I’m a Wynn, an Oklahoman, and a Baptist, all three of which seem to predispose me to being, shall we say, stocky. Big boned? Hefty? Or let’s just be honest. I’m fat. I’ve been fat most of my life. In a college nutrition class I learned the scientific term is “morbidly obese,” which, as I recently told our church gathering, means one is so fat he will die from it. Interestingly, this nutrition class also toed the USDA line of teaching the low-fat diet combined with 6-11 servings of carbohydrates a day, which I have come to believe has only made Americans fatter and fatter. But that’s another blog post.

Some of my life I have wanted to deal with my weight. I’ve had periods, like in that college nutrition class, where I have been religious about following a plan, in that case the USDA food guide pyramid, only to work and starve and obsess and lose a few pounds. I’ve also had times when I’ve found something that really works, the Atkins diet for example (on which I lost around 40 pounds when I also was walking nearly two miles a day), only to have it and more come back on when I didn’t maintain it properly.

Other times in my life, I simply didn’t care how big I was. It bothered me none that I’m bigger than most. I’m 6’4″ tall and I can carry a lot—and I do mean a LOT—of weight fairly well. I’m big, as everyone can tell by looking, but most don’t know how heavy I am. When I’ve had serious friends attempt to guess my weight, they routinely under-estimate by 100 pounds. So, as long as I could find clothes, which has become increasingly more difficult and expensive, I was simply unconcerned.

And other times, I have actually enjoyed being a large guy. Fortunately, I’ve not really suffered from a poor self image since grade school, so I’ve never had bouts of depression or shame over my weight–and no one should. But it goes a step too far, I think, when one is actually proud to be felt entering a room because of his mass.

And so, I got to a point where, especially for practical reasons (and some vain), I decided this is the year I lose at least 100 pounds. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. And I knew I wouldn’t particularly like it. I mean, seriously folks, I have no illusions as to why I’m fat. Sure I’m big boned (my mother had me tested). Sure, I do desk work. Sure, I may have a thyroid problem (my mother never had me tested). But the fact of the matter is that I LOVE to eat.

I love food. I like it fried. I like it un-fried. I like cheesy things and gooey things and crunchy things. I like everything. And that’s the problem.

I’m thankful for a mother who didn’t feed me just burgers and fries growing up. She exposed my sister and me to a wide variety of differing cuisines growing up, and that wasn’t always easy in 1980s rural Oklahoma. It was a big deal when we got to go eat somewhere new, and there were new, exciting things like scallops and strange vegetables like bok choy and salads with homemade vinaigrettes with pecans in them. She taught me to be a culinary adventurer, and I am thankful for that.

But in my adventures, I became greedy, and I think that may be called gluttony or something. As I grew up and began to make my own money, I became more adventurous. I love meals with appetizers and large portions and desserts and coffee. And while, like most things, those meals are fine in moderation, they became more the rule than the exception. Nothing pleases me more than long, lingering meals with friends where we start at 6 p.m. and don’t wrap up until 10. There’s something about the combination of food and friendship and conversation that just scratches an itch deep inside me.

On the opposite extreme, I also became gastronomically lazy (I’ve always been fairly inactive physically, which is another challenge). As life and work got busier, and as stress from various situations piled up, I turned to quick, usually carb-laden comfort foods.

I love Coca-Cola with a passion. Ben Franklin considered beer a gift from God and evidence that he loves us. I am that way about Coke. As much as I hate to further the notion that heaven will be some giant all-you-can eat buffet, I do believe there might be a free Coke fountain somewhere in the Promised Land.

I also love horrible, fried convenience store delicacies like crispitos, and pizza pockets, and corn dogs, and (if you can get to the c-store in Chelsea, those little mini tacos!).

Some may also recall that at the last Welch Public School Enrichment Foundation banquet that I emceed, in presenting the Outstanding Alumni Award to Carol Calcagno, Coach Ken Sooter said that Carol could just never get enough sports. I responded that the only thing I’d never gotten enough of was chicken fried steak. And I meant that. I took it upon myself to eat every one I could find. That does not a fit boy make.

And so, as with most of life, the challenge is to find a happy medium, somewhere between the two extremes, in which to live and thrive.

To find this happy medium, one has to deal with reality. For me, there are a few realities that I must accept and work around.

1. I do not like exercise. I don’t mind activity, but I hate the monotony of the treadmill. That is not to say that, as I lose weight, I don’t desire to get in the gym and do some work, but exercise cannot be the primary means through which I lose weight. Those who are active can eat more, but I can’t. In short, I can’t continue to eat like a farm hand unless I get a job as a farm hand–and that would be disastrous for some farm.

2. I cannot be hungry. If I am hungry, I will be doomed. Sometimes it’s hard to discern between hunger and desire, but it is possible.

3. I don’t want to do something unhealthier than being fat. Other than cursed sinuses, I am a fairly healthy person. To the surprise of many, I am not a diabetic and I do not have off-the-charts blood pressure, though I do have a brain, so I know things could head that way if I don’t reduce my weight. Then again, I could also be killed by an errant basketball as I do live audio of a ballgame, too. When it’s our time, it’s our time, but there is something to be said about the quality of our life until it’s our time. And there’s that whole “our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” thing, too.

4. Surgery is not an option for me. It is a great option for some people. I’ve had family members who have done it, and I know others who have had great success with it. I don’t begrudge anyone taking control of their life any way they choose, and I am glad they’re having great success. But, for me, it’s something that I need to do unaided by surgery. I need the mental victory of learning my body and overcoming this challenge without the knife. (Not to mention, I’ve had MRSA a couple times and the thought of an elective surgery in a MRSA-riddled world scares me to death).And, as far as I understood it when others did it, surgery should be a last resort when a person has failed every other way to manage their weight. I haven’t done that yet.

5. I need to see results rapidly. The fact of the matter is this: I am so large and I have so much ground to cover that I will not be motivated by a loss of a pound a week. I know that may be the “best” way to do it. But I have learned in life that one of the biggest mistakes can be to make the perfect the enemy of the good. I won’t do it the perfect way, so I better do it the good way rather than not at all.

So, taking all those things into consideration, I eventually decided that I would use HCG as a means of helping me reach my goal. Thanks to the gentle tenacity, not to mention unending support and exhaustive knowledge, of friend and client Colleen Coble, I discovered the HCG protocol developed by Italian doctor A.T.W. Simeons, M. D. Colleen has had great success with it and has become a real servant by helping others in their struggle with weight with her posts and replies on the online forums.

I recently did an HCG course and saw loss, but didn’t do it properly and regained the weight. But, when I got serious about losing 100 pounds in my 35th year, I knew HCG would be the means to that end. Why? Because it fits all of my five criteria above.

HCG forbids all exercise other than moderate walking while on a course. I can get behind that. On HCG I am never hungry except at meal times (and sometimes not even then), and I am quickly satisfied, even with the very restricted meals during the HCG course. I eat healthier on the HCG protocol than I have eaten most of my life, and I have yet to find even one unhealthy aspect or side effect. HCG is not invasive surgery, though it has the effect of resetting the metabolism in your hypothalamus, giving you physical benefits often afforded by surgery without the knife (and risk of antibiotic-resistant infection). And HCG weight loss is rapid. One can expect to lose 40 pounds in a 40-day regimen, and that kind of progress is motivating.

So, I started my latest course of HCG right after MLK day, and I have lost right at 45 pounds. It’s now time for me to transition from the very low calorie portion of the plan and add back more protein and fat, while still limiting starches and sugars for a few weeks before gradually adding them back in and seeing how much my body can handle without putting weight back on. We’ll see what the future holds.

As for now, I’m still morbidly obese, just not as much as I was. I feel better, have more energy, and like how my clothes are fitting me. I’m actually looking forward to more physical activity and have promised a preacher buddy who makes me sick with his terribly long jogs auto-posted to Facebook by his Garmin device (I’m looking at you, Dan Lewis) that I will come run with him when I drop 100. Then we’ll have a Butterfinger. Or some celery. Maybe a pizza pocket.

So, if my struggle is your struggle, take heart. I’m coming to believe it’s a struggle that’s worth it.

Specifically, a great to-do has been made of a map, supposedly flush with cross-hairs, released by Sarah Palin’s political action committee. Palin-haters jumped at the opportunity to indict a person they already despise for inciting a shooter to fulfill her supposed secret desire of violence against those with whom she differs politically. Though the Palin camp has credibly demonstrated that the “cross-hairs” in question are, in fact, surveyor’s marks (right at home on a map), there are those who—some out of their own ignorance—refuse to relent because deep in their hearts they want Sarah Palin to be a murderous wretch; it makes her so much more defeat-able.

The counter for this idiocy, thus far, has been to point out that Democrat campaigns and committees have released maps with bulls-eyes on them and that politicians, especially President Obama, have used language referencing knives, guns, fighting, etc. This has served to illustrate something that needs to be said expressly.

There’s a sick irony in that those who want to blame harsh political conversation for the Arizona shooting have done nothing but converse harshly and politically.

And I say this as one not opposed to political debate. It’s politics. It gets rowdy sometimes. That’s the nature of the beast. What I find unfathomable is that those who are most “offended” by the harshness of someone, say Sarah Palin, are the most offensive in their uninformed and malicious finger pointing and false accusations.

The bottom line is that in language, even political language, words mean things, and often they mean more than what they say. I deal with this in the spiritual realm, where I often encounter persons who miss the point of Scripture because they overemphasize the “literal” words on the page. The Bible is literature of varying genres, and as such it should be interpreted as literature. That means that sometimes we take what we see literally. That also means that sometimes we take what we see metaphorically. Our language, including charts or maps, is full of idioms and symbols that must be taken as such—comprehending what they mean rather than what they say. It really isn’t all that hard.

No sane, honest person believes that Sarah Palin wants anyone to take up guns against Congresspersons, even if those map symbols are cross-hairs (if they truly did, they would have moved heaven and earth to secure the other Congresspersons “targeted” by Palin). No sane, honest person believes that Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wants anyone to take up bows and arrows against Congresspersons, even though their map had bulls-eyes on it. No sane, honest person believes that Barack Obama wants anyone to bring a gun to a knife fight. All this just as no sane, honest person believes they might step in a poodle when it’s “raining cats and dogs.”

We understand that language is full of idioms. We understand that what people mean often goes far beyond what they say. In short, we’re adults. Let’s start acting like it. The hypocrisy and feigned “shock” by those who can’t wait to say something shocking themselves are not lost on me.

No, folks, a lone and apparently mentally disturbed gunman perpetrated this evil. He bears the responsibility for it and will stand before his God and his government to give account. May God have mercy on his soul.

And then I just kind of quit.

And I never really started back up again. I’ve thought about it, but I never really got it rolling again. And I’ve really been thinking on why why I haven’t. There are lots of peripheral reasons: too busy, Twittering instead, Facebooking instead, operating http://WelchOK.com instead, yada, yada, yada. There are all kinds of excuses. But they’re not really the big reason. I have always been busy—at times extremely busy—and still found time to blog. That’s what got me to the main reason I checked out of the blogoshpere. I simply quit caring enough to comment.

I got to a point where I thought (and I largely still do) that nothing I had to say made a difference. I do my best to advocate for a faith in Jesus Christ that I believe to be the one true means to God, and my fellow “Christians” play politics, lie, cheat, gossip, and basically worship a god made in their own image. I, and my ilk, did our best to make the case against the candidacy of Barack Obama. America elected him anyway. I did my level best to point out what I view as serious, serious problems with higher education in Oklahoma, specifically at Rogers State University, and no one—and I mean NO ONE, even highly respected conservative politicians—will even dare to take a real look at the mess, even when provided documentary evidence. It just all felt so worthless. No one cared. I didn’t care anymore.

Sure, I still have opinions. I’m as conservative as ever, and I think it’s the best political hope this nation has. I still believe in open, fair, and accountable government. I’m still a Christian, and I know Jesus Christ is the only hope this world and its peoples have. I have an unshakeable faith in my Savior, even when I doubt those who claim to be His people.

I guess, all told, I just got tired of contributing to this big swirling mass of opinions that like-minded folks loved, those with differing philosophies hated, and which really had no serious effect on the world. I didn’t see it accomplishing anything. It just made me feel as if all my efforts and time were worthless, and if I want that feeling I can always go back to pastoring.

So, here I am, a blogger without much to say. Maybe I’ll have more; maybe I won’t. Time will tell. If you’re a reader—or I dare say, fan—of the WynnBlog, you’ll just have to hang around and see what happens. I’m doing the same.

Jesus Christ is my living Savior and Lord. He is the Eternal Source of my faith and security. In Him alone do I hope. He gives meaning to every aspect and situation of life. He gave the very last ounce of Himself to redeem my utter sinfulness, though He did not stop at dying for me. He went on to rise for me. And for all who will look upon Him and say, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” In Him all things hold together and have their subsistence. People can’t help but love that Jesus—the real Jesus. But, we’ve quit introducing him to the world, now haven’t we?

Jesus Christ came that all might be redeemed and made new. Satan is not so powerful that he can ever contaminate something beyond the point where Christ can make it new again. He heals broken relationships—if we give them to Him. He overcomes our inborn sin—if we give it to Him. He overcomes our world—if we give it to Him. He gives us strength to struggle for the right in the midst of voices who call for complacency and inaction—if we give our motives and passion to Him. He sees into our inner being and sets about making us into reflectors of His grace, mercy, and compassion—if we give ourselves to Him. He redeems all that is given to Him. The world both needs and wants that Jesus—the real Jesus.

And so what do we Christians give to the world? Our structures, our formats, our pride, our arrogance, our self-righteousness, our utter contempt for the true Person of Christ. We pore over the Scriptures and do not recognize the authentic Christ—and that God’s Word also serves as a mirror each time we see the legalists, the Pharisees, the hard-hearted religious. That is not the faith my Savior gave His death and life to preserve. That is the religion my Savior defeated.

But we keep resurrecting it and trying to breathe new life into it. I have news, folks, if Jesus killed it, it’s gone—and gone for good. He came that we would have, not death, but life, and life more abundant.

People hate our Jesus because we have made Him into us—our passions, our priorities, our prejudices, our policies, our procedures. If and when we are willing to let Him make us into Him, the world will get a whiff of genuine, sin-killing, life-giving, make-me-a-new-person faith lived out in how we speak, how we respond, how we love, how we worship, and how we live. In short, people will love Jesus when we introduce them to Him by acting like we’ve met Him ourselves. Let’s get to it.

I’m looking for a few folks who are serious about being Christ’s representatives to the world.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission voted 2-1 Monday for the overlay rather than the split. Dana Murphy, of whom I am usually very supportive, was the dissenter.

The new area code will be 539 (Charles Hill was right about it starting with 5), and it will apply to new phone numbers within the current 918 area code after April 1, 2011 (if they are out of 918s by then). It will mean 10-digit dialing, even for local calls, which is the only downside I see to the overlay, but I frankly think we’re headed for that anyway. And honestly, we’re also headed to more pre-programmed calls from contact address books, so the extra three digits aren’t that much of a burden.

Glad they ruled the way they did. I’m remembering a Seinfeld episode about the perception of the new (646) versus the old (212) area code.

[Original Post Below]

I have a wicked head cold and work is busier than busy, so I don’t have time to give many details, but I can make a few quick updates.

Megan Hart has also resigned from RSU’s Bit by Bit program. It appears she will be allowed to work out her notice (but seriously, how could she not, there’s no one left). It appears Ms. English will have a very clean slate when she arrives.

There’s been another firing resignation in another department at RSU. I’ll add more as I am able.

You Welchites, don’t forget the Welch Public Schools Enrichment Banquet tonight at 6:30. I’ll be there, head cold and all.

First, what do I think of Jennifer England? All I know is what I have read in this press release. It appears she is a well qualified and competent person. Her years of involvement seem to indicate a sense of commitment and caring for persons with needs similar to those who so greatly benefit from Bit by Bit. I can’t argue with that.

That said, when was the last time you ever saw anyone issue a press release that said, “Please note, we have hired a complete loser.” Read me well: I am not saying England is a loser, but I am saying that if RSU, in its haste to install a new Bit by Bit director—maybe to help squelch public backlash over a blatant and idiotic administration blunder—did hire someone less than primo, do you think they’d tell you? RSU’s press release is merely its spin, designed to restore public trust in a program people know has some serious problems.

But let’s assume that Ms. England is absolutley as described, which I am sure she is, and that she is a caring, capable woman who will care deeply about the Bit by Bit program. How does that set her apart from the previous directors, all of whom have been described to me using the same words by volunteers in the program? How does that fix the issues with Bit by Bit, NONE OF WHICH HAVE BEEN IN REGARD THE DIRECTORS OF THE PROGRAM? It doesn’t. Period.

In short, a new Bit by Bit director does nothing to fix the problems in RSU administrative oversight and operation of the program. Further, if she is a smart and savvy professional who truly cares about the program, and nothing changes within the RSU administration, she will get frustrated, ask questions, and—most likely—be terminated like those before. I, for one, want Ms. England’s association with Bit by Bit to be more than a brief interlude before she has to file a wrongful termination lawsuit.  That means reform must occur.

And so I ask, What does reform look like? I’d like the many of you who are visiting this site to weigh in via the comments sections and tell me what you need to see from RSU to convince you to reinvest your time, talent, and treasure in the Bit by Bit program.

And let’s all be clear here. This issue is not dead. There are many volunteers and donors who are still livid over RSU’s (mis)administration of Bit by Bit. And while no one I have communicated with desires to see any Bit by Bit students harmed, they are committed to seeing Bit by Bit fixed—even if that means withdrawing themselves and their resources, including horses, until a real fix is executed. That, in the long term, will ensure that there is a Bit by Bit to serve those with special needs. In short, it’s the most caring and most responsible response. We all know Bit by Bit can exist and operate without being under the RSU umbrella. Is that what it will take? Is RSU willing to fix what is truly broken? Weigh in below.

WE THE PEOPLE OF OKLAHOMA, Invoking the guidance of almighty god, in
order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty; to secure
just and rightful Government; to promote our mutual Welfare and
Happiness, do establish this proclamation and call upon the people of
the great State of Oklahoma, and our fellow Patriots in these United
States of America who look to the Lord for guidance, to acknowledge
the need for a national awakening of righteousness in our land.

WHEREAS, “It is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the
Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand” (John Adams); and

WHEREAS, “We have no government armed with power capable of
contending with human passions unbridled by Religion and
Morality” (John Adams); and

WHEREAS, “Our Constitution was made only for a Moral and Religious
people” (John Adams), and

WHEREAS, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization,
not upon the power of government…. But upon the capacity of mankind
for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern
ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the
Ten Commandments of God” (James Madison); and

WHEREAS, “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a
right that belongs to us by the laws of God” (Benjamin Franklin); and

WHEREAS, “God who gave us life gave us liberty and can the liberties
of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm
basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties
are of the Gift of God” (Thomas Jefferson); and

WHEREAS, “Whether any free government can be permanent, where the
public worship of God, and the support of Religion, constitute no part
of the policy or duty of the state” (Joseph Story); and

WHEREAS, “We hold sacred the rights of conscience, and promise to the
people…. The free and undisturbed exercise of their religion” (Roger
Sherman); and

WHEREAS, “This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by
Christians” (Patrick Henry); and

WHEREAS, “When you…. Exercise the right of voting for public
officers, let it be impressed upon your mind that God commands you to
chose just men who will rule in the fear of God” (Noah Webster); and

WHEREAS, “The principles of genuine Liberty and of wise laws and
administrations are to be drawn from the Bible” (Noah Webster); and

WHEREAS, the people of Oklahoma have a strong tradition of reliance
upon the Creator of the Universe; and

WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater
national moral crisis; and

WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion,
pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate
births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery; and

WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America
is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was
built; and

WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the President of these United
States has refused to uphold the long held tradition of past
presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of Prayer; and

WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the President of these
United States disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and
pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to an immoral behavior;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned elected
officials of the people of Oklahoma, religious leaders and citizens of
the State of Oklahoma, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world,
solemnly declare that the HOPE of the great State of Oklahoma and of
these United States, rests upon the Principles of Religion and
Morality as put forth in the HOLY BIBLE; and

BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, believers in the One True
God and His only Son, call upon all to join with us in recognizing
that “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord” and humbly implore
all who love Truth and Virtue to live above reproach in the sight of
God and man with a firm reliance on the leadership and protection of
Almighty God; and

BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, humbly call upon Holy God,
our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, to have mercy on this nation, to
stay His hand of judgment, and grant a national awakening of
righteousness and Christian renewal as we repent of our great sin.

Signed on the Second Day of July in the Year of our Lord Christ Two
Thousand and Nine.

So there you have it. It’s long, as proclamations tend to be, and it employs many good words—some from our Founders, and most of the sentiments I find biblical and worthy of support. But, there’s one thing in particular that bothers me.

WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater
national moral crisis; and

Really? Sorry, but I don’t buy it. What if our current economic woes are due to persons at all levels making bad economic choices  and/or many being the victims of fraud and/or the federal government being altogether too entangled in the affairs of her subjects citizens?

Can and does God bring economic calamity as a punishment for moral lapses. Certainly. Is every economic travail an indication of rampant sinfulness in the lives of those affected. Certainly not! This is some of the wrong-headed thinking about the Gospel that I can’t stomach, and I hate to see that my fellow Baptist Sally Kern has made this leap into what I can only term as error.

Think about Christians down through the ages. We Christians, historically, have certainly not been characterized by wealth. What about those Christians today who suffer both abject poverty and acute persecution? Are they paying economically for their views on abortion, homosexuality, and pornography? I know it’s counter to a whole segment of prosperity preachers of this modern age, but Christ said that foxes had holes and birds had nests but the Son of Man had no place to lay His head. This, from the same Guy who said that a servant is no better than his Master. If we believe Him, and I think it’s a pretty good idea that we do, we understand that there is no guarantee of financial blessing because we claim Him as our Lord.

We have, no doubt, been a supremely blessed people. Being born in this country is a blessing above all blessings. And even in a nation that is currently slouching toward the false promises of socialized this and government-guaranteed that, we are freer, richer, and better off than most people on the planet in any era of history. Why? This thing called Liberty.

The same liberty that allows persons to choose other than Christ allows persons to shift gears mid-stream and embrace the offer of grace. I know it’s a silly notion, but what if abortions plummeted not because they were illegal but because our collective hearts were changed to the point that the physical expression of love occurred between committed, married couples who would welcome a child into the world? What if smut no longer sold because the market dried up due to God’s replacing hearts of stone with hearts of flesh? What if child and elder abuse died because we simply loved life? I know, I know. I am an idealist trapped in a realist’s body. It is right and proper that we have laws against these things on the books, but I long for the day when His government rules and the law of love is perfected. For now, though, dark as the world is, it sure looks white unto a harvest. Does this Proclamation for Morality do anything to bring in the sheaves? I’m unconvinced it does.

And so for now, though I can agree with much in Kern’s proclamation and the sentiment behind it, I cannot endorse it or encourage others to do so. If I need to get behind a proclamation, I’ll continue to support the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am convinced that committed Christ followers elect better representatives, so if we want morality to reign in the halls of government, we best share Christ.

Says Specter:

I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.

We could have told him that years ago.

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has ratified his several years’ of behavior and officially become a Democrat. It’s a silly notion, really, because Specter doesn’t fit really well in either party. My problem, though, has been that as a Republican who was out of step with the vast majority of his party on many things related to the judiciary, he has been allowed the very powerful Chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. He should have been assigned chairman of a committee related to areas on which he was in agreement with his party overall.

And then there is the silly business about protecting incumbents. Though Specter was an all-around thorn in President Bush’s side, Bush refused to back a truly conservative primary opponent to Specter, so Specter clung to power. And power is what this is all really about.

When someone switches from the majority to the minority (without it shifting the balance of power to once again put the defector in the majority), I’ll be open to claims about their bravery and character. That is not the case here. Specter has admitted this is in a move to keep the power and prestige of his Senate seat:

I believe I have a significant contribution to make on many of the key issues of the day, especially medical research. … And my seniority is very important to continue to bring important projects vital to Pennsylvania’s economy.

Translation: I want to keep right on being a Senator, and I’ll bribe the people of Pennsylvania with federal money to make it happen.

His move is not surprising. He, like many—maybe most—politicians, has grown addicted to the power it brings. He stayed with the Republicans for the last few years because they were daft enough to allow him what he wanted, especially his chairmanship. He will now hitch his wagon to the Dems as long as they give him the concessions he wants. He’s a political opportunist (probably a redundancy in terms), and he capitalized on his opportunity to survive against a strong conservative opponent in the upcoming primary. No one said he’s not shrewd. It would just be nice to see such dedication to principle rather than survival.

Apparently President Obama has called to welcome Specter to the party. This is probably a blessing for conservatism. If you give President Obama a cloture-voting, 60-seat majority in the Senate (combined with a large majority in the House), their policies will be unstoppable. And nothing converts the citizenry to conservatism like life under a liberal regime.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele actually made an inteligible comment this time:

“Let’s be honest—Senator Specter didn’t leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don’t do it first.”

And so, it is what it is. No huge loss; just a small man serving his personal interests. You know, just another day in Washington, D.C.