John McCain’s concession on Tuesday night was one of the best speeches I’ve heard him deliver, and it got me to thinking that my earlier inclination, to wish the Obama administration ill, was perhaps misguided.
For all his foibles, McCain is at heart a warrior, loyal to his chief, and that’s perhaps the way the rest of us should think about it as well, nonetheless keeping an eye on the stewpot.
Matter Over Mind
It’s 9:19 PM, and I just drove 60.1 miles in the dark, in the rain, on seven different highways. I am thrilled beyond belief to have made it, having mentally prepared myself to do otherwise if need be.
One Can Only Hope
It looks like a done deal, Obama is so far ahead in the polls that a landslide victory is almost a certainty.
Given the complexity of the times we live in, one can hope that the next Presidency, built on salesmanship and hype more than substance, will teach the public a lesson.
A failure to achieve could possibly set up a resurgence in 2012 of real conservative values, defined one hopes by people who are not tied emotionally to Reaganism but rather, espouse a Libertarian point of view.
It’s discouraging that the voters make the same mistake over and over again, three times in a row, casting ballots with the gut instead of the brain. Insanity.
Absolutely Great Story
Following is a comment to an article on FoxNews.com about one of McCain’s latest ads.
By the way, this particular ad is one of the better ones in Campaign 2008. It’s the first I’ve heard that has a voiceover by someone who doesn’t sound like a highly self-satisfied, slobbering, level 3 sex offender.
Silver Lining
If Hillary Clinton had been elected, I would have been persuaded that sexism was for all practical purposes dead in the United States.
Of course, the fact that she was not, and that Sarah Palin also has been brutalized in the popular media, tells us otherwise.
Conversely, someone observed yesterday that if Obama wins the Presidency, there would be no validity for future equal opportunity complaints from the Black community.
Certainly, this is a pretty persuasive argument: if a Black man, or at least a half-Black man, can raise over $600 million and win a Presidential election, doesn’t that mean that all the billions invested in affirmative action really have worked?
In that case, will progressives have the guts to tell Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to kindly sit down and SHUT UP?
Legacies
Colin Powell, who has suffered as the result of his participation in legitimizing the war in Iraq, isn’t the only one who’s kissed up to Obama in an attempt to save his legacy.
The press, which for years cowered before the Bush administration, has a lot to answer for. And their answer, much to their discredit, has been to attack McCain and Palin unmercifully, while leaving Obama and more particularly Biden, untouched.
Lunch Bunch
A couple of weeks ago, I started taking lunch at the local senior center.
At first, I enjoyed it. It was a way to get a cheap($2), nutritious and filling meal without having to cook. The cheerful volunteers and staff served us on real plates with real tableware, and they were pleasant and almost embarrassingly attentive.
Reaching Out
What this is cockamamie* new “reach out” thing, the mot du jour for silly Gen-Xers everywhere (or is it Gen-Yers, whichever ones You-Tube about Obama).
Thank you very much, but I’d rather you not “reach out” to me or anyone else. There is quite enough of that stuff going on these days – talk to an MBTA cop about their recent subway molester stings.
I don’t mind being contacted, e-mailed, called on the phone or, depending on who it is, visited, with or without notice.
I’m happy to be sent a letter, a package or a nice bouquet, and it makes me happy when someone whom I haven’t heard from in a long time gets in touch, figuratively speaking.
If you are drowning in a hostile body of water, then by all means, reach out to the nearest hand, life preserver or weather buoy.
Otherwise, reach out and touch someone if you must, but please make it someone other than me.
*interesting word, from the French d
Blather
Peter was fulminating the other day about how politicians mangle the truth via distortion and deliberate misinterpretation. I’d add the media to that list of master scam artists.
What the….?
A woodpecker has been attacking the house, but I hadn’t realized until today that it created a massive hole in one of the window frames.
I threw on some wood putty, figuring maybe the odor would be unpleasant enough to keep it away.
Woodpecker or not, at this hour, the Dow is up almost 3%.
Humble thanks to my Jr. H.S. teacher Mr. Clark for raising our consciousness about the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Now, THAT’S schoolteachin’, by golly.