Erik Prince

Erik Prince

Please forgive the brevity of this “With Both Barrels.” It’s the weekend. 

I wasn’t planning on posting, but Dedra is still drinking coffee, the kids are cleaning (whoo-hoo!), and it’s a grey, rainy day outside. Not good weather for the last Saturday of the summer. But, hey, enough about the Birzer household and onto the larger world. 

The New York Times reported on the fate (well, one step in the fate) of Xe (formerly Blackwater) with a bit about its founder, Erik Prince, a Hillsdale College graduate.

Mr. Prince, a former Navy Seals member and the heir to an auto parts fortune, took an interest in Africa, particularly Sudan, and he is said to have wanted Blackwater to step in to help the rebels in southern Sudan, which is predominantly Christian and animist, fight the Sudanese government and the Muslim north, despite United States economic sanctions.

I’ve never met Mr. Prince, but he sounds like a fascinating guy. Those who knew him here at Hillsdale only have good things to say about him.

Jason Sorens over at Pileus has reposted an interesting story from AEI. Want a higher salary for an equivalent job? Work for the government not for the private sector. I must admit (sarcasm flowing from my very being), this seems to fit quite well with the notion of republican virtue and sacrifice for the common good. Sigh (no sarcasm on the sigh).

 More on King Barack’s faith at NPR. By the way, I have no doubt our so-called president considers himself a Christian. What I find truly interesting is that 61% of Americans have no idea what his faith is. I really don’t think there’s been a chief executive since Lincoln who has so confused the public about his personal faith. The story is interesting for what it says about contemporary politics and about the desires of the general American population.

In your spare time, please make sure you read the comments posted on this website. Ryan Mauldin, Mark Perkins, and Jason Gehrke have continued a rather vigorous debate about the wisdom or folly of dropping the two atomic bombs on Japan in 1945. Their comments are well worth reading.

Winston Elliott IV

Winston Elliott IV

Finally, a huge congratulations to Winston Elliott IV, the son of the founder of The Imaginative Conservative. Little Winston just made his first jump in the 82nd Airborne. He can now officially wear the beret and jump wings; symbols of true patriotism and republican virtue.

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