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Random commentary and senseless acts of blogging.
The first Republican president once said, "While the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the government in the short space of four years." If Mr. Lincoln could see what's happened in these last three-and-a-half years, he might hedge a little on that statement. Blog critics Gryffindor House Slytherin House Ravenclaw House House Elves Beth Jacob Prisoners of Azkaban Muggles
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Thursday, September 18, 2008
Operacion Libertad Espanola It now seems official that John McCain's interview flub when he suggested he wouldn't be willing to meet with Spanish PM Zapatero is being claimed as an actual policy by the McCain camp, the better to contrast it with Obama's weak policy of being willing to meet with democratically elected leaders in allied nations. While some Spaniards might find this upsetting, they should remember that our quarrel isn't with the Spanish people, but rather with the dictatorship in Madrid. We support their dreams of a free Spain and are ready to aid them in liberating their country from under the dark shadow of Communist one party (OK, technically a Socialist Worker's Party / United Left / Republican Left of Catalonia coalition) rule. After a bombing campaign to soften up the enemy, an invasion to overthrow the dictatorship, and the installation of a new government under Sunday, September 07, 2008
One of These Things is not Like the Others Today's activities for the candidates: Barak Obama: Interviewed on This Week Joe Biden: Interviewed on Meet the Press John McCain: Interviewed on Face the Nation Sarah Palin: According to her campaign manager, is "getting to know voters on her own schedule". The statement in the prior post that the Palin pick was a big blunder at the time McCain made it was CW at the time it was posted. Today's CW is that it was a brilliant, daring choice. I'm sticking to my guns. Even given the willingness of the media to twist itself into a lying pretzel for the sake of Saint McCain, it's not going to be easy to cover up her obvious lack of readiness. Although the media in the extensive discussions of her today did, AFAIK, draw a complete curtain of silence over the fact that her husband was for 6 years a member of an anti-American extremist political party. Tuesday, September 02, 2008
It's now pretty clear that John McCain would be in a vastly better position today if he really were the maverick he wants us all to think he is. Various press reports agree that McCain actually wanted to go with Lieberman or Ridge, but chickened out in the face of opposition from the religious right and threats of a floor fight. But would a floor fight really have been such a bad thing? Lieberman is, admittedly, a bit much for a Republican convention to swallow. His voting record on domestic issues is mainstream Democrat, not far at all from Biden. And on top of that he's a notoriously boring speaker and mediocre campaigner. But Ridge is a solid Republican, well qualified, who happens to be pro-choice. Even better, if he wanted a woman, was Christine Whitman: a successful two term governor of a blue state, a proven tax cutter, a former Cabinet member with a good environmental record. With strong picks like this, McCain would have won a floor fight. And really, to face and win the first real floor fight at a GOP convention in decades would have been a huge plus for McCain: it would have underlined with an exclamation point the real change/maverick messages McCain has been struggling to make stick. McCain wanted to strengthen those messages with the Palin pick. Unfortunately, the real message behind that pick is becoming increasingly obvious: McCain the ex-maverick is now the religious right's bitch, taking orders one after another like he's back in the freshman class at Annapolis. |
