Government Regulated Blogging

You've got to be kidding me. However this seems to be mainly pointed at product advertisements on Blogs---but this could lead to other violations of free speech. While it is true that Bloggers can deceive people about products---it is a necessary risk for free speech. Anyways read the full article: Government Will Regulate Bloggers---as there is nothing much else to say about this other than it's a bad idea.

Bill Clinton Is Now In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage

Embedded video from CNN Video

Here is the accompanying article:

Clinton Changes Mind on Gay Marriage
AOL News
posted: 14 HOURS 36 MINUTES AGOcomments: 3301filed under: National News
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(Sept. 26) -- Former President Bill Clinton has revealed he recently had a change of heart on the issue of same-sex marriage.
In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper Friday, Clinton explained that he still believes each state should decide whether to legalize gay marriage, but he is no longer personally opposed to it.
"I think if people want to make commitments that last a lifetime, they ought to be able to do it," Clinton said.
"I was against the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage nationwide, and I still think that the American people should be able to play this out in debates," the former president added. "But me, Bill Clinton personally, I changed my position."
Asked what caused him to switch his stance, Clinton said he realized his support for other gay-rights issues -- such as adoption rights for same-sex couples -- didn't square with his position on marriage.
"I realized that I was over 60 years old. I grew up in a different time ... and I was hung up about it," Clinton said. "I decided I was wrong."

2009 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2009-09-26 11:17:37

One more step forward for Baptists that support marriage equality.

Violence And The Church Never Mix

Suspect Jailed in Abortion Doctor's Killing
By ROXANA HEGEMAN, AP
posted: 8 HOURS 55 MINUTES AGOcomments: 7957filed under: Crime News, National NewsPrintShareText SizeAAA

WICHITA, Kan. (June 1) —A man suspected of fatally shooting abortion doctor George Tiller in church was in jail Monday while investigators sought to learn more about his background, including his possible connections to anti-abortion groups.
Tiller, 67, was serving as an usher during morning services Sunday when he was shot in the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church, police said. The gunman fired one shot at Tiller and threatened two other people who tried to stop him. The suspect, identified by one law enforcement agency as Scott Roeder, was taken into custody some 170 miles away in a Kansas City suburb about three hours after the shooting.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston (FOHL'-stuhn) indicated that charges will not be filed Monday. Foulston noted that the state has 48 hours to charge anyone who is in custody and said she planned to take the full two days to decide. She said any charges would be filed in state court. Also, a law enforcement official says investigators have searched two homes as part of the inquiry into Tiller's killing. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation, says the homes are in Merrian, Kan., and the other is in Kansas City, Mo.
The official did not know what turned up during the searches.

"We have taken jurisdiction," she said. Tiller had been a lightning rod for abortion opponents for decades. The women's clinic he ran is one of three in the nation where abortions are performed after the 21st week of pregnancy, when the fetus is considered viable, and has been the site of repeated protests for about two decades.
A protester shot Tiller in both arms in 1993, and his clinic was bombed in 1985.

Roeder, 51, was returned to Wichita and was being held without bail on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
Outside the clinic Monday morning, flowers were placed along a fence, and the anti-abortion group Kansas Coalition for Life left a sign saying members had prayed for Tiller's change of heart, "not his murder."
In Washington, the U.S. Marshals Service said that as a result of Tiller's shooting, Attorney General Eric Holder had ordered it to "increase security for a number of individuals and facilities." It gave no details.
Tiller himself last had protection from the U.S. marshals in 2001, and he and other doctors received such protection at different times in the 1990s.

A man with the same name as the suspect has a criminal record and a background of anti-abortion postings on sympathetic Web sites. In one post written in 2007 on the Web site for the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, a man identifying himself as Scott Roeder asked if anyone had thought of attending Tiller's church to ask the doctor and other worshippers about his work. "Doesn't seem like it would hurt anything but bring more attention to Tiller," the post said.
But police said Sunday that all early indications showed the shooter acted alone.
Operation Rescue condemned the killing as vigilantism and "a cowardly act," and the group's president, Troy Newman, said Roeder "has never been a member, contributor or volunteer." He may have posted to the organization's open Internet blog, Newman said, but so have thousands of nonmembers.
But Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, whose protests have often targeted Tiller, called the slain doctor "a mass murderer," adding: "He was an evil man — his hands were covered with blood."

In 1996, a 38-year-old man named Scott Roeder was charged in Topeka with criminal use of explosives for having bomb components in his car trunk and sentenced to 24 months of probation. However, his conviction was overturned on appeal the next year after a higher court said evidence against Roeder was seized by law enforcement officers during an illegal search of his car.
At the time, police said the FBI had identified Roeder as a member of the anti-government Freemen group, an organization that kept the FBI at bay in Jordan, Mont., for almost three months in 1995-96. Authorities on Sunday night would not immediately confirm if their suspect was the same man.
Morris Wilson, a commander of the Kansas Unorganized Citizens Militia in the mid-1990s, told The Kansas City Star he knew Roeder fairly well.
"I'd say he's a good ol' boy, except he was just so fanatic about abortion," Wilson said. "He was always talking about how awful abortion was. But there's a lot of people who think abortion is awful."

The slaying quickly brought condemnation from both anti-abortion and abortion-rights groups, as well as President Barack Obama.
"However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence," Obama said in a statement.
Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said Tiller apparently did not have a bodyguard with him in church, although the doctor was routinely accompanied by one. An attorney for Tiller, Dan Monnat, said the doctor's wife, Jeanne, was in the choir at the time of the shooting.
Monnat said in early May that Tiller had asked federal prosecutors to step up investigations of vandalism and other threats against the clinic out of fear that the incidents were increasing and that Tiller's safety was in jeopardy. However, Stolz said authorities knew of no threats connected to the shooting.
Church members said anti-abortion protesters have shown up outside the church on Sundays regularly.

"They've been out here for quite a few years. We've just become accustomed to it. Just like an everyday thing, you just looked over and see them and say, 'Yup they're back again.'"
The last killing of an abortion doctor was in October 1998 when Dr. Barnett Slepian was fatally shot in his home in a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y. A militant abortion opponent was convicted of the murder.
One of Tiller's lawyers and friends, Dan Monnat, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that Tiller had been supported by his wife and children in his decision to continue providing abortion services.
"If Dr Tiller is not going to service a woman's right to chose, who will do it?" Monnat said.
"Many of those have been terrorized and run off by protesters," he said about other abortion providers.

Associated Press writers John Hanna contributed to this report from Wichita, Devlin Barrett from Washington.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-05-31 14:02:12

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Politics Daily Commentary: Pro-Crazy Is Not Pro-Life | Finding Common Ground

We as the church need to prophetically speak out against violence and injustices as violence is never the answer. Christ is and Christ's way is not a way of violence, but one of love and self-sacrifice---the way of the cross. Hear these words of Oscar Romero:

You that have so much social sensitivity, you that cannot stand this unjust situation in our land: fine – God has given you that sensitivity,
and if you have a call to political activism, God be blessed. Develop
it.
But look: don’t waste that call; don’t waste that political and social
sensitivity on earthly hatred, vengeance, and violence.
Lift up your hearts. Look at the things above.103
APRIL 15, 1979 (EASTER SUNDAY)

Or:

Death is the sign of sin,
and sin produces death right in our midst: violence, murder, torture (which leaves so many dead), hacking with machetes, throwing into the sea – people discarded!
All this is the reign of hell.
JULY 1, 1979

Obama Creates Faith-Based Office

Obama Creates Faith-Based Office
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, AP
posted: 6 HOURS 26 MINUTES AGOcomments: 122filed under: National News, Political News, The Obama PresidencyPrintShareText SizeAAA

WASHINGTON (Feb. 5) - Declaring that "there is a force for good greater than government," President Barack Obama on Thursday established a White House office of faith-based initiatives with a broader mission than the one overseen by his Republican predecessor.
Obama said the new office, which he created by executive order, would reach out to organizations that provide help "no matter their religious or political beliefs."

Obama said the office would work with nonprofit organizations "both secular and faith-based" and would help them determine how to make a bigger impact in their cities, learn their obligations under the law and cut through government red tape.
In a time of economic crisis, the president said, it was important for the government to help distressed Americans but added that "the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone."
Obama said the top priority of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be "making community groups an integral part of our economy recovery and poverty a burden fewer have to bear when recovery is complete."
To lead the office, Obama appointed Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal minister who headed religious outreach for Obama's Senate office and his presidential campaign. He also named 25 religious and secular leaders to a new advisory board.
"The big picture is that President Obama believes faith-based and smaller secular neighborhood organizations can play a role in American renewal. They can work with the federal government to address big problems," DuBois said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We're also going to make sure we have a keener eye toward the separation of church and state."
Obama said the office would also work to reach out overseas "to foster interfaith dialogue with leaders and scholars around the world."

Obama's order expanded and redefined a similar office established by President George W. Bush. Focused primarily on faith-based initiatives, the Bush office sparked constitutional questions about whether the separation of church and state would be preserved, particularly if groups receiving tax dollars sought to hire on the basis of religion.
Before signing the order at the White House, Obama told the annual National Prayer Breakfast that the program would not show favoritism to any religious group and would adhere to a strict separation of church and state.
Addressing the gathering of lawmakers, dignitaries and world leaders, Obama spoke of how faith has often been a divisive tool, responsible for war and prejudice. But, he said, "there is no religion whose central tenet is hate."
"There is no god who condones taking the life of an innocent human being," he said, and all religions teach people to love and care for one another. That is the common ground underlying the faith-based office, he said.
In personal terms, Obama talked about the role of faith in his life, from his Muslim-born father and a mother skeptical of organized religion to his own embrace of Christianity as a young man.
"In a world that grows smaller by the day, perhaps we can begin to crowd out the destructive forces of zealotry and make room for the healing power of understanding," he said. "This is my hope. This is my prayer."
Dogged throughout the presidential campaign by rumors that he was a Muslim, Obama described his background in a household that wasn't religious.
"I had a father who was born a Muslim but became an atheist, grandparents who were non-practicing Methodists and Baptists, and a mother who was skeptical of organized religion, even as she was the kindest, most spiritual person I've ever known. She was the one who taught me as a child to love, and to understand, and to do unto others as I would want done," he said.
Obama's advisers want to be certain tax dollars sent to the faith-based social service groups are used for secular purposes, such as feeding the hungry or housing the homeless, and not for religious evangelism. The administration doesn't want to be perceived as managing the groups yet seeks transparency and accountability.
Obama pledged during the campaign to allow taxpayer-funded religious institutions to hire and fire based on religion — but only for the activities run on private funding.
Obama on Thursday asked White House lawyers and the Justice Department to write a policy that would allow that.
"There is a pretty clear lack of legal clarity and data in this area. This mechanism allows us to explore those areas on a case-by-case basis and find out exactly where things are," DuBois said.
One question is whether the faith-based office will issue grants under the Bush rules while the hiring policy is worked out.
Associated Press writers Eric Gorski in Denver and Tom Raum in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-02-05 15:01:40

Obama Skips Church for Gym

I'm a firm believer that the church is a group of people and wherever the work of Christ is being done and not specifically a building or ritualistic services---but even-so this doesn't bode well for a Christian President Elect. I understand that there are pressures from both sides of the fence, but anyways here is the full article---let me know what you think:

Obama Skips Church for Gym
AOL
posted: 3 HOURS 58 MINUTES AGOcomments: 3783filed under: Political News, The Obama Presidency

(Nov. 23) - Since the election, future President Barack Obama has traded Sunday morning pews for some quality time at the gym.
The Obamas have refrained from public prayer for fear their large retinue would disturb the church service, according to an anonymous aide who spoke with Politico.com.

"They do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw," said the aide, according to Politico.
Since the election, Obama has been focusing on building his administration team. Monday, he introduced members of his economic team, and urged the incoming Congress to act quickly on a stimulus plan.

The Obamas haven't belonged to a church since the spring, notes ABC News, after Barack Obama split with Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ because of controversial sermons by the pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. A videotape from one of Wright's sermons showed him damning America.

Churches, especially African-American houses of prayer, played an important role in Obama's candidacy, notes the Associated Press and Politico. Obama made campaign stops in churches. Congregations prayed for him on Election Day, and celebrated his victory, the Associated Press reported.

Now, churches in Washington, D.C., are scrambling to lure the Obamas to their pews, reports the Associated Press -- even if Obama hasn't attended church in weeks.
2008 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2008-11-24 09:51:28

Congratulations To President Elect Obama!

This election was indeed a historical one as we not only had an African-American running for President who won in the end---but we also had a female Vice-Presidential candidate that could have been in office. I did my part to support both McCain and Obama on Facebook and in other ways---even-though, I don't really support either party. In the end though I voted against both parties on the Presidential level at least by writing in Ron Paul---I would've wrote in Jesus but since I had to vote Provisional and couldn't use the machine---I had to get my mom to help me fill in the manual ballot, because of my mild cerebral palsy. I decided not to be this out there---this time around---maybe next time. On the other levels, I spread the ballot by voting equally for Libertarians, Republicans and Democrats. Anyways, there were pros and cons on both sides of the election, but since Obama won---here are reasons that I'm glad he won:

First, now African-Americans instead of saying: "I hope to be President when I grow up"---they can say: "I can become President when I grow up" ---not only African-Americans, but other minorities as well.

Secondly, this is a step in the right direction to healing the racial divide and uniting us as all being Americans.

Thirdly, it helps fulfill Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Dream and gives minorities a chance to pursue their own New Dreams.

Fourthly, Obama will be looked up to as a hero and role model and have a positive influence not only in the African-American community, but other communities as well.

Last, but not least, Obama truly lives out the creed: " if you believe, you can achieve and once you achieve, you will succeed."

Jesus For President---The Book

For those of you wondering where I got the phrase "Jesus For President: Long Live The Slaughtered Lamb" from in this post: TheoPoetic Musings: My Political Canidate---Jesus For President: Long Live The Slaughtered Lamb and what it's all about---here is the book that inspired it all: Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals.

I am in the midst of reading the book at the moment---I only have 54 pages left, so look forward to many good quotes soon---but until then here are a few items to peruse:

Jesus For President: The Official Website

Book Review: Jesus for President (initial thoughts)

Book Review: Jesus for President (Part 1)

Jesus for President: Revolution in Jesusland

Jesus for President: An Ecumenical Campaign

Jesus for President: Long live the slaughtered Lamb!

And: Jesus for President, a Book Review for Atheists; Part 1, What is Shane Claiborne?.

I highly recommend this book so go out and pick up a copy or two from your local or church bookstore or order it from Amazon for you, your relatives and/or your friends today. It is well worth it and should inspire your Christian political imagination!

My Political Canidate---Jesus For President: Long Live The Slaughtered Lamb

For those of you as sick of bipartisan politics as I am and all the hate mongering and bigotry on both sides, here is a much needed alternative: Christarchy!

What is Christarchy! you may ask? Here is a brief definition from the above site:

Christarchy! is a growing network of people who want to put the ethical teachings of Jesus into practice (living simply, caring for the poor, practicing hospitality, making peace, etc.) Jesus calls us to a revolutionary way of life. He challenges the economic, political, social, and religious status quo. And we want to follow in his footsteps.

Also check out: Christarchy: Support groups for the Jesus revolution.

Here is a much more detailed explanation:

I much prefer the term “Christarchy” to anarchy. Christarchy is the combination of the words “Christ” and “anarchy”. The “an” in “anarchy” means “no”, but I do believe in a ruler, and that ruler is Christ, so the term “Christarchy” means much more sense. Christ is the ruler of all things. I am not an anarchist, but I do strive to be a Christarchist- someone fully under the rule of Christ.

The biggest outcomes of being a Christarchist in my life are resisting my impulses to collect power and instead trust that God is in control. My attempts to collect power is an attempt to gain control because I doubt that God is in control. In trusting God is in control, I also seek a society where power is shared, where no one is oppressed and everyone is seen as equal. Where we don’t try to power over each other but instead interact with each other in voluntary submission to one another. Letting go of power and submitting ourselves to others requires the power of Christ- and therefore is something I think the Church can attempt to do much more than the larger society.

Being a Christarchist also means a profound change in the ways I view politics. I used to put my hope in the government in making changes towards bringing about the kingdom of God, but I now see that that is false. Christ is the divine ruler, and my hope lies in Him, not in my government. The government may make some good and some bad decisions, but the kingdom of God can only come through Christ. I believe that Christ will use the Church to do his good work on earth. I have given up lobbying government, believing in politicians, and even in voting, and instead have put my belief in the ultimate rule of Christ. My hope is in Christ, through the Church, not in our government. The government will continue, and I will submit to it, but I will also subvert it. (Hopefully more about this in later posts.)

I think if the American Church embraces Christ as their true ruler, we will begin to step out of the American empire, (and yes, I believe that we are living under an empire, much like the early Church lived under the Roman empire) and we will begin building an alternate society, a new way, as a witness within the American empire that another way is possible. This is my biggest hope. That the Church can move out from the middle of the empire, to the margins where it belongs, and where it can once again become a prophetic witness to Christ and his kingdom. I think Christarchist ideas can help us get there. They can help us see that the empires of this world stand in opposition to the kingdom of God. Government policies, economic systems, and prevailing social and cultural values can be critiqued by the kingdom of God. If we take ourselves out from the rule of the world and put ourselves under the rule of Christ (Christarchy), we can begin seeing both the good and the bad, the beauty and depravity, of the worldly empires. We cannot see this as clearly when we are living under them and giving them authority in our lives.

If we rule out violent anarchism, there remains pacifist, antinationalist, anticapitalist, moral, and antidemocratic anarchism (i.e., that which is hostile to the falsified democracy of bourgeois states). There remains the anarchism which acts by means of persuasion, by the creation of small groups and networks, denouncing falsehood and oppression, aiming at a true overturning of authorities of all kinds as people at the bottom speak and organize themselves. -Jacques Ellul “Anarchy and Christianity”

Indeed, Jesus should be Lord in all areas of our lives including politics and economics.

See also: Make Affluence History.

Lighthearted Political Humor

Getting Kids Started On Politics Early: When Canidates Become Cabbage Patch Dolls

Betcha Want a Palin Cabbage Patch Doll
By DERRIK J. LANG, AP
posted: 12 HOURS 59 MINUTES AGO
comments: 65filed under: Highbrow, Politics, WTF? LOS ANGELES (Oct. 27) - Move over, Tina Fey, there's a new Sarah Palin impersonator in town.
Four one-of-a-kind Cabbage Patch Kids dolls crafted in the likeness of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Palin will be auctioned on the eBay.com Web site.

The dolls sport outfits inspired by their counterparts, with the Palin doll wearing the Republican candidate's signature rimless eyeglasses, red suit and heels.
"These four folks in particular seemed like the perfect candidates, if you will, to become one-of-a-kind Cabbage Patch Kids," said Jakks Pacific Inc. spokeswoman Genna Rosenberg. "We've had a great history with making celebrity look-alikes with these Kids. We've done everyone from Elvis to Donald Trump to Ellen (DeGeneres) and Oprah (Winfrey)."
All proceeds from the auction, which begins Thursday and ends Nov. 4, will benefit the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Jakks Pacific will also auction six limited edition 25th-anniversary dolls that have been created to look identical to the original Cabbage Patch Kids that were first released in 1983.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-10-27 11:13:07

I've Tried To Keep Politics Off Of Here...

But this is too rich:

Dr. James Dobson, of Focus on the Family has published a letter trying to "scare" Christians into voting for John McCain. It is a fictional letter written by a Christian in 2012, four years after Obama is elected. Frankly, it is one of the most offensive things that I have ever read. I believe that it important for Christians not to be scared or bullied into voting one way or another. I'm tired of hearing people say that McCain is the way Christians need to vote, hearing about how pastors have said it is "unchristian" for people to vote for Obama, and seeing Church signs pushing their parishioners one way or another.

Read more from my friend Christina Whitehouse-Suggs' Livejournal.

Read Dobson's actual letter: Here.

Here is Christina's letter of response:

Dear Dr. Dobson,

I am so very tired of your ranting about politics and theology, claiming that all good Christians agree with your views. Your most recent fictional letter is yet another brick in the fundamentalist wall you continue to build around your narrow-minded kingdom. I'm sure others are saying they are appalled and outraged at your sensationalist tactics, but I'm far past that. For years you have not shown yourself to be concerned with anything that lines up with the message of the risen Christ.

If you truly consider yourself a follower of the Jesus portrayed in the Gospels, then you need to write a letter of apology to Senator Obama, as well as the entire Democratic party. Your work of fiction is the most vilifying piece of trash I've read since the Left Behind series. As Christians, we should be active in the political process but never stoop to such low-handed, strong-armed tactics.

Rev. Christina Whitehouse-Suggs

I must say I actually agree with Christina's letter moreso than Dr. Dobson's eventhough I may be a registered Republican (though I don't support either party). However, being thoroughly Baptist---I respect Dobson's right to believe as he chooses, but I believe Dobson went too far here. Especially, since coercive faith is against basic, fundamental and standard Baptist principles or as Roger Williams would say: “forc’t Worshipp stincks in Gods nostrils.”

Write your own response letter: Here.

Bill Leonard On Politics And Faith

Hear my friend Tripp's podcast with him: here.

Also, check out David P. Gushee's new book, The Future of Faith in American Politics, Wake Forest University and Baptist History: A Matter of Conscience?,

Bill J. Leonard, dean of the divinity school and professor of church history at Wake Forest University said, "what we should have known after twenty years or more of discussing religion in the political square and at political election time: that American religion is very messy, and it doesn't fit all the categories and its very layered; there are many ways to look at it and we all read it in different ways with different glasses."[34]

And see: this.

Great Abraham Lincoln Quote

In this day and age of bipartisan politics, here's a nice Lincoln quote which speaks of two parties working together to participate in God's Will:

Lincoln's peculiar vision of the sacred led him to defy the conventions of his day. For centuries settlers in the New World had assured themselves that they were special in God's eyes. They were a "City upon a Hill," in John Winthrop's phrase, decidedly chosen, like the Israelites of old. Lincoln turned this on its head when he said, "I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle." The country, Lincoln said, was almost chosen. Out of that phrase emerged a crucial strain of Lincoln's thinking. As others invoked the favor of God in both the North and the South, Lincoln opened a space between mortal works and divine intention. Among his papers, after his death, his secretaries found this undated statement that has come to be known as the "Meditation on the Divine Will."

The will of God prevails—In great contests
each party claims to act in accordence with
the will of God. Both may be, and one
must be wrong. God can not be for, and
against the same thing at the same time.
In the present civil war it is quite possible
that God's purpose is something different from
the purpose of either party—and yet the human
instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of
the best adaptation to effect this

After this first passage the handwriting grows shakier; the words practically tremble with the thoughts they express. First Lincoln crossed out the last word he had written.

His purpose. I am
almost ready to say this is probably true—that
God wills this contest, and wills that it shall
not end yet—By his mere quiet power, on the minds
of the now contestants, He could have either saved
or destroyed the Union without a human contest—
Yet the contest began—And having begun
He could give the final victory to either side
any day—Yet the contest proceeds—