Listening To..........

This song just makes me want to take up smoking and sit in a dark club with 1940s Big Band music, sip on a smooth, strong bourbon, watch couples sway on the dance floor and linger into the long, slow hours of the night.

NOW Brokaw has Questions

From the Charlie Rose Show, Friday night:

Rose: I don't know what Barack Obama's worldview is.

Brokaw: No, I don't either.

Rose: I don't know how he really sees where China is.

Brokaw: We don't know a lot about Barack Obama and the universe of his thinking about foreign policy.

Rose: I don't really know. And do we know anything about the people who are advising him?

Brokaw: You know, that's an interesting question.

Rose: He is principally known through his autobiography and through very aspirational [sic] speeches, two of them.

Brokaw: I don't know what books he's read.

Rose: What do we know about the heroes of Barack Obama?

Brokaw: There's a lot about him we don't know.

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO? Earth to mainstream media? Were you LISTENING?

The media is just now starting to realize that Mr. Obama may be an enigma. This man who has accomplished nothing but a successful campaign. This conversation between Rose and Brokaw on Friday night illustrates what conservatives have been saying for months. What do we KNOW about Barack Obama? Evan Thomas of Newsweek even said on the same program that "there is a slightly creepy cult aspect to all of this." Well golly darn, wish I'd thought of that one, Evan.

Ok, I said I was going to wait and see what Obama did before I criticized him. But wait, Rahm Emanuel for chief of staff? If you remember him from the Clinton staff, Emanuel is the most leftist, thuggish type of Democrat there is. He has no desire to get along with anyone in a partisan kind of way. He is Chicago old style politics. There is nothing centrist about Emanuel. But, we'll wait and see, right?

And while I'm questioning Obama's initial moves as president elect (and the media's new found awareness of the question mark) what's up with his new dot-gov website? Last time I checked, president-elect is not an official government office which I thought the dot-gov notation meant. And why is the government (as a dot-gov address) accumulating email addresses and information on citizens as a promotional means of staying in touch? Wouldn't Obama's regular website do that? Or is this just a perpetual campaign?

I know some of you are going to say I'm just being negative and am determined not to like him from the start. You may be right - I never pretended to like his ideas and proposals and yes, I'm going to be watching every move he makes. But I think these are legitimate questions and I'm just blown away that the media is now deciding to ask questions. For crying out loud! The media was Obama's unofficial campaign manager/cheerleader! Could we have asked these questions sooner? Like, back in the primaries, even? Before Hillary got dumped on?

(oh god, was I just defending Hillary?)

It will be interesting to see how the media plays out their love affair with Mr. Obama. With the Fairness Doctrine looming overhead I'm sure they will tread with care. And with Emanuel as the point of access, most will be especially careful. Still, the questions remain.

And So it Goes....

And so it goes. It's been twenty-four hours and the world has not imploded.

Today was a good day, actually. Fall is here. The election is (thankfully) over. Nobody attacked me on my blog today. Conservatives seem to maybe, just maybe, be getting the message that they need to regroup, regather, refocus their message. As I've said, over the past few years, conservatives lost their way because they tried to be centrists and "all get along." Everyone sing Kumbaya. But now conservatives are waking up and we'll come back.

So today with the election over and me not willing to take part in the "what went wrong" game, I pushed away from the computer. I sat outside with my son today on the deck, enjoying the fall breeze, and we picked out his senior ring. So many options! White gold? Yellow gold? What color stone? What shape? We have to pick out designs on TWO sides! What designs? He wanted a Canadian flag. Seriously. I said, ""Honey, you aren't Canadian. I know it's a shock... but...."

I met the plumber at my mother's house (she who did not want to talk about the election - she is just sick.) But her pipes are clear, now.

I bolstered my courage and went to WalMart, bought nail clippers for Checkers, and THEN I actually clipped four of her nails before she said, "OK! Enough!" and rebelled. So I took her for a walk.

The leaves are lovely right now. We have lots of hackberry trees and lots of hardwood trees on my street and the leaves are falling like rain. All shades of red, gold and yellow. As Checkers and I walked, I picked up several which I brought home and put in my trusty, heavy Shakespeare book to press. Later I will put them on my Thanksgiving table.

The new refrigerator came this week. I put the first major food group in (beer) right away and then Steve and I went to the store and stocked up on all that other stuff that goes in a refrigerator. The plumber came yesterday and hooked up the icemaker. It now makes both crushed and cubed ice. I tested out the crushed ice after Checkers and I got back from walking. It works really well and then, well, all that crushed ice .... I poured a tiny bit of Crown Royal on it and well...

The mums are blooming in the backyard. Fall is here. Holidays are coming - and that is going to just ROCK because for the first time in .... hmmm...let me see - seven, eight years? All of us will be together for Christmas. I can't wait! I'm totally excited about that!

So, life goes on. In the end, I thought John McCain ran the campaign he wanted to run and he gave a gracious concession speech. What happens from here, we will survive. Maybe it won't be all bad. I'm trying to be optimistic and give Obama a chance to screw it up before I criticize him. I am hoping he proves me wrong.

But in the meantime, we have other things to do. I have a STACK of unread books on my nightstand and three months of unread magazines. I'm looking forward to holidays, to holiday cooking, to family and friends, and to the rise of the conservative party in 2012!

And Now for 2012

And now the campaign for 2012 begins!

Now that the outcome of the election of 2008 is clear, the media and the pundits will go through it with all their "what if" scenarios and the benefit of that oh-so-wonderful thing called hindsight. It has been an historic campaign, to be sure, and one we will all remember. For many, this campaign has been a life-changing moment and for others, a wake-up call. For others, it is an end to America as we know it. I hope America gets the "hope" and "change" it has voted for.

I think that at the very least it is safe to say that we can all agree that America has grave problems that need to be seriously addressed. I talked to a friend of mine several weeks back who said, "at this point all I can do is pray for Obama and pray that his heart will change; that he will not destroy this country." My outlook now is that to get a Reagan you must first go through a Carter.

The Republican Party certainly needed this wake-up call. No doubt. Republicans have drifted away from their conservative values and they have now paid the price. So now I think you will see, over the next few years, a scramble to traditional conservative ideas on the Republican ticket. Will that include Governor Palin as a contender for the Republican nomination in 2012? Will Republicans blame her for McCain's loss? Or will they look to Louisiana's own Bobby Jindal? Are there ANY Republican leaders out there on the horizon who will be able to track our country back to conservative values after four years of leadership by the most liberal candidate EVER on the Democratic ticket? Is there a Reagan out there? I always felt "safe" under Reagan and I do NOT feel safe now. Not at all.

So now I am praying for Obama and I am praying for America. I am scared to death for America on many fronts and scared to death for our military. But America will survive because we are not defined by one leader but by citizens who make this country run. We are farmers in Iowa, shrimpers in Louisiana, steelworkers, teachers, police officers, secretaries, and executives. The American spirit will survive.

As my mother always says, "What does not kill you, makes you stronger."

(Photo credit: Michelle Malkin.com)

Song of the Day...

Election Day

Go vote! Polls close locally at 8 p.m. Turnout is expected to be high and lines long, so be prepared for a wait.

Banning Books

In my sophomore English class we read a wide variety of material, both fiction and non-fiction. The first novel we read each year is Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. I always have to lay a little groundwork before reading and do some preparation. The story is classic and timeless and, in the end, quite positive. The whole theme of the novel is to not judge someone before you know all the facts. As Atticus says, you have to put yourself in their skin and walk around in it. Atticus was all about getting Tom Robinson judged fairly. I also love all the symbolism in the novel and love to see the "lightbulbs" go off when the kids start thinking about that snowman as more than just a snowman, or the rabid dog, the dog with a "disease" as more than just a mad dog.

By the end of the novel, the kids have gotten so far past Mr. Ewell's hate and anger and profane name-calling that they "get" the message Atticus is selling and end up loving the novel.

Below is the list of books on the list most requested to be banned from school libraries. This just blows my mind. This list almost always includes all the Harry Potter books and usually Of Mice and Men. How many of them have YOU read?!

Top 10 requests

American Library Association officials say they know of 420 requests to remove books from schools and libraries in 2007. Here are the top 10, along with the reasons cited.

1. "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. Reasons: anti-ethnic, sexism, homosexuality, anti-family, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group.
2. "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier. Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, violence.
3. "Olive's Ocean" by Kevin Henkes. Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language.
4. "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman. Reasons: religious viewpoint.
5. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain. Reasons: racism.
6. "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language.
7. "TTYL" by Lauren Myracle. Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuitable for age group.
8. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. Reasons: sexually explicit.
9. "It's Perfectly Normal" by Robie Harris. Reasons: sex education, sexually explicit.
10. "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuitable for age group.

Knowing my students, just looking at this list, they'd make a beeline for the library just to get their hands on one of these! Nothing makes a teenager want to do something more than telling them they can't or that it is bad for them!

Bankrupting Coal Plants?

Transcript:
Let me sort of describe my overall policy.

What I’ve said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else’s out there.
I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.

That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel and other alternative energy approaches.

The only thing I’ve said with respect to coal, I haven’t been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a ideological matter as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can.

It’s just that it will bankrupt them.

Experience Counts

Quote of the Day:
"Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were both elected president at relatively young ages, and both made grave mistakes that directly led to the deep foreign policy problems we have today. The next president will face serious issues, from al-Qaida to Iran to Russia to the economy, which will require a maturity achievable only through age and experience."

Inventor's Business Daily has an interesting article today which looks back at a 2005 survey of scholars by the Wall Street Journal and The Federalist Society. The survey participants included scholars in history, politics and law.

The most overrated president, according to the survey was Kennedy. The focus of the IBD article is that younger presidents have not fared so well.

"One month after President Clinton took office in 1993, the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history up to that date occurred with the bombing of New York's World Trade Center twin towers. During Clinton's eight years in office, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida bombed U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, killing 250 and injuring 6,000; bombed U.S.-Saudi facilities in 1995 and 1996, killing Americans; and in 2000 bombed the USS Cole.
Through all this, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, the Clinton administration had 10 different chances to get bin Laden. Intelligence knew just where he was, but was never able to make the final decisions or take effective action."

The article also discusses Carter's blunders as well as the Kennedy handling of the Cuban Bay of Pigs episode.

No president is always going to be perfect by any means. With the challenges ahead of us right now, we owe it to ourselves and our country to put the most experienced man in office.

"There Is Only One Man..."

The definitive quote of the campaign for me has belonged to Sarah Palin. She had me during her convention speech when she looked right in the camera and said, "There has only been ONE MAN in this campaign who EVER really fought for you...and that man is John McCain."

No lie, Sarah. After the Obama infomercial it would be easy for anyone who watched that to think that America is a depressed and dying country waiting only for Obamessiah to come save it. He highlighted four families, each in some degree of misery, and guess what? He has the answer to their problems, or so he would want us to believe. I don't believe.

Sarah Palin nailed it. John McCain believes in this country. He has fought for this country and he understands everything that means. Obama has no conception of that; you can defend him on issues that suit you as long as you want to try, but Obama has NEVER EVER fought for his country. Not for THIS country.

There are many important issues in this election that matter to me. I'm concerned about the economy, about jobs, about free trade, about who might get appointed to the Supreme Court and shape the course of the nation for years to come. But a big one is national security. Obama has voted against our troops at every turn. He has verbally criticized our troops (who he says are "bombing civilians and air-raiding villages"). He voted against the surge; in the only major foreign policy decision of his 143 day Senate career, he failed. Had he prevailed in his vote against the surge, our guys would have come home in defeat, Iraq in tatters and we would be facing a return to the region under even more dire circumstances. And should he get elected he proposes to cut military funding. What a slap in the face Obama is giving those soldiers and what a slap the American people supporting Obama are giving them.

After the Obama infomercial and after observing this entire campaign, there REMAINS no question in my mind that this man does not like America. He does not. If you need resassurance of that, review his list of America-hating friends and associates: Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said, Khaleed al-Monsoor just to name a few. Everyone he has associated with hates America; is this coincidence? I don't think so.

I'm not ready OR willing to turn my country, the country my own father fought for, over to this man. No way. Sarah Palin nailed it. John McCain loves our country, has fought for it and will continue to fight for it. He has a moral compass, a moral code, and he has the experience this country needs in these dark times.

If you don't believe me, listen to this guy. Even if you KNOW you're voting for Obama, or even if you already have. You owe this guy a listen, trust me:

Refrigerators, Political Research and Daily Life

Yesterday was one of THOSE days. The Teenager had to go to the doctor (virus); I didn't get home until after 6 which is later than usual. Then I check my email and have a hot flurry of people attacking me on my blog; as most of my readers know, I like a healthy debate, so this wasn't necessarily bad. But when folks start insulting my intelligence (or my spelling) and get all personal then I get testy. I think there is room for debate without, as my students would say, "hating on each other." You don't have to agree with me; in fact, life would be dull if we all agreed all the time. But be respectful. Geez.

Anyway, after defending myself to the blogosphere, during the evening I noticed that everything in the freezer was mushy. This was not a total shock as it hasn't been keeping as cold as it should for some time now. But mushy? Not acceptable. So I ditched food, cleaned it out, and went today to get a new one which will arrive on Saturday; the nice folks at Sears will haul my dead one away. I like the new one coming in better - it's bigger. And prettier. Now I just have to reconfigure a few things in the kitchen.

The Obama Show is coming on tonight. Who plans on watching?! I probably will, just out of curiosity (and despite claims to the contrary in the comments, I do my research), but I don't anticipate being swayed in any way. Besides, I want to watch the World Series!

At the Birdfeeder

Obama's Radical Friends

The End of the American Dream

I'm still not convinced that Obamessiah is going to win this election. I know what the polls say. I don't have a lot of faith in polls. I don't think McCain is exactly doing what he needs to do to win, either. Any gains he has made have been largely because of Obamessiah shooting himself in the foot either with his comment to Joe the Plumber or now from the 2001 tape, or even the 1995 tape.

It is absolutely clear to America right now what his agenda is. And half of the nation does not care. Half of this nation is ready to throw mud in the eye of our founding fathers; those brave men who forged this nation at great personal risk to themselves from the British Crown. When Mr. Obama said that the Constitution has "essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers" and then goes on to call the Constitution "a charter of negative liberties," it just makes my blood run cold. This man hates America. He's made it more than clear.

He went on to say that it "says what the states can't do to you, says what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf."

As a Constitutional scholar Mr. Obama shows a remarkable lack of perception of the document itself and the Founding Fathers intent. And how dare he be so presumptuous to think that he knows better than they as to what they should have done or said.

The entire purpose of the Constitution was to limit government, not blow it up with massive spending, regulate every aspect of our lives, and to tax citizens out of success and redistribute their wealth to those who the government deems more worthy.

However the Obama campaign tries to spin this tape, and they will, there is absolutely no mistaken context here, nor any misunderstanding of what he said. Mr. Obama made himself quite clear. He will lie about this tape as he has lied about his associations with Ayers, Wright, Acorn and others. He lies.

Yet most Americans at this point do not care. Those casting votes for Obama are voting for socialism. No question. Don't tell me he's not a socialist because he is. He is. Those casting votes for Mr. Obama are turning our entire government over to the Reid, Pelosi, and Barney Franks of Washington with absolutely no check and balances of government. The American Dream is dead. This is not "fear tactics." These are facts - Obama hates America as it is; he has no moral compass or code whatsoever as is the case with too many of our youth. Now he wants to take the country down with him.

How can so many Americans hate America so much as to throw it away? Because that's what is going to happen if Mr. Obama does in fact close the deal.

In Case You Haven't Seen It....

More Halloween Fun

You Might Be A Redneck...

• If you think Michael Moore is John Murtha and Joy Behar’s love child, then you might be a redneck.

All in fun folks, but this Doug Giles column is funny stuff (at John Murtha's expense)

Halloween Fun

Carve your own pumpkin!

The Levin Column

Mark Levin wrote a spot on commentary on the Obama campaign. Here's a quote:

There is a cult-like atmosphere around Barack Obama, which his campaign has carefully and successfully fabricated, which concerns me. The messiah complex. Fainting audience members at rallies. Special Obama flags and an Obama presidential seal. A graphic with the portrayal of the globe and Obama's name on it, which adorns everything from Obama's plane to his street literature. Young school children singing songs praising Obama. Teenagers wearing camouflage outfits and marching in military order chanting Obama's name and the professions he is going to open to them. An Obama world tour, culminating in a speech in Berlin where Obama proclaims we are all citizens of the world. I dare say, this is ominous stuff.

I don't know if there is enough time for people to wake up and realize that even though they may not LOVE McCain, the fate of our country should push them above pushing the button for an untested, unproven, inexperienced socialist who has no real love of our country or any conception of "country first" or honor.

Check out Levin's column!

"It's Always Darkest Before It Goes Totally Black"

Before I got so consumed with this election, this blog used to have stuff on it that wasn't about politics! I guess it goes to my overwhelming concern about the election that I can't seem to post about anything else. My readership isn't high enough to actually change any minds, but I do get the occasional random visitor and if nothing else, it helps me feel like I'm doing some small, tiny thing to help my candidate. Ah well.

Sitting here with my coffee this morning, I was checking my daily sites and editorials and there were two that just nailed what I've been thinking this week. The first one was the Investor's Business Daily editorial which is part of a series they are running on the divide between Obama and McCain. It absolutely nails the Obama tax plan and gets it down to pretty simple language. A quote:

Look at just a few of the things he and congressional Democrats have in mind: Higher taxes on successful entrepreneurs (anyone earning over $250,000), higher taxes on capital gains, higher taxes on dividends, a possible raid on Americans' 401(k)s, a takeover of America's private health care industry, strict new limits on what CEOs can make, and the reimposition of the death tax.

Add it up, and Obama will usher in a new era in America — one where capital, the engine of our economic growth and success, is punished severely through the tax code. If Democrats win a filibuster-proof majority in Congress, it'll be the only form of capital punishment their party will support.

The article concludes by pointing out that the top 5% of earners already pay 60% of all taxes and Obama's changes skew that even further. This should worry everybody; it doesn't matter if you make that big salary - it's going to affect us all in a big way.

The second editorial was Bill Kristol's at The Weekly Standard. I love Bill Kristol. The first line of his article is "It's always darkest before it goes totally black." He, of course, supports McCain/Palin and he points out what has been my biggest deal with Obama which is that he has never accomplished anything but a disciplined campaign. He also criticizes those Republicans who are jumping off the McCain ship just because of Obama's calm temperment. Hunh? What's that about?

Kristol cites a moving moment at a McCain rally in which Marine Sgt. Jack Eubanks gave his Purple Heart to McCain.

"I just gave John McCain my Purple Heart," Marine Sgt. Jack Eubanks told me a few minutes after McCain finished a speech at a campaign rally in Woodbridge, Virginia, Saturday. "I said, 'I want to give this to you, sir, as a reminder that we want you to keep your promise to bring us home in victory and honor, so it will mean something.' "

The 22-year-old Eubanks has been injured twice in Iraq. He's now teaching Marine recruits at Quantico--and walking with a cane. York explains that Eubanks saw remarkable progress in Iraq between his 2005 and 2007 tours and is concerned that it might all be for naught. "I think Obama's just going to pull everyone home as soon as he can, despite what's going on over there," he told York. "I just don't want it to turn into another Vietnam or worse where everything we fought for, and all my buddies who died over there, it was just for nothing."

If you saw the Military Times poll, you know that our military fully and overwhelmingly supports McCain.

Kristol concludes with a great Lincoln quote.

"But for now, we can only echo the words of the 30-year old Abraham Lincoln. On December 26, 1839, responding to the confident prediction of one of his political opponents 'that every State in the Union will vote for Mr. Van Buren at the next Presidential election' and that Lincoln's opposition to the Van Buren forces was therefore bound to be in vain, Lincoln responded:
'Address that argument to cowards and to knaves; with the free and the brave it will effect nothing. It may be true; if it must, let it...The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just...Let none falter, who thinks he is right, and we may succeed. But if after all, we shall fail, be it so.'

As it happens, the Whig ticket Lincoln supported won that 1840 election. So might, against the odds, the party of Lincoln win this year."

In nine days this election will be over and life will go on either way. In the meantime I will be trying to understand why half our nation seems ready to throw our country away - some for no other reason than that they don't like George W. Bush. Some because they want "Change." I'm not convinced the change that is coming is the change they want.

America in Distress

Get ready America; here comes the second term of the Carter administration should Mr. Obama pull off this election and have a democratic congress at his disposal. He's already drafted his inauguration speech, built the stage for his celebratory party in Grant Park and met with his transition team. Why even both with an election?

Well maybe, just maybe, our John McCain can pull this out. Maybe enough Americans will realize that Mr. Obama hasn't accomplished anything but a successful campaign and never made an executive decision that affects an entire state, much less a nation. Maybe Americans will want a non-socialist at the helm and one that knows what it means to protect and defend our country with HONOR.

God help our military when Barney Frank and friends get finished; it will add a whole new meaning to Barney Rubble. You thought Frank did such a great job with the housing market? Get ready for this:

"After the November election, Democrats will push for a second economic stimulus package that includes money for the states' stalled infrastructure projects, along with help paying for healthcare expenses, food stamps and extended unemployment benefits, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said Thursday.

In a meeting with the editorial board of The Standard-Times, Rep. Frank, D-Mass., also called for a 25 percent cut in military spending, saying the Pentagon has to start choosing from its many weapons programs, and that upper-income taxpayers are going to see an increase in what they are asked to pay.

The military cuts also mean getting out of Iraq sooner, he said."

Obama and friends are letting us know up front what his administration will look like. Socialism, higher taxes, and lower national defense, to name a few. Just last week Barney Frank said, "I believe later on, there should be tax increases. . . there are a lot of very rich people out there whom we can tax at a point down the road and recover some of this money." Redistribution of wealth, indeed.

I wish someone would tell me what Mr. Obama has done for America that proves he deserves this opportunity to lead and defend us.

Krauthammer's Endorsement and Obama in 1995

With less than two weeks to go until the presidential election, things are heating up. It's only my humble opinion but it seems like the polls (even though I don't put much faith in them) are narrowing. I believe the hype about an Obama landslide is just hogwash. But I also believe that people that have decided to vote for him are not likely to be swayed.

Over the past couple of weeks it seems as if some Americans are starting to see the real Obama. Not enough of them, to be sure, but a few. The "Joe the Plumber" thing was a real eye opener for some. From the mouth of the chosen one himself, the virtues of income redistribution. I don't think American's will stand for that. And then today he avows that he has no regrets, "none at all" for that statement. It's the same stubborn opinion he had when he opposed the surge then refused to admit that it worked; he's almost the only living soul that still stands by that stance, but it's his story and he's sticking to it.

I don't think Americans care one iota that he's lying about William Ayers or Jeremiah Wright. I was doodling at work the other day and drew a web (I'm an English teacher; even our doodles are webs and Venn diagrams) and I put Obama in the center. Offshooting from him were Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Jacob Carruthers, Asa Hilliard, Tony Rezko, Mike Klonsky, Edward Said, Louis Farrakhan, Khaleed Al-Monsoor, and Rashid Khalidi. These guys are all interconnected and are all far left wing radical people. By the time I got finished drawing my lines of who was connected to whom, I had a wicked crazy incestuous web but all roads led to Obama. But again, I don't think Americans care that he has been and currently is associated with absolutely NOBODY you would take home to meet your mother.

Americans do care about the economy though, and the news this week that small business and other companies are already laying off people in anticipation of an Obama election is starting to hit home to a lot of people. Business people are worried about Obama's tax plans.

Today Charles Krauthammer came out with his (shocker) endorsement for McCain. His rational and reason was, as always, clear and to the point.

"McCain's critics are offended that he raised the issue of William Ayers. What's astonishing is that Obama was himself not offended by William Ayers.

Moreover, the most remarkable of all tactical choices of this election season is the attack that never was. Out of extreme (and unnecessary) conscientiousness, McCain refused to raise the legitimate issue of Obama's most egregious association -- with the race-baiting Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Dirty campaigning, indeed.

The case for McCain is straightforward. The financial crisis has made us forget, or just blindly deny, how dangerous the world out there is. We have a generations-long struggle with Islamic jihadism. An apocalyptic soon-to-be-nuclear Iran. A nuclear-armed Pakistan in danger of fragmentation. A rising Russia pushing the limits of revanchism. Plus the sure-to-come Falklands-like surprise popping out of nowhere.

Who do you want answering that phone at 3 a.m.? A man who's been cramming on these issues for the past year, who's never had to make an executive decision affecting so much as a city, let alone the world? A foreign policy novice instinctively inclined to the flabbiest, most vaporous multilateralism (e.g., the Berlin Wall came down because of "a world that stands as one"), and who refers to the most deliberate act of war since Pearl Harbor as "the tragedy of 9/11," a term more appropriate for a bus accident? "

He goes on to say

"Or do you want a man who is the most prepared, most knowledgeable, most serious foreign policy thinker in the United States Senate? A man who not only has the best instincts but has the honor and the courage to, yes, put country first, as when he carried the lonely fight for the surge that turned Iraq from catastrophic defeat into achievable strategic victory?"

Finally, listen to the video below from 1995 of Obama as he outlines his policies BEFORE he decided to run for President. It's nuts. Just nuts. The next two weeks should be interesting as the polls tighten and America makes it's choice. But for me, I have no doubt that Mr. Obama wants to impose socialism on our country, redistribute wealth from those that have too much to those that don't have enough, and I believe he will put our national security at grave, grave risk. Again, I ask: Why in the WORLD would ANYone want to trust our country to this man? What has he EVER done to prove himself to you? What has he accomplished? What makes you think he is qualified to lead us in these most dangerous times both domestically and abroad? He has plans, but what has he done? Nothing. Nada.

Laugh of the Day

The Military Questions

Rather than the "What I Like About McCain" post, I'm deviating tonight into a couple of other headlines that I've been dwelling on over the past few days.

As POTUS, and this should seriously go without saying, but you are in command of ALL the sensitive military information. You're the commander-in-chief, for crying out loud. And I know that the United States Constitution outlines the criteria for a presidential candidate. I get that. But is it unreasonable to expect that our presidential candidate be expected to pass the same security clearance criteria that any other military officer must pass? There is no question whatsoever that Mr. Obama would not pass even the most basic security clearance test. Based on his associations (howEVER close) with William Ayers and his wife, based on his own admitted drug use in his book, based on his association with Resko and even with Khalid al-Mansour - any one of these things would exclude him from a military security clearance. He couldn't get an FBI clearance either. For that matter, he probably couldn't even be a policeman in most American cities. So WHY does half of America want to give him the keys to the White House? WHY do you trust this man so much with your national security? WHAT has he EVER done or accomplished to prove himself to you? WHAT has he done for his country?

Still in the military vein, the new Military Times poll was just staggering to me. Full disclosure here - I place VERY little faith in polls. So much depends on who is doing them and what the bias is. Even with the margin of error they have proven to be fairly unreliable. That said, the Military Times poll is just curious. It would appear that the military folks polled (career members and veterans) overwhelmingly support McCain. And this was polled a full month before Biden's helpful comment about the vulnerable and untested Obama.

Seems to me that the military folks aren't willing to test Obama's "spine of steel." They know which candidate has been fighting for America all of his adult life. I know, too.

Merry Christmas???

I was in Albertson's this afternoon picking up a few groceries and I was looking at the fun Halloween novelty things and especially the Halloween candy; I was thinking how much I enjoy fall and the cooler weather, the leaves falling, the upcoming Thanksgiving Break...

And then there it was. Assaulting my senses. Snapping my attention away from Halloween and into ... Christmas. The Nutcracker Suite was playing. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I tried to shake it off and move on to the Halloween costumes but then... Jingle Bells. No lie. Jingle Bells. And then I looked above me at the speakers with the incredulous look on my face and what did I see? Giant Tacky Christmas inflatables. Just yesterday the Halloween ones were there. Now - Christmas. Sigh.

I know that Christmas starts earlier every single year. In fact, I have already seen my first Christmas commercial. But good grief retailers! Let us enjoy fall! Don't rush me into Christmas yet! I'll be SICK of it by the time it gets here! And for the record, "Daddy D" cited his first Christmas abuse back in August.