DOOT DOOT DOODLE-OODLE OOT-DOOT DO DO!!

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Robbie?  Where I come from, they call clown suits like this, “Asking for it.”

Thanks to Stand Firm.

SPINEFULLNESS

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | 5 Comments

One North American country intends to display a little international backbone.  Hint: its capital isn’t Washington:

Canada will boycott Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech at the United Nations on Wednesday, saying his outbursts about the Holocaust and Israel are “shameful.”

Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon will be at the world body to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly’s annual debate, but officials signal he and other members of the Canadian delegation will vacate the Canadian seats when the Islamic republic’s president approaches the podium.

Walking out of the chamber is seen as a strong diplomatic show of disgust at the UN — and since the chamber is generally packed on the first day of the annual summit, Canada’s empty seats will not go unnoticed.

AND NOW…IDIOTS

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 | Uncategorized | 17 Comments

For a Christian, what is the difference between a moral stand and a political stand?  A political stand is a moral stand I disagree with.  At the National Catholic Reporter, Nicholas Cafardi, former dean of the Duquesne University School of Law, thinks this country’s Roman Catholic bishops are nothing more than Republican Party chaplains:

Last November at their post-election meeting, a vocal minority of bishops lamented the election results, aghast that not only a majority of Americans, but more tellingly a majority of Catholics, had voted to make Barack Obama President of the United States. So extreme were the comments of these few bishops that some could easily have confused them with Republican ward-heelers, and be prone to the fear that a new “Republican Captivity” of our Church was in full force.

Nick’s assessment is totally neutral, of course, and not influenced by anyone or anything.  He’s nothing more than a disinterested third party who’s merely concerned about the direction of the Church.

That same vocal minority is now at it again, this time taking up the Republican cause to defeat President Obama’s universal health care proposals. One Midwestern bishop has written his flock that “health care should not be subject to federal monopolization; “that “the Catholic Church does not teach that ‘health care’ as such, without distinction, is a natural right;” and that “the proper role of government is to regulate the private sector in order to foster healthy competition and curtail abuses. Therefore any legislation that undermines the viability of the private sector is suspect.”

How dare the bishops contradict a former law school dean?!  What’s the Catholic Church coming to?!

Two bishops of near-by sees wrote in a joint pastoral statement that “The teaching of the universal church has never been to suggest government socialization of medical services,” and that it could create “a future tax burden,” and foster “permanent dependency for individuals or families upon the state.”

John XXIII is quoted.

Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of ill-health; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age….

And the Spirit of Vatican II is invoked.

By its very nature private property has a social quality which is based on the law of the common destination of earthly goods. If this social quality is overlooked, property often becomes an occasion of passionate desires for wealth and serious disturbances… .”

And since there is one way AND ONLY ONE to ensure all these good ends, namely plowing under a flawed but fixable system and turning health care over to people who are rapidly running what little health care they run now into the ground, this repulsive little Democratic Party sock puppet thinks this country’s Catholic bishops are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Republican Party.

Whether they realize it or not, these bishops in their purportedly “pastoral” statements are doing the work of the Republican Party. They are espousing political positions, not moral ones, and they are doing great harm to the body of bishops, not to mention the Body of Christ, in their transparent and patent political advocacy. What they wrote was neither theology nor catechetics nor spiritual direction. It was politics, pure and simple, politics that would warm Rush Limbaugh’s conservative Republican heart.

And we all remember how solidly behind the Iraq War the Catholic bishops were.  Considering that you backed Barry even though you claim to be “pro-life,” project much, Nick?  You’re the last person who ought to be lecturing anybody about anything, you hypocritical hack.

But look on the bright side.  From the looks of the comments, lots of LibCats agree with you and you seem to have made an Episcopalian or two.

Props to Uncle Di.

DON’T LOOK NOW BUT…

Monday, September 21st, 2009 | Uncategorized | 28 Comments

Tom Friedman is spending your money for you again  He thinks that some of you need your gasoline taxed.  Big-time:

How about Denmark? Little Denmark, sweet, never-hurt-a-fly Denmark, was hit hard by the 1973 Arab oil embargo. In 1973, Denmark got all its oil from the Middle East. Today? Zero. Why? Because Denmark got tough. It imposed on itself a carbon tax, a roughly $5-a-gallon gasoline tax, made massive investments in energy efficiency and in systems to generate energy from waste, along with a discovery of North Sea oil (about 40 percent of its needs).

Tommy boy?  Denmark’s basically North Dakota so to compare it to the entire US is kind of like comparing China to Liechtenstein, m’kay?  Now if you think we should drill offshore, I’d be down with that.  But you and I both know that’s not going to happen under the current administration.

According to the energy economist Phil Verleger, a $1 tax on gasoline and diesel fuel would raise about $140 billion a year. If I had that money, I’d devote 45 cents of each dollar to pay down the deficit and satisfy the debt hawks, 45 cents to pay for new health care and 10 cents to cushion the burden of such a tax on the poor and on those who need to drive long distances.

Such a tax would make our economy healthier by reducing the deficit, by stimulating the renewable energy industry, by strengthening the dollar through shrinking oil imports and by helping to shift the burden of health care away from business to government so our companies can compete better globally. Such a tax would make our population healthier by expanding health care and reducing emissions. Such a tax would make our national-security healthier by shrinking our dependence on oil from countries that have drawn a bull’s-eye on our backs and by increasing our leverage over petro-dictators, like those in Iran, Russia and Venezuela, through shrinking their oil incomes.

Ten whole cents, huh, Tom?  REALLY nice of you considering that “those who need to drive long distances” are going to have to eat a 90-cent-per-gallon tax increase to get to or do their jobs.  But hey, you live in New York and there’s a wi-fi hot spot down the street from where you live so it’s no skin off your back, is it. Friedo?

THE OBAMA DOCTRINE

Monday, September 21st, 2009 | Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Cringe before enemies.  Piss on friends:

Ever since Manuel Zelaya was removed from the Honduran presidency by that country’s Supreme Court and Congress on June 28 for violations of the constitution, the Obama administration has insisted, without any legal basis, that the incident amounts to a “coup d’état” and must be reversed. President Obama has dealt harshly with Honduras, and Americans have been asked to trust their president’s proclamations.

Now a report filed at the Library of Congress by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides what the administration has not offered, a serious legal review of the facts. “Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied constitutional and statutory law in the case against President Zelaya in a manner that was judged by the Honduran authorities from both branches of the government to be in accordance with the Honduran legal system,” writes CRS senior foreign law specialist Norma C. Gutierrez in her report.

Do the facts matter? Fat chance. The administration is standing by its “coup” charge and 10 days ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went so far as to sanction the country’s independent judiciary. The U.S. won’t say why, but it’s clear the court’s sin is rejecting a U.S.-backed proposal to restore Mr. Zelaya to power.

Prediction: you’re going to see a lot more Gadsden and Confederate flags a lot more publicly in the next two years.  And the folks carrying them are going to tell you to F-off a lot more vehemently than they used to.

UPDATE: My God, this administration is a disgrace.

ONE MORE TIME!!

Monday, September 21st, 2009 | Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Welcome to an extra edition of Lil Slice O’ Goofy where I read the Episcopal Life letters section so you don’t have to.  Greg Strahm leads things off(and if you’re wondering about his choice of words, click here):

My husband and I had to go to Connecticut to marry. As cradle Catholics living in South Florida we have had to make the painful decision to leave our Catholic faith because of the hypocrisy of its standings on the role of women in the church, its teachings on homosexuality and same sex marriage.

That’s pretty much why anybody picks a religion.  Never mind whether it’s true or necessary for eternal life or any of the rest of that philosophical crap.  Is it right on the issues I care about?

We have been exploring the Episcopal Church because of its inclusiveness and forward thinking.

See?

We are both very spiritual

So buy a bottle of 18-year-old Glenmorangie or score some Cambodian Red, doofus.  You’ll be able to sleep in Sunday mornings. 

and miss going to mass and the community of church life. This article is the sign and affirmation we have been looking for. We are going to start the process of conversion.

Greg?  Want to know what the Episcopal “process of conversion” involves?  Walk into an Episcopal church and tell them that you want to be an Episcopalian.  That’s pretty much all there is to it. 

You can go through reception if you want to, with the bishop putting his hands on your head and all, but as long as your pledge check clears, you’re golden, buddy.

Moving on, Bruce Green of Lubbock, Texas is another person who really shouldn’t write letters to the editor.

I wish them well in their search for a common statement of governance. While those outside this church seem not to understand our way of doing things. Those within this church seem also to be confused. We are stuck between congregationalism and hierarchy with a sense of participatory democracy bicameralism, whatever that is. The rule of bishops (and a pope) needs balance with the role of all ministries, including laity, deacons, and priests. Could we hope for the ministry of all persons with Christ as their head? A more definite definition of all layers of governance would sure help.

I’ve got no idea what Bruce means here.  None whatsoever.  The Rev. Dr. David L. Jeffery of Atlantic Beach, Florida is down with Leo Frade’s decision to allow same-sex marriages in the Diocese of Southeast Florida.

As a retired priest I remember those “straight” couples who over the years, have come seeking the blessing of the church for their union. In every case the strengthened commitment and joy surrounding that blessing event has been a time of the certainty of God’s presence in their lives together.

The Jesus I know from the gospels seems to have blessed in one fashion or another many whom “society” deemed unworthy of God’s love and sustenance. The Jesus I know loves the love of lifetime commitment and fidelity one for another. I commend and thank Bishop Frade and the diocese he serves for setting the gospel example and I commend my beloved Church for her love for those whom “society” would exclude.

Dave?  The Jesus I know from the Gospels repeatedly urged people to repent of their sins and wasn’t down with sexual immorality in any of its forms.  He also probably wouldn’t have approved of putting quotation marks around words for no particular reason but I admit that I can’t back that one up. 

And finally, Harvey Cottrell of Asbury Park, New Jersey comments on those seven Communion Partner bishops who urged the adoption of an Anglican Covenant.

Maybe these bishops should re-read the

[Any port in a storm, huh, Johnson? - Ed]

NOSTALGIA

Monday, September 21st, 2009 | Uncategorized | 8 Comments

A campaign symbol that keeps turning up in official places even though the campaign’s been over for months?  Check.

A state-controlled news media?  Check.

A propaganda department recruiting potential Leni Riefenstahls?  Check.

We hope you’re enjoying “A Taste of Totalitarianism.”  They should start coming after actual Christians “religious extremists” any day now.

LIL SLICE O’ GOOFY

Saturday, September 19th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 22 Comments

We’ll open today’s episode with a couple more people who think that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of Canterbury Cathedral and then started the Roman Catholic Church.  First up, John Forbis of Grahamstown, South Africa thinks Rowan Williams should keep quiet:

Re.: “Canterbury reflects on General Convention” (Episcopal Life Online), [this is] truly another indication of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s attempts to put the brakes on where he clearly has no jurisdiction. Why can’t he finally accept that the Episcopal Church has made its choices and respect those choices if it is too impolitic for him to say they are being prophetic?

What if Dr. Williams doesn’t think Episcopal choices are “prophetic” just because Episcopalians claim that they are, John?  And why are you butting in anyway since you live in South Africa and have no jurisdiction either?  Mind your own business!

Herb Gray of Laconia, New Hampshire joins that vast number of people who think Moses brought the

down from Mount Sinai.

Speaking as an 88-year-old veteran of World War II, as a former UCC student minister who chose to become an Episcopal layman and as one half of a happy 56-plus-year marriage (a real love story), with my dear wife concurring, I hope that we will no longer put off the full recognition of our gay brothers and sisters in Christ, as called for in our covenant of Holy Baptism. We no longer can equivocate, no longer continue unending delays in order to appease this or that group. It is time to stand up for our homosexual brethren and for the full inclusion of all baptized members of our church in all phases of our life together as Christians.

Herb, you no-doubt delightfully irascible old coot, you’ll probably be dead before your current pointy-hat “blesses” his first three-way but Robbie’s such a publicity whore that I’d be reluctant to put any money on it.  But if the three of ‘em got splashed in some church when they were infants then I guess all bets are off.

Proving once again that Anglicans can say less longer than anyone else in Christendom, Mr. Bruce E. Voran of Strawberry, Arizona goes all postmodern for some reason.

I rejoice in the passage of the various resolutions dealing with the issue of sexuality. The current “business model” of the Episcopal Church is a failure. I came to this church 50 years ago, and I can point to the beauty of the liturgy and the music as the deciding factor. Today, the music is supplemented with that which expresses fuzzy theology, and this is matched by the Liturgy of the Word, where the substance of the sermons, based on the premise of two anecdotes and one point, is vacuous while stressing mystical sentimentalism. Explaining doctrine and theology seems to be a lost art. Fortunately, there may be the light of the Holy Spirit at work at General Convention in that many of the resolutions regarding sexuality are not regulative (legislative) but rather propositional and remain discursive. Should doctrines serve only as nondiscursive symbols and not subject to changes of meaning or even to the extent of a total loss of meaningfulness, they are dead and not crucial for agreement or disagreement. Now if only the priest who is charged to preach the gospel can be led to do his/her job following this theologically/doctrinally sound manner rather than surrendering to the nondiscursive legalisms of doctrine and theology and submitting to fuzzy sentimentalism. Perhaps then, the people who are leaving will be encouraged to re-engage with the thinking church it once was.

Uh…right.  Moving on, Elks, Rotarians, Optimists, Buddhists, says Frisco’s Robert Warren Cromey, what’s the difference?

Some bishops and standing committees [did] not vote to approve the election of Kevin Thew Forrester as bishop of Northern Michigan. Some raise questions about his being a practicing Zen Buddhist. I wonder how many of these bishops and lay people are members of Masonic orders, Elks, Eastern Star or other worthy organizations with elaborate ceremonies and beliefs that are not exactly orthodox Christian. Zen offers practices of meditation, self-contemplation and intuition quite like the spirituality practices taught in Christian retreats, quiet days and prayer groups in our church today. Certainly [Thew] Forrester’s Zen practice does not interfere with his capacity to lead the people of the diocese who elected him.

Except that Genpo’s Zen practices had little or nothing to do with his rejection, Bob.  Genpo’s unauthorized changes in the liturgy and his non-Christianity were what bishop after bishop cited as the reasons for his rejection.  Mr. R. Scott Ogilby North of Little Rock, Arkansas calls out Episcopal Life for its cruelty to animals.

As an Episcopalian who respects all of life, I am disappointed that Episcopal Life has once again chosen to run an ad for lobster boils in Maine. This is supporting cruelty to God’s creatures. When will we ever learn?

Learn what?  To salt the water?  To toss in a little cayenne pepper and maybe a bay leaf along with the salt?  To make sure the water is vigorously boiling before dropping those babies in?  To melt the butter beforehand?  To make sure that the wine is properly chilled and goes well with seafood?

I’m guessing R. Scott’s a vegan.  WHATEVER you do, do not tell him that it’s impossible to make vegetarian meat substitutes from plant material and so they actually use kittens and then lie to people.  And finally, meet Katherine Floerke of Managua, Nicaragua, one of the B’s in LGBTwhoeverthehellelseisbitchingthismonth.

I am bisexually oriented and committed to full sacramental inclusion of all people, regardless of their sexuality and regardless of the responses of other churches in the Anglican Communion.

GenCon 2012 should be a barrel of laughs.  Episcopalians think any baptized person should have access to any sacrament, presumably including marriage.  At this particular time, Episcopal marriages are only supposed to be between two and only two people. 

Miss Floerke thinks she’s bisexual.  So that means that she can either restrict herself to only one item on the menu or not be true to who she thinks she is.  Since Miss Floerke has presumably been baptized, Episcopal “theologians” are going to have to get real creative real fast.

RESERVE LIST

Saturday, September 19th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 21 Comments

An unfortunate fact of modern life is that you don’t have to be particularly good at something to make an insane amount of money doing it.  Exhibit A – “Author” Dan Brown:

Edinburgh professor of linguistics Geoffrey Pullum says “Brown’s writing is not just bad; it is staggeringly, clumsily, thoughtlessly, almost ingeniously bad.” He picks out some excerpts for special criticism. The female lead in Angels and Demons learns of the death of her scientist father: “Genius, she thought. My father . . . Dad. Dead.” A member of the Vatican Guard in the same book becomes annoyed by something, and we learn that “his eyes went white, like a shark about to attack.”

Here are a few more examples.

Angels and Demons, chapter 1: Although not overly handsome in a classical sense, the forty-year-old Langdon had what his female colleagues referred to as an ‘erudite’ appeal — wisp of gray in his thick brown hair, probing blue eyes, an arrestingly deep voice, and the strong, carefree smile of a collegiate athlete.

They say the first rule of fiction is “show, don’t tell”. This fails that rule.

The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: He could taste the familiar tang of museum air – an arid, deionized essence that carried a faint hint of carbon – the product of industrial, coal-filter dehumidifiers that ran around the clock to counteract the corrosive carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors.

Ah, that familiar tang of deionised essence.

Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers glorified the four major rivers of the Old World – The Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Rio Plata.

The Rio de la Plata. Between Argentina and Uruguay. One of the major rivers of the Old World. Apparently.

Captain Bezu Fache carried himself like an angry ox, with his wide shoulders thrown back and his chin tucked hard into his chest. His dark hair was slicked back with oil, accentuating an arrow-like widow’s peak that divided his jutting brow and preceded him like the prow of a battleship. As he advanced, his dark eyes seemed to scorch the earth before him, radiating a fiery clarity that forecast his reputation for unblinking severity in all matters.

Do angry oxen throw their shoulders back and tuck their chins into their chest? What precisely is a fiery clarity and how does it forecast anything? Once again, it is not clear whether Brown knows what ‘forecast’ means.

In his memorable 2006 movie review of The Da Vinci Code, Anthony Lane of The New Yorker explained:

There has been much debate over Dan Brown’s novel ever since it was published, in 2003, but no question has been more contentious than this: if a person of sound mind begins reading the book at ten o’clock in the morning, at what time will he or she come to the realization that it is unmitigated junk? The answer, in my case, was 10:00.03, shortly after I read the opening sentence: “Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery.” With that one word, “renowned,” Brown proves that he hails from the school of elbow-joggers—nervy, worrisome authors who can’t stop shoving us along with jabs of information and opinion that we don’t yet require. (Buried far below this tic is an author’s fear that his command of basic, unadorned English will not do the job; in the case of Brown, he’s right.) You could dismiss that first stumble as a blip, but consider this, discovered on a random skim through the book: “Prominent New York editor Jonas Faukman tugged nervously at his goatee.” What is more, he does so over “a half-eaten power lunch,” one of the saddest phrases I have ever heard.

At one time, I aspired to be a novelist or freelance writer.  Every so often, I entertain the idea of cashing in the inheritance before Obama makes it disappear, quitting my job, sitting down and writing a book, probably some kind of history.

But working in a library as long as I have made me realize something one day.  After checking out the usual popular dreck to the usual housewives and old people, I came to the conclusion that I would never be a novelist, at least never a rich one.

Because I decided that I just couldn’t make myself write this crap.

TALK LIKE A SOMALI PIRATE DAY

Friday, September 18th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 12 Comments

Tomorrow is Talk Like A Pirate Day in which we’re all supposed to spend the day affecting West Country accents and uttering things like, “ARRRGH, Jim lad!”  Talk Like A Somali Pirate Day is a lot easier.  All you have to do is say over and over, “Allah OH CRAP, A NAVY SEAL SHOT ME!!“

PRAYER REQUEST

Friday, September 18th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Legendary MCJ commenter Flambeaux just got laid off.

DON?

Thursday, September 17th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Might be time to leave the nest.

OTTO D. FAY

Thursday, September 17th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 23 Comments

Edmund Power, a (real)Benedictine monk and abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, was recently named an honorary canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  Mary Ann Ramer of New York City was of two minds about it:

As an associate of the Anglican Benedictine Order of the Holy Cross, I am joyful for the honor accorded Abbot Power. However, I find it ironic that, according to the rules of the Roman Catholic Church, no Catholic may take part in any ritual of any other religion, including any Christian denomination. Perhaps this rigid ban was sidestepped by holding only a non-worship event? If so, it just proves that The Roman Catholic Institution’s (not the peoples’) welcome is still tainted and incomplete, still rooted in triumphalism and non-Christian exclusion.

That’s a pretty impressive letter, actually.  You try packing that much bigotry and stupidity into one short paragraph.  Mary Ann?  Since I don’t want to keep folks here all day, darlin’, let me see if I can sum things up for you real quick.

Roman Catholics…oh, what’s the word I’m looking for…okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s it…believe stuff.  And not to put too fine a point on it but Episcopalians believe less and less stuff with each passing day.

Take Communion.  Often[HA, HA, HA, I crack me up!].  Anyhoo, if you believe that He’s Really There, why in the world would you want to join people who think Communion is nothing more than a Really Meaningful Ceremony^TM and not much more than that? 

Wouldn’t that be kind of like mocking Him?  Do you regularly mock someone that you love?  If so, why?  And where are you getting “triumphalism,” Mary Ann?  The Roman Catholic Church, as the kids say, is what it is. 

Sounds to me like you’re a little unsure of the Episcopal “apostolic” thing and are frustrated that Rome won’t back you up.  For my part, it’s not that important to me whether the church I attend has a genuine historical pedigree or not.

All I want to know is whether a church is getting the Lord’s work done, preaching His Gospel and advancing His Kingdom.  Nothing else matters.  As for that “non-Christian exclusion” blast of yours, not every man that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord and all that.

I really should bring back those, “The Episcopal Church.  As Inclusive As Hell” T-shirts and coffee mugs.

Moving on, Catherine Ambler of Cranston, Rhode Island demonstrates why history should be left to the professionals.  I’m not at all sure what Ms. Ambler is getting at here.

The contention “… that under [the Episcopal Church's] structure dioceses are not permitted to disaffiliate from the Episcopal Church…” is interesting as considered against the facts of history.

For years, The Episcopal Church has taught that its teachings are based on scripture, reason, and tradition. Tradition is a part of history. The Episcopal Church has also been staunch in teaching its historic roots trace back through the Church of England, proving its bishops to be in the line of the Apostolic Succession[Debatable - Ed]. If one studies the history of the church in England, one finds many times of strife due to disaffiliation. At one point a monarch is Protestant, the next Roman Catholic in his views, often resulting in persecutions and transfers of property for those caught in the transition.

The Episcopal Church, after teaching its place in and esteem for history, cannot expect to escape from the seismic, schismatic waves that its “historic” choices make.

If by “many,” Ms. Ambler means two[Edward VI(Protestant) to Mary(Catholic) and Mary to Elizabeth(Protestant)], I can sort of see her point.  Actually, I can’t see it at all.

What about James II?  Doesn’t count.  There were the risings of the Duke of Monmouth and Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, but those were snuffed out quickly and can’t be counted as persecutions.

Seven Anglican bishops did a stretch in the Tower of London but emerged as heroes.  And James’ reign was one of the few times in history that an Archbishop of Canterbury(William Sancroft) ever displayed any backbone.

So no, I don’t know what Ms. Ambler means.  Don’t get it at all.  Leave her alone, Prof.  WAY too easy.

VODKA ON THE ROCKS, I’M BUYING

Thursday, September 17th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 21 Comments

Nanner McBotox really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY hopes that some of you people calm down.

I SEE RACIST PEOPLE

Thursday, September 17th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 15 Comments

Racist British newspaper racistly publishes racist racism:

Vladimir Putin could be forgiven for having a celebratory shot of vodka with breakfast this morning at news that President Obama plans to abandon America’s missile defence shield in Eastern Europe.

His implacable opposition to the project has paid off, leaving the Kremlin emboldened in its drive to re-establish a strategic “sphere of privileged interests” over Russia’s former Soviet satellites.

By trading the loyalty of Poland and the Czech Republic to satisfy Russia’s security concerns, the United States is signalling that it no longer contests Moscow’s right to assert its interests in Eastern Europe.

Ukraine and Georgia’s chances of entering Nato over Russian objections have diminished further. The timing is disastrous for Ukraine in particular, given the Kremlin’s determination to reverse the pro-Western Orange Revolution and ensure victory for a pro-Russian candidate at presidential elections in January.

The Baltic States, already in Nato, will be feeling a chill as they ponder an even more assertive Russia. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been among the Kremlin’s most vocal critics but Nato’s new Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has declared a “true strategic partnership” with Russia his top priority.

Anti-Semitic former US President Jimmy Carter, who is an anti-Semite, had no immediate anti-Semitic comment.