Sojourners co-sponsored a candidates forum with the top-three Democratic presidential candidates (Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, and John Edwards) on “Faith, Values, and Poverty.” I didn’t get to see it since I don’t have cable—it was on CNN —but the folks at Sojourners have put up some highlights here. I appreciated what I saw because the emphasis is in making a lot of political topics areas of moral and spiritual conversation, especially the topic of poverty, about which the Bible has a ton to say. Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners said that they have issued an invitation to the Republican front-runners as well for a similar event. I hope that happens. I wish Bill Richardson was at this forum as he has become more interesting to me.

I was a bit cynical since many of the questions were published beforehand, giving the candidates a ton of time to prepare. All three of the candidates are polished speakers and have proven to be adept at using language that fits their audience. (Which, honestly, we all do. A Nobel laureate in physics will likely speak to a symposium of peers differently than she would to a classroom of second-graders. I try not to cuss in front of children or when preaching, though I am not entirely successful in the latter arena.) Still, whenever I hear a politician use faith language, I get my guard up more often than not.

The Watson tartan via House of Tartan:

Our motto: Imperata floruit, “It has flourished beyond expectation.” Indeed.

A quick history of our name can be found here. It’s a ripe good name, but I would love to meet a distant cousin with the surname MacWattie. Maybe some day I’ll write about my experience with my distant clan Buchanan cousins at the Scottish Games in Woodland back in college.

From the John Maynard Keynes entry on The Economist website’s research tool:

As for the frequency with which his opinions would evolve: “When the facts change, I change my mind – what do you do, sir?”

I first came across that quotation a while back. I quite like it.