Kevin Woster

Cranky, confused but generally harmless old reporter who hunts and fishes when it's nice and commits occasional acts of journalism when it's not.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@TomJoudrey

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@Tony_Venhuizen Very sad news. Mike was a fine legislator and an exceptional human being.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@MattJZimmer Ah, the golden years, for kids and parents.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

Amen.

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

Pope Francis was the rare leader who made us want to be better people. In his humility and his gestures at once simple and profound – embracing the sick, ministering to the homeless, washing the feet of young prisoners – he shook us out of our complacency and reminded us that we are all bound by moral obligations to God and one another.

Today, Michelle and I mourn with everyone around the world – Catholic and non-Catholic alike – who drew strength and inspiration from the Pope’s example. May we continue to heed his call to “never remain on the sidelines of this march of living hope.”

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@DustyJohnson Happy Easter, Johnsons, and to all like us who believe in Jesus. And Happy Easter in a different way to those who don't share our beliefs, for they are good and worthy people and citizens, too.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@LGVenhuizen Happy Easter, Venhuizens. And pass on my best wishes to the Daugaards.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

What Father Martin says ...

[James Martin, SJ @JamesMartinSJ]

I have a hard time believing that anyone would say, as @elonmusk did, "The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy." In fact, the fundamental weakness is a lack of empathy.

Many years ago, a spiritual director told me that sympathy is understanding how you would feel suffering someone's misfortunates. Empathy is understanding how they feel. Compassion is being willing to suffer alongside them.

A lack of empathy is at the heart of our mistreatment (and mockery and growing hatred) of the poor, of migrants and refugees, of LGBTQ people, and of all those on the margins. It is not only a lack of imagination; it is also a fundamental lack of mercy towards those whom some consider "other."

One basis of contemporary Western civilization is capitalism. I'm a @Wharton grad and a capitalist. That means that I believe capitalism is the most efficient system of distributing goods and services to the most number of people. But it's not perfect. How do we know this? Just look at the millions of poor people around the world. What capitalism, the free-market system, laissez-faire economics and Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" lack is a sense of empathy for those who are suffering. (They used to be called at Wharton the "transitional poor," as if, at some point, everyone would soon share in greater prosperity.) Empathy led us to create safety nets for those that capitalism fails. But now those nets are being shredded.

James F. Keenan, SJ, the moral theologian, once described compassion (which, from the Greek, means to suffer or experience with) as the willingness "to enter in the chaos of another person's life." This is what Jesus always did whenever he encountered someone who was seen as "other": a Roman centurion, a Samaritan woman, someone suffering from leprosy, anyone who was sick, the poor. Empathy, as well as compassion, were at the very heart of Jesus's public ministry.

This is also how we are called to live. The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is a lack of empathy.

As Jesus said, "Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice'" (Mt 9:13).

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

Nice recollections here by @LeaderJohnThune on spring track, the shot that would have beaten Lyman County and, especially, the legacy of a small-town coach: https://t.co/c4gFIpToIm

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

Saying goodbye to Rosie:
https://t.co/mJCK0W6PEi

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@Tony_Venhuizen Well, Gergen kind of does what you suggest. Although he starts the second paragraph by noting that Biden is no FDR, so ...

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@Tony_Venhuizen Yeah, I immediately noticed Rigged by Mollie Hemingway, who once tweeted: “People who call the few-hour riot at the Capitol by unarmed protesters an ‘insurrection’ are bad people who are harming the country."

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

Nice work here by @JoshuaHaiar and @SDSearchlight on consummate outdoorsman John Cooper and the importance of wetlands: https://t.co/xmy2Wczibx

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@michaelpfreeman I think I'll watch. Could be hilarious, And it'll be kind of a relief to see crazy behavior from someone who hasn't been elected to an important public office. At least, not yet.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@DakotaPheasant There's pheasant hunting. Then there's pheasant hunting with a dog. No comparison.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

“It is fitting," Thune and Rounds continued, "that he be honored in this way, a tribute to his nearly 30 years in Congress and lifetime of service to the state he loved.” Amen, senators.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

The Senate has passed a resolution by Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds honoring former Sen. Tim Johnson, who died Oct. 8. Thune and Rounds released this statement: “Former Sen. Tim Johnson was a steadfast leader who represented South Dakota with integrity and compassion..."

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@phyllisa99998 @SenatorRounds Seems like it could get complicated. Or even more complicated than it is.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

So @SenatorRounds is introducing legislation to abolish the U.S. Department of Education, which presumably means he's either running for another term in the U.S. Senate or for a return to the South Dakota governor's chair.

[Kevin Woster @KevinWoster]

@phyllisa99998 @SenatorRounds As I understand it, DOE programs deemed essential and connected grants and loans would go to other federal agencies -- such as Interior and Health and Human Services -- to manage.