No More Kings!

With all the usual pre-election strife, a little pick me up is in order

Fred Thompson on the Choice

Back during the GOP YouTube debate, I noted that Fred Thompson was a better non candidate than a candidate. And as his campaign wound down towards its unsatisfying finish in South Carolina, I noted that his supporters seemed to want it more than he did.

Now non-candidate Fred is releasing an electoral appeal.



(HT - Public Secrets)

I have noticed a bit of commentary in the conservative Blogosphere about this appeal, most from former supporters tinged with some regret that Thompson did not make a bigger splash on the GOP race. Thompson was one candidate who could have gone toe to toe with Obama on rhetorical flourishes. (As an aside, "rhetorical flourishes" is my new favorite phrase).

No matter the outcome next week, I hope we will see more of Thompson's commentary.

So, what if McCain pulls it off?

So, what happens if McCain pulls it off. Will all those always talking about moving to Canada finally do so?

The Canadian government has a program now to help those in need.

So Hugo, how goes the Revolution?

Oil is now below $ 65 a barrel. When oil was at $100 a barrel there were food shortages in Venezuela (that is all you really need to know about socialism).

When oil was riding high, Hugo went on a spending spree. As oil drops, those bill are coming due. I read somewhere that Venezuela needs oil to be something like $95 a barrel to meet their balance of payments.

About those Russians fighter jets you bought Hugo -- I am pretty sure Vladimir does not take Visa.

I really am not that worried about Venezuela these days

I AM BILL!!

Tired of hearing about Joe the Plumber? Well, I AM BILL! (HT: LGF)

Books to Read Before I Die

There are lots of great books out there and so little time. There are so many books and authors I want to read but just never get around to.

I was thinking about this the other day when the Nobel Literature Prize winner was announced. I was looking through the list of previous winners and noticed that there were very few I had read, though to be frank, none of the recent winners are people I want to read. And I was thinking, which of the current writers I read have a chance at a Nobel? Nick Hornby MAYBE in 20 years or so, but I doubt it.

Then there is Mario Vargas Llosa. I doubt he will win as he is (i) a Latin American and the Nobel committee is biased in favor of Europeans and (ii) he is a right of center person and an unapologetic supporter of liberal democracy, the Nobel committee choices there days skew far to the left. In any event, while I have read lots of his essays over the years, I have read only one of his books "The Feast of the Goat." I did buy two of his books however in case he gets chosen over the next few years.

So, leaving aside the question of whether you have library privileges in the afterlife, I decided to make a list of those books I want to read before I die. In no particular order:

1. The Gulag Archipelago. All people with pretensions of being an intellectual need to be cured of the totalitarian temptation that seems to effect that class. (Am I an intellectual? Good question, I have pretensions of being one)

2. The Diary of a Young Girl. This seems to be such an important book for our time.

3. Two more Charles Dickens books. I have read a Tale of Two Cities and played Scrooge in Fifth Grade. I just need to figure out which ones to read.

4. An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. I believe that all university trained English speaking Catholics can never read too much Newman.

5. The Summa Theologica. This book is so central to the Catholic faith, it is incredible I have never read more than the snippets required in my college theology classes.

6. More of the classical historians.

7. Something by Voltaire (other than Candide, which I have read). Though I am not sure what the Church's position on that could be.

8. The Discovery of Freedom. An obscure text these days to be sure, but one of the foundation documents of American libertarianism.

9. Tender is the Night. The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books, so I should read more Fitzgerald.

10. Churchill's histories of World War I and II. I have read quite a few of Churchill's books. Churchill was a great writer -- despite his aristocratic background he was not that wealthy and lived mostly a hand to mouth existence until the 1950s. He survived on his books and lectures, so they had to be good. Granted, some of his books, like "The Malakand Field Force," have no interest to us today except as historical curiosities. But others, such as "My Early Life," should rank as great monuments to historical literature. Given the centrality of the two World Wars both to Western society and to Churchill himself, I think I should read his works on the conflicts.

11. Orwell's pre-WWII works. I have read "Animal Farm" and "1984" of course, along with some of his WWII era essays. Orwell should be considered one of the finest writers in English history. But he has such a wide variety of literature that I think if you read only 1984 you miss out. He is as relevant today as he was when he wrote. His essay, "Notes on Nationalism" could have been written yesterday.

12. Sword of Honor and Brideshead, Revisited. Waugh was very English, very aristocratic and very Catholic. He lamented a world he saw as in decline, the old virtues misplaced in a new world of common culture and industrialized warfare.

13. The Skin of Our Teeth. I read "Our Town" as a I teenager, stuck in the hospital after a hip operation. I still carry its message -- life is really best lived by appreciating the little things. As "The Skin of Our Teeth" is considered Wilder's second best work, that makes my list.

Well, the list does not include the two Vargas novels I bought, so once I finish those, I plan on working on the rest of my list.

How I Expect to Survive an Obama Presidency

A somewhat different take on my earlier plan to survive a Clinton presidency. Unlike that earlier plan, this has only two steps.

+

Keep repeating for four [eight?] years.

The only problem with the Obama martini is that once you make it, the government takes most of it and gives it to others. So you either have to drink it really fast or nip around the corner and drink it when no one is looking.

WELCOME American Digest readers! Come on in, pour yourself an Obama martini and take a look around.

A little more on Ayers

I am of two minds on Bill Ayers. On the one hand, I think Ayers should be sharing a jail cell with the Unabomber and that Senator Obama's relationship with him needs to be better examined (this whole "he was just a guy in my neighborhood" does not ring true). On the other hand, I really have no interest in refighting the culture wars of the 1960s, especially as I was 1 year old in 1968.

But I have never really believed that Ayers was just opposing the Vietnam War. Ayers went beyond that -- The Weathermen's real goal was a communist revolution in America, a dictatorship of the proletariat with all the horrors that would follow.

Much of the right side of the blogosphere has been linking to Zombie Time, which has found an old copy of "Prairie Fire", the Weather Underground's 1974 manifesto. Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, are listed as two of the four authors. They set forth a program of armed struggle, not just against the Vietnam War (which the US was out of in 1974) but rather the structure of society itself.

One ironic thing. Obama is trying to make simself the heir to the Kennedys and the book is dedicated to, among a long list of others, Sirhan B Sirhan, the assassin of RFK.

So am I overreacting? Was all the talk of "Armed struggle" and "dictatorship of the proletariat" just, as Senator Obama might say, mere "rhetorical flourishes?"

If this person, a former law enforcement mole in the Weather Underground is to be believed, no -- come the Revolution, the leadership of the Weathermen wanted reeducation camps and planned the liquidation of TWENTY FIVE MILLION Americans.



But his words alone are not necessary, Ayers's (and Dohrn's) own words say what their plans were.

Barrack Obama was 13 years old when Prairie Fire came out. But if Obama was connected with the Unabomber or an abortion clinic bomber, wouldn't people be asking more questions?

So, once again, does it all matter? I am not sure.

Why soccer should not be played on Astro-Turf

As a former goal keeper, I am torn between being happy that a keeper scored during play while I also really feel for Columbus's keeper. Of course, the fact that hated Red Bull NY scored, makes it even doubly annoying.

Powell's Endorsement

The blogosphere and the pundits have been ablaze with Colin Powell's endorsement of Senator Obama. It is not really that great a shock. It has been rumored for months (there were even rumors that Powell would speak at the Democratic Convention).

We on the right need to face facts. This is the last nail in the coffin. I know most conservatives do not like McCain but he was the only Republican who had a shot this year. He was game but the financial crisis (and his answer to it) doomed him.

Obama is the result of Bush. Without Bush., Barrack Obama is probably a Con Law professor, not about to be elected president. When Bush started talking about “compassionate conservatism” we all should have raised alarm bells. His actions after going into Iraq, his tone deafness, his fecklessness and his manifest unseriousness about everything has lead us here. And ow he is doing Obama's job for him by nationalizing the financial sector.

We as conservatives need to rethink a lot. As I noted last week, maybe we are meant for a period in the deep wilderness to remember our principles. I do worry though that collectivism and intervention will now be the norm.

Adam Smith

I spent last week on a business trip in Edinburgh, Scotland. Scotland of course was the home of Adam Smith, the father in many ways of the free market system. I stood before his statute on the Royal Mile and pondered what would he think of the current financial crisis? And then, what would his thoughts matter? The crisis has been caused by something that Smith could have never imagined. I doubt he would have much to say about the mechanics of subprime mortgages.

Or maybe he would. Would he have been worried about government interference in the real estate market? Or maybe he would have been more concerned about monetary policy, or the lack thereof.

This is not the first financial panic in history. They used to happen fairly regularly. Smith was obviously aware of the South Sea and Mississippi Company bubbles earlier in the 18th Century. It was those bubbles that probably kickstarted the Scottish interest in economics that flowered with Smith. And this panic looks a lot like that of 1907, with the bursting of a commodity bubble leading to panic on Wall Street and Main Street.

I do not know what Adam Smith would think. But I do know that we have been through this before, and will get through it again.

Life on Mars

Imagine being a cop today, getting hit by a car, and waking up in 1973. That is the premise of "Life on Mars"

I have watched a few of the British episodes on BBC America and it was brilliant. So I was intrigued when I saw that it was being transferred to the US. Apparently the original pilot, based in LA, was not accepted. The new pilot has a NY detective sent back to 1973. The show particularly uses music from the era well.

I was 6 in 1973. They show New York as a dirtier, grittier, smoggier, or wild place than the city today. And I think they hit that well. Was everything in 1973 in earth tones? Did everyone really have shaggy hair? It seems that way to me looking back to my childhood memories, but when does one really begin to remember? I remember the Mets winning the 1973 pennant (my mom organized the neighborhood kids to have a parade). I remember the Paris Peace Accords. I remember watching T.V. with my parents as air raid sirens went off in Israel.

But do I remember the colors and the hair or do I simply remember T.V. shows I watched later?

When does one begin to remember?

The Death of Conservatism?

In his latest Derb Radio, NRO's John Derbyshire argues, among other things, that conservatism is dead.

I agree with him. In the end, it is the fault of us conservatives ourselves. Why? Because the GOP, which was supposed to be the standard bearer of conservatism, decided the K Street Project was more important than principles.

It is not all George Bush's fault. Yes, he threw money at everything and had a program for every ill. As for Iraq, he went to war without being serious about it. But it comes down really to us ourselves.

I have decided in the end I can be a Republican or a conservative, not both. So I have decided to be a conservative. The role of conservatives for the next 25 years or so will be to stand athwart history shouting stop, instead of trying for actual power itself.

US-Cuba Qualifier Tonight

Cuba is in Washington to play us in a World Cup qualifier tonight. What is the over-under on the number of defections?

Turns out two already have disappeared.

Weather Report

High in the 60s, chance of falling investment bankers.

The credit boom turned into a crunch and now into a free fall. Bailouts, excuse me, "rescue plans" adopted by governments have done nothing to stop the bleeding. People are comparing this to 1929.

Before the founding of the Fed, "banking panics" happened with regulatory, and resulted in stock market crashes. The best analogy in my mind in the Panic of 1907. There was an asset bubble (though in copper, not real estate), the bursting of which lead to a severe credit crunch. As banks began to fail, New York banks suspended specie payments to customers. The Dow lost half of its value.

According to legend, JP Morgan at one point locked the heads of the ten largest banks in his office and told them they had to raise $25 million in half an hour. JD Rockefeller made big deposits in failing banks to help stabilize them.

In the end, the credit crunch eased and within two years the Dow was back at its pre-Panic levels.

Will that happen here? I do not know. The Great Depression was caused by a number of factors. The Fed has engaged in a mildly inflationary policy in the 1920s, but when the recession began (and the stock market crashed), the Fed for some reason decided to TIGHTEN credit. This caused a credit crunch that brought business to a halt. All that was needed was a few bank failures and a return to protectionism and the Great Depression was born.

It seems that the Fed has learned from the lessons of 1929-1933. They are not tightening credit. Unlike the Depression, the FDIC is protecting most persons deposits and so far at least, the failing banks seem to be taken over by other banks. But the fall in asset values is not being stemmed, and the credit crunch still seems in place.

Of course the call will go up for more regulation. But every time there is a banking or securities scandal, ore regulation is proposed -- the Enron scandal lead to SOX and changes to accounting rules, the S&L crisis lead to more regulation and yet we still have the Panic of 2008. More regulation inevitably leads to more lobbying and then a relaxation of that regulation (Representative Waters in 2003 telling a regulator that there were no problems at Fannie and Freddie).

In short, I believe the government should do as little as possible here. The Fed should keep credit available but allow the toxicity to bleed itself out of the system. The banks do not want to foreclose on 10 million houses (or however many it is). The banks can foreclose on the bad ones, renegotiate with the rest, and the bond holders will take their hit. That is capitalism.

Why Ayers Does Not Matter

Despite my protestation in the previous post, Ayers also does not matter. It WAS a long time ago. Barack Obama was a kid when Bill Ayers was off on his bomb throwing. The median age in the United States is about 36 so most Americans were not even born during the events of 1968 while others (such as myself) have no memory of those events (I was 1). And it was such a horrible time in America, I would imagine that most of those around at the time have suppressed much of the memory.

But for those not on a college campus or on a battlefield in Vietnam, was it such a horrible time? My parents always looked back wistfully at their childhood, even though they were born during the Depression. I used to jokingly ask my parents how they survived the 60s, and you get the feeling that they were too busy dealing with their own issues, jobs, saving for a house, going through the difficulties of trying to have a baby (my Mom had problems on that front) and finally raising me -- they did not have time to worry about bomb throwing radicals and the campus ideological battles between the SDS and YAF.

Given the challenges faced by the next president regarding the subprime meltdown and the continuing war in the Middle East, refighting 1968 is probably low on everyone's list of things to do.

Why Ayers Matters

Q. How is Obama like Osama?


A. They both know someone who bombed the Pentagon.


That joke has been circulating the Internet and it is unfair, but there is some truth to it. Ayers matters. If John McCain was palling around with someone who bombed abortion clinics 30 years ago and never felt any repentance, it would be front page news.

What annoys me most about Ayers is that he was a child of privilege who attacked the very system that gave him everything. One he faced jail for life, fell back on that privilege and the fact that the FBI made errors in building a case against him. Ayers should be sharing a cell with the Unabomber, not teaching (what exactly radicalism?) at a university.

I can understand the anger of the black militants of the 1960s. Blacks were treated as second class citizens and subject to harsh disabilities under the power of the Jim Crow laws. So I can understand why they viewed the “system” as corrupt. But Ayers and his ilk were simply spoiled children trying to get back at daddy for leaving them with the nanny while boinking the babysitter.

My parents grew up in poverty that I could never imagine. As Catholics, they were treated as second class citizens until after WWII, when the threat of communism became a bigger threat than the Pope. The country of their parents (Italy) has declared war on the United States. Yet they never threw bombs but worked damn hard to better themselves, their family and in that way, their country.

Ayers matters because he never regretted his life and it really raises the issue of Obama’s judgment. Obama has surrounded himself with some questionable people over the years. Where they people he used to further his activities and career or did Obama truly believe as his friends believe? Back in college I had am acquaintance who started associating with Operation Rescue types. I tried talking him out of it -- to me, Operation Rescue tended to shade off to a radical fringe that were terrorists. After he told me that he had lunch with Randall Terry, I broke off our friendship. And as far as I know, this person never threw a bomb or directly associated with anyone who threw a bomb.

Ayers matters because it sheds some light perhaps on what Obama truly believes. Despite his voting record, he is trying now (successfully) to publicly recast himself as a moderate. If elected, and with large Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, would Obama govern from the center or the left? And if from the left, how far left?

Ayers matters as it opens a window on Obama.

Crash Bam Boom!!!!!

My computer crashed. It is OK now though.

P.J. O'Rourke on God, Evolution and Death

To the extent I have a favorite philosopher, it is PJ O’Rourke. I am not sure exactly what that says about me (it cannot be good), but I find him to be the modern Mencken, without the nastiness.

O’Rourke just found out he has cancer and while things look good, he deals with it in his usual way.

I looked death in the face. All right, I didn't. I glimpsed him in a crowd. I've been diagnosed with cancer, of a very treatable kind. I'm told I have a 95% chance of survival. Come to think of it -- as a drinking, smoking, saturated-fat hound -- my chance of survival has been improved by cancer.

His biggest concern is that he has a malignant hemorrhoid and he is not sure what color bracelet to wear (or where to wear it). Along the way he muses about God, evolution, life, death, pain and meaning. While his theology and philosophy would probably fail freshman courses at Catholic universities, he is right on how death is a part of life. In O'Rourke's words:

Death is so important that God visited death upon his own son, thereby helping us learn right from wrong well enough that we may escape death forever and live eternally in God's grace. (Although this option is not usually open to reporters.)

Read the whole thing. And get well soon PJ.

Let the Children Sing for Obama

One of my problems with Obama is not necessarily the Senator himself, but rather the increasing creepiness of some of his supporters. This is extremely creepy. (HT Instapundit)



Back in 2006 there was a bit of an Internet uproar regarding "Jesus Camp" a movie about a fundamentalist Christian children's camp. What I saw of the movie, mostly clips on YouTube and blogs, never quite struck me right. It seemed like it was either heavily edited to shed false light or was a parody, but no one ever claimed it was anything other than real.

The strangest parts were prayers to President Bush. Andrew Sullivan showed this as proof that Bush was the head of a sinister "Christianist" cabal that was going to do horrible things. I wait for Sullivan to comment on the above video. I doubt he will of course. While I no longer read Sullivan as regularly as I did, he has been pretty silent on the general creepiness factor of some of Obama's supporters (the YouTube songs for example or the quasi religious way his campaign is being viewed.). Some Obama supporters do not seem to realize that "The Matrix" was not a documentary.

This video is merely the latest.

The Debate is Over

Which means it is time for these guys.

So what do I think?

The Palin Syrah was very good and a good price. Some moose residue with a hint of gunpowder. My internet friend Stella Hawkins suggests drinking it with gorgonzola.

Isn't this debate . . .

Isn't this debate supposed to be about national security.

Updated -- they are now finally talking about Iraq.

Now Afghanistan. I wonder if the solution to Afghanistan is to draw a line and kill what comes over. Iraq is basically stuck in the 1950s. Afghanistan is basically a 7th Century country.

Updated -- McCain is now hitting Obama on Pakistan. It is a failed state.

Updated -- Obama is talking tough on Iran.

Updated -- "I don't even have a seal yet." Did Obama take his seal?

At least Obama is recognizing Iran is an enemy.

Updated -- Obama sees Russia as a threat to the region. So much for a noninterventionist foreign policy. Georgia for NATO. But no Cold War.

Update -- Obama and McCain agree on clean coal -- I hope he told Biden.

Update -- Obama says yes on missile defense.

Well it is over.

Yea!

McCain mentions nuclear power and drilling.

The Debate

With all the live blogging, I will too.

For now, all I will say is that neither seem on their game.

A Drink for the Debate

Palin Syrah from Chile. Nice tasting, organic, and fairly inexpensive. In New York, it can be found at Appellation, over on 10th Avenue.

"Recession Futures" are fairly low

This looks interesting. Intrade contracts predicting that the US will go into recession in 2008 are down to 12.6.

Intrade is interesting because it represents what people think will happen, it is not a prediction modeler. So take it for what it is worth.

A Quote I Like

"The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual." -- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty.

A quote that proves democracy has its flaws

“Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.”

Can someone explain to me what Congressman Hastings is talking about? (HT -- Instapundit)

David Blaine

Can someone explain why this guy is famous?

McCain suspends his race

Everyone is talking about Senator McCain's decision to suspend his campaign and head to Washington for the bailout. He has asked that Friday's first debate be postponed. At this time, it seems unclear whether Senator Obama will agree.

My reaction is that this will surprise those who know me -- I see this as Senator McCain essentially conceding the election. Two weeks ago, when Senator McCain was rising in the polls, I warned that something could happen to reverse the situation. In particular, I warned that the credit crunch could get worse. It has.

As I listen now to President Bush speak, I believe that the rescue plan will be unpopular. Some will see it as a bailout of big business, others as too little too late, and in any event, the GOP will be tagged with allowing it to get to this point (and while I think there is lots of blame to go around, Bush could have done things administratively to slow down Fannie and Freddie and the whole market).

I am a fervent McCain supporter. I believe that he has was the best person in 2000 and is the best person now. But the election is no longer about Iraq or foreign policy, it is now about the economy and this will hurt McCain. (as an aside, for saying this, I have been accused of Astroturfing). I wish that were so.

I hate to say it and I hope I am wrong, but McCain just conceded the election, in an honorable way.

[Edited to add -- Senators McCain and Obama just released a joint statement on the bailout]

Obama's Plan

The Anchoress noted a Christopher Hitchens essay asking if Obama wanted to be president this time around. I admit I have thought the same. Obama supporters I know (given where I live, just about everyone) think that Obama expected to win. But lots of people run for president without expecting being nominated. And all of the third party candidates know they cannot win -- they are running to prove a point.

I wonder if that is why Obama waited so long to clear up the loose ends in his background — Trinity UCC, Ayers, and the rest. Could it also explain why he seems to have done little with the Foreign Relations subcommittee he was given.

If this is correct, be probably figured it was HRC’s time and he would lay the groundwork for a future campaign. Even if he did not take the VP slot, he would spend the next 4-8 years (depending on who won in November) chairing subcommittee hearings, distancing himself from Rev. Wright and Father Pfleiger, making sure Bill Ayers was more remotely in his past , and doing the “Senate statesman” rounds in Europe. T hen when it was time, he would be able to run as an experienced statesman.

Instead, he became “The One.” And despite everything, he is poised to be the next president.

The Old America no Longer Exists

Bruce Bawer, author of "While Europe Slept" wrote an essay on Pajamas Media about being away from America for 10 years, and about how the America he knew no longer exists. This lead to some rather pointed comments about "Bawer's choice" as it were.

Mr. Bawer has made it clear in most of his writings that his move to Europe was primarily due to his sexual preference -- Norway recognizes his relationship while the US does not. Hence, he can live in Norway, but his partner cannot live in the United States. Personally, if I were gay, I would prefer New York to Norway, but so be it. He has never stuck me as a “citizen of the world” type.

And I can understand wanting to experience something foreign. If all goes as planned, I will be moving to Europe next summer for an extended work assignment. That will not make me less American.

As for lamenting the passing of an old America, that is a normal aspect of getting older. I used to laugh at my parents complaining about the old America being gone. They grew up very poor, in a Catholic immigrant family at a time when Catholics were viewed in this country with suspicion and the country of their parents was actually at war with the United States. Their first memories were of the Great Depression and World War II. I could never understand how they missed that old America.

Yet, entering my forties, I too find myself lamenting the passing of what I think of as America. It is natural. Things change and you reach a point when change is not easy anymore. I think in Mr. Bawer’s case, living abroad, it is just more pointed a feeling, given that he feels the shock of the unfamiliar whenever he returns home.

Obama sort of loses a supporter

One of Ann Althouse's sons, an Obama supporter, has written a blog post about "how Obama lost me." This has lead to an argument among Professor Althouse's commenters as to WHY Jac Althouse Cohen has decided he "lost Obama" (though if you actually read his post, it is not really that Obama lost a supporter, but that the supporter lost the landslide he was expecting). And of course, some pro-Obama commenters are playing the race card.

My theory with Obama from the beginning is that he was the "liberal yuppie candidate", not the black candidate, not the left wing candidate. He was originally the candidate primarily of the white, liberal, urban well educated upper middle class. Until recently I lived in the Lincoln Park section of Chicago, on a block where there were $5M homes owned by hedge fund guys (mine was worth a lot less than $5M). I knew two other people who for certain were voting for McCain.

Obama was "one of us" in that he was well educated, wealthy enough, but not super wealthy, with the two nice kids and the appropriate disdain for the distant suburbs. Obama was the logical result of the changes in America's demography and economy, and especially the Bush years. The urban, liberal upper middle class thinks it is now their time. The spiritual forefathers of today's Obama supporters were the "best and the brightest" who backed JFK.

After JFK's assassination, those folks found themselves out of government. LBJ was from more of a traditional hardscrabble Democratic Party background as was Jimmy Carter. Clinton promised these folks an in, but in the end, Clinton was a moderate Republican. Nixon was from small town Republicanism, Ford deeply rural America and Reagan (despite his Hollywood background) was small town America. Bush 41 was in many ways the last gasp of the old GOP WASP establishment and his son is more in sympathy with the new evangelicals. No one has come from that urban liberal background.

So that is why I think Obama has become the new champion. He represents for the first time in almost 50 years that the urban, liberal, yuppie demographic has a chance at power.

Another Hymm

As much as I often complain about the quality of hymns in Catholic Churches, I also find myself more and more loving the old Anglican hymns.

For some reason I have gotten stuck in my head the hymn "The Son of God Goes Forth to War". It was written by Reginald Huber, the same Anglican bishop who wrote "Holy Holy Holy." The hymn is probably most famous for its appearance in the John Huston movie "The Man Who Would be King." In the movie, whoever, the tune is changed to an old Irish air "The Minstrel Boy," the tune of which itself is based on an older Irish folk song.

The tune (if not the words) of the Minstrel Boy itself is in the United States associated with the Irish regiments of the Civil War, and is still used today by police and fire departments with a large number of Irish Americans.

Using either tune, the hymn is both powerful and moving. As I have said before, I sometimes wish the American Catholic church would simply buy up some old Anglican hymnals and use those.

A Quote for Senator Biden

"Towards the government I feel no scruples and would dodge paying the [income] tax if I could. Yet I would give my life for England readily enough, if I thought it necessary. No one is patriotic about taxes." George Orwell, Wartime Diary, August 9, 1940. (HT-Radio Derb)

(I guess this now means we can question Congressman Rangel's patriotism)

Looking at the Election

For the first time in months, I am actually holding out hope that Senator McCain will actually win this thing. The Obama campaign seems to be in a melt-down phase, the media is having a complete fit over Sarah Pallin and the McCain seems to have found his voice.

Already, conservatives are declaring victory and starting victory laps.

Of course, none of this takes into account that it is still seven weeks to Election Day. Much can happen between now and then. The credit crunch could flare into a full blown meltdown. War could flare up again in Georgia. The Middle East could have an oil shutdown -- who knows.

The latest is that McCain is supposedly closing the gap in NEW YORK.

I find it hard to believe. The last time a Republican won New York was in 1984, when Reagan won about 54% of the vote. The last time a Republican won New York City was Calvin Cooolige in 1924.

Back in 1988, when I was volunteering on the Bush campaign, the last weekend, the office was awash with rumors that New York was winnable. We were told that Bush was only 3% behind Dukakis in Queens and that statewide, internal polling showed a statistical tie. In the end, Dukakis won the state with about 52% of the vote and won Queens pretty handily if I recall.

One thing to note is that while New York has usually been a reliably Democratic state, it was not always with the big margins we saw in the past few elections. Granted, that was during the days of the Rockefeller Republicans, but the state was usually "in play." However, given the changes in the state's demography and the past few elections, I cannot see McCain having a real chance at winning. While I have seen lots of Obama bumper stickers ans signs since I moved to Park Slope, I have yet to see any evidence that there is another McCain voter in my neighborhood. Even the suburbs have changed in political makeup. What McCain can hope for is to force Obama to spend time and effort here, instead of Virgina and Colorado.

[edited to fix my public school spelling]

The Crucifixion and MultiverseTheory

Having moved to Brooklyn, I now need to find a new church. And Brooklyn being the "Borough of Churches" I have plenty of choices -- there must be 6 Catholic churches within walking distance of our new apartment.



So I choose Saint Saviour, I will admit, mostly because the Mass was most convenient to when I woke up.



The Homily was about the Crucifixion and the importance of it to Catholic belief. Yet, it also has been very sanitized. The crucifix we see at home or in church is nice and clean, it cannot convey the horror and suffering Jesus endured.



But one thing the priest said was quite interesting. It was not important to the homily, to be sure, but raised my interest. Namely, if multiverse theory is correct, would the Crucifixion be the one common event in all multiverses.

In a nutshell, multiverse theory is that there exist an infinite number of alternative universes. In each, history takes a slightly different turn. For example, in one universe, the US Navy may have received the "war warning" in time to win the battle of Pearl Harbor. In another, you did not stub your toe on the bedpost this morning.

The homilist wondered if in each multiverse, the crucifixion would have been the one common event. He used the term "Omega Point" which I think was somewhat unfortunate. The term has something of a loaded meaning, under a very controversial theory of Catholic theology as the point to which all human consciousness is evolving.

Questions of terminology aside, it does make for an interesting thought experiment. I will admit that I always though a bit differently, that I could imagine a multiverse under which humanity accepted Christ's mission, making the Crucifixion unnecessary. But when you think about that, would you still have Christianity. For as the homilist today noted, without Good Friday, you cannot have Easter Sunday.

CBS Blogger Outreach

I have been getting e-mails of late from CBS in a political blogger outreach. Unfortunately, buy the time I read my e-mails, the story is already finished and past.

CBS is currently running behind other news sources, so maybe they view this as a way to widen their audience. I am obviously only a minor blogger, so I have no idea if other news organizations have been trying to contact other bloggers.

The Real Reason Obama is more Qualified to Be President than McCain

"I think they spent months trying to figure out how they can position Obama as better qualified than McCain, and basically came up with the fact that Obama can type."

Village Idiot, commenter on Ace of Spades blog (HT -- comment to the Head Tilter).

Seriously, this is dumber than Hillary Clinton's "3 AM" ad



So, after getting past the computer and e-mail comment, Obama throws in an attack on taxes and the economy. But still, "he can't send an e-mail"?

And of course, it turns out that McCain cannot send an e-mail because he cannot type, the result of 5 years of communist torture.

I know I am not the first to wonder this, but is Obama really trying to win the election?

WARMONGER!

There was a bit of an uproar today when ABC News showed the first part of Charlie Gibson's interview with Sarah Pallin. Pallin noted that if Georgia was in NATO (something she supports), an invasion of Georgia by Russia would mean the US and others would go to war with Russia.

WARMONGER! was the cry.

Well, DUH -- under the NATO charter an attack on one is an attack on all, requiring the other NATO members to intervene. So if Georgia is a member of NATO, a Russian attack on Georgia would require us to attack Russia.

Now, Obama also wants Georgia (and Ukraine) to join NATO. So I assume that if Georgia joins NATO and is attacked by Russia, President Obama will also go to war with Russia.

One can argue that the TONE of the statements are different, Obama is a bit conciliatory toward Russia while Pallin a bit more bellicose, but the fact remains that Obama's position on Georgia is little different that Pallin's (or McCain's for that matter, as McCain's position is the one that really counts).

Personally, I do not support US membership in NATO anymore, so you can guess my feelings about Georgian membership. But given the lack of imagination by our foreign policy elites, we will continue to be members in NATO.

So the point is, both candidates support Georgian membership of NATO. Which means that any Russian attack on Georgia will mean that we have to go to war with Russia.

Everyone REALLY Loves Barack!

As I noted the other night, polls show that everyone on the planet, and probably some from other planets, LOVE Barack Obama. Today I came across this little website, dedicated to the proposition that everyone else on earth needs to tell people like me to vote for Obama.

It is pretty funny. But as John Derbyshire pointed out on his "Derb Radio" podcast today, what does it really mean? For example, polls in Russia show that Russians love Vlad Putin, yet also want Barack Obama. How do you reconcile the two?

I think people are more into the IDEA of Obama than Obama himself. He is the cool, post modern candidate. As for American foreign policy, will it really change all that much? Given the incestuousness and lack of imagination among our foreign policy elites, I doubt it. The difference may be one of tone, but not really substance. Obama will use multilateral cover a little more than Bush has, and an Obama foreign policy will be more aggressively anti-Russian than Bush's, but in the end, I doubt much will change.

So why do I see McCain as better than Obama in this regard? My big concern about Obama is the same that I had about Bush 8 years ago -- seriousness. I also worry that Obama will try and prove he is a tough guy. John McCain has nothing to prove on that score. Obama may feel like he has. And considering the Messianic overtones of his campaign, I worry that he will react to any attack on US interests not as an attack on US interests, but as an attack on him personally. Presidents should never take anything personally -- that may be how we got into Iraq in the first place.

Another September 11

As I noted last year, what I remember most about 9/11 is the smell, that horrible smell. It is hard to believe it has been 7 years, but life goes on.

Everyone Loves Barack!

Everyone outside the US that is. Good thing we do not let foreigners vote.

So what can we do. Electing Senator Obama would make the rest of the world like us again. But on the other hand, my taxes are really high (especially as I now live in New York City).

The fun and slightly insane folks at IMAO have an idea -- let's give Barack to the rest of the world. Hence, they will like us again and I am only taxed at a 55% combined rate.

So what do I think of the Republicans?

The Sarah Palin pick will either go down as the most brilliant, or most disastrous, election decisions in history. I really do not see any middle ground. And that is strange, because usually, vice-presidential choices do not matter. Did Dick Cheney give GWB a boost? Did George Bush do anything for Ronald Reagan? Walter Mondale still lost in a landslide despite putting Ferraro on the ticket (and if I recall correct, Reagan even won Ferraro's district).

But Palin may have an effect. Let's be frank, the conservative base of the GOP has not shared my enthusiasm for John McCain. Governor Palin may have in one speech energized the base of the GOP in a way he could not.

I actually have been talking about her quite a bit, though it seems I mentioned her only twice in passing on this blog. She was my "hoped for" pick, though I could not really see him doing it. My Obama supporting wife has been hearing about Palin for about 5 months and when she saw the smile on my face her first words were "Palin?"

So why am I so excited? I am not an evangelical or politically a social conservative. But Palin has an appeal across constituencies. To me, I see her as a radical reformer, who took on the Alaska political establishment and a republican Senator I do not like. I also see her as someone who can make the case for drilling for more oil here, to take the pressure off until new sources of fuel are developed.

And while I can point to her as a reformer, she comes across as a practically intelligent, quirky, strong willed woman. I come a family filled with practically intelligent, quirky, strong willed women (though they are a bit difficent in the moose killing department).

Then she gave that speech.

As for McCain's speech, McCain was being McCain. That is who he is. People know him. He cannot, and should not, try to match Obama's oratorical brilliance or rock star appeal. But he should use the contrast to his advantage -- he must cast himself as a Cinncinatus in comparison to Obama's Gracchus.

In any event, this is really Obama's race to lose, not McCain's to win. Obama should be up by a lot more, considering the general level of discontent but he is not. . McCain's best hope is that the debates get Obama away from the teleprompter. That is where McCain can shine, and Obama has had some difficulties.

But even that may not be enough. Still, I can have the AUDACITY to HOPE that McCain will CHANGE the results of this election, right?

So what do I think of the Democrats?

I have a confession to make. I really like Joe Biden. I went to school with his son (the Attorney General of Delaware), and while I did not know him well, we did have a passing acquaintance. Back when I lived in Washington, I met the Senator on a few alumni occasions, even once having lunch with him. Unlike most politicians I have met, he is interesting, has a personality and interests outside of politics.

In fact, belying the fact that Biden has been a career politician, politics seemed very secondary to him. To me that is a mark in his favor, as I worry that too many people feel that politics (and government) is the font of all that is good and holy in this world.

I also find him to be a real adult and a serious person. His does have a reputation for shooting his mouth off, but again, I think that is because he is not a politicians that measures everything he says against a focus group.

Politically, he is something of a through back to the "old" pre-McGovern Democratic Party. You could label him a "Scoop Jackson Democrat" or maybe better as the old Catholic Democrats that dominated the party in the North East until the late 1960s. Does he bring anything to the ticket? He brings a wealth of foreign policy experience and a lot of gravitas. I do worry that we would be in the same situation as with Cheney and Bush in 2001, namely that President Obama might essentially fob off lots of national security issues to Biden.

But all in all, Barrack Obama could have done far worse.

I am Back!

We are finally moved in, though still surrounded by boxes. And after one week, we have FINALLY gotten home Internet access.

My oldest son started kindergarten, my youngest son started music school (at 3 he has pretty much decided he wants to be either a musician or a tax driver), my new job is looking very interesting, and my wife has not stuck a knife in me!

Over all, things are going well!

Quote of the Day

"The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here for" -- Alain Bernard, French swimmer and SILVER medalist in the 4 X 100 meter freestyle relay.

Opening Ceremonies

I love the Olympics, but is it just me or do opening ceremonies always have a vague totalitarian feel to them?

On Hiatus

I have not been posting much, due to the fact that I have accepted a new job in a new city. Between finishing up my old job and pakcing up the family, I have not had time for the blog.

So while I may make a few posts, the blog will mostly be silent for a while.

Regards!

It's About Time!

The Bureau of Land Management seems to read my blog (well, probably not) as they have finally published proposed regulations regarding shale oil. (HT Instapundit)

I do not think shale oil is a panacea, and I remember as a kid that shale was kicked around as a cure to our energy woes. But while it is not a cure all, shale oil will provide time to transition to something else, and along the way, counter act the speculation that is driving oil prices up (a better way to counter act speculation than threats of government action).

More About Iraq

I guess I should point out that my old DC acquaintance Robert George (America's only Black, West Indian, Catholic, Republican stand up comedian) pointed out the GOP's problem with not declaring Iraq victory two weeks ago and again today.

Instead of saying "IT WORKED!" and noting that the Iraqi War is essentially over (and can be handed over to the Iraqi government now), Senator McCain has handed this issue over to Obama, regardless of whether Prime Minister Maliki was misquoted or not.

So, what about Iraq?

I have not been posting much about Iraq of late, mostly because I guess our news media seems to have tired of the issue. But Senator Obama is in Iraq and has met with the Iraqi government. I have been trying to figure out lately what Obama's view on Iraq is and after today, it seems he is firmly behind a 16 month timetable for withdrawal. Which makes sense, given that over the past few months, the situation in the country seems to have gotten better. Even Sunni dominated Anbar province, which was written off a few years ago, is soon to be handed over to the Iraqi government's security forces (the hand off was delayed due to sandstorms).

If Michael Yon is to be believed, the Iraqi War is essentially over. While Yon probably knows more about the situation in Iraq than 99% of non-Iraqis, I will wait a bit before agreeing with him (though I hope he is right).

For that reason, Senator Obama may have an opening. While a 16 month draw down may not go over well with his left wing base, it shows that he is able to adjust with changed circumstances. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was quoted in Der Spiegel as agreeing with Obama's plan, though CNN reported that Maliki claims he was misquoted so I am not sure what to believe. Translation errors do happen or it could have been a journalist reporting what he wanted to hear or maybe Maliki rethought what he said or who knows.

By rejecting a timetable, the Bush Administration and Senator McCain may be harming their cause. This was never supposed to be about annexing territory (and please leave your oil fueled conspiracy theories behind, while I do not doubt Iraq was important because of oil, I also believe there were other reasons for the invasion). While the Iraqi government has made great strides over the past year or two, they must be continuously pushed into the right direction -- i.e., taking over responsibility for their own country. If the US military has an open ended mission there, they may be happy to have the US fight their enemies.

And while the change in tactics seems to have worked, the real question needs to be asked -- what took so long?

In any event, a KFC has opened in Fallujah. It seems that means it should be over soon. The question of whether it was all worth it will take longer to determine. If past history is any guide, there will be an official story, followed by a conventional story, followed 40 years of revisionism.

Get Well Soon Abby Wambach!

I have mentioned Abby Wambach here on a few occasions. She is one of the best women's soccer players in the world and has been the main strike force of the US women's team, for the past several years. One problem is that she is so good, strong and powerful, that it probably hurt the US national team at the last Women's World Cup -- the strategy seemed to be kick the ball up at Abby and see if she can score.

Under new coach Pia Sundhage, the team seems to have moved away from kick the ball at Abby to going back to playing soccer. Well, they will now need it as Wambach broke her leg and will miss the Olympics.

Last year I posted a series of "Abby Wambach Facts". Thanks to that post, I have been getting hits from search engines, usually asking if Abby Wambach is married. Frankly I have no idea.

So Abby, if you are out there and looking to get married, there are a bunch of people who appear to be interested.

In any event., please get well soon.

The New Yorker Cover

A lot has been written by now about the infamous New Yorker cover and I do not plan to repeat it. But the irony is that the cover was meant as satire of supposed right wing slurs on Obama has turned into a cause celeb among the left. The New Yorker is not National Review, it is a fairly liberal magazine which has a world view that sees little outside the confines of Manhattan (and allied enclaves) except ignorant farmers and barbarians. To claim that the New Yorker was out to slime Obama is laughable.

Satire is an important tool in any free society -- we must be able to lampoon our leaders, in a way reminding them that they are no better than us. In this way, satire fills the role that the in Roman days was filled by the servant whispering into the ear of a general receiving a triumph "Remember, you are mortal."

Is Obama to be immune from satire? Is satirizing Obama somehow racist, and if it is, is that thought in and of itself racist?

Does anyone on the left has a sense of humor?

And finally, while I expect to see more of it closer to November coming from the right side, most of the anti-Obama nastiness came from his own party, in the context of a very long and bloody primary fight.

It is time for some campaigning!

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300

Barrack Obama has 300 foreign policy advisers. They are organized into teams and seem to have already developed a diplomatic bureaucracy. (HT: Althouse) This number does not seem to include Samantha Power.

Here is video (not) released by the Obama campaign showing the advisers addressing the ongoing crisis with Iran.



Click here for a recent foreign policy debate between McCain and Obama

A reason to feel old

The film version of Mamma Mia has been released (the stage version was great). All the reviews I have read note a scene involving the ABBA song "Dancing Queen."

And then it hit me. The Dancing Queen is "only 17". That song was recorded in 1975 and was a big hit in 1976 (when I was 9). Which means that the Dancing Queen is now pushing 50.

Troops out Now! It's a Quagmire!

I am referring to Chicago of course.

Following a recent rash of violent crimes, Governor Blagojevich is considering sending state troopers and the National Guard into Chicago.

Everytime there is a violent crime, Mayor Daley calls for more gun control, though considering that Chicago has one of the most restrictive gun laws in the country, I am not sure what else he thinks he can do. A few weeks ago, following a number of gun deaths, a police spokesman called for a ban on "assault weapons" -- the problem was that none of the deaths were due to "assault weapons." At least we have avoided, so far, the "checkpoint" idea they are considering in DC.

I do believe that a lot of this can be traced down to our silly drug laws. But that is a longer discussion.

DRILL DRILL DRILL!!!

Frank J has a program to solve the oil crunch that is almost as well thought out as T. Boone Pickens.

A Slide Tackling Priest

It is not often that a news story combines my passions for soccer with Catholicism. So the news that New England Revolution defender Chase Hilgenbrinck has retired from Major League Soccer to join the seminary is welcome news. America may lose a defender, but the Church gains a priest.

You have to prayfully wish him well, he follows in great company. John Paul II was a goalkeeper, somewhat apt as his job was saving souls.

Happy Bastille Day!

Death to King Louis!

T. Boone Pickens has a Plan

Granted, Custer had a plan also, but I think T. Boone has thought his out better.



In short, it would use wind power to replace the current natural gas electric generating plants and use the natural gas to power automobiles. I have no clue if his numbers work out, but it is a start!

I am a big supporter of wind power so of course I think his plan is great. And best of all, it is nowhere near Teddy Kennedy's yacht, so I guess Teddy will be on board.

But this is not the only way. One reason I want government to stay out of the energy issue is that there needs to be multiple roads. Instead, all government has given us is an ethanol subsidy that does nothing but increase corn prices.

If I had my way, this is what would happen:

1. Allow more drilling in the Artic and offshore. This will ease uncertainty and speculation which is what is responsible for much of the recent run up. This is only meant to be a temporary measure however, to give time for other things to come online.

2. Pass the Zurbin plan requiring that all gasoline powered cars must be triple flex fueled within three years of passage. The technology is there already (and US car manufacturers have an advantage right now). The triple flex fuel portion is to drive some production into methanol, which does not use food crops, though it is less efficient then ethanol.

3. End the corn ethanol subsidy. It does nothing.

4. End tariffs on Brazilian ethanol. Brazilian ethanol is sugar based and has a much higher energy output/energy input than corn ethanol.

5. Pass regulations on shale oil production.

6. Throw up no barriers to the importation of Canadian tar sands oil.

7. Exploit the Bakken field.

8. Electric cars are great. The electricity has to come from somewhere. Reduce barriers for wind farms.

9. Build a new generation of nuclear plants.

10. Listen to T. Boone.

Did I leave anything out?

God wants Obama to be President

That is the only explanation I have.

I mean, Obama got his "Sister Souljah" Moment. And he did not even have to do anything, Jesse Jackson did it to himself!

This guy continuously steps in it. I know he is a smart guy, but still, he wins a State Senate race because his opponents can't figure out how to submit a petition. He then gets elected to the US Senate after TWO (not one but TWO) of his opponents have messy divorce skeletons in their closets, causing him to run against Alan Keyes (who is STILL not making sense).

And when he is trying to run toward the center (after running the primary far to the left), Jesse Jackson does his work for him. I surrender.

He is the Messiah and God's chosen one.

Or maybe he is the Kwisatz Haderach.

George Washington and Zimbabwe

Reading on Independence Day the increasingly sad events from Zimbabwe, makes me, as an American, realize how lucky we are that our first president and leader of the revolution was named George Washington. Most revolutions start out with stirring rhetoric about liberty and freedom but turn into bloody caricatures.

The French Revolution started out with "The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen" which were followed by the Terror and increasingly autocratic government, until finishing up with Napoleon.

The Russian Revolution began with calls for parliamentary government and ended up with the Gulag and the Holodomor.

The Chinese Revolution began with call for land, but ended with the famine and the Cultural Revolution.

Our revolution avoided most of those horrors. True, many Tories lost their land and left for Canada, but we avoided the horrors that accompanied other earth shattering revolutions. There were no mass executions. A big reason for that lies in the character of George Washington. He could have grabbed for absolute power. He did no. Rather, after doing his duty, he laid down the honors of office and retired to his plow -- a modern day Cincinnatus. (When told Washington would return to his farm after the Revolution, George III remarked that if Washington did "he will be the greatest man in the world).

Looking at the sad spectacle of Robert Mugabe from afar, you wonder what George Washington would have done. Like Washington, Mugabe was a rebel general who did not so much win a war, but kept an army in the field long enough not to lose it. When he finally forced a settlement, he was the natural man to lead the country. But he could not give up power. And now his thirst for power has so poisoned his country that even if he manages to stay on, you have to wonder, why? There is nothing left of an economy that was once the breadbasket of Africa.

And one should compare Mugabe not just with Washington but with Nelson Mandela. Mandela is a true hero of human liberty. Yet unlike Mugabe, he did not turn South Africa into a one party state. And most important of all, Mandela did not view power as his personal birthright, but rather something entrusted him by the people of his country. And when his term ended, he gladly took that power, and handed it off.

If only Mugabe had half the character of Washington or Mandela.

A Quote for Independence Day

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore." -- John Adams

Adams thought that July 2 would be the day celebrated, as that was the day independence was celebrated. But history has made the celebration of the Fourth, the day the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted. But the sentiment remains.

LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE!

How FARC got Tricked

It turns out that the Colombian military used a bit of trickery to rescue Ms. Betancourt and the rest of the hostages. The soldiers showed up wearing Che Guevara tee shirts (not bought from here I guess). The FARC members figured the soldiers were simply Barack Obama supporters and got into the helicopter.

Will the last FARC Members please turn out the lights

Members deserting, its leaders getting killed and it is in retreat on all fronts.

Now hostage (and former Colombian presidential candidate) Ingrid Betancourt and 14 others, including 3 Americans, were freed without a fight.

Hopefully, this will mark the end of FARC.