It is a time to keep the faith. To be strong. To love. To lend a hand. To take a stand. To work hard. To be watchful. To stand guard and to protect. To fight. To never give up on hope.

Chesterton (and Ahlquist) on Breitbart...

American Chesterton Society chief Dale Ahlquist is interviewed on Breitbart. It's a great read.

Excerpt:

On whether Pope Francis is supportive of the effort to have Chesterton named a saint: 

"I think he's out in front. We do know that the Argentine president of the Chesterton society, who was an ambassador, Miguel Angel Espeche Gil, wrote a letter to one of the Chesterton societies in England. In that letter, he said that 'Our cardinal has just approved a prayer for Chesterton's intercession.' Well, that cardinal, three days later, became pope."

MacGuffin-ization...

In October I posted about Ace's great commentary on "progressivism".

Well, Ace is at it again with yet another insightful commentary about what he calls the MacGuffinization of American Politics. He starts off with this intro:

In a movie or book, "The MacGuffin" is the thing the hero wants. Usually the villain wants it too, and their conflict over who will end up with The MacGuffin forms the basic spine of the story. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the MacGuffin is, of course, the Lost Ark. Indy wants it; the Nazis have it. This basic conflict over simple possession animates a two hour long movie. Alfred Hitchcock noted -- counterintuitively, when you first hear this -- that the specifics of the MacGuffin don't really matter at all to a movie. He pointed out that the audience doesn't care at all about the MacGuffin. The hero in the movie itself cares, but the audience doesn't.

He continues:

A MacGuffin only has one requirement: That it be important-sounding, so that the audience understands he hero isn't engaged in some trivial matter, but that the Stakes Are High. But an important sounding MacGuffin is just another way to increase the audience's emotional attachment to the Hero, not to the idea of possessing the MacGuffin. 

And then he nails it:

And that, of course, explains all you need to know about the abnormal political situation we find ourselves in, and the Cult of Barack Obama. For Obama's fanbois, this is not politics. This isn't even America, not really, not anymore. This is a movie. And Barack Obama is the Hero. And the Republicans are the Villains. And policy questions -- and Obama's myriad failures as an executive -- are simply incidental.

They are MacGuffins only, of no importance whatsoever, except to the extent they provide opportunities for Drama as the Hero fights in favor of them… [it's] about Obama's Hero's Journey in navigating the plot of President Barack Obama: The Movie. As with a MacGuffin in the movie, only the Hero's emotional response to the MacGuffin matters.

The entire post is phenomenal, with great examples of the MSM playing up The MacGuffin and The Hero.

Ace follows up with a bit more info and analysis in this post, as well.