Statement of the Grand Inquisitor:
The American election cycle is the perfect complement to America’s vain, self-serving Calvinist religion. American Democracy and American Calvinism both pander to lazy, bipolar drama queens who lack the least capacity for moral introspection. The Calvinist never considers his actions in the cold light of conscience, because he has no conscience. The American voter shares this lack. Thus, after eight years of total disaster, we find not a single hint of humility, let alone shame or repentance, in this most corrupt polity.

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Today’s Defendant: Randy Pausch, America’s Favorite Corpse

Statement of the Grand Inquisitor: Professor Pausch’s “Last Lecture” is already forgotten by the Oprah fans who leaked cheap tears at his televised death, this middlebrow false martyr. They ask little of a saint, and he had nothing to give. All spiritual consolation is contemptible, but Pausch’s last lecture was so starved of meaning it amplified the breath of the grave. He told America that you can’t change the hand you’re dealt, just how you play the hand. He had other insights, such as “Don’t complain,” and “Brick walls let us show our dedication.” This was the gruel he offered at his own elegy.

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