Some weeks ago, I wrote about “occasioning hope.”  Of course, it is easier said than done.  Moreover, it requires a certain object—as in, what to hope for.  “What we reverence therefore becomes our Hope,” I said.  In America today, given a fading dream the Founders shared with us: their Republic turned to empire, now arguably in decline—how should we respond in terms of what to hope for? 

I wasn’t there, though certainly I’ve attended my share of Republican state conventions. I didn’t walk the aisles in Austin, hear the speeches, press the flesh, pocket the literature, buy the overpriced soft drinks. To wit, what do I know?

By the standards usually applied to Republican conventions, the one that concluded June 14 in Houston was about par for the course. The convention featured a few technical fights between a handful of rules curmudgeons and the party brass, which were quickly dispatched. The platform hit all the key social conservative themes, the statewide elected officials gave speeches, the leadership got re-elected comfortably, and the convention adjourned.