Mosings44

Thoughts on President Obama and the aftermath of Election 2008.

The Republicans suffered a searing electoral defeat in November; Barack Obama was swept into office by a substantial margin, and Republicans lost ground in both the House and the Senate. Though a bleak picture overall for conservatives, the election did yield some rather unexpected bright spots. 

1. The people of American's most populous (and most liberal) state affirmed, by a surprisingly broad margin, the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. The people of California passed Proposition 8, which provoked the fury of diseased sybarites throughout the state. The sweet and fluffy LGBT community yelled racial epithets at African-American people because...you guessed it...they don't support gay marriage. In Colorado, they burned a Mormon Bible outside of a Mormon church because many Mormons also do not support gay marriage. So life is back to normal out west; but the sanctity of marriage has won a small victory. 

2. McCain-Palin didn't win. Frankly, the ticket was a bit of a disaster. I respect Senator McCain greatly, but his campaign was a shambles and his team's handling of Sarah Palin; the whole vapid "Drill, Baby, Drill" and "bulldog with lipstick" routines were probably more shocking than anything to sane Americans. I don't blame this on Palin; I read a recent article written by an Alaskan who said that, back home in the Yukon, Palin wasn't a hard-charging, mindless partisan, but a sincere, canny leader, unafraid to stand up to the Republican machine and compromise with her erstwhile opponents. Much as I respect her, however, she does not inspire confidence. I am sure she does a capable job as Alaska's governor. However, as Alaska goes so the lower 49 do not. Alaska has always danced to its own tune, and this case is no different. Sarah Palin is and will remain an oddity out of the north; maligned through no fault of her own. McCain simply is not a man I would trust to lead this country through the troubled waters it now faces. Where Obama exudes assurance and icy calm, McCain is inflammatory and, in a gravelly way, shrill. 

3. I have always believed that the Republican party is more effective as a minority party. Fighting a heroic rear-guard defense against the forces of big-government liberalism. The Democratic party is, after all the party of government; it's their natural habitat. The Republicans are the minority party, then, going into an administration that seems so far determined to run an accountable and, at least on the surface, bipartisan White House. Whether that will be the case in the long run remains to be seen, but perhaps given competent Republican leadership, the party can regain control of itself and perhaps make gains in, if not 2010, then 2012. 

Notice that I was positive about McCain's loss, not Obama's win. There is a strong distaste for Obama among conservatives, which I can certainly understand. His power over the electorate is unbelievably strong, almost unnerving. I am not, however, greatly dismayed about the course of this country as we move into the 44th presidency. Barack Obama has picked Republicans for his cabinet; he chose conservative mega-pastor Rick Warren to deliver his inaugural dedication; he supports the sanctity of marriage; and last but not least, he plans to cut taxes by $310 billion. 

Barack Obama's cabinet picks so far have been startlingly reminiscent of Clinton's. In fact, I have not seen any yet that didn't serve in some capacity in the Clinton administration. This is both a good and a bad thing. It is good because these people presumably have experience, and Clinton's Third Way policies are certainly not the worst Democratic tradition Obama could choose to emulate. It's bad because the Clinton administration was corrupt; it's biggest achievement the perjurous defense of Clinton from legitimate impeachment charges. 

Barack Obama exudes leadership, like Master Yoda's aura in the force. He is icy calm at all times. His voice is deep and soothing. I'm trying not to make him sound like a Hindu god here, but you've all seen his unbreakable composure. Most of my political life has been during the Bush administration, watching a man who is either viciously cunning or a complete dolt make mercurial decisions in which men have died. Bush's famous actions on 9/11 notwithstanding, his presidency has been insular; he has been almost as distant and removed from the people, and they from him and the real process of governing this country, as an ancient, implacable Chinese dynastic emperor. Obama promises to involve the people in the legislative process once again. If Obama is the man he promised this country, then this country is in good hands--regardless of his policies. If Obama is the reasonable man of sense I expect him to be, he will see the stupidity of withdrawing our troops from the Middle East as so many Democrats have called for; and hopefully find a better course. 

I have not joined the Obama bandwagon. He could be dangerous if he uses his unshakeable charisma to guide the American people down the wrong road; like a master leading a trusting horse to the knacker's yard. If he leads this country astray, America will break him. But I hope that God will bless his presidency, and that he will be the true leader that Bush was not. 

The Anti-Palin Conspiracy

Since Senator McCain's nomination of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska as his Vice-president, a move that many on the Right viewed with jubilant celebration and the Left viewed with unanimous despairing horror, the news media has quite frankly gone beyond belief in attacking her. Even Barack Obama made a questionable reference to her--he may have called her a pig--but more on that later.

Briefly, they claimed that her Downs-Syndrome son Trig, born in April, was actually a sham, and that the baby was really her grandson by her 17-year-old daughter (who did, as it happens, become pregnant--and decided to keep the baby and marry the father). How incredibly absurd. Unless she resorted to a fake pregnancy belly and kept the First Daughter of an American state out of photographich surveillance for months and months, it would be utterly impossible. What am I talking about, it IS utterly impossible. What a disgusting lie.

Then, they said, she fired her cop ex-brother-in-law, and his immediate supervisor who refused to fire him. (Innapropriately.) She did fire both of them, but in fact the cop in question was a known idiot, who shot animals illegally and used a taser on his stepson without legitimate reason; and his supervisor was obviously fired for standing in Palin's way over it. Frankly, I can see where the controversy comes from. However, she did the right thing. She knew the man was a moron, and she didn't want him as a cop in her state. So she fired him and his kvetching supervisor.

And there are far more:

• Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn’t cut it at all. In fact, she increased funding and signed a bill that will triple per-pupil funding over three years for special needs students with high-cost requirements.

• She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.
  

• She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She’s been registered as a Republican since May 1982.
  
  
• Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a "courtesy" when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.
  
  
• Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools. She has said that students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of the evolution question, but she also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."

This from factcheck.org.

Even The Obambi himself has made veiled insults, and some of the idiotic media sniffing around is certainly at his campaign's behest.



The story behind this video: In her acceptance speech at the convention, Palin told a joke about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull. The answer was lipstick. Here Barack Obama makes a completely un-subtle attack on Palin, referring her to a pig. He insisted he wasn't talking about her personally, but watch the crowd's reaction: THEY thought he was talking about her.

And Obama's step down of late hasn't been limited to Palin. Oh, no. In a recent ad, Obama accuses McCain of being out of touch and incapable of leading the nation because he can't use a computer. That would certainly be bad under normal circumstances. But John McCain was a prisoner of war for years, and in the course of that sustained lasting injuries, one of which prevents him from being accomplishing complicated hand-motor skills, like typing on a computer. So McCain can't use a computer, but only because he suffered bravely under Vietnamese torture for years while Obama was in Muslim school in Jakarta. Quite a contrast, eh?

In conclusion, this media blitz like never before has highlighted the truly breathtaking bias in the news media. They hate Republicans, and Palin registers like a bogie on their radars. Attack her with everything we've got, they say, playing fast and loose with the truth along the way. An incredibly low and scary attack on a strong, principled woman, who deserves to be the next Vice President of the United States of America.

Will Hill Stay?

Barack Obama probably is now being called by respectable media outlets the presumptive nominee. He has surpassed the number of delegates needed, and it has been increasingly clear in the past months that he is the leader in this campaign. Now the question is: what will Hill do? She hasn't as yet conceded defeat, but most reports say she's angling for the VP spot, which Obama might just give her. Personal feelings between the aside, polls show that if Obama is the nominee, a substantial portion of HRC's hardliners won't vote for him. Depending on how much of that is dependent on racism or sexism, picking HRC as his VP would be a smart move--and bad for John McCain.

Was Barack Obama born in the United States? He says he was, in Hawaii, but the State of Hawaii refuses to release his birth certificate and is now no longer paying them any attention. It hasn't mattered up till now because, as a Senator, he is allowed to have been born outside this country, but as President, he can't. So, this is important. Chances are he is American-born, but this is a serious issue, and how much coverage of it have you seen in the We-love-you-B.-Hussein-Obama media? Zilch. Zero. Nada.

McCain's VP pick becomes all the more important if Hillary is Obama's Veep. Why? Because they would have a historic ticket. If I was McCain, I would choose someone young, preferably a woman or a minority. That seems a little cynical, but it's the way to win. Voters, starstruck by a black president and a female VP, would vote for Obama-Clinton on that alone.

Therefore, my two nominees:

Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. The first female governor of Alaska is also a fairly Conservative, pro-life, pro-marriage female, who became the first person to give birth while a governor. She gave birth to her son Trig on April 18th of this year. She's a woman, she's conservative, and in a recent poll she beat out everyone except the Huck as possible VP picks.

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Governor Jindal is thirty-six years old, and of Indian descent. He was, however, born in the United States, making him eligible to be Vice-President. He has bullied the reluctant and corrupt Louisiana legislature into passing sweeping ethics-reform bills in a state ravaged by Katrina and corruption. He's charming and personable, rather like a younger, Indian, Christian, pro-life Barack Obama.

So...You decide. Well, actually McCain does, but I'd like your input as well.

This man scares the heck out of me.

Let's face it: the Barack Obama presidency now seems inevitable. I admire McCain for trying, and Hillary for not giving in, but it's inevitable. As Darth Vader, a close personal friend of Senator Obama would say, "It is your dessssstiny."

This video (here) shows the futility of all resistance to the Obama machine. Not only does the intransigence of his "hope" message crap, etc., but he can successfully mock Hillary for attacking him on the lack of substance in his campaign. Pretty good acting.

For a manikin.

No, I'm not insulting his intelligence. But it's the truth. Barack Obama is really a plastic facsimile created by the Borg Collective to influence human politics. He is controlled remotely, and he will influence America in the interests of the Borg Collective. For those of you who read this before the Borg assimilate me and take down this site, good luck. At all costs, the Barack Oborg menace must. Be. Stopped.

An duranium curtain has fallen across the free galaxy. Only John McCain and Hillary Clinton stand between it and your freedoms.

Run for your lives.

The Weekender

Among other things, this week brought Mitt Romney's endorsement of John McCain in the presidential race. This was a foregone conclusion, but the question remains: how many of Romney's delegates will consent to support McCain? If most of them go over to McCain, Huckabee's campaign will lose what little vigor it has left. If most of them go over to Huckabee, he will still be the longest of shots, but will still be very much in the race. That, at least, should be good. Although nothing really can derail McCain at this point, short of a heart attack, competition in the race is probably good for him. I think that if he stopped campaigning against Huckabee now, and entered general-election mode and attacked the Democrats this far ahead in the race, voters would quickly grow tired of it. On the other hand, he has a head start on Obama and Clinton, who still need to show each other who's boss in the Democratic race.

Another college shooting, this one at Norther Illinois University. Paradoxically, the shooter was a well-adjusted white male, outgoing and a decent student, as opposed to the V-Tech killer, an Asian with an inferiority complex and mental problems. This rampage was thankfully less deadly. So, why did this man suddenly crack? Easy, he went off his prescription meds. Just think about that for a second.

I've started a great book called "The Cure," written by a Canadian doctor, about health care in America. For those of you unaware, Mrs. Clinton advocates a socialized health care system, saying it would lead to "fair and equal care." This book, however, shoots that down in the first three chapters. Capitalism is good for the soul.

Well, I'll bid you adieu for now. Enjoy your Lenten season!

A Post-Super Tuesday Race Analysis

The most surprising thing during an otherwise lackluster Super Tuesday week was Mitt Romney's surprise termination of his campaign the day afterwards. Although he was handily beaten in many states by John McCain, he still had a fighting chance, and many Conservatives who refused to support McCain or Huckabee, like Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and other hard-liners, had endorsed him after the exit of other, more Conservative candidates such as Fred Thompson. Mitt Romney, the slick, corporate campaigner may have had the credentials, but he didn't connect with voters like Huckabee or even McCain. I wasn't really surprised that he dropped out, but that he did so not on Super Tuesday-night, after McCain's large victory was clear, but late the next day, after he made the customary, I-don't-have-a-chance "We will keep fighting" speeches the night before.

That leaves Huck and McCain. What a race it's been for both of them! John McCain, who started as one of the three frontrunners, was dead by July but came back, his turning point being the NH primary, where he smoked Romney and Huck. From there, he went up and Romney went down, aided by a mainstream media barrage in his favor. Huckabee, the surprise winner of the Iowa caucus, failed to win anything else until Super Tuesday, where he did surprisingly well. These two candidates are both mavericks in some way; Huckabee with his overtly religious down-home campaigning style and non-conformist stance on many issues, and McCain, 70-0dd years old and always a little liberal.

On the Republican side, at least, the voters threw out the establishmentarians like Romney and Thompson, and now Huck is fighting an almost vertical battle to keep the nomination away from the almost-certain winner McCain. It's an interesting race, and I fully expect McCain to win, but Huckabee has the charm and the votes to make it close. Good luck to him.

The Democratic race is in a little bit of a deadlock, with Obama beating Clinton during Super Tuesday with a minuscule two delegates. Obama cleaned up handily in the primaries after Super Tuesday, but if Hillary can keep the race close, the decision will go to the so-called "Superdelegates"--Dem bigwigs who, according to DNC policy, can make whoever the heck they want as the nominee, and to heck with the Democratic process. If it comes to that, Clinton will almost certainly get the nomination, but I'm hoping she won't escape unscathed. She has undeniable baggage, and my bet is that the Obama-Dems will raise heck if she's the nom--they can't afford to lose this election, and Obama has a much better chance of beating McCain.

So, the most likely outcome in my opinion: McCain v. Obama. McCain v. Hillary is a serious possibility, and after Super Tuesday it would have been my definite choice, but Obama is a serious force in the liberal, educated late-primary states--such as Wisconsin.

Either Hillary or Obama will have to trounce the GOPer, most likely McCain in the election. If so, they'll call it "historic," and a "triumph over the forces of darkness," and so on. If it's close, though, like a Dewey-Truman affair, then it would be seriously bad for the Dems. They could still give their, "This election shows us that America wants CHANGE!" spiel, but it won't be as enthusiastic. If McCain wins, I think it could be the death of the Democratic party as we know it. If I were the Democrats, I'd lock Obama into the nomination, because if Clinton loses, the country will have a Republican for twelve years running, something that didn't happen in the 20th century.

An interesting side-note: the hate among Conservatives towards McCain is so rabid that Ann Coulter has said she would vote for Hillary (!!!) over McCain. Typical Ann. I think this shows a serious disconnect with Conservative America. To hate a REPUBLICAN candidate more than a Dem, and especially HILLARY, of all people, is to show that Ann doesn't care so much about the issues as she does about keeping libs out of the Republican party. And while it may not be true that the worst Republican is better than the best Dem, A decent if under-achieving Republican, Gerald Ford for example, is much, much, MUCH better than his Dem equivalent, like Carter. Frankly, I think Ann is dead wrong. We CANNOT elect a Democrat. While we may survive it in the short term, it may be talked about in the history books as a turning point: where America went wrong.

Iowa Caucus Results

Although it appears that no one reads this blog anymore, I decided to post the results anyway.

Republicans:

With 25 percent of the results in, Huckabee was the clear winner, with 35 percent. Romney was second, with only 24 percent. Thompson placed third with 14 percent, and McCain ran fourth with 12 percent.

My Take:

This is almost unbelievable good for Huckabee. He went from the "top of the second tier" as I characterized it earlier in the campaign to running first in many polls. And now, he's won Iowa. I'm wondering if he can keep it up through New Hampshire and the other early primaries.

Obviously not so good for Romney. To lose by that much to Huckabee is certainly rather embarrassing, but he can recover and I can see him winning New Hampshire.

Third is good for Thompson, it will give him much-needed momentum.

Fourth for McCain is disappointing. Many analysts thought he would take third. Fred Thompson obviously still has the fire to beat him.

The Democrats:

Barack Obama took the Iowa Democratic Caucus, with 34 percent. Clinton and Edwards are in a dead heat for second, each with 32 percent.

My take:

This is good, but not unexpected news for Obama. He's been polling ahead of Hillary in Iowa for a while now, and I think he can keep up the momentum.

Bad, but also not unexpected for Hillary. She still has a lot of campaigning oomph and better connections than Obama.

This is very good for Edwards. If he places second, which Bob Novak predicted, it would be phenomenal and probably vice-president material. He's too annoying to beat Obama, however.

My predictions: McCain, who finished disapointingly in Iowa, has been campaigning hard in New Hampshire and is currently ahead according to the latest RCP poll. He swept the New Hampshire newspaper endorsements, and has rocketed up in the polls because of it. Romney is biting at his heels, with Giuliani, Huckabee, and Paul in a tight race for third. Thompson is barely above the margin of error. He's hoping his Iowa momentum will last him until South Carolina.

The Democrats are more widely spaced in New Hampshire, with Clinton ahead by a decent margin, and Edwards ten points behind Obama. If Obama can manage a win in NH, he will be unstoppable, but if Clinton wins, they will be neck-and-neck going into Michigan. I haven't seen numbers, but I tend to think Michigan would favor Obama. Edwards, although he finished well in Iowa, is not really a contender in my view. He's probably going for VP again.

My Predictions for the Nominee: Democrats: Easy. Obama. Barring anything unforeseen, his defeat of Clinton in Iowa was a major upset, even if most people saw it coming. It's possible he'd go for Hillary for his VP, but I think Edwards is a more likely choice. In the event that Hillary gets the nomination, I think she might get Richardson. He has the credentials of Biden without being old. Plus he's Hispanic.

Republicans: This is harder to call. I can see it going to Romney, Huckabee, McCain, and even Thompson at a stretch. My dream P/VP match would be Thompson-Huckabee, but Huckabee-Thompson might actually happen. Romney-McCain would be a nightmare.

Well, there you are! Hope you enjoyed it.

The Candidates: Where are they now?

It's been several weeks since my last post, and several months since I really went into detail about the Presidential candidates. I deeply apologize.

The election, of course, is closer than ever, and in that time period, the campaigns have really got off the ground.

So, let's begin.

THE DEMOCRATS
They are heavily favored, but one scandal could drag them all down.

HILLARY CLINTON
She continues to lead in the polls, with a fairly substantial margin over B. Obama. So far, her campaigning has been relatively flawless, as one would suspect. Especially since she's been planning it for decades.

BARACK OBAMA
He is still a force to be reckoned with, and I can easily see the nomination going to him. He's "inexperienced," but compared to Hillary's record, that's definitely a good thing. Especially if he's running as an outsider; someone who says he wants to turn Washington upside down.

JOHN EDWARDS
He's a long-shot, but he's played all his cards in Iowa, and that could get him almost onto the same level as Obama and Clinton. Even more than Obama, he's running a populist campaign. He was on the cover of Esquire, for crying out loud. Honestly, though, for an unprincipled former trial lawyer, Edwards has made it far. Too far. I almost hope he'll get the VP ticket again--he lost his own state in 2004.

THE OTHER DEMOCRATS
No one really stands out, but I think that's because the Democratic Party has two dream candidates in Obama and Clinton, and a third one for the racist bigots "yellow dog" 'crats who won't vote for the other two--Edwards. Biden continues his straight talk, but it's getting him nowhere fast. The others: zilch.

THE REPUBLICANS
Even though they are a long-shot for the presidency, we have a reasonably strong field, with something for just about everybody.

RUDY GIULIANI
...Is fighting for his life in the polls. Fred Thompson, who has only JUST started campaigning, is already close to him in the polls, and that combined with his liberal views makes me very doubtful of his chances.

JOHN MCCAIN
Is dead. Not literally. He'll probably still get about six or seven votes; all old Texan men with big belt buckles.

MITT ROMNEY
It's hard to categorize Romney. He flip-flopped on Abortion, and he has a liberal spending record, but who knows? He's running third in the polls and leading a flawless campaign. Still though, he seems lackluster.

FRED THOMPSON
He finally announced his candidacy, and none too soon. He'll have to play a strong game, especially as he is seen as an establishmentarian candidate. Not a good thing for a candidate campaigning as an outsider. He was a Washington lobbyist too, which is a yellow card. I think he has wide appeal, and he's probably my pick for nominee.

MIKE HUCKABEE
Has made a serious play, and is now in the top of the second tier, or the bottom of the first tier, and upwardly mobile. A bass-guitar-playing former Baptist minister from Arkansas? Every liberal's worst fear. He's even slime and mildly photogenic. Go Mike!

THE OTHER REPUBLICANS
Are preeety sad. We'll see though.

Sorry for all the time I've been gone. School's started and put me in a bit of a time-bind. I'm going to try to be more regular in the future. Believe me, I have lots of ideas.

Republican Debate

Well, I got to catch most of the republican debate. I was pretty darn impressed. Fred Thompson, of course, wasn't there, but the other candidates made a fine showing.

Came out well:

Rudy Giuliani
John McCain

Came out badly:

Tom Tancredo
Ron Paul

The other candidates were rather boring, but still better than expected.

Looking back on it, it seems like Giuliani is a slick campaigner and the rest of the candidates were not "campaigning" as such, but rather giving their true view on issues. So, McCain came out the best.

McCain fumbles the ball

Say goodbye to McCain as a presidential candidate. He was lagging in polls, and his fundraising attempts were rather poor, but he was still one of the GOP frontrunners. Not anymore. The source of his doom is actually two-fold. According to pundit Michael Reagan, son of Pres. Ronald Reagan, he is doomed because of his support of the newest wrongheaded immigration bill. However, that isn't the worst. According to NewsMax.com, he flew into a rage at some sort of debate, uttering both the s-word and the f-word. What a colorful man. Definitely someone us "family-values" conservatives want to elect. I really hope he's learned his lesson.

Party of Greed, Candidate #3

John McCain


Maybe it's harsh to call McCain a fat old geezer, but it seems to fit the bill pretty well. He would be the oldest president ever if elected, as he is already over 70. His maverick status might help him in a regular election, as he has the uncanny ability to hover in the middle of issues, although the talent pales in comparison to Hillary's ability to seem on both sides of the same issue, a great gift indeed; but in this election John McCain toes the party line on the war in Iraq, the key issue, and so-called "values voters" are repulsed by the very term "maverick" in reference to a Republican candidate. For this reason, McCain will find the middle of the aisle a very lonely place.