Obama mentions money first

As predicted yesterday on RTR08, there would be a race to see which presidential candidate and which party could seem the most caring and generous to Hurricane Gustav victims and the Gulf Coast. Obama won the race. The GOP has implied that it's convention may include 'public service announcements' (translation - requests for donations) but Obama outright mentioned money first today. I am hereby declaring him the winner of the 'who can throw money at it first' award. Here is how it was reported on newsmax.com as of 1:56 PM EDT Sunday:

Presidential nominee Barack Obama offered to tap his sprawling network of donors and volunteers to help any victims of Gustav.

"I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there if it becomes necessary," Obama told reporters after attending St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Lima, Ohio. "I think we can activate an e-mail list of a couple of million people who want to give back," he said.

Palin Post-Denominational

The mad scramble for information on little known McCain VP pick Gov. Sarah Palin has included questions about what church she attends - specifically what denomination. Here is the answer as it appeared today in The Catholic Reporter:

Palin appears to be part of that rapidly expanding galaxy of 'post-denominational' Christianity, where elements of Evangelical and Pentecostal styles of faith and worship fuse into a myriad of unique local combinations, and where old denominational loyalties are essentially dead.

Though post-denominationalists are, by definition, difficult to catalog and index, they’re unquestionably numerous. A 2007 survey conducted by LifeWay found that fully one-third of American Protestants were contemplating attending a different church in the future, and of that group, only one in four said it would be important that their future church belong to the same denomination as the one they currently attend.

Globally, the World Christian Encyclopedia estimates that roughly 20 percent of the world’s 2.2 billion Christians today are part of what it calls “independent Christianity,” defined as forms of faith and worship “separated from, uninterested in, and independent of historic, denominationalist Christianity.” Typically, these folks eschew any label other than “Christian” for their religious identity.

The Race is On

How much money - and when - will the Democrat controlled congress offer the million who are on the move fleeing Gustav - or to New Orleans if it suffers more damage?

Rumor is that the GOP may have their National Convention be a 'telethon' to raise money for Gustav victims. After all, it was McCain who pointed to the Katrina response debacle as emblematic of what is broken in Washington and said that it would "never happen again." There is now talk that the GOP may position him in New Orleans during part of their convention in Minneapolis.

But will the Dems let the GOP fire first? I think you'll see a race to show which party can be the most caring and responsive.

Gustav GOP update

What RTR08 predicted at 8:42 AM this morning is being reported as 'Breaking News' at 5:18 PM on CNN - "GOP Convention Cut Short?" their banner reads. When you want to be the first to know, read RTR08. If you want your news with the crowd, watch CNN.

Not a Prayer

Media coverage of the GOP National Convention will be eclipsed by Hurricane Gustav slamming into New Orleans - at least for Monday and Tuesday. If the damage is severe then the Convention will have to alter its message to include acknowledgments of 'the hurricane victims.' With enough damage pulling media coverage and national attention, the GOP may actually have to change their convention schedule - canceling or changing the tone of some sessions. Of course, Gustav will be the cover for media re-coverage of the whole "Republican" Katrina response disaster. Gustav could be a 'bump robber.' Net net, McCain needs Pat Robertson to pray the hurricane away from New Orleans --- but of course, McCain skewered Pat Robertson in a previous campaign.....

Historic Night

For the first time in U S A history, a mixed-race man is the presidential nominee of a major political party. History making nominations yet to come: a black man, a woman, a Muslim, an openly gay person, a person born to illegal immigrant parents, anything with "trans" involved, someone over 100 years old, a person who is aware of the U S Constitution.

After the Convention

After this week's Democrat Convention it sure feels good to be a Republican.

After next week's Republican Convention it will sure feel good to support RON PAUL!

Comedy Kabob indeed

Dana Milbank's "Washington Sketch" in The Washington Post had this yesterday:

Away from the convention proceedings, Denver became a parade ground for the full panoply of liberal interest-group politics. Planned Parenthood hosted a dance party called "Sex, Politics and Cocktails." Code Pink put on a "Make Out Not War" concert. Near the entrance to the convention grounds, representatives of Trojan condoms handed out samples and invited delegates to see how long it would take them to put a prophylactic on a banana.

The Stonewall Democrats held a "tea party" to celebrate gay delegates. The Feminist Majority celebrated women. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice had a "Strike for Your Rights" bowling night, and the Arab American Institute had a "Comedy Kabob" improv. During a four-hour period yesterday, no fewer than 16 Democratic caucuses held meetings, among them the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Caucus; the Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus; the Senior Council; the Rural Caucus; and the Ethnic Coordinated Caucus.

for the full article, see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/25/AR2008082502134.html

Buyer's Remorse

Buyer’s remorse. I believe that many Democrats had it before last night. I believe many more have it after last night.

Hillary Clinton delivered what is being called ‘a grand slam’ speech at the DNC last night. Though the McCain camp tried immediately to wedge the Democrats by claiming that her speech failed to fully endorse Obama, the fact is that the Democrats were and are already wedged. Hillary highlighted unity and party and goals and Obama. But what she really highlighted most was herself.

Many more Democrats are second-guessing themselves today.

Wouldn’t Hillary have been the better presidential candidate? Many Dems think so and I sense not just among ‘the Hillary supporters.’ Why? Obama shot out in the campaign as if shot out of a cannon. His lead was large and his trajectory high. But his savior of the world tour - wonderfully received overseas and glowingly reported in the U S A - failed to produce any ‘bump’ in the polls. In fact, his popularity began to fade. Then he was late and weak on the Russian invasion of Geogia. Obama faded yet more. Obama was then sounded whacked in the ‘faith forum’ at Saddleback. Finally, Obama named Joe Biden as his VP choice and got no ‘bump.’ The race is a dead heat and the Dems are justifiably nervous. And looking back at what could have been - if they had gone with the more experienced Hillary Clinton as their nominee.

Dems must be wondering why Obama didn’t choose her as VP. A CBS poll showed that only six percent of current Dem delegates wanted Biden as the VP choice while over a quarter wanted Hillary - that was before last night.

So the Clinton factor will not go away in this campaign prior till election day. Only an Obama win will erase the uneasy feeling among Dems that they went with style over experience.

Unknown

When a political party nominates a family who nobody knows, they have to introduce themselves to the party and the nation at their convention. That's exactly what just happened at the DNC -- with a video and a follow-up speech by Michelle Obama and 'live feed' appearance of her husband, our savior, Barack.

Women in crowd were openly weeping as this completely unknown woman spoke. She will be a great first lady, one woman exclaimed - her only measure of the woman being a fifteen minute speech.

These are interesting days --- similar it seems to the campaign days of unknown Jimmy Carter.

We'll see if there is a similar result.

Obama-Biden

My thoughts on Obama-Biden

1. It’s a shame the Olympics are over.
2. Thank God football season is starting.
3. Maybe the World Series will be a distraction.
4. At least I have Shawn Johnson on tape.
5. At least I have the Lezak miracle on tape.
6. They can’t run like Usain Bolt.
7. Thank God for 250 cable channels.
8. Michael Phelps, please God let him be Republican.
9. The Lucas Oil Stadium is huge.
10. At least it’s not Hillary-Gore.

McCain in a Landslide

McCain big winner in roach race:

China Vastly Superior

Hussein Obama said yesterday, "Everybody's watching what's going on in Beijing right now with the Olympics , Think about the amount of money that China has spent on infrastructure. Their ports, their train systems, their airports are vastly the superior to us now, which means if you are a corporation deciding where to do business, you're starting to think, 'Beijing looks like a pretty good option.'"

Really? Well, let's see....

"Their ports..."

Reuters, July 11: "Severe power shortages across China, especially in the manufacturing hub and export engine of Guangdong, are expected to add further pressure on exports in the second half of the year."

"Their train systems..."

CNN, January 28: In the southern city of Guangzhou, as many as 500,000 train passengers were stranded the past few days when a power failure in neighboring Hunan province crippled the regular train services, local officials said. About 100,000 passengers packed the square in front of the train station while others found shelter in schools and other public buildings while waiting for their trains.

"Their airports..."

Australia's ABC News, July 29, 2008: "Scores of Chinese air passengers have smashed computers and desks and clashed with police after a night stranded at an airport without accommodation, state media said... Frustration at mysterious delays, diversions and cancellations have at times boiled over into violence at Chinese airports as passengers try to storm grounded aircraft and police are brought in to keep the peace. There have also been cases in which passengers, after delayed arrivals, have refused to get off the planes in protest."

... "are vastly the superior to us now."

Yes, their power outages, crowds at train stations, and outbreaks of air rage are vastly superior to ours!

most wording in this post from 'The Campaign Spot' of National Review online.

Up There

Barack's Brother Found!

Barack Hussein Obama's 'long lost' brother has been found in a shanty in Kenya. Here is the story as reported today in the London Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2590614/Barack-Obamas-lost-brother-found-in-Kenya.html

All for None

WASHINGTON - A Zogby International poll commissioned by WND shows a surprisingly low 71.7 percent closely identifying with either of the two front-running, major-party candidates for president and a stunning 62.4 percent expressing their desire to see more viable candidate and party choices in future elections. - from WorldNetDaily.com

Gag-me Gergen

David "gag-me" Gergen, CNN political commentator and Professor of Public Service (professor of public service??? gag-me) at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, said last night on CNN that for the first time state by state polling suggests that "if the election was held today, McCain would win" the electoral vote. Nobody on 'the panel' disagreed.'

If Obama loses, I believe that (in addition to 'racism,' or 'America was not ready'...) analysts will point to Barack's savior of the world tour as the turning point. It just did not fly among average Americans.

On CNN analyst said last night that nobody imagined that the campaign would turn against Obama this early. An interesting phrase, "this early."

They further agreed that the McCain campaign had gone to school off of Hillary's too-little-too-late surge. They pointed out that it was when Hillary's campaign began running ads challenging Obama's experience and readiness to be president (the "3 AM" ad), that she began to close on him and win most of the last states. McCain's campaign noticed and has followed on in a similar theme.

Gag-me Gergen was asked, "if it will work."

His reply, "it IS working."

One Term

WHOLESALE PRICES: HIGHEST ANNUAL RATE IN 27 YEARS

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In another indication of growing inflation, wholesale prices increased in July to the highest annual rate in 27 years, according to a government report released Tuesday.

The annual Producer Price Index for finished goods rose 9.8% in the 12 months that ended in July.

The jump in wholesale prices is the fastest rate of increase since a 10.4% bump-up in June 1981, according to Joseph Kowal, economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The bleak economic news continues to roll in as the politicos debate whether the 'cone of silence' or 'coin flip' happened exactly as the preacher said. Today's news of continued inflation bring me to a previously made point on RTR08. The next president is a one term president. Whoever it is will preside over an economy in such shambles - the worst since Jimmy Carter - that there will be no way to turn it around in four years. It will be especially impossible with a trillion dollar 'war on terror' effort on foreign soil, increasing debt financed by China, a dollar-printing Fed and a Fannie Mae which now has been given unrestricted funds with no congressional approval required. So, McCain might as well make his one term commitment. And Republicans, if they expect to ever see an occupant of the White House in the next three generations, had better hope that Obama wins.

Rehabilitation

In a jury trial, when a witness is torn down by the attorney for the other side, often the attorney who put the witness on the stand will rise to ask a couple of other questions of the witness that help the witness recover. It’s called ‘rehabilitating the witness.’

Rick Warren was ‘rehabilitated’ tonight on Larry King Live. Of course, Larry works for CNN, the company that broadcast the ‘forum.’ Larry brought up the controversy of day, the Warren comment that McCain had been placed in a ‘cone of silence’ when it is now known that McCain had not be ‘placed’ anywhere at that point in time because he wasn’t yet at the church. Larry began his rehabilitation by saying something to the effect, “I know that Rick Warren would never intentionally say something less than the truth....”

Now, I understand exactly what happened the other night. Rick Warren was ‘at home’ in his own pulpit and he had a little quip line that he knew would draw a laugh. He formulated it at a time when he assumed that McCain would in fact be at the church prior to debate beginning. McCain wasn’t there but there was a plan for keeping him sequestered when he did arrive. So, Warren went with his quip.

Warren is a well-traveled, well-connected guy obviously. But he had a lapse in not thinking that every word, every detail would be scrutinized. It was also too bad, in retrospect, that he used a novel phrase, “cone of silence.” That phrase is so novel that it will be continually bandied by the critics.

Meanwhile, Warren did quite well on Larry King. He was complemented many times by King but he also did well in answering questions from King and a couple of emailed questions. But he acknowledged that he was being attacked and had been answering the ‘cone of silence’ question ‘all day.’ He wen ton to say, “I get attacked from both sides -- if I was just religious right I’d get it only from the left. If was religious left, I’d get it only from the right. But I am somewhere in the middle and I get it from both sides.”

Warren Losing

As predicted, Rick Warren is 'the loser' of the Presidential Candidate's Forum.

Here is an early sampling:

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Despite Assurances, McCain Wasn’t in a ‘Cone of Silence’

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: August 17, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. — Senator John McCain was not in a “cone of silence” on Saturday night while his rival, Senator Barack Obama, was being interviewed at the Saddleback Church in California.

....

Mr. Warren, the pastor of Saddleback, had assured the audience while he was interviewing Mr. Obama that “we have safely placed Senator McCain in a cone of silence” and that he could not hear the questions.

After Mr. Obama’s interview, he was joined briefly by Mr. McCain, and the candidates shook hands and embraced.

Mr. Warren started by asking Mr. McCain, “Now, my first question: Was the cone of silence comfortable that you were in just now?”

Mr. McCain deadpanned, “I was trying to hear through the wall.”



THE DAILY KOS (liberal political blog)

Warren Caught in Lie on CNN wrt 'Cone of Silence'
by Paul Anderson
Mon Aug 18, 2008 at 05:43:34 AM PDT

From my reading, Warren has contradicted himself and exposed himself as a liar.

Put simply: I don't see how Warren thought McCain was at the church when he made his claims about this "cone of silence" on TV during the forum... when he now also explicitly says he gave Obama a preview question before the event that he couldn't give McCain because he wasn't there yet.

Warren slipped up in my opinion, and has made a huge mistake. If this is the contradiction I think it is, it means he lied (not was confused, but knowingly lied) on TV during the event by saying McCain was in this now mythic "cone of silence"... and he did so in order to protect the sham integrity of his forum for a Republican who he knew may have cheated. And of course he lied on CNN just now as well, a clip and transcript of which are found below.

Someone has some splanin' to do. There may be an explanation, but my bet is it's not a particularly good one, and not one that we should necessarily take very seriously at this point if all we have to go on afterwards is his word of honor. We should also add that if it was a purpose driven lie in order to help McCain in any way, I've heard that has tax implications for his so-called church, (ie his political action committee).

That is an early sampling of Warren being skewered in the mainstream press and also in the liberal political press. Last night (Sunday night), Warren was interviewed on CNN about his claim that McCain had been put in 'a cone of silence.' Warren played it off and assured the interviewer that McCain had agreed not to listen in and that Saddleback staff had 'flat out asked him' if he had - McCain said he had not. But Warren admitted that McCain was not at the church prior to the start of the Forum.

Yet to come, how Warren is blasted in the conservative and 'Christian' media.

Candidate Forum

The Candidates Forum with Rick Warren at Saddleback Church just ended. I watched almost every minute and took at lot of notes of their comments and my impressions. Here are some summary impressions:

Both candidates looked comfortable with Pastor Warren and in the church setting - though it later became apparent the in-church audience was predictably very much pro-McCain. So McCain spoke to a much more sympathetic audience and it may have shaped the way he framed some of his answers.

Comparing their answers on some important topics:

FAITH -- Obama spoke more completely and easily of his personal faith and especially of how it might apply to his CURRENT life. He was the only candidate approximate a quote of scripture. In this case, Micah 6:8, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” McCain gave a straight-forward answer about faith in Jesus means that he is saved but he quickly took a drink and ended his answer. He gave his first of many anecdotal stories and of course its setting was decades ago in Viet Nam. Moving but dated. Though it almost definitely appealed to his core constituency - older patriots.

ABORTION -- Obama stayed true to his liberal democratic pro-abortion position but tried to soften it in this context. Implied that he did not believe life begins at conception. McCain gave a more straight-forward conservative answer: pro-life and life begins at conception. He said that he would be a pro-life president and said, “I make this commitment to you.” His people obviously advised him that the evangelical voters have noticed his apparent wavering so this was an important nail-down for him. In fact, the McCain campaign even emailed CNN immediately following the forum to say that they would no longer mention the idea of a pro-abortion VP. This was the key question and answer in the debate - especially for McCain.

MARRIAGE -- Obama and McCain gave the same answer - defined marriage the same way, both supported civil unions and both took a states-rights approach to legislation. McCain allowed for a Constitutional Amendment only if federal legislation “imposed on Arizona the laws of Massachusetts.”

STEM CELLS - Obama and McCain gave very similar answers.

SUPREME COURT - they each predictably support the justices that agree with their political viewpoint and don’t support the others.

EVIL -DOES IT EXIST AND WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH IT? Obama took a thoughtful and philosophical approach to his answer -- he touched on local evil, evil in America, evil in families (abuse) and societal evil like the genocide in Darfur. We have to ‘confront’ evil and do it humbly. McCain was direct and forceful - ‘we should defeat evil’ - but was entirely internationally focussed. State sponsored or terrorist organization based evil was his focus.

FAITH BASED ORGANIZATIONS BEING ABLE TO LIMIT HIRING to people who agree with the faith principles of the organization. Obama - in the program area in which federal funds are received, the faith organization must adhere to ‘non-discrimination’ employment laws. McCain - organization can limit employment and still get funds.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION AROUND THE WORLD -- Obama took time to answer and gave a fair answer. Aside from an opening remark about 'the bully pulpit,' McCain did not answer the question but reverted to something about Reagan, patriotism or war or the flag or honor or some Republican code-word and the audience of mostly Christians (presumably) gave him applause!!! Oh my!

Other topic were covered but essentially each candidate stuck to his core principles on his answers. There was no blockbuster moment - no surprising answer. I thought McCain knew he was on a home court and took liberties to speak to that crowd in language that would be well received. The net net is that McCain played to a very sympathetic audience in the room and no doubt in the TV audience as well. He had to shore up that vote and this appearance helped him that effort. My guess is that most of the Obama supporters in the TV audience did not wait around for McCain’s answers - especially when the in-church audience proved to be so vocally supportive of McCain from the moment of his entrance.

Obama was candid, conversational, and true to himself. He probably neither gained nor lost much among most of the audience.

McCain had the better night. He had the most to gain or lose with the core audience. The core audience was not made up of Obama supporters -- it was made up of disappointed Republicans and luke-warm or reluctant McCain supporters. His campaign team knew that this event was his best opportunity to shore up these disaffected evangelicals. I give the nod to McCain who, honestly, did much better than I thought that he would.

Warren the Loser

McCain and Obama talk for an hour each on live TV with Pastor Rick Warren tonight.

All three have much to lose or gain tonight. Here's a handicap:

McCAIN - The man who James Dobson said he wouldn't vote for (but Dobson is now back-peddling). And McCain was unfaithful to his first wife. Was it about him or Edwards, or both, that Rick Warren made reference just this week when he said that he would have reservations about voting for a man who had cheated on his wife? McCain, who just this week suggested that his VP choice need not necessarily be pro-life. How will McCain fair in this one on one conversation with a pastor?

One would think that the audience may be skewed toward 'religious' voters. If so, McCain could have a chance to make gains with a group that he has offended in the past and which seems largely skeptical of him thus far. The setting itself will be helpful. But I predict McCain will not do particularly well.

McCain will not be comfortable in this conversation. Almost everything about it is outside his comfort zone. He is unconvincing and stiff when he speaks of personal religious convictions. Further, some of Rick Warren's social concerns - poverty, HIV/AIDS, community development in third world countries - these too are not in the center of McCain's radar. Will Warren include topics with which McCain is more at ease? Of course. Will Warren make the atmosphere casual and conversational? Yes. There will be no 'gotcha' questions from Warren. But he most certainly will ask about the issue of life. McCain's answer may be telling.

OBAMA - He is tagged by some as a Muslim or Muslim sympathizer. He is pro-abortion. He is pro-gay. He holds to liberal, liberation theology. All of these quite different from his host, the Southern Baptist Rick Warren. But Obama will be able to speak much more comfortably about his personal faith. He will be much more at home 'in church.' Having conversations with a pastor isn't foreign to him -- it is part of his personal experience and a constant necessity in his political setting. Like every successful black politician, he is familiar with the language of faith.

And Obama is an outspoken proponent within his party of being more willing to speak of faith. To the consternation of his own party's abolish-all-reference-to-faith crowd, Obama has given speeches making the case for faith in public life.

Obama will come across as much more comfortable with the setting and the topic of faith.

When Warren moves the conversation to many of his own social concerns, Obama will be on his home court. Who can speak of social justice, community development, HIV/AIDS, the war on poverty better than a 'world-class' African-American Democrat?

But will his theological liberalism shine through? Yes.

Will his political liberalism shine through? Yes.

With the likely audience, that will seal their perception that Obama is a glib hyper-liberal.

WARREN -- Rick Warren has pulled off this event. That in itself is an incredible testament to his connections, influence, and the respect that media executives and both political camps must have for him. He will make the conversation comfortable and I would be surprised if Warren tried to 'be somebody' other than who he is - a pastor with a concern for people. The candidates and their camps will not have a complaint with Warren.

But Warren will be the big loser tonight.

He will be skewered on many conservative Christian blogs, publications, radio shows and pulpits. He will be hammered for not hammering one candidate or the other on some bible theme. Warren will be an un-biblical liberal in their eyes.

Warren may be seen to those on the political and religious left as a bible-thumping Southern Baptist shill for Republicanism. They will watch the same program and come away with an opinion just the opposite of their conservative counter-parts. Warren will be ripped on left-wing blogs and among liberal Christians.

Net net: for the candidates, little change in perception. For Warren - he will do fine among the not very religious viewers - but ironically will be criticized by the most religious.

Calling McCain's Bluff

“Yesterday, I heard Sen. McCain say, ‘We are all Georgians now.' Well, very nice, you know, very cheering for us to hear that, but OK, it’s time to pass from this. From words to deeds."

-- Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili on CNN’s American Morning.

Lone Conservative

"The government is going to help you in the best way possible, by doing nothing for you, by getting out of your way. Well, I exaggerate, but you understand. Of course we will provide you with infrastructure and help by getting rid of corruption, but you have all succeeded by your own initiative and enterprise, so you should congratulate yourselves”

What a refreshing and authentic expression of true conservatism from the President! Not our president, of course, but the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvilli. Yes, the Columbia Law School grad has put down corruption and lifted up democratic and free market ideals. The people have increasingly cast away dependency on the state and replaced it with individual ‘initiative and enterprise.’ True conservatism and real democracy in a place once oppressed by soviet socialism.

That such a real conservative is the president and that such a true democracy and free market economy is in place anywhere is enviable. That is it in place on the boarder of Russia is a big problem for the newly emerging old Russia.

The answer from a Russian perspective is ‘regime change.’ They have openly announced their intention and backed it up with devastating military intervention directed intentionally at the civilian population and infrastructure. (If the U S so transparently targeted civilians the world outrage would be deafening - in this case, the silence is deafening.) Russia has every intention of keeping its military engaged within the boarders of Georgia, no matter what cease-fire arrangement is brokered, and continually chipping away at Saakashvilli’s leadership. So far, the people of Georgia have maintained their solidarity.

Meanwhile, back in the USA....

Obama was slow to speak to the issue and clueless when he did.

McCain was quicker and more forceful.

Rice is flitting around the world.

Bush was at the Olympics but at least had ‘in-stadium’ discussions with Putin.

The U S Military is deployed most everywhere involved in our own regime change experiment.

And so the refreshingly true conservative President of the already democratic, already free-market, already ‘an example to the region’ Georgia goes it nearly alone - except for the West’s other conservative, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Update: now that the country is destroyed and the Russians have voluntarily (momentarily) stopped their offensive which went completely unchecked and now that Sarkozy has brokered a cease-fire, Condi Rice arrives in Tbilisi to save the day! And obligate millions and millions of U S dollars to rebuild what we should have never allowed to be destroyed. How many countries are we now 'rebuilding?' Meanwhile, our bridges fall down....is it any wonder why the approval ratings for both the congress and the president are at historic lows?

Declared Emergency

Remember the incident with Obama's airplane? The plane landed at an alternate airport and it was learned that an emergency slide had inadvertently opened in the tail section of the plane. Afterwards, Obama admitted feeling some concern but the FAA said that there had never been an emergency. Really? Turns out that the pilots did declare an emergency and there was, at a least for a while, real concern about the ability to control the airplane. Listen to the actual radio communication between the pilots and air traffic control. You'll hear the pilot request CFR - an acronym for Crash Fire Rescue equipment. The tape is edited to compress exchanges that took place over time. Click HERE to listen.

Totally Random Thoughts

It has now been confirmed that there are only nine people on the planet older than John McCain.

Best quote by Ann Coulter: “The McCain campaign is just like the Dole campaign but without the energy.”

Speaking of boring, there are like twenty Olympics channels (at least most or all are in HD) but the very best is the Korean language coverage. First, they have a Korean language crawler giving constant updates, very helpful. Second, the announcers, always two, are just freaked out and yell over each other constantly. This increases in pace and volume by a factor of five if a Korean athlete is involved. Third, they like women’s events - especially women’s judo - have you seen those oriental women go at it in judo? Fourth, the graphics and the whole feel is like a Japanese game show.

Obama is reported to be thinking of having a Republican VP.

McCain is reported as possibly choosing Lieberman, a Democrat (sorta).

What does this mean?

It means keep watching the Olympics on the Korean language channel.

Parle vous Boo Hoo

“The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That’s what we came here for,” French swimmer Alain Bernard said.

Au contraire, mon frère!

USA smashed the world record by more than four seconds and upset the heavily favored French to win the swimming 400 relay in what Olympics commentators called, “the greatest relay swim of all time.”

Nothing like The Star Spangled Banner being played in the face of the French!

Rise, remove your hat, right hand over your heart, and with a finger of your choice extended in the direction of the France (while maintaining 'the spirit of the Olympics' of course) , click the title to listen to The Star Spangled Banner.

Costas Interview with Bush

President Bush was just interviewed by Bob Costas on the NBC Olympic’s coverage set. A couple of impressions.

First, Bob Costas is one of the sharpest people in broadcasting. I have never seen him when he did not come across as the consumate professional. In this case, he asked the President a series of questions on the Olympics, politics, and sports. His questions on politics were very well informed, easily asked using the names of international personalities without reference to notes, and fully at ease through his exchange with the President. Costas is the man.

Second and more important were the President’s comments. He spoke on the importance of future U S presidents maintaining constructive and candid engagement with China. But more impressive to me were his two intentional references to religious freedom. At one point he prefaced a response with, “if you are a religious person,” while making a gesture to himself as if to say, “like me.” At another point he pointed out that he intentionally attended a church service while in China. He said that he did it in part to show the Chinese people that American’s value religious expression and think that it is not to be feared. He spoke of private conversations with the Chinese leadership on the importance of human rights and especially religious freedom. He said that they should give freedom to the underground house churches. Excellent stuff from President Bush.

When the shooting starts...

Deep Bench

John Edwards will not be speaking at the Democrat National Convention.

He will be replaced by Bill Clinton.

Clintonesque

AP - WASHINGTON - Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Friday admitted to an extramarital affair while his wife was battling cancer. He denied fathering the woman's daughter.

Edwards told ABC News that he lied repeatedly about the affair with a 42-year-old woman but said that he didn't love her. He said he has not taken a paternity test but knows he isn't the father because of the timing of the affair and the birth.

Quandry

Russia has invaded Georgia. Question: will Bush fly home from the Olympics to deal with it or is he confident that Florida and South Carolina can defend themselves?

Hot Air

Get Drunk and Vote

Click the link below for up to date campaign news stories, each of which already has hi-lighted text for easy scanning, each of which offers further proof that your only choice in 2008 is to get drunk and vote McCain.

www.getdrunkandvote4mccain.com

America's Choice

It's the Economy

WASHINGTON - It really is the economy, stupid! Economic models that have correctly predicted the winner of almost all post-war U.S. presidential elections say recession fears will secure a victory for Barack Obama in November.

Three separate studies showed the Democratic presidential hopeful winning between 52 and 55 percent of the popular vote on November 4, based on current gloomy economic estimates.

Any further darkening in the economic outlook -- many analysts think things will get worse between now and November -- would reinforce that election outcome.

"The economy is certainly not going to be a positive for the Republicans," said Ray Fair, an economics professor at Yale university who built the earliest of the models in 1978.

His model, which assumed tepid U.S. economic growth of 1.5 percent and a 3 percent rate of inflation, predicted the Republican candidate John McCain's share of the vote would be 47.8 percent, handing Obama 52.2 percent.

The model has correctly forecast the winning party 12 of 14 times.

from newsmax.com

For What It's Worth

In the words of Buffalo Springfield,

"We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down."

Check it out for yourself:

www.rallyfortherepublic.com