John Ashcroft's nomination survives, but the Senate hearings concerning him were revealing. Critical senators appeared to equate his Christian faith with hard liquor: OK to use evenings and weekends, but it clouds judgment during the workday. By contrast, nine out of 10 Americans-most with a Christian heritage-say religion is important or very important in their lives. Many of those surveyed probably believe we should think about God only at 11 a.m. on Sunday, but others wouldn't mind an attorney general taking a swig from the Bible once in a while during working hours.

Does it seem as if we've moved from election to recounts to battles over nominees with hardly a moment to catch our breaths? When there's no time is exactly the time to make time to remember the quality of mercy.

One lesson from the Linda Chavez affair: Maybe the only good compassionate conservative is a dead one. That's because living ones make difficult decisions in relation to live human beings, and judgment calls can be second-guessed years later.

As TeamBush prepared for Jan. 16-18 confirmation hearings concerning John Ashcroft, and journalists wondered whether it had the stomach for a tough fight, the reasons Linda Chavez gave up her attempt to become secretary of labor became clearer.

In a televised press conference on Jan. 9 Ms. Chavez put on a defiant face, attacking the Washington "game of search and destroy." But in an interview the next day, she told WORLD that she had given critics a lot to search for, and said repeatedly, "I'm sorry ... I'm really very, very sorry."

Dreamed any impossible dreams lately? What about changing our culture by turning three into four?

Right now, a variety of Christian publications exist at the media margins, sometimes occupying important niches. But I cannot think of any newspaper or magazine with a circulation over 200,000 that consistently supports a biblical worldview. The Wall Street Journal and several other newspapers partially do so on their editorial pages, but not in their general news coverage. Several style magazines emphasize traditionalism, but that's not necessarily biblical.

Andree Seu's year-ending column on the flip side of this page is beautiful. Mine is ugly, because at the end of this memorable political year I want to answer a letter from one Republican reader about how Christians in particular should deal with the bad side of politics. Here's what she wrote: "Do I have to try to justify the wrong actions taken by the GOP? I believe in the party principles, but I'm not always pleased by actions taken by the party. And what do I do if George W. Bush disappoints us?"