Oh Ricky, you have some splaining to do!

Ricky Skaggs is quite clearly one of the best mandolin players in the world. He learned at the feet of Bill Monroe, and I really enjoy to hear him play--even as I have never purchased one of his albums. But this?:

"“Long before he was elected, we just had a feeling in our heart that he was the right person. We heard him speak. We heard things about him. We knew he was a Christian man,” Skaggs said. “We knew he was someone that loved God and tried to do the right things, tried to make the right decisions. And I felt like that was who I certainly wanted to get behind and support, especially in light of what we had had eight years before in the White House.

“It was a stark contrast between the two, and I just know as a Christian and as a father looking at the future for my kids and my grandchildren, that’s the kind of man that I wanted in the White House to be able to bring dignity and honor back to the office,” Skaggs said."

See, I would love to know what he sees in Bush. I really would. I understand the dislike for Clinton, I really do. I certainly understand how parents of small children would find explaining Clinton's actions very difficult and frustrating. But where does he see great Christian manhood in Bush? I really want to know. I don't see it when he hides Katrina documents from scrutiny, and I certainly diddn't see it when he initially wanted no part of a 9-11 commission. The worst modern attack on America, and he really doesn't want to know what happened? Now the evesdropping? Oh, and Ricky has something to say about that too:

If Christians would read it [the Bible] and ask God to open their minds to His purposes, he said, they’d not be so fearful when negative reports are splattered across the evening news.

“I think you’ll have a whole lot more peace in your heart and you won’t be so upset with so-called ‘illegal wiretaps,’” he said, adding that he believes the president has absolute authority to do whatever it takes to protect the American public in a time of war."

Really? I am sorry, I just don't see it. And for the record, I support increased surveillance of suspected terrorists even in this country. I don't really know anyone who doesn't. But I just want to be sure that Bush isn't surveilling me because I don't like him. I want to make sure that he isn't evesdropping on political enemies. That is all I want to know. It is called a check and a balance, and no, Ricky, reading the Bible isn't a check or a balance. And finally, given what the Rickster thinks of Clinton, would he want Bill (or Hillary) with the same unfettered power? I doubt it very much.

Ricky--stick to the mandolin. You are a fabulous player. Just play.