Newsweek magazine reports that pop artists are jumping on the Bush-bashing bandwagon (click here for the story). From Pink, to Paul Simon, Neil Young, Bruce Springstein, and even to Merle Haggard, they’re all coming out to beat up on Bush.As Newsweek points out, the interesting thing about this latest round of protests is that unlike Vietnam era protests which were aimed at “the establishment” and “the man” in general, these protests are focused rather narrowly on President Bush. For these entertainers, Bush is the personification of political and imperial evil.

The Associated Press has an anonymous source from a Darfur rebel group that says the rebel groups may be ready to accept a U.S. backed peace agreement with the Sudanese government. “A proposal drafted by the United States and Britain to help end the war in Sudan’s Darfur region meets key rebel demands and could set the stage for a peace accord, a rebel negotiator said Thursday. “A rebel negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity because the parties involved had been asked not to reveal details of the proposal, said it called for thousands of rebels to be integrated into Sudanese security forces. “Sudanese government officials were not immediately available…

“Rebels fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region yesterday refused to accept an African Union (AU) peace plan already agreed to by the Sudanese government, as another deadline set by mediators expired.”(Click here to read the rest of the story.) (Click here to see my previous posts on the Darfur genocide.)

This past weekend witnessed two major developments related to the genocide in Darfur. First, about 15,000 demonstrators from very diverse backgrounds descended on the mall in Washington D. C. in order to urge the U. S. government to do what it can to “Save Darfur.” The diversity of the demonstrators was reflected in the list of speakers who gave addresses. You had liberals like George Clooney and Al Sharpton on the one hand, and conservatives like Richard Land on the other. Liberals, conservatives, Jews, protestants, evangelicals, blacks, whites, and others all united in behalf of Darfur. The Washington Post reports:

Last week, I wrote and hosted a radio show about the genocide in Darfur in the Sudan. There have been some good signs that the U.S. is beginning to take note of the crisis that is unfolding there.George Clooney and his father recently returned from a trip to Darfur, and are making the media rounds trying to focus the public’s attention on the what is happening. On Thursday, Clooney appeared with U.S. Senators Sam Brownback and Barack Obama at the National Press Club. The important thing about this appearance is that it brings together one of the most conservative Republicans in the Senate (Brownback) with a rising star on the…

Do you remember Todd Beamer? On September 11, 2001, he was the hero who said “let’s roll” as he and a band of other heroes aboard United 93 led the first counter-attack in the war on terror.I’m sure that you have already heard about the new movie based on the events of that day aboard that fateful flight. The movie is called “United 93″ and you can watch the trailers here. Some have been questioning the timing of the movie and whether releasing such a movie shows disrespect to the families of the victims. Todd Beamer’s father, David Beamer, weighs in on the debate in today’s Wall Street Journal in…

For those readers who are in the Dallas area, I want to bring your attention to a special convocation that will be held tonight at the Criswell College where I teach. Ambassador Tony Hall will be giving an address in the Criswell College chapel that will be broadcast on C-SPAN.The convocation will begin tonight at 7pm, Tuesday, April 25. Click here for a map to the College. The public is invited to attend. Ambassador Hall is a Democrat who is a leading advocate for hunger relief programs and improving human rights conditions in the world. He has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. In February 2002, President…