Must read! Must see!

Oh, what to do on rainy and blustery days in New England? Well, there are great things to read and watch. My reading began with a cup of coffee and the latest issue of the New York Review of Books. It contains a terrific piece by Garry Wills showing how pervasive evangelicalism is in the Bush administration -- a clear example of the masterful use of patronage personnel policies with implications that go well beyond policymaking. Wills makes the case that the federal government is now engaged in a broad range of "faith-based" initiates -- faith-based social services, faith-based, justice, faith-based science/health, and faith-based war. A brilliant and scary bit of political analysis.... Having moved on from coffee, and between loads of laundry and various e-mail exchanges, I picked up the remote and worked my way around to C-SPAN 2 where Andrew Sullivan and David Brooks were engaged in a lively discussion about Sullivan's most recent book (The Conservative Soul) in front of an audience at the libertarian-focused CATO Institute. This was without doubt one of the most interesting exchanges I've seen among conservatives, and within the hour I ordered the book in question along with Sullivan's earlier work, Virtually Normal. If only I can be so lucky each time I turn on the boob tube! Time passes. The rain is gone, the sun is out -- and the winds are gusting up to 60 mph. Seems like another cup of coffee and the Sunday NY Times are in order before I venture out.... Tags: conservatism, CATO, Andrew Sullivan, David Brooks, BookTV, C-Span2, Garry Wills, faith-based initiatives, Bush Administration, New York Review of Books, The Conservative Soul, Virtually Normal, patronage, political appointees, accountabilitybloke, Mel Dubnick