Hillary!

We are watching Hillary Clinton's speech now. My comment was at least she is not using her faux southern accent. My wife's comment was that she hopes Hillary does not start talking in a Long Island accent.

Romney

There seem to be lots of third place finishes for Romney. Unless he wins California, he is done.

Voting this Morning

I went to vote this morning. I had planned on taking my older son with me then dropping him off at preschool. However, my younger son got upset because he thought I sad I was taking his brother to the BOAT (he likes boats). So we turned it into a family affair.

Cool thing was that they let my older son run the ballot through the machine and gave him the voting receipt. He was telling everyone one we passed on the street that he voted.

Getting Ready for the Results

The Democrats – Just Feel the Love

While the self appointed leaders of the conservative movement continue their sulk over the McCain surge, not everything is all sweetness and light on the Democrats' side. As the Clinton machine puts Barack Obama squarely in their sights, that race continues to get ugly. So far, we have Clinton surrogates mentioned Obama's middle name, the New York chapter of NOW calling Senator Kennedy a traitor for endorsing Obama, Bill Clinton comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson in light of Obama's victory in South Carolina.

And if no one looks to have a lead after tomorrow, it may get uglier. About 20% of the Democratic delegates are "super delegates"– party leaders who are not elected in the primary/caucus process. Given the closeness of the race, it is possible that neither Obama nor Clinton will have a majority of the elected delegates. Added to that are the games being played over the Florida and Michigan delegations. Both those states had their delegates stripped because the scheduling of the primary violated Democratic Party rules. All the candidates promised not to contest the primaries, by Hillary Clinton found some loopholes and "won" the primaries. Her campaign is now pushing to seat the delegations. The link is a few days old and I cannot find the current status of the controversy.

My favorite regular commentator, Rodak, has even called for a boycott of the election if this continues.

Imagine what will happen if come convention time neither candidate has sown up the nomination. I am not saying we will get a repeat of 1968 (I doubt the mayor of Denver will be quite a ready to "preserve disorder" as Mayor Daley was). You may see a fight over the seating of Florida and Michigan and, of course, a fight over the super delegates. If this comes to pass, I plan to make popcorn and martinis.

Super Tuesday

Yesterday we had friends coming over for the Super Bowl, so we made a run to pick up some things. One of our stops was to pick up beer and wine. While there, I also picked up a bottle of Belvedere.

My wife's comment to the cashier was that the beer was for the Super Bowl and the vodka for Super Tuesday.

The Super Bowl

As a native New Yorker, I am quite happy that the Giants won. While I was always more of a Jets fan, the Jets and Giants fans do not have anything close to the depth of hatred that other rival New York area teams have.

The Mets and Yankees have a sense of history, as most Mets fans were originally Dodger or Giants fans.

The fans of the Islanders and Rangers hate each other with a passion grown out of old playoff losses (I still think Maloney’s stick was high, though it came out alright in the end) and chants of 1940 and 1983.

The Jets and Giants do not have quite that history. They only play each other occasionally. And neither team has been in a position to deprive the other of glory.

So this Jets fan says "Let's Go Giants!" and good job!

McCain Rally

John McCain swung through Illinois on Friday. I attended the rally, though got there a little late. I was stuck in the back, practically in the lobby.

One of those blurs on the stage is the Senator (not a bad photo considering it was from my camera phone).

He seemed energized and ready to put the nomination away. But before us McCain supporters get to comfortable, the latest polls from California show that Romney is making a comeback there.

A couple of Ron Paul supporters showed up of course. One of them was whispering sweet nothings about illegal immigration and the gold standard in my ear.

But the Paulistas did not take away from the excitement McCain generated.

Mohammed Yunus and the Abolition of Poverty

Mohammed Yunus, head of the Grameen Bank, spoke here a few days ago. He is a real interesting guy and I even bought a copy of his latest book, Creating a World Without Poverty.

Yunus formed the Grameen Bank to give loans to the poorest people in Bangladesh, to help them get out of debt to moneylenders and start their own businesses. This has blossomed into a major undertaking, establishing not only a bank but a whole string of enterprises. All of the enterprises are self sustaining, but not profit making enterprises in the traditional sense. Rather, they are what he terms "social businesses" which means a non-profit or small profit enterprise which runs a business as a business, and generates enough profit to keep the business going and expanding. While investment is protected, dividends are not to be paid (or paid in small amounts). In his book, Yunus rejects socialist and Marxist prescriptions for alleviating poverty for one based on the free market (though he believes in heavy regulation).

I think Yunus underestimates the profit motive a bit, but then again, not really. You could argue that the Grameen principle is a way to train the poor to use capitalism to their advantage. And while the blankets and crafts that Grameen members are famous for are not what built the German or Japanese economic miracles, one imagines a time when Grameen enterprises moves onto new products.

But the guy is not standing on a street corner with a sign saying "will quit overpopulating for food." He is not standing outside a G8 meeting shouting "Give me money!" Quite the opposite. He wants to include the poor in the global market, not end the global market (I am reading his latest book and he is really pushing, among other things, free markets). I think his model, within its limits, is a good way forward for alleviating poverty

Living Lent

The Anchoress notes that, by happy circumstance, Ash Wednesday is the day after Super Tuesday. So I guess that means I will gorge myself on Tuesday night, while watching election returns and then begin the time of penance. As usual, I will give up ice cream.

But The Anchoress believes that is too easy and we should use the period of Lent for greater reflection. Hence, that most political of Catholic bloggers is considering giving up political talk until Easter. While I will not follow her example, I think she is right that Lent must be a time of self examination.

Ann Coulter Endorses Hillary Clinton

Well sort of. She has said that if John McCain is the GOP nominee, she is CAMPAIGNING for Hillary Clinton.

Why? Because Hillary would be stronger on anti-terrorism. One piece of her proof, McCain opposes waterboarding.

I have always thought that Coulter is either a Democratic Party mole or doing an extremely subtle piece of performance art. Either way, she is an embarassment.

Some Favorite Hymns

My post the other day regarding my dislike of most hymns sung in Catholic churches got me thinking, what are my favorite hymns? After all, I am a firm believer that singing makes you pray twice. But hymns must be singable, beautiful and meaningful -- and too many of the songs in our Catholic hymnal fail on all three counts.

But there are great hymns out there, some are even sung in Catholic Churches. A few favorites, off the top of my head (and not including Christmas songs):

• The King of Love my Shepherd Is (perhaps my all time favorite, and one I want sung at my funeral)


• Amazing Grace


• The Prayer of Saint Francis


• Holy, Holy, Holy


• Holy God We Praise Thy Name


• Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above (hearing this hymn reminds me of being little and watching the old Italian ladies walk through the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn with a statute of the Virgin)


• We Walk by Faith

Of these quick hymns, three are Anglican hymns, three are "old" Catholic hymns thought no longer relevant by many, and one (the Prayer of St. Francis) is relatively old but still often sung.

Stimuli!

Or is it stimuluses? I was never very good at Latin.

In any event, the folks at IMAO have the inside scoop on what the package entails.

Florida!

The day is finally here! All over Florida, old people drove to vote, after hitting the early bird special at Country Kitchen Buffet. And McCain is the winner.

By winning Florida, has McCain sewed up the nomination? Well, no. There are still lots of primaries, and Super Tuesday next week. But the establishment and conservative line has been that McCain won in New Hampshire and South Carolina because those states were "open" primaries -- independents and even some Democrats crossed over and voted for him.

But Florida was a closed primary -- only registered Republicans allowed. And McCain won. Now overwhelmingly., but enough.

So if Giuliani drops and endorses McCain, that should be enough to put McCain over the top.

The State of the Union

I avoided it and watched "Advise and Consent" instead. Frankly, I am tired of George Bush and want him to go away. After January 20, 2009, he can retire to Florida and write his memoirs.

What will it take for Catholics to find their voice?

I find so much about being a Catholic that connects me to the eternal. The ritual, the spirituality, and Apostolic Succession all give me a feeling of touching the eternal, of reaching back to the time of Jesus (and before) and reaching forward into future generations.

What I really wish, however, is that someone would choose some better hymns.

I sat through Mass on Sunday listening to the cantor warble through unsingable hymn after unsingable hymn. I tried to sing, but none of the hymns were singable. The words were vacant and tune tuneless. Save the last one, which was Amazing Grace.

I have complained about this before. Cannot someone in the Church write some hymns that (i) are singable and (ii) are beautiful?

If that is impossible, cannot we at least borrow from the Anglican hymnal or go back to singing some Latin hymns?

Viva Chavez!!!

Oil is $100 a barrel and there are food shortages in Venezuela. That is all you really need to know about socialism.

"Zimbabwe On the Caribbean" indeed! (HT Instapundit)

The Pope's Undelivered Speech

I found an English translation of the Pope's speech that he was supposed to deliver to the students and faculty of Rome University.

The speech is what you would expect of the Pope. The speech began with a discussion of historical context. It briefly traced the history of the university and its importance to the Italian state. It then discussed the Pope's connection to the actual invitation, noting that it was to the Pope as "bishop of Rome".

The speech then turned to discuss the nature and purpose of two institutions, the Papacy and the University. Looking to the history of words, the speech noted that the Pope was first and foremost a bishop, who Greek word is tied with the idea of the shepherd. So the Ope is, in essence, someone who is a voice to guide "ethical reasoning." But the Pope also speaks from faith. So as always, Pope Benedict sees faith and reason intertwined.

The Pope next turned to the purpose of the university. A university is a physical manifestation of man's quest for knowledge. Which again is where faith and reason connect. To the early Christians, the quest for knowledge was a way of blowing away the clouds of myth and understanding God. As the Pope put it, "to discover the God that is creative Reason as well as Reason-as-Love." And what is the end of knowledge? As the speech explained the "purpose of knowing the truth is to know what is good."

What is perhaps most ironic about this affair is that the Pope, the most scholarly of clerics by far, was forced away from a university. Those who protested his planned appearance would have done well to hear what would have been his closing words:

What does the Pope have to do or say in a university? He certainly should not try to impose in an authoritarian manner his faith on others, which can only be freely offered. Beyond his ministry as Pastor of the Church and on the basis of the intrinsic nature of this pastoral ministry, it is his task to keep alive man’s responsiveness to the truth. Similarly he must again and always invite reason to seek out truth, goodness and God, and on this path urge it to see the useful lights that emerged during the history of the Christian faith and perceive Jesus Christ as the light that illuminates history and helps find the way towards the future.

Anyway, do not take my word on it -- read the speech.

Pope Benedict, Faith, Reason, and the University of Rome

Pope Benedict had planned to visit Sapienza University of Rome, perhaps Italy's most prestigious university, to celebrate the start of the academic year. Instead, a coalition of students and professors demanded he stay away, so he did. Their complaint is that the Pope, an advocate of free inquiry and the importance of reason, is responsible for Galileo or something like that.

This has lead recriminations from Italy's left wing government, with both the president and Prime Minister condemning the actions of the protesters.

The Vatican has released the text of the Pope's undelivered speech. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find it in either English or Italian. I probably will have more to say once I read it.

A Quote I Like

"The throngs of Packers fans had been warmed by Lawrence Tynes' two missed field-goal attempts and Lord knows what they had poured down their throats, and they were jumping up and down in their camouflage hunting gear. If deer have nightmares, they look like this."

Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune, on the Giants-Packers game

(And yes, I am really a Jets fan, but unlike baseball or football, I always root for both teams).

Fred's Last Stand?

It seems that Fred Thompson has decided to go all for broke in South Carolina. Here is his video announcement even before New Hampshire.



The polls show that Thompson is fighting Romney for third place in the state. His hoped for break through has not quite happened, though in this strange primary season who knows. If the posters in NRO's the Corner are to be believed, the Thompson rallies are enthusiastic and well attended.

You have to think that a poor showing in South Carolina will mark the end of Thompson's campaign. He may stay on through Super Tuesday hoping to win Tennessee (I imagine his delegate list is made up of old friends and supporters, and he will want to get them to the convention). But you have tho think he will quietly shut down operations.

One problem Thompson is facing is that his supporters seem to want it more than he does.

This may sound strange, but he fact that his supporters seem to want it more than Thompson himself does is, in fact, something that appeals to me. Thompson is probably my second choice right now, because he strikes me as a nice dull Cincinnatus as opposed to a rock star wannabe.

I wonder if Thompson's plan from the beginning has been to run for Vice President.

"Give the People What They Want!"

The Michigan Primary shows why maybe I am crazy to think there really is a market for libertarianism in this country, my protestations to the contrary. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country, businesses are fleeing the state, and the economy is hard up. The candidates response? John McCain tells folks we need to do a better job retraining people. Mitt Romney promises to single-handedly rebuild the auto industry.

People blame the auto industry, yet, elsewhere in the US, the auto industry seems to be doing well. VW has decided to build another plant in the US and they are looking at sites down south, not in Michigan.

So maybe the issue is not the federal government but (i) the fact that US auto makers are not building cars people actually want to buy and (ii) that there is something wrong in Michigan's business environment.

But Romney decides pandering is better politics than truth. And he wins.

It reminds me of the moment I realized I could never be a good politician. As a college kid I got myself elected to the Nassau County Republican committee. This is not really a big deal really. There are two committee persons per election district (maybe 800 registered voters) of which about 400 were registered Republicans.

I ended up running unopposed, so there was no election.

When I was going door to door, I had someone complain simultaneously that (i) housing prices were too high on Long Island, (ii) Long Island was over developed, and (iii) that she could not sell her house for the price she wanted (which was too high). I told her she could take care of all three problems by halving the price of her house and taking the money, buy an open field and live in a tent. Then she would sell her house, reduce housing prices and prevent over development

She actually thought it was funny and decided to support me, but I knew I could not do this 400 times.

The Ron Paul Affair

I have not said anything regarding the Ron Paul Affair. The newsletters were obscure for the most part, though the issue was first raised by a Congressional opponent several years ago. At the time, it seemed like a one time screw up but New Republic has shown that the newsletters were an ongoing activity.

I do not think Ron Paul is a racist. And I accept his statement that someone else wrote the newsletters and he had little input or control. But he was indifferent to what was said in his name and showed poor judgment and poor management.

This leads to a larger question though -- namely, has the Ron Paul campaign been good or bad for the libertarian movement in America. Paul was NEVER going to be the GOP nominee. But Paul wants to talk about the fiscal policy and constitutionalism and changing American foreign policy. I had hoped that lead to a widening of the debate.

Instead, however, libertarianism again is shown to be a strange and alien political philosophy. I have never been a "movement" libertarian. Mostly, I think, this is due to the fact that libertarianism tends to shade off into strange places. It has always been more comfortable to consider myself a conservative for that reason.

The Paul campaign has again lead libertarianism down this road. Paul's supporters have a tendency to get in your face. And he has attracted a motley crew of 9/11 Truthers, new world order conspiracy theorists and other marginal types to his campaign. Even the "Don't Tase Me bro" guy is a Paul supporter.

This newsletter affair seems to go beyond the one article that has been discussed. Basically, you have a guy making money using his name to sell newsletters that contain things that are considered outside the realm of polite society. The articles are unsigned and give the impression that he either wrote them (which he did not) or that he gave his seal of approval.

I do not believe in censorship of ideas. Paul and his supporters can say what they feel like until they are blue in their collective faces. But this is yet more proof that Paul was the wrong champion of libertarian ideas in this election.

One Third of my Third Worst Fear

One third of my third worst fear has come true. Thompson seemed to be surging in South Carolina and Giuliani is hanging on in Florida.

We really won't see a brokered convention, will we?

The Anchoress Asks -- "Who do you Trust?"

The Anchoress has decided a new way to decide who should be president of the United States. First, accept that it is the most powerful position on Earth.

Then look at these pictures and ask your gut -- who do you trust to have the words "the most powerful person on Earth" after their name.

Tim Blair -- Prayers and good wishes, but no head tilt

Australian blogger Tim Blair is probably one of the blogsphere's greatest. His blog, while focusing on things Australian, has given the world the "Gore Effect" and "Blair's Law." Blair also unleashed the progressive "head tilt of compassion" on the world. His blog is witty and irrevenent, even by Australian standards.

Which is why many in the blogspehere are saddened today that he announced he has abdominal cancer.

So Tim, here are prayers and good wishes. But no head tilts for yoy!

Welcome to Naples

The trash crisis has gotten so back in Naples that the army has been called in.

Grandma, grandpa -- if you can hear me -- thank you for emigrating to America.

I really shouldn't be enjoying this as much as I am

So while the GOP contenders battle it out over who is Reagan's heir, who is the true conservative, or whether the conservative coalition is still viable, the Democrats have reduced the race down to whether Hillary Clinton is more black than Barrack Obama.

Apparently the Democratic establishment is not happy whenever a black man wonders off the plantation. Well, I say good for Obama. I now seriously want him to win the Democratic nomination -- because I fear not a Clinton presidency, but a Clinton campaign. A Clinton presidency would be well, another Clinton presidency. A Clinton campaign will further poison the political atmosphere in this country.

A McCain-Obama race will send Carville and Rove slinking back under their rocks.

But Then Andrew Jumps Anyway

So then, just when I have decided that Andrew Sullivan, has not jumped the shark, he jumps anyway. His latest take on the New Hampshire primary:

I'm not an expert on this, but is there an obvious explanation for why Obama had a 7.5 percent advantage over Clinton in New Hampshire votes counted by hand and Clinton had a 5.5 percent advantage in votes counted by machine? I presume that it's a function of differing locations, with the more urban Clinton districts relying more on machines. Is that the right inference?

Uh, yes. You figured it all out, not very hard. (HT: Instapundit)

Actually, it is pretty easy to understand. HRC won "old New Hampshire" the urban, industrial areas where the Clinton machine could operate full throttle. Obama won the more upscale, less populated places, the small college towns, of "New New Hampshire." Basically, Dunkin' Donuts beat Starbucks (I saw that somewhere today, though I forget where).

Unless of course, it is all a conspiracy by Karl Rove in connection with Diebold. Yea, that it.

The Water Board Right

Every time I figure that Andrew Sullivan has jumped the shark, National Review comes through and points out why I still read him. Especially the increasingly unhinged Kathryn Jean Lopez. I am a McCain supporter since 1999 and I know that he has done some things that annoyed many in the GOP and conservative base. While I agree with him on immigration, I understand his position he lost him support. I also have come to believe that campaign finance reform has made things worse. Yet McCain is still the guy who has fought earmarks, someone who is not against lowering taxes, just wants to control spending first, and is pro-life.

But Lopez's comment: "But on a whole host of issues — including water boarding, tax cuts, and the freedom of speech — he’s not one of us."

OK, you can argue with him on tax cuts, you can argue with him on campaign finance reform (which is what she means on freedom of speech). But suddenly, support for water boarding is necessary to get the support of conservatives? And if we see McCain as the GOP nominee, does this mean they will not support him? Would they rather see HRC (who is a cynical paranoid) or Senator Obama (who may be honorable, but is too naive to be president) just because they like water boarding?

Is this what the conservative coalition has come too -- water boarding and tax cuts uber alles?

My Third Worst Fear

My worst fear is an HRC-Giuliani general election

My second worst fear is Mike Huckabee getting the nomination. Not just because he will lose, but because he might win.

So what is my third worst fear? That Mitt Romney wins Michigan, Fred Thompson wins South Carolina, and Rudy Giuliani wins Florida. The result is that NO ONE has momentum going into Super Tuesday. Those five pretty much split the delegates and no one ends up as the clear nominee.

Pundits have been dreaming about this since 1980, when Ted Kennedy tried to release the delegates. The last time a winner was not certain going into a convention was in 1976 when Reagan came within a whisper of knocking off Ford. (I actually remember watching the convention with my parents in a hotel room in Cooperstown).

Back in the old days, before McCain Feingold, the conventions were early in the summer. This gave the parties time to choose a candidate and still have a real long campaign, in the days when the candidate was actually chosen at the convention. Now the conventions keep getting pushed back as the nominee is known, and this way they can hold off making it official, allowing money to be saved for the general election. BUT if it is late August and there are two or three candidates that think they can win, what happens then?

MAC Really Is Back!

Of course, so is HRC.

Jack Kemp endorses McCain

I have not seen this anywhere else, but according to the Corner, Jack Kemp has endorsed John McCain.

While Kemp has been out of the public eye for a few years, this will help McCain counter arguments that he is not properly conservative enough on economic issues.

So why John McCain?

As I promised a few weeks ago, why should America entrust itself to John McCain's leadership.

Reason number one is that of all the candidates of either party running, only John McCain is ready, on day one, to face the rest of the world. We can dream about pulling up the drawbridge and returning to the good old days when we minded our own business. We can fantasize that once George Bush leaves office the rest of the world will love us again.

But the truth is that the world is a dangerous place. Wishful thinking will not make it go away. Anti-Americanism long predates George Bush (when vacation in Italy in 1999, I got an earful from lots of Italians claiming Bill Clinton was a war criminal for intervening in Kosovo).

HRC represents a return to the vacation from history of the Bill Clinton years. Barack Obama does not have the experience and seems to naive. Romney would be a competent executive but would have to learn on the job. Giuliani would make an excellent Homeland Security director. Huckabee's foreign policy is an incoherent jumble and would be a disaster.

Hence, we need John McCain.

I really need to pay attention to debates

There were more debates in New Hampshire. And as usual I missed them all.

However, my old acquaintance Robert George has come to the conclusion that John Edwards is the most annoying man running for President.

The MAC is back!

People turned away from McCain events by the fire marshall. I think there is definitely an excitement about McCain supporters now.

Onto New Hampshire!

I say this has been a great night for John McCain. Huckabee will not get much more traction. He does not have the money and Iowa was the result of two years of extraordinary effort.

Romney is now damaged. The way is open for McCain to extend his lead in New Hampshire and put himself on top!

Obama!

Well, I was wrong on both counts -- Obama has taken Iowa. But it was close.

This was Edwards best chance and I think he will now fade. HRC needed to keep this close and she did, but if she loses New Hampshire she is in real trouble.

It's Huckabee!

The GOP race is being called for Huckabee.

Early Results

According to Fox, the Democrats Big Three are in a close race.

On the GOP side, Huckabee's supporters have come out in droves at 35%, with Romney second at 23%. Thompson is third. If this holds, Romney is in a lot of trouble. Huckabee does not have the money or the constituency in New Hampshire, where McCain is in the lead and growing. A distant second place finish and Romney is done.

Richardson

One real interesting development is that Richardson has told his supporters to back Obama on the second ballot. The Democrats in Iowa vote twice and without a secret ballot -- if a candidate does not pass the 15% "viability" standard, their supporters are given a chance to support another candidate.

This is telling because Richardson was clearly, until about a week or two ago, positioning himself to be HRC's VP. Then when HRC started to show signs of trouble, he started to attack her. This may be the final sign that HRC is in trouble.

Let's Write Hillary's Pre-election Post Mortem!

Bob Novak is already writing Clinton's post mortem. His theory is that HRC ran too centrist too soon.

This makes some sense. The conventional wisdom is that you need to run to the base in the primaries (hence Democrats run left and GOPers run right) then run to the center for the general. Such a course requires a lot of verbal and intellectual gymnastics, and the person who best does it ends up winning the presidency.

HRC, figuring she was inevitable, skipped the first part and immediately started triangulating. The base it turned out was not as supportive as she expected and she is now paying the price.

IOWA!

Yes folks, it is the Iowa Caucus. Or it is Caucuses. No I think it is Cauci.

Well whatever. After listening to pundits yammer about since November 2006, we now get the chance to hear them yammer about for the rest of the year.

My predictions:

Iowa

Edwards 34
Obama 31
Clinton 28
Biden 4
Richardson 1
Dodd 1
Kucinich 1
Gravel 0

Iowa Republicans

Romney 29
Huckabee 24
McCain 17
Thompson 15
Guiliani 7
Paul 7
Hunter 1
Keyes 0

Edwards if everyones real second choice, so despite Richardson and Kucinich's decision to back Obama second, I think Edwards still wins.

In the GOP, there are no second choices, and Romney holds on to win.

Why I have not been posting much

My mother in law passed away a few days ago. My wife went home to Connecticut to be with her and so I had no time between work and watching the kids to post. In times like this, other things seem more important than politics and philosophy.

Why McCain?

So, why John McCain? I was a volunteer on his 2000 campaign and while I have not been actively working on his campaign this time around, I still believe he is the best choice for America. So for the next few days, I will try and make the case for McCain.

McCain Victory 08

Want to help John McCain but don't know how? Not in Iowa or New Hampshire?

Brad Marston has started a blog specifically for you --

McCain Victory 08!

Effects of Romney's Speech

It is too early to say. The analysis I have seen has been mostly positive, feeling that he made a good speech and hopefully will put the issue to rest.

The candidate who should feel happiest about the speech and the wall to wall coverage should be Mike Huckabee. In part, the speech was in response to the sudden surge of support for the conservative Christian Huckabee. Furthermore, the speech has deflected attention from the sudden rash of reports regarding Wayne Dumond, a convicted rapist who was paroled during Huckabee's time as Arkansas governor. Huckabee's role in the parole is under question. After being released, Dumond raped and killed another woman.

With Huckabee going from a little known candidate to suddenly in the lead in Iowa, the news media has decided to revisit the story. Given the anti-crime emphasis of the GOP, especially the social conservative wing that Huckabee is heavily courting, this could have hurt him badly. But the media has a short attention span, and the issue now is Romney's religion. Huckabee has to hope that the spotlight stays there for a while, then moves off to something else.

The Speech

Mitt Romney made his long awaited speech today on religion. He had hoped to defuse the questions surrounding his Mormonism in a way reminiscent of JFK's speech to the Houston Protestant Pastors in 1960.

I read the speech and saw part of it on the Internet today. It was a good, heartfelt speech. In the gym tonight, I was watching on t.v. while one bunch of pundits (from different sides of the aisle) seemed to think it was a great speech. Then on Oberman, well, Oberman was Oberman (I had a testy e-mail exchange with him once when he was still a sportscaster, so I really don't like him).

I had two problems with the speech.

First, I thought he seemed to insinuate that non-religious people cannot be good Americans. Considering that most of the Founders were "nonconformists" on the question of religion, and some were outright heretics, that is just wrong to say. I went through an atheist phase about 10 years ago -- was I less American for it?

Second, though, just from an overall standpoint, and as a Catholic, I am annoyed we even have to be having this conversation. Three years ago, John Kerry could run for president and no one asked about his Catholicism. No one seems very concerned about Rudy Giuliani’s lapsed Catholicism. 7 years ago, an Orthodox Jew could get nominated for vice president. No one really batted an eyelash. 47 years ago, a Catholic could get elected president but was forced to head off the Catholic issue. And even there (and in 1928 with Al Smith), the issue was whether Catholics would have to submit to the Pope.

The issue with Romney, and why it is so annoying, is not one of independence but rather simply theology. Some, especially on the Evangelical right, seem hung up not on Romney's ideology but rather on the teachings of Mormonism. This was not raised when his father ran for president in 1968 (though when Mo Udall ran for the democratic nomination in 1976, Colman Young, an ally of Carter did raise the Mormon issue).

I hoped we were past this as a country. I hope I am not wrong.

Happy Repeal Day!

Worst Political Prediction Ever

"On every morning that you wake up for the rest of your life you will be ashamed of what you did last night" -- David Margesson to John Profumo, May 9, 1940.

John Profumo was a young Tory member of Parliament who had been elected in April 1940 on a pro-Nevile Chamberlain platform. As the early course of World War II turned against the Allies, on May 8, 1940, the House of Commons held a confidence vote on Chamberlain's government. Profumo was serving in the Army when elected, and received a day's leave to attend the vote. As the members filed off into the lobbies to vote, Profumo, almost on a whim, joined 41 other government supporters in calling for Chamberlain's resignation.

Chamberlain's government won the vote, but it was obvious that he was mortally wounded as Prime Minister. Profumo, his duty done, then went off to a night club and proceeded to get drunk.

The next morning, Profumo was called to the office of the Tories' Chief Whip, David Margesson, who made that fateful prediction. Profumo returned to his unit.

The following day, May 10, 1940, the German war machine struck west, invading Belgium. By that evening, Winston Churchill was Prime Minister.

John Profumo would later take down another Conservative government, after sharing a bed with a woman sharing a bed with a Russian diplomat and lying about it to the House of Commons. But his action helping to take down the Chamberlain government in the end helped to save Western civilization.

UN Meeting Saves the Planet

The UN climate change meeting in Bali has attracted so many participants that Indonesia apparently is looking for new places to park all the private jets.

Despite the fact that I agree reducing carbon output is a positive good, I will start to act like it is a crisis when the people claiming it is a crisis start acting like it is a crisis.

Chavez Loses

I guess the people of Venezuela did not quite want socialism after all, at least not the one man socialism that Chavez was offering.

Why is it every time I see this guy on t.v., I think about this?

I believe that many people frankly LIKE totalitarianism. Why? Because it means that you are never personally responsible for anything. Big Brother watches you. He will deliver everything good to you and if you get something bad, well, it is not your fault.

Oil is pushing $100 a barrel and there are reports of food shortages in Venezuela. That is all you need to know about socialism.

Chavez's next speech:

From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish.
Silence!

In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check.

Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now... 16 years old!

The You Tube Debate Secret Transcript

It turns out that CNN heavily edited the You Tube debate. Here is the secret transcript of what really happened.

Cousin Billy's Blog

I just discovered that my cousin Billy has a blog. Billy is one of the funniest people I know, and I am not just talking about his looks. He actually gets paid to be funny, so I suppose his employer should complain.

If you want a good laugh, also check out his twice weekly column.

Union Leader Endorses McCain

The Manchester Union Leader endorsed John McCain. Will that help in the New Hampshire primary? It cannot hurt.

Advent Thoughts -- Jesus as Man

As a Catholic, I believe that Jesus is wholly God but also wholly human. Advent starts this weekend and so I was thinking about the human side of Jesus. This mystery of the Incarnation obviously is a difficult one to grasp. God became flesh, but really, what does that mean? Does that mean the agony and the Crucifixion was merely playacting, or does it heighten the power of Good Friday? Riots would break out in Byzantium over this question.

But at this time of year, I prefer to keep Good Friday a bit off center and focus instead at the miracle of the Incarnation and wonder about Jesus as a little baby. A local social club had a short concert today and one of the songs sung was about "Mary rocking her baby." The Bible is mostly silent on Jesus as an infant. There are the Nativity narratives of course, Jesus being presented in the Temple, and Jesus getting lost in the Temple sometime later. Now that I am a father, wonder what Joseph must have thought when he looked into Jesus's eyes or what Mary thought as she held him.

I tried today to explain to my children more about Christmas today. Several years ago, Alex received a Playmobil of the Nativity as a Christmas present and so my wife and I trued to use that to explain the story. Alex was a barrage of questions while Christian just wanted to play with the camel. So my attempt to explain it to two children failed. Yet if I struggle with the meaning for myself, how am I supposed to explain it to a four year old?

Oprah and Obama

I have been thinking some more about the duel between Oprah Winfrey and Barbra Streisand. It seems somewhat comical in a way -- Winfrey is, after all, one of the top entertainment celebrities right now while Streisand hit her peak maybe 30 years ago. So in a way, it fits in with the themes of the Clinton and Obama campaigns. Clinton's campaign looks back to her husband's time in the White House while Obama looks forward. And to be truthful, do celebrity endorsements really mean all that much?

But there is something else here which is interesting, namely how race is not playing a part in this. Winfrey is black, yet she is enormously popular (she owns Chicago). Obama is black, yet he is really running as the liberal yuppie candidate.

While race is never too far removed in the US, maybe we are finally overcoming our obscene obsession with it.

Planting Questions at the You Tube Debate

The issue of General Kerr's appearance at the You Tube debate continues to raise a firestorm. General Kerr lends his name to a Clinton campaign committee on gay rights. (And apparently his name was on a letter for a Kerry veterans committee in 2004). At the very least it shows bad judgment on his part, especially in light of questions whether the Clinton campaign was planting questions at her rallies.

CNN apparently edited the General out of the rebroadcast of the debate.

There are other issues now being raised regarding whether other questioners were "plants." Some of the other questioners were either supporters of Democratic candidates or have some other left wing connection. That does not really bother me. All of the questions were respectful and serious questions. The Muslim woman might have been a former CAIR intern, but the question was a good and serious one, and was respectful (not a GOTTA type of thing). The black man who asked about getting more black support for the GOP apparently runs a satire site about black Republicans, but again, his question was serious and respectful. (I doubt the guy who asked the gun question of Biden in the Democratic debate was a Democrat)

My only problem is with the General because his name is attached to the Clinton campaign, and he was flown in at Google's expense to give a rebuttal to the answers given. His question was a serious one, but one that someone else should have asked.

How long in Iraq (and elsewhere)?

I want the surge to work and recognize that we have interests in the Middle East that will remain until a substitute for Middle Eastern oil is found. But I am dismayed by reports that the US and Iraq have agreed that US troops will stay there long term.

We should not be permanently occupying Iraq. Yet, 62 years after the end of World War II and 18 years after the Berlin Wall fell, we still maintain troops in Europe. The Europeans whine whenever we talk about reducing them further and a long standing plan to remove 2 heavy combat brigades was recently shelved. We still have 300 nuclear warheads in Europe. We maintain a force in South Korea too small to influence North Korea or defend the South (the real defense of South Korea should be and is with the South Korean army). We maintain a force in Japan. We maintain troops in the Balkans after our temporary occupation following the Balkan Crisis (and Kosovo still does not have an effective government).

Whenever we talk about removing troops from anywhere, the locals whine. Because we have effectively promised to defend them, so it removes real responsibility for their own security. Which is why the Europeans were completely useless in dealing with the Balkan Crisis and why South Korea in the end will follow a policy of appeasement with the North.

So it is not just Iraq. Our entire security policy has a lack of imagination and a certain amount of inertia. And not just us. Britain still has troops in Germany.

Vodka Pundit on the You Tube debate

Always entertaining

The You Tube Debate

Well, I finally watched a debated -- or at least most of it. I really like the You Tube format, although I think people should dress better if they want to ask candidates questions. The questions did not seem to be as silly as during the Democrat's debate (even the Cheney animation was a serious question, and the Red Sox v. Yankees question was a funny way to end it all).

The question on "don't ask don't tell" and the seemingly forever rebuttal by the questioner lost me. It also turns out that the questioner, a retired Army general, is connected to the Clinton campaign.

McCain came off extremely well. He seems to have done well in the debates so far. He is calm, focused, and shows both his competency and his principles. The showed his incredible grasp of foreign policy as well as taking the torture question head on. Yes, this man should be president.

Another who did well was Huckabee. He had the best answer of the night -- what would Jesus do about the death penalty? " Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office." Huckabee, however, continues to run as the great social conservative hope and sounded like he was interviewing for a pastor's job. I think he will end up if not winning in Iowa and maybe South Carolina, coming a close second.

Romney did not impress me. He seems too polished, too much answering questions based on what he thinks will be popular.

Thompson seemed very relaxed and answered the questions well. Thompson was a better non candidate than candidate and has lost much of his early bounce. So maybe he was relaxed as he was trying out for VP. He (and the other candidates) really punted the Rebel flag question though.

Giuliani stumbled at times. He was expecting to skip Iowa and New Hampshire and concentrate on Florida with the hope of pulling off an upset in South Carolina. But he is in trouble in the early states now. The pressure is on him and he knows it.

Ron Paul was, well, Ron Paul. The Paulistas reacted, well, as you would expect.

We should have a pool as to when Hunter and Tancredo drop out. My wife (not a Republican) has no clue who they are.

In the end, McCain won and Huckabee really helped himself. Let's hope we see more of this type of format.

The Democrats Escalate! McCain Responds!

The Democrats are getting serious. Barack Obama has announced that Oprah Winfrey would begin campaigning with him in some key states.

Escalating the tension, Barbra Streisand has come out publicly in support of Hillary Clinton (no word yet if it is the Mecha Streisand)

John McCain delivered the Republican response



EDITED TO ADD -- From commenter Rodak, Obama's new slogan in New Hampshire -- "WINFREY, OR DIE! "

A quote I like

"I chose to be an American. What did you ever do, except for having been born?"

Ayn Rand is supposed to have used this rejoinder to a heckler who claimed that as a foreigner, she knew nothing of America. I am not a big Ayn Rand fan, but for me, that sums up a lot of the American experience. We are all immigrants in a way. My grandfather, born in Naples, had a love of America that I can only approximate. I take her for granted, but he realized how wonderful it really was.

In the ongoing immigration war, I hope we all remember these words.

New McCain Ad

This is McCain at his best -- the quiet unassuming patriot. Admitting he may annoy many, but always taking positions based on principle.

From now until Super Tuesday, McCain needs to keep this focus. If Romney falters in Iowa and the GOP base cannot reconcile itself to Giuliani, McCain becomes the obvious choice. Though I would say he should have been the obvious choice from the beginning.

While I am not thrilled with Obama, I agree with Andrew Sullivan that an Obama-McCain race would be the best for the country.

Good Bye Trent

Trent Lott is resigning. I blame my old DC pal Robert George for running him out of town.

I will miss the unintentional irony that Lott's leadership position was a "Minority Whip."

Chuck and Huck

Yes politics is important and serious. But that is not to say you cannot have a little fun.



I am still not sure what to make of Huckabee. But he definitely is not your father's evangelical conservative Republican.

If 24 was in 1994

This is the unaired pilot of 24, produced in 1994 (well, not really).

Truth is, I have never seen a single episode of 24, though I did watch the South Park parody.

Please God make it stop!

Ever get a song or two stuck in your head? This weekend, I was visiting my mother in law when my sister in law rented "La Vie En Rose", a French biopic about singer Edith Piaf. I am something of a fan of French films. The film was decent, not great, not bad.

The problem is that now I have swimming through my head, in alternative moments, the song "La Vie En Rose" or, worse, "No Regrets". Please God make this stop.

Drunk Blogger on the Democratic Debate

Stephen Green, aka the Vodka Pundit, has a great way of watching the debates -- drink vodka and they all start to make sense. His drunken take on the Nevada debate was spot on.

I have never met him, but he has been a great influence on me and a major part in how I will survive the soon to be Clinton presidency.

Blog McCain

I am still holding out hope that John McCain will be the GOP Nominee. I think he is the best suited to address the current world crisis and is the most honorable person of either party in Congress. He has an uphill battle, but I hope when the time comes to actually vote, GOP primary and caucus voters will put aside past squabbles and do what is best for the country.

A blog has been established to discuss ways for pro-McCain bloggers to help the campaign. My idea -- why not a "money bomb."

The first time I saw Phoenix

I was speaking at a conference in Reno last week and for some reason, I found it difficult to get there. My flight plan required me to change planes in Phoenix. The only times I have been to Phoenix were also to change planes, and both times my planes were either delayed or connections were missed due to late arrivals. So I have always tried to avoid Phoenix.

This time, it was worse. My plane arrived in Phoenix no problem, the board said everything was on time, so I stopped off for a quick dinner. I then noticed that my flight had disappeared from the board -- no indication of anything, no announcement. It was cancelled. The original plane had mechanical troubles in Washington and its replacement also broke down. So for the first time ever, I spent the night in Phoenix. I only saw what you could see from the hotel shuttle, the hotel was in Tempe and not much was going on (despite ASU being right there).

I am sure it is a nice city, but given my experiences with the airlines, I will stay away from Phoenix if I can.

Pakistan gets worse

Bhutto is now back under house arrest and opposition marches have been banned, though President Musharraf promises to hold elections in January. With Bhutto essentially under house arrest, and her rival Sharif still out of the country, any elections would be a farce.

President bush needs to make it clear now -- unless Musharraf resigns from the army and ends the emergency, there will be real repercussions.

It will not happen of course.

Who supports jihad?

Andrew Sullivan notes that a recent study shows that among Arabs, the richer you are, the more likely you are to support jihad.

One could probably spin these numbers lots of ways. But there is much anecdotal evidence that the usual line that "poverty breeds terrorism" is not really true. Bin Laden is [was?] a billionaire and we do not see much terrorism in Sub Saharan Africa.

Sullivan believes the problem is religious ideology. While I have little doubt that is part of the problem, I believe the larger part of the problem is simply the authoritarian nature of those governments. In Western societies, those who are wealthier or better educated are more influential politically. They can give money, host talk shows lobbing soft ball questions toward favored candidates, establish think tanks and run for office. (As an aside, I think that is one of the reasons Hollywood is so far left of the rest of the country -- they have money and glamor but generally are locked out of political influence.)

But if you are a wealthy or educated Saudi you probably find yourself locked out of government. There is no parliament to run for and any think tank will be censored. So you turn to religion and jihadism.

If this sounds far fetched, think back to European history. The Glorious Revolution, while portrayed as a religious and liberal revolution, was in any ways the revolt of the "squirarchy" who felt left out of the governing class by an increasingly authoritarian James II. The French Revolution began as an attempt of the urban middle classes and wealthy to take control of the French government (and it rapidly spun out of control). Even our own revolution was the result of the local elites wanting to control the colonies' destiny, not some far distant parliament.

I know most Americans have given up on democracy as a panacea for the problems of the Middle East (Sullivan seems to), but liberalization of the political structures in the Arab world is needed to stop jihadism. If wealthy and educated Arabs are in parliament or able to have influence in civil society, then maybe they will be less inclined to support bomb throwers.

What I hope comes from the Ron Paul Candidacy

I sympathize with Ron Paul, but I do not wish to see him as the Republican nominee. The Ron Paul movement has a tendency to range off into conspiracy kook land (NAU anyone?). He himself gets hung up on the gold standard. But the movement is raising issues that conservatives and to a some extent the political system as a whole should have been raising since the end of the Cold War.

Here are a few important ones:

1. The proper role of government
2. Monetary policy (Paul gets hung up over the gold standard, but the role of the Fed and its lack of transparency should be a major issue)
3. Federalism -- on the GOP side at least people are seriously talking about federalism again.
4. Foreign policy -- for 45 years we had a foreign policy designed to fight the USSR. For 15 years since we have not really retooled that policy. Iraq is merely a symptom of a much larger policy failure. Why must the US be the enforcement arm of the UN? Why do we still maintain a large army in Europe? Why was Europe unable on its own to address the Balkan crisis of the late 1990s?

If nothing else, the Paul campaign should help restart the conversation about where the conservative movement and the GOP should go -- "compassionate conservatism" is not it.

Mother Teresa and Darkness

I have finally finished the book of Mother Teresa's letters. It is a wonderful book, but very hard going. She was a very complex person yet also very single minded in her what she felt was her mission. Hence, the pain in what she feared was the rejection of Christ was very real and very strong.

As I have noted earlier, some in the press have stated that these letters show that Mother Teresa was some sort of hypocrite or a secret atheist. Otters have argued that she was feeling "the dark night of the soul."

From reading her letters, however, I think it was in fact something else, something deeper. Was she simply reacting as any loving human being would to the poverty and rejection of the Indian slums? Or was she feeling spiritually the pain of loss and rejection felt by Christ on Calvary? Was it from God, or was it a reaction to her surroundings?

I cannot say. But what is clear from her letters is that she eventually welcomed the darkness as a gift from God. And despite this darkness, she never waived in her mission.

A thought for my Father on Veterans' Day

My military experience (if it can really be called that) was limited to a year of army ROTC in college. But given the numbers of older members of my family who were in the Army, Veterans' Day (or Armistice Day, as my father called it) always had special meaning.

This photo is of my Dad when he returned from Korea. A newspaper photographer was at the dock, and a closeup of my grandmother feeding him ended up in the newspaper (the Daily News I think -- the clipping is somewhere in with the stuff I emptied out of my Parents' house).

My father saw quite a bit of action in Korea. He was an acting platoon sergeant by the end of the war, though he never had a permanent rank higher than corporal (he was promoted very fast so he must have been a good soldier, but he also had a tendency to mouth off to officers who he felt were below par, so he never received higher permanent rank).

He was wounded on a night patrol. He never talked much about it except to say that he got some shrapnel in his finger and his bullet proof vest was badly damaged. When I was an ROTC cadet in college, his only additional comment was to always wear my flak jacket. My mother also said that his badly damaged flak jacket was hung up on a pole at Inchon for the newly arriving troops to see with a sign saying "THIS SOLDIER IS STILL ALIVE" with an admonishment to wear their flak jackets.

At my father's funeral, one of his army friends arrived and told me the story of what actually happened. My dad, as the platoon sergeant, decided not to send his men out to do what he would not do so he decided to head a night patrol. Because he wanted to set a good example, he wore his flak jacket at all times (they were somewhat new and most soldiers did not like wearing them), none of the other members of the patrol wore theirs. They marched out, and unfortunately the Chinese decided to send a patrol out at the same time and place and they ran into each other. Artillery was called in and a battle ensued.

My father's friend was in the company that was on alert-reserve so they were called in to reinforce the line. Volunteers were asked to go and get my father and his patrol out of no man's land. Because my father was well thought of (probably because he was not afraid to stand up to officers on behalf of the enlisted men), all who were asked immediately volunteered (my father's friend was not allowed to go).

Of the four men on the patrol, only my father returned, probably because he was wearing his vest and the others were not. My dad quickly got stitched up and returned to his unit. (According to Uncle Jack, my father's telegram home that he was wounded but OK was intercepted by the neighbors and my grandfather did not know until he saw my dad wearing the purple heart ribbon on his uniform on his return.)

He was there when the war ended. He had said that toward the effective time of the of armistice, there was fear that the Communists would use it to launch a surprise attack, so his company was ordered up a mountain and told to dig in. He knew the war was over when the appointed time came, the shooting stopped, and the Chinese soldiers on the opposite hill came out of their bunkers and started waving.

He somehow sent a message ahead that he wanted a meatball hero on his return, and his family came through. If you look really closely, you can see they are also all holding small cups -- why let a few regulations keep up from toasting a return with wine.

Socialism or Death!! Viva Chavez!

Yes, God bless Hugo Chavez as he continues his fight to bring down Yankee imperialism and lead Venezuela into the perfection of Bolivarian 21st Century Socialism!!!!!

I've seen this movie before -- I think Madonna was in it and I remember lots of singing

What's Your Inner European?

Mine is no surprise

Your Inner European is Italian!

Passionate and colorful. You show the world what culture really is.

Who's Your Inner European?

(HT - The Anchoress)

Waterboarding

Why can't we just all admit it -- Congress lacks the courage to outlaw waterboarding.

Republicans won't do it because they then will have to admit they were wrong.

Democrats won't do it because they expect the next president to be a Democrat and they do not want to look soft on National Security.

John McCain, however, thinks the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act and the 2006 Military Commissions Act already make it illegal. He even suggests anyone waterboarding after 2006 is guilty of war crimes. (Why is this man not president?)

The red herring in all this is the claim that outlawing torture will put the US at risk. I look at it this way. If something happens in the heat of battle I may look at it differently than if something happens at Gitmo. If a 20 year old sergeant under fire somewhere in Afghanistan threatens a prisoner to reveal a sniper's nest, I view that differently than waterboarding someone captured 6 months ago in a prison. The whole ticking time bomb thing is the creation of t.v. writers (all of whom are now on strike anyway).

My E-Mail to the President on Pakistan

I e-mailed the president earlier today on Pakistan. It will not do any good, but it will make me feel better.

Subject: Pakistan
To: comments@whitehouse.gov
CC: vice_president@whitehouse.gov

Dear Mister President:

I am writing to express hope that you will speak out forcefully and quickly against the declaration of emergency in Pakistan. According to press reports, you have called President Musharraf and pushed for elections. You must go further. On places like Lebanon, Ukraine and most recently Burma, you have spoken out eloquently in defense of liberalization and democracy. Pakistan's struggle is no different. While realpolitik might call for continued support of the Pakistani regime in the fight against terrorism and to help Afghanistan, that is short sighted thinking.

No matter what course is taken, Pakistan is going to explode. Speak out against the emergency and in support of those demonstrating for the return of the constitutional order. They are not only fighting for democracy against a military government, they are also under threat of Islamic terrorists who wish to turn Pakistan into a rerun of Taliban run Afghanistan. They need and deserve our support. Their fight is our fight, both short term and long term.

I know you face difficult choices each day I can only imagine. Please know that my prayers are with you.

Defeat

The citizens of Utah have defeated the most comprehensive school voucher proposal in the country. I view this a defeat for poor parents who want a better education for their children. There may have been something more going on here, but school choice allows parents of more modest means to have better educational choices.

As it stands, there is school choice in this country right now. The rich can choose whatever school they wish. The middle class can usually choose to move to places with better schools. The poor however are often stuck with failing schools.

While this is a defeat, my hope is that more modest plans will still go forward.

Stop Global Warming -- Let's All go to Bali!

Global warming has become the new Marxism -- all the hip cats are for it. I mean against it. I mean they demand massive control of everything in the name of it.

I am something of a skeptic on anthropogenic global warming. I see that the mean temperatures have increased, but this follows a relatively cool period. The Earth was warm in the not so distant past (especially in the warm period before the "Little Ice Age"). Many of the glacier retreats are revealing prior inhabited areas.

I do agree, however, that reducing carbon emissions is a good thing. However, my scepticism is due in part to the fact that those most trumpeting climate change are not personally acting as if it is a crisis. Al Gore's electric bill for one or John Travolta lecturing about carbon emissions while he flies a personal 707.

But don't worry, the United Nations is on the case. And to solve the problem, they are all jetting off to Bali to talk about global warming. The 12 day conference will, I am sure, solve all our climate problems and the Earth will reenter the ice age. They need the ice for their scotch I guess.

Ron Paul has a Happy Guy Fawkes Day

Ron Paul has set a goal to raise $12M in the forth quarter of this year. Today, his supporters raised over $3.8 million.

Say what you want about Paul and his supporters, they definitely are motivated and have l;earned how to use the Internet.

Pakistan

General Musharraf has called a state of emergency and Pakistan is under marital law. Thousands have been arrested, including lawyers protesting the declaration. Musharraf claims he is trying to fight terrorism.

Stephen Green asks the important question -- as both India and what is now Pakistan were long under the control of the British Raj, why is India a democracy and Pakistan on the verge of disintegration?

We have seen this all before. In 1999, Musharraf gained power in much the same way and for the same purpose. Back then, the choice was as follows:

Musharraf who was an authoritarian general
Sharif who was allied to Islamists
Bhutto who was a somewhat corrupt democrat

Which basically are the same choices today. So if we are supposed to be in the new world of "realistic" foreign policy (as opposed to idealistically pushing for democratization) is this a good thing or a bad thing?

I think the reliance on "stability" is partly how we got into this situation (and not just Pakistan and the North West Frontier Province, but the entire Middle East). We support the Taliban to bring "stability" and get 9/11. We supported Musharraf to get stability and we got nothing.

Given the choices, I say go with the somewhat corrupt democrat. Throw the dice. Every result is generally a bad one, so let's go for once with one that at least is the least cynical for a change. Bhutto is back in Pakistan. Throw the dice.

Why I am a Republican

Stephen Bainbridge wonders why he is a Republican (and seems to conclude he is not). (HT instapundit.com)

As for me, I describe my political beliefs and their sources as follows (with apologies to French author Chateaubriand):

I am a Republican out of honor (and genetics)
A libertarian out of reason
A conservative out of taste and temperament.

A McCain Rally?

A while back, I noted my somewhat forlorn hope that John McCain would find a way to rally himself back to the Republican nomination. Now the Washington Post shows that he may just have that chance.

In the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, Rudy Giuliani maintains the lead nationally. McCain, however, has gained 7 percentage points in the past month, while the Fred Thompson boomlet seems to have run out of steam. Giuliani now leads McCain by 14 points nationally. Giuliani's support, however, is somewhat soft, especially among social conservatives. McCain, of course, may not make those folks happy either, but he comes without the baggage that Giuliani carries.

We have seen McCain rally before, only to drop quickly. And McCain still is in trouble on the fundraising front. But given Giuliani's soft support, he has a chance to put himself back into contention before the start of primary season.

Romney still has the lead in Iowa and New Hampshire, the early states with the most interest. Given the early and compressed primary calender, this could propel him to the nomination.

The Post is calling this the most open GOP race since 1980, when Reagan had the early lead, but there was no one dominating candidate. It is going to be a wild ride.

Hillary Hatred

Glenn Reynolds noted that while at a law clerk reunion, quite a few hard core Democrats were noting their, shall I say, extreme dislike for Hillary Clinton.

I have noticed this myself. Granted, I live deep in the heart of Obama land (in my mind, Obama is not the "black" candidate but the liberal yuppie candidate), but I have noticed it here too. And like Reynolds, it is not always limited to Republicans. I have come across a few Democrats who clearly hate Hillary Clinton on a deep level that goes far beyond ideology or her somewhat hawkishness.

All in all though, this will not affect the prospects of "She who must be inevitable."

Pass the martinis please.

A Belgian Public Service Announcement

It is November 1, do you know where your government is?

Belgium still does not have a government, though it looks like it is getting closer. No one in Belgium or Europe seems to have notice.

No government, lots of frites and great beer -- Belgium is paradise!

Tax Reform

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel has proposed a tax reform bill, which the GOP immediately denounced as a big tax hike.

Maybe however, it would be better for the GOP to take a good look at the bill. The bill is being touted as a reform of the Alternative Minimum Tax paid for by a surtax on the highest incomes. I personally am not that worked up about the AMT (despite having to pay it 3 out of the past 4 years). The AMT really acts as a back door flat tax and addresses the myriad of tax preferences in the code (such as the deduction of state and local taxes -- I live in a high tax city in a relatively high tax state but think people would care more about local taxes if this subsidy was repealed).

However, Rangel is looking at something which you would think is anathema on the left -- namely, lowering the corporate tax rate. Think about that. A very liberal Democrat from Harlem is proposing to use money from tax reform to partially reduce corporate income taxes.

Corporate income is really taxed twice, at the corporate level and when dividends are paid. Most of the other industrialized countries have a system whereby corporate income is taxed only once. Further, the US taxes corporations on their world wide income while in other countries, especially those with a value added tax, give relief on foreign earned income. If I had my druthers, I would replace the current two step corporate tax with a corporate level tax which is credited to dividend recipients. That would still tax corporate income paid to tax-exempt and foreign owners while taxing corporate income only once.

Given the politics, there will not be a major tax reform bill passed next year (though you may see some stopgap AMT relief. There is an election on and President Bush has no political capital left. But historically, there have been major tax reform packages in the first year of the last few presidents. And if Charles Rangel has placed the corporate income on the table, that means a chance of real reform of the tax system is possible,

Let's not reject this out of hand.

Norwegian Borat Want-to-be In New York

This is really funny, though if you object to strong language, turn it off!