Putin's New Puppet, LDS Give Foreign Aid the Right Way, and Obama's "Liberation Victimology Theology"

I read three interesting stories in the newspaper this morning, and I couldn't decide which one to blog about, so I guess I'll talk about all three.

• Dmitry Medvedev took over as Russia's president today. Will he be his own man, or Vladimir Putin's puppet?
• The LDS Church is working together with CARE international to ship supplies to Myanmar. Now that's what I call foreign aid of the good kind!
• Jeremiah Wright may be right about a lot of things, but drawing attention to himself as a victim is not one of them.
  

Will Putin Pull Medvedev's Strings?

While Vladimir Putin took away a lot of liberties in Russia (in the name of stability) as its former president, new president Dmitry Mevedev seemed to indicate that he is more of a liberty-loving president.

"Human rights and freedoms ... are deemed of the highest value for our society and they determine the meaning and content of all state activity," he said.

But it all may be moot. Putin stays on as Prime Minister, assuming that Thursday's vote in parliament is a formality--which it is.

Putin recently has rattled his saber at the West, and particularly at President Bush and his brand of imperialism. Putin may be a dictator of sorts, but then again, I suppose, so is Bush.

LDS Church Gives Genuine Foreign Aid to Myanmar

When it's pried from my fingers, it makes me mad that it gets given away by my government as "foreign aid". What really frosts my cookie, though, is how counterproductive US foreign aid has been. Most of it makes people mad at each other, mad at the US, or turns them into dictators.

I like the way the LDS church does it much better, partly because I donate freely to them rather than being coerced, and partly because it is so much more efficient, teaching people to love rather than to hate.

LDS Church leaders approved funds to purchase large quantities of tarps, blankets, basic food, medical equipment and especially clean drinking water for those affected by the recent cyclone in Myanmar...

All items are being purchased in Myanmar or in nearby countries.

And, to boot, they're ensuring that activities surrounding the reconstruction will serve to enhance local economies. Which goes to show that the FedGov should leave the giving of foreign aid to people who know how to do it right.

Obama and Wright - Often Correct, but They're Some of the Leading Whiners of Liberation Victimology Theology

I've written here and here that I agree with a lot of what Jeremiah Wright has to say. What I can't figure out is that most conservatives don't give him credit where credit is due. When he's right, let's admit it.

I listened to a half-hour segment the other day by Glenn Beck, where Beck said "I'm just going to open up the microphone and let you hear for yourself."

I don't know what's liberating about that theology.

So I did, and I wish I'd had an open mic to ask Glenn, "So tell me one thing in all that ranting that wasn't true?"

But then maybe I've been giving Reverend Wright too much credit. After all, he doesn't seem to just be pointing out that America has wronged the blacks, the Japanese, the homosexuals, the Iraqis, and the American Indians. He seems to be saying that all of these people would be better of considering themselves as ongoing victims.

I don't know what's liberating about that theology.