Excellent Summary Of The Story Thus Far

I think Ed Rollins did a fantastic job with this commentary on the tickets of the two main political parties. Enjoy.

McCain's Pick

Last night I had a premonition... McCain was going to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate. After watching Obama's speech I kept going over the short list of possible VP candidates and why * I * wouldn't pick them (Romney, somewhat negative against McCain in the primaries and has the wealth issue that voters seem to be against; Huckabee, no, no, no preachers and honestly a bit of a rube; Giuliani, main issue is defense and that is McCain's forte; Ridge, too pro-choice and would alienate "God's Own Party", etc, etc, etc). Then I got to Palin. Young woman, mother (married her high school sweetheart), solidly pro-life, strong conservative credentials, solid blue-collar credentials, former sports journalist, administrator with a background of reform. Only real negatives: some will see her as a "pander pick" and she is a first term governor (before that was a mayor for two terms). The question to me was can she be presented in such a way as to blunt these criticism (which the McCain campaign has leveled in one form or another at Obama)? I think it is possible but they have to be careful.

Yes, she is a woman (and an attractive one at that) but I don't think McCain will be hurt by that as much as some have stated. This isn't Geraldine Ferraro again. Palin is tough with a strong (if limited but longer than Obama's) track record of reform. She seems to be a principled conservative rather than a politically expedient one. My one big issue with her (but will play well with the "God's Own Party" crowd) is on gay rights but right now I think there are bigger fish to fry and I am willing to step back on this at the moment.

The Democrats seem to be salivating at the "experience" issue. Before they do, let's be honest... all three (McCain, Palin, and Biden) have more experience than Obama and of the four only Palin has ever run anything (and from all accounts somewhat successfully at that). Her apparent weakness seems to be foreign policy (as is Obama's) but McCain is at the top of the ticket and it will be his advisors that will be helping shape foreign policy not hers. What she brings to the table that neither Obama nor Biden has is the fact that she has been a governor and a reform-minded governor at that. She has had to deal directly with budgets, hiring and firing people, and being the only target when people are not happy (at least in the Senate you aren't the only pig... you've got 99 other porkers there with you). In fact, again if you're an honest political geek and look at accomplishments and not rhetoric, you will see that when it comes to reform and bucking political establishments that the McCain/Palin ticket is the real reform-oriented ticket.

So is she bullet-proof? No, but in politics no one is (not even the "anointed one"). Do I think she can do the job? Yes, at least as well as the man at the top of the Democrat ticket.

McCain/Palin 2008!

Open Plea to John McCain

PLEASE, OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE Senator McCain pick someone with some administrative skills for your running mate. The thoughts of an all legislative race fills me with terrible dread. Pick someone who has actually lead and done something creative and meaningful with their time on this planet. Obama blew his choice, please do not make the same mistake.

XOXOXO

Michael

Obama's "Dick Cheney" Pick

If you can, think back to the 2000 election cycle when it was time for the Republican nominee-elect, George Bush, to select a running mate. The minute the choice was announced, the clearly anti-Bush media started saying that Cheney added gravitas to the supposedly weak top of the ticket. Given that whether or not you like him (and you know that I am no fan of Dubbya) Bush was running as a relatively successful governor of a very large state (he was well into his second term after having won with 69% of the vote) while Obama has been in charge of... nothing. So if Bush needed gravitas it is easy to see that Obama needs it in abundance. But whereas Cheney has done something outside of government, what is the Democrat's ticket heavyweight record? Ummmm... nothing really. He was admitted to the bar in 1968 and elected to the New Castle County, County Council in 1970 and after serving a whole two years ran for the Senate at the seasoned age of 29. He won and has been in the Senate since. THIS is the guy who is supposed to mollify the ticket's elitist image and to be the blue-collar face to the American people? And as for added gravitas, the one thing Biden brings to the table is weight, the weight of 35 years of Senate votes and two horribly failed Presidential runs in his own right. So Cheney brought "gravitas" to the ticket... what does Biden bring?

Age and perceived experience (even though being a Senator lends very little to any type of administrative experience which is the branch of government covering the Presidency), maybe a run for the AARP vote to offset McCain's advantage? If nothing else it provides a wonderful contrast showing the weakness of the top of the ticket.

Wonderful quotes about Obama that the McCain campaign can tie into those of Hillary Clinton... so let me take a moment to thank both of them. Just think of the money you saved the Republicans for writing the ads for us.

He's Catholic and it is well known that Obama is extremely weak among Catholic voters, so maybe a plus but I don't think so.

Deliver Delaware to Obama. Um, don't think that is a problem for "The One".

Poise and eloquence in getting the message out? Well, perhaps if he plagiarize someone else's writings (see is 1988 campaign for the top of the ticket), but remember this is the guy who called Obama "clean" and said you can't go into a 7-Eleven without an Indian accent.

Attack-dog capabilities, the one job he may be qualified for.

The problem the Democrats face are now two-fold... Obama is a young lightweight, Biden appears to be bit of an old lightweight who in a 35 year track has accomplished few major legislative wins.

We now have three Senators at the top of the two tickets... I'm even more curious now to see who McCain picks. In many ways I am starting to pull for Romney (bit of a shock for me) because SOMEONE has to have experience in running something. Obama blew his chance, will McCain do the same?

Charity Wine Tasting For Momma's Kitchen

Last night my beau and I attended a charity wine tasting for Momma's Kitchen, a local organization that prepares and delivers food for people with HIV or other critical illnesses at no charge (a very worthy cause in my opinion). We arrived there at 7, just missing the whites being served but we did get a glass of sparkling wine before sampling the reds and diving into the finger food supplied by some of the better local restaurants (including one of my favorites, Bite). From what I could tell all of the wines were from one producer, Alice White. If you want to read my review of the wine check out my other site under a posting of the same name.

The event appeared to be a success with the bulk of the crowd staying the entire time allotted. We are now looking into ways we can further support this organization.

A Year And A Day

According to Wikipedia a year and a day has noted:

The period of a year and a day was a convenient period to represent a significant amount of time. Its use was generally as a jubilee or a permanence.

Historically (England) the period that a couple must be married for a spouse to have claim to a share of inheritable property.

In mediaeval (sic) Europe, a runaway serf became free after a year and a day.

When a judgement (sic) has been reversed a fresh action may lodged within a year and a day, regardless of the statute of limitations. U.S.

Today I add one more item because today marks a year and day since I met my beau. I think this fall under the first bullet point. Last night we celebrated by doing all of the things we did on our first date. As he said last night... now we can start counting in years. :-)

What Russia Wants (In One Cartoon)

Putin is on record stating that the worst event of the 20th century was the breakup of the old Soviet Union. The traditional method of the old Soviet Union in dealing with their opponents was either take them out or break them then take them. Putin is showing such tactics again with his desire to get rid of Mikheil Saakashvili, a Western educated and pro-west ally and replace him with someone more amenable. Russia's moves against Estonia and more recently Georgia (be honest, Russia has gearing up for this, mounting troops at the border for over a year) and hints at Ukraine desires have shown Putin's true colors. Unfortunately what we actually can do is limited. Estonia is a recent member of both NATO and the European Union which provides some cover, but there are other former Soviet satellites out that that should be afforded some support. Russian officials have been quoted as saying that Moscow sees no "rational arguments that this expansion [of either NATO nor the European Union] will aid the security interests of these states". Personally, I see with what just happened in the case of Georgia it just have done so.

Russia and Prophecy

My background (and current status) in the Christian realm is that of "dispensationalist". As such, I take a pretty danged literal interpretation of Biblical prophecy (as well as following a literal, but not wooden, heurmeneutics). One of the more interesting areas has been that of the prophetic books of the Bible, particularly the final war against Israel as announced in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 (read here). For several years Gog and Magog have been associated with Russian but after the brave stance of Ronald Reagan (pardon me while I stand) helping bring about the "end" of the Soviet Union people started to poo-poo this idea. What a difference a generation makes (given that a Biblical generation is about 20 years this is pretty much right). Now Russia is again rich, arrogant, and on the move. Witness the attacks against the former Soviet state of Georgia. It is no secret that Vladamir Putin thinks that the dissolution of the old Soviet Union was the worst thing to have happen and if you look closely it is possible to see the beginning of the reunification of the USSR of old. Europe is ineffective to trying to stem the tide and if Georgia falls is even more at the mercy of Russia as its main conduit of petroleum would come back completely under Russian control. If you are a Christian I ask you to pray for the people of both Russian and Georgia. Pray for the leaders of Georgia as they make a stand as one of the few democracies who sides with the United States. If you are not, I ask you to do a search on past statements of Putin and see if you can discern what his intentions might be.